Russian History
Russian History
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Nicholas II was the last emperor of Russia. He ruled from November of 1984 until March of 1917. During his reign, Russia fell from being one of the greatest empires of the world to being rocked by war, strife and economic downfall. Some of the tragic events under his reign include Bloody Sunday, Khodynka Tragedy and the war with Japan in between 1904 and 1905. Due to the many tragic events under his reign, he fell out with the Russian public and Nicholas II together with his entire imperial family was murdered by the Bolshevik guards. He inherited an already tense country form his father, Alexander and made many questionable decisions and policies concerning Russia. Nicholas, however, remains one of the most powerful Russian leaders and the last monarch.
Nicholas II was born in the year 1868 to Emperor Alexander III and his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna. The family was close-knit as shown in Nicholas II’s correspondence with both his father and mother. The Emperor and his wife had five other children after Nicholas; Alexander, George, Michael, Olga, and Xenia. Nicholas came from royalty from both of his parents; families. His mother’s brothers were King Fredrick VIII of Denmark, and George the first of Greece were his mother’s brothers and her sister was Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom. He and his wife were also first and second cousins to several other monarchs of kingdoms all over Europe. From his ancestry, it is safe to say that Nicholas II was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
His mother being a Danish princess, Nicholas and his family often visited the Danish palace where his maternal grandparents lived at Fredensborg and Bernstorff. These visits were mostly family reunions as all the other members of the family who were royal families in European kingdoms also came to visit. Nicholas and George also visited England with their parents for two months. Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881, and his son, Nicholas’ father, Alexander III ascended to the throne. Fearing for his family’s security, the new king relocated his primary residence outside the city to Gatchina Palace. The family only appeared in the capital during essential functions.
While attending the wedding of his uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, to Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, Nicholas met and admired his first love, Princess Alix. She was the youngest sister of the bride. Nicholas would go on to marry her years later. Their union was first threatened by her Lutheran beliefs as Nicholas was himself a devout Russian Orthodox. In the end, she converted and married Nicholas II. His parents were at first reluctant to give their consent to the marriage; they felt that Alix had made a poor impression during a visit to Russia. However, when Alexander III’s health began to fail, they had no choice but to give a blessing. Princess Alix and Nicholas II married in 1894.
In 1890, Nicholas and his brother George embarked on a world tour accompanied by their cousin Prince George of Greece. They visited Egypt, Bangkok, India and Singapore where they were received as an eminent guest in each of the countries. An unfortunate incident occurred in Japan where an unhinged police officer attacked Nicholas, prompting his return home. Two years later, Nicholas represented his parents in London during the wedding of his cousin, the Duke of York. The close resemblance between Nicholas and his cousin caused a stir at the wedding ceremony. It was also at this time that Nicholas had an affair with a ballerina known as Mathilde Kschessinska.
Alexander III died in the fall of 1894. He lay ill and found out that he had less than a month to live. It was at this point that he had his son Nicholas summon his future wife Alix to the palace. It was also at his death bed that Alexander III instructed Nicholas to always take the advice of Alexander’s most trusted minister, Witte. A few years earlier, Witte had advised Alexander III to appoint Nicholas to the Serbian Railway Committee to prepare him to take on serious responsibilities. The role would qualify him to deal with state affairs as tsar when the time came. The emperor did not heed this as he thought that he had many more years to live. He also felt that Nicholas was too young. Alexander died at the age of forty-nine, leaving his ill-prepared son and heir apparent to the throne at a loss on how to run the country.
After his father’s death, Nicholas II asked a poignant question, “What is going to happen to me and all of Russia?” he addressed this to his cousin the Grand Duke Alexander. He took the safe path by maintaining his father’s autocratic kind of leadership. Alexander III was buried on the 19th of November, 1894. Nicholas was probably quite shaken by his father’s death and wanted his wedding moved forward from the original date set for the spring of 1895. The wedding then took place on 26th November 1894 officiated by the palace priest.
Shortly after his coronation, a delegation of peasants and workers from various parts of the country came to the palace to propose the adoption of a constitutional monarchy. Nicholas had marvelled at such a system of government when he visited the United Kingdom in 1893. Nicholas got angry at the proposed reforms. He responded to the proposition in strong language indicating that he would dedicate his reign towards maintaining the absolute autocracy that his late father had supported. This was the first indication of the displeasure that the Russian public had for Nicholas and the beginning of dissent with the new emperor.
Following the coronation of Nicholas II on the 26th of May 1896, a huge celebration was held the next day in Khodynka Field. Huge crowds from Moscow showed up, with free food, drink provided. The event soon turned tragic. A rumour spread that there would not be enough for everyone and a stampede ensued. Everyone rushed to grab some food before it ran out. The field itself was uneven, and many people fell and were trampled upon, leading to the death of about 1400 people and a similar number injured. For many people, this was a bad omen for the new emperor’s reign. The French ambassador had organized a gala for the same night. Although Nicholas wanted to stay and pay for the dead souls, his uncles advised him that it would strain relations with France. He attended, and this put him in a bad light with the Russian people who felt he did not care that many people had died.
The fact that Nicholas refused to entertain the peasants’ request for reforms shows that he was a stubborn man set in his ways. He preferred to maintain his father’s leadership policies that did not envision elected leaders sharing power with the tsar. This also indicates a lack of vision, even though he had seen the efficiency of a constitutional monarchy in the United Kingdom; he refused to adopt it in his country. Attending the gala after the stampede at Khodynka Fields also projected an image of a leader that was out of touch with his people. It showed that he had no sympathy for the people that had died that day. The two events certainly made for an ominous beginning to Nicholas’ reign as emperor and the downward turn of Russia’s fortunes.
After being crowned as the new emperor, Nicholas and his new wife renamed Alexandra departed on a tour of Europe where they spent time with their relatives. Nicholas, however, did not enjoy his time in Scotland and wrote to his mother lamenting the cold weather and a toothache. When they returned to Russia, Nicholas took on eth task of running the country’s affairs but did little to change his father’s policies. He continued to rely on his father’s trusted minister, Sergei Witte. Under Witte, financial reforms were implemented, and the Siberian Railway allowed trade in the Far East.
Nicholas contributed to The Hague Peace Conference. Like his father before him, he continued to maintain good relations with the French. Nicholas desired to see an end to the arms race, but none of the European countries in attendance could concede as they did not trust each other. Nicholas also came up with the idea of a means to resolve international disputes. While the conference did not achieve all that it had been set to, it led to the nomination of Nicholas II and fellow Russian diplomat Friedrich Martens for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. This was in recognition of their efforts in the planning and implementation of The Hague Peace Conference.
A dispute concerning the Seraphim of Sarov’s canonization ensued between Nicholas and his wife, Alexandra. There was public pressure to canonize the Seraphim, and it had also been claimed that the canonization would lead the royal couple to bear a son who would be the heir to the throne. The emperor was in no rush, but the public was eager for it, and the Church finally canonised the Seraphim in January of 1903.
The war between Russia and Japan began in February 1904 triggered by disagreements concerning the territories of China, Manchuria, Korea and Asia. Russia had expanded to the Far East, threatening Japan’s desire to rule the territories mentioned above. The Japanese attacked a Russian fleet of ships in Port Arthur that February. The United Kingdom was allied to Japan and would not allow Russian fleets to use the Suez Canal on its way to provide relief for the fleet at Port Arthur. The Battle of the Tsushima Trait followed, and the Japanese nearly destroyed the Russians. The war inland also saw the Russians face defeat as the supplies and reinforcements came in too slow through the Trans-Siberian Railway. After nine months of fighting, the Japanese emerged victoriously and seized Port Arthur.
The war with Japan further called into question Nicholas skill as a leader. Many Russian leaders foresaw the Japanese win but Nicholas paid no heed to them. He failed to consider the fact that the long distance and financial costs would cripple the Russian side. He believed the Japanese to be inferior in military capabilities and was convinced that the Japanese e would not dare to go to war with Russia. Despite his mother and cousin’s pleas to sue for peace, he remained noncommittal and declared that Russia would not cease until it had defeated Japan. It was only after the Japanese wiped out the Russian fleet on the 28th of May 1905 that he conceded. Russia was led by Sergei Witte in the negotiations for peace mediated by the Americans. The talks resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth.
Bloody Sunday was another strain on Nicholas’ reign. The workers had initially proposed reforms and had been dismissed by the tsar. They resolved to march to the palace on Sunday, 22nd January 1905. The tsar would not go out to meet them, and the ministers brought tops to guard the castle. The march was led by Georgy Gapon and proceeded throughout the cit. Their way was blocked by soldiers who opened fire, killing 92 and injuring hundreds more. Nicholas faced backlash, even from outside Russia with the British Prime minister labelling him a “blood-stained creature and a common murderer”. Outrage and dissent grew among the Russian, and Gapon called for an uprising against Tsarism.
The Russian revolution of 1905 began with the death of Grand Duke Sergei from a revolutionary’s bomb outside the Kremlin. Sergei Witte advised the tsar to implement some of the reforms suggested, but Nicholas paid no heed to him. The Japanese defeat of Russia led to significant erosion of the prestige of the aristocracy. The whole country degenerated into full-blown strikes. Nicholas responded by imploring his uncle, the Grand Duke Nicholas to become a dictator. The Grand Duke responded by threatening suicide if Nicholas did not make constitutional reforms. Nicholas appointed Sergei Witte prime minister and established the Imperial Duma.
The Duma was to act as an oversight and legislative body. Nicholas wished to maintain his autocratic powers, and this showed in the 1906 constitution in which he retained control over government and the church. His ministers would answer only to him without any cooperation or interaction amongst themselves. This state of affairs angered the first Duma who demanded radical land reforms, total suffrage, the sacking of tsar appointed ministers and the release of political prisoners. With the deterioration of the situation, Witte resigned, and Nicholas dissolved the first Duma. Pyotr Stolypin took over as prime minister and dissolved the second Duma as well. The third Duma changed tactics and worked with the government to regain Russia’s lost glory. Stolypin supported the Duma, but Alexandra and Witte vehemently opposed him. In a fit of anger, Stolypin informed Nicholas of his intention to resign because the imperial family had no trust in him, to which Nicholas responded with a blatant refusal
The First World War was the beginning of the end for Nicholas. Nicholas and Alexandra had a haemophiliac son and a mystic known as Rasputin had been brought in to treat the heir. Nicholas left the capital to command Russian trips, leaving his wife Alexandra in charge of domestic matters. She was under heavy influence of Rasputin and had a German background and was labelled a German sympathizer. Growing dissent led to the murder of Rasputin by noblemen. The war took a heavy toll on Russia with most men fighting in the war and cost of living soaring uncontrollably. In February of 1917, riots broke out in Petrograd where soldiers shot at civilians.
A provisional government was formed by the Duma and military chiefs who demanded Nicholas’ abdication. He named his brother Grand Duke Michael as the next emperor. Nicholas desired to go into exile to the United Kingdom but was denied. The imperial family was transferred to Yekaterinburg, where they were all killed by their guards on 17th Jul 1918.
Throughout his reign, Nicholas remained a stubborn man who refused to take the counsel of his ministers and advisors. He was also out of touch with the Russian people’s desire for constitutional reforms. While he might have inherited an already tense situation and his father left him wholly unprepared for the responsibility of being an emperor, his poor decisions did nothing to help Russia. This led to him being overthrown and executed after leading Russia to its economic, social and political disintegration. He was the last tsar of Russia, but his legacy is one of death, destruction and oppression.
Bibliography
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Morrill, Dan L. “Nicholas II and the call for the First Hague Conference.” The Journal of Modern History 46, no. 2 (1974): 296-313.
Neumann, Iver B. “From the assassination of Tsar Alexander II to the First World War.” In Russia and the Idea of Europe, pp. 74-102. Routledge, 2016.Polunov, Aleksandr I︠U︡rʹevich, Thomas C. Owen, and Larissa Georgievna Zakharova. Russia in the Nineteenth Century: Autocracy, Reform, and Social Change, 1814-1914: Autocracy, Reform, and Social Change, 1814-1914. Routledge, 2015.Treadgold, Donald. Twentieth Century Russia. Routledge, 2018.
