Ten fun facts about Alexander II
Fact 1
He was also the King of Poland and the Grand Prince of Finland.
Fact 2
Alexander was the most successful Russian reformer since Peter the Great.
Fact 3
His most important achievement was the emancipation of serfs in 1861, for which he became known as Alexander the Liberator.
Fact 4
The tsar was responsible for numerous other reforms including reorganizing the judicial system, setting up elected local judges, abolishing capital punishment, promoting local self-government through the zemstvo system, imposing universal military service, ending some of the privileges of the nobility, and promoting the universities.
Fact 5
In foreign policy, Alexander sold Alaska to the United States in 1867, fearing the remote colony would fall into British hands if there was another war.
Fact 6
In 1872 he joined with Germany and Austria in the League of the Three Emperors that stabilized the European situation.
Fact 7
Alexander II's death caused a great setback for the reform movement.
Fact 8
A favourite dog of Alexander II was an Irish Setter named Milord.
Fact 9
Alexander II appears prominently in the opening two chapters of Jules Verne's Michael Strogoff (published in 1876 during Alexander's own lifetime).
Fact 10
The film The Magnificent Sinner depicts a highly fictionalized account of the Tsar's romance with the woman who became his second wife.
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