In the never-ending see-saw that was Romanov rule in Russia, a truly forward-thinking Tsar finally came to power in 1855. Alexander II accomplished Catherine the Great’s never-achieved emancipation of Russia’s serfs, among a host of other good-government reforms, leading his newly free and suddenly energized public to call him Alexander the Liberator. Likely influenced by…
Tag: Russia
19. Grand Duke Nicholas Konstantinovich of Russia
Not every Romanov Nicholas got to be a Tsar. In the latter part of the 19th and early 20th century, the grandson of Nicholas I, Grand Duke Nicholas Konstantinovich, drove his royal family absolutely batty. The first in his family to go to college (as we would put it today), the dapper military hero scandalized…
18. Nicholas I of Russia
Upon the death (or departure?) of Russia’s Alexander I in 1825, an unusual power struggle developed between his two surviving brothers. The eldest, Constantine, declined the opportunity to take power, leaving Nicholas, the youngest son of Paul I, the only legitimate candidate. The delay, and apparent passing over of the next in line, prompted an…
16. Alexander I of Russia
In the see-saw nature of Russian leadership, Catherine the Great had died before establishing her grandson, the future Alexander I, as her heir, leaving Alexander’s father, Paul I, to take the big chair in his stead. This… went poorly for Paul, who was assassinated by a group of his nobles after just four and a…
15. Emperor Paul I of Russia
As the long reign of Catherine the Great wound down, she made moves to ensure the succession of her grandson, Alexander, but those were still incomplete by the time she died. Instead, it was her estranged son Paul who became emperor, and while his reign was not long, it was spiteful and much reviled by…
14. Catherine the Great
One of history’s great ironies is that one of Russia’s most successful periods occurred under the leadership of a monarch with not a drop of Russian blood. Catherine II, better known as Catherine the Great, was a minor Prussian princess whose fairly horrible mother set her sights on achieving notoriety through her daughter. Fortunately for…
13. Empress Anna of Russia
It feels safe to say that when Russians recall a leader’s reign as a “dark era,” we’re into some deeply, deeply dark events. Empress Anna, a niece of Peter the (Not So) Great, had survived many humiliations before Russia’s Supreme Privy Council elevated her to Empress; they thought she would be easy to control, but…
10. Peter The (Not So) Great
Pausing from the messiness of Plantagenet England, Alicia takes us on a trip to the east to visit Mother Russia, circa 1700, where the Romanov Tsar Peter the Great was busily acquiring lands, founding cities, and reforming the institutions of a country that – largely through his efforts – would become a major player on…