Its roof collapsed, and Alexander held its remains on his shoulders as the children fled outdoors. . We can help. Industrial development increased during his reign. Copyright: The content on this page may not be republished without our express permission. Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich was born on 10 March 1845 at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, the second son and third child of Tsesarevich Alexander (Future Alexander II) and his first wife Maria Alexandrovna (ne Princess Marie of Hesse). [10] On 9 November[O.S. He was succeeded by his eldest son who took the throne as Nicholas II. . In spite of all his shortcomings, Russia fought no major wars during his reign and thus he was dubbed "The Peacemaker". 1882). As he passed where I was standing, he raised his head for a second, and to this day I can remember what I felt as our eyes met. As a result, Alexander ascended to the Russian imperial throne in Nennal. To further alleviate the budget deficit, he implemented increased frugality and accounting in state finances. This site is created and maintained by Alpha History. Upon succeeding the throne on the death of his father, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, he reversed some of the liberal reforms his father had implemented during his reign. Romanovs. While his brother Nicolasthe tsarevich or heir apparentwas groomed to be the future king, Alexander only received the training of an ordinary Grand Duke of that period. Any liberal proposals in government were quickly dismissed. He succeeded his father Philip II to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20, and spent most of his ruling years conducting a lengthy military campaign throughout Western Asia . Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov, Tsar of all the Russia's, died of Nephritis on October 20, 1894 (OS) at the summer palace at Livadia in the Crimea. Though indignant at the conduct of Bismarck toward Russia, he avoided an open rupture with Germany and even revived for a time the Alliance of the Three Emperors between the rulers of Germany, Russia, and Austria. The future Alexander III was the second son of Alexander II and Maria Aleksandrovna (Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt). In his childhood, he had had an unpleasant experience on a bad-tempered mount. Forceful, formidable, fiercely patriotic, and at 6' 4" towered over his fellow countrymen. The events in eastern Europe in 2021 and 2022, coming just as the world emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic, also unfolded against a fraught geopolitical backdrop: In 2014, Russia had already . He was the recipient of several honors including Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation from the Kingdom of Italy (1865), French Lgion d'Honneur (1865), Order of the Golden Fleece from Spain (1865), Order of the Southern Cross from the Empire of Brazil (1866), and Order of St. Stephen of Hungary (1866). Autocratic rule was established at a time in Russian history when the nation was illiterate, uneducated, and attacked from foreign powers on all sides. However when his brother Nicolas was in his deathbed, he asked Alexander to marry his fiance, Princess Dagmar of Denmark. This included acquaintance with French, English and German, and military drill.[8]. It contains 184,951 words in 296 pages and was updated on February 20, 2023. During his childhood, Alexander was tutored by Konstantin Pobedonostsev, whose lessons instilled him the young prince with both religious piety and political conservatism. In 1894, Alexander III became ill with terminal kidney disease (nephritis). [citation needed], Alexander had the political goal of Russification, which involved homogenizing the language and religion of Russia's people. Alexander III is best known as a Emperor. He gloried in the idea of being of the same rough texture as the great majority of his subjects. Bronze Commemorative Medal for the Russo-Turkish War, Dorpalen, Andreas. The Tsar's gaze! Influenced by his Danish wife Dagmar, Alexander criticized the "shortsighted government" for helping the "Prussian pigs". His father, however, occasionally ridiculed the exaggerations of the Slavophiles and based his foreign policy on the Prussian alliance. However, during a trip to Europe, Nicholas unexpectedly fell ill with meningitis and died in Nice, and Alexander, to his own surprise, became heir to the throne. Alexander III of Russia was the emperor of Russia from 1881 to 1894. In the Gatchina Palace, where the Alexander chose to live, a rich collection of art was amassed, a large portion of which later entered into the Hermitage's collection. It was believed that he had, barring assassination, many years left to his reign. All of Alexander III's internal reforms aimed to reverse the liberalization that had occurred in his father's reign. [50] In contrast to the strict security observed in Russia, Alexander and Maria revelled in the relative freedom that they enjoyed in Denmark, Alexander once commenting to the Prince and Princess of Wales near the end of a visit that he envied them being able to return to a happy home in England, while he was returning to his Russian prison. At first the tsarevich was more Slavophile than the government, but he was disabused of his illusions during the Russo-Turkish War of 187778, when he commanded the left wing of the invading army. ", Suny, Ronald Grigor. Alexander was determined to strengthen autocratic rule as a God given right. He died in the arms of his wife in the Black Sea resort of Livadia where he had gone in the hope that there his health might improve. [8] Alexander's parents encouraged the match. In 1865, Nicolas died suddenly and Alexander became heir apparent (as Tsarevich). He was known as "The Peasants Tsar", and because of his size was always viewed as larger than life. Even though he did not play an important role in the public life as the heir apparent, he made it clear to his father that many of his own beliefs did not coincide with the principles of the existing government. That alliance brought France out of diplomatic isolation, and moved Russia from the German orbit to a coalition with France, one that was strongly supported by French financial assistance to Russia's economic modernisation. Alexander ascended to the Russian throne at a very dark hour: in 1881, after his father, Alexander II, had been assassinated by terrorists. He also forbade morganatic marriages, as well as those outside of the Orthodoxy.[22]. Alexander III was known to be a man of peace when it came to foreign relations with other nations. Corrections? [66] On 5 June 2021, he unveiled another monument to Alexander on the site of Gatchina Palace, Leningrad Oblast.[67]. He was known to be highly conservative and a staunch supporter of Russian nationalism. The four-meter monument by Russian sculptor Andrey Kovalchuk depicts Alexander III sitting on a stump, his stretched arms resting on a sabre. While on his deathbed, his brother Nicholas insisted that he also take his fiance. He was an unsympathetic ruler though it cannot be denied that the industrial development in Russia increased during his reign. The look of his bright eyes made quite an impression on me. Even though he did not play an important role in the public life as the heir apparent, he made it clear to his father that many of his own beliefs did not coincide with the principles of the existing government. He was also good with kids and doted upon his daughters. He loved the simplicity of Russian life and had little taste for anything western. Xenia and Olga were able to escape Russia along with their mother during the Revolution. On 2 June 1866, Alexander went to Copenhagen to visit Dagmar. At first, the Tsesarevich was more Slavophile than the Russian government.[how?] On his deathbed, Nicholas allegedly expressed the wish that his fiance, Princess Dagmar of Denmark, should marry Alexander. Then he started studying the principles of law and administration under Konstantin Pobedonostsev. Alexander II was mortally wounded and died shortly thereafter. In order to achieve this goal, he implemented a stringent policy of Russification of national minorities. [31] Girs was usually successful in restraining the aggressive inclinations of Tsar Alexander convincing him that the very survival of the Tsarist system depended on avoiding major wars. In disposition, Alexander bore little resemblance to his soft-hearted, liberal father, and still less to his refined, philosophic, sentimental, chivalrous, yet cunning great-uncle Emperor Alexander I. Together, Alexander III and Empress Marie had five children. Pobedonostsev believed that all opposition to the government be ruthlessly crushed and viewed liberal ideas as constitutions and free press as a threat to the state. Alexander III, Tsar of Russia, reigned from 1881 to 1894. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/alexander-iii-of-russia-6260.php, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia. Alexander wrote in his diary "Farewell, dear Dusenka. 17 October]1888 the Imperial train derailed in an accident at Borki. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Alexander III became ill with incurable kidney disease in early 1894 and died on 1 November 1894, at the age 6f 49. [15] He privately denounced Catherine as "the outsider" and complained that she was "designing and immature". During his reign, Russia fought no major wars; he was therefore came to be known as the "The Peacemaker" (Russian: , tr. The terrible fate of the latter produced an awful impression upon Alexander, but instead of continuing the reforms of the "Czar-Emancipator," as was expected, heat once gave . After her conversion to Orthodoxy, she took the name of Marie Fedorovna. Despite the antipathy that Alexander had towards his stepmother, Catherine Dolgorukov, he nevertheless allowed her to remain in the Winter Palace for some time after his father's assassination and to retain various keepsakes of him. He was born during the reign of his grandfather Nicholas I. In October 1888 the Imperial train derailed while the Tsar and his family were eating in the dining car. [11], Alexander resented his father for having a long-standing relationship with Catherine Dolgorukov (with whom he had several illegitimate children) while his mother, the Empress, was suffering from chronic ill-health. At palace balls, he was impatient for the events to end. Mikhail Katkov and other journalists supported the emperor in his autocracy. Enraged, Alexander II ordered him to go straight to Denmark and propose to Princess Dagmar. Conflicts with Turkey and Afghanistan were resolved without resorting to arms. His Father, Alexander II was within hours of granting the country its first constitution. Alexander, then 23 years old, was in the palace at the moment of the assassination and his accession to the throne was announced by General Nicholas Zubov, one of the assassins. 1878) and Olga (b. He was a conscientious commander, but he was mortified when most of what Russia had obtained by the Treaty of San Stefano was taken away at the Congress of Berlin under the chairmanship of the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck. His canceling of the planned constitution set into motion events that would eventually take Russia to the brink of annihilation. Alexander III was born in Saint Petersburg on March 10, 1845. 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