v18_2551 - RUSSIA - ALEXANDER II 5 roubles or 1876 Saint-Pétersbourg

RUSSIA - ALEXANDER II

(2/03/1855-13/03/1881)

Alexander II Nikolaevich (29/04/1818-13/03/1881), son of Nicolas and Alexandra of Prussia, succeeded his father, ended the Crimean War and signed the Treaty of Paris. Reformer, he emancipates the serfs and tries to modernize the country. Autocrat, he crushed the Polish revolt of 1863. Politically, he favored pan-Slavism and fought effectively against Turkey, which he crushed in 1876-1878. The Treaty of San Stefano and the Congress of Berlin in 1878 marked Russia's resounding return to the international political scene. The Russians and Austro-Hungarians now control the Balkans. Alexander II perished by a bomb near the Mikhailovsky Palace in 1881.