One of the first things he resolved upon was to carry out the policy of Nicholas with reference to the serfs and do what his father had desired, but could not accomplish, namely, to abolish white slavery altogether. This was accomplished in 1861. Internal disturbances recurred constantly and in 1863 there was a rebellion by the Poles. Having suppressed this insurrection with some difficulty, and the road to the Mediterranean being blocked as the result of the Crimean War, Alexander turned his attention toward extending his empire in Asia Minor. The Caucasus had been pacified in 1859 by the capture of the famous Circassian chief, Schamyl, and those of his people who could not abide by Russian rule migrated to Turkey, where they have ever since formed one of the most lawless and turbulent elements in the motley empire of the Sultan.
In 1865 the Russians took the city of Pashkene, and the government of Turkestan was established in 1867. These advances into Asia Minor greatly alarmed England, and a large percentage of the British nation from that day to this has never been able to recover from the conviction that Russia's real object was and is to seize India. During all these years the British press has been in a state of periodical alarm. Russia, however, has still advanced her frontiers, and in fact continues to do so, except that at the present moment the field of operations is in the Far East instead of toward India, and the Arabian Gulf.
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From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
