Nicholas II of Russia

**Emperor Nicholas II**

Reign	1894-1917
Predecessor	Alexander III
Spouse	Alexandra Fyodorovna of Hesse
Issue	Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Grand Duke Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich
Royal House	House of Romanov
Father	Alexander III
Mother	Maria Fyodorovna
Born	May 6, 1868 (O.S.)
Died	July 17, 1918

Nicholas II of Russia (6 May (O.S.)/18 May (N.S.) 1868 – 17 July 1918) (Russian: Николай II, Nikolaj II) was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He ruled from 1894 until his forced abdication in 1917. It is said that Nicholas proved unable to manage a country in political turmoil and command its army in World War I. His rule ended with the Russian Revolution of 1917, after which he and his family were executed by Bolsheviks. Nicholas's full name was Nikolai Aleksandrovich Romanov (Russian: Николай Александрович Романов). His official title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias. He is also known both as Nicholas the Martyr for having been executed without trial and as Bloody Nicholas for the tragic events during his coronation. He is now Saint Nicholas The Passion Bearer, having been declared this by the Russian Orthodox Church

Family background and early life

Nicholas was born in Saint Petersburg, the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Maria Fyodorovna (born Princess Dagmar of Denmark). His paternal grandparents were Alexander II of Russia and his first consort Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. His maternal grandparents were Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel.

Nicholas was seen as too soft by his hard, demanding father who, not anticipating his own premature death, did nothing to prepare his son for the crown. Nicholas fell in love with Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, a daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. Alice was herself a daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Alexander III did not approve the match, hoping instead for a marriage with a Princess Hélène, daughter of Count Philippe of the House of Orleans, to consummate Russia's newfound alliance with the French Third Republic. Only when Alexander was on his death bed, fearing for the succession of the Romanov dynasty, did he consent to the marriage of Nicholas to the German princess.

As Tsarevich, Nicholas did a fair amount of travelling, including a notable trip to the Empire of Japan, where a failed assassination attempt by a sword-wielding man left him with a scar on his forehead. The quick action of his cousin, Prince George of Greece, who parried the second blow with his cane, possibly saved his life. The motivations for this attack remain unclear.

Becomes Tsar

When his father died at the age of 49, Nicholas was so unprepared for his role that in tears he asked of his cousin "What is going to happen to me and all of Russia?" (Figes p18) He nonetheless was determined to maintain the conservative policy of his father. He, however, paid much more attention to the details of administration where his father had concentrated more on general policy.

In 1904 Tsar Nicholas was persuaded by his advisors to reject a Japanese offer of compromise, which led to a disastrous war with Japan. (Figes : A Peoples Tragedy p168) This defeat undermined the prestige of the monarchy at a time when discontent among workers and peasants was coming to a head. However, it was far from revolutionary. Indeed the demonstration that marched to the Winter Palace to present a petition to the Tsar, on the 22 of January 1905, carried pictures of Nicholas and was led by the staunchly monarchist Father Gapon. Nicholas himself, thinking that there was nothing serious about to occur, had already left for the weekend to stay in his country palace. Convinced that the Tsar would not permit the soldiers to shoot at his own people, the marchers ignored government orders to call off the demonstration. However the troops opened fire killing large numbers. Gapon, in shock at the carnage, repeated over and over "There is no Tsar". That one day pushed Russia into revolution.

Relationship with the Duma

Russian Royalty
House of Romanov

Descendants of Alexander III and Maria Fyodorovna

Children
Tsar Nicholas II
Alexander Alexandrovich
George Alexandrovich
Xenia Alexandrovna
Michael Alexandrovich
Olga Alexandrovna

Nicholas' relations with the Duma were not good. The First Duma, with a majority of сadets, almost immediately came into conflict with him. Although Nicholas initially had a good relationship with his relatively liberal prime minister, Sergei Witte, Alexandra distrusted him, and as the political situation deteriorated, Nicholas dissolved the Duma. Witte, unable to grasp the seemingly insurmountable problems of reforming Russia and the monarchy wrote to Nicholas on 14 April 1906 resigning his office (however, other accounts have said that Witte was forced to resign by the Tsar). Nicholas was not ungracious to Witte and an Imperial Rescript was published on 22 April creating Witte a Knight of the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky, with diamonds. (The last two words were written in the Tsar's own hand, followed by "I remain unalterably well-disposed to you and sincerely grateful, Nicholas").

After the second Duma resulted in similar problems, the new prime minister Pyotr Stolypin (whom Witte described as 'reactionary') unilaterally dissolved it, and changed the electoral laws to allow for future Dumas to have a more conservative content, and to be dominated by the liberal-conservative Octobrist Party of Alexander Guchkov. Stolypin, a skillful politician, had ambitious plans for reform. These included making loans available to the lower classes to enable them to buy land, with the intent of forming a farming class loyal to the crown. His plans were undercut by conservatives at court who had more influence with the Emperor. By the time of Stolypin's assassination by Dmitry Bogrov, a Jewish student (and police informant) in a theatre in Kiev on 18 September 1911, he and the Emperor were barely on speaking terms, and his fall was widely foreseen.

Tsarevich Alexei's illness

Nicholas and his family, 1913 (from left to right: Olga, Maria, Nicholas, Alexandra, Anastasia, Alexei, Tatiana)

Further complicating domestic matters was the matter of the succession. Alexandra bore him four daughters before their son Alexei was born on August 12, 1904. The young heir proved to be afflicted with hemophilia, a disease that prevents blood clotting properly, which at that time was virtually untreatable and usually led to an untimely death. Because of the fragility of the autocracy at this time, Nicholas and Alexandra chose not to divulge Alexei's condition to anyone outside the royal household. In fact, there were many in the Imperial household who were unaware of the exact nature of the Tsarevich's illness. They knew that he suffered from some serious malady; however, the exact nature of his suffering was not revealed to all.

In desperation, Alexandra sought help from a mystic, Grigori Rasputin. Rasputin seemed to help when Alexei was suffering from internal bleeding, and Alexandra became increasingly dependent on him and his advice, which she accepted as coming directly from God. It has been widely speculated that Rasputin was able to use hypnosis on the young boy as a means of calming him and thus helping to stem the flow of blood to the injured body part. Rasputin was known to have been studying hypnosis as late as 1913, in St. Petersburg, but he was discovered by Stephen Beletsky, the head of the Special Police detachment that monitored all of Rasputin's activities. He was expelled from the city by the police when this was discovered. Rasputin was murdered by Grand Duke Dmitri with other conspirators in December 1916, by being, in sequence, poisoned, shot several times, beaten, and drowned in the river. It was the latter which became the cause of his death.

The Great War

A portrait of Nicholas II

Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Serb nationalist association known as the Black Hand, in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, Nicholas vacillated as to Russia's course. The rising ideas of the Pan-Slav movement had led Russia to issue treaties of protection to Serbia. Nicholas wanted neither to abandon Serbia to the ultimatum of Austria-Hungary, nor to provoke a general war. In a series of letters exchanged with the German Kaiser (the so-called "Willy and Nicky correspondence") the two proclaimed their desire for peace, and each attempted to get the other to back down. Nicholas took concrete measures in this regard, demanding that Russia's mobilisation be only against the Austrian border, in the hopes of preventing war with the German Empire. It proved too late for personal communications to determine the course of events. The Russians had no contingency plans for a partial mobilisation, and on July 31, 1914, Nicholas, under political pressure from abroad, and military pressure at home, took the fateful step of confirming the order for a general mobilisation. As Germany and Austria-Hungary had mutual defence treaties in place, this led almost immediately to a German mobilisation and declaration of war, and the outbreak of World War I.

The outbreak of war on August 1, 1914, found Russia grossly unprepared, yet an immediate attack was ordered against the German province of East Prussia. The Germans mobilized there with great efficiency and completely defeated the two Russian armies which had invaded. The Russian armies, however, later had considerable success against both the Austro-Hungarian armies and against the forces of the Ottoman Empire.

Gradually a war of attrition set in on the vast Eastern Front, where the Russians were facing the combined forces of the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires, and they suffered staggering losses. Nicholas, feeling that it was his duty, and that his personal presence would inspire his troops, decided to lead his army directly. He assumed the role of commander-in-chief after dismissing his cousin from that position, the highly respected and experienced Nikolai Nikolaevich (September 1915) following the loss of the Russian Kingdom of Poland.

His efforts to oversee the war left domestic issues essentially in the hands of Alexandra. As a German she was unpopular, and the Duma was constantly calling for political reforms. Political unrest continued throughout the war. Cut off from public opinion, Nicholas did not understand how suspicious the common people were of his wife, who was also the victim of destructive rumours about her dependence on Grigori Rasputin. Nicholas had refused to censor the press and wild rumours and accusations about Alexandra and Rasputin appeared almost daily. Anger at the damage that Rasputin's influence was doing to Russia's war effort and to the monarchy led to his murder by a group of nobles, led by Prince Felix Yusupov, on December 16, 1916.

Revolution and abdication

The last known photograph of Nicholas II, taken after his abdication in March 1917

The government's inability to maintain constant supplies and an active economy over a prolonged period of warfare led to mounting national hardship. The army's initial failure to maintain the temporary military successes up to June 1916 led to renewed strikes and riots in the following winter. With Nicholas away at the front in 1915, authority appeared to collapse (Tsaritsa Alexandra ran the government from Moscow from 1915 - initially with Rasputin, who was later assassinated), and St. Petersburg was left in the hands of strikers and mutineering conscript soldiers. At the end of the "February Revolution" of 1917 (February in the Old Russian Calendar), on 2 March (Julian Calendar)/ 15 March (Gregorian Calendar), 1917, Nicholas II was forced to abdicate. He issued the following statement:

In the days of the great struggle against the foreign enemies, who for nearly three years have tried to enslave our fatherland, the Lord God has been pleased to send down on Russia a new heavy trial. Internal popular disturbances threaten to have a disastrous effect on the future conduct of this persistent war. The destiny of Russia, the honor of our heroic army, the welfare of the people and the whole future of our dear fatherland demand that the war should be brought to a victorious conclusion whatever the cost. The cruel enemy is making his last efforts, and already the hour approaches when our glorious army together with our gallant allies will crush him. In these decisive days in the life of Russia, We thought it Our duty of conscience to facilitate for Our people the closest union possible and a consolidation of all national forces for the speedy attainment of victory. In agreement with the Imperial Duma We have thought it well to renounce the Throne of the Russian Empire and to lay down the supreme power. As We do not wish to part from Our beloved son, We transmit the succession to Our brother, the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, and give Him Our blessing to mount the Throne of the Russian Empire. We direct Our brother to conduct the affairs of state in full and inviolable union with the representatives of the people in the legislative bodies on those principles which will be established by them, and on which He will take an inviolable oath.

In the name of Our dearly beloved homeland, We call on Our faithful sons of the fatherland to fulfill their sacred duty to the fatherland, to obey the tsar in the heavy moment of national trials, and to help Him, together with the representatives of the people, to guide the Russian Empire on the road to victory, welfare, and glory. May the Lord God help Russia!

However he did so in his own name, and that of his son, in favor of his brother, saying, "We bequeath Our inheritance to Our brother the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and give him Our Blessing on his accession to the throne." [1] Grand Duke Mikhail declined to accept the throne, which then theoretically fell vacant, pending a decision on the next rightful heir. Contrary to popular belief, Mikhail never abdicated, as he was technically never formally crowned. The abdication of Nicholas II and the subsequent revolution brought three centuries of the Romanov dynasty's rule to an end.

Death

The provisional Russian government at first kept Nicholas, Alexandra, and their children confined in the Alexander Palace 15 miles from St. Petersburg at Tsarskoe Selo (Tsar's Village). Attempting to remove them from the vicinity of the capital and so from possible harm, the Kerensky government moved them east to Tobolsk, in Siberia in August 1917. They remained there through the Bolshevik October Revolution in November 1917, but were then moved to Red Army and Bolshevik-controlled Yekaterinburg. The Tsar and his family, including several family servants, disappeared on the night of July 17, 1918. Soon after, the Bolsheviks announced that only Nicholas had been shot, but that the members of his family had been spirited away to another place. Most reports showed that they had all been executed by a detachment of Bolsheviks led by Yakov Yurovsky, a watchmaker from Perm. Other witnesses swore to have seen the Empress and her daughters in Perm.

Then in 1989, Yakov Yurovsky's own report was published, which seemed to show conclusively what had happened that night. The execution took place as units of the Czech Legion, making their retreat out of Russia, approached Yekaterinburg. Fearing that the Legion would take the town and free him, the Tsar's Bolshevik jailers pursued the immediate liquidation of the Imperial Family, arguing that there was "no turning back." [2] The telegram giving the order on behalf of the Supreme Soviet in Moscow was signed by Jacob Sverdlov, after whom the town was subsequently renamed.

The bodies of Nicholas and his family, after being soaked in acid and burned, were long believed to have been disposed of down a mineshaft at a site called the Four Brothers. Initially, this was true — they had indeed been disposed of there on the night of July 17. The following morning — when rumors spread in Yekaterinburg regarding the disposal site — Yurovsky removed the bodies and concealed them elsewhere. When the vehicle carrying the bodies broke down on the way to the next chosen site, Yurovsky made new arrangements, and buried most of the bodies in a sealed and concealed pit on Koptyaki Road, a cart track (now abandoned) 12 miles north of Yekaterinburg. Their remains were later found in 1991 and reburied by the Russian government following a state funeral. The process to identify the remains was exhaustive. Samples were sent to Britain and the United States for DNA testing. The tests concluded that five of the skeletons were members of one family and four were unrelated. Three of the five were determined to be the children of two parents. The mother was linked to the British royal family, as was Alexandra. The father was determined to be related to Grand Duke George Alexandrovich. British scientists said they were more than 98.5% sure that the remains were those of the Tsar, his family and their attendants.

Mystery and Legend

Two skeletons were not found - Alexei, the 13 year old heir to the throne, and one of his sisters, either Maria or Anastasia. Anastasia received worldwide notoriety when rumors spread that she alone had survived the murders. Hollywood has made films based on this legend. Anna Anderson gained a measure of notoriety through her claims to be Anastasia, and her supporters claimed she knew information about the Romanovs that only an intimate member of the family would know. However, DNA testing on her alleged remains seemed to prove she was an imposter, and modern research and investigations indicate Anastasia did not survive, although the location of the missing bodies is unknown.

An oddity of coincidence also appears here as much of the Russian Royal lineage often compared their Empire to that of Rome. Interestingly, the Romanov dynasty lost power and the Imperial Russian Empire itself ended on the Ides of March, the same date as the assassination of Julius Caesar.

Issue

The children of Nicholas II and empress Alexandra as follows:

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna	November 3 (O.S.)/November 15 (N.S.) 1895	July 17, 1918	executed at Yekaterinberg by the Bolsheviks
Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna	May 29 (O.S.)/June 10 (N.S.) 1897	July 17, 1918	executed at Yekaterinberg by the Bolsheviks
Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna	June 14 (O.S.)/June 26 (N.S.) 1899	July 17, 1918	executed at Yekaterinberg by the Bolsheviks
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna	June 5 (O.S.)/June 18 (N.S.) 1901	July 17, 1918	executed at Yekaterinberg by the Bolsheviks
Grand Duke Tsarevich Alexei	July 30 (O.S.)/August 12 (N.S.) 1904	July 17, 1918	executed at Yekaterinberg by the Bolsheviks

Sainthood

Icon of the Romanov Imperial Family

In 1981 Nicholas and his immediate family were canonised as saints by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia as martyrs. On August 14, 2000 they were canonised by the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. They were not named martyrs, since their death did not result immediately from their Christian faith; instead they were canonised as passion bearers. According to a statement by the Moscow synod, they were glorified as saints for the following reasons:

In the last Orthodox Russian monarch and members of his family we see people who sincerely strove to incarnate in their lives the commands of the Gospel. In the suffering borne by the Royal Family in prison with humility, patience, and meekness, and in their martyrs deaths in Ekaterinburg in the night of 4/17 July 1918 was revealed the light of the faith of Christ that conquers evil.

DNA dispute

Ever since Dr. Peter Gill's results were published and confirmed by American scientists, they have been disputed by some critics. The Russian Orthodox Church refused to acknowledge the remains as genuine. During the internment of the bones in 1998, the bones were referred to as 'Christian victims of the Revolution'. One reason for this dispute was the absence of any mark from Nicholas's saber wound he received on a visit to Japan as the tsareavich. Tests done by Japanese scientists showed that the blood of Nicholas's nephew Tihkon did not match with the published profile of Nicholas obtained by Dr. Gill. A Stanford study done in 2003 suggested some sort of contamination. [3]

Footnotes

Note 1: (6 May 1868 to 4 July 1918 in the Julian Calendar.)

Note 2: Nicholas's full title was We, Nicholas the Second, by the grace of God, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, of Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod, Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, King of Poland³, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Tauric Chersonesos, Tsar of Georgia, Lord of Pskov, and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuania, Volhynia, Podolia, and Finland, Prince of Estonia, Livonia, Courland and Semigalia, Samogitia, Białystok, Karelia, Tver, Yugra, Perm, Vyatka, Bulgaria, and other territories; Lord and Grand Duke of Nizhny Novgorod, Chernigov; Ruler of Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Beloozero, Udoria, Obdoria, Kondia, Vitebsk, Mstislav, and all northern territories ; Ruler of Iveria, Kartalinia, and the Kabardinian lands and Armenian territories - hereditary Ruler and Lord of the Cherkess and Mountain Princes and others; Lord of Turkestan, Heir of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Oldenburg, and so forth, and so forth, and so forth."

Note 3: In 1831 the Russian tsars were deposed from the Polish throne, but they soon annexed the country to be a part of Russia and abolished the separate monarchy. However, they continued to use the title.

Heir apparent: March 14, 1881–November 1, 1894

House of Romanov Born: 18 May 1868; Died: 17 July 1918
Titles of Nobility
Preceded by: Alexander III	Emperor of Russia 1894-1917	Succeeded by: End of Title
Titles in Pretence
Preceded by: None	* NOT REIGNING * Emperor of Russia (1917-1918)	Succeeded by: Michael II(himself refused to success the throne but some people still regonise him as Emperor) Cyril Vladimirovitch(claimed since 1924)