Alexander II.

This is coolbert:

From the "History In An Hour" Internet web site we have the profile and biography of Alexander II. Tsar at the time of the American Civil War. And a man who apparently had a great personal affinity for Abraham Lincoln and the cause of the Union. RUSSIA THE ONLY MAJOR EUROPEAN POWER OFFERING TACIT IF NOT DOWNRIGHT SUPPORT TO THE FEDERALS!

"Alexander II came to the Russian throne, aged 36, following the death of his father, Tsar Nicholas I, in February 1855. Although a believer in autocracy, the reign of Alexander saw a number of fundamental reforms."

Among those various reforms and improvements:

* "expanding Russia’s rail network"
* "industrial and economic expansion."
* "restructured the judicial system"

And military reform to include:

* "reduction of military service"
* "the establishment of military schools"

Additionally and most importantly:

"Emancipation of the Serfs"

"Thus, on 3 March 1861, Alexander II issued what seemed on the face of it the most revolutionary reform in Russia’s history – his Manifesto on the Emancipation of the Serfs. The edict freed 23 million serfs from their bondage to landowners, and the ownership of 85 per cent of Russia’s land was wrestled from private landowners and given to the peasants. The landlords, understandably, opposed such a sweeping change but were told by the tsar,"

"‘It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for the time when it will begin to abolish itself from below’." - - Thus I speak! Alexander, Tsar of all the Russians.

That status of a serf in Imperial Russia less than that of a slave in the United States!!

Those Russian naval squadrons as deployed to American ports [New York and San Francisco] as a show of support for the Union cause and with the POSSIBILITY THAT THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MIGHT HAVE BECOME PART OF A MUCH WIDER CONFLICT, EVEN A WORLD WAR!!

Alexander as with Lincoln also a victim of assassination!! HEAVY!

coolbert.