History of Russia
Heads of the stateTHE ROMANOVS
Emperor Alexander III (1845 - 1894)
Reign
1881 - 1894Parents:
Emperor Alexander I Nikolaevich and Empress Maria Alexandrovna.
Wife:
Maria Fedorovna, Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar of Denmark (1847-1928).
Married: 28 October 1866.
Children of Alexander III and Maria Fedorovna:
Nikolai Alexandrovich (see Nicholas II)
Georgy Alexandrovich (1871-1899) was the heir to the throne after the accession of Nicholas II (1894). He died of tuberculosis.
Xenia Alexandrovna (1875-1960) married her third cousin Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich.
Mikhail Alexandrovich (1878-1918) was the heir to the throne between Georgy's death (1899) and the birth of Nicholas's son Alexei (1904). He commanded the Wild Division and the Second Cavalry Corps during the First World War (1914-1917) and was made a lieutenant general (1916). Married Natalia Sheremetevskaya (1912). He refused the throne after the abdication of Nicholas II (1917) and was shot by the Bolsheviks in Perm (1918).
Olga Alexandrovna (1882-1960) married Duke Petr Fedorovich Georg of Oldenburg (1901). After divorcing him, she married Nikolai Kulikovsky (1916). She emigrated after the revilution and died in Canada.
Important events:
......1818-1894 Although German in blood, Alexander III was Russian in character. He was physically strong and deeply religious. The emperor did not like lies, flattery, gossip, ceremonies or long speeches. In his private life, he was modest and simple.
......1881-1894 The emperor was independent in his dealings with foreign kings. Once, when fishing at Gatchina, an aide-de-camp informed him that an important telegram had arrived from Europe. Alexander replied: "While the Russian tsar is fishing. Europe can wait".
Alexander III was born in St Petersburg on 26 February 1845. He was educated by Boris Perovsky, a former head of the Communication Engineers. The grand duke's other tutors weresuch leading Russian scholars as Jacob Grot, Baron Modest Korf, General Mikhail Dragomirov and Konstantin Pobedonostsev. Alexander received a good education and knew German, French and English. His favourite writer was Mikhail Lermontov and he learnt to play the French horn.
The sudden death of his elder brother Nikolai on 12 April 1865 meant that Alexander was now the heir to the Russian throne. He acquitted himself well during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78), when he commanded the Ruschuk-sky detachment and was awarded the Order of St George (second class).
Alexander became emperor of Russia after the assassination of his father in 1881. He was crowned in Moscow on 15 May 1883, a date he preferred to forget, rather than celebrate: "I do not consider that day a holiday and do not accept any congratulations".
Alexander inherited the throne at a difficult time for Russia. One half of society was discontented at the slow pace of reforms, while the other half feared change. The Russian economy had still not recovered from the war with Turkey. The widespread terror unleashed by revolutionaries had led to the formation of a counter-revolutionary group of monarchists called the Holy Militia.
For security reasons, Alexander III was obliged to live away from the capial in Gatchina, where the royal palace had an underground passage leading to the park. From there, he set about restoring law and order in Russia/ The emperor introduced a series of harsh security measures on 14 August 1881.
This was followed by laws designed to ease the life of the peasantry. The tsar lowered redemption payments and the compulsory purchase of peasant plots (1881), founded the Peasant Land Bank (1882) and abolished the poll tax introduced by Peter the Great (1886). He regulated working conditions in factories, limiting the hours worked by women and children (1882).
Alexander III transformed other areas of Russia life, provoking discontent among many sections of the population. The intelligentsia condemned the new university statutes, abolishing the autonomy of the universities (1884). They also condemned the decision of Count Ivan Delyanov, minister of education, to prohibit the "children of servants, laundresses and cooks" from studying at grammar schools (1888).
One of Alexander's most popular reforms was a new version of the law on the Imperial family, limiting the number of grand dukes on the civil list (2 July 1886). The emperor firmly adhered to the principle of "Russia for Russians" and strengthened the power of the administration.
In foreign policy, Alexander III broke with the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy and sought a rapprochement with France. In 1892, Russia signed a military alliance with France to counterbalance German aggression in Europe, providing many years of peace and stability on the continent. Personally, Alexander believed that Russia only had two allies - her army and navy - and that the other European nations were not interested in a strong and powerful Russia. The emperor was independent in his dealings with foreign kings. Once, when fishing at Gatchina, an aide-de-camp informed him that an important telegram had arrived from Europe. Alexander replied: "While the Russian tsar is fishing. Europe can wait". By skilful diplomacy, he managed to raise Russia's prestige on the international arena, while maintaining law and order inside his own borders. For this, the tsar was known as the "peace-maker".
Although German in blood, Alexander III was Russian in character. He was physically strong and deeply religious. The emperor did not like lies, flattery, gossip, ceremonies or long speeches. In his private life, he was modest and simple.
Alexander III cultivated the Russian school of painting. He was a connoisseur of art and collected pictures by Russian masters (mostly Realist painters). The Russian Museum was founded at his initiative and awarded the collection of national painting in the Imperial Hermitage. Before the revolution, the Russian Museum carried his name.
On 28 October 1866, Alexander married his tenth cousin, Princess Maria Sophie Frederikke Dagmar of Denmark. Before then, she had been the fiancee of his elder brother Nikolai, who died in 1865. Dagmar converted to Orthodoxy as Grand Duchess Maria Fedorovna.
Small, elegant and charming, Maria Fedorovna was the complete opposite of Alexander. She adored balls, which he abhorred. She was an accomplished rider, while he feared horses. One of their few points of common interest was a love of painting. The empress was an accomplished artist and several of her works are now in the collections of Russian museum.
Alexander was an exemplary father. He was deeply attached to his wife, whom he called "Minnie". Maria Fedorovna bore him six children. When he died, she fell into a dead faint. The empress managed to escape from Russia after the revolution, dying in Denmark in 1928 at the age of eighty-one. She spent fifty-two years of her life in Russia.
In 1888, the Imperial train crashed near Borki in Kharkiv Province. The tsar held up the mangled root of the carriage, so, he damaged his kidneys. On 2 November 1894, Alexander III died at the age of forty-nine in Livadia in the Crimea. He was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
Wife:
Maria Fedorovna, Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar of Denmark (1847-1928).
Married: 28 October 1866.
Children of Alexander III and Maria Fedorovna:
Nikolai Alexandrovich (see Nicholas II)
Georgy Alexandrovich (1871-1899) was the heir to the throne after the accession of Nicholas II (1894). He died of tuberculosis.
Xenia Alexandrovna (1875-1960) married her third cousin Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich.
Mikhail Alexandrovich (1878-1918) was the heir to the throne between Georgy's death (1899) and the birth of Nicholas's son Alexei (1904). He commanded the Wild Division and the Second Cavalry Corps during the First World War (1914-1917) and was made a lieutenant general (1916). Married Natalia Sheremetevskaya (1912). He refused the throne after the abdication of Nicholas II (1917) and was shot by the Bolsheviks in Perm (1918).
Olga Alexandrovna (1882-1960) married Duke Petr Fedorovich Georg of Oldenburg (1901). After divorcing him, she married Nikolai Kulikovsky (1916). She emigrated after the revilution and died in Canada.
Important events:
- 1881 - Capture of Ashkhabad.
- 6 June 1881 - Renewal of the League of Three Emperors.
- 28 December 1881 - Lowering of redemption payments and compulsory purchase of peasant plots.
- 24 June 1882 - First flight of an aeroplane designed by Alexander Mozhaisky.
- 1882 - Foundation of the Peasant Land Bank, Abolition of the poll tax. New factory laws. Temporaly rules on the press.
- 1883 - Georgy Plekhanov founds the Emancipation of Labour group in Geneva.
- 1884 - New university statutes abolishing the autonomy of the universities. Introduction of church school in rural parishes.
- 1885 - Foundation of the Nobles Land Bank, Final annexation of Central Asia. Morozov Mill Strike. Russo-Afghan border conflict. Annexation of Merv.
- 6 June 1887 - Signing of Russo-German treaty in Berlin.
- 12 June 1888 - Opening of the first Siberian university in Tomsk.
- 1889 - Village communes brought under closer control by the introduction of the institution of land commandant and the abolition of the office of elected justice of the peace.
- 12 June 1890 - Reform of rural assemblies reducing the influence of the peasants and giving greater weight to the votes of the nobility.
- 1891 - Start of construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway )completed 1905).
- 1891-92 - Famine on the Volga.
- 1892 - Limitations on rural and urban self-government. Secret Franco-Russian military alliance. New customs laws.
- 1893 - Tariff war with Germany.
......1818-1894 Although German in blood, Alexander III was Russian in character. He was physically strong and deeply religious. The emperor did not like lies, flattery, gossip, ceremonies or long speeches. In his private life, he was modest and simple.
......1881-1894 The emperor was independent in his dealings with foreign kings. Once, when fishing at Gatchina, an aide-de-camp informed him that an important telegram had arrived from Europe. Alexander replied: "While the Russian tsar is fishing. Europe can wait".
Alexander III was born in St Petersburg on 26 February 1845. He was educated by Boris Perovsky, a former head of the Communication Engineers. The grand duke's other tutors weresuch leading Russian scholars as Jacob Grot, Baron Modest Korf, General Mikhail Dragomirov and Konstantin Pobedonostsev. Alexander received a good education and knew German, French and English. His favourite writer was Mikhail Lermontov and he learnt to play the French horn.
The sudden death of his elder brother Nikolai on 12 April 1865 meant that Alexander was now the heir to the Russian throne. He acquitted himself well during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78), when he commanded the Ruschuk-sky detachment and was awarded the Order of St George (second class).
Alexander became emperor of Russia after the assassination of his father in 1881. He was crowned in Moscow on 15 May 1883, a date he preferred to forget, rather than celebrate: "I do not consider that day a holiday and do not accept any congratulations".
Alexander inherited the throne at a difficult time for Russia. One half of society was discontented at the slow pace of reforms, while the other half feared change. The Russian economy had still not recovered from the war with Turkey. The widespread terror unleashed by revolutionaries had led to the formation of a counter-revolutionary group of monarchists called the Holy Militia.
For security reasons, Alexander III was obliged to live away from the capial in Gatchina, where the royal palace had an underground passage leading to the park. From there, he set about restoring law and order in Russia/ The emperor introduced a series of harsh security measures on 14 August 1881.
This was followed by laws designed to ease the life of the peasantry. The tsar lowered redemption payments and the compulsory purchase of peasant plots (1881), founded the Peasant Land Bank (1882) and abolished the poll tax introduced by Peter the Great (1886). He regulated working conditions in factories, limiting the hours worked by women and children (1882).
Alexander III transformed other areas of Russia life, provoking discontent among many sections of the population. The intelligentsia condemned the new university statutes, abolishing the autonomy of the universities (1884). They also condemned the decision of Count Ivan Delyanov, minister of education, to prohibit the "children of servants, laundresses and cooks" from studying at grammar schools (1888).
One of Alexander's most popular reforms was a new version of the law on the Imperial family, limiting the number of grand dukes on the civil list (2 July 1886). The emperor firmly adhered to the principle of "Russia for Russians" and strengthened the power of the administration.
In foreign policy, Alexander III broke with the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy and sought a rapprochement with France. In 1892, Russia signed a military alliance with France to counterbalance German aggression in Europe, providing many years of peace and stability on the continent. Personally, Alexander believed that Russia only had two allies - her army and navy - and that the other European nations were not interested in a strong and powerful Russia. The emperor was independent in his dealings with foreign kings. Once, when fishing at Gatchina, an aide-de-camp informed him that an important telegram had arrived from Europe. Alexander replied: "While the Russian tsar is fishing. Europe can wait". By skilful diplomacy, he managed to raise Russia's prestige on the international arena, while maintaining law and order inside his own borders. For this, the tsar was known as the "peace-maker".
Although German in blood, Alexander III was Russian in character. He was physically strong and deeply religious. The emperor did not like lies, flattery, gossip, ceremonies or long speeches. In his private life, he was modest and simple.
Alexander III cultivated the Russian school of painting. He was a connoisseur of art and collected pictures by Russian masters (mostly Realist painters). The Russian Museum was founded at his initiative and awarded the collection of national painting in the Imperial Hermitage. Before the revolution, the Russian Museum carried his name.
On 28 October 1866, Alexander married his tenth cousin, Princess Maria Sophie Frederikke Dagmar of Denmark. Before then, she had been the fiancee of his elder brother Nikolai, who died in 1865. Dagmar converted to Orthodoxy as Grand Duchess Maria Fedorovna.
Small, elegant and charming, Maria Fedorovna was the complete opposite of Alexander. She adored balls, which he abhorred. She was an accomplished rider, while he feared horses. One of their few points of common interest was a love of painting. The empress was an accomplished artist and several of her works are now in the collections of Russian museum.
Alexander was an exemplary father. He was deeply attached to his wife, whom he called "Minnie". Maria Fedorovna bore him six children. When he died, she fell into a dead faint. The empress managed to escape from Russia after the revolution, dying in Denmark in 1928 at the age of eighty-one. She spent fifty-two years of her life in Russia.
In 1888, the Imperial train crashed near Borki in Kharkiv Province. The tsar held up the mangled root of the carriage, so, he damaged his kidneys. On 2 November 1894, Alexander III died at the age of forty-nine in Livadia in the Crimea. He was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
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