Overview: Nicholas I took the Russian throne in 1825, surviving the Decembrist Revolt, and embraced "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality." His reign saw victories over Persia and the Ottoman Empire, and the suppression of the Polish November Uprising. Russia's cultural landscape was marked by Pushkin's death in 1837, followed by the opening of the Moscow-St. Petersburg railway in 1851. Russia's conflict with Britain and France in the Crimean War led to a harsh peace treaty. Alexander II, succeeding in 1855, abolished serfdom in 1861, earning him "The Liberator" title, though economic struggles persisted. Russia expanded in Central Asia, clashing with Britain in "The Great Game." In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the U.S. for $7.2 million. After defeating the Ottomans in 1877-78, Alexander II was assassinated by "The People's Will" in 1881, frustrated by slow reforms.