Alexander

Alexander, name of 3 Russian tsars. Alexander I (1777–1825) succeeded his father, Paul I, in 1801. In 1805 he joined England and Austria against Napoleon. After French victories Napoleon proposed Franco-Russian domination of Europe, but mutual mistrust came to a head, and Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812. The French were defeated, and in 1815 Alexander formed a coalition with Austria and Prussia, the Holy Alliance. At his death, Russia faced economic ruin and rebellion. Alexander II (1818–81) succeeded his father, Nicholas I, in 1855. He was responsible for the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, but he was assassinated when his domestic reforms did not satisfy populist groups. In foreign policies he was a moderate, making peace in the Crimea and extending Russian power in the Far East as well as in Central Asia. Alexander III (1845–94) succeeded his father, Alexander II, in 1881. He discarded the latter's proposals for moderate reform in favor of rigid repression and persecution of minorities.