Nicholas II of Russia
- Nicholas II redirects here, for other people named Nicholas II, see Nicholas.
Nicholas II of Russia, (May 6, 1868 – July 17, 1918) was the last Tsar (Emperor) of the Russian Empire. He became Tsar in 1894 after his father, Tsar Alexander III died. His reign lasted until the 1917 Russian Revolution.
| Nikolai II | |
|---|---|
| Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias | |
 | |
| Reign | 1 November 1894 – 15 March 1917 |
| Predecessor | Alexander III of Russia |
| Successor | Empire ended, next Russian Head of State and Government is Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. |
| Born | 6 May 1868 Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Died | 17 July 1918 Yekaterinburg, Russia |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Alix of Hesse and by Rhine |
| Issue | Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Grand Duke Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich |
| House | Romanov |
| Father | Alexander III of Russia |
| Mother | Dagmar of Denmark |
He married Princess Alix of Hesse, who was the daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and the granddaughter of Queen Victoria , and they had five children, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexi. Alexi suffered from a disease called haemophilia, which caused his parents great sadness. After 1905, the royal family became friends with Grigori Rasputin, whom they believed could treat Alexi.[1]
In the first 20 years of his reign, Nicholas tried to make Russia more modern, but these plans were held back by the nobles and the Tsar's weak leadership. He and his chief ministers Sergei Witte and Pyotr Stolypin encouraged railways, land reform, education, the borrowing of money and friendship with France and the United Kingdom. In 1905, after Russia lost a war with Japan and the killing of protestors on Bloody Sunday, there were large protests against his government by people who wanted a parliament. He created one (the Duma), but he would not allow it to have many powers. His reign also saw the Khodynka Tragedy, attacks on the Russian Jews, anger over the power of Rasputin, and the imprisonments and executions of people who opposed the government.
In 1914, he led Russia into World War I, but the war went badly for Russia and caused great hardship. It led to the fall of the monarchy in the 1917 Russian Revolution. He abdicated (quit being Tsar) in March of that year.[2] He and his family were held as prisoners under house arrest. On July 17, 1918, Nicholas, his wife and their children were killed by a firing squad, on the orders of the new Bolshevik government. In 1981, the Tsar and his family were made Saints by the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1990, the bones of the Tsar and his family were found in the woods and given a proper burial in St Petersburg in 1998.[3]
The historians of the Soviet Union often described Nicholas as a tyrant. Modern historians see him as a man who tried to do what was right for his country but did not have the skills and was easily led by people who gave him bad advice.[4][5]
References Edit
- ↑ Rasputin is sometimes described as being a monk or a priest, but he did not have any job in the Russian Orthodox Church.
- ↑ "The Execution of Tsar Nicholas II, 1918". www.eyewitnesstohistory.com. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ↑ "Romanovs laid to rest". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-12-22.
- ↑ Ferro, Marc (1995) Nicholas II: Last of the Tsars. New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508192-7, p. 2
- ↑ Warnes, David (1999). Chronicle of the Russian Tsars. Thames And Hudson. p. 163. ISBN 0-500-05093-7.
Other websites Edit
- alexanderpalace.org
- FrozenTears.org A media library of the last Imperial Family.