Question

What were two actions that Czar Alexander III took in response to the assassination of his father, Alexander II?

Answer 1

Czar Alexander III reinstated harsh methods and launched a program of Russification.

Step-by-step explanation:

Czar Alexander III (1845–1894) was the Emperor of Russia from 1881 until his death. Known for his conservative policies, he aimed to strengthen autocracy, suppress dissent, and promote Russian nationalism. His reign saw industrial development but was marked by repression, notably the persecution of minority groups. In response to the assassination of his father, Alexander II, Czar Alexander III took two major actions:

1. He reinstated the harsh methods that had been enacted by Nicholas I, including an increased presence of the secret police, strict censorship, and exile of critics to Siberia.
2. He launched a program of Russification, which aimed to suppress all non-Russian cultures within the empire, promoting one language (Russian) and one church (Russian Orthodox Church) and persecuting various ethnic groups.

Answer 2

Step-by-step explanation:

Czar Alexander II, the ruler of Russia since 1855, is killed in the streets of St. Petersburg by a bomb thrown by a member of the revolutionary “People’s Will” group. The People’s Will, organized in 1879, employed terrorism and assassination in their attempt to overthrow Russia’s czarist autocracy. They murdered officials and made several attempts on the czar’s life before finally assassinating him on March 13, 1881.

As czar, Alexander did much to liberalize and modernize Russia, including the abolishment of serfdom in 1861. However, when his authority was challenged, he turned repressive, and he vehemently opposed movements for political reform. Ironically, on the very day he was killed, he signed a proclamation–the so-called Loris-Melikov constitution–that would have created two legislative commissions made up of indirectly elected representatives.

He was succeeded by his 36-year-old son, Alexander III, who rejected the Loris-Melikov constitution. Alexander II’s assassins were arrested and hanged, and the People’s Will was thoroughly suppressed. The peasant revolution advocated by the People’s Will was achieved by Vladimir Lenin’s Bolshevik revolutionaries in 1917.