ALEXANDER I

By: Kaitlyn Krinock

Alexander I Early Life

Born December 23 (December 12) 1777
In St. Petersburg, Russia
Emperor of Russia from 1801-1825
Parents
Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich
Grand Duchess Maria Fyodorovna
Grandmother
Reigning Empress Catherine II The Great

Taken from parents and raised by grandmother to prep

him to succeed her

Did not want her son, Pavel, to succeed her.
Thought he lacked stability

Alexander I

Portrait of Alexander

Alexander I Childhood
Visited father, Pavel, at Gatchina, away from the court
Alexander received military training during this time
Educated until age 16, when he got married in 1973
Married Princess Louise of Baden-Durlach
She was 14

Catherine died on November 17 (November 6) 1796

Wrote manifesto that deprived rights of throne from son, Pavel
Manifesto was not disclosed, so he inherited the throne

Alexander I

Portrait of Catherine,
Alexanders
grandmother.

Alexander Is fathers reign

Paul Is reign had tyrannical and bizarre behavior
Led to a plot against him by noblemen and military men
Assassinated during the night of March 23 (March 11) 1801
Alexander became tsar the next day
He knew of the plan to kill his father
The people behind it thought it would make him listen to them

Alexanders traits
Handsome, strong, pleasant, humane, full of enthusiasm
Strived for a happy reign with great reforms

Alexander Is reign
Founded the Private Committee
Made up of four noble men
Prince Adam Czartoryski, Count Pavel Stroganov, Count Viktor
Kochubey, and Nikolay Novosilstev
Purpose was to frame good laws, which are the source of

the well-being of the Nation

Made it his mission to correct the injustices from his
fathers reign
Principal achievement was vast public education

Alexander Is Education Plans

Formed a variety of new schools
Institutions for training teachers
Founded three new universities
St. Petersburg
Kharkov
Kazan

Alexander I

National University of
Kharkov, created by
Alexander

Alexander Is view on serfs

Believed the institution of serfdom was a degradation that

kept Russia behind

Lacked the energy that was necessary to carry though
with abolition of serfdom reform
Liberating the serfs upset the noble masters of the
country
Modernization was not an option because of serfdom
Russia was at least a century behind the rest of Europe
during Alexander Is reign

Foreign Policy
Alexander displayed inconstant decisions to internal

reforms
He then decided to focus on foreign policy
He hoped for peace and unity
He wanted to be a mediator in foreign policy, like his
grandmother had been
Resealed an alliance between Russia and England
Maintained good relations with France
Treaty of friendship was signed with Prussia
Friendly relations with Austria

Alexander I

The map of Russia

starting in 1801,
showing acquisitions

War against Napoleon

Declared war against him in 1804
Napoleon desired world domination was encroaching upon
Russias territory
Alexander relied on Austrian generals
Relied on counsel of Russian general Prince Kutuzov
On December 2, the Austrians were defeated
This caused Austria to sign a peace treaty with Napoleon
Napoleon battled Prussia in 1806 and Russia went to their

aid
Napoleon then defeated both of them

Alexander I

Painting of the battle at

the Askerna River

Agreement with Napoleon

Napoleon agreed to give Russia liberty if Alexander

agreed to several things

He agreed to
Break the alliance with England
Adhere to the Continental System
And recognize the creation of the territory of Warsaw

Aftermath of agreements with Napoleon

The Russian people were humiliated and angry
Breaking the alliance with England would create a disastrous
economic position
Alexander focused on reorganizing and strengthening the

Russian army
His popularity dropped among the people
He focused once again on internal reforms
Appointed Speransky to help with the reforms
Remarkable legal writer

Planned to reorganize the Russian legal structure

Created a complete collection of Russian laws
Many of which were not applied

More Napoleon
War broke out between France and Austria in 1809
When Alexander didnt aid France, Napoleon got mad
Napoleon realized Alexander wasnt holding up his part of

the agreement they made

The Russian people had hostility towards Napoleon
This became apparent among the court as well
This led to Alexander exiling his legal advisor, Speransky

He then adopted reactionary ideas of a patriotic group that

was led by his sister, the grand duchess Yekaterina

Pavlovna.

Napoleon Invasion
Napoleon invaded Russia on June 24, 1812
Napoleon was accompanied by his Grand Army of 600,000 men
Conflict was termed the Patriotic War
This war changed Alexander
Gave him energy and determination
The French advanced as the Russians retreated
Napoleon believed that capturing Moscow would be the

end of the war, but it wasnt

They burned Moscow to the ground

Alexander name Kutusoz supreme commander

Which aided Russia to defeat Napoleon

Defeating Napoleon
Alexander claimed that the burning of Moscow

illuminated his soul

He had enthusiasm, perseverance, and determination to
triumph
This brought the king of Prussia and the emperor of Austria and all

allies to victory at Leipzig in October 1813.

Alexander wanted no peace until he reached Paris

He entered Paris triumphantly in March 1814
He showed generosity towards France and claimed the

war was against Napoleon, not the French people

Alexander I

Napoleon & Frances

burning of Moscow

Alliances
Alexander quickly became the most powerful sovereign in

Europe
His allies now feared his power
They also opposed the annexation of Poland to Russia
Napoleon was exiled to Elba
He returned, regained the throne
The war continued

The war ended in the final defeat of the allies at Waterloo

on June 18, 1815

Turning Point for Alexander

Alexander reached a turning point after the conclusion of

the war
He became religious
Read the bible daily and prayed often

He obtained Poland and set it up as a kingdom

He made himself king
Gave Poland a constitution, declaring his attachment to free
institutions
This excited the people of Russia
But, when Alexander returned, he was no longer thinking of

reforms

He devoted his attention to the Russian Bible Society and

the military colonies

Holy Alliance
Alexander formed the Holy Alliance after the Second

Treaty of Paris
Was supposed to bring about a peace based on Christian
love to the monarchs and people of Europe
This European federation was built on ecumenical
foundations rather than political
This ended when a series of uprisings in Italy and Spain
broke out and the Holy Allies responded with bloody
repression

Alexander I

Image of countries that

were included in the
Holy Alliance

The End of Alexander I

After the sad ending of the Holy Allies, he ended his

dreams of liberalization
All revolt appeared to him as a rebellion against God
His foreign policy severely changed
He shocked his country when he refused to support the
Greeks
During this time, Alexander took a step back.
He appointed someone to take care of everything for him

Secret societies were made and spread across the

country
Alexander was warned, but he did not act decisively

The End of Alexander I

His wife was ill, so he took her to Taganrog
They both enjoyed their time and were happy there
When Alexander was on a tour of inspection in Crimea, he

contracted pneumonia or malaria and died on his return to

Taganrog