Tsar Nicholas II Facts & Worksheets

Let’s find out more about Tsar Nicholas II!

Born on 6 May 1868 in Pushkin, Russia, Nicholas II was the last tsar of Russia under Romanov rule. Nicholas II inherited the throne from his father, Alexander III, in 1894. Despite the tradition of autocratic rule, Nicholas II was forced to create an electoral legislature known as the Duma. During his reign, the tsar struggled to handle Bloody Sunday and the First World War. The Romanov Dynasty and Russian autocracy ended upon the assassination of Tsar Nicholas II and his family after the Bolshevik takeover in 1917. By 1981, the Russian Orthodox Church canonised the Romanov family as new martyrs.

Brief background of Russian autocracy

• Possessing supreme and absolute political power, the tsar is considered to be a stern father to all his people. The peasants believed that God had appointed the tsar. Under the tsar were 13 government departments run by ministers, usually from the nobility and appointed by the tsar. Thousands of provincial administrators were also drawn from the noble class. 
• Created in 1832 by Count Sergei Uvarov, the imperial rule of Nicholas I was represented by the ideology ‘Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality’. 

Russian tsars since its creation

• NICHOLAS I (1825-55). Known as the ‘Gendarme of Europe’, Nicholas I ruled Russia for 30 years. His reign saw the collapse of the Russian military during the Crimean War.
• ALEXANDER II (1855-81). Under his rule, Russia entered an Era of Liberalism. He introduced modernisation and the industrial age. 
• ALEXANDER III (1881-94). Also known as Russia's last true autocratic ruler, Alexander III ruled Russia without any war.
• NICHOLAS II (1894-1917). He was the last tsar of Russia who was forced to abdicate the throne during the 1917 February Revolution. The murder of his entire family ended the Romanov dynasty. 

Tsarist system of autocracy

• From the liberal era of Tsar Alexander II, his son Alexander III revived the Russian autocratic rule from 1881 until he died in 1894. He believed that his father’s liberal reforms and democratisation of Russia led to anarchic disorders. He issued The Manifesto of Unshakable Autocracy upon accession, which reimposed the tsar’s divine right. After suffering from kidney disease, Alexander III died in 1894 at the age of 49 and was succeeded by his heir apparent and eldest son, Tsesarevich Nicholas as tsar of Russia.

Early life and accession of Nicholas II

• Eldest son of then Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich and Tsesarevna Maria Feodorovna, Grand Duke Nicholas, was born during the reign of his grandfather Alexander II. Christened on 1 June 1868 in the Chapel of the Resurrection, Nicholas was nicknamed Nikki. Genealogically, Nicholas was related to several European monarchs, including Anna Petrovna of Russia (daughter of Peter the Great), Frederick VIII of Denmark, George I of Greece, Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway, and Queen Alexandra of Britain. 
• Nicholas had five younger siblings: Alexander, George, Xenia, Michael, and Olga, and together they had visited the Danish royal palaces of Fredenborg and Berstorff and London’s Marlborough House, 
• On 1 March 1881, Nicholas became heir apparent after his father, Alexander III, ascended the throne. The new tsar and his family moved to the Gatchina Palace from the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg for security. Three years later, Nicholas’s coming-of-age was celebrated at the Winter Palace. In the same year, he met Princess Alix of Hesse and Rhine, for whom he developed admiration. 
• Nicholas visited Japan, Egypt, Singapore, and Siam (present-day Thailand) in his teens.

  

• Despite attending State Council meetings in Russia, Nicholas had not been fully prepared by Alexander III for succession. However, finance minister Sergei Witte saw differently and suggested the tsarevich lead the Siberian Railway Committee. 
• In 1894, amidst the initial refusal of Princess Alix, Nicholas and the princess announced their engagement. The engagement became pressing after Alexander III fell ill. On his deathbed, Alexander III told Nicholas to seek the advice and guidance of Minister Witte. 
• Months after the funeral of Alexander III, the 26-year-old Tsar married Princess Alix (Alexandra Feodorovna) on 26 November 1894. His official coronation was held on 26 May 1896 in Uspensky Cathedral within the Kremlin. 
• After the coronation, the royal couple visited Denmark, Germany, and Britain. 

Tsardom

• Nicholas II and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra, were rigid believers of autocracy. When they assumed power, like previous tsars, Nicholas II and the people believed he had a divine right. Despite his autocratic authority, historians describe him as an indecisive ruler. 
• The autocracy of Nicholas II also meant the highest authority over the Russian Orthodox Church. Known as the Patriarch and ‘Little Father’, the tsar was believed to be appointed by God. Since most peasants were illiterate, the majority heavily relied on the church doctrine. During the reign of Nicholas II, corruption became common among Orthodox priests. As a result, they were less respected by the peasantry, which also reflected their loyalty to the tsar. 
• Prior to 1905, tsarist authority was absolute. There was no elected parliament, and Nicholas II made all decisions. Ministers who often came from the noble class or royal family members were appointed. Moreover, the civil service had no reliable standards. In addition to low salary, promotion was based on years of service and not competence. 
• At this time, Russia’s police system primarily aimed to suppress subversive groups on behalf of the tsar. Okhrana, or the secret police, was tasked with identifying political opponents or threats to tsardom. 
• Enemies of the empire were often subjected to torture, murder or exile. Another great supporter of the tsar was the army. The Cossacks or the cavalry units were utilised to put down unrest in the countryside. Senior officers of the army were members of the nobility, while ordinary infantry troops were conscripted from the peasantry. 
• In the early years of his rule, Nicholas II continued his father’s policies, including restoring the gold standard, completing the Trans-Siberian Railway, and strengthening the Franco-Russian alliance. 
• In 1899, Nicholas II and his foreign minister Cout Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov initiated the Hague Convention, which included negotiations and agreements on disarmament, laws of war, war crimes, and peaceful settlements. A first of its kind, this initiative nominated Nicholas II for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. 
• However, Nicholas II's peace initiatives did not prevent Russia from a military conflict. Between 1904 and 1905, the Russo-Japanese War between the empires of Russia and Japan over the control of Manchuria and Korea took place. In addition to land encounters, mostly in northeastern China, the war was also a naval conflict in the waters of the Korean peninsula. 
• At the time of the war, Russia was a significant world power, with large territories in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and at the height of industrialisation. When the Siberian shipping centre of Vladivostok was forced to close, Russia, in need of a warm-water trading port, set its eye on the Liaodong and Korean peninsulas. 
• On the other side, Japan established its dominant power over Asia after winning the Sino-Japanese War.

  

• It was Russia that provided the Qing Dynasty with military support. Well aware of Russian aggression, Japan offered a deal giving Manchuria to Russia while keeping control of Korea. Russia declined the proposal and demanded that the north of the 39th parallel of Korea should serve as a neutral zone. 
• While at the edge of defeat in the Far East, internal discontent against Nicholas II grew in Russia. On 22 January 1905, radical priest Georgy Apollonovich Gapon led a group of workers to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to protest and present a petition.
• Led by Georgy Gapon, over 100,000 workers went on a peaceful strike to protest against the working conditions in the city. However, they were brutally suppressed by Russian soldiers. About 200 people were killed, and the event became known as Bloody Sunday.
• The most significant impact of Bloody Sunday was the spread of strikes throughout the Russian Empire. It drastically changed the attitudes of the peasants and workers toward the tsar. 
• Bloody Sunday and the Russo-Japanese War were the political pressures that pushed Nicholas II to introduce reforms. While the Russo-Japanese War ended with the Treaty of Portsmouth, which diminished Russia’s prestige in Europe and East Asia. Minister Sergei Witte also advised Nicholas II to issue a document of reforms in an attempt to address the 1905 Revolution. 
• At the height of the 1905 Revolution, Nicholas II issued a document promising reforms. It became known as the October Manifesto, which intended to strengthen tsardom in Russia. It stated the formation of the State of Duma, a national parliament that the people would elect. 
• It also granted the Russian citizens basic civil rights, including freedom of speech, conscience, assembly and association, universal manhood suffrage, and freedom of religion.

October Manifesto

On the improvement of order in the state

“The disturbances and unrest in St Petersburg, Moscow and in many other parts of our Empire have filled Our heart with great and profound sorrow. The welfare of the Russian Sovereign and His people is inseparable and national sorrow is His too. The present disturbances could give rise to national instability and present a threat to the unity of Our State.

The oath which We took as Tsar compels Us to use all Our strength, intelligence and power to put a speedy end to this unrest which is so dangerous for the State. The relevant authorities have been ordered to take measures to deal with direct outbreaks of disorder and violence and to protect people who only want to go about their daily business in peace.

However, in view of the need to speedily implement earlier measures to pacify the country, we have decided that the work of the government must be unified. We have therefore ordered the government to take the following measures in fulfilment of our unbending will:

1. Fundamental civil freedoms will be granted to the population, including real personal inviolability, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and association.
2. Participation in the Duma will be granted to those classes of the population which are at present deprived of voting powers, insofar as is possible in the short period before the convocation of the Duma, and this will lead to the development of a universal franchise. There will be no delay to the Duma elect already been organised.
3. It is established as an unshakeable rule that no law can come into force without its approval by the State Duma and representatives of the people will be given the opportunity to take real part in the supervision of the legality of government bodies.

We call on all true sons of Russia to remember the homeland, to help put a stop to this unprecedented unrest and, together with this, to devote all their strength to the restoration of peace to their native land.”

- Nicholas II

Tsar of all the Russias

• Though not fully convinced, he believed that establishing a constitutional government may address some problems of the tsarist regime. He thought establishing the State Duma and a constitution could provide political instability but not solve the problems concerning the peasantry. In addition to the manifesto, Witte also proposed the Law of Religious Toleration. He argued that the existence of a religious rival would not harm the Russian Orthodox Church. He also viewed that ethnic minorities, particularly the Jews, were significant economic contributors in Russia.

The Dumas

• Between 1906 and 1914, four Dumas were held in Russia. It was in the first Duma that the Fundamental Laws were created. Most of its members were Trudoviks, Kadets and Socialist Revolutionaries, who demanded land and political reforms.
• The Trudoviks were the largest group elected in the first Duma. They were radicals who supported the peasantry and working class. Nicholas II rejected reforms, while the Duma voted ‘no confidence’ to Prime Minister Ivan Goremykin. After 72 days, Nicholas II dissolved the Duma.

  

• In 1907, the second Duma was established. Many Kadets wrote the Vyborg Appeal, which demanded non-payment of taxes. As a result, these Kadets were forbidden to vote, which later diminished their power. On the other hand, the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks gained influence. After criticising how the army worked, the second Duma was dissolved by the tsar. 
• The third Duma created in 1907 was more supportive of the tsar. Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin was able to implement a number of reforms, including more voting powers for landowners. Election during this period was limited to the richest men in Russia. 
• In 1912, the fourth Duma was comprised Octobrists and socialists who often clashed in decision-making. By 1915, the Duma was suspended due to Russian involvement in the First World War.

Fundamental Laws

• To carry out the constitutional reforms stipulated in the October Manifesto, Nicholas II promulgated the Fundamental Laws in April 1906. The edict was designed to reaffirm Nicholas II’s power over the Duma. The tsar had the right to dissolve the Duma, change the electoral system, appoint ministers of the council, and control the army. 
• In May 1906, the first-ever Russian Constitution (revision of the Fundamental Laws) was published. It contained an introduction and 11 chapters with 124 articles. It stipulated the scope of the Russian Empire, including Finland and Poland, the rule of succession, the Russian Orthodox Church as the state religion and the tsar as its supreme defender, and the tsar’s power over the Duma and the ministers. 
• Since the attempted assassination of Alexander III in 1887, opposition groups grew in Russia. From the People’s Will to the Union of Liberation and the Social Revolutionaries, all agreed to overthrow autocracy. Meanwhile, the rise of the Octobrists aimed to limit the tsar’s power through a constitution. 

Russia and the First World War

• Prior to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, European nations were under tension. The issues of the alliance system, militarism, imperialism and growth in nationalism finally led to the Great War.
• On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Black Hand member, Gavrilo Princip. Black Hand was a nationalist group composed of Serbs and Croats who opposed the annexation of the Balkan states. As a result, the Austrian government declared war on Serbia. 
• As an ally of Serbia, Russia mobilised its troops. By 1 August 1914, Germany declared war on Russia and France. Also, during this month, Russian troops marched into Prussia and faced the Germans at the Battle of Tannenberg, which saw a Russian defeat and the death of thousands.
• Amidst the alliance with Britain and France, Russia’s unprepared and unequipped men, and some say the incompetency of commander-in-chief Nicholas II, led to its humiliating defeat. 
• These failures during Nicholas II’s rule led to the 1917 Revolutions, ultimately ending his rule and the rest of the Romanov Dynasty. 

• During the Tannenberg campaign, about 30,000 members of the Russian army were killed, and 100,000 were taken prisoner. 
• At the Battle of Masurian Lakes, an additional 170,000 Russian casualties were recorded. By 1915, approximately 800,000 Russian troops had died.
• As a result, Russians developed anti-war sentiments and experienced a decline in morale. Many joined the growing Bolshevik movement in opposition to the tsarist government and leadership.
• Despite the many negative impacts of WWI, the initial response to mass conscription was a sign of revived nationalism. 

Decline, death, legacy, and family

• Due to growing discontent with the royal family, brought about primarily by the First World War and how it affected Russians, Nicholas II was persuaded by the conservative members of the Duma, his relatives and generals of the army to abdicate the throne. They believed that with the removal of Nicholas II as the ruling monarch of Russia, the Duma could control the revolution, particularly in the capital. 
• Other than Nicholas II’s incompetence in handling the war, the majority of the Russian public and members of the government felt distrust at Tsarina Alexandra’s influence in ruling Russia, as she was of German descent. Moreover, her devotion to charismatic leader Grigori Rasputin also weakened the Romanovs’ image.

  

• In the early days of the February (March in the new calendar) Revolution, Nicholas II was in Pskov. Unaware of the extent of the upheaval, Nicholas II ordered his army to subdue the revolt. However, demonstrators surged the streets, and some were joined by the tsar’s own army. A mutiny plunged the city into total chaos. Arsenals were raided, shops were looted, prisoners were set free, and government buildings were burned. 
• Flooded with telegrams insisting on his abdication, Nicholas II left the throne on 15 March 1917. He named his brother, Mikhail Alexandrovich, his successor, who immediately abdicated the throne, entrusting the Constituent Assembly to govern the country.
• When the tsardom collapsed in 1917, a Provisional Government was established by the Duma led by Alexander Kerensky. Composed of 12 ministers, seven were liberal Kadets. By March, the government issued a manifesto containing eight principles.
• However, being a temporary government, Kerensky’s leadership lacked major reforms, which gave the Bolsheviks a chance to attack them. 
• The dual power in Russia ended when the Bolshevik Revolution (October/November) was led by leftist revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin to overthrow Duma’s provisional government.
• Following the abdication, the Provisional Government and the Romanovs agreed to go into exile, preferably to Britain. However, the Liberal government of Britain refused the family asylum and suggested they go to a neutral country. Prime Minister David Lloyd George and King George V feared the asylum might provoke uprisings in Britain. Similarly, the request was denied by France. Some believed that it was because of the ex- tsarina’s German descent. 
• On 20 March 1917, the Provisional Government placed the Romanovs under house arrest in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo. By April, they were moved to Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. 
• The dual power led to executions and murders, including that of Grand Duke Michael on 13 June. 
• From talks of subjecting the Romanovs to a trial, Bolshevik leaders Leon Trotsky and Yakov Sverdlov publicly equivocated the possible execution of the royal family. 
• Several accounts of the execution of Nicholas II and his family surfaced, and historians have not come up with one story to tell.
• According to Bolshevik officer Yakov Yurovsky, on 17 July 1918, Nicholas II, his wife, five children, a doctor, and three attendants were executed at the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. A firing squad composed of Communist soldiers and Bolsheviks assassinated the Romanovs and their attendants in a firing squad. 
• The following day, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna (sister of ex-Empress Alexandra) and Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich (uncle of Nicholas II) were executed. 
• In 1979, archaeologist Alexander Avdonin discovered the remains of Nicholas II, his wife, three daughters, and four of their servants near Sverdlovsk. A DNA analysis from 1998 identified the remains as the Romanovs, except for one daughter (Anastasia or Maria) and Alexei. 
• In July 2007, another discovery opened the investigation into the deaths of the Romanovs and positively identified bone fragments belonging to a boy and a girl, assumed as Alexei and one of Nicholas II’s daughters.
• The following year, the Supreme Court of Russia ruled that the Romanovs were victims of political persecution. Their remains were interred at St. Peter and Paul Cathedral. 
• In 2000, the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church recognised and canonised the Romanovs as passion bearers. However, many believers in Russia rejected the classification as the Romanovs were not killed because of their religious faith. Some argued that Nicholas II’s demise was because of his weak leadership. 
• Contemporary historians, such as Raymond Esthus, suggest that Nicholas II was an indecisive leader heavily influenced by his advisors. 
• During the Soviet era, Nicholas II was portrayed as a tyrant in state propaganda. Historian Pavel Bykov suggests that the last Romanov was unfit to rule and was easily manipulated. 
• Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russian historians put some light on Nicholas II’s rule by evaluating the features and impacts of his reforms.
• The marriage of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra bore four daughters and one son: Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Tsesarevich Alexei. 
• Nicholas II’s only male heir, Alexei, was born with Hemophilia. As renowned Russian doctors failed to cure Alexei, Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra turned to starets or mystics, such as Rasputin, to find a cure. 
• In 1912, Tsarina Alexandra’s faith in Rasputin reached its height when the latter halted the bleeding of Alexei’s fatal injury with his words.
• While the remaining Romanovs were killed during the Bolshevik period, Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna, mother of Nicholas II and widow of Alexander III, fled to Britain aboard HMS Marlborough. She later returned to Denmark, where she spent the rest of her life until she died in 1928. 
• Nicholas II’s two sisters, Grand Duchesses Xenia and Olga, also escaped.