On this day in 1881, Czar Alexander II was assassinated in St. Petersburg by a member of the People's Will. This revolutionary group used terrorism and assassination to overthrow the czarist autocracy.
The group had attempted to kill Alexander several times before finally succeeding.
Alexander had been the ruler of Russia since 1855 and had made significant efforts to modernize and liberalize the country, including abolishing serfdom in 1861.
However, when his authority was challenged, he became repressive and opposed political reform movements.
Ironically, he signed a constitution creating two legislative commissions on the day he was killed.
His 36-year-old son, Alexander III, succeeded him and rejected the constitution.
The assassins were arrested and hanged, and the People's Will was suppressed.
The Bolshevik revolutionaries eventually achieved the peasant revolution advocated by the group under Vladimir Lenin in 1917.
#ThisDayInHistory
March 13, 1881
Yes. Makes me think of Dostoevsky, who also died in 1881.