Nicholas II Thought

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“”What is going to happen to me and all of Russia? I am not prepared to be a Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling.

— Nicholas II of Russia

Nicholas II Thought represents the beliefs and tendencies of Tsar Nicholas II, the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. His reign of over 22 years marked the final chapter of the House of Romanov, who had ruled Russia for more than three centuries. A personal tendency of Authoritarian Conservatism, Nicholas II Thought is Authoritarian Right and Culturally Right.

Tsar Nicholas II is considered the weakest Tsar by many. He was not a bad person, he genuinely cared for his people, had good intentions, and worked very hard. However, to put it simply, he was a poor politician. He did not like being the Tsar, although he accepted it as his duty by God, whom he believed in the most. What the Tsar cared about most was his family, and he had a hard time finding disinterested, trustworthy and competent administrators. It was precisely the treachery of untrustworthy and incompetent careerists that brought about his abdication.

Vilified by Soviet historians as a symbol of repression and incompetence, Nicholas has been reassessed more sympathetically in post-Soviet Russia . He and his family were canonized as passion bearers by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000, following the discovery and reburial of their remains in 1998.

History & Life

Early Life

Birth & Family Background

Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov (Николай Александрович Романов) was born on 18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 in Tsarskoye Selo, near Saint Petersburg, Russia. Nikolai was the eldest son of Alexander Alexandrovich (later Emperor Alexander III) and his wife Maria Feodorovna (née Princess Dagmar of Denmark). Nikolai's father was next in line to the throne because he was the eldest surviving son of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna. Nikolai's mother was the daughter of King Christian IX and Queen Louise of Hesse-Kassel.

Nikolai 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), Louise of Hesse-Kassel (his maternal grandmother), Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (his maternal uncle), and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna (his great-great-aunt). 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, who had died young in 1865.

Nicholas was of primarily German and Danish descent and was related to several monarchs in Europe, famously being part of the "Three Cousins" of WWI alongside George V of Britain and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. 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". Informally, Nicholas II was known as "Nicky" throughout his life.

Childhood

Nicholas II had five younger siblings: Alexander (1869-1870), George (1871-1899), Xenia (1875-1960), Michael (1878-1918) and Olga (1882-1960). In his youth, Nicholas was not favored by his father Alexander III due to his weak health. However, as a member of the royal family, he still received a strict education and was fluent in German, French, and English. Nicholas, with his shy personality, was very intimidated of his imposing and strict father, who viewed his son as weak and childish, sometimes calling him a " girl". However, he very close to his mother Maria Feodorovna, as revealed in their published letters to each other. 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.

In 1873, Nicholas accompanied his parents and younger brother, two-year-old George, on a two-month, semi-official visit to the United Kingdom. In London, Nicholas and his family stayed at Marlborough House, as guests of his " Uncle Bertie" (Edward VII) and " Aunt Alix" (Alexandra of Denmark), the Prince and Princess of Wales, where he was spoiled by his uncle.

In February 1880 a group of nihilist activists exploded a bomb in the dining room of the Winter Palace. The bomb destroyed almost the entire room. No one was hurt. Nicholas, along with his family, moved to the Yelagin Palace on Yelagin Island.

Tsesarevich

After the assassination of his grandfather Alexander II at Saint Petersburg in 1881, Nikolai became the heir apparent (tsesarevich) as his father ascended the throne. Nicholas and other family members were at the Winter Palace at the time of Alexander II's assassination; a bomb had injured him gravely and he was rushed in the palace. The Romanovs went to his study, where the dying emperor had been laid on a sofa. Alexander III and young Nicholas stood beside him as he slowly died. Nicholas later wrote about seeing his grandfather covered in blood, an image that stayed with him for life. At age 12, he learned that the ruler is always in danger, and made him fear revolution and distrust reform. Both Alexander III and Nicholas II vowed to crush any liberal tendencies to prevent this from happening again. Nicholas also started to keep a diary, something he continued until his death.

Nicholas, colloquially called Nicky by his family, spent much of his vacations with them in his mother's home country Denmark and on cruises along the coasts of the Grand Duchy of Finland, especially on Alexander III's fishing lodge in the Langinkoski rapid, on the river Kymi in Kotka. In summertime the family lived at the Alexander Palace, at the Livadia Palace in Crimea or sometimes hunted deer in Łowicz County, Poland.

During the annual visits to Denmark in 1883, Nicholas had a flirtation with one of his British first cousins, Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom. Nicholas admired her seriousness and toughness.

Nicholas and his siblings were raised in a Spartan way, in an English fashion. They slept in tent bends, rose at 6 and took cold baths, sometimes they were given a warm bath in their mother's bathroom. Breakfast consisted of porridge and black bread, lunch of lamb chops or roast beef with peas and roasted potatoes, and tea of bread, butter and jam. Nicholas and younger brother George had their own salon, dining room, play room and bedroom, which were simply decorated. The only prominent item was an icon surrounded by pearls and jewels. Because of the happy marriage of Nicholas's parents, he was raised surrounded by love and safety, which was missing in many other royal families.

Nicholas and George shared the same teachers, but studied in adjacent rooms. They followed the course of the academy of the general staff, and their teachers were valued professors. Their English teacher Charles Heath was Nicholas's favourite teacher. Both brothers spoke and wrote perfect English. Heath inspired them in sport, especially shooting and fly fishing. They spoke fluent French as well as passable German and Danish. Konstantin Pobedonostsev was Nicholas' teacher of law and history. His home teacher general Grigory Danilovich did not ask for much from the tsesarevich, as "the sacrament of coronation will give the ruler all the information he needs."

Nicholas's large father, who could not tolerate weakness, was discouraging to Nicholas. Once when Nicholas made a mistake and let a playmate take the blame, Alexander shouted at him: "You are a girl!" Alexander was aware his son was too childish to take on responsibility, which he said clearly to minister of finance Sergei Witte. Nicholas learnt to obey his father, who told him to participate in committees. Nicholas found political tasks uninteresting and instead partied with other young officers from the Preobrazhensky and hussar guards from the Romanov family, in restaurants and in the company of young women on the islands in front of St Petersburg. He was especially influenced by his uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov.

In 1884, Nikolai was commissioned as a cornet in the Chevalier Guard Regiment, formerly beginning his military education. Neither Nikolai's education nor personality did equip him for the difficult job of governing a huge empire alone. His preferences and hobbies closely matched those of a typical young Russian officer of his era. He showed little interest in intellectual pursuits, instead enjoying physical activity and the outward symbols of military life: uniforms, insignia, parades. In formal settings, he often felt uncomfortable. Although personally charming, he was naturally shy and avoided close interaction with the public, choosing the quiet of family life over public engagement. According to his diary he played childish games well past the age of 20.

Nicholas underwent military training under general Grigory Danilovich and was inspired by him and senior procurator Konstantin Pobedonostsev in a Pan-Slavist and even mystical religious way. Pobedonostsev's teachings caused Nicholas to think that as emperor by the grace of God he had a sacred duty to upkeep the autocracy and the Eastern Orthodox religion.

In 1884, Nicholas' coming-of-age ceremony was held at the Winter Palace, where he pledged loyalty to his father. Later that year, Nicholas' uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was getting married. 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 in 1889. Alix had feelings for him in turn. As a devout Lutheran, she was reluctant to convert to Eastern Orthodoxy to marry Nicholas but relented. In 1890, Nicholas started an affair with St. Petersburg ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska when she was 17. It would last about four years, just before his marriage with Alix.

Nicholas was the first Russian sovereign to show personal interest in Asia. From 1890 to 1891, he undertook a grand tour of Asia on the cruiser Pamiat Azova, visiting countries like Egypt, India, Siam, Singapore, 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 tattoo artist Hori Chiyo. It was during his visit to Ōtsu on 11 May 1891 that Tsuda Sanzō (one of his escorting policemen) swung at the Tsarevich's face with a sabre attempting to kill him, thinking he was a Russian spy. Nicholas was left with a 9 centimeter long scar on the right of his forehead, but it was not life-threatening. The attacker was captured and sentenced to life in prison. Nicholas was rushed back to Kyoto, where Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa ordered that he be taken into the Kyoto Imperial Palace to rest, and messages were sent to Tokyo. Fearful that the incident would be used by Russia as a pretext for war, and knowing that Japan's military was no match for Russia at the time, Prime Minister Matsukata Masayoshi advised Emperor Meiji to go immediately to visit Nicholas. Meiji traveled through the night to reach Kyoto the following morning. The following day, when Nicholas wanted to return to the Russian boats at Kobe, Meiji ordered Prince Kitashirakawa and Prince Arisugawa Takehito to accompany him.

Returning overland to St. Petersburg, Nicholas was present at the ceremonies in Vladivostok commemorating the beginning of work on the Trans-Siberian Railway. In 1893, Nicholas traveled to London on behalf of his parents for the wedding of his cousin the Duke of York (George V) 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.

After returning to St. Petersburg, Nicholas continued his relationship with Kschessinska in spite of his father's disapproval. However, the love of Nicholas' life proved not to be Mathilde but instead the young German Princess Alix of Hessen-Darmstadt. The marriage was supported by Nicholas' uncle Sergei and his wife Elisabeth Feodorovna, who was also Alix's older sister. In 1894 Nicholas told Kschessinska of his love for Alix and that he wished Alix would marry him. So, the relationship between tsesarevich and ballerina ended.

Though Nicholas was heir-apparent to the throne, his father failed to prepare him for his role as Tsar. He attended meetings of the State Council; however, as his father was only in his forties, it was expected it would be years before Nicholas succeeded. Sergei Witte, the finance minister, saw things differently and suggested to the Tsar that Nicholas be appointed to the Siberian Railway Committee. 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 soul…God help him!" Witte stated that if Nicholas was not introduced to state affairs, he would never be ready to understand them. Alexander's assumption he would live long and have years to prepare Nicholas proved wrong: by 1894, Alexander's health was failing.

Engagement, Marriage & Family

In April 1894, Nicholas travelled to Coburg, Germany, for the wedding of Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse (brother to both Alix and Elizabeth) to Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Guests included Queen Victoria and Kaiser Wilhelm II. While in Coburg, Nicholas proposed to Alix, who initially refused due to her reluctance to convert to Orthodoxy. Persuaded by the Kaiser, she reconsidered, and the couple became officially engaged on 20 April. Nicholas's parents hesitated to approve the match, citing Alix's poor impressions in Russia, but consented as Tsar Alexander III's health declined.

That summer, Nicholas visited Alix and Queen Victoria in England, coinciding with the birth of Nicholas's cousin Duke of York (George V) and Duchess of York (Mary of Teck)'s first child (later known as Edward VIII). Nicholas and Alix attended the christening and were named among the child's godparents. Nicholas later returned to Russia for his sister Xenia's wedding.

By autumn, Alexander III was dying. Upon learning he had only weeks to live, he summoned Alix to Livadia Palace. She arrived on 22 October, and the Tsar, in full uniform, urged Nicholas to heed the advice of Sergei Witte. Alexander died ten days later, aged 49, and Nicholas was consecrated that evening as Tsar Nicholas II. The following day, Alix was received into the Russian Orthodox Church, taking the name Alexandra Feodorovna and the title of Grand Duchess and style of Imperial Highness. Their wedding took place at the Winter Palace on 26 November 1894, less than a month after Alexander's funeral. Due to the mourning period, the ceremony was modest. Observers reportedly remarked of the new empress: "She came to us from behind the coffin…"

Nicholas and Alexandra had five children, four of them daughters: Olga (b. 15 November 1895), Tatiana (b. 10 June 1897), Maria (b. 26 June 1899), and Anastasia (b. 18 June 1901), together known as the OTMA sisters. Nicholas's only son and designated heir was Alexei Nikolaevich (b. 12 August 1904), heir to the throne. Alexei suffered from haemophilia B, an illness that impairs the ability in one's body to stop bleeding, passed down from Queen Victoria.

Reign as Tsar

Although Nicholas visited the United Kingdom in 1893 and watched debates in the House of Commons seeming impressed by how a constitutional monarchy worked, he refused to give any power to elected representatives in Russia.

Nicholas showed an interest for humanistic ideals. He attended the first Hague Conference in 1893.

With the death of Alexander III on 1 November 1894, Nicholas II became the Tsar, beginning his reign. Soon after he came to the throne, a group of peasants and workers from local assemblies (zemstvos) came to the Winter Palace. In what became known as the Tver Address, they asked for court reforms, including the creation of a constitutional monarchy and changes to improve the political and economic conditions of the peasantry. 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.

— Nicholas II

Coronation

On 26 May 1896, Nicholas's formal coronation as Tsar was held in Uspensky Cathedral located within the Kremlin. The event was of gigantic proportions, and people from all over Russia arrived to witness the coronation of the new emperor. At the coronation, lieutenant Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, a future president of Finland, was one of the four officers escorting the new emperor. Brown trout from Finland was served for the guests at the coronation. Nicholas II announced already at the start of his reign that he would use the Russian title of Tsar instead of the western title of Emperor.

In a celebration on 30 May 1896, a large festival with food, free beer and souvenir cups was held in Khodynka Field outside Moscow. Khodynka Field, primarily used as a military training ground with its uneven trenches, was chosen as the location as it was the only place near Moscow large enough to hold all of the Moscow citizens. 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. Of the approximate 100,000 in attendance, it is estimated that 1,389 individuals died and roughly 1,300 were injured. 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. However, 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 1894 Franco-Russian Alliance. Thus Nicholas attended the party; as a result the mourning populace saw Nicholas as frivolous and uncaring.

In the autumn after the coronation, Nicholas and Alexandra toured Europe. The couple visited the emperor and empress of Austria-Hungary, Germany's Kaiser, and Nicholas's Danish grandparents and other relatives. They then took ownership of their new yacht, Standart, which had been built in Denmark. From there, they traveled to Scotland to stay with Queen Victoria at Balmoral Castle. Alexandra enjoyed seeing her grandmother again, but Nicholas wrote to his mother complaining that he had to go shooting with his uncle, the Prince of Wales (Edward VII), in bad weather, while also dealing with a bad toothache.

Start of Reign

When Nicholas II ascended to the throne he had very little experience of governing and he trusted the experience and diplomatic abilities of his mother, the widowed empress Maria Feodorovna, for the first 10 years. Nicholas's wife was also strong-willed, which is thought to have resulted from the fact that Nicholas sought to compensate his own lack of a strong will by governing autocratically. Nicholas was also wary of his own ministers, but was himself unable to govern properly. Nicholas spent the first 10 years of his reign listening to his uncles. Nicholas and the imperial family often spent their summers on the archipelago and coast of Finland, sailing in their imperial yacht Standart.

The first years of Nicholas's reign saw little more than continuation and development of the policy pursued by his father Alexander III. Nicholas allotted money for the All-Russia Exhibition of 1896, which demonstrated the best achievements of the industrial development and arts in Russia that began in the latter part of the 19th century. In 1897, the gold standard restoration by Sergei Witte, Minister of Finance, completed the series of financial reforms initiated fifteen years earlier.

Because of Nicholas's poor knowledge of people, his preference of an isolated family life plus his weak authority, he soon fell into the hands of his reactionary surroundings. The only idea he steadfastly held on was the principle of an autocratic ruler. Nicholas did better as a father and husband than a ruler of a gigantic, restless realm. He was of average ability and indecisive character, but also modest and frugal. Like his father, he was very old-fashioned and sought to Russificate everyhing that had been previously westernised, including preferring to use the title of tsar instead of emperor as he thought it sounded more Russian. Nicholas allowed his wife to control him in matters of government, such as choices of people.

In 1899, Nicholas II initiated the First Hague Peace Conference, addressing growing concerns over the arms race and to foster international peace. While most of Europe's leaders at the time were thinking "more weapons the better", Nicholas called out the arms race itself as dangerous. It was the first major diplomatic conference aimed at preventing war rather than resolving one. By 1902, 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.

During the first ten years of Nicholas II's reign, Russia saw a societal and economic transform, a change from an agrarian society to an industrial one, whose seeds had already been sown during the reign of Nicholas's father Alexander III. During the inspection period from 1880 to 1910 economic growth in Russia was over nine percent per year on average. The old-fashioned legislature, the unsolved question of land ownership after serfdom had been abolished in 1861 and concentration of economic growth in wealthy metropolitan areas caused conflicts among the growing working class, which the Socialist Revolutionary Party and the communists exploited as a vessel of growth.

Ecclesiastical Affairs

Nicholas believed that God had chosen him to be Tsar, so he thought his decisions reflected God's will and could not be questioned. He believed ordinary Russians understood this and loved him, based on the affection he thought he saw during public appearances. His strong religious faith made him a stubborn ruler who refused to accept constitutional limits on his power, which put him at odds with the growing political views of the Russian elite. It was also contradicted by the Church's low, subordinate position within the state bureaucracy. As a result, new distrust developed between the tsar and the church leadership, and also between the church leaders and the people. This left the tsar's base of support divided.

Internal Politics

In his politics, Nicholas sought to continue the line of his father Alexander III, but with significantly less success. Nicholas mostly fell on the conservatism of his father and had been raised to believe in his own position as a ruler chosen by God, so he felt a parliament demanded by the people was a betrayal of God's trust. In Finland he was known for his acts of Russification, such as in the February Manifesto where he made it so that Russia could pass whatever law that concerned Russia's interests and Finland's laws would only serve an advisory role. This led to the first period of oppression in Finland.

As a result of the mass social unrest of the 1905 revolution, Nicholas had to submit to renovations and Russia became a constitutional monarchy. In the October Manifesto written by Nicholas's competent prime minister Sergei Witte, a parliament, also known as the Duma, was founded in Russia, and citizens' rights were widened. Nicholas still retained the right to veto the laws made by the Duma and the right to dissolve the parliament.

One of Nicholas's greatest problems was finding disinterested, trustworthy and competent ministers. In 1911, Grigori Rasputin, a Siberian peasant mystic who claimed to can heal Alexei's aemophilia B, entered his inner circle. Alexandra believed deeply in his healing abilities, and his influence, despite public perception of him as lecherous and uncivilized, intensified distrust of the monarchy. Rasputin's calming effect on Alexei achieved partly through hypnosis and partly by avoiding aspirin, reinforced Alexandra's faith in him. Under her influence, Nicholas increasingly turned to spiritual advisers, especially Rasputin, who eventually gained sway over the imperial couple. Alexei's condition was concealed by the couple until 1912, who before then tried to find any possible cure.

In addition to Rasputin, Nicholas also had other irresponsible men in his inner circle, often of questionable authenticity who gave him a twisted image of Russian life. Nicholas only trusted his family and did not trust his ministers, primarily because he felt they were intelligently superior to him and feared they might try to usurp his sovereign rights. His view of his role as an authority was naively simple: he had received his authority from God, to whom alone he was responsible, and his holy duty was to keep his absolute power intact. He lacked the necessary strength of will for one with such a high view of his duty. In doing his duty Nicholas had to undergo a constant battle against himself, suffocating his natural indecisiveness and assuming the mask of confident decisiveness. His devotion to the autocratic dogma was an insufficient replacement for constructive politics which alone would have lengthened his imperial reign.

More WIP

Under Rework (W.I.P)

Nicholas II became Tsar 1896, where he implemented his policies. During the reign of Nicholas II, the Empire began to produce aeroplanes and cars. During the First World War, 6,300 aircraft were built in "backward" Russia. At the same time, the production of submarines and other high-tech products was developing. The production of cement increased 15 fold, which was necessary for the rapidly gaining momentum in the construction industry. Such an increase was a result of the changes to urban construction and development. For the first time, the construction of seven- and eight-story apartment buildings was underway in Russia. Many of these buildings have survived to this day in Moscow, where they are often mistaken for Stalinist ones, but in reality they were built during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II. Agriculture was also increasing. In terms of the harvest of wheat and sugar beet, Russia ranked first in the world, in terms of the total volume of grain harvest – the United States ranking second.

Under Nicholas II there was also significant reforms. The essence of the reforms resulted in the peasants having the right to personal ownership, giving a person the opportunity to buy and sell land without being constrained by any conditions. The Bolsheviks, on the other hand, drove everyone into collective farms, again turning people into disenfranchised slaves.

During Nicholas II's reign, huge sums of money were allocated for the creation of experimental agricultural enterprises. Farms, and experimental stations were emerging, and agronomy was developing. It was at this time that the first tractors appeared in villages. The population was growing at a record pace, while mortality was decreasing. One of the many myths regarding the Russian Empire was that the population was allegedly starving, that every few years there was a terrible famine that claimed the lives of millions of people. Hunger in any case is reflected in the statistics, if there was one. But we know two peaks – the famine of the 1920s and 1930s. There were no such peaks in the Russian Empire; the mortality rate was consistently decreasing due to an increase in living standards. The claim that the revolution saved people from hunger does not stand up to scrutiny. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian Empire was an advanced high-tech country with rapidly developing industrialization and education.

Nicholas II led Russia to enter WWI, in order to defend their fellow Orthodox Christians, Serbia. Many of the peasants fighting the war were uninterested though. And while Nicholas was away on the Eastern Front fighting, he installed his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna to rule Russia. But she and this mystic called Rasputin greatly messed up the economy.

Despite all the positive changes to the physical world, Nicholas II was unable to adapt to the rapidly changing ideological world (that is, the social and political landscapes) of early 20th-century Russia. This contributed to widespread discontent among various social groups, including the working class, peasantry, and intellectuals. So he thought for the people and agreed stepped down in 1917. Then, Russia would full into civil war between the radical Reds and the mixed Whites. Nicholas II and his family were put under house arrest and moved about to multiple places during the civil war, until Lenin decided to execute him and his entire family to prevent the Whites from getting to them and reinstalling them (despite of the fact that many Whites wanted a democracy or constitutional monarchy).

Nicholas II believed the Romanovs would be exiled to England. He never knew the Bolsheviks had already decided to execute his entire family. His final words were a confused whisper — "What? What?" — as the guns were raised.

Beliefs

Nicholas II is very anti-communist. He distrusted liberal and socialist movements, viewing them as threats to the autocratic system and the traditional Russian way of life. This suspicion often led to harsh crackdowns on political dissent and revolutionary activities.

Nicholas II was a conservative ruler who valued traditional Russian culture and institutions. He was skeptical of rapid modernization and industrialization, fearing it would erode the traditional social fabric of Russia. But Nicholas II's stance on industrialization is a bit more nuanced than outright opposition. Nicholas II was conservative and traditional in many aspects, still his reign did see significant industrial progress, contrary to what many reds would tell you.

Deeply devout, Nicholas II's policies were influenced by his strong adherence to Russian Orthodox Christianity. He saw the Church as a pillar of Russian identity and an essential support for his autocratic rule. Nicholas II also held the belief that he was chosen by God to rule Russia, even though he did not want to be the Tsar. This divine right doctrine made him see any challenge to his authority as not just a political threat but a sacrilegious act against the will of God. As such, Nicholas II saw his role as Tsar as a sacred duty. Despite his perceived weaknesses as a ruler, he believed deeply in his responsibility to uphold his family's legacy and to protect his nation.

Nicholas was greatly influenced by his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna. She was the one who convinced him to hold on to autocratic power while the public were discontent. And unlike the many forced marriages that happen in monarchies, Nicholas and his wife had a very happy relationship.

While Nicholas II was not the most extreme ruler in terms of antisemitism, he failed to protect Jewish communities and upheld policies that discriminated against them, making his reign hostile to Jewish people. The Jews were kept away from large areas of Russia for their own protection from peasants, who felt exploited and aggrieved by the successful commercial genius of the Jews.

Trivia

• Tsar Nicholas spoke five languages fluently, had travelled the world and was very well-acquainted with European history.

Quotes

This template is no longer in use, and is being kept for archival purposes only.

“HRRRG ARRERGG ARRRRRR!!!” — Primalism

Reason: Too ugly, replaced with Template:Quote

“	In the morning I warmed myself while sitting on the greenhouse roof.	”
	— Nicholas II of Russia

This template is no longer in use, and is being kept for archival purposes only.

“HRRRG ARRERGG ARRRRRR!!!” — Primalism

Reason: Too ugly, replaced with Template:Quote

“	I shall never, under any circumstances, agree to a representative form of government because I consider it harmful to the people whom God has entrusted to my care.	”
	— Nicholas II of Russia

Relationships

Friends

• Christian Theocracy - I wanted to unite everyone under the banner of Christ.

Neutral

• Tsarism - I never wanted to be the Tsar, but it is my duty.

Enemies

• Revolutionary Socialism - Should never have let you seize power. Russia weeps as she sees the atrocities you commit.
• Leninism - The one who started it all. You brought nothing but destruction and death to Russia, so stop parading around with your "for the people" mask.

Songs

Our Tsar

Our Tsar (Наш Царь) is a Russian song about Nicholas II.

EnglishRussian

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Storm clouds, like a flock of crows, fill the sky

WIP

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Грозовые облака, стаей вь небь воронье

WIP

How to draw

File:Nicholas II flag.png

The famous flag proposal of late Russian Empire, but with Nicholas II's monogram instead of the eagle

Nicholas II Thought has a drawing rating of hard.

1. Draw a ball.
2. Fill it with three horizontal stripes of these three colours in order from top to bottom: white, blue, red.
3. Draw a yellow square at the top left corner of the ball.
4. Draw the monogram of Nicholas II in gray, and put the monogram in the yellow square..
5. Add the eyes.
6. Add Nicholas II’s cap, and you’re done!
7. Add Nicholas II’s beard and clothing (optional)

Color Name		HEX
	White	#FFFFFF
	Blue	#0039A6
	Red	#D52B1E
	Yellow	#FFCC33
	Dark Grey	#4D4D4D
	Grey	#808080

Gallery

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  Nicholas II in the middle, represented with the Russian flag

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  Monogram of Nicholas II