Alexander II Biography

Succeeds as Grand Prince of Vladimir

Abdication of Alexander II

Succeeds as Tsar of Russia.

Becomes Tsar after the death of Nicholas I during the Crimean War.

Accepts territorial concessions near the Danube and the return of Kars to the Ottoman Empire under the Paris settlement.

Accepts Black Sea neutralisation and international arrangements for navigation of the Danube.

Is crowned Emperor of Russia in Moscow after succeeding Nicholas I.

Tells Moscow nobles that it is better to abolish serfdom from above than wait for it to end through revolt.

The rights of neutrals in the Danube during time of war are defined.

Accepts the need for peace after military reverses, economic strain and the threat of Austrian intervention.

The Danube is controlled by the great powers and an international commission.

At the Congress of Paris Russia cedes Kars to Turkey.

Cedes territory near the mouth of the Danube.

Accepts neutralisation of the Black Sea under the peace settlement.

The "Four Points" plan is largely adhered to, most notably Russia's special privileges relating to the Danubian Principalities are transferred to the Great Powers.

The Tsar and the Sultan agree not to establish any naval or military arsenal on the coast of the Black Sea. The Treaty of Paris stands until 1871, when France is crushed by Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War.

Warships of all nations are perpetually excluded from the Black Sea, once the home to the Russian fleet (which had been destroyed in the course of the war). Treaty settlement of the Congress of Paris.

Appoints a secret committee to examine proposals for reforming serfdom.

Reorganises the central machinery supervising preparation of the emancipation settlement.

Authorises provincial noble committees to prepare proposals concerning the emancipation of the serfs.

Approves the settlement with Qing China that greatly expands Russian territory along the Amur River.

Supports the editing commissions that turn provincial emancipation proposals into draft legislation.

Russian forces capture Imam Shamil, breaking organised resistance in the eastern Caucasus.

His youngest son, Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, is born.

Russia gains territory east of the Ussuri River through the Convention of Peking with Qing China.

Establishes the State Bank of the Russian Empire as part of wider financial modernisation.

The emancipation settlement grants former serfs legal rights to marry, own property, trade, and use the courts.

Russian authorities use martial law and military force against the January Uprising in Poland.

The emancipation settlement introduces long-term redemption payments for many peasant land allotments.

The emancipation settlement requires many peasants to make long-term redemption payments for land allotments.

Issues the Emancipation Manifesto abolishing the legal institution of serfdom for privately owned peasants.

Authorises publication of the state budget, increasing transparency in imperial finances.

Centralises state finances through treasury reforms designed to improve control of public revenue and expenditure.

A clandestine Polish National Government directs the January Uprising against Russian rule.

Refuses demands for a Polish constitution while the January Uprising challenges Russian authority.

Reconvenes the Finnish Diet after a long interruption, restoring a measure of constitutional activity in Finland.

Extends personal freedom to peasants living on lands belonging to the imperial family.

Rejects Polish constitutional demands as the January Uprising seeks greater national autonomy.

Approves the abolition of many degrading corporal punishments in the Russian military.

The underground Polish National Government coordinates resistance to Russian rule during the January Uprising.

Russian forces defeat the January Uprising and restore imperial control over the Polish territories.

Russian forces suppress the uprising in Warsaw while the imperial government rejects Polish constitutional demands.

Russian authorities suppress the insurgent administration centred on Warsaw during the January Uprising.

Russian forces suppress the January Uprising, and many participants are imprisoned, executed, or exiled.

Strengthens Russian control over Poland after suppressing the January Uprising.

Approves a university statute restoring substantial academic and administrative autonomy to universities.

The zemstvo electoral system gives substantial influence to the landowning nobility.

Creates elected district and provincial zemstvo institutions alongside existing local communal administration.

Extends local self-government through elected district and provincial zemstvo assemblies.

Russian victory over remaining Circassian resistance effectively ends the long Caucasian War.

Zemstvo institutions assume responsibilities for local health, welfare, roads, and education.

Approves judicial statutes creating a more independent and professional court system.

Supports the reorganisation of the empire into military districts to improve administration and mobilisation.

Introduces public and oral court proceedings as part of the judicial reforms.

Judicial reform introduces public trials, professional courts, and trial by jury as part of the Great Reforms.

Introduces trial by jury for major criminal cases under the new judicial system.

Introduces elected zemstvo bodies for local administration in districts and provinces.

The zemstvo electoral system gives the nobility greater representation than its share of the population.

District and provincial zemstvo assemblies become a new tier of elected local government.

Creates zemstvo institutions as part of the wider programme of administrative reform.

Zemstvo assemblies elect executive boards responsible for carrying out local decisions.

Russian forces capture Tashkent during the expansion into Central Asia.

Introduces temporary censorship regulations that reduce prior censorship for parts of the press.

After Nicholas Alexandrovich dies, Alexander Alexandrovich becomes heir to the Russian throne.

His eldest son and heir, Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich, dies after a prolonged illness.

Russian administration establishes control over Tashkent after its capture.

Dmitry Karakozov attempts to shoot Alexander II in Saint Petersburg, but the attack fails.

The failed Karakozov assassination attempt contributes to a more conservative and repressive political climate.

The Karakozov assassination attempt is followed by tighter government supervision of universities.

Extends emancipation arrangements to state peasants, completing another stage of the peasant reforms.

Dmitry Karakozov's failed attack becomes the first major assassination attempt against Alexander II.

Survives an assassination attempt in Paris by Polish nationalist Antoni Berezowski.

Russia agrees to sell Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million.

Congress Poland's separate institutions are dismantled as Russian administrative control is strengthened after the January Uprising.

Approves the sale of Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million.

Creates the Governor-Generalship of Turkestan to administer Russia's expanding Central Asian territories.

After Russian victories in Central Asia, the Emirate of Bukhara accepts Russian supremacy and becomes a protectorate.

Russian forces capture Samarkand during the expansion of imperial power in Central Asia.

Military court procedures are reorganised in line with the broader principles of the judicial reforms.

Russian administration extends control over Samarkand after its capture during the Central Asian campaigns.

A peace settlement after Russian victories places the Emirate of Bukhara under strong Russian influence.

Backs the declaration that Russia will no longer observe the Black Sea restrictions imposed after the Crimean War.

Introduces elected municipal institutions in towns and cities as part of the Great Reforms.

Russia regains the right to maintain naval forces and arsenals in the Black Sea.

Russia repudiates the Black Sea restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Paris, and the change is accepted internationally in 1871.

The postwar settlement restricting Russian naval power in the Black Sea is overturned in 1871.

Meets the emperors of Germany and Austria, helping prepare the diplomatic cooperation later called the Three Emperors' League.

Russian diplomacy accepts Afghanistan as lying outside its direct sphere while consolidating influence over Bukhara and territories north of the Amu Darya.

Russian and British diplomacy clarifies spheres of influence around Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Russia establishes a protectorate over the Khanate of Khiva after a military campaign.

Joins the diplomatic understanding between the emperors of Russia, Germany, and Austria.

Participates in the Three Emperors' diplomatic understanding with Germany and Austria.

His daughter Maria Alexandrovna marries Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.

Reduces active military service and links shorter service terms to educational attainment.

Approves universal military service, replacing the older class-based system of long-term recruitment.

Supports diplomatic efforts to address unrest in the Ottoman Balkans while initially avoiding immediate war.

Under the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, Russia cedes the Kurile Islands to Japan in exchange for undisputed possession of Sakhalin.

Under the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, Japan recognises undisputed Russian sovereignty over Sakhalin.

The Treaty of Saint Petersburg gives Russia undisputed possession of Sakhalin while Japan receives the Kurile Islands.

Approves the annexation of the Khanate of Kokand into the Russian Empire.

Russia participates in international negotiations seeking reforms for Christian populations in the Ottoman Balkans.

Approves restrictions on publishing and public performance in the Ukrainian language.

Russian forces capture Kars during the Russo-Turkish War.

Russian forces capture Plevna after a prolonged siege during the Russo-Turkish War.

Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan crisis.

Britain warns Russia against occupying Constantinople as Russian armies advance toward the Ottoman capital.

Russia retains Batum and Ardahan as territorial gains confirmed by the Congress of Berlin.

Russian forces occupy Adrianople as the Ottoman army retreats toward Constantinople.

Accepts a revised Balkan settlement after the European powers reduce many Russian gains from San Stefano.

Russia recovers southern Bessarabia under the settlement reached at the Congress of Berlin.

The Treaty of San Stefano ends the war and creates a large autonomous Bulgaria while recognising the independence of Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania.

Accepts a treaty declaration that Batum is intended to become an essentially commercial free port.

Receives southern Bessarabia from Romania under the territorial provisions of the Treaty of Berlin.

Accepts the reduction of the large Bulgaria established at San Stefano in return for international recognition of other Russian gains.

Retains Kars, Ardahan and Batum as major Russian gains from the war with the Ottoman Empire.

Accepts restoration of Bayazid and the Alashkerd valley to the Ottoman Empire.

Creates emergency governor-generalships with extensive powers to combat revolutionary violence.

People's Will attempts to destroy the imperial train with explosives, but the attack fails.

Survives an assassination attempt when Alexander Soloviev fires repeatedly at him near the Winter Palace.

Abolishes the Third Section and transfers political policing functions to the Ministry of the Interior.

Marries his long-time companion Catherine Dolgorukova in a morganatic marriage after the death of Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

Creates the Supreme Executive Commission under Mikhail Loris-Melikov to coordinate action against political violence.

Survives a bomb explosion in the Winter Palace planted by revolutionary Stepan Khalturin.

Approves a proposal for limited consultative participation in legislation shortly before his assassination.

Members of People's Will attack Alexander II in Saint Petersburg; a second bomb mortally wounds him.

Dies in Saint Petersburg after being mortally wounded in a People's Will bomb attack.