Tsar Nicolas II -||- Rasputin -||- Discontent and the lure of Communism -||- World War I -||- Lenin and the Bolsheviks
Tsar Nicolas II
Kind man? Idiot ruler? Dwarf? Clever? Quite amazing really, it's been debated that he was all. His life was dedicated to his family, and he served Russia as sense of duty. He wasn't really an 'idiot ruler', he was just a man who was intelligent, kind, but not right for his job. He was untried and unfit for the job.
Nicolas II inherited the Russian throne young. His father had died an untimely death from sickness, and he had not trained his son in the hardships of ruling. Nicolas inherited without being ready, and he knew this.
Already the Tsar suffered from confidence problems due to his height.
In a Russia family that averaged 6 feet and 9 inches, he was only 5 feet
5 inches. As he said “No
one wants to take orders from a dwarf”.
He did inherit from his family a streak of stubborness, and a sense of
religious autocratic duty to his nation.
Nicolas’ inherited a Russia that seemed invincible to strangers.
It was the largest country in the world, stretching across Asia and into
Europe. It boasted the biggest army
in the world, and certainly the Romanovs were amongst the richest of the
European royal families.
The Tsar himself was a good man. However,
he was the kind of good man that was never fit to rule an Empire.
He preferred to spend time with his family and writing letters to his
wife, rather than being a Tsar (though he did do it as a sense of duty).
He pursued Alixandra, his German cousin of Hesse-Dermstandt hopelessly
until he finally won her. Together, they had four daughters and one son.
Heaven. Not really.
Nicolas seemed to have bad luck around him, and I personally think that
it was fate’s way of saying ‘it’s time for the Romanovs to go’.
Firstly, his personality was that of not enough anything.
He had strength but was easily manipulated and swayed.
His stubborness would only show itself when he needed it the least and
his son- Tsarevich of Russia- Alexander- had inherited haemophilia from his
grandmother.
Now I will take a brief look at Alexei Romanov.
He seemed to have great potential as a future Tsar, invoking many ‘what
if’ questions. Nicolas used all of his mistakes to teach his son.
He swore that Alex would not be caught unprepared if the throne was
thrust onto him too early. Alexei
then had been attending formal functions and learning how to act in front of
dignitaries since he was able to walk. He
was also sent to military sessions during the war.
He was spoilt yes, but so were the other Tsareviches before him.
Many kept a firm reign on Russia. So
if the Tsar and his family was not killed, would Alexei have had the strength to
save Russia from the Bolsheviks? As a reminder of the past and a politically
aware youth of the future, it would be quite possible.
Anyway, back to Nicolas. In
continuation with his bad luck, out of all the people to have stumbled onto the
relief of his son’s attacks, it had to be a character such as Rasputin.
Rasputin manipulated the royal family, especially the Tsarina.
There are rumors that she had an affair with him, but people are still
not really sure. Alixandra had a
stronger will than her husband in politics so she ‘ruled’ the country during
his absence in the war. She did not do a good job, and the very fact that she was
German made the people hate her.