ABSTRACT
Alexander II ruled the Russian Empire in the face of grave political and military challenges. Committed to a series of courageous reforms, he met a tragic and ironic death at the hands of revolutionaries. Alexander was born on April 29, 1818, in Moscow. In 1825 his father Tsar Nicholas I acceded to the throne amid an upheaval known as the Decembrist Revolt. As an officer in the army, Alexander observed the resulting Crimean War closely and was shocked by the victories of Russia's more advanced enemies. In 1855 he succeeded Nicholas and in the following year obtained peace with the Treaty of Paris. Alexander was impressed by the power industrialization and political reform had brought to his Western adversaries. Despite their failure, Alexander's Great Reforms had a lasting impact on the history of modern Russia. With the assassination of Alexander in 1881, Russian statecraft entered a period that historians call the “era of counterreform”.
