Throughout history there have been people who have dreamed of being royal. However, in late eighteenth century Russia, few could have envied Prince Alexander Pavlovich. It was believed that his father, Tsar Paul I, was mad. What but madness could explain the level of ruthlessness that even led the tsar to have countesses flogged? Young Alexander seldom saw his father but on one of the rare occasions when he did, Tsar Paul savagely kicked his son in the face. It was a dark period in the history of Russia. Suddenly, but not surprisingly, in 1801, Tsar Paul was assassinated. His death was what the people of Russia had been longing for. Now they would be free! Or would they be? Would the new tsar be like his father? All of Russia must have held its breath as twenty-four-year-old Alexander Pavlovich took his father’s place as ruler of Russia.

When Tsar Alexander I ascended the throne he was determined to be a better ruler than his father had been. He would reform Russia and become his people’s hero. One of the first things to do was to set up a committee. Full of enthusiasm, Alexander chose some friends to join him and established The Committee of Public Safety. For two years the committee met regularly and discussed how to help Russia. However, neither the tsar nor any of the members of the committee could actually put their theories into practice. Eventually the meetings came to an end but Russia’s situation had hardly improved.

As the committee dissolved, so did Tsar Alexander’s dream. Discouraged, and disappointed with his own lack of ability as a leader, Alexander began to look for other ways to fill the gap in his soul. He was married to the lovely Princess Elizabeth Baden who had been chosen for him by his parents and who was one of the most beautiful women in Europe at that time. Now ignoring his gentle wife he began to spend most of his time at the palace of his mistress, the striking Princess Marie Naryshkin.

Soon the tsar had also found a new dream to follow. In France, Napoleon Bonaparte had risen in popularity and power and had crowned himself emperor.  Someone needed to stop the ambitious man before he conquered all of Europe, and Alexander I decided that he would be the one to do it. In 1806 Napoleon’s army and the Russian army met for the first time. It was a disaster. With his poor leadership skills and lack of experience, Tsar Alexander was no match for Napoleon whose genius, passion and charisma had rendered him almost unconquerable. The Russians suffered a humiliating defeat and the tsar himself very narrowly escaped being captured.  He returned home in disgrace.  Once again Alexander had failed to attain his dreams of glory and fame.

Humiliated and ashamed, Tsar Alexander  began to ponder the wretchedness and sinfulness of his own life. Ironically, although he was an atheist and led an immoral lifestyle, as tsar, Alexander was head of the Russian Church. Several years earlier, Alexander had given one of his boyhood friends, Prince Galitsin, a high position as a church leader. Galitsin was a man known for his loose, immoral lifestyle but he had begun to read the New Testament, and his life was completely transformed as he encountered the saving grace of God. Now, in the midst of Alexander’s misery, Galitsin challenged the tsar to start reading the Gospels. Alexander listened to his old friend and started to read the first four books of the New Testament. As he wrote to his friend, ‘This book which you have put into my hands has opened up to me a new world.’

But Alexander had made an enemy of the most powerful man in Europe and soon he had other things to think about… To be continued.