Alexander I becomes Tsar of Russia. Within the first several years of his reign, he institutes a number of reforms, trying to shape the empire into something more like a constitutional monarchy.

Napoleon marches on Russia. Storms, elfshot, and other hazards are raised by the Russian fae, which take a severe toll on both the size of the French forces and their morale. The attentions of Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) made it difficult for Napoleon's army to find food or shelter, leaving them vulnerable to disease. Combined with the nearly constant weeping and feelings of piety induced by the famous Ikon, the Virgin of Valdamir, Napoleon had to turn back, defeated. Russia is considered a significant New European power.

There is growing unrest, spurred largely by war veterans who believe that Russia is not yet "worthy" of the position it earned after defeating Napoleon. There is a desire to complete the reforms started by Catherine the Great.

The line of succession comes into question when Alexander I passes away. With no children of his own, the throne must go to one of his brothers. All of them insist on the others' rights for the throne, leaving the government "hung". This leads to a revolt, the Decemberist Uprising, which seeks to end serfdom and establish a republic. This spurs Nicolas to take the throne.

Nicolas I becomes Tsar of Russia. Fearing another revolt, he makes extensive use of secret police to sniff out potential threats. There are rumours that Alexander I is not dead: tired of all the political intrigue and fighting, he has chosen to become a hermit.

Leo Tolstoy is born.

Poland declares independence from Russian rule. While their cause is popular with Britain and France, neither country is willing to risk sending troops.

Tsar Nicolas subdues Poland. His armies send resistance fighters into exile. The country is stripped of its constitution and army.

A rail line is laid between St. Petersburg and Moscow.

The Crimean War. After a dispute with the French about several sites in the Levant. Russia moves troops into two principalities of the Ottoman Empire, resulting in a declaration of war. The British and French join the Ottoman Empire. Not satisfied with the withdrawal of Russian troops, they lay siege to Sevastopol. Despite taking a few Ottoman cities in retaliation, Russia is forced to accept the Treaty of Paris, which forbids the Russian Empire from maintaining either a working navy in or armed fortifications along the Black Sea. This war soured the relationship between Prussia and Russia, for the Prussian failed to enter the war although they were ostensibly allies. Russia ceases to be a major factor in New European society or politics.

Nicolas I passes away. Alexander II becomes Tsar of Russia.

A second railway station is built in St. Petersburg.

Alexander II issues the Emancipation Manifesto, which frees the serfs. The nobles would be compensated for the loss of their serfs via treasury bonds. The freed serfs paid for their freedom collectively: land was distributed to communities of the former serfs, who could work the land.

Nikolai Gogol (The Inspector General, Dead Souls) passes away.

Once again, Poland declares independence from Russia. Russia arranges to use Prussia's facilities to suppress the provisional government. By offering land and freedom to Polish serfs, Russia begins to whittle away support for Polish independence.

A new, greatly simplified penal code is put into place. The uprising in Poland is finally suppressed.

Leo Tolstoy writes War and Peace, which tries to make sense of the Decemberist Uprising of 1825.

There is an attempt to assassinate the Tsar during one of his walks in a city park.

The "Movement to the People". A large number of the intelligentsia are convinced that Russia will be the first New European nation with an ethical form of rule born from the peasant classes. They live among the peasants, trying to bring about this "new age". Reactionaries argue that society should reflect Darwinian principles: the weaker classes should submit to the stronger ones.

Alexander II creates the zemstvo system: each zemstvo was a a group made of both area nobles and peasants, responsible for local education, medical care, roads, food reserves, and other basic services.

2 A new system of rural and municipal police is created.

Leo Tolstoy works on Anna Kareina. After finishing, he turns away from fiction.

Several of the zemstvos form a loose confederation, hoping to form an alternate, more responsive system of government than the somewhat slow central bureaucracy.

There are two assassination attempts this year. In April, a student attempts to shoot the Tsar five times, but misses. In December, a bomb is placed on the railway to Moscow, but a mistake in timing means that it misses the Tsar's train.

More militant groups of revolutionaries form, tired of waiting for the "new age" to dawn. Several resort to violence, either seeking to apply pressure on the government for more rapid reform or simply overthrowing the current regime.

The Empress consort, Marie Alexandrovna, is killed by a bomb set in the dining room of the Winter Palace. The Tsar, arriving late for dinner, is unharmed. Later that year, he makes a morgantic marriage to his mistress, Princess Catherine Dolgoruki.

The composer Musorgsky (Pictures at an Exhibition, The Great Gate of Kiev) and the writer Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov) both pass away. One of the revolutionary groups, Narodnaya Volya, attempts to assassinate the tsar by lobbing bombs at his carriage. Although his Cossack bodyguards are gravely injured, the Tsar is unharmed.

Leo Tolstoy works on Confession, which outlines his struggle for a sincere faith. Many people consider Tolstoy the "Great Sage" of Russia.

The writer Turgenev (The Possessed, Fathers and Sons) passes away. From abroad, George Plekhanov organizes the League for the Emancipation of Labor, a political party that seeks to force revolution upon the government.

There is another attempt on the life of Alexander II. A bomb is planted underneath Kamenny Bridge in St. Petersburg, but fails to go off when the Tsar passes over it.

A carpenter is caught trying to smuggle dynamite into the Winter Palace. A partially filled cache of more dynamite is discovered in the Winter Palace.

The composer Borodin (Prince Igor) dies.