Who was the last czar of russia
Nicholas II
Emperor of Russia from to
For other uses, see Nicholas II (disambiguation).
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Alexandrovich and the family name is Romanov.
Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov;[d] 18 May [O.S.
6 May] &#;&#; 17 July ) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November until his abdication on 15 March He married Alix of Hesse (later Alexandra Feodorovna) in and had children Olga (), Tatiana (), Maria (), Anastasia ()—collectively known as the OTMA sisters—and the tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich ().
During his reign, Nicholas gave support to the economic and political reforms promoted by his prime ministers, Sergei Witte and Pyotr Stolypin. He advocated modernisation based on foreign loans and close ties with France, but resisted giving the new parliament (the Duma) major roles. Ultimately, progress was undermined by Nicholas's commitment to autocratic rule, strong aristocratic opposition and defeats sustained by the Russian military in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I.
By March , public support for Nicholas had collapsed and he was forced to abdicate, thereby ending the Romanov dynasty's year rule of Russia (–).
Nicholas signed the Anglo-Russian Convention of , which was designed to counter Germany's attempts to gain influence in the Middle East; it ended the Great Game of confrontation between Russia and the British Empire.
He aimed to strengthen the Franco-Russian Alliance and proposed the unsuccessful Hague Convention of to promote disarmament and peacefully solve international disputes. Domestically, he was criticised for his government's repression of political opponents and his perceived fault or inaction during the Khodynka Tragedy, anti-Jewish pogroms, Bloody Sunday and the violent suppression of the Russian Revolution.
His popularity was further damaged by the Russo-Japanese War, which saw the Russian Baltic Fleet annihilated at the Battle of Tsushima, together with the loss of Russian influence over Manchuria and Korea and the Japanese annexation of the south of Sakhalin Island.
During the July Crisis of , Nicholas supported Serbia and approved the mobilisation of the Russian Army on 30 July.
Nicholas 2 russia biography of george harrison Once again, another hope for peaceful reforms in Russia was extinguished. Thus the magnetic Siberian mystic, Rasputin, was able to rise to prominence. If, at the declaration of war in , thousands of citizens enthusiastically cheered Nicholas II on Petersburg's Palace Square, only two years later the popularity of the war among society at large had plummeted. On 13 March King George wrote in his diary about the news of the revolution and his cousin Nicholas being made to step down as King.In response, Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August and its ally France on 3 August, starting World War I. After several years of war, severe military losses led to a collapse of morale at the front and at home; a general strike and a mutiny of the garrison in Petrograd sparked the February Revolution and the disintegration of the monarchy's authority.
After abdicating himself and on behalf of his son, Nicholas and his family were imprisoned by the Russian Provisional Government and exiled to Siberia. After the Bolsheviks seized power in the October Revolution, the family was held in Yekaterinburg, where they were executed in a basement on 17 July
In , the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, based in New York City, recognised Nicholas, his wife, and their children as martyrs.
Their gravesite was discovered in , but this was not acknowledged until After the fall of the Soviet Union, the remains of the imperial family were exhumed, identified by DNA analysis, and re-interred with an elaborate state and church ceremony in St. Petersburg on 17 July , exactly 80 years after their deaths. They were canonised in by the Russian Orthodox Church as passion bearers.
Nicholas 2 russia biography of george floyd Forced to abdicate the Tsar, along with his family, were held under house arrest at their country residence in Tsarskoye Selo. A tragic fate awaited Nicholas and his family. But, in the s, as Russia experienced economic growth, it began to expand its industry into the Far East. Article written by: Richard Bevan.In the years following his death, Nicholas was reviled by Soviet historians and state propaganda as a "callous tyrant" who "persecuted his own people while sending countless soldiers to their deaths in pointless conflicts". Despite being viewed more positively in recent years, the majority view among historians is that Nicholas was a well-intentioned yet poor ruler who proved incapable of handling the challenges facing his nation.[1][2][3][4]
Early life
Birth and family background
Grand Duke Nicholas was born on 18 May [O.S.
6 May] , in the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo south of Saint Petersburg, during the reign of his paternal grandfather, Emperor Alexander II. He was the eldest child of then-TsesarevichAlexander Alexandrovich and his wife, Tsesarevna Maria Feodorovna (née Princess Dagmar of Denmark). Alexander Alexandrovich was heir apparent to the Russian throne as the second but eldest surviving son of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna (née Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine).
Maria Feodorovna was the daughter of King Christian IX and Queen Louise of Denmark.
Nicholas was christened in the Chapel of the Resurrection of the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo on 1 June [O.S.
20 May] by the confessor of the imperial family, protopresbyter Vasily Borisovich Bazhanov. His godparents were Emperor Alexander II (his paternal grandfather), Queen Louise of Denmark (his maternal grandmother), Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (his maternal uncle), and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna (his great-great-aunt).[5] The boy received the traditional Romanov name Nicholas and was named in memory of his father's older brother and mother's first fiancé, Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Russia, who had died young in [6] Informally, he was known as "Nicky" throughout his life.
Nicholas was of primarily German and Danish descent and was related to several monarchs in Europe. His mother's siblings included Kings Frederick VIII of Denmark and George I of Greece, as well as the United Kingdom's Queen Alexandra (consort of King Edward VII). Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and Wilhelm II, German Emperor were all first cousins of King George V of the United Kingdom.
Nicholas was also a first cousin of both King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway, as well as King Christian X of Denmark and King Constantine I of Greece. Nicholas and Wilhelm II were in turn second cousins once-removed, as each descended from King Frederick William III of Prussia, as well as third cousins, as they were both great-great-grandsons of Tsar Paul I of Russia.
In addition to being second cousins through descent from Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse, and his wife Princess Wilhelmine of Baden, Nicholas and Alexandra were also third cousins once-removed, as they were both descendants of King Frederick William II of Prussia.
Tsar Nicholas II was the first cousin once-removed of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich.
To distinguish between them, the Grand Duke was often known within the imperial family as "Nikolasha" and "Nicholas the Tall", while the Tsar was "Nicholas the Short".
Childhood
Grand Duke Nicholas was to have five younger siblings: Alexander (–), George (–), Xenia (–), Michael (–) and Olga (–). Nicholas often referred to his father nostalgically in letters after Alexander's death in He was also very close to his mother, as revealed in their published letters to each other.[7] In his childhood, Nicholas, his parents and siblings made annual visits to the Danish royal palaces of Fredensborg and Bernstorff to visit his grandparents, the king and queen.
The visits also served as family reunions, as his mother's siblings would also come from the United Kingdom, Germany and Greece with their respective families.[8] It was there in , that he had a flirtation with one of his British first cousins, Princess Victoria. In , Nicholas also accompanied his parents and younger brother, two-year-old George, on a two-month, semi-official visit to the United Kingdom.[9] In London, Nicholas and his family stayed at Marlborough House, as guests of his "Uncle Bertie" and "Aunt Alix", the Prince and Princess of Wales, where he was spoiled by his uncle.[10]
Tsarevich
On 1 March ,[11] following the assassination of his grandfather, Tsar Alexander II, Nicholas became heir apparent or tsarevich upon his father's accession as Alexander III.
Nicholas and his other family members bore witness to Alexander II's death, having been present at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, where he was brought after the attack.[12] For security reasons, the new Tsar and his family relocated their primary residence to the Gatchina Palace outside the city, only entering the capital for various ceremonial functions.
On such occasions, Alexander III and his family occupied the nearby Anichkov Palace.[citation needed]
In , Nicholas's coming-of-age ceremony was held at the Winter Palace, where he pledged his loyalty to his father. Later that year, Nicholas's uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, married Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, and his late wife Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (who had died in ), and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
At the wedding in St. Petersburg, the sixteen-year-old Tsarevich met with and admired the bride's youngest surviving sister, twelve-year-old Princess Alix. Those feelings of admiration blossomed into love following her visit to St. Petersburg five years later in Alix had feelings for him in turn. As a devout Lutheran, she was initially reluctant to convert to Russian Orthodoxy to marry Nicholas, but later relented.[13]
In Nicholas, his younger brother George, and their cousin Prince George of Greece, set out on a world tour, although Grand Duke George fell ill and was sent home partway through the trip.
Nicholas visited Egypt, India, Singapore, and Siam (Thailand), receiving honors as a distinguished guest in each country. During his trip through Japan, Nicholas had a large dragon tattooed on his right forearm by Japanese tattoo artist Hori Chyo.[14] His cousin George V of the United Kingdom had also received a dragon tattoo from Hori in Yokohama years before.
It was during his visit to Otsu, that Tsuda Sanzō, one of his escorting policemen, swung at the Tsarevich's face with a sabre, an event known as the Ōtsu incident. Nicholas was left with a 9 centimeter long scar on the right side of his forehead, but his wound was not life-threatening. The incident cut his trip short.[15] Returning overland to St.
Petersburg, he was present at the ceremonies in Vladivostok commemorating the beginning of work on the Trans-Siberian Railway. In , Nicholas traveled to London on behalf of his parents to be present at the wedding of his cousin the Duke of York to Princess Mary of Teck. Queen Victoria was struck by the physical resemblance between the two cousins, and their appearances confused some at the wedding.
During this time, Nicholas had an affair with St. Petersburg ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska.[16]
Though Nicholas was heir-apparent to the throne, his father failed to prepare him for his future role as Tsar. He attended meetings of the State Council; however, as his father was only in his forties, it was expected that it would be many years before Nicholas succeeded to the throne.[17]Sergei Witte, Russia's finance minister, saw things differently and suggested to the Tsar that Nicholas be appointed to the Siberian Railway Committee.[18] Alexander argued that Nicholas was not mature enough to take on serious responsibilities, having once stated "Nikki is a good boy, but he has a poet's soulGod help him!" Witte stated that if Nicholas was not introduced to state affairs, he would never be ready to understand them.[18] Alexander's assumptions that he would live a long life and had years to prepare Nicholas for becoming Tsar proved wrong, as by , Alexander's health was failing.[19]
Engagement
See also: Wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna
In April , Nicholas joined his uncle Sergei and aunt Elizabeth on a journey to Coburg, Germany, for the wedding of Elizabeth's and Alix's brother, Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, to their mutual first cousin Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Other guests included Queen Victoria, Kaiser Wilhelm II, the Empress Frederick (Kaiser Wilhelm's mother and Queen Victoria's eldest daughter), Nicholas's uncle, the Prince of Wales, and the bride's parents, the Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Once in Coburg Nicholas proposed to Alix, but she rejected his proposal, being reluctant to convert to Orthodoxy.
But the Kaiser later informed her she had a duty to marry Nicholas and to convert, as her sister Elizabeth had done in Thus once she changed her mind, Nicholas and Alix became officially engaged on 20 April Nicholas's parents initially hesitated to give the engagement their blessing, as Alix had made poor impressions during her visits to Russia.
They gave their consent only when they saw Tsar Alexander's health deteriorating.
That summer, Nicholas travelled to England to visit both Alix and the Queen. The visit coincided with the birth of the Duke and Duchess of York's first child, the future King Edward VIII. Along with being present at the christening, Nicholas and Alix were listed among the child's godparents.[20] After several weeks in England, Nicholas returned home for the wedding of his sister, Xenia, to a cousin, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich ("Sandro").[21]
By that autumn, Alexander III lay dying.
Upon learning that he would live only a fortnight, the Tsar had Nicholas summon Alix to the Livadia Palace.[22] Alix arrived on 22 October; the Tsar insisted on receiving her in full uniform. From his deathbed, he told his son to heed the advice of Witte, his most capable minister.
Ten days later, Alexander III died at the age of forty-nine, leaving twenty-six-year-old Nicholas as Emperor of Russia. That evening, Nicholas was consecrated by his father's priest as Tsar Nicholas II and, the following day, Alix was received into the Russian Orthodox Church, taking the name Alexandra Feodorovna with the title of Grand Duchess and the style of Imperial Highness.[23]
Accession, reign and marriage
Nicholas may have felt unprepared for the duties of the crown, for he asked his cousin and brother-in-law, Grand Duke Alexander,[24] "What is going to happen to me and all of Russia?"[25] Though perhaps under-prepared and unskilled, Nicholas was not altogether untrained for his duties as Tsar.
Nicholas chose to maintain the conservative policies favoured by his father throughout his reign. While Alexander III had concentrated on the formulation of general policy, Nicholas devoted much more attention to the details of administration.[26]
Leaving Livadia on 7 November, Tsar Alexander's funeral procession—which included Nicholas's maternal aunt through marriage and paternal first cousin once removed Queen Olga of Greece, and the Prince and Princess of Wales—arrived in Moscow.
After lying in state in the Kremlin, the body of the Tsar was taken to St. Petersburg, where the funeral was held on 19 November.[27]
Nicholas and Alix's wedding was originally scheduled for the spring of , but it was moved forward at Nicholas's insistence. Staggering under the weight of his new office, he had no intention of allowing the one person who gave him confidence to leave his side.[28] Instead, Nicholas's wedding to Alix took place on 26 November , which was the birthday of the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna, and court mourning could be slightly relaxed.
Alexandra wore the traditional dress of Romanov brides, and Nicholas a hussar's uniform. Nicholas and Alexandra, each holding a lit candle, faced the palace priest and were married a few minutes before one in the afternoon.[29]
Coronation
Main article: Coronation of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna
Despite a visit to the United Kingdom in , where he observed the House of Commons in debate and was seemingly impressed by the machinery of constitutional monarchy, Nicholas turned his back on any notion of giving away any power to elected representatives in Russia.
Shortly after he came to the throne, a deputation of peasants and workers from various towns' local assemblies (zemstvos) came to the Winter Palace proposing court reforms, such as the adoption of a constitutional monarchy,[30] and reform that would improve the political and economic life of the peasantry, in the Tver Address.[31][32]
Although the addresses they had sent in beforehand were couched in mild and loyal terms, Nicholas was angry and ignored advice from an Imperial Family Council by saying to them:
it has come to my knowledge that during the last months there have been heard in some assemblies of the zemstvos the voices of those who have indulged in a senseless dream that the zemstvos be called upon to participate in the government of the country.
I want everyone to know that I will devote all my strength to maintain, for the good of the whole nation, the principle of absolute autocracy, as firmly and as strongly as did my late lamented father.[33]
On 26 May , Nicholas's formal coronation as Tsar was held in Uspensky Cathedral located within the Kremlin.[34]
In a celebration on 30 May , a large festival with food, free beer and souvenir cups was held in Khodynka Field outside Moscow.
Khodynka was chosen as the location as it was the only place near Moscow large enough to hold all of the Moscow citizens.[35] Khodynka was primarily used as a military training ground and the field was uneven with trenches. Before the food and drink was handed out, rumours spread that there would not be enough for everyone.
As a result, the crowd rushed to get their share and individuals were tripped and trampled upon, suffocating in the dirt of the field.[36] Of the approximate , in attendance, it is estimated that 1, individuals died[34] and roughly 1, were injured.[35] The Khodynka Tragedy was seen as an ill omen and Nicholas found gaining popular trust difficult from the beginning of his reign.
The French ambassador's gala was planned for that night. The Tsar wanted to stay in his chambers and pray for the lives lost, but his uncles believed that his absence at the ball would strain relations with France, particularly the Franco-Russian Alliance. Thus Nicholas attended the party; as a result the mourning populace saw Nicholas as frivolous and uncaring.[citation needed]
During the autumn after the coronation, Nicholas and Alexandra made a tour of Europe.
After making visits to the emperor and empress of Austria-Hungary, the Kaiser of Germany, and Nicholas's Danish grandparents and relatives, Nicholas and Alexandra took possession of their new yacht, the Standart, which had been built in Denmark.[37] From there, they made a journey to Scotland to spend some time with Queen Victoria at Balmoral Castle.
While Alexandra enjoyed her reunion with her grandmother, Nicholas complained in a letter to his mother about being forced to go shooting with his uncle, the Prince of Wales, in bad weather, and was suffering from a bad toothache.[38]
The first years of his reign saw little more than continuation and development of the policy pursued by Alexander III.
Nicholas allotted money for the All-Russia exhibition of In restoration of the gold standard by Sergei Witte, Minister of Finance, completed the series of financial reforms, initiated fifteen years earlier. By the Trans-Siberian Railway was nearing completion; this helped the Russians trade in the Far East but the railway still required huge amounts of work.[citation needed]
Ecclesiastical affairs
Nicholas always believed God chose him to be the tsar and therefore the decisions of the tsar reflected the will of God and could not be disputed.
He was convinced that the simple people of Russia understood this and loved him, as demonstrated by the display of affection he perceived when he made public appearances. His old-fashioned belief made for a very stubborn ruler who rejected constitutional limitations on his power. It put the tsar at variance with the emerging political consensus among the Russian elite.
It was further belied by the subordinate position of the Church in the bureaucracy. The result was a new distrust between the tsar and the church hierarchy and between those hierarchs and the people. Thereby the tsar's base of support was conflicted.[39]
In , Nicholas threw himself into an ecclesiastical crisis regarding the canonisation of Seraphim of Sarov.
The previous year, it had been suggested that if he were canonised, the imperial couple would beget a son and heir to throne.
Nicholas 2 russia biography of george hamilton In , Philip donated his blood for a DNA check of the Tsarina and her children, which matched perfectly. As a result of underestimating the enemy, inadequate technical equipment in the army and the navy, extended lines of communication, and occasional lack of strong leadership in the army, the war ended in a catastrophe for Russia, the nadir of which was the destruction of the Russian fleet in the naval battle of Tsushima. Mass discontent spread from the battlefields to the cities where people were starving. I never wanted to become one.While Alexandra demanded in July that Seraphim be canonised in less than a week, Nicholas demanded that he be canonised within a year. Despite a public outcry, the Church bowed to the intense imperial pressure, declaring Seraphim worthy of canonisation in January That summer, the imperial family travelled to Sarov for the canonisation.[40]
Initiatives in foreign affairs
According to his biographer:
- His tolerance if not preference for charlatans and adventurers extended to grave matters of external policy, and his vacillating conduct and erratic decisions aroused misgivings and occasional alarm among his more conventional advisers.
The foreign ministry itself was not a bastion of diplomatic expertise. Patronage and "connections" were the keys to appointment and promotion.[41]
Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria paid a state visit in April that was a success. It produced a "gentlemen's agreement" to keep the status quo in the Balkans, and a somewhat similar commitment became applicable to Constantinople and the Straits.
The result was years of peace that allowed for rapid economic growth.[42]
Nicholas followed the policies of his father, strengthening the Franco-Russian Alliance and pursuing a policy of general European pacification, which culminated in the famous Hague peace conference. This conference, suggested and promoted by Nicholas II, was convened with the view of terminating the arms race, and setting up machinery for the peaceful settlement of international disputes.
The results of the conference were less than expected due to the mutual distrust existing between great powers. Nevertheless, the Hague conventions were among the first formal statements of the laws of war.[43][44] Nicholas II became the hero of the dedicated disciples of peace.
In he and the Russian diplomat Friedrich Martens were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the initiative to convene the Hague Peace Conference and contributing to its implementation.[45] However historian Dan L. Morrill states that "most scholars" agree that the invitation was "conceived in fear, brought forth in deceit, and swaddled in humanitarian idealsNot from humanitarianism, not from love for mankind."[46]
Nicholas aimed to strengthen the Franco-Russian Alliance and proposed the unsuccessful Hague Convention of to promote disarmament and peacefully solve international disputes.[47]
Russo-Japanese War
Main article: Russo-Japanese War
A clash between Russia and the Empire of Japan was almost inevitable by the turn of the 20th century.
Russia had expanded in the Far East, and the growth of its settlement and territorial ambitions, as its southward path to the Balkans was frustrated, conflicted with Japan's own territorial ambitions on the Asian mainland. Nicholas pursued an aggressive foreign policy with regards to Manchuria and Korea, and strongly supported the scheme for timber concessions in these areas as developed by the Bezobrazov group.[48][49]
Before the war in , Nicholas told his brother-in-law Prince Henry of Prussia "I do not want to seize Korea but under no circumstances can I allow Japan to become firmly established there.
That will be a casus belli."[50]
War began in February with a preemptive Japanese attack on the Russian Pacific Fleet in Port Arthur, prior to a formal declaration of war.[48]
With the Russian Far East fleet trapped at Port Arthur, the only other Russian Fleet was the Baltic Fleet; it was half a world away, but the decision was made to send the fleet on a nine-month voyage to the east.
The United Kingdom would not allow the Russian navy to use the Suez Canal, due to its alliance with the Empire of Japan, and due to the Dogger Bank incident where the Baltic Fleet mistakenly fired on British fishing boats in the North Sea. The Baltic Fleet traversed the world to lift the blockade on Port Arthur, but after many misadventures on the way, was nearly annihilated by the Japanese in the Battle of Tsushima.[48] On land the Imperial Russian Army experienced logistical problems.
While commands and supplies came from St. Petersburg, combat took place in east Asian ports with only the Trans-Siberian Railway for transport of supplies as well as troops both ways.[48] The 9,kilometre (5,&#;mi) rail line between St. Petersburg and Port Arthur was single-track, with no track around Lake Baikal, allowing only gradual build-up of the forces on the front.
Besieged Port Arthur fell to the Japanese, after nine months of resistance.[48]
As Russia faced imminent defeat by the Japanese, the call for peace grew. Nicholas's mother, as well as his cousin Emperor Wilhelm II, urged Nicholas to negotiate for peace. Despite the efforts, Nicholas remained evasive, sending a telegram to the Kaiser on 10 October that it was his intent to keep on fighting until the Japanese were driven from Manchuria.[48] It was not until 27–28 May and the annihilation of the Russian fleet by the Japanese, that Nicholas finally decided to sue for peace.[51] Nicholas II accepted American mediation, appointing Sergei Witte chief plenipotentiary for the peace talks.
The war was ended by the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth.[48][52][53][54]
Tsar's confidence in victory
Nicholas's stance on the war was so at variance with the obvious facts that many observers were baffled. He saw the war as an easy God-given victory that would raise Russian morale and patriotism.
He ignored the financial repercussions of a long-distance war.[55] Rotem Kowner argues that during his visit to Japan in , where Nicholas was attacked by a Japanese policeman, he regarded the Japanese as small of stature, feminine, weak, and inferior. He ignored reports of the prowess of Japanese soldiers in the First Sino-Japanese War (–95) and reports on the capabilities of the Imperial Japanese Navy, as well as negative reports on the lack of readiness of Russian forces.[15]
Before the Japanese attack on Port Arthur, Nicholas held firm to the belief that there would be no war.
Despite the onset of the war and the many defeats Russia suffered, Nicholas still believed in, and expected, a final victory, maintaining an image of the racial inferiority and military weakness of the Japanese.[56] Throughout the war, the tsar demonstrated total confidence in Russia's ultimate triumph.
His advisors never gave him a clear picture of Russia's weaknesses. Despite the continuous military disasters Nicholas believed victory was near at hand.[citation needed] Losing his navy at Tsushima finally persuaded him to agree to peace negotiations. Even then he insisted on the option of reopening hostilities if peace conditions were unfavorable.
He forbade his chief negotiator Count Witte to agree to either indemnity payments or loss of territory. Nicholas remained adamantly opposed to any concessions. Peace was made, but Witte did so by disobeying the tsar and ceding southern Sakhalin to Japan.[57][49][better&#;source&#;needed]
Anti-Jewish pogroms of –
Main article: Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire
The Kishinev newspaper Bessarabets, which published anti-Semitic materials, received funds from Viacheslav Plehve, Minister of the Interior.[58] These publications served to fuel the Kishinev pogrom (rioting).
The government of Nicholas II formally condemned the rioting and dismissed the regional governor, with the perpetrators arrested and punished by the court.[59] Leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church also condemned anti-Semitic pogroms. Appeals to the faithful condemning the pogroms were read publicly in all churches of Russia.[60] In private Nicholas expressed his admiration for the mobs, viewing anti-Semitism as a useful tool for unifying the people behind the government;[61] however in , following the assassination of Pyotr Stolypin by the Jewish revolutionary Dmitry Bogrov, he approved of government efforts to prevent anti-Semitic pogroms.[62]
Russification of Finland
In Finland, Nicholas had become associated with deeply unpopular Russification measures.
These began with the February Manifesto proclaimed by Nicholas II in ,[63] which restricted Finland's autonomy and instigated a period of censorship and political repression.[64] A petition of protest signed by more than , Finns was collected against the manifesto and delivered to St.
Petersburg by a delegation of people, but they were not received by Nicholas. Russification measures were reintroduced in after a temporary suspension in the aftermath of the Revolution, and Nicholas received an icy reception when he made his only visit to Helsinki on 10 March [65][66][67]
Bloody Sunday ()
Main article: Bloody Sunday ()
A few days prior to Bloody Sunday (9 (22) January ), priest and labor leader Georgy Gapon informed the government of the forthcoming procession to the Winter Palace to hand a workers' petition to the tsar.
On Saturday, 8 (21) January, the ministers convened to consider the situation. There was never any thought that the tsar, who had left the capital for Tsarskoye Selo on the advice of the ministers, would actually meet Gapon; the suggestion that some other member of the imperial family receive the petition was rejected.[68]
Finally informed by the Prefect of Police that he lacked the men to pluck Gapon from among his followers and place him under arrest, the newly appointed Minister of the Interior, Prince Sviatopolk-Mirsky, and his colleagues decided to bring additional troops to reinforce the city.
That evening Nicholas wrote in his diary, "Troops have been brought from the outskirts to reinforce the garrison. Up to now the workers have been calm. Their number is estimated at , At the head of their union is a kind of socialist priest named Gapon. Mirsky came this evening to present his report on the measures taken."[68]
On Sunday, 9 (22) January , Gapon began his march.
Locking arms, the workers marched peacefully through the streets. Some carried religious icons and banners, as well as national flags and portraits of the tsar. As they walked, they sang hymns and God Save The Tsar. At 2&#;pm all of the converging processions were scheduled to arrive at the Winter Palace. There was no single confrontation with the troops.
Throughout the city, at bridges on strategic boulevards, the marchers found their way blocked by lines of infantry, backed by Cossacks and Hussars; and the soldiers opened fire on the crowd.[69]
The official number of victims was 92 dead and several hundred wounded. Gapon vanished and the other leaders of the march were seized.
Expelled from the capital, they circulated through the empire, increasing the casualties. As bullets riddled their icons, their banners and their portraits of Nicholas, the people shrieked, "The Tsar will not help us!"[69] Outside Russia, the future British Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald attacked the Tsar, calling him a "blood-stained creature and a common murderer".[70]
That evening Nicholas wrote in his diary:
Difficult day!
In St. Petersburg there were serious disturbances due to the desire of workers to get to the Winter Palace. The troops had to shoot in different places of the city, there were many dead and wounded. Lord, how painful and bad![70][71]
His younger sister, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, wrote afterwards:
Nicky had the police report a few days before.
That Saturday he telephoned my mother at the Anitchkov and said that she and I were to leave for Gatchina at once.
Nicholas 2 russia biography of george On March 15, , he abdicated the throne. In the early hours of 17 July , the former Tsar and his family were led to a basement room believing that they were being moved for safety reasons. Despite this, Nicholas was an autocrat, believing he derived his authority from God which meant his will could not be disputed. It was assumed that power would pass to his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail, but he refused to accept the crown.He and Alicky went to Tsarskoye Selo. Insofar as I remember, my Uncles Vladimir and Nicholas were the only members of the family left in St. Petersburg, but there may have been others. I felt at the time that all those arrangements were hideously wrong. Nicky's ministers and the Chief of Police had it all their way. My mother and I wanted him to stay in St.
Petersburg and to face the crowd. I am positive that, for all the ugly mood of some of the workmen, Nicky's appearance would have calmed them. They would have presented their petition and gone back to their homes. But that wretched Epiphany incident[e] had left all the senior officials in a state of panic.
Nicholas 2 russia biography of george washington: Russia as an ally of Serbia mobilised its army. When Nicholas II succeeded his father in , he was 26 years old. Despite the time-honored tradition of holding mourning for one year after the death of a monarch, Nicholas decided to get married immediately, and thus the young couple's honeymoon was spent in an atmosphere of mourning. Thus the magnetic Siberian mystic, Rasputin, was able to rise to prominence.They kept on telling Nicky that he had no right to run such a risk, that he owed it to the country to leave the capital, that even with the utmost precautions taken there might always be some loophole left. My mother and I did all we could to persuade him that the ministers' advice was wrong, but Nicky preferred to follow it and he was the first to repent when he heard of the tragic outcome.[74]
From his hiding place Gapon issued a letter, stating "Nicholas Romanov, formerly Tsar and at present soul-murderer of the Russian empire.
The innocent blood of workers, their wives and children lies forever between you and the Russian people May all the blood which must be spilled fall upon you, you Hangman. I call upon all the socialist parties of Russia to come to an immediate agreement among themselves and bring an armed uprising against Tsarism."[70]
Revolution
Main article: Russian Revolution
Confronted with growing opposition and after consulting with Witte and Prince Sviatopolk-Mirsky, the Tsar issued a reform ukase on 25 December with vague promises.[75] In hopes of cutting the rebellion short, many demonstrators were shot on Bloody Sunday () as they tried to march to the Winter Palace in St.
Petersburg. Dmitri Feodorovich Trepov was ordered to take drastic measures to stop the revolutionary activity. Grand Duke Sergei was killed in February by a revolutionary's bomb in Moscow as he left the Kremlin. On 3 March the tsar condemned the revolutionaries. Meanwhile, Witte recommended that a manifesto be issued.[76] Schemes of reform would be elaborated by Ivan Goremykin and a committee consisting of elected representatives of the zemstvos and municipal councils under the presidency of Witte.[citation needed] In June the battleship Potemkin, part of the Black Sea Fleet, mutinied.
Around August/September, after his diplomatic success on ending the Russo-Japanese War, Witte wrote to the Tsar stressing the urgent need for political reforms at home. The Tsar remained quite impassive and indulgent; he spent most of that autumn hunting.[77] With the defeat of Russia by a non-Western power, the prestige and authority of the autocratic regime fell significantly.