... others imprisoned or exiled. Nicholas I, intended that nothing like this would happen again while he reigned, so he showed no resilience even when neighbouring European countries, were having revolutions and a rebellion broke out in Poland against Russia in 1830. Also in Russia they still believed that the Tsar was chosen by God (the divine right), so for their to be a revolution that would be ludicrous. Even though Nicholas's repressive system looked strong on the outside it actually failed on foreign policy, his aims being to block the spread of democracy and liberalism in Europe and to acquire the Dardanelle's and Constantinople, giving the Russian fleet free access to the eastern Mediterranean, which in turn led them into the Crimean war, where defeated by Britain and France. When Alexander II took to the throne in 1855 after Nicholas I death, he knew that certain reforms needed to be made ...

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