Podcasts about tsar alexander ii

1855 brought a new dawn to Russia, and was embraced by many, although poverty remained a constant. When the Czar was assassinated, all hell broke loose and the Jews were given a stark reminder of their status. By 1897 Socialism, Zionism & Emigration seemed to offer the only routes out.   Chapters 00:00 The Shift in Jewish Education and Identity 01:46 The Impact of Tsar Alexander II's Reforms 06:40 The Rise of Jewish Assimilation and National Pride 12:46 The Economic Divide Among Jews 18:02 The Harsh Realities of Poverty in the Pale 22:34 The Reversal of Reforms and Growing Tensions 25:48 The Generational Divide and Revolutionary Movements 28:37 The Anarchist Campaign Against the Tsar 33:24 The Assassination of Tsar Alexander II 36:46 The Aftermath: Repression and Pogroms 41:04 The May Laws and Their Impact on Jewish Life 49:14 The Rise of Jewish Nationalism and Emigration 54:55 Historical Memory and Current Events  

Pavel Ivanovich Ibis, or Paul Ibis, a 22-year-old Russian naval officer (he was born in today's Estonia) embarked alone on a dangerous and adventurous journey – on foot – through Taiwan in the winter of 1875. At the time, much of the island was under Qing rule; a prefecture of Fujian Province.So, what was he doing here? He left very detailed accounts of places, people and customs, and Paul Ibis seems to have had a genuine “anthropological” interest in this island. But was he also possibly a spy? Or at least gathering data for his superiors in the then-still powerful Russian Empire under Tsar Alexander II? (And, yeah, that was the Tsar who sold Alaska to the US in 1867.) Visit formosafiles.com for more.

To those who believe his story, Paul is the crown prince of Romania, a direct descendant of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Tsar Alexander II of Russia. To those who don’t, he’s Paul Lambrino: a fantasist claiming heirship to a non-existent throne. This is the story of Paul’s fight to win a $1bn inheritance. It features private spy agencies, missing Caravaggios, and a billionaire with an eye for a deal. This piece, written by the FT’s Miles Johnson, is the first in our series, ‘The Great Escape’, featuring our most carefully crafted and deeply engrossing tales. It was originally printed in FT Weekend. To read more stories like this and to save 40% on a standard digital subscription to the Financial Times, go to: ft.com/princeoffer. Contributors: Miles Johnson, Mischa Frankl-Duval, Breen Turner, Laura Clarke, Cheryl Brumley, Matt VellaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A travelling clown, a socialist revolutionary, an assassin, an edgelord. Today, we talked to Kelly from Canuck is a Slur about the strange life of one of the first men to theorize manned rockets and also blew up Tsar Alexander II, Emperor of Russia. Come back for Part 2, where we cover the assassination and how he factors into space history. Follow Canuck is a Slur here! Support Failure To Launch on Patreon and unlock bonus content! Source: - Nikolai Ivanovich Kibalchich: Terrorist Rocket Pioneer, Lee B Croft Theme song provided by DJ Danarchy.

However much 'protocol' may attempt to intervene, the truth is that eccentricity is a trait that even royals have. This is certainly the case for Elisabeth of Wied, a German princess who became Romania's first queen, wife of Romania's King Carol I. Politics in Europe were extra complex in the latter half of the 19th century. In Russia, Tsar Alexander II had concluded his father's Crimean War in 1856, but even with the defeat of Russia in the conflict, the Ottoman Empire was in retreat. As Ottoman influence waned, former vassal states, including what would become modern Romania, were shaped by the other great powers and their own internal politics, which led to the unification of several formerly Ottoman principalities into what is now Romania. And what does a newly independent player on the European stage need? A royal house, of course! And wouldn't you know it - the Germans had so many of those lying around that it was easy pickings to find some stuffy but qualified guy to 'elect' king. King Carol I was both a liberalizing influence on the new nation's politics, as well as personally fastidious and, according to accounts, quite humorless. Which must have been tough on his wife, Elisabeth, a flamboyant writer with an artist's temperament who is better known by her nom de plum, Carmen Sylva. She was enough of a handful in the Romanian court that her husband once exiled her back to Germany for a couple of years, from which she sent letters to the Romanian Crown Prince's wife, Marie of Edinburgh, that she hoped Marie's forthcoming baby would turn out to be a girl! Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While royal houses are often insular and even incestuous (at least at the cousin-marrying level), new blood does manage to enter those gene pools from time to time. Meet the Mountbattens! The family's story begins in Russia, circa 1850, where the orphaned daughter of a Polish general named Julia von Hauke was serving in the household of Maria Alexandrovna, future wife of future Tsar Alexander II. Maria's brother, Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, fell hard for the common-born Julia, a romance that was seemingly halted by Emperor Nicholas I, who wanted Prince Alexander to marry his niece. Unable to shake off their love, the two eloped, which left Alexander persona non grata in the Russian court. Returning to his native Hesse, Prince Alexander's brother, Grand Duke Louis III of Hesse-Darmstadt, granted Julia the title of Countess of Battenberg, named for a town in the north of the duchy, and later, Princess of Battenberg. But Europe's royal houses have both a long memory and an enormous snobbery, meaning that when Alexander and Julia's sons, The Battenberg Boys, began pursuing the granddaughters of England's Queen Victoria for marriage a generation later, the courtships - successful and unsuccessful - were rife with intrigue and scandal. But it was the marriage of Louis Battenberg to Queen Vic's granddaughter Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine that would eventually transform the family from a tainted, common-born Battenberg lineage to the British Mountbattens, the house of Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. But that's a story for next week. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On January 14, 1858, Felice Orsini and his fellow Italian revolutionaries tossed his newly designed bombs at the carriage of Emperor Napoleon III, outside of the Paris Opera House. This frightening new form of terrorism would have global ramifications, inspiring nihilists, anarchists, nationalists and others, angry about a wide range of injustices both real and perceived, to create chaos around the world. My guest is Dr. James Crossland, author of "The Rise of Devils: Fear and the Origins of Modern Terrorism". He walks us through the evolution of terrorism in the second half of the nineteenth century and talks about some of the events historically associated with terrorism in this period, including the assassinations of President William McKinley and Tsar Alexander II and Chicago's Haymarket Riot. More about the author here: https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/about-us/staff-profiles/faculty-of-arts-professional-and-social-studies/humanities-and-social-science/james-crossland You can purchase the book through Amazon here:  https://www.amazon.com/rise-devils-origins-modern-terrorism/dp/1526160676/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the end of the nineteenth century, the world came to know and fear terrorism. Much like today, this was a time of progress and dread, in which breakthroughs in communications and weapons were made, political reforms were implemented, and immigration waves bolstered the populations of ever-expanding cities. This era also simmered with political rage and social inequalities, which drove nationalists, nihilists, anarchists and republicans to dynamite cities and discharge pistols into the bodies of presidents, police chiefs and emperors. The most notorious incidents were Tsar Alexander II's murder by the People's Will in 1881, and the dynamiting of the Café Terminus in Paris in 1894, specifically targeting innocents.This wave of terrorism was seized upon by an outrage-hungry press that peddled hysteria, conspiracy theories and, sometimes, fake news in response, convincing many a reader that they were living through the end of days. Against the backdrop of this world of fear and disorder, today's guest, James Crossland, author of “The Rise of Devils,” discusses the journeys of the men and women who evoked this panic and created modern terrorism “revolutionary” philosophers, cult leaders, criminals and charlatans, as well the paranoid police chiefs and unscrupulous spies who tried to thwart them. We examine how radicals once thought just in their causes became, as Pope Pius IX denounced them, little more than “devils risen up from Hell”.This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/3101278/advertisement

In 1882, the threat of assassination was in the air. The year before, Tsar Alexander II was killed by an assassin's bomb, then in July, American President James Garfield was also murdered. Queen Victoria, on the throne for 45 years seemed vulnerable. The final attempt on her life was from a young man named Roderick Maclean. His father Charles was the owner of a satirical magazine called Fun, but Roderick's life was anything but that. Roderick grew up dreaming of a literary career, but the family lost its fortune and an accidental blow to the young MacLean's head caused a marked change in personality. Roderick began to see enemies everywhere and became fascinated by the colour blue and the number four. Unable to hold down a job, Roderick tramped around England from one workhouse or asylum to another. Dr Bob Nicholson visits the Punch Tavern in central London and describes the Victorian love of satire and comedy in such publications as Punch and Charles Maclean's Fun. As he finds out more about Roderick Maclean's story, Bob throws a light on the life of the Victorian wanderer, and the asylum system and Victoria's later life. He traces Roderick's final journey as a free man, from Southsea where he had befriended a landlady named Mrs Sorrell, up through Hampshire and into Windsor, where he waited, armed with a pistol, for the Queen to arrive.

Tsar Alexander II of Russia is assassinated in March 1881. He was probably the most liberal of all tsars of Russia, but succeeded by reactionary leaders Alexander III and then Nicholas II. Nicholas unwisely provokes Japan into a war, and is defeated, which is a catalyst for an attempted revolution in Russia in 1905www.patreon.com/historyeuropewww.historyeurope.netMusic composed by Petr Tchaikovsky (Symphony nr 6 in B Minor)Picture - Russian battleship Oslyabya, the first warship sunk in the battle of Tsushima /Bombardment during the siege of Port Arthur Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nikita Khrushchev was the leader of the Soviet Union from the time of Stalin's from 1953 until 1964.Unexpectedly coming to power after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev inherited a country victorious in World War II and possibly on the road to world domination, but which had also been ripped apart by decades of terror and purges. Khrushchev, in an act of immense political courage, derided Stalinism and closed many of Stalin's labour camps, undeniably making the Soviet Union a more tolerable place to live. Whilst the 1950s saw technological advances and foreign policy successes, Khrushchev's detractors, always uneasy about destalinisation, gained greater traction as Khrushchev's policies lost momentum in the early 60s, and they successfully deposed him in 1964. This fate puts Khrushchev in the company of a number of Russian leaders who also attempted to reform the state they inherited, but lost control of the situation and lost power. Granted, Khrushchev didn't meet the same fate as the reformist Tsar Alexander II, who was assassinated in 1881, but his time in charge of the Soviet Union is generally regarded a truncated failure. In a time when a reactionary Russian leader is faltering, Khrushchev's cautious reforming instincts might well resurface in modern Russia quite soon. That future reformer, be they young or old, close to Putin or unknown to him entirely, must learn the lessons of Khrushchev's leadership, if he or she- probably he, if Russian leaders are anything to go by- is to be successful. My guest for this conversation is Alex Kokcharov, a London-based Risk analyst who covers events related to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. We discussed Khrushchev's sidestepping of Stalin's purges in the 1930s- a fine achievement, considering the calibre of some of those who did not manage to do this- his experiences organising the Russian war effort at Stalingrad and Kursk, and whether Khrushchev's approach to politics, more contemplative and compromising than his predecessor- prepared him well for his time at the top of the Soviet hierarchy. 

We look at the life and death of another Alexander — this time it's Tsar Alexander II of Russia. A reformer who granted freedom to some 23 million serfs, he was on the brink of signing into law a program of changes to the Russian system of government that could have set the empire on a democratic and constitutional route. But a team of assassins from a shadowy political group killed the tsar before he could sign the reforms into law, thus ushering in a period of political reaction that ultimately led to revolution. To find out more about the people and music featured in today's episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag. The sponsor of today's show is Athletic Greens. Head on over to athleticgreens.com/EMERGINGIf you'd like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you'd like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You'll find them on iTunes.

Suffering from severe bleeding, the Tsar was taken to the Winter Palace where he died from his ...

Douglas Gamley arranger conductor - Mussorgsky Great Gate of Kiev - Pictures at Exhibition. Albert Sandler and Orchestra - ADALGISO FERRARIS Souvenir d'Ukraine. Adalgiso Ferraris (16 February 1890 – 31 December 1968) was an Italian-born British composer and pianist. Ferraris' arrangements and compositions were based on classical and popular genres, with a particular flavour of gypsy, Hungarian and Russian traditionals. Pictures at an Exhibition is a suite of ten piano pieces, plus a recurring, varied Promenade theme, composed by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874. The piece is Mussorgsky's most famous piano composition, and it has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists. It became further widely known through various orchestrations and arrangements produced by other composers and musicians, with Maurice Ravel's 1922 adaptation for full symphony orchestra being the most recorded and performed. The Bogatyr Gates (In the Capital in Kiev) Stasov's comment: "Hartmann's sketch was his design for city gates at Kiev in the ancient Russian massive style with a cupola shaped like a slavonic helmet." Bogatyrs are heroes that appear in Russian epics called bylinas. Hartmann designed a monumental gate for Tsar Alexander II to commemorate the monarch's narrow escape from an assassination attempt on April 4, 1866. Hartmann regarded his design as the best work he had done. His design won the national competition but plans to build the structure were later cancelled. The movement's grand main theme exalts the opening Promenade much as "Baba Yaga" amplified "Gnomus"; also like that movement, it evens out the meter of its earlier counterpart. The solemn secondary theme is based on a baptismal hymn from the repertory of Russian Orthodox chant.

Ashley and Jess begin their discussion of the downfall of the Romanov Dynasty, starting with the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. Ashley fills in some of the necessary historical context to paint a picture of the political climate in late 19th and early 20th Century Russia. This episode takes us through the assassination of Prime Minister Peter Stoylpin in Kiev and the falling out of Tsar and Tsarina with Grigori Rasputin. Remember, with a name like Rasputin, it's probably foul.If you have story requests reach out to us at StudyingScarletPodcast@gmail.com-----------Our Links:Facebook link - facebook.com/StudyingScarletPodcastPatreon: patreon.com/StudyingScarletPodcastTwitter - twitter.com/StudyScarletPodInstagram - instagram.com/studyingscarletpodcastTeepublic - StudyingScarlet

We are joined by Dr. Peter Holquist, the Ronald S. Lauder Endowed Term Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in Imperial and Soviet Russian history. Dr. Holquist provides us with an insightful outlook on the era of Tsar Alexander II's reign (1855-1881), as we engage in a discussion on his domestic progressive reforms contrasted with his orders for the final conquest of the Caucasus.

All about what ended the First Boer War and became a rallying cry for the Second Boer War. Episode Notes: 1 of 3) If you haven't yet, would you take just 2 minutes to give us a 5-star rating, write a review (if your podcast app allows), AND hit the Subscribe/Follow/Like button on your podcast app? Subscribing/Following/Liking will do 3 things for you: A) You will be notified each week (typically) when a new episode drops B) For you to pick up where you left off in the show without having to "find your place" again and again C) New episodes will be pre-downloaded for you, depending on the podcast app settings you choose. 2 of 3) Help keep the show going AND enjoy the show on a whole other level. Visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/forgottenwars 3 of 3) If you'd like to stay posted about contests and historical blogs for fans of the show, Like our Facebook page at the following link https://www.facebook.com/forgottenwarspodcast Fans win Amazon gift cards, books this show was built on, and more by competing. They also get to see some of the first, brief written work of mine.

Den 13 mars 1881, mördas tsar Alexander II av Ryssland under en färd genom St: Petersburg. Trots att tsaren var en reformator som gärna såg en modernisering av det ryska samhället hade revolutionära krafter pekat ut honom som en fiende. Kanske kan man säga att den ryska revolutionen smygstartade under Alexanders regeringstid. Manuset har skrivits av historikern och historiebloggaren Boson Gidner som driver bloggen Bosons Historia. Jag har kontrollerat att uppgifterna i manuset stämmer samt redigerat det för ljudformatet. Boson skriver ofta om händelser och personer som inte får så mycket utrymme inom den populärvetenskapliga historieskrivningen där man ständigt måste konkurrera med vikingar, karoliner och nazister hela tiden. Missa inte hans content för jag lovar att du kommer lära dig något nytt på hans blogg. http://bosonshistoria.blogspot.com/ https://www.facebook.com/bosonshistoria/

The balance of power in nineteenth-century Europe was anchored on one end by the redoubtable Queen Victoria (1819 -1901), the doyenne of sovereigns, and at the opposite end by the autocratic Romanov dynasty — four successive emperors who ruled Russia during Victoria's own 63-year reign. Between these great powers lay the rising military power of Prussia, which concerned both Britain and Russia, and a decaying Ottoman Empire from which both hoped to benefit, as well as shipping routes vital to both countries' commercial and military interests. These and numerous other concerns made the relationship tense at the best of times. But Victoria's large family was also entangled with the Romanovs through the complicated web of royal and dynastic marriages that linked the ruling houses of Europe. These political and personal ties are the subject of royal biographer, Coryne Hall's new book, Queen Victoria and the Romanovs: 60 Years of Mutual Distrust (Amberley, 2020). Ms. Hall is a seasoned royal biographer and chronicler, who has delighted royal buffs with her authoritative biographies of Empress Maria Fyodorovna, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, and her exploration of royal Princesses who served as wartime nurses as well as the Imperial estates in the Crimea. In "Queen Victoria and the Romanovs," Ms. Hall delves into the extensive trove of Queen Victoria's diaries and personal correspondence to construct an ambitious and highly informative portrait of her six-decade relationship with the Romanovs, which is at times cordial and diplomatic and at other times overtly hostile. The first encounter takes place "off stage" as far as Victoria is concerned, but very much sets the stage for the tension to come. Victoria's aunt, Juliane of Saxe-Coburg Saalfeld's miserable marriage to Russia's Grand Duke Constantine ended — most extraordinarily for the time — in divorce. The Coburg family felt that Juliane had been very badly treated by the Romanovs, a sentiment that was inherited by the next generation of Coburgs, which included Victoria and her cousin and future husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. Before Albert linked his name in perpetuity with that of Victoria, however, the 20-year-old Queen was swept off her feet — quite literally— by the dashing Grand Duke Alexander, son and heir of Tsar Nicholas I. On a visit to London in 1839, the Grand Duke made quite an impression on the young Queen; all thoughts of poor Aunt Julie and the prudent warnings of Lord Melbourne and Victoria's Coburg Uncle Leopold, King of the Belgians, were forgotten as Victoria indulged in champagne and her first "crush" on the future Tsar Alexander II. The heady attraction did not last. Though Nicholas I and Victoria exchanged courteous, diplomatic correspondence, they were destined to clash in one of the nineteenth century's most brutal conflicts: the Crimean War, in which the British prevailed and Nicholas was driven to an early grave. Coryne Hall is the author of 12 books, including A Biography of the Empress Marie Feodorovna 1847-1928, Imperial Dancer. Mathilde Kschessinska and the Romanovs, and Imperial Crimea: Estates, Enchantment & the Last of the Romanovs. Follow Coryne Hall on Twitter. Jennifer Eremeeva is an American expatriate writer who writes about travel, culture, cuisine and culinary history, Russian history, and Royal History, with bylines in Reuters, Fodor's, USTOA, LitHub, The Moscow Times, and Russian Life. She is the award-winning author of Lenin Lives Next Door: Marriage, Martinis, and Mayhem in Moscow and Have Personality Disorder, Will Rule Russia: A Pocket Guide to Russian History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The balance of power in nineteenth-century Europe was anchored on one end by the redoubtable Queen Victoria (1819 -1901), the doyenne of sovereigns, and at the opposite end by the autocratic Romanov dynasty — four successive emperors who ruled Russia during Victoria's own 63-year reign. Between these great powers lay the rising military power of Prussia, which concerned both Britain and Russia, and a decaying Ottoman Empire from which both hoped to benefit, as well as shipping routes vital to both countries' commercial and military interests. These and numerous other concerns made the relationship tense at the best of times. But Victoria's large family was also entangled with the Romanovs through the complicated web of royal and dynastic marriages that linked the ruling houses of Europe. These political and personal ties are the subject of royal biographer, Coryne Hall's new book, Queen Victoria and the Romanovs: 60 Years of Mutual Distrust (Amberley, 2020). Ms. Hall is a seasoned royal biographer and chronicler, who has delighted royal buffs with her authoritative biographies of Empress Maria Fyodorovna, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, and her exploration of royal Princesses who served as wartime nurses as well as the Imperial estates in the Crimea. In "Queen Victoria and the Romanovs," Ms. Hall delves into the extensive trove of Queen Victoria's diaries and personal correspondence to construct an ambitious and highly informative portrait of her six-decade relationship with the Romanovs, which is at times cordial and diplomatic and at other times overtly hostile. The first encounter takes place "off stage" as far as Victoria is concerned, but very much sets the stage for the tension to come. Victoria's aunt, Juliane of Saxe-Coburg Saalfeld's miserable marriage to Russia's Grand Duke Constantine ended — most extraordinarily for the time — in divorce. The Coburg family felt that Juliane had been very badly treated by the Romanovs, a sentiment that was inherited by the next generation of Coburgs, which included Victoria and her cousin and future husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. Before Albert linked his name in perpetuity with that of Victoria, however, the 20-year-old Queen was swept off her feet — quite literally— by the dashing Grand Duke Alexander, son and heir of Tsar Nicholas I. On a visit to London in 1839, the Grand Duke made quite an impression on the young Queen; all thoughts of poor Aunt Julie and the prudent warnings of Lord Melbourne and Victoria's Coburg Uncle Leopold, King of the Belgians, were forgotten as Victoria indulged in champagne and her first "crush" on the future Tsar Alexander II. The heady attraction did not last. Though Nicholas I and Victoria exchanged courteous, diplomatic correspondence, they were destined to clash in one of the nineteenth century's most brutal conflicts: the Crimean War, in which the British prevailed and Nicholas was driven to an early grave. Coryne Hall is the author of 12 books, including A Biography of the Empress Marie Feodorovna 1847-1928, Imperial Dancer. Mathilde Kschessinska and the Romanovs, and Imperial Crimea: Estates, Enchantment & the Last of the Romanovs. Follow Coryne Hall on Twitter. Jennifer Eremeeva is an American expatriate writer who writes about travel, culture, cuisine and culinary history, Russian history, and Royal History, with bylines in Reuters, Fodor's, USTOA, LitHub, The Moscow Times, and Russian Life. She is the award-winning author of Lenin Lives Next Door: Marriage, Martinis, and Mayhem in Moscow and Have Personality Disorder, Will Rule Russia: A Pocket Guide to Russian History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The balance of power in nineteenth-century Europe was anchored on one end by the redoubtable Queen Victoria (1819 -1901), the doyenne of sovereigns, and at the opposite end by the autocratic Romanov dynasty — four successive emperors who ruled Russia during Victoria's own 63-year reign. Between these great powers lay the rising military power of Prussia, which concerned both Britain and Russia, and a decaying Ottoman Empire from which both hoped to benefit, as well as shipping routes vital to both countries' commercial and military interests. These and numerous other concerns made the relationship tense at the best of times. But Victoria's large family was also entangled with the Romanovs through the complicated web of royal and dynastic marriages that linked the ruling houses of Europe. These political and personal ties are the subject of royal biographer, Coryne Hall's new book, Queen Victoria and the Romanovs: 60 Years of Mutual Distrust (Amberley, 2020). Ms. Hall is a seasoned royal biographer and chronicler, who has delighted royal buffs with her authoritative biographies of Empress Maria Fyodorovna, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, and her exploration of royal Princesses who served as wartime nurses as well as the Imperial estates in the Crimea. In "Queen Victoria and the Romanovs," Ms. Hall delves into the extensive trove of Queen Victoria's diaries and personal correspondence to construct an ambitious and highly informative portrait of her six-decade relationship with the Romanovs, which is at times cordial and diplomatic and at other times overtly hostile. The first encounter takes place "off stage" as far as Victoria is concerned, but very much sets the stage for the tension to come. Victoria's aunt, Juliane of Saxe-Coburg Saalfeld's miserable marriage to Russia's Grand Duke Constantine ended — most extraordinarily for the time — in divorce. The Coburg family felt that Juliane had been very badly treated by the Romanovs, a sentiment that was inherited by the next generation of Coburgs, which included Victoria and her cousin and future husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. Before Albert linked his name in perpetuity with that of Victoria, however, the 20-year-old Queen was swept off her feet — quite literally— by the dashing Grand Duke Alexander, son and heir of Tsar Nicholas I. On a visit to London in 1839, the Grand Duke made quite an impression on the young Queen; all thoughts of poor Aunt Julie and the prudent warnings of Lord Melbourne and Victoria's Coburg Uncle Leopold, King of the Belgians, were forgotten as Victoria indulged in champagne and her first "crush" on the future Tsar Alexander II. The heady attraction did not last. Though Nicholas I and Victoria exchanged courteous, diplomatic correspondence, they were destined to clash in one of the nineteenth century's most brutal conflicts: the Crimean War, in which the British prevailed and Nicholas was driven to an early grave. Coryne Hall is the author of 12 books, including A Biography of the Empress Marie Feodorovna 1847-1928, Imperial Dancer. Mathilde Kschessinska and the Romanovs, and Imperial Crimea: Estates, Enchantment & the Last of the Romanovs. Follow Coryne Hall on Twitter. Jennifer Eremeeva is an American expatriate writer who writes about travel, culture, cuisine and culinary history, Russian history, and Royal History, with bylines in Reuters, Fodor's, USTOA, LitHub, The Moscow Times, and Russian Life. She is the award-winning author of Lenin Lives Next Door: Marriage, Martinis, and Mayhem in Moscow and Have Personality Disorder, Will Rule Russia: A Pocket Guide to Russian History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The balance of power in nineteenth-century Europe was anchored on one end by the redoubtable Queen Victoria (1819 -1901), the doyenne of sovereigns, and at the opposite end by the autocratic Romanov dynasty — four successive emperors who ruled Russia during Victoria's own 63-year reign. Between these great powers lay the rising military power of Prussia, which concerned both Britain and Russia, and a decaying Ottoman Empire from which both hoped to benefit, as well as shipping routes vital to both countries' commercial and military interests. These and numerous other concerns made the relationship tense at the best of times. But Victoria's large family was also entangled with the Romanovs through the complicated web of royal and dynastic marriages that linked the ruling houses of Europe. These political and personal ties are the subject of royal biographer, Coryne Hall's new book, Queen Victoria and the Romanovs: 60 Years of Mutual Distrust (Amberley, 2020). Ms. Hall is a seasoned royal biographer and chronicler, who has delighted royal buffs with her authoritative biographies of Empress Maria Fyodorovna, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, and her exploration of royal Princesses who served as wartime nurses as well as the Imperial estates in the Crimea. In "Queen Victoria and the Romanovs," Ms. Hall delves into the extensive trove of Queen Victoria's diaries and personal correspondence to construct an ambitious and highly informative portrait of her six-decade relationship with the Romanovs, which is at times cordial and diplomatic and at other times overtly hostile. The first encounter takes place "off stage" as far as Victoria is concerned, but very much sets the stage for the tension to come. Victoria's aunt, Juliane of Saxe-Coburg Saalfeld's miserable marriage to Russia's Grand Duke Constantine ended — most extraordinarily for the time — in divorce. The Coburg family felt that Juliane had been very badly treated by the Romanovs, a sentiment that was inherited by the next generation of Coburgs, which included Victoria and her cousin and future husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. Before Albert linked his name in perpetuity with that of Victoria, however, the 20-year-old Queen was swept off her feet — quite literally— by the dashing Grand Duke Alexander, son and heir of Tsar Nicholas I. On a visit to London in 1839, the Grand Duke made quite an impression on the young Queen; all thoughts of poor Aunt Julie and the prudent warnings of Lord Melbourne and Victoria's Coburg Uncle Leopold, King of the Belgians, were forgotten as Victoria indulged in champagne and her first "crush" on the future Tsar Alexander II. The heady attraction did not last. Though Nicholas I and Victoria exchanged courteous, diplomatic correspondence, they were destined to clash in one of the nineteenth century's most brutal conflicts: the Crimean War, in which the British prevailed and Nicholas was driven to an early grave. Coryne Hall is the author of 12 books, including A Biography of the Empress Marie Feodorovna 1847-1928, Imperial Dancer. Mathilde Kschessinska and the Romanovs, and Imperial Crimea: Estates, Enchantment & the Last of the Romanovs. Follow Coryne Hall on Twitter. Jennifer Eremeeva is an American expatriate writer who writes about travel, culture, cuisine and culinary history, Russian history, and Royal History, with bylines in Reuters, Fodor's, USTOA, LitHub, The Moscow Times, and Russian Life. She is the award-winning author of Lenin Lives Next Door: Marriage, Martinis, and Mayhem in Moscow and Have Personality Disorder, Will Rule Russia: A Pocket Guide to Russian History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The balance of power in nineteenth-century Europe was anchored on one end by the redoubtable Queen Victoria (1819 -1901), the doyenne of sovereigns, and at the opposite end by the autocratic Romanov dynasty — four successive emperors who ruled Russia during Victoria's own 63-year reign. Between these great powers lay the rising military power of Prussia, which concerned both Britain and Russia, and a decaying Ottoman Empire from which both hoped to benefit, as well as shipping routes vital to both countries' commercial and military interests. These and numerous other concerns made the relationship tense at the best of times. But Victoria's large family was also entangled with the Romanovs through the complicated web of royal and dynastic marriages that linked the ruling houses of Europe. These political and personal ties are the subject of royal biographer, Coryne Hall's new book, Queen Victoria and the Romanovs: 60 Years of Mutual Distrust (Amberley, 2020). Ms. Hall is a seasoned royal biographer and chronicler, who has delighted royal buffs with her authoritative biographies of Empress Maria Fyodorovna, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, and her exploration of royal Princesses who served as wartime nurses as well as the Imperial estates in the Crimea. In "Queen Victoria and the Romanovs," Ms. Hall delves into the extensive trove of Queen Victoria's diaries and personal correspondence to construct an ambitious and highly informative portrait of her six-decade relationship with the Romanovs, which is at times cordial and diplomatic and at other times overtly hostile. The first encounter takes place "off stage" as far as Victoria is concerned, but very much sets the stage for the tension to come. Victoria's aunt, Juliane of Saxe-Coburg Saalfeld's miserable marriage to Russia's Grand Duke Constantine ended — most extraordinarily for the time — in divorce. The Coburg family felt that Juliane had been very badly treated by the Romanovs, a sentiment that was inherited by the next generation of Coburgs, which included Victoria and her cousin and future husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. Before Albert linked his name in perpetuity with that of Victoria, however, the 20-year-old Queen was swept off her feet — quite literally— by the dashing Grand Duke Alexander, son and heir of Tsar Nicholas I. On a visit to London in 1839, the Grand Duke made quite an impression on the young Queen; all thoughts of poor Aunt Julie and the prudent warnings of Lord Melbourne and Victoria's Coburg Uncle Leopold, King of the Belgians, were forgotten as Victoria indulged in champagne and her first "crush" on the future Tsar Alexander II. The heady attraction did not last. Though Nicholas I and Victoria exchanged courteous, diplomatic correspondence, they were destined to clash in one of the nineteenth century's most brutal conflicts: the Crimean War, in which the British prevailed and Nicholas was driven to an early grave. Coryne Hall is the author of 12 books, including A Biography of the Empress Marie Feodorovna 1847-1928, Imperial Dancer. Mathilde Kschessinska and the Romanovs, and Imperial Crimea: Estates, Enchantment & the Last of the Romanovs. Follow Coryne Hall on Twitter. Jennifer Eremeeva is an American expatriate writer who writes about travel, culture, cuisine and culinary history, Russian history, and Royal History, with bylines in Reuters, Fodor's, USTOA, LitHub, The Moscow Times, and Russian Life. She is the award-winning author of Lenin Lives Next Door: Marriage, Martinis, and Mayhem in Moscow and Have Personality Disorder, Will Rule Russia: A Pocket Guide to Russian History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Want to skip the queue and access all episodes of BismarckRise right NOW? OF COURSE YOU DO! Click here for moreUnsure of what's going on? Read this blog post for more information on BismarckRise.Episode 3 – The Ultimate Opportunist: 1853-59.The Crimean War changed everything in Europe. It left Austria alienated, her Russian ally bitter and the Tsar vengeful, after Austria’s display of perfidy. ‘Austrian ingratitude’, claimed the new Tsar Alexander II, ‘killed my father.’ Under these circumstances, it was possible that Prussia could take advantage. Could an agreement with Russia be created, to be directed against Austria? But then there was the issue of France, and what Napoleon III intended to do with this new power balance. In Bismarck’s view, France presented an opportunity. We ought to negotiate with France, or at least give the impression that we were negotiating to spook our enemies, Bismarck opined. But this was too much for his superiors, even with the change that came in the aftermath of the Crimean War. Austria was still the traditional friend of Prussia; France was still the traditional bogeyman of all true Junkers. To change this, Bismarck would have to get into power, and change the system from the inside. Until this happened, he would march on in Frankfurt, crafting a niche for himself among his fellow deputies, in the hope that some day soon, he would be noticed, and called upon for bigger and better things. In a long and detailed correspondence with his friend and mentor Leopold von Gerlach, Bismarck would explain his views and plans for Prussia’s future, but these letters, written in 1857, were not the product of a man in control of his own destiny. Bismarck had to go where the pace of events took him, and by the end of 1858, with King Frederick William incapacitated by a stroke, the moment seemed ripe to hope that now, under a new sovereign perhaps, Prussia would call upon this mad Junker at long last. It was a hope he would nourish right up to the point of his actual appointment in September 1862. Before he got there though, Bismarck would have to endure a great deal of disappointment and stress first. As was to be expected, he didn’t suffer these trials in silence… See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On the 13th March 1881, Tsar Alexander II of Russia was assassinated in a St Petersburg street by a member of the People’s Will revolutionary ...

Tsar Alexander II of Russia signed the Emancipation ...

Lucy Holcombe Pickens. Southern belle—and the rumored model for Gone with the Wind's Scarlett O'Hara, the "Queen of the Confederacy,” and if the Confederate States are included, the very first woman to be featured on U.S. currency. Stories are that her young daughter helped light the fuse for the first shots of the Civil War. She was the rumored mistress of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, and even bore his child. Fact or fiction? We're going to sort through the life of Lucy Holcombe Pickens in today's episode.

The Secure Transportation and Executive Protection News for Monday, September 17th, 2018   In Vehicle News From the International Security Driver Association The First Attack on an Armored Vehicle in a Convoy? One of the first “vehicle assassinations” was that of Tsar Alexander II in Russia. He was one of the first victims of an assassination in an armored vehicle. The vehicle happened to be an armored horse-drawn carriage, a gift from Napoleon III of France. As he was known to do every Sunday, the Tsar drove in a three sleigh protection team to review the military unit called the Life Guards. He took the same route every Sunday. His security team consisted of the Tsar’s two-horse sleigh. Behind Alexander came two more sleighs filled with Cossack security officials. On 13 March 1881 as they were crossing a bridge a terrorist stepped forward and tossed a bomb under the legs of the Tsar’s horses. One Cossack was mortally wounded, as was a passing delivery boy. The windows of the royal sleigh were shattered, and the floor of the sleigh was smashed. The Tsar was dazed but survived it all with only a small cut on his hand. Colonel Dvoretsky, district chief of police, rushed up and urged the Tsar to get into his sleigh. At this point we can see that history hasn’t changed much; there are still principals who won’t listen to their security chiefs. The Tsar ignored his recommendation and wandered over to look at the site of the explosion. Alexander turned and began walking toward another carriage. He passed near a man leaning on an iron railing holding a parcel – another terrorist. The second terrorist turned and hurled his parcel at the Tsar’s feet. There was a second roar, another cloud of blue smoke; this time the street was littered with the wounded and dying. The Tsar crouched in a pool of his blood. The Tsar was driven swiftly to the palace, his sleigh leaving a trail of blood behind. By the time medical aid could be sum­moned, it was too late. To sum it all up they went the same route every Sunday, the principal survived the initial attack, got out of his armored vehicle, ignored the recommendations of his security and got blown up. This could have been the first attack on a “motorcade” and the theory that works today would have worked then – cover the principal and leave the kill zone. https://isdacenter.org/first-attack-armored-vehicle-convoy/  ======= And from Salon  , critics say Consumer advocates are attacking a bill heading for a vote soon in the U.S. Senate that would clear legal obstacles for the deployment of driverless cars — a proposal that, critics say, lacks safeguards needed to protect the public and largely would let vehicle manufacturers regulate themselves. The measure, which is being pushed by auto and tech industry lobbyists, is called the AV START Act, standing for “American Vision for Safer Transportation through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies.”   https://www.salon.com/2018/09/15/safety-would-take-a-back-seat-if-senate-passes-bill-on-driverless-cars-critics-say_partner/   ======================   In Cyber Security News  From Gizmodo.Com Top European Court Rules UK Mass Surveillance Regime Violates Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled this week that the United Kingdom government’s surveillance regime violated human rights laws.   https://gizmodo.com/top-european-court-rules-uk-mass-surveillance-regime-vi-1829029877   ======================   In Terrorism News From the Department of Homeland Security National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin Since 2015, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has used this Bulletin to highlight the continuing terror threat to the U.S. Homeland. The United States is engaged in a generational fight against terrorists who seek to attack the American people, our country, and our way of life. An informed vigilant and engaged public remains one of our greatest assets to identify potential terrorists and prevent attacks. https://www.dhs.gov/ntas/advisory/ntas_18_0914_0001 ====================== Links to all news stories mentioned in this podcast are available at the archive website securitydrivernews.libsyn.com. You can also listen to past podcast episodes and leave comments. As a reminder, the Secure Transportation and Executive Protection News Podcast is available on all variations of Apple and Google Play podcast apps and Spotify. ======================     This podcast is brought to you by the International Security Driver Association ISDA is a valuable resource for all practitioners working in the protection profession. We offer benchmark educational, networking, and marketing programs. The ISDA Membership ISDA Members represent all facets and levels of the protective services profession. The membership can be defined as a group of practitioners from different disciplines within the profession and with years of experience coming together to assist ISDA Members. Read more about our members Here is a collection of Books, and Articles authored by ISDA Members. Learn More about the ISDA Advantage and Become a Member Today  

Today we’re going to run through the very first implementation of Communism on a mass scale. Our last few Furious Friday episodes are a lead up to this. If you didn’t catch those episodes, it’s not the end of the world but if you did manage to have a listen it will provide a bit of context to this episode.   Russia – 1917 under Vladimir Lenin & the Bolsheviks (Spoiler alert! It didn’t end well!) Firstly, it’s important to understand Russian History, pre-1917, as a prelude to the events that occurred. 1861 - Tsar Alexander II passes the Emancipation Edict, ending serfdom in Russia Alexander II was a pretty good guy (as far as leaders through history go) Sold Alaska to the USA 1867 for $200m in today’s dollars. Favoured an economic system similar to that in other European countries; Capitalism and free trade. Promote development and to encourage the ownership of private property, free competition, entrepreneurship, and hired labour Most Serfs were free (a third of the Russian population) They had rights (marriage, ownership of property, freedom) 80% of the population were peasants, substance farmers. Peasants were to receive land from landlords (though they had to pay for this eventually with money, or working it off through labour obligations) Landlords were paid 75% from the government upfront, and the peasants paid it off over time. This was abolished later on, so the full payments never really came through to the land owners. Changing the system so significantly is a very complex problem to solve. However, by all metrics it seemed to be working well as far as increasing the prosperity of the population. The land ownership changed hands significantly Previously there were the Gentry class – A social class whose land ownership provided their incomes (Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice). Land ownership by the Gentry class fell from 80% to 50% as the mobility of wealth under a freer society increased. Serf land ownership rose - 5% to 20% Substantial rise in the amount of production of grain Surprise, surprise! When people are allowed to keep what they produce, and are incentivized, there is an increase in goods produced. Rise in the number of hired laborers Rise in technology needs - machinery Remember: This was set up to be a free market economy – Efficiencies started to happen! Those who were more entrepreneurial could do more than just farm land as well 1890s - Industrial development A large increase in the size of the urban middle classand of the working class. This saw the emergence of the Kulaks, who were essentially the wealthy peasants By this time the second generation were entering adulthood. There was a 35% chance that their parents had been slaves. This gave rise to a more dynamic political atmosphere - the one downside of freedom Previously there was no hope of rising up, peasants were peasants. But, with freedom comes choice, and with choice comes wealth… You either chose to own something/keep what you earn, chose to work where you want Inequality is created. But this is then used as a tool to mobilise the masses – to create an equal outcome – where everything was utopia and everyone has the same amount of wealth During this period is when Vladimir Lenin was born – 1870 to be exact Wealthy middle-class family. His father was a serf who was freed, did well and became wealthy I’ll skip forward through Lenin’s life to 1917 when things pick back up – Spent most of time between being expelled from University, exiled in Siberia, then living in Munich, Geneva and London, or holidaying in French or Italian Villas WW1 was going on around this time Unrest is growing. The First Revolution: Disaffected soldiers from the city's garrison joined bread rioters and industrial strikers on the streets. More and more troops deserted the front lines and with loyal troops away at the front things fell into chaos, leading to the overthrow of the Tsar. In all, over 1,300 people were killed during the protests of February 1917 Didn’t solve the fight for power Enter, The Bolsheviks – A second revolution Bolsheviks - majority faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party, which seized power in the October revolution of 1917 Lenin came back to Russia in October 1917 – From Finland (wasn’t even there until the end)   1918 - Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic  Lenin gets to work on the new Government The first was a Decree on Land, which declared that the landed estates of the aristocracy and the Orthodox Church should be nationalised and redistributed to peasants by local governments. Decree on the Press that closed many opposition media outlets deemed counter-revolutionary The courts were replaced by a two-tier system: Revolutionary Tribunals to deal with counter-revolutionary crimes, and People's Courts to deal with civil and other criminal offences. They were instructed to ignore pre-existing laws, and base their rulings on the Sovnarkom decrees and a "socialist sense of justice" Decree limiting work for everyone in Russia to 8 hours per day. Issued the Decree on Popular Education that stipulated that the government would guarantee free, secular education for all children in Russia Embracing the equality of the sexes, laws were introduced that helped to emancipate women, by giving them economic autonomy from their husbands and removing restrictions on divorce Decree on Workers' Control, which called on the workers of each enterprise to establish an elected committee to monitor their enterprise's management (gangs of workers controlling the company they were working for) Issued an order requisitioning the country's gold, and nationalised the banks, which Lenin saw as a major step toward socialism Nationalised foreign trade, establishing a state monopoly on imports and exports It decreed nationalisation of public utilities, railways, engineering, textiles, metallurgy, and mining, although often these were state-owned in name only   1918 - Many cities in western Russia faced chronic food shortages and famine. What happens to a controlled economy? Price controls, for one. Things that are price pegged below cost fall into shortage To supplement - A booming “black market” supplemented the official state-sanctioned economy Lenin called on speculators, black marketeers and looters to be shot. (So, the food shortage gets worse) Lenin blamed this on the Kulaks - wealthier peasants (his father’s class) - allegedly ‘hoarded the grain’ Armed detachments were ordered to be established to confiscate grain from Kulaks for distribution in the cities Resulted in vast social disorder and violence - armed detachments clashed with peasant groups – Roaming gangs Bolsheviks’ Red Terror policy - a system of repression - sometimes described as an attempt to eliminate the entire bourgeoisie – 50,000 to 140,000 range of those who died (mass murder)   Mass murder doesn’t look good, plus there needs to be workers 1919 - Establishment of concentration camps, later the government agency, Gulag.  AleksandrSolzhenitsyn (Gulag Archipelago)… we’ll come back to this in the next episode. By the end of 1920, 84 camps, 50,000 prisoners; 1923, 315 camps, 70,000 inmates.  This was the early days for these slave labour From July 1922, all intellectuals deemed to be opposing the Bolshevik government were exiled to inhospitable regions or deported from Russia altogether; Lenin personally scrutinised the lists of those to be dealt with in this manner. In May 1922, Lenin issued a decree calling for the execution of anti-Bolshevik priests, causing between 14,000 and 20,000 deaths Common pattern – Anyone who has differing opinions or offer alternative hierarchy of beliefs In 1920, the government brought in universal labour conscription, ensuring that all citizens aged between 16 and 50 had to work. This is in a time when life expectancy was around 35 years old WW1 – Diseases and famine – most people didn’t know anything but work and a short life Infighting within – few civil rebellions which were quickly crushed by the Red Army By 1921 – Lenin got sick and went to the Gorki Mansion to spend his final years. In Lenin's absence, Stalin had begun consolidating his power both by appointing his supporters to prominent positions. 1922 – Stalin took over: Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics – USSR That was the short summary of the life and policies of Lenin. From 1918 -1922, a body count of 3,284,000 (not including the 6.2m killed in the civil wars in this time). We’ll leave it here for now, next week we can run through the later part of the USSR where things really ramp up under Stalin The price of free is freedom – A government that provide equality and free everything has complete control over everything Thanks for listening!

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 1861 declaration by Tsar Alexander II that serfs were now legally free of their landlords. Until then, over a third of Russians were tied to the land on which they lived and worked and in practice there was little to distinguish their condition from slavery. Russia had lost the Crimean War in 1855 and there had been hundreds of uprisings, prompting the Tsar to tell the nobles, "The existing condition of owning souls cannot remain unchanged. It is better to begin to destroy serfdom from above than to wait until that time when it begins to destroy itself from below." Reform was constrained by the Tsar's wish to keep the nobles on side and, for the serfs, tied by debt and law to the little land they were then allotted, the benefits were hard to see. With Sarah Hudspith Associate Professor in Russian at the University of Leeds Simon Dixon The Sir Bernard Pares Professor of Russian History at UCL And Shane O'Rourke Senior Lecturer in History at the University of York Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 1861 declaration by Tsar Alexander II that serfs were now legally free of their landlords. Until then, over a third of Russians were tied to the land on which they lived and worked and in practice there was little to distinguish their condition from slavery. Russia had lost the Crimean War in 1855 and there had been hundreds of uprisings, prompting the Tsar to tell the nobles, "The existing condition of owning souls cannot remain unchanged. It is better to begin to destroy serfdom from above than to wait until that time when it begins to destroy itself from below." Reform was constrained by the Tsar's wish to keep the nobles on side and, for the serfs, tied by debt and law to the little land they were then allotted, the benefits were hard to see. With Sarah Hudspith Associate Professor in Russian at the University of Leeds Simon Dixon The Sir Bernard Pares Professor of Russian History at UCL And Shane O'Rourke Senior Lecturer in History at the University of York Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Want more FOH? Visit footnotesofhistory.com/join Do you need a bit of extra cash? Do you need to pay off some of your nobles to compensate them for freeing their serfs? Why not sell a piece of territory to the United States? That was what Tsar Alexander II did in March 1867. During a time of consistently high tensions with European powers such as France and Britain - who were industrialising at a terrific pace - Russia found itself cornered. Having lost a home game in the Crimea and with its Pacific territories in increasing danger of being surrounded by British colonies and indeed, American ones, it was probably time to jettison the dead weight. And if it could provoke a distracting war between old enemies Britain and the USA - both vying for domination in North America - the more's the better. Register for updates and see the show notes here: footnotesofhistory.com/9

Longtime Alaska reporter Mike Dunham has written a pair of short biographies that tell the stories of the most important diplomats in the 19th century—Tsar Alexander II of Russia and American Secretary of State William Henry Seward. At this event, a fresh look at the lives of the men who arranged the United States’ acquisition of Russian America in 1867 will be offered. This event is held in celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the purchase of Alaska

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. On 1st March 1881, the Russian Tsar, Alexander II, was travelling through the snow to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. An armed Cossack sat with the coach driver, another six Cossacks followed on horseback and behind them came a group of police officers in sledges. It was the day that the Tsar, known for his liberal reforms, had signed a document granting the first ever constitution to the Russian people.But his journey was being watched by a group of radicals called 'Narodnaya Volya' or 'The People's Will'. On a street corner near the Catherine Canal, they hurled the first of their bombs to halt the Tsar's iron-clad coach. When Alexander ignored advice and ventured out onto the snow to comfort his dying Cossacks, he was killed by another bomber who took his own life in the blast.Why did they kill the reforming Tsar? What was the political climate that inspired such extreme acts? And could this have been the moment that the Russian state started an inexorable march towards revolution?With Orlando Figes, Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London; Dominic Lieven, Professor of Russian Government, London School of Economics; Catriona Kelly, Professor of Russian, Oxford University.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. On 1st March 1881, the Russian Tsar, Alexander II, was travelling through the snow to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. An armed Cossack sat with the coach driver, another six Cossacks followed on horseback and behind them came a group of police officers in sledges. It was the day that the Tsar, known for his liberal reforms, had signed a document granting the first ever constitution to the Russian people.But his journey was being watched by a group of radicals called 'Narodnaya Volya' or 'The People's Will'. On a street corner near the Catherine Canal, they hurled the first of their bombs to halt the Tsar's iron-clad coach. When Alexander ignored advice and ventured out onto the snow to comfort his dying Cossacks, he was killed by another bomber who took his own life in the blast.Why did they kill the reforming Tsar? What was the political climate that inspired such extreme acts? And could this have been the moment that the Russian state started an inexorable march towards revolution?With Orlando Figes, Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London; Dominic Lieven, Professor of Russian Government, London School of Economics; Catriona Kelly, Professor of Russian, Oxford University.