Nicholas I (Russian: Николай I Павл

Nicholas I (Russian: Николай I Павлович, Nikolai I Pavlovich), July 6 (June 25, Old Style), 1796 – March 2 (18 February Old Style), 1855), was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. Nicholas came to the thrown after the debacle of the Decembrist Revolt, but nonetheless set about to prevent another uprising with a program designed to suppress political dissent at home, and role back constitutional gains in Poland. This resulted in the November Uprising, which Nicholas brutally suppressed. His reactionary policies served to spawn revolutionaries, including liberals, populists and radicals. While many were forced underground during his reign, they would eventually gain momentum after his death. Russia's failure to reform would ultimately lead to the assassination of Nicholas' successor, the reformer Tsar Alexander II of Russia as well as the later rise of the Bolshevik Party.