Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I (23 December [O.S. 12 December] 1777 - 1 December [O.S. 1825]) reigned as Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 until his death in 1825. He was Emperor Paul I's and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg's eldest son.
Alexander, the son of Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, later Paul I, ascended to the throne after his father was assassinated. During the chaos of the Napoleonic Wars, he ruled Russia. As a prince and in the early years of his reign, Alexander frequently used liberal rhetoric while implementing Russia's absolutist policies. During his first years in power, he instituted minor social reforms as well as major liberal educational reforms, such as the establishment of more universities (in 1803-04). One of Alexander's closest advisors was Mikhail Speransky, the son of a village priest. The Collegia were replaced by the State Council, which was established to improve legislation. There were also plans to establish a parliament and sign a constitution.
Between 1804 and 1812, he changed Russia's position toward France four times, switching between neutrality, opposition, and alliance. He joined Britain in the War of the Third Coalition against Napoleon in 1805, but after massive defeats at the battles of Austerlitz and Friedland, he switched sides and formed an alliance with Napoleon by the Treaty of Tilsit (1807), and joined Napoleon's Continental System. Between 1807 and 1812, he fought a small-scale naval war against Britain, as well as a brief war against Sweden (1808-09) in response to Sweden's refusal to join the Continental System. Alexander and Napoleon couldn't agree on much, especially on Poland, and the alliance fell apart by 1810. Alexander's greatest victory came in 1812, when Napoleon's invasion of Russia proved a disaster for the French. He gained territory in Finland and Poland as part of the victorious coalition against Napoleon. He founded the Holy Alliance to combat European revolutionary movements that he saw as immoral threats to legitimate Christian monarchs. He also assisted Klemens von Metternich of Austria in suppressing all national and liberal movements.
During the second half of his reign, Alexander became increasingly arbitrary, reactionary, and fearful of plots against him, and as a result, he reversed many of his earlier reforms. As education became more religiously and politically conservative, he purge schools of foreign teachers. Speransky was replaced as advisor by Aleksey Arakcheyev, a strict artillery inspector who oversaw the establishment of military settlements. Alexander died of typhus while on a trip to southern Russia in December 1825. He had no legitimate children because his two daughters died when they were young. Neither of his brothers desired the position of Emperor. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Nicholas I, after a period of great confusion (which foreshadowed the failed Decembrist revolt of liberal army officers in the weeks following his death).
