Alexander I reigned as Emperor of Russia from 1801-1825.

Alexander I 

Alexander I 

• reigned as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825.

• He ruled Russia during the chaotic period of the Napoleonic Wars. As prince and emperor, Alexander often used liberal rhetoric, but continued Russia's absolutist policies in practice. In the first years of his reign, he initiated some minor social reforms and, in 1803-04, major, liberal educational reforms. He promised constitutional reforms and a desperately needed reform of serfdom but made no concrete proposals and nothing happened.

• In the second half of his reign he was increasingly arbitrary, reactionary and fearful of plots against him; he ended many earlier reforms. He purged schools of foreign teachers, as education became more religiously oriented as well as politically conservative.

Used information:

• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Александр_ I
• http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/14004/Alexander-I
• http://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/the-romanov-dynasty/alexander-i/
• http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/AlexanderPavlovich.html

• Was he the first Emperor of Russia, who wanted to introduce a Constitution?
• Why he was a great politician of his time?
• Was his policy liberal or conservative?

The most important dates in his life:

• Alexander didn’t think he was cut for the role of a monarch and dreamt of a quiet life, away from the court. Yet, in 1801, aged 23, Alexander was crowned Tsar. Good-looking and charming, the young Emperor was extremely popular.
• In December 1805 Austria and Russia lost the battle of Austerlitz, called Napoleon’s greatest victory. After a disastrous defeat in Poland two years later, Alexander had enough.
• On June 12, 1812 Napoleon began his fatal campaign, known in Russia as the Patriotic War. Opposing Napoleon, Alexander believed he was fulfilling a divine mission. For him it was far more than a war between two nations – it was a battle between the good and the evil .

• To ensure the implementation of decisions reached at the Congress of Vienna Alexander I initiated the formation of the Holy Alliance on September 14, 1815. That alliance prefigured the international organizations of the 20th century.
• Alexander’s domestic policy after the war of 1812 was very contradictory. His attempts to modernize the Russian state were accompanied by the introduction of a strict “police” regime which was later nicknamed as  arakcheyevshchina  after Alexei Arakcheyev, one Alexander’s closest associates. Alexander introduced military settlements which he regarded as a way of getting peasants out of serfdom but the introduction of these settlements only aroused hatred in the widest circles of the Russian society.

•   In the autumn of 1825 on a trip to the south of Russia Alexander caught a cold which developed into typhoid. He died in the southern city of Taganrog on November 19, 1825.