ALEXANDER I (1777-1825), Russian Czar

The friendly and handsome Alexander I became czar of Russia in 1801 at the age of twenty-three, following the murder of his father. His early hopes for domestic reform and international peace were quickly thwarted by Napoleon's increasingly aggressive military actions. In June of 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia with half a million soldiers. Rather than fight such an overwhelming force, Alexander's armies retreated, finally giving up Moscow to the French. Whether by genius or luck, this strategy proved sound. Short of supplies, and with a bitter winter approaching, Napoleon had to retreat; when he left Russia, eighty percent of his army had been wiped out. Alexander's homosexual trysts were the subject of frequent comment during his lifetime. Napoleon referred to him as "the slyest and handsomest of all the Greeks."