Nicholas I

by Megan M. and Chris M.

Nicholas succeeded his brother Alexander I who died in 1825. A group of liberal army officers called Decembrists tried to take over power from Nicholas. Nicholas was shocked by the rebellion. He had five of the leaders executed and all the others exiled to Siberia. He was determined to fight liberalism. In 1831 he suppressed a Polish uprising that was aimed at freeing Poland from the Russian empire. In 1849, he sent Russian armies into Hungary to attack the Austrian's for Hungarian independence from Austria.

Nicholas demanded loyalty to himself and to the Russian Orthodox Church. However Russian traditions still thrived. Some reforms did occur under Nicholas' rule. Nicholas also authorized improvements in the living conditions of certain peasants.

In 1829, Nicholas won territory for Russia and helped win independence for Greece in a war with the Muslim Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire was centered in what is now Turkey. In 1853, Nicholas again went to war with the Ottomans. Fearful of Russian expansion, Britain and France helped the Ottomans in what became the Crimean War. Nicholas died during the war, which Russia later lost.