The name of Tsar Osvoboditel (King Liberator) Boulevard in downtown Sofia came as a result of the gratitude of the Bulgarian people to Russia and its monarch Alexander II who ruled Russia during the Russian-Turkish War (1877-1878). The war is also widely called the Liberation War because in its aftermath, Bulgaria gained independence from the Ottoman rule.

Alexander II, emperor of all of Russia from 1855 to 1881, was born in Moscow in April 1818. He was the eldest son of Emperor Nikolai I and Alexandra Fedorovna of Prussia, and came to the throne on February 19, 1855, after the death of his father. He was crowned in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin on April 26, 1856.

Alexander II ascended to the throne during the Crimean War (1853-56) and immediately set about negotiating peace. The war was between Russia on the one hand and the Ottoman Empire, England, France, and Sardinia on the other. The causes of the conflict were based on the unsolved Eastern Question but the more immediate reason was a dispute between Russia and France over the Palestinian holy places. The accession of Alexander II and the capture of Sevastopol led to peace negotiations that resulted in the Treaty of Paris in February 1856.

Influenced by Russia's defeat in this war and by peasant unrest, emperor Alexander II embarked upon a modernization and reform program. The most important reform was the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. This failed, however, to meet the land needs of the newly freed group and created many new problems.

In 1864, a system of limited local self-government was introduced and the judicial system was partially westernized. Municipal government was overhauled in 1870, universal military training was introduced four years later, and censorship and control over education were temporarily relaxed.

Initially, Alexander adopted a moderate policy in Poland granting the subject nation partial autonomy. When revolt broke out in 1863, however, the emperor reacted with brutal suppression, imposing severe Russification. The Western powers were sharply warned against interference. Prussia's support of Russia during this diplomatic crisis led to a Russo-Prussian rapprochement, and, in 1872, the Three Emperors' League was formed by Russia, Prussia, and Austria-Hungary.

Throughout his reign Alexander II promoted the vigorous expansion of Russia in the East. The conquest of the Ussuri region in East Asia was confirmed by the 1860 Treaty of Beijing with China. Central Asia was added to Russia by the conquest of Kokand, Khiva, and Bokhara from 1865-1876. Alaska, however, was sold to the United States in 1867.

Alexander's greatest foreign policy achievement, however, was the successful war of 1877-1878 against the Ottoman Empire, which resulted in the liberation of Bulgaria and an annulment of the conditions of the Treaty of Paris of 1856.

Meanwhile, in domestic affairs, Alexander's reforms, while outraging many reactionaries, were regarded as far too moderate by liberals and radicals. Radical activities increased sharply among the intelligentsia, resulting in a reassertion of repressive policies. When the populist movement arose in the late 1860s, the government arrested and prosecuted hundreds of students. Many radicals responded with terrorist tactics.

On March 13, 1881, after several unsuccessful attempts, a member of the People's Will, a terrorist offshoot of the populist movement, assassinated Alexander with a hand-thrown bomb. The Cathedral of the Resurrection of Blood was erected on the site of the murder. Alexander II was buried in the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. His son Alexander III succeeded him.