Alexander Nikolaevich (Alexander II) of Russia may have been the Lincoln and the FDR of the Imperial Russian Czars because not only did he emancipate the serfs but he also created many liberal social reforms such as the re-organization of the military, a new French-based judicial administration, a new penal code that simplified and made trials fairer, an elected buearucracy, and the abolition of capital punishment. Even with these reforms, it wasn’t enough: workers seeked better conditions and minorities wanted more freedom. From that frustration, middle class radicals began to form secret societies and some even wanted to take revolutionary measures. Alexander II tried to slow these revolutionary movements by making a ukase (imperial mandate) for the creation of special commissions that would look into new reforms that would help the middle and lower classes.
Unfortunately for him, Alexander II could not slow the radical movements that were forming in his country. The secret societies grew and the Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will) formed as a revolutionary (arguably terrorist) movement that seeked to assassinate Alexander II. Many attempts were made on his life, including one that went through. Alexander II was assassinated by a bomb that maimed his legs while he was inspecting where a previous bomb had gone off in an attempt on his life. Alexander II was rushed to the Winter Palace by sleigh where he bled to death while surrounded by his family, including his young grandson, Nicholas II. Sadly, this assassination set back many of the reforms that Alexander II had put into legislation.
A makeshift memorial was setup at the site of the assassination and it was later decided to build a church around the site as a memorial to Alexander II. The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was completed in 1907 during the reign of Alexander’s grandson, Nicolas II. Although the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is in St. Petersburg, it’s architecture closely resembles the St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow. Inside the church, on the exact spot where the Czar was killed, there is a shrine with a crucifix marking where Alexander II was assassinated and there is cobblestone from the original street where the czar’s blood was shed.
