Alexander I 1777-1825
Emperor of Russia

Born in St Petersburg, the grandson of Catherine the Great, he became emperor in 1801 and instituted a wide range of reforms, notably in administration, education, science, and the system of serfdom. In 1805 Russia joined the coalition against Napoleon I, but after a series of military defeats was forced to conclude the Treaty of Tilsit (1807) with France. With French encouragement Alexander attacked Sweden in order to secure possession of Finland (1808), and renewed hostilities against Turkey which were continued until the Peace of Bucharest (1812). When Napoleon broke the Treaty by invading Russia in 1812, Alexander pursued the French back to Paris. He took an active part in the destruction of Napoleon's retreating army at Dresden and Leipzig in 1813 and entered Paris with the Allies in 1814. He claimed and received Poland at the Congress of Vienna (1814-15). During the last years of his reign his increased religious mysticism, influenced by the cosmopolitan religious mystic Madame von Kr�dener, contributed to his founding of the Holy Alliance (1815), a document delineating Christian principles, and intended to exclude the House of Bonaparte from power in France, which was signed by Emperor Francis I (see Francis II), Frederick William III, and other European leaders. His mysterious death at Taganrog caused a succession crisis which led to the attempted revolutionary coup of the Decembrists.

Bibliography: Henri Troyat, Alexander of Russia (1986)