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Alexander II came to the Russian throne as Czar on August 26, 1856, following the death of his father, Nicolas I. Shortly after his ascension to the throne, Alexander negotiated an end to the Crimean War and began a series of domestic reforms. In 1867 he sold Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the United States. Alexander II emancipated the serfs, reorganized the military, established a new judicial system, and established elective assemblies in urban areas. In 1877-78 he defeated the Ottoman Empire and annulled the conditions of the Treaty of Paris that had ended the Crimean War. Revolutionary agitation grew faster than could be dealt with through his reforms, however, and he responded by cracking down hard. On March 13, 1881, he was assassinated by terrorists. The exact spot of their attack is protected by a shrine inside of the Church of the Spilled Blood.
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