Aleksandr Pavlovich Romanov or Tsar Alexander I (The Blessed), (Russian: Александр I Павлович) (December 23, 1777–December 1, 1825), Emperor of Russia (reigned March 23, 1801–December 1, 1825), King of Poland (reigned 1815–1825), son of the Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, afterwards Paul I, and Maria Fedorovna, daughter of the Duke of Württemberg. December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (358th in leap years). ... 1777 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1825 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Tsar (Bulgarian цар, Russian царь,  listen; often spelled Czar or Tzar and sometimes Csar or Zar in English), was the title used for the autocratic rulers of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires since 913, in Serbia in the middle of the 14th century, and in Russia from 1547 to... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... 1801 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1825 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Poland was ruled by dukes (c. ... 1815 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1825 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Paul I of Russia Paul I of Russia (Russian: Pavel Petrovich, Павел I Петрович) (October 1, 1754 - March 23, 1801) was an Emperor (Tsar) of Russia (1796 - 1801). ... Portrait of Maria Fyodorovna in 1777 by Alexander Roslin Sophie Marie Dorothea Auguste Louise of Württemberg or Maria Fyodorovna (Russian: )(October 25, 1759 - November 5, 1828) the second wife of Tsar Paul I of Russia. ... Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg (21 January 1732-23 December 1797), the fourth son of Duke Karl Alexander and Maria Augusta Anna of Thurn und Taxis (11 August 1706) - 1 February 1756). ...

Alexander I of Russia

Portrait for Alexander I of Russia This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...

A mysterious person

The strange contradictions of his character make Alexander one of the most interesting Czars, as he is one of the most important figures in the history of the 19th century. Autocrat and "Jacobin", man of the world and mystic, he appeared to his contemporaries as a riddle which each read according to his own temperament. Napoleon I thought him a "shifty Byzantine", and called him the Talma of the North, as ready to play any conspicuous part. To Metternich he was a madman to be humoured. Castlereagh, writing of him to Lord Liverpool, gives him credit for "grand qualities," but adds that he is "suspicious and undecided". Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... In the context of the French Revolution, a Jacobin originally meant a member of the Jacobin Club (1789-1794). ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Klemens Wenzel von Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneberg-Beilstein (May 15, 1773 – June 11, 1858) (sometimes rendered in English as Prince Klemens Metternich) was an Austrian politician and statesman and perhaps the most important diplomat of his era. ... Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, (June 18, 1769 – August 12, 1822), known until 1821 by his courtesy title of Viscount Castlereagh, was an Anglo-Irish politician born in Dublin who represented the United Kingdom at the Congress of Vienna. ...

His education

His complex nature resulted, in truth, from the outcome of the complex character of his early environment and education. Reared in the free-thinking atmosphere of the court of Catherine the Great, he had imbibed from his Swiss tutor, Frederic Cesar de Laharpe, the principles of Rousseau's gospel of humanity; from his military governor, General Soltikov, the traditions of Russian autocracy; while his father had inspired him with his own passion of military parade, and taught him to combine a theoretical love of mankind with a practical contempt for men. These contradictory tendencies remained with him through life, revealed in the fluctuations of his policy and influencing through him the fate of the world. H.I.M. Ekaterina II Aleksejevna the Great, Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias Catherine II (Екатерина II Алексеевна: Yekaterína II Alekséyevna, April 21, 1729 - November 6, 1796 (O.S.)), born Sophie Augusta Fredericka, known as Catherine the Great, reigned as empress of Russia from June 28, 1762, to... Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean Jacques Rousseau (June 28, 1712 – July 2, 1778) was a Franco-Swiss philosopher, writer, political theorist, and self-taught composer of The Age of Enlightenment. ... Mankind may refer to: Human beings and their society An alias of professional wrestler Mick Foley The MMORTS Mankind The morality play Mankind. ... This article concerns how a man differs from women. ... Destiny concerns the fixed natural order of the universe. ... The World in plate carrée projection The World In English, world is rooted in a compound of the obsolete words were, man, and eld, age; thus, its oldest meaning is Age of Man. ...

The murder of his father

Another element in his character emerged when on March 23, 1801 he mounted the throne over the body of his murdered father: a mystic melancholy liable at any moment to issue in extravagant action. At first, indeed, this exercised but little influence on the Emperor's life. Young, emotional, impressionable, well-meaning and egotistic, Alexander displayed from the first an intention of playing a great part on the world's stage, and plunged with all the ardour of youth into the task of realizing his political ideals. While retaining for a time the old ministers who had served and overthrown the Emperor Paul, one of the first acts of his reign was to appoint a secret committee, called ironically the "Comite du salut public", consisting of young and enthusiastic friends of his own - Victor Kochubey, Nikolay Novosiltsev, Pavel Stroganov and Adam Jerzy Czartoryski - to draw up a scheme of internal reform. Most importantly the liberal Mikhail Speransky became one of the Tsar's closest advisors, and drew up many plans for elaborate reforms. Their aims, inspired by their admiration for English institutions, far outstripped the possibilities of the time, and even after they had been raised to regular ministerial positions but little of their programme could come to pass. For Russia was not ripe for liberty; and Alexander, the disciple of the revolutionist Laharpe, was—as he himself said—but "a happy accident" on the throne of the tsars. He spoke, indeed, bitterly of "the state of barbarism in which the country had been left by the traffic in men." March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... 1801 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Tsar, (Bulgarian цар�, Russian царь; often spelled Czar or Tzar in English), was the title used for the autocratic rulers of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires since 913, in Serbia in the middle of the 14th century, and in Russia from 1547 to 1917. ... A minister or a secretary is a politician who heads a government ministry or department (e. ... The Committee of Public Safety (French: le Comité de Salut Public), set up by the National Convention on April 6, 1793, formed the de facto executive government of France during the Reign of Terror (1793 - 1794) of the French Revolution. ... Count Nikolay Nikolayevich Novosiltsev (Russian: ) (1761-1836) is Russian statesman and a close aide to Alexander I of Russia. ... Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov (Russian: ) (1772-1817) was Russian military commander and statesman, Lieutenant General, Adjutant General to Alexander I of Russia. ... Noble Family Czartoryski Coat of Arms Czartoryski Parents Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski Izabela Fleming Consorts Anna Zofia Sapieha Children with Anna Zofia Sapieha Witold Czartoryski Władysław Czartoryski Izabella Elżbieta Czartoryska Date of Birth January 14, 1770 Place of Birth Warsaw, Poland Date of Death July 15, 1861 Place of Death Montfermeil... Count Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky (1772-1839) was probably the greatest of Russian reformers in the period between Peter the Great and Alexander the Liberator. ... Union Flag (1606-1800) The Kingdom of Great Britain, also sometimes known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was created by the merging of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England under the 1707 Act of Union to create a single kingdom encompassing the whole of Great... Liberty, or freedom, is a condition in which an individual has immunity from the arbitrary exercise of authority. ... Look up Revolution in Wiktionary, the free dictionary This article is about revolution in the sense of a drastic change. ... A barbarism is a word or expression that is not standard in a language. ...

The start of his reign

"Under Paul," he said, "three thousand peasants had been given away like a bag of diamonds. If civilization were more advanced, I would abolish this slavery, if it cost me my head". But the universal corruption, he complained, had left him no men; and the filling up of the government offices with Germans and other foreigners merely accentuated the sullen resistance of the "old Russians" to his reforms. That Alexander's reign, which began with so large a promise of amelioration, ended by riveting still tighter the chains of the Russian people was, however, due less to the corruption and backwardness of Russian life than to the defects of the tsar himself. His love of liberty, though sincere, was in fact unreal. It flattered his vanity to pose before the world as the dispenser of benefits; but his theoretical liberalism linked with an autocratic will which brooked no contradiction. "You always want to instruct me!" he exclaimed to Derzhavin, the Minister of Justice, "but I am the autocratic emperor, and I will this, and nothing else!" "He would gladly have agreed," wrote Prince Czartoryski, "that every one should be free, if every one had freely done only what he wished." Moreover, this masterful temper joined an infirmity of purpose which ever let "I dare not wait upon I would," and which seized upon any excuse for postponing measures the principles of which he had publicly approved. In a detail of Brueghels Land of Cockaigne (1567) a soft-boiled egg has little feet to rush to the luxuriating peasant who catches drops of honey on his tongue, while roast pigs roam wild: the 16th century was a good time for European peasants A peasant, from 15th... A scattering of round-brilliant cut diamonds shows off the many reflecting facets. ... A civilization or civilisation has a variety of meanings related to human society. ... A monument celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, erected in Victoria Tower Gardens, Millbank, Westminster, London Look up Slavery in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Slavery is a condition of control over a person against their will, enforced by violence or other forms of coercion. ... For other uses of the word head, see head (disambiguation). ... Vanity is similar to pride, but it involves an excessive admiration of oneself because of ones real or imaginary skills, talents, accomplishments, or appearance. ... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Liberal democracy History of democracy Referenda Representative democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by ideology... Autocracy is a form of government where unlimited power is held by a single individual. ... Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin (Гаврила Романович Державин, 1743 – 1816) was the greatest Russian poet before Alexander Pushkin. ... The Justice Minister is a cabinet position in a government. ...

The laws

The codification of the laws initiated in 1801 was never carried out during his reign; nothing was done to improve the intolerable status of the Russian peasantry; the constitution drawn up by Mikhail Speransky, and passed by the emperor, remained unsigned. Alexander, in fact, who, without being consciously tyrannical, possessed in full measure the tyrant's characteristic distrust of men of ability and independent judgment, lacked also the first requisite for a reforming sovereign: confidence in his people; and it was this want that vitiated such reforms as were actually realized. He experimented in the outlying provinces of his Empire; and the Russians noted with open murmurs that, not content with governing through foreign instruments, he was conferring on Poland, Finland and the Baltic provinces benefits denied to themselves. Count Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky (1772-1839) was probably the greatest of Russian reformers in the period between Peter the Great and Alexander the Liberator. ... A tyrant (from Greek τυραννος tyrannos) is a usurper of rightful power, possessing absolute power and ruling by tyranny. ... An empire (also known technically, abstractly or disparagingly as an imperium, and with powers known among Romans as imperium) comprises a set of regions locally ruled by governors, viceroys or client kings in the name of an emperor. ... Murmur has a number of meanings, including the following: Murmur, demonology, is a Great Duke and Earl of Hell Murmur in Latin means noise, whisper, murmur, and the sound of the trumpet. ... Baltic states and the Baltic Sea The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a term which nowadays refers to three countries in Northern Europe: Estonia Latvia Lithuania Prior to World War II, Finland was sometimes considered, particularly by the Soviet Union, a fourth Baltic state. ...

The reforms

In Russia, too, certain reforms were carried out; but they could not survive the suspicious interference of the autocrat and his officials. The newly created Council of Ministers and State Council under Governing Senate, endowed for the first time with certain theoretical powers, became in the end but the slavish instruments of the Tsar and his favourites of the moment. The elaborate system of Education, culminating in the reconstituted, or new-founded, universities of Dorpat, Vilna, Kazan and Kharkov, was strangled in the supposed interests of "order" and of Orthodox piety; while the military colonies which Alexander proclaimed as a blessing to both soldiers and state were forced on the unwilling peasantry and army with pitiless cruelty. Even the Bible Society, through which the Emperor in his later mood of evangelical zeal proposed to bless his people, was conducted on the same ruthless lines. The Roman Archbishop and the Orthodox Metropolitans were forced to serve on its committee side by side with Protestant pastors; and village priests, trained to regard any tampering with the letter of the traditional documents of the Church as mortal sin, became the unwilling instruments for the propagation of what they regarded as works of the Devil. The Russian Council of Ministers is a executive governmental body that brings together the principle officers of the Executive Branch of the Russian government. ... State Council or National Council is the name of a major governmental body in some countries. ... The Governing Senate (Правительствующий сенат) was a legislative, judicial, and executive body of Russian Monarchs, instated by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and lasted until the very end of the Empire. ... A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ... Image of Tartu street Tartu (German, Polish Dorpat, Russian Юpьeв Yuryev) is the second largest city of Estonia, with its population of 101,246 (the Population Census data is from 2000) in an area of 38. ... Vilnius Old Town Vilnius (sometimes Vilna; Polish Wilno, Belarusian Вільня, Russian Вильнюс, see also Cities alternative names) is the capital city of Lithuania. ... For the Japanese emperor, see Emperor Kazan of Japan. ... Kharkov (rus: Ха́рьков) or Kharkiv (ukr: Ха́рків) is the second largest city in Ukraine, a center of Kharkivska oblast. It is situated in the northeast of the country and has a population of two million. ... Saint Basils Cathedral, a well-known Russian Orthodox church situated in Moscow The Russian Orthodox Church (Русская Православная церковь) is that body of Christians who are united under the Patriarch of Moscow, who in turn is in communion with the other patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church. ... Piety is a desire and willingness to perform religious duties. ... This article refers to a colony in politics and history. ... A Norwegian soldier (a Corporal, armed with an MP-5) A soldier is a person who has enlisted with, or has been conscripted into, the armed forces of a sovereign country and has undergone training and received equipment to defend that country or its interests. ... A state is an organized political community occupying a definite territory, having an organized government, and possessing internal and external sovereignty. ... The holy jewish scripture: The Torah. ... ... Evangelical has several distinct meanings: In its original sense, it means belonging or related to the Gospel (Greek: euangelion - good news) of the New Testament. ... The Roman Catholic Church is the largest denomination of Christianity with over 1. ... In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop heading a diocese of particular importance due to either its size, history, or both, called an archdiocese. ... In hierarchical Christian churches, the rank of metropolitan bishop, whose incumbent is usually called simply a metropolitan, appertains to the bishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of an old Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... A pastor is the head minister or priest of a Christian church. ... A village is a human settlement commonly found in rural areas. ... Roman Catholic priest LCDR Allen R. Kuss (USN) aboard USS Enterprise A priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. ... The term Christian Church expresses the idea of Christianity (the Christian religion) seen in its role as an institution. ... According to Catholicism, a mortal sin, unlike a venial sin, must meet all of the following conditions: subject must be ‘grave matter’; it must be committed with full knowledge, both of the sin and of the gravity of the offense; it must be committed with deliberate and complete consent. ... The Devil is the name given to a supernatural entity who, in most Western religions, is the central embodiment of evil. ...

See also Government reform of Alexander I The early Russian system of government instated by Peter the Great, which consisted of various state committees, each named College with subordinate departments named Prikaz, was largely outdateby by 1800s. ...

European politics

Alexander's grandiose imagination was, however, more strongly attracted by the great questions of European politics than by attempts at domestic reform which, on the whole, wounded his pride by proving to him the narrow limits of absolute power. On the morrow of his accession he had reversed the policy of Paul, denounced the League of Neutrals, and made peace with United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (April, 1801), at the same time opening negotiations with Francis II. Soon afterwards at Memel he entered into a close alliance with Prussia, not as he boasted from motives of policy, but in the spirit of true chivalry, out of friendship for the young King Frederick William III and his beautiful wife Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The development of this alliance was interrupted by the short-lived peace of October, 1801; and for a while it seemed as though France and Russia might come to an understanding. Carried away by the enthusiasm of Laharpe, who had returned to Russia from Paris, Alexander began openly to proclaim his admiration for French institutions and for the person of Napoléon Bonaparte . Soon, however, came a change. Laharpe, after a new visit to Paris, presented to the Tsar his Reflexions on the True Nature of the Consulship for Life, which, as Alexander said, tore the veil from his eyes, and revealed Bonaparte "as not a true patriot", but only as "the most famous tyrant the world has produced." His disillusionment was completed by the murder of the duc d'Enghien. The Russian court went into mourning for the last of the Condés, and diplomatic relations with Paris were broken off. A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... The Union Flag, in its modern form, was first adopted in 1801. ... April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ... 1801 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Francis II Francis I Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, who may also be referred to as Francis von Habsburg or Emperor Franz I of Austria (February 12, 1768 - March 2, 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until August 6, 1806, when the Empire was disbanded. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... The Kingdom of Prussia existed from 1701 until 1918, and from 1871 was the leading kingdom of the German Empire, comprising in its last form almost two-thirds of the area of the Empire. ... See also order of chivalry Woman under the Safeguard of Knighthood, allegorical Scene. ... Friendship is a type of interpersonal relationship that is found among humans and among animals with rich intelligence, such as the higher mammals and some birds. ... The following is a list of Kings of Prussia (Könige von Preußen) from the Hohenzollern family. ... Frederick William III Frederick William III, known in German as Friedrich Wilhelm III, reigned as king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. ... Louise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie (Louisa Augusta Wilhelma Amelia) (March 10, 1776 - July 19, 1810), Queen of Prussia, was born in Hanover, where her father, Prince Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was field marshal of the household brigade. ... October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1801 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Bonaparte as general Napoléon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français... Patriotism is a feeling of love and devotion to ones own homeland (patria, the land of ones fathers). ... Louis-Antoine-Henri de Bourbon-Condé, duc dEnghien (August 22, 1772 – March 21, 1804) was a relative of the Bourbon monarchs of France, and is more famous for his death than his life. ... Prince of Condé is a title in French peerage, attributed for the first time to Louis of Bourbon, brother of Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendome and uncle of Henry IV of France. ...

His belief in his divine mission

The events of the Napoleonic Wars that followed belong to the general history of Europe; but the Tsar's attitude throughout is personal to himself, though pregnant with issues momentous for the world. In opposing Napoleon I, "the oppressor of Europe and the disturber of the world's peace," Alexander in fact already believed himself to be fulfilling a divine mission. In his instructions to Novosiltsov, his special envoy in London, the Tsar elaborated the motives of his policy in language which appealed as little to the common sense of the prime minister, Pitt, as did later the treaty of the Holy Alliance to that of the foreign minister, Castlereagh. Yet the document is of great interest, as in it we find formulated for the first time in an official despatch those exalted ideals of international policy which were to play so conspicuous a part in the affairs of the world at the close of the revolutionary epoch, and issued at the end of the 19th century in the Rescript of Nicholas II and the conference of the Hague. The outcome of the war, Alexander argued, was not to be only the liberation of France, but the universal triumph of "the sacred rights of humanity". To attain this it would be necessary "after having attached the nations to their government by making these incapable of acting save in the greatest interests of their subjects, to fix the relations of the states amongst each other on more precise rules, and such as it is to their interest to respect." The Napoleonic Wars are the wars fought during Napoleon Bonapartes rule of France. ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... St Stevens Tower - The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster which contains Big Ben London (see also different names) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... William Pitt the Younger (28 May 1759–23 January 1806) was a British politician during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. ... The Holy Alliance was a coalition of Russia, Austria and Prussia created in 1815 at the behest of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, ostensibly to uphold Christianity in European political life but in practice as a bastion against revolution. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nicholas II of Russia - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Arms of The Hague The Hague (with capital T; Dutch: Den Haag, or officially s-Gravenhage) is the administrative capital of the Netherlands, located in the west of the country, in the province South Holland of which it is also the capital. ... A tragic act of war - the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan during World War II War is a state of widespread conflict between states, organisations, or relatively large groups of people, which is characterised by the use of violent, physical force between combatants or upon civilians. ... In various religions, sacred (from Latin, sacrum, sacrifice; or simply in English, holy) objects, places or concepts are believed by followers to be intimately connected with the supernatural, or divinity, and are thus greatly revered. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... For publications of this name, see also Nation (disambiguation) The most popular modern ethical and philosophical doctrines state that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ...

A general treaty was to become the basis of the relations of the states forming "the European Confederation"; and this, though "it was no question of realizing the dream of universal peace, would attain some of its results if, at the conclusion of the general war, it were possible to establish on clear principles the prescriptions of the rights of nations." "Why could not one submit to it," the Tsar continued, "the positive rights of nations, assure the privilege of neutrality, insert the obligation of never beginning war until all the resources which the mediation of a third party could offer have been exhausted, having by this means brought to light the respective grievances, and tried to remove them? It is on such principles as these that one could proceed to a general pacification, and give birth to a league of which the stipulations would form, so to speak, a new code of the law of nations, which, sanctioned by the greater part of the nations of Europe, would without difficulty become the immutable rule of the cabinets, while those who should try to infringe it would risk bringing upon themselves the forces of the new union."

His relations with Napoleon

Meanwhile Napoleon, little deterred by the Russian autocrat's youthful ideology, never gave up hope of detaching him from the coalition. He had no sooner entered Vienna in triumph than he opened negotiations with him; he resumed them after the Battle of Austerlitz (December 2, 1805). Imperial Russia and France, he urged, were "geographical allies"; there was, and could be, between them no true conflict of interests; together they might rule the world. But Alexander was still determined "to persist in the system of disinterestedness in respect of all the states of Europe which he had thus far followed," and he again allied himself with the Kingdom of Prussia. The campaign of Jena and the battle of Eylau followed; and Napoleon, though still intent on the Russian alliance, stirred up Poles, Turks and Persians to break the obstinacy of the Tsar. A party too in Russia itself, headed by the Tsar's brother Constantine Pavlovich, was clamorous for peace; but Alexander, after a vain attempt to form a new coalition, summoned the Russian nation to a holy war against Napoleon as the enemy of the Orthodox faith. The outcome was the rout of Friedland (June 13/ 14, 1807). Napoleon saw his chance and seized it. Instead of making heavy terms, he offered to the chastened autocrat his alliance, and a partnership in his glory. Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine federal states (Bundesland Wien). ... In the Battle of Austerlitz (December 2, 1805), part of the Napoleonic Wars against the Third Coalition, a French army of approximately 68,000 troops under Napoleons command decisively defeated a joint Russo-Austrian army of over 89,000 troops, commanded by Russian General Kutuzov and Austrian General von... December 2 is the 336th day (337th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of Russian history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... The Kingdom of Prussia existed from 1701 until 1918, and from 1871 was the leading kingdom of the German Empire, comprising in its last form almost two-thirds of the area of the Empire. ... Map of Germany showing Jena Jena is a town in central Germany on the River Saale. ... Battle of Eylau Conflict Napoleonic Wars Date February 7, 1807 – February 8, 1807 Place Eylau, Poland Result Inconclusive The Battle of Eylau, fought on February 7–8, 1807, was a bloody and inconclusive contest between the forces of Napoléon and a mostly Russian army under Austria assisted by Russia), and... This article is about the Persians, a nationality and an ethnic group. ... Constantine Pavlovich (1779 - 1831), grand duke and tsesarevich of Russia, was prepared by his grandmother, Catherine the Great, to become an emperor of the would-be restored Byzantine Empire. ... Friedland is the name of several locations the city Friedland in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany the city Friedland in Brandenburg, Germany the municipality Friedland in Lower Saxony, Germany the old German name of the city Pravdinsk in former East Prussia (now Kaliningrad Oblast) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational... June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining. ... 1807 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

The two Emperors met at Tilsit on the 25 June 1807. Alexander, dazzled by Napoleon's genius and overwhelmed by his apparent generosity, was completely won. Napoleon knew well how to appeal to the exuberant imagination of his new-found friend. He would divide with Alexander the Empire of the world; as a first step he would leave him in possession of the Danubian principalities and give him a free hand to deal with Finland; and, afterwards, the Emperors of the East and West, when the time should be ripe, would drive the Turks from Europe and march across Asia to the conquest of India. A programme so stupendous awoke in Alexander's impressionable mind an ambition to which he had hitherto been a stranger. The interests of Europe were forgotten. "What is Europe?" he exclaimed to the French ambassador. "Where is it, if it is not you and we?" June 25 is the 176th day of the year (177th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 189 days remaining. ... 1807 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... A genius is a person with distinguished mental prowess. ... Length 2,888 km Elevation of the source 1,078 m Average discharge 30 km before Passau: 580 m³/s Vienna: 1,900 m³/s Budapest: 2,350 m³/s just before Delta: 6,500 m³/s Area watershed 817,000 km² Origin Black Forest (Schwarzwald-Baar, Baden- Württemberg, Germany... Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered around its capital in Constantinople. ... The Western Roman Empire is the name given to the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian. ... World map showing location of Asia Asia is the central and eastern part of the continent of Eurasia, defined by subtracting the European peninsula from Eurasia. ...

Prussia

The brilliance of these new visions did not, however, blind Alexander to the obligations of friendship; and he refused to retain the Danubian principalities as the price for suffering a further dismemberment of Prussia. "We have made loyal war," he said, "we must make a loyal peace." It was not long before the first enthusiasm of Tilsit began to wane. Napoleon I was prodigal of promises, but niggard of their fulfilment. The French remained in Prussia, the Russians on the Danube; and each accused the other of breach of faith. Meanwhile, however, the personal relations of Alexander and Napoleon were of the most cordial character; and it was hoped that a fresh meeting might adjust all differences between them. The meeting took place at Erfurt in October, 1808, and resulted in a treaty which defined the common policy of the two Emperors. But Alexander's relations with Napoleon none the less suffered a change. He realized that in Napoleon sentiment never got the better of reason, that as a matter of fact he had never intended his proposed "grand enterprise" seriously, and had only used it to preoccupy the mind of the Tsar while he consolidated his own power in Central Europe. From this moment the French alliance was for Alexander also not a fraternal agreement to rule the world, but an affair of pure policy. He used it, in the first instance, to remove "the geographical enemy" from the gates of Saint Petersburg by wresting Finland from the Swedes (1809); and he hoped by means of it to make the Danube the southern frontier of Russia. A railway bridge in Tilsit Sovetsk (Советск) is a town on the Neman River in the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, which prior to 1945 was known by its German name, Tilsit, and was in East Prussia. ... Map of Germany showing Erfurt Erfurt [ˈɛrfʊrt] is a city in central Germany. ... October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1808 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Historical lands and provinces in Central Europe Central Europe is the region of Europe between Eastern Europe and Western Europe. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... 1809 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Franco-Russian Alliance

Events were in fact rapidly tending to the rupture of the Franco-Russian alliance. Alexander, indeed, assisted Napoleon in the war of 1809, but he declared plainly that he would not allow the Austrian Empire to be crushed out of existence; and Napoleon complained bitterly of the inactivity of the Russian troops during the campaign. The Tsar in his turn protested against Napoleon's encouragement of the Poles. In the matter of the French alliance he knew himself to be practically isolated in Russia, and he declared that he could not sacrifice the interest of his people and empire to his affection for Napoleon. "I don't want anything for myself," he said to the French ambassador, "therefore the world is not large enough to come to an understanding on the affairs of Poland, if it is a question of its restoration." 1809 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire until 1867 and of the Austrian part of Austria_Hungary until 1918. ...

The treaty of Vienna, which added largely to the Duchy of Warsaw, he complained had "ill requited him for his loyalty," and he was only mollified for the time by Napoleon's public declaration that he had no intention of restoring Poland, and by a convention, signed on the 4 January 1810 but not ratified, abolishing the Polish name and orders of chivalry. Location Official languages Polish Established church Roman Catholic Capital Warsaw Largest City Warsaw Head of state Duke of Warsaw Area about 158,000 km² Population about 3 million Existed 1807 - 1814 The Duchy of Warsaw (Polish: Księstwo Warszawskie, Latin: Ducatus Varsoviae, French: Duche de Varsovie) was a Polish state established... January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... See also order of chivalry Woman under the Safeguard of Knighthood, allegorical Scene. ...

But if Alexander suspected Napoleon, Napoleon was no less suspicious of Alexander; and, partly to test his sincerity, he sent an almost peremptory request for the hand of the Grand Duchess Anne, the younger sister of the Tsar. After some little delay Alexander returned a polite refusal, on the plea of the tender age of the Princess and the objection of the Empress dowager Maria Fyodorovna to the marriage. Napoleon's answer was to refuse to ratify the convention of the 4 January 1810 and to announce his engagement to the Archduchess Marie Louise in such a way as to lead Alexander to suppose that the two marriage treaties had been negotiated simultaneously. From this time the relation between the two emperors gradually became more and more strained. A Grand Duchess is the wife of a Grand Duke or a woman who rules a Grand Duchy in her own right. ... This article is about the noble title. ... Empress Dowager (Chinese, Korean and Japanese: 皇太后; Chinese pinyin Húang Tài Hòu, Korean pronunciation: Hwang Tae Hu, Japanese pronunciation: Kōtaigō) was title given to the mother of a Chinese emperor. ... Portrait of Maria Fyodorovna in 1777 by Alexander Roslin Sophie Marie Dorothea Auguste Louise of Württemberg or Maria Fyodorovna (Russian: )(October 25, 1759 - November 5, 1828) the second wife of Tsar Paul I of Russia. ... January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Archduke - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Marie Louise (December 12, 1791 - December 17, 1847) was the second wife of Napoléon Bonaparte and Empress of the French. ...

The annexation of Oldenburg, of which the Duke of Oldenburg (January 3, 1754–July 2, 1823) was the Tsar's uncle, to France in December, 1810, added another to the personal grievances of Alexander against Napoleon; while the ruinous reaction of "the continental system" on Russian trade made it impossible for the Tsar to maintain a policy which was Napoleon's chief motive for the alliance. An acid correspondence followed, and ill-concealed armaments, which culminated in the Summer of 1812 in Napoleon's invasion of Russia. Yet, even after the French had passed the frontier, Alexander still protested that his personal sentiments towards the Emperor were unaltered; "but," he added, "God Himself cannot undo the past." It was the occupation of Moscow and the desecration of the Kremlin, the sacred centre of Holy Russia, that changed his sentiment for Napoleon into passionate hatred. In vain the French Emperor, within eight days of his entry into Moscow, wrote to the Tsar a letter, which was one long cry of distress, revealing the desperate straits of the Grand Army, and appealed to "any remnant of his former sentiments." Alexander returned no answer to these "fanfaronnades." "No more peace with Napoleon!" he cried, "He or I, I or He: we cannot longer reign together!" Oldenburg is a historical state in todays Germany named for its capital, Oldenburg. ... January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1754 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... July 2 is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 182 days remaining. ... 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... December is the twelfth and last month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Summer, 1573. ... 1812 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The term God is used to designate a Supreme Being; however, there are other definitions of God. ... Saint Basils Cathedral Moscow (Russian/Cyrillic: Москва́, pronunciation: Moskvá) is the capital of Russia, located on the river Moskva, and encompassing 1097. ... Kremlin (Кремль) is the Russian word for citadel and refers to any major fortified central complex found in historical Russian cities. ... La Grande Armée (in English, the Big or Grand Army) is the French military term for the main force in a military campaign. ...

The campaign of 1812

The campaign of 1812 was the turning-point of Alexander's life; and its horrors, for which his sensitive nature felt much of the responsibility, overset still more a mind never too well balanced. When Napoleon crossed the Russian border with his Grand Army, Russia proclaimed a Patriotic War in defence of the Motherland. At the burning of Moscow, he declared afterwards, his own soul had found illumination, and he had realized once for all the divine revelation to him of his mission as the peacemaker of Europe. He tried to calm the unrest of his conscience by correspondence with the leaders of the evangelical revival on the continent, and sought for omens and supernatural guidance in texts and passages of scripture. It was not, however, according to his own account, till he met the Baroness de Krudener—a religious adventuress who made the conversion of princes her special mission—at Basel, in the Autumn of 1813, that his soul found peace. From this time a mystic pietism became the avowed force of his political, as of his private actions. Madame de Krudener, and her colleague, the evangelist Empaytaz, became the confidants of the Emperor's most secret thoughts; and during the campaign that ended in the occupation of Paris the imperial prayer-meetings were the oracle on whose revelations hung the fate of the world. 1812 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... La Grande Armée (in English, the Big or Grand Army) is the French military term for the main force in a military campaign. ... Kazan Cathedral in St Petersburg and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow were built to commemorate the Russian victory against Napoleon. ... Saint Basils Cathedral Moscow (Russian/Cyrillic: Москва́, pronunciation: Moskvá) is the capital of Russia, located on the river Moskva, and encompassing 1097. ... The soul according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is the ethereal substance — spirit (Hebrew:rooah or nefesh) — particular to a unique living being. ... Evangelical has several distinct meanings: In its original sense, it means belonging or related to the Gospel (Greek: euangelion - good news) of the New Testament. ... Dymaxion map by Buckminster Fuller shows land mass with minimal distortion as only one continuous continent A continent (Latin continere, to hold together) is a large continuous land mass. ... This article is about Omens as divinatory portents. ... The supernatural (Latin:super- exceeding+nature) comprises forces and phenomena that cannot be perceived by natural or empirical senses, and whose understanding may be said to lie with religious, magical, or otherwise mysterious explanation —yet remains firmly outside of the realm of science. ... Many religions and spiritual movements hold certain written texts (or series of spoken legends not traditionally written down) to be sacred. ... Basel (English traditionally: Basle , German: Basel , French Bâle , Italian Basilea ) is Switzerlands third most populous city (188,000 inhabitants in the canton of Basel-City as of 2004; the 690,000 inhabitants in the conurbation stretching across the immediate cantonal and national boundaries made Basel Switzerlands second... Autumn colours at Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire, England. ... 1813 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mysticism (ancient Greek mysticon = secret) is meditation, prayer, or theology focused on the direct experience of union with divinity, God, or Ultimate Reality, or the belief that such experience is a genuine and important source of knowledge. ... Pietism was a movement, in the Lutheran Church, lasting from the late-17th century to the mid-18th Century. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Prayer is an effort to communicate with God, or to some deity or deities, or another form of spiritual entity, or otherwise, either to offer praise, to make a request, or simply to express ones thoughts and emotions. ... An Oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ...

Alexander's mood

Such was Alexander's mood when the downfall of Napoleon left him the most powerful sovereign in Europe. With the memory of Tilsit still fresh in men's minds, it was not unnatural that to cynical men of the world like Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, he merely seemed to be disguising "under the language of evangelical abnegation" vast and perilous schemes of ambition. The puzzled powers were, in fact, the more inclined to be suspicious in view of other, and seemingly inconsistent, tendencies of the emperor, which yet seemed all to point to a like disquieting conclusion. For Madame de Krudener was not the only influence behind the throne; and, though Alexander had declared war against the Revolution, Laharpe was once more at his elbow, and the catchwords of the gospel of humanity were still on his lips. The very proclamations which denounced Napoleon as "the genius of evil", denounced him in the name of "liberty", and of "Enlightenment". A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... A railway bridge in Tilsit Sovetsk (Советск) is a town on the Neman River in the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, which prior to 1945 was known by its German name, Tilsit, and was in East Prussia. ... Klemens Wenzel von Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneberg-Beilstein (May 15, 1773 – June 11, 1858) (sometimes rendered in English as Prince Klemens Metternich) was an Austrian politician and statesman and perhaps the most important diplomat of his era. ... The phrase power behind the throne refers to a person or group that informally exercises the real power of an office. ... In Christianity, Gospels are a genre of Early Christian literature essentially concerning the message and meaning of Jesus. ... Evil is a term describing that which is regarded as morally bad, intrinsically corrupt, wantonly destructive, inhumane, or wicked. ... Liberty, or freedom, is a condition in which an individual has immunity from the arbitrary exercise of authority. ... The Age of Enlightenment refers to the 18th century in European philosophy, and is often thought of as part of a larger period which includes the Age of Reason. ...

A monstrous intrigue was suspected for the alliance of the eastern autocrat with the Jacobinism of all Europe, which would have issued in the substitution of an all-powerful Russia for an all-powerful France. At the Congress of Vienna Alexander's attitude accentuated this distrust. Castlereagh, whose single-minded aim was the restoration of "a just equilibrium" in Europe, reproached the Tsar to his face for a "conscience" which suffered him to imperil the concert of the powers by keeping his hold on Poland in violation of his treaty obligation. In the context of the French Revolution, a Jacobin originally meant a member of the Jacobin Club (1789-1794). ... The Congress of Vienna was a conference between ambassadors from the major powers in Europe that was chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich and held in Vienna, Austria, from October 1, 1814, to June 9, 1815. ...

Yet Alexander was sincere. Even the Holy Alliance, the pet offspring of his pietism, does not deserve the sinister reputation it has since obtained. To the other powers it seemed, at best "verbiage" and "exalted nonsense", at worst an effort of the Tsar to establish the hegemony of Russia on the goodwill of the smaller signatory powers. To the Liberals, then and afterwards it was clearly a hypocritical conspiracy against freedom. Yet to Alexander himself it seemed the only means of placing the "Confederation of Europe" on a firm basis of principle and, so far from its being directed against liberty he declared roundly to all the signatory powers that "free constitutions were the logical outcome of its doctrines". The Holy Alliance was a coalition of Russia, Austria and Prussia created in 1815 at the behest of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, ostensibly to uphold Christianity in European political life but in practice as a bastion against revolution. ... In politics, the term liberal refers to: an adherent of the ideology of liberalism —an ideology espousing liberty. ... Hypocrisy is the act of pretending to have beliefs, virtues and feelings that one does not truly possess. ... Conspiracy, in common usage, is the act of working in secret to obtain some goal, usually understood with negative connotations. ... Freedom is the right, or the capacity, of self-determination as an expression of the individual will. ...

Europe, in fact, owed much at this time to Alexander's exalted temper. During the period when his influence was supreme, the fateful years, that is, between the Moscow campaign and the close of the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle (Autumn, 1818), it had been used largely in the interests of moderation and liberty. To him mainly it was due that France was saved from dismemberment, and received a constitution which, to use his own words, "united crown and representatives of the people in a sense of common interests." By his wise intervention Switzerland was saved from violent reaction, and suffered to preserve the essential gains of the Revolution. To his protection it was due that the weak beginnings of constitutional freedom in Germany were able for a while to defy the hatred of the Austrian Empire. Lastly, whatever its ultimate outcome, the constitution of Poland was, in its inception, a genuine effort to respond to the appeal of the Poles for a national existence. Saint Basils Cathedral Moscow (Russian/Cyrillic: Москва́, pronunciation: Moskvá) is the capital of Russia, located on the river Moskva, and encompassing 1097. ... The Congress or Conference of Aix-la-Chapelle, held in the autumn of 1818, was primarily a meeting of the four allied powers Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia to decide the question of the withdrawal of the army of occupation from France and the nature of the modifications to be... Autumn colours at Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire, England. ... 1818 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire until 1867 and of the Austrian part of Austria_Hungary until 1918. ...

His Liberalism

From the end of the year 1818 Alexander's views began to change. A revolutionary conspiracy among the officers of the guard, and a foolish plot to kidnap him on his way to the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, are said to have shaken the foundations of his Liberalism. At Aix he came for the first time into intimate contact with Metternich, and the astute Austrian was swift to take advantage of the psychological moment. From this time dates the ascendancy of Metternich over the mind of the Russian Emperor and in the councils of Europe. It was, however, no case of sudden conversion. Though alarmed by the revolutionary agitation in Germany, which culminated in the murder of his agent, the dramatist August von Kotzebue (March 23, 1819), Alexander approved of Castlereagh's protest against Metternich's policy of "the governments contracting an alliance against the peoples," as formulated in the Carlsbad Decrees of July, 1819, and deprecated any intervention of Europe to support "a league of which the sole object is the absurd pretensions of absolute power." 1818 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Look up Revolution in Wiktionary, the free dictionary This article is about revolution in the sense of a drastic change. ... Conspiracy, in common usage, is the act of working in secret to obtain some goal, usually understood with negative connotations. ... The Congress or Conference of Aix-la-Chapelle, held in the autumn of 1818, was primarily a meeting of the four allied powers Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia to decide the question of the withdrawal of the army of occupation from France and the nature of the modifications to be... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Liberal democracy History of democracy Referenda Representative democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by ideology... August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (May 3, 1761 _ March 23, 1819), was a German dramatist. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... 1819 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The Carlsbad Decrees were a set of social restrictions introduced in Germany by Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich of Austria in July 1819. ... July is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1819 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

He still declared his belief in "free institutions, though not in such as age forced from feebleness, nor contracts ordered by popular leaders from their sovereigns, nor constitutions granted in difficult circumstances to tide over a crisis. "Liberty," he maintained, "should be confined within just limits. And the limits of liberty are the principles of order".

It was the apparent triumph of the principles of disorder in the revolutions of Naples and Piedmont, combined with increasingly disquieting symptoms of discontent in France, Germany, and among his own people, that completed Alexander's conversion. In the seclusion of the little town of Troppau, where in October of 1820 the powers met in conference, Metternich found an opportunity for cementing his influence over Alexander, which had been wanting amid the turmoil and feminine intrigues of Vienna and Aix. Here, in confidence begotten of friendly chats over afternoon tea, the disillusioned autocrat confessed his mistake. "You have nothing to regret," he said sadly to the exultant chancellor, "but I have!" Location within Italy Naples (Italian Napoli, Neapolitan Napule, from Greek Νέα Πόλις - Néa Pólis - meaning New City) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of Campania Region. ... Piedmont is a region of northwestern Italy. ... Opava (German Troppau, Polish Opawa) is a city with a population of 62,815 (1995) in the northern Czech Republic. ... October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

The issue was momentous. In January Alexander had still upheld the ideal of a free confederation of the European states, symbolized by the Holy Alliance, against the policy of a dictatorship of the great powers, symbolized by the Quadruple Treaty; he had still protested against the claims of collective Europe to interfere in the internal concerns of the sovereign states. On 19 November he signed the Troppau Protocol, which consecrated the principle of intervention and wrecked the harmony of the concert. January is the first month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... November 19 is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The Congress of Troppau was a conference of the allied sovereigns or their representatives to discuss a concerted policy with regard to the questions raised by the revolution in Naples of July 1820. ...

The revolt of the Greeks

At Congress of Laibach, whither in the Spring of 1821 the congress had been adjourned, Alexander first heard of the Revolt of the Greeks. From this time until his death his mind was torn between his anxiety to realize his dream of a confederation of Europe and his traditional mission as leader of the Orthodox crusade against the Ottoman Empire. At first, under the careful nursing of Metternich, the former motive prevailed. The Congress of Laibach was a conference of the allied sovereigns or their representatives. ... Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Spring, 1573. ... 1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a war against the Ottoman Empire for independence, which started that year. ... The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Imperial motto El Muzaffer Daima The Ever Victorious (as written in tugra) Official language Ottoman Turkish National Anthem The March for Sultan Abdul-Mejid Capital Ä°stanbul (Constantinople/Asitane/Konstantiniyye ) Sovereigns Sultans of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million Area 6. ...

He struck the name of Alexander Ypsilanti from the Russian army list, and directed his foreign minister, Giovanni, Count Capo d'Istria, himself a Greek, to disavow all sympathy of Russia with his enterprise; and, next year, a deputation of the Morea Greeks on its way to the Congress of Verona was turned back by his orders on the road. Alexander Ypsilanti (1792 - January 31, 1828) was a Greek military commander and national hero. ... John Capodistria John Capodistria, (in Greek Ioannis Kapodistrias or Ιωάννης Καποδίστριας, and in Italian Giovanni Capo dIstria, Count Capo dIstria) (February 11, 1776 - October 9, 1831), Greek-born diplomat of the Russian Empire and later first head of state of independent Greece, was born in Corfu (Kerkira) in the Ionian... The Morea and surrounding states carved from the Byzantine Empire, as they were in 1265 (William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 1911) The name Morea (Μωρέας) for Peloponnesos first appears in the 10th century in Byzantine chronicles. ... The Congress of Verona was the last of the series of international conferences or congresses that opened with the Congress of Vienna in 1815, during which the Quadruple Alliance of the United Kingdom and the European powers had at first acted largely in concert. ...

He made, indeed, some effort to reconcile the principles at conflict in his mind. He offered to surrender the claim, successfully asserted when the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II had been excluded from the Holy Alliance and the affairs of the Ottoman empire from the deliberations of Vienna, that the affairs of the East were the "domestic concerns of Russia," and to march into the Ottoman Empire, as Austria had marched into Naples, "as the mandatory of Europe." The Osmanli Dynasty, also the House of Osman, ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1281 to 1923, beginning with Osman I (not counting his father, Ertuğrul), though the dynasty was not proclaimed until 1383 when Murad I declared himself sultan. ... Sultan Mahmud II Mahmud II (July 20, 1785–July 1, 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death. ... The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Imperial motto El Muzaffer Daima The Ever Victorious (as written in tugra) Official language Ottoman Turkish National Anthem The March for Sultan Abdul-Mejid Capital Ä°stanbul (Constantinople/Asitane/Konstantiniyye ) Sovereigns Sultans of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million Area 6. ... The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Imperial motto El Muzaffer Daima The Ever Victorious (as written in tugra) Official language Ottoman Turkish National Anthem The March for Sultan Abdul-Mejid Capital Ä°stanbul (Constantinople/Asitane/Konstantiniyye ) Sovereigns Sultans of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million Area 6. ... Location within Italy Naples (Italian Napoli, Neapolitan Napule, from Greek Νέα Πόλις - Néa Pólis - meaning New City) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of Campania Region. ...

Metternich's opposition to this, illogical, but natural from the Austrian point of view, first opened his eyes to the true character of Austria's attitude towards his ideals. Once more in Russia, far from the fascination of Metternich's personality, the immemorial spirit of his people drew him back into itself; and when, in the Autumn of 1825, he took his dying Empress Louise of Baden (January 24, 1779–May 26, 1826) for change of air to the south of Russia, in order—as all Europe supposed—to place himself at the head of the great army concentrated near the Ottoman frontiers, his language was no longer that of "the peace-maker of Europe," but of the Orthodox Tsar determined to take the interests of his people and of his religion "into his own hands". Before the momentous issue could be decided, however, Alexander died at Taganrog on 1 December (November 18, O.S.) 1825, "crushed", to use his own words, "beneath the terrible burden of a crown" which he had more than once declared his intention of resigning. A report, current at the time and often revived, affirmed that he did not in fact die. By some it is supposed that a mysterious hermit named Fomich, who lived at Tomsk until 1870 and was treated with peculiar deference by successive Tsars Nicholas I and Alexander II, was none other than Alexander. 1825 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Louise Marie Auguste Zahringen, Princess of Baden (24 January 1779 - 4 May (O.S.) = 16 May (N.S.) 1826) daughter of Prince Charles Louis of Baden and Amalia of Hesse-Darmstadt. ... January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1779 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... May 26 is the 146th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (147th in leap years). ... 1826 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years), with 43 remaining. ... The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, taking force in 45 BC or 709 ab urbe condita. ... 1825 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Nicholas I Pavlovich (Russian: Николай I Павлович, July 6 (June 25, Old Style), 1796–March 2 (February 18, Old Style), 1855) was the Emperor of Russia and king of Poland from 1825 until his death in 1855. ... Alexander II (1818-1881) Alexander (Aleksandr) II (Russian: Александр II Николаевич) (April 17, 1818–March 13, 1881) was the Emperor (tsar) of Russia from March 2, 1855 until his assassination. ...

A tragic figure

Modern history knows no more tragic figure than that of Alexander. The brilliant promise of his early years; the haunting memory of the crime by which he had obtained the power to realize his ideals; and, in the end, the terrible legacy he left to Russia: a principle of government which, under lofty pretensions, veiled a tyranny supported by spies and secret police; an uncertain succession; an army permeated by organized disaffection; an armed Poland, whose hunger for liberty the tsar had whetted but not satisfied; the quarrel with the Ottoman Empire, with its alternative of war or humiliation for Russia; an educational system rotten with official hypocrisy; a Church in which conduct counted for nothing, Orthodoxy and ceremonial observance for everything; economical and financial conditions scarce recovering from the verge of ruin; and lastly, that curse of Russia—serfdom. Spy and secret agent redirect here; for alternate use, see Spy (disambiguation) and Secret agent (disambiguation). ... A secret police (sometimes political police) force is a police organization that operates in secret to enforce state security. ... Costumes of Slaves or Serfs, from the Sixth to the Twelfth Centuries, collected by H. de Vielcastel, from original Documents in the great Libraries of Europe. ...

His private life

In private life Alexander displayed many lovable qualities. All authorities combine in praising his handsome presence and the affability and charm of his address, together with a certain simplicity of personal tastes, which led him in his intercourse with his friends or with the representatives of friendly powers to dispense with ceremonial and etiquette. His personal friendship, too, once bestowed, was never lightly withdrawn. By nature he was sociable and pleasure-loving, he proved himself a notable patron of the arts and he took a conspicuous part in all the gaieties of the congress of Vienna. In his later years, however, he fell into a mood of settled melancholy; and, though still accessible to all who chose to approach him with complaints or petitions, he withdrew from all but the most essential social functions, and lived a life of strenuous work and of Spartan simplicity. His gloom had been increased by domestic misfortune. He had been married, on October 9, 1793, without his wishes being consulted, to the beautiful and amiable princess Louise of Baden (Elizabeth Feodorovna), a political match which, as he regretfully confessed to his friend Frederick William III, had proved the misfortune of both; and he consoled himself in the traditional manner. The two children of the marriage, a little grand-duchess Elizaveta, died on 12 May 1808 and the other little grand-duchess Maria, that died six years earlier on 26 June (or 8 July) 1800; and their common sorrow drew husband and wife closer together. Towards the close of his life their reconciliation was completed by the wise charity of the Empress in sympathizing deeply with him over the death of his beloved daughter by Princess Maria Naryshkina. October 9 is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in Leap years). ... 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Louise Marie Auguste Zahringen, Princess of Baden (24 January 1779 - 4 May (O.S.) = 16 May (N.S.) 1826) daughter of Prince Charles Louis of Baden and Amalia of Hesse-Darmstadt. ... Frederick William III Frederick William III, known in German as Friedrich Wilhelm III, reigned as king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. ... May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (133rd in leap years). ... 1808 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 188 days remaining. ... July 8 is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 176 days remaining. ... 1800 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Maria Dmitrievna, Princess Naryshkina (1779 - 1854), born Maria Swiatopolk - Czetwertynska was the wife of Dmitry Lvovich Naryshkin (a hofmeister), the mistress of Tsar Alexander I of Russia and had three illegitimate children by him. ...

In his old age

Tsar Alexander I, the man of mystery, became increasingly more involved in mysticism and increasingly more suspicious of those around him. On the way to the conference in Aachen in Germany, an attempt had been made to kidnap him. Now he would trust no one. At home, his young daughter, an only child, died, and his wife became ill. Mysticism (ancient Greek mysticon = secret) is the pursuit or discovery of what is believed to be the direct experience of union with divinity, God, or Ultimate Reality; or the belief that such experience is a genuine and important source of knowledge. ...

In 1825, the "Tsar of All the Russians" died in the city of Taganrog. After an official announcement of the Tsar's death, a British ambassador at the Russian court said he had seen Alexander boarding a ship. It was later rumored that a monk in Siberia, Feodor Kuzmich, was really the former ruler. Whatever the truth, when the Soviet Government opened Alexander's grave many, many years later, it was empty. 1825 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Alferaki Palace © TaganrogCity. ... A Roman Catholic monk A monk is a person who practices monasticism, adopting a strict religious and ascetic lifestyle, usually in community with others following the same path. ... Siberia Siberia (Russian: Сиби́рь, common English transliterations: Sibir, Sibir; possibly from the Mongolian for the calm land) is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of northern Asia. ...

His children

He had other illegitimate children, nine all together. His other mistresses were Sophia Vsevolojsky, Maria Ivanovna Katatcharova, Veronica Dzierzanowska, Marguerite-Josephine Weimer, and Princess Barbara Tourkestanova.

Paul I of Russia Paul I of Russia (Russian: Pavel Petrovich, Павел I Петрович) (October 1, 1754 - March 23, 1801) was an Emperor (Tsar) of Russia (1796 - 1801). ... Tsar, (Bulgarian цар�, Russian царь; often spelled Czar or Tzar in English), was the title used for the autocratic rulers of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires since 913, in Serbia in the middle of the 14th century, and in Russia from 1547 to 1917. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... 1801 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1825 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Nicholas I Pavlovich (Russian: Николай I Павлович, July 6 (June 25, Old Style), 1796–March 2 (February 18, Old Style), 1855) was the Emperor of Russia and king of Poland from 1825 until his death in 1855. ... Gustav IV Adolf (1778-1837), king of Sweden, of the house Holstein-Gottorp, was the son of Gustav III of Sweden and Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, and born at Stockholm on November 1, 1778. ... Grand Duke of Finland, more correctly Grand Prince of Finland, (Finnish: Suomen suuriruhtinas, Swedish: Storfurste av Finland) was a title in use, sometimes sporadically, between 1584 and 1808. ... Poland was ruled by dukes (c. ...

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...