Alexander II's Later Years

• In 1865 Alexander II's eldest son and heir had died and his wife suffering from tuberculosis had withdrawn from public appearances. This distanced him from the reforming elements within his own family: his brother the Grand Duke Konstatin and the Grand Duchess Elena.
• These developments along with the many assasination attempts all helped to make him more aloof.He became less inclined to resist the reactionary conservatives who believed the Tsar's reforming instincts had gone too far weakening the props on which the Imperial monarchy relied the Church and the nobility.