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Czar Alexander I (1777 - 1825)

Ruler of the Russian Empire beginning in 1801. He was the son of Czar Paul I and grandson of Catherine the Great. He instituted many social and educational reforms early in his reign, improving conditions for serfs and opening several universities.  Though briefly allied with Napoleon, Alexander was an instrumental member of the alliance that finally defeated the French dictator. It was during his reign that Napoleon made his disatrous expedition to Moscow; it was also Alexander who urged an end to the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States, pointing out that British forces deployed in America were needed to stop Napoleon. While his homosexuality was well-known and documented, he seems to have developed feelings of guilt over it in later life, possibly stemming from his secondary role as head of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Holy Alliance of Prussia, Russia, and Austria was conceived by him to promote "high Christian ideals" in Europe to counter the Republicanism and other Age of Reason ideals which Napoleon had helped spread throughout the Continent, a clear demonstration that, contrary to the Religious Right's propaganda, organized religion was from the beginning oppossed to the notion that free societies should be based on reason and the rule of law, rather than the dictates of the Church or "divine right of kings." In his later years, Alexander became increasingly despotic and cruel. But then, closet-cases are notorious for turning their self-hatred out on others.

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