How Did Alexander II Impact The Russian Czars

Russian Czars
After the three partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793, and 1795, there were many more Jews in the Russian empire. The Pale of Settlement was a region in imperial Russia where the Jews were given permanent dwelling. The leaders of Russia were called Czars and they had complete power over the entire empire. This essay will discuss three Russian Czars, Nicholas I, Alexander II, and Alexander III and the impact they had on the Jews. The different levels of tolerance of these Czars to the Jews greatly influenced the quality of Jewish life at the time.

Czar Nicholas I ruled Russia from 1825 to 1855, he came power after his predecessor Czar Alexander I died childless (“Nicholas I”). Although the Jews were in Russia willingly, Czar Nicholas
Alexander III was a huge supporter of Russian nationalism and he reversed many of the liberal approaches started by his father. Alexander III treated the Jews very differently that his father did and more like his grandfather Nicholas I. He encouraged the persecution of non-Russians and was particularly hard on the Jews. Russians at the time were extremely hostile towards the Jews because they were suspected of killed the previous Czar, Alexander II ("ALEXANDER III.ALEXANDROVICH, Emperor of Russia:."). In May 1882 Alexander III’s administration created the May Laws, which restricted the rights of the Jews in Russia. Jews were no longer allowed to live outside of their shtetls, they lost all their property outside of the shtetls, and were no longer allowed to do business on Shabbat (Friedman). This put the Jews in much harsher conditions than they were under Czar Alexander II because it cancelled all the things he had done for them ("Ece/ alexander-III."). During his years as the ruler of Russian Alexander III organized many pogroms against the Jews. Konstantin Pobyedonostsyev was an adviser to the Czar and he was appointed to deal with the Jew problem. As a solution, according to "Pogroms under Czar Alexander III.", “Pobyedonostsyev introduced wide-spread pogroms as a solution. His plan was to absorb one-third of the Jews into the Russian Orthodox Church, force one-third to emigrate and massacre the remaining one-third.” Although this plan was not achieved, it was still a very difficult time for the Jews and there were many pogroms in the 13 years Alexander III ruled. Jewish life at this time was particularly bad because Czar Alexander III hated the Jews. Attacks against the Jews would not have happened during the time of Alexander II’s more tolerant rule. This demonstrates how the level of tolerance of the leaders drastically influences the way the