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Tsaar Alexander III von Holstein-Gottorp

Male 1845 - 1894  (49 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and 49 descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Alexander III von Holstein-Gottorp 
    Prefix Tsaar 
    Birth 10 Mar 1845  St. Petersburg, Rossiya Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Prominent People
    Death 2 Nov 1894  Livadia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Siblings 7 Siblings 
    Person ID I5613  Geneagraphie
    Last Modified 6 Dec 2001 

    Father Tsaar Alexander II von Holstein-Gottorp,   b. 29 Apr 1818, Moskva, Rossiya Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 13 Mar 1881, St. Petersburg, Rossiya Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 62 years) 
    Mother Maria Alexandrovna von Hessen und bei Rhein,   b. 8 Aug 1824, Darmstadt Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 9 Jun 1880, St. Petersburg, Rossiya Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 55 years) 
    Marriage 28 Apr 1841  St. Petersburg, Rossiya Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F2415  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Prinzessin Maria Feodorovna af Danmark,   b. 26 Nov 1847, Det Gule Palæ, København, , Danmark Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 13 Oct 1928, Villa Hvidore, nr Kobenhaven Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 80 years) 
    Marriage 9 Nov 1866  St. Petersburg, Rossiya Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Tsaar Nikolai II von Holstein-Gottorp,   b. 18 May 1868, St. Petersburg, Rossiya Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 17 Jul 1918, Ekaterinburg Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 50 years)
     2. Grossfürst Alexander Alexandrowitsch von Holstein-Gottorp,   b. 26 May 1869, Tsarkoie-Selo Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 20 Apr 1870, St. Petersburg, Rossiya Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 0 years)
     3. Grigori Alexandrowitsch von Holstein-Gottorp,   b. 27 Apr 1871, Tsarkoie-Selo Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 28 Jul 1899, Abbas Touman, Sakartwelo, Caucasus Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 28 years)
    +4. Grossfürstin Xenia Alexandrowna von Holstein-Gottorp,   b. 25 Mar 1875, St. Petersburg, Rossiya Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 20 Apr 1960, Wilderness House, Hampton Court, London Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 85 years)
    +5. Michail Alexandrovich von Holstein-Gottorp,   b. 9 Dec 1878   d. Abt 12 Jun 1918 (Age 39 years)
    +6. Olga Alexandrowna von Holstein-Gottorp,   b. 1 Jun 1882, Peterhof Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 24 Nov 1960, Cooksville, nr Toronto Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 78 years)
    Family ID F2372  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 29 Aug 2000 

  • Event Map Click to hide
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 10 Mar 1845 - St. Petersburg, Rossiya Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 9 Nov 1866 - St. Petersburg, Rossiya Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 
    Pin Legend  : Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  • Photos Photos (Log in)Photos (Log in)

  • Notes 
    • Considered Russia's last true autocrat, Alexander III was the epitome of what a Russian Tsar was supposed to be. Forceful, formidable, fiercely patriotic, and at 6' 4" towered over his fellow countrymen. He was the embodiment of the fabled Russian bear. He came to power at a critical point in Imperial Russian history. The Industrial Revolution had finally come to Russia and capitalism was taking root. Foreign investment within the country was at an all time high. His Father, Alexander II was within hours of granting the country its first constitution. Ironically, Alexander III was not born heir to the Russian throne. Born in St Petersburg on February 26, 1845 (old style), he was the second son of Alexander II, the "Tsar Liberator" who had freed the serfs. His older brother and heir to the throne, Nicholas, died in 1865. The young Grand Duke was greatly influenced by his tutor Constantine Petrovich Pobedonostsev who instilled into him conservative fundamentals of autocracy, Orthodoxy and nationalism that were required to govern the Russian Empire. Pobedonostsev believed that all opposition to the government be ruthlessly crushed and viewed liberal ideas as constitutions and free press as a threat to the state. It was also Pobedonostsev
      that taught Alexander III to be anti-Semitic and view the Jewish community of the Empire as "Christ Killers". With the death of his brother, Alexander inherited more than just the title of Tsarevich. While on his deathbed, his brother
      Nicholas insisted that he also take his fiance as his wife.
      The reign of Alexander III began in tragedy. On March 1, 1881, on the eve of the signing into law Russia's first constitution, two assassins threw bombs at the Tsar's carriage in St. Petersburg. Alexander II was mortally wounded and died shortly thereafter. Russia's hopes for a constitution also died that day. One cannot fault Alexander's reaction to his father's death. His father, the Tsar Liberator, had freed the serfs, predating Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation by two years. One can only imagine the rage he, his wife and children felt as they watched the Tsar bleed and die in a St Petersburg palace. This event would solidify the reactionary tone of his 13-year reign.
      As a result of the assassination, Alexander III would not consider granting the constitution. He tightened censorship of the press and sent thousands of revolutionaries to Siberia. In his Accession Manifesto, he declared his intention to have "full faith in the justice and strength of the autocracy" that he had been entrusted with. Any liberal proposals in government were quickly dismissed. Alexander was determined to strengthen autocratic rule as a God given right. His reign is often referred to as the Age of Counter Reform. To many westerners he appeared crude and not overly intelligent. Queen Victoria commented that she thought him as "a sovereign whom she does not look upon as a gentlemen". Indeed, he was not educated or prepared in his youth to be Emperor. But what he lacked in style he more than made up for in his conviction of his position, his love for his country, and an understanding of the importance he could play in shaping his country's future. He possessed such a strong will as to rule the Russian Empire as absolute autocrat, to the point where the Empire stabilized and prospered, thus allowing capitalism to begin to take root. During his reign the autocracy stabilized and dissent was forced underground. He worked to strengthen and modernize Russia's armed forces while avoiding armed conflict and improve Russia's standing as a world power. To his credit, as a husband and a father he was greatly successful. He was also good with kids and doted upon his daughters. He dressed simply and would wear his clothes until they were threadbare. His simplicity was also evident in his choice of living quarters. Though he lived in the large Gachina Palace, he chose to live in the renovated servants area. He was known as "The Peasants Tsar", and because of his size was always viewed as larger than life. He loved the simplicity of Russian life and had little taste for anything western. In October 1888 the Imperial train derailed while the Tsar and his family were eating in the dining car. No one was seriously hurt, but the strong Alexander III lifted the roof of the car from the wreckage so that his family could escape. It was not known
      at the time, but the Tsar had suffered a severe bruise to his kidney that would contribute to his death 6 years later.
      At the beginning of 1894 Alexander III was 49 years old. It was believed that he had, barring assassination, many years left to his reign. As the year progressed, his health deteriorated at an alarming rate. The best doctors of the time were called to help, but none were able to save the dying Emperor. Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov, Tsar of all the Russia's, died of Nephritis on October 20, 1894 (OS) at the summer palace at Livadia in the Crimea. He was buried in the St. Peter & Paul Cathedral in St Petersburg, the last Tsar be so. He left behind an incomplete legacy, his work unfinished, and an heir unprepared to rule. History tends to view Alexander III as a brutish despot. His only accomplishment being to strengthen his autocratic rule at the expense of the working class and peasantry. To his credit he stabilized the Russian government and maintained peace with his European and Asian neighbors. History is blessed with perfect hindsight. Alexander III, however, had no such luxury. He had no idea that the causes he cared for and the means at which he obtained them would cause the eventual destruction of the way of life and government he cherished so deeply. His canceling of the planned constitution set into motion events that would eventually take Russia to the brink of annihilation. The Tsar's inability or unwillingness to prepare his son Nicholas at an early age to rule as absolute autocrat further exacerbated the future events that would sweep over his Empire. Finally, Alexander was hopelessly out of touch with the emerging realities of a modern industrialized Russia. Autocratic rule was established at a time in Russian history when the nation was illiterate, uneducated, and attacked from foreign powers on all sides. That time was no more. At a time when the Russian government should have begun adjusting itself to the changing realities of the 19th Century, Alexander instead clung to and strengthened the autocracy. This is his greatest failure. He was a loving father and devoted husband. There is no doubt that he loved his country and fully expected to answer to God as to his accountability as Tsar.



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