Brain Busters: Tsar Alexander II

By Jeylyn Portillo-Duarte

Alexander II was the Emperor of Russia, King of Poland, and the Grand Duke of Finland from March 2nd, 1855, to March 13th, 1881. Alexander inherited the throne as Russia fought in the Crimean War, but the defeat of Russia caused him to reform the country. He wanted to catch Russia up along with the rapid modernization of the rest of Europe. He created companies, freed the economic market, reduced censorship, and what he is best known for, emancipating the serfs, which had halted any economic growth for decades. He was known as “Alexander the Liberator” among the people because of this.

Although he reformed Russia, the Tsar was still not a popular figure; especially when compared to the rest of Europe where the monarchies were being replaced by other forms of government. In 1879, the Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will) committee, a twenty-two member organization, conspired together to kill Alexander II in hopes that it would spark a revolution. There were several assassination attempts over the next year and a half but none of them were successful. However, the group did not give up.

The committee decided to try again as the Tsar returned to the Winter Palace from his usual Sunday routine. They studied his path for months and came up with two separate groups that would each guard the two transited routes. The first group of bombers would roam the street and the second group would be stationed along a canal. Bizarrely, the group also opened up a cheese store which they used to conceal their true actions; they were actually digging a tunnel to the middle of the street which they filled with more dynamite. When everything was set up, the leader of the assassination squad was arrested which led to his wife leading the operation.

The Tsar traveled back to the Winter Palace in an enclosed horse drawn carriage. However, the Tsar decided to visit his cousin which meant he avoided the mine. The leader in charge blew her nose to signal the assassins to move into the canal.

At 2:15pm, the carriage entered the quay and it encountered a member carrying a bomb wrapped in a handkerchief. He received a signal and threw the bomb underneath the Tsar’s carriage, fatally wounding a soldier who followed behind. The bomb had only damaged the bulletproof carriage and the emperor exited unharmed. The police chief begged the Tsar to leave immediately and offered to drive him back in a sleigh, to which he agreed. But first he looked at his aggressor and then addressed the civilians saying, “Thank God, I’m untouched.”

Right then, from the crowd emerged a second conspirator who threw a bomb at his feet. The second explosion echoed through the air and both the emperor and assassin fell to the ground, mortally injuring both. The explosion hurt about twenty people, and Alexander was leaning on his right arm, gravely injured. He asked to be taken back to the palace so he could die in peace. To commemorate him, a shrine was built in his honor in the spot where he was attacked. Tsar Alexander II had died at the Winter Palace shortly after his arrival, but no revolution came of it yet. The throne would then be inherited by a repressive ruler, undoing Alexander’s progress.