Alexander I: The Mysterious Tsar Who Defeated Napoleon

Emperor Alexander I of Russia is one of the most enigmatic figures of the Romanov dynasty. He came to the throne after his father Paul I was assassinated in a palace coup he may have known about. He defeated Napoleon, became the 'Savior of Europe,' and then turned Russia into a police state. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Alexander's paradoxes: the liberal reformer who imposed military colonies, the idealist who rigidly censored literature, and the tsar who, after his death, became the subject of a legend that he had faked his own death and become a holy hermit in Siberia named Fyodor Kuzmich. They discuss his upbringing under Catherine the Great, his friendship with the Polish prince Adam Czartoryski, his role at the Congress of Vienna, his creation of the Holy Alliance with Prussia and Austria, the brutal military colonies of Arakcheyev, and the mysterious disappearance of his body's coffin on the way to St. Petersburg. This episode covers the real Alexander, not the myth. #AlexanderI #RomanovDynasty #NapoleonicWars #CongressOfVienna #HolyAlliance #FyodorKuzmich #RussianHistory #TsarAlexander #Arakcheyev #MilitaryColonies #CatherineTheGreat #PaulI #AdamCzartoryski #RussianEmpire #EasternEurope #History #FexingoHistory #ImperialRussia Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo