Beginning of Essay
In 1812 Czar Alexander the First had sworn an oath that Russia would never make peace as long as an enemy stood on Russian soil. Little did he know that not much more than a century later the enemy was those who were native to the Russian soil-the people. The Ru ....

Middle of Essay
.... over Christian shrines in the Ottoman Empire. After their defeat in the Crimean War, Russia’s war leaders realized even more that they were behind the whole world in modernizing. In response Alexander II then took the reigns of the empire radically improving the country. Trans-continental railroads were built and then in 1861 the serfs were emancipated. The government then strengthened Russia’s industry by promoting industrialization with the construction of factories. But then as quickly as Alexander II’s reform reign started, it ended. In 1881 a group of terrorists assassinated Alexander causing a cessation of the reforms. ....