Nicholas II: the tsar who was in the wrong place. Nicholas II
The Main Directorate of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation has completed the bulk of the research to identify the remains, presumably belonging to family members and people from the entourage of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II. As reported, on the basis of genetic examinations, it can be argued that in both burials, discovered in 1991 and 2007, the remains of 7 people form one family group.
The last Russian emperor Nicholas II, members of his family and servants were shot by the Bolsheviks on the night of July 16-17, 1918 in the basement of the engineer Ipatiev's house in Yekaterinburg. On the night of July 18, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna was killed in Alapaevsk, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, Princes John Konstantinovich, Konstantin Konstantinovich, Igor Konstantinovich and Prince Vladimir Paley. Prince Sergei Mikhailovich was shot dead and thrown into a mine. Together with him, the rest were thrown there alive.
Personal data
Nicholas II Alexandrovich (May 6 (19), 1868, Tsarskoe Selo - on the night of July 16 to July 17, 1918, Yekaterinburg) - Russian emperor, who reigned from October 21 (November 2), 1894 to March 2 (March 15), 1917.
The full title of Emperor Nicholas II as emperor from 1894 to 1917: “By God's hastening mercy, We, Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod; Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Tauric Chersonese, Tsar of Georgia; Sovereign of Pskov and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuanian, Volyn, Podolsk and Finland; Prince of Estonia, Livonia, Courland and Semigalsky, Samogitsky, Belostoksky, Korelsky, Tversky, Yugorsky, Permsky, Vyatsky, Bulgarian and others; Sovereign and Grand Duke of Novgorod Nizovsky lands, Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Belozersky, Udorsky, Obdorsky, Kondia, Vitebsk, Mstislav and all northern countries Sovereign; and Sovereign of Iversky, Kartalinsky and Kabardian lands and regions of Armenia; Cherkasy and Mountain Princes and other Hereditary Sovereign and Possessor, Sovereign of Turkestan; Heir of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Ditmarsen and Oldenburg and others, and others, and others.
Labor biography
Nicholas II received a good education at home as part of a large gymnasium course, as well as a specially written program that connected the course of the state and economic departments of the law faculty of the university with the course of the Academy of the General Staff.
The training sessions of Nicholas II were conducted according to a carefully designed program for 13 years. The first 8 years were devoted to the subjects of the extended gymnasium course. Particular attention was paid to the study political history, Russian literature, English, German and French which Nikolai Alexandrovich mastered to perfection. The next 5 years were devoted to the study of military affairs, legal and economic sciences, necessary for statesman. The teaching of these sciences was carried out by outstanding Russian scientists-academicians of world renown: N.N. Beketov, N.N. Obruchev, Ts.A. Cui, M.I. Dragomirov, N.Kh. Bunge, K.P. Pobedonostsev and others.
By the age of 23, Nikolai Romanov was a highly educated young man with a broad outlook, an excellent knowledge of history and literature, and a perfect command of the main European languages. He combined a brilliant education with deep religiosity and knowledge of spiritual literature, which was rare for statesmen of that time.
Nicholas II ascended the throne at the age of 26, earlier than expected, as a result of the premature death of his father, Emperor Alexander III. Nicholas, however, managed to quickly recover from the initial confusion and began to pursue an independent policy, which caused dissatisfaction with part of his entourage, who hoped to influence the young king. The basis of the state policy of Nicholas II was proclaimed the continuation of his father's policy "to give Russia more internal unity by asserting the Russian elements of the country."
In his first address to the people, Nikolai Alexandrovich announced that “henceforth, having imbued the precepts of his deceased parent, he accepts a sacred vow before the face of the Almighty to always have as a single goal the peaceful prosperity, power and glory of dear Russia and the happiness of all His loyal subjects.”
In an address to foreign states, Nicholas II declared that “he would devote all his concerns to the development of the internal well-being of Russia and in no way deviate from the completely peaceful, firm and straightforward policy that so powerfully contributed to the general calm, and Russia will continue to see in respect for the right and legal order is the best guarantee of the security of the state.
The model of the ruler for Nicholas II was Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who carefully preserved the traditions of antiquity and received the nickname "Quiet".
Information about relatives
In appearance, character, habits, and the very mindset, the father of the last Russian monarch, Alexander III, bore little resemblance to his father. The Emperor was of enormous stature. In his youth, he possessed exceptional strength - he bent coins with his fingers and broke horseshoes, over the years he became obese and bulky, but even then, according to contemporaries, there was something graceful in his figure. He was completely devoid of the aristocracy inherent in his grandfather and partly his father. Even in his manner of dressing there was something deliberately unassuming. He, for example, could often be seen in soldier's boots with trousers tucked into them in a simple way. At home, he wore a Russian shirt with a colored pattern embroidered on the sleeves. Distinguished by frugality, he often appeared in worn trousers, a jacket, a coat or short fur coat, and boots.
Unlike all his predecessors on the Russian throne, Alexander adhered to strict family morality. He was exemplary family man- a loving husband and a good father, never had mistresses or connections on the side.
Nicholas' mother - Maria-Sophia-Frederick-Dagmar, or simply Dagmar, daughter of Christian, Prince of Glücksburg, later - Christian IX, King of Denmark, Princess of Denmark, in Orthodoxy - Maria Feodorovna, was originally the bride of Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich, the eldest son of Alexander II, who died in 1865. Since 1881 - Empress, after the death of her husband in 1894 - Dowager Empress. The Danish origin of Maria Feodorovna is attributed to her dislike for Germany, which allegedly influenced the foreign policy of Alexander III. She had exceptionally liberal views. During the reign of Nicholas II, she patronized S.Yu. Witte.
Personal life
The first meeting of the Tsarevich with his future wife took place in 1884, and in 1889 Nikolai asked his father for a blessing to marry her, but was refused. On November 14, 1894, the marriage of Nicholas II with the German princess Alice of Hesse took place, who after baptism took the name of Alexandra Feodorovna. In subsequent years, they had four daughters - Olga (November 3, 1895), Tatiana (May 29, 1897), Maria (June 14, 1899) and Anastasia (June 5, 1901). On July 30 (August 12), 1904, the fifth child appeared in Peterhof and The only son Emperor - Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich.
Contemporaries differently evaluated the wife of Nicholas II. In particular, S.Yu. Witte wrote that Nicholas II “married a good woman, but a completely abnormal woman who took Him into her arms, which was not difficult given His weak will. [...] The Empress not only did not balance His shortcomings, but, on the contrary, greatly aggravated them, and Her abnormality began to be reflected in the abnormality of some of the actions of Her August husband. As a result of this state of affairs, from the very first years of the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, vacillations began in one direction, then in the other, and manifestations of various adventures. And V.N. Kokovtsov gave her a completely different assessment: “In her mature time, already on the Russian throne, She knew only this passion - her husband, as She knew and boundless love only for her children, to whom She gave all her tenderness and all her worries. She was, in the best sense of the word, an impeccable wife and mother, who showed a rare example of the highest family virtue in our time.
Hobbies
The last Russian emperor was very fond of history, especially Russian. He had idealistic ideas about Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, that his reign was the heyday of Holy Rus'. He sacredly believed in those ideas in which, in his opinion, Alexei Mikhailovich believed: devotion to God, concern for the Church, the good of the people.
In addition, he was always distinguished by a love of sports, and we can confidently say that he was the most athletic Russian tsar. Since childhood, he regularly did gymnastics, loved to swim in a kayak, made transitions of several tens of kilometers, adored horse races and participated in such competitions himself. In winter, he enthusiastically played Russian hockey and ran on skates. He was an excellent swimmer and an avid billiard player. He was fond of tennis or, as it was originally called in the English manner, lawn tennis (lawn-tennis).
Enemies
IN different years, depending on the situation, the enemies of Nicholas became those whom he, guided by certain considerations, removed from the throne and deprived of power, such as S.Yu. Witte, about whose death the emperor said: "The death of Count Witte was a deep relief for me."
Companions
One of the reasons why the monarchy fell so easily in February 1917 was the fact that the emperor had no people left to rely on. The news of their readiness to take the side of the king was sent only by two people - Khan of Nakhichevan, a Muslim, head of the Wild Division, and General Fedor Arturovich Keller, a German by birth. This is what largely predetermined renunciation.
Weaknesses
Nicholas' main weakness was his family. This is exactly what Grigory Rasputin took advantage of, becoming the most odious figure during the entire reign of the last Russian emperor. In some way not fully understood, he could quickly stop the blood of a heir who suffered from hemophilia, which the best certified doctors could not do, and thus gained great power: first over the empress, and then over Nicholas himself.
No gossip could shake the royal confidence in " god man". Attempts by close people to “open the eyes” of the queen, telling about the riotous lifestyle of the “old man” outside the walls of the royal palaces, which discredited the Romanovs, ended in failure for their initiators. Even paid for it Native sister Empress Elizaveta Feodorovna, widow of the Tsar's uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, who was blown up in February 1905 in the Kremlin by the Social Revolutionary Ivan Kalyaev. After she spoke out about the dangers of Rasputin's appearance at the court, the tender friendship of the sisters came to an end. The same was the result of an attempt to talk about Rasputin, which was undertaken by Princess Zinaida Yusupova-Sumarokova-Elston, close to the Empress.
As a result, in the last months before the February Revolution, the image of Rasputin became an important part of the speeches of opposition deputies in the State Duma. In particular, on November 1, 1916, at a meeting of the Duma, P.N. Milyukov made a speech critical of the government and the "court party", in which Rasputin's name was also mentioned.
Strengths
The stubborn and tireless will in the implementation of their plans is noted by the majority of people who knew the king. Until the plan was carried out, the king constantly returned to him, seeking his own. The already mentioned historian Oldenburg notes that “the sovereign, on top of iron hand, was a velvet glove. His will was not like a thunderclap. It manifested itself not in explosions and violent clashes; it rather resembled the steady run of a stream from a mountain height to the plain of the ocean. He goes around obstacles, deviates to the side, but in the end, with constant constancy, he approaches his goal.
In addition to a strong will and a brilliant education, Nikolai possessed all the natural qualities necessary for state activity, above all, a huge ability to work. If necessary, he could work from morning until late at night, studying the numerous documents and materials received in his name. (By the way, he also willingly engaged in physical labor - sawing firewood, removing snow, etc.) Possessing a lively mind and a broad outlook, the king quickly grasped the essence of the issues under consideration. The king had an exceptional memory for faces and events. He remembered by sight most of the people he had to deal with, and there were thousands of such people.
Merits and failures
The reign of Nicholas II is the most dynamic period in the growth of the Russian people in its entire history. In less than a quarter of a century, the population of Russia has increased by 62 million people. The economy grew rapidly. For 1885-1913 industrial output grew 5 times, exceeding the rates of industrial growth of the most developed countries peace. The Great Siberian Railway was built, in addition, 2000 km of railways were built annually. The national income of Russia, according to the most underestimated calculations, has grown from 8 billion rubles. in 1894 to 22-24 billion in 1914, that is, almost 3 times. The average per capita income of Russian people has doubled. The incomes of workers in industry grew at a particularly high rate. For a quarter of a century, they have grown at least 3 times. Total costs per share public education and cultures grew 8 times, more than 2 times ahead of the cost of education in France and one and a half times - in England.
Meanwhile, it was during his reign that Russia was first drawn into the Russo-Japanese War, which ended with the Peace of Portsmouth in 1905, under which Russia recognized Korea as a sphere of influence of Japan, ceded to Japan South Sakhalin and the rights to the Liaodong Peninsula with the cities of Port Arthur and Dalniy, and then - and in the First World War, the logical outcome of which was the two revolutions of 1917, which led to the fall of the autocracy and the establishment of a Bolshevik dictatorship in the country.
Compromising evidence
In the autumn of 1916, Russian liberals accused Rasputin himself, as well as his protege, Prime Minister Boris Stürmer, and Empress Alexandra (and, therefore, indirectly, the emperor himself) of Germanophile sentiments, which in war conditions was akin to accusations of treason. The uncle of Nicholas II, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, recalled: “For me, for my relatives and for those who often met with the Empress, one hint of her German sympathies seemed ridiculous and monstrous. Our attempts to find the sources of these ridiculous accusations led us to the State Duma. When they tried to shame the Duma distributors of this slander, they blamed everything on Rasputin: “If the Empress is such a convinced patriot, how can she tolerate the presence of this drunken peasant, whom one can openly see in the company of German spies and Germanophiles?” This argument was irresistible, and we puzzled over how to convince the tsar to order the expulsion of Rasputin from the capital.
Kerensky believed that "it would be inexplicable if the German General Staff did not use him (Rasputin)." He hated war and did not shun people who opposed it. There were always different people in his retinue, many of dubious reputation, and secret agents could easily penetrate into this circle. Rasputin was so talkative and boastful that any agent could just sit and listen to him carefully.
The dossier was prepared based on media materials
KM.RU July 17, 2008
The last Russian emperor loved port wine, disarmed the planet, raised his stepson and almost moved the capital to Yalta [photo, video]
Photo: RIA Novosti
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Nicholas II ascended the throne on November 2, 1894. What do we all remember about this king? Basically, school clichés stuck in my head: Nicholas is bloody, weak, was under the strong influence of his wife, is to blame for Khodynka, established the Duma, dispersed the Duma, was shot near Yekaterinburg ... Oh yes, he also conducted the first census of the population of Russia, writing himself "master of the land Russian". Moreover, Rasputin looms on the side with his dubious role in history. In general, the image is such that any student is sure: Nicholas II is almost the most shameful Russian tsar in all eras. And this despite the fact that most of the documents, photographs, letters and diaries remained from Nikolai and his family. There is even a recording of his voice, rather low. His life is thoroughly studied, and at the same time - almost unknown to the general public outside of textbook clichés. Do you know, for example, that:
1) Nicholas took the throne in the Crimea. There, in Livadia, the royal estate near Yalta, his father Alexander III died. Confused, literally crying from the responsibility that fell on him, the young man - this is how the future king then looked. Mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, did not want to swear allegiance to this son of hers! The younger, Michael - that's who she saw on the throne.
2) And since we are talking about Crimea, it was to Yalta that he dreamed of moving the capital from his unloved Petersburg. The sea, the fleet, trade, the proximity of European borders ... But he did not dare, of course.
3) Nicholas II almost handed over the throne eldest daughter Olga. In 1900, he fell ill with typhus (again, in Yalta, well, just a fateful city for the family of the last Russian emperor). The king was dying. Since the time of Paul I, the law prescribed: the throne is inherited only through the male line. However, bypassing this order, we started talking about Olga, who was then 5 years old. The king, however, got out, recovered. But the idea of arranging a coup in favor of Olga, and then marrying her off to a suitable candidate who would govern the country instead of the unpopular Nikolai - this thought stirred up the royal relatives for a long time and pushed them to intrigues.
4) It is rarely said that Nicholas II became the first global peacemaker. In 1898, at his suggestion, a note on the general limitation of armaments was published and a program for an international peace conference was developed. It took place the following May in The Hague. 20 European states, 4 Asian, 2 American participated. In the minds of the then progressive intelligentsia of Russia, this act of the tsar simply did not fit. How so, because he is a militarist and an imperialist?! Yes, the idea of a prototype of the UN, of conferences on disarmament, originated precisely in Nikolai's head. And long before World War II.
5) It was Nikolai who completed the Siberian railway. It is still the main artery connecting the country, but for some reason it is not customary to put it in the merit of this king. Meanwhile, he ranked the Siberian railway among his main tasks. Nikolai generally foresaw many of the challenges that Russia then had to deal with in the 20th century. He said, for example, that the population of China is growing astronomically, and this is a reason to strengthen and develop Siberian cities. (And this at a time when China was called sleeping).
The reforms of Nicholas (monetary, judicial, wine monopoly, law on the working day) are also rarely mentioned. It is believed that since the reforms were launched in previous reigns, then the merits of Nicholas II seem to be no special. The king "only" pulled this strap and complained that he "works like a convict." "Only" brought the country to that peak, in 1913, according to which the economy will be reconciled for a long time to come. He only approved two of the most famous reformers in office - Witte and Stolypin. So, 1913: the strongest gold ruble, the income from the export of Vologda oil is higher than from the export of gold, Russia is the world leader in the grain trade.
6) Nicholas was like two drops of water similar to his cousin, the future English King George V. Their mothers are sisters. "Nicky" and "Georgie" were confused even by relatives.
"Nicky" and "Georgie". It looks like even relatives confused them
7) Raised an adopted son and daughter. More precisely, the children of his uncle Pavel Alexandrovich - Dmitry and Maria. Their mother died in childbirth, the father soon entered into a new marriage (unequal), and as a result, Nikolai personally raised the two little grand dukes, they called him “dad”, the empress - “mother”. He loved Dmitry like his own son. (This is the same Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, who later, together with Felix Yusupov, will kill Rasputin, for which he will be exiled, survive during the revolution, flee to Europe and even have time to have an affair with Coco Chanel there).
10) He could not stand women's singing. He ran away when his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna, or one of her daughters or ladies-in-waiting, sat down at the piano and started romances. The courtiers recall that at such moments the king complained: “Well, howled ...”
11) I read a lot, especially contemporaries, subscribed to a lot of magazines. Most of all loved Averchenko.
Nicholas II Alexandrovich
(May 6 (19), 1868, Tsarskoye Selo - on the night of July 16-17, 1918, Yekaterinburg)
Russian Emperor, who reigned from October 21 (November 2), 1894 to March 2 (March 15), 1917. From the Romanov dynasty, the eldest son and successor of Emperor Alexander III Alexandrovich and Empress Maria Feodorovna, an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1876).
Nikolai was educated at home as part of a large gymnasium course.
The upbringing and training of the future emperor took place under the personal guidance of Alexander III on a traditional religious basis. The training sessions of Nicholas II were conducted according to a carefully designed program for 13 years.
Nikolai began to exercise regularly at the age of 8. Training program included an eight-year general education course and a five-year course in higher sciences. In 1885-1890 - according to a specially written program. It was based on a modified program of the classical gymnasium. Instead of Latin and Greek, mineralogy, botany, zoology, anatomy and physiology were studied. The courses of history, Russian literature and foreign languages were expanded. The cycle of higher education included political economy, law and military affairs (military jurisprudence, strategy, military geography, service of the General Staff). There were also classes in vaulting, fencing, drawing, and music. Sovereign Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna themselves selected teachers and mentors. Among them were scientists, statesmen and military figures: K.P. Pobedonostsev, N.Kh. Bunge, M.I. Dragomirov, N.N. Obruchev, A.R. Drenteln, N.K.
Immediately after his birth, he was enrolled in the lists of several guards regiments and was appointed chief of the 65th Moscow Infantry Regiment. At the age of five, the heir was appointed chief of the Life Guards of the Reserve Infantry Regiment, and in 1875 he was enlisted in the Life Guards of the Erivan Regiment. In December 1875, Nikolai received the rank of ensign, in 1880 he was promoted to second lieutenant and after 4 years became a lieutenant.
In 1884, Nikolai entered active military service, in July 1887 he began regular military service in the Preobrazhensky Regiment and was promoted to staff captain. In 1891, Nikolai received the rank of captain, and a year later - colonel. At the same time, his father introduces him to the affairs of the country, inviting him to participate in meetings of the State Council and the Cabinet of Ministers. At the suggestion of the Minister of Railways S.Yu. Witte, in 1892 Nikolai was appointed chairman of the committee for the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway in order to gain experience in public affairs.
The emperor's education program included travels to various provinces of Russia, which he made with his father. To complete his education, his father put at his disposal a cruiser for a trip to Far East. For nine months, he and his retinue visited Austria, Trieste, Greece, Egypt, India, China, Japan, and later returned by land through all of Siberia to the capital of Russia. In Japan, an assassination attempt was made on Nicholas (see the Otsu Incident). By the age of 23, Nikolai Romanov was a well-educated young man.
From birth, he was titled His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich. After the death of his grandfather, Alexander II, in 1881 he received the title of Tsarevich's heir.
The coronation of Nicholas II took place on May 14 (26), 1896. In the same year, the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition was held in Nizhny Novgorod, which he visited. In 1896, Nicholas II also made a big trip to Europe, meeting with Franz Joseph, Wilhelm II, Queen Victoria (grandmother of Alexandra Feodorovna). The trip ended with the arrival of Nicholas II in Paris, the capital of allied France. One of the first personnel decisions of Nicholas II was the dismissal of I. V. Gurko from the post of Governor-General of the Kingdom of Poland and the appointment of A. B. Lobanov-Rostovsky to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs after the death of N. K. Girs. The first of the major international actions of Nicholas II was the Triple Intervention.
Full title of Emperor Nicholas II as emperor from 1894 to 1917:
"God's hastening mercy, We, Nicholas II ( in some manifestos, the Church Slavonic form is Nicholas II), Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod; Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Tauric Chersonese, Tsar of Georgia; Sovereign of Pskov and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuanian, Volyn, Podolsk and Finland; Prince of Estonia, Livonia, Courland and Semigalsky, Samogitsky, Belostoksky, Korelsky, Tversky, Yugorsky, Permsky, Vyatsky, Bulgarian and others; Sovereign and Grand Duke of Novgorod Nizovsky lands?, Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Belozersky, Udorsky, Obdorsky, Kondia, Vitebsk, Mstislav and all northern countries? Lord; and Sovereign of Iversky, Kartalinsky and Kabardian lands? and regions of Armenia; Cherkasy and Mountain Princes and other Hereditary Sovereign and Possessor, Sovereign of Turkestan; Heir of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Ditmarsen and Oldenburg and others, and others, and others.
The reign of Nicholas II is marked economic development Russia. Russia was turning into an agro-industrial country, cities were growing, railways were being built, industrial enterprises. Nicholas made decisions aimed at the economic and social modernization of the country. Under him, the gold circulation of the ruble was introduced, the Stolypin agrarian reform was carried out, laws were adopted on workers' insurance, general primary education and many others aimed at the benefit of Russia. In foreign policy - expansion to the east, Russia's participation in blocs of European powers, the contradictions between which led to the war with Japan and the First World War.
His reign fell on the period of the struggle of various political groups hostile to Russia for power in the country, the first revolution of 1905-1907, as well as foreign policy upheavals: the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and the First World War.
However, Nicholas was forced to make decisions that were not in line with his beliefs. He was against the limitation of autocracy, the introduction of the so-called. freedom of speech, universal suffrage and other "freedoms", the purpose of which was, in fact, the overthrow of the monarchy, the destruction of Russia and the extermination of the Russian people. But there was a strong public unrest, incited by the revolutionaries, in favor of political reforms, and he had to sign the Manifesto on October 17, 1905, proclaiming these "freedoms". In addition, part of the tsar's entourage and, to horror, individual representatives of the imperial family begged to take this decision.
In 1906, the State Duma, established by the manifesto, began to work. The enormous harm caused by the Duma, into which a large amount of revolutionary wickedness has fallen, was immediately revealed. Fortunately, the emperor still had enormous power functions. He had the right to legislate; to appoint the prime minister and ministers accountable only to him; determine the course of foreign policy; was the head of the army, the court and, in fact, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The king did not want war and until the very last moment he tried to avoid a bloody clash. However, on July 19 (August 1), 1914, Germany declared war on Russia and hostilities began. Their beginning was accompanied by a strong patriotic upsurge in the country and everyone declared their unshakable loyalty to the pretole. On September 5, 1915, during a period of military setbacks, Nicholas decided to accept the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army and visited the capital only occasionally, most of the time he spent at his headquarters in Mogilev.
The war exacerbated the internal problems of the country. All sorts of enemies of the throne and Russia have found a reason to criticize the authorities. This public began to lay the main responsibility for the military failures and the protracted military campaign on the king and his entourage. Claims spread that "treason is nesting" in the government. But in fact, a terrible blow to Russia was already being prepared with might and main by the world behind the scenes, hating Our Country, Our Faith and Our Tsar. At the beginning of 1917, the high military command, headed by the tsar, together with the Entente, prepared a plan for a general offensive, according to which it was planned to end the war by the summer of 1917. The situation at the front had stabilized and victory in the war was close. The country lived a normal life, economic growth continued, there was no devastation.
Feeling that Russia would soon emerge victorious in the war and would continue to develop rapidly under the rule of the Russian Orthodox Emperor, the world enemy decided to urgently strike at the country. At the end of February 1917, unrest was provoked in Petrograd, which in a few days grew into mass demonstrations against the government and the dynasty. Initially, the tsar intended to restore order in Petrograd by force by sending troops there. However, a conspiracy has matured: members of the imperial retinue and politicians they had truly diabolical impudence to convince the king that his renunciation was required to pacify the country. All the commanders of the fronts, except for two or three generals, were in favor of the abdication of the king. To horror, the church did not support Nicholas. Almost the entire entourage of the king demanded renunciation, some villains even shouted at him. Thus, the emperor had no other choice, because no one (the conspirators did not inform the tsar of individual cases!) declared his allegiance to him, Russia had already actually abandoned its tsar. The conspiracy won and on March 2, 1917 in Pskov, in the carriage of the imperial train, Nikolai was forced to sign (with a pencil, which he never did!) The act of abdication, transferring power to his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, who was subsequently also forced to renounce the throne. In fact, there is a lot of obscurity in this story. Nikolai then wrote in his diary: “There is treason, cowardice and deceit all around!” Indeed it was.
After February Revolution Nikolai, who became a citizen of the Russian state, became known as Nikolai Aleksandrovich Romanov.
March 9, 1917 Nicholas and the royal family were arrested. For the first five months they were under guard in Tsarskoye Selo, in August 1917 they were transferred to Tobolsk. In April 1918, the Bolsheviks transferred the royal family to Yekaterinburg. In mid-July 1918, white troops attacked the city and the Bolsheviks sought to get rid of the tsar as soon as possible. Satanist Lenin personally demanded to destroy the entire family of the emperor. On the night of July 17, 1918 in the center of Yekaterinburg, in the basement of the Ipatiev house, where the prisoners were imprisoned, Nikolai, the queen, five of their children and several close associates (11 people in total) were shot by Bolshevik assassins without trial or investigation. Later, Hebrew inscriptions were found on the walls of the Ipatiev house, testifying to the ritual nature of the murder.
The Sovereign Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia Nicholas II Alexandrovich was canonized together with his family by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in 1981 and by the Russian Orthodox Church MP as a martyr in 2000.
For a completely incomprehensible reason, Nicholas II is called weak-willed, although there is a lot of evidence that the tsar was distinguished by a stubborn desire to implement his intentions, often reaching stubbornness (only once was someone else's will imposed on him - the Manifesto of October 17, 1905). According to the reviews of close people, he had exceptional self-control. He tried to meet the news of the fall of Port Arthur, other military failures or political upheavals with composure. In state affairs, the tsar showed perseverance and accuracy, never having a personal secretary. Contemporaries noted that Nikolai had a tenacious memory, keen powers of observation, and was a modest, affable and sensitive person. In fact, he was a man of a holy life.
First of all, caring about the welfare of the empire, the king valued his peace, health and well-being of his family. The emperor's family was his support, sometimes the only one, in the light of constant disappointments in the court environment, mired in intrigues. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (nee Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt) was not only a wife for the tsar, but also a friend and adviser. The habits, ideas and cultural interests of the spouses largely coincided. They got married on November 14, 1894. Their first daughter Olga was born in 1895, Tatiana - in 1897, Maria - in 1899, Anastasia - in 1901 and the heir-tsarevich Alexei - in 1904. He was terminally ill with hemophilia - blood incoagulability. The disease led to the appearance in the royal house of Grigory Rasputin, who, even before meeting with the crowned bearers, became famous for the gift of foresight and healing. Rasputin repeatedly helped Alexei overcome bouts of illness. To the public, his personality was immediately presented by the anti-Russian camarilla in a bad light, dirty ridiculous rumors spread. In reality, Rasputin played almost no role in the royal family.
Otsu Incident - an unsuccessful attempt on the life of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich (later Nicholas II), which took place in the Japanese city of Otsu on May 11, 1891, during his visit to Japan.
Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, the future Tsar Nicholas II, committed in 1891 trip around the world with the squadron of Vice Admiral P.N. Nazimova. On the way to Vladivostok for the ceremony of the beginning of the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, he paid a visit to Japan.
The attempt on the life of the Tsarevich was committed by the Japanese policeman Sanzo Tsuda. On May 11, when Nicholas was passing through Otsu, Sanzo Tsuda attacked him with a sword. He struck the Russian prince with a blow to the head with a saber, but at the moment of swinging the saber, he turned around and the blade slid over Nikolai's head, only slightly injuring the heir. The scar on Nikolai's face remained for life. He was saved from a second blow by two rickshaws and Prince George, who knocked down the attacker.
The next day, Emperor Meiji made a special trip from Tokyo to Kobe to apologize to Nicholas. Tsuda was sentenced to life in prison and soon died in a prison in Hokkaido from pneumonia.
It was Nicholas II who, in 1899, was the first in world history to call on the rulers of states to disarmament and world peace.
Recall that it was Tsar Nicholas II in The Hague in 1899 who was the first in world history to call on the rulers of states for disarmament and world peace - he saw that Western Europe was ready to explode like a powder keg. He was a moral and spiritual leader, the only ruler in the world at that time who did not have narrow, nationalistic interests. On the contrary, being the anointed of God, he had in his heart the universal task of all Orthodox Christianity - to bring to Christ all mankind created by God. Otherwise, why did he make such sacrifices for the sake of Serbia? He was an extraordinary person strong will, as noted, for example, by French President Émile Loubet. All the forces of hell rallied to destroy the king. They wouldn't do it if the king was weak.
- You say that Nicholas II is a deeply Orthodox person. But there is very little Russian blood in him, isn't there?
Excuse me, but this statement contains a nationalistic assumption that one must necessarily be of “Russian blood” in order to be considered Orthodox, to belong to universal Christianity. I think that the tsar was one in 128 Russians by blood. And what? The sister of Nicholas II answered this question perfectly over fifty years ago. In a 1960 interview with Greek journalist Jan Vorres, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna (1882-1960) said: “Did the British call King George VI a German? There was not a drop of English blood in him ... Blood is not the main thing. The main thing is the country in which you grew up, the faith in which you were brought up, the language you speak and think in.”
- Today, some Russians depict Nikolai II "redeemer". Do you agree with this?
Of course not! There is only one redeemer - the Savior Jesus Christ. However, it can be said that the sacrifice of the tsar, his family, servants and tens of millions of other people killed in Russia by the Soviet regime and the fascists was expiatory. Rus' was "crucified" for the sins of the world. Indeed, the suffering of the Russian Orthodox in their blood and tears was expiatory. It is also true that all Christians are called to be saved by living in Christ the Redeemer. It is interesting that some pious, but not very educated Russians, who call Tsar Nicholas the "redeemer", call Grigory Rasputin a saint.
- Is the personality of Nikolai significant? II today? Orthodox Christians are a small minority among other Christians. Even if Nicholas II is of particular importance for all Orthodox, it will still be small in comparison with all Christians.
Of course, we Christians are a minority. According to statistics, out of 7 billion Christians living on our planet, only 2.2 billion are 32%. And Orthodox Christians make up only 10% of all Christians, that is, only 3.2% of Orthodox Christians in the world, or approximately every 33rd inhabitant of the Earth. But if we look at these statistics from a theological point of view, what do we see? For Orthodox Christians, non-Orthodox Christians are former Orthodox Christians who have fallen away from the Church, unwittingly brought into non-Orthodox by their leaders for a number of political reasons and for the sake of worldly well-being. Catholics can be understood by us as Catholic Orthodox, and Protestants as Catholics who have been Protestantized. We, the unworthy Orthodox, are like a little leaven that leavens the whole dough (see: Gal. 5:9).
Without the Church, light and warmth do not spread from the Holy Spirit to the whole world. Here you are outside the Sun, but you still feel the warmth and light emanating from it - also 90% of Christians who are outside the Church are still aware of its action. For example, almost all of them confess the Holy Trinity and Christ as the Son of God. Why? Thanks to the Church, who established these teachings many centuries ago. Such is the grace that is present in the Church and flows from her. If we understand this, then we will understand the significance for us of the Orthodox emperor, the last spiritual successor of Emperor Constantine the Great - Tsar Nicholas II. His dethronement and assassination completely changed the course of church history, and the same can be said about his recent glorification.
- If so, why was the king deposed and killed?
Christians are always persecuted in the world, as the Lord told His disciples. Pre-revolutionary Russia lived by the Orthodox faith. However, the faith was rejected by much of the pro-Western ruling elite, the aristocracy, and many in the growing middle class. The revolution was the result of a loss of faith.
Most of the upper class in Russia were power-hungry, as were wealthy merchants and middle class in France they wanted power and caused the French Revolution. Having acquired wealth, they wanted to rise to the next level of the hierarchy of values - the level of power. In Russia, this lust for power, which came from the West, was based on blind worship of the West and hatred of their country. We see this from the very beginning in the example of such figures as A. Kurbsky, Peter I, Catherine II and Westerners like P. Chaadaev.
The decline of faith also poisoned the "white movement", which was divided due to the lack of a common strengthening faith in the Orthodox kingdom. In general, the Russian ruling elite was deprived of Orthodox identity, which was replaced by various surrogates: a bizarre mixture of mysticism, occultism, Freemasonry, socialism and the search for "truth" in esoteric religions. By the way, these surrogates continued to live in Parisian emigration, where various figures distinguished themselves by their commitment to theosophy, anthroposophy, sophianism, name-worshipping and other very bizarre and spiritually dangerous false teachings.
They had so little love for Russia that as a result they broke away from the Russian Church, but they justified themselves anyway! The poet Sergei Bekhteev (1879-1954) had a strong word to say about this in his 1922 poem "Come to your senses, know", comparing the privileged position of emigration in Paris with the position of people in crucified Russia:
And again their hearts are filled with intrigue,
And again on the lips of betrayal and lies,
And writes life into the chapter of the last book
Treason vile arrogant nobles.
These members of the upper classes (although not all of them were traitors) were financed by the West from the very beginning. The West believed that as soon as its values - parliamentary democracy, republicanism and constitutional monarchy - were planted in Russia, it would become another bourgeois Western country. For the same reason, the Russian Church needed to be “Protestantized,” that is, spiritually neutralized, deprived of power, which the West tried to do with the Patriarchate of Constantinople and other Local Churches that fell under its rule after 1917, when they lost Russian protection. This was a consequence of the conceited idea of the West that its model could become universal. This idea is inherent in the Western elites and today, they are trying to impose their model called the “new world order” on the whole world.
The king - the anointed of God, the last defender of the Church on earth - had to be removed, because he kept the West from seizing power in the world
The Tsar - the anointed of God, the last defender of the Church on earth - had to be removed, because he kept the West from seizing power in the world. However, in their incompetence, the revolutionary aristocrats of February 1917 soon lost control of the situation, and after a few months power passed from them to the bottom of the bottom - to the Bolshevik criminals. The Bolsheviks, on the other hand, took a course on mass violence and genocide, on the “Red Terror”, similar to the terror in France five generations earlier, but with much more cruel technologies of the 20th century.
Then the ideological formula of the Orthodox empire was also distorted. Let me remind you that it sounded like this: "Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality." But it was misinterpreted as "obscurantism, tyranny, nationalism." Godless communists deformed this ideology even more, so that it turned into "centralized communism, totalitarian dictatorship, national-bolshevism." And what did the original ideological triad mean? It meant: "(full, embodied) true Christianity, spiritual independence (from the forces of this world) and love for the people of God." As we said above, this ideology was the spiritual, moral, political, economic and social program of Orthodoxy.
Social program? But after all, the revolution happened because there were a lot of poor people and there was a merciless exploitation of the poor by super-rich aristocrats, and the tsar was at the head of this aristocracy.
No, it was the aristocracy that opposed the tsar and the people. The Tsar himself generously donated from his wealth and heavily taxed the wealthy under the remarkable Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin, who did so much for land reform. Unfortunately, the royal program social justice became one of the reasons why the aristocrats hated the king. The king and the people were one. Both were betrayed by the pro-Western elite. This is already evidenced by the murder of Rasputin, which was a preparation for the revolution. The peasants rightly saw in this the betrayal of the people by the nobility.
What was the role of the Jews?
There is such a conspiracy theory that the Jews alone are to blame for everything bad that has happened and is happening in Russia (and in the world in general). This is contrary to the words of Christ.
Indeed, the majority of the Bolsheviks were Jews, but the Jews who participated in the preparation of the Russian revolution were, first of all, apostates, atheists like Karl Marx, and not believing, practicing Jews. The Jews who participated in the revolution worked hand in hand with non-Jewish atheists, such as the American banker P. Morgan, as well as Russians and many others, and depended on them.
Satan does not give preference to any one particular nation, but uses for his own purposes everyone who is ready to submit to him.
We know that Britain organized, supported by France and funded by the US, that V. Lenin was sent to Russia and sponsored by the Kaiser, and that the masses who fought in the Red Army were Russian. None of them were Jewish. Some people, captivated by racist myths, simply refuse to face the truth: the revolution was the work of Satan, who is ready to use any nation, any of us - Jews, Russians, non-Russians to achieve his destructive plans ... Satan does not give preference to any one particular nation, but uses for his own purposes everyone who is ready to subordinate his free will to him in order to establish a “new world order”, where he will be the sole ruler of fallen humanity.
- There are Russophobes who believe that the Soviet Union was the successor tsarist Russia. Is it so, in your opinion?
Undoubtedly, there is continuity ... Western Russophobia! Look at the issues of The Times between 1862 and 2012, for example. You will see 150 years of xenophobia. It is true that many in the West were Russophobes long before the advent of the Soviet Union. In every nation there are such limited thinking people- simply nationalists who believe that any people other than their own should be denigrated, no matter what their politic system and no matter how the system changes. We saw this in the recent war in Iraq. We see it today in the news bulletins, where the peoples of Syria, Iran and North Korea. We do not take such prejudices seriously.
Let's return to the issue of succession. After a period of continuous nightmare, which began in 1917, the continuity, indeed, appeared. This happened after in, in June 1941. Stalin realized that he could win the war only with the blessing of the Church, remembered the past victories of Orthodox Russia, won, for example, under the holy princes and Dimitry Donskoy. He realized that any victory can only be achieved together with his "brothers and sisters", that is, the people, and not with "comrades" and communist ideology. Geography does not change, so in Russian history there is continuity.
Soviet period was a deviation from history, a falling away from the national destiny of Russia, especially in the first bloody period after the revolution ...
We know (and Churchill expressed this very clearly in his book The World Crisis of 1916-1918) that in 1917 Russia was on the eve of victory.
What would have happened if the revolution had not taken place? We know (and W. Churchill expressed this very clearly in his book The World Crisis of 1916-1918) that Russia was on the eve of victory in 1917. That is why the revolutionaries then hastened to take action. They had a narrow loophole through which they could operate until the great offensive of 1917 began.
If there had been no revolution, Russia would have defeated the Austro-Hungarians, whose multinational and mostly Slavic army was still on the verge of rebellion and collapse. Russia would then push back the Germans, or more likely their Prussian commanders, back to Berlin. In any case, the situation would be similar to 1945, with one important exception. The exception is that the tsarist army in 1917-1918 would have liberated Central and Eastern Europe without conquering it, as happened in 1944-1945. And she would have liberated Berlin, just as she had liberated Paris in 1814 - peacefully and nobly, without the mistakes made by the Red Army.
- What would happen then?
The liberation of Berlin, and therefore Germany, from Prussian militarism would undoubtedly lead to the disarmament and division of Germany into parts, to its restoration as it was before 1871, a country of culture, music, poetry and traditions. This would be the end of the Second Reich of O. Bismarck, which was the revival of the First Reich of the militant heretic Charlemagne and led to the Third Reich of A. Hitler.
If Russia had won, this would have led to a belittling of the Prussian / German government, and the Kaiser would obviously have been sent into exile on some small island, like Napoleon did in his time. But there would be no humiliation of the German peoples - the result of the Treaty of Versailles, which directly led to the horrors of fascism and the Second World War. By the way, this led to the "Fourth Reich" of the current European Union.
- Wouldn't France, Britain and the USA oppose the relations of the victorious Russia with Berlin?
The allies did not want to see Russia as a winner. They only wanted to use her as cannon fodder.
France and Britain, bogged down in their blood-soaked trenches, or perhaps having reached the French and Belgian frontiers with Germany by then, would not have been able to prevent this, because a victory over Kaiser's Germany would have been a victory for Russia in the first place. And the US would never have entered the war if Russia had not been pulled out of it first, thanks in part to US funding of the revolutionaries. That is why the Allies did everything to eliminate Russia from the war: they did not want to see Russia win. They wanted to use her only as "cannon fodder" to tire Germany and prepare her defeat at the hands of the Allies - and they would finish Germany and take her unhindered.
- Would the Russian armies leave Berlin and Eastern Europe shortly after 1918?
Yes, sure. Here is another difference from Stalin, for whom "autocracy" - the second element of the ideology of the Orthodox Empire - was deformed into "totalitarianism", which meant occupation, suppression and enslavement through terror. After the fall of the German and Austro-Hungarian empires, freedom would come for Eastern Europe with the transfer of population to the border territories and the establishment of new states without minorities: these would be reunited Poland and the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Transcarpathian Rus', Romania, Hungary, and so on . A demilitarized zone would be created throughout Eastern and Central Europe.
It would be Eastern Europe with reasonable and secure borders
It would be Eastern Europe, with reasonable and secure borders, and the mistake of creating conglomerate states such as the future (now former) Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia would have been avoided. By the way, about Yugoslavia: Tsar Nicholas established the Balkan Union back in 1912 to prevent subsequent Balkan wars. Of course, he failed because of the intrigues of the German prince ("king") Ferdinand in Bulgaria and nationalist intrigues in Serbia and Montenegro. We can imagine that after the First World War, from which Russia would emerge victorious, such Customs Union established with clear boundaries could become permanent. This union, with the participation of Greece and Romania, could finally establish peace in the Balkans, and Russia would be the guarantor of his freedom.
- What would be the fate of the Ottoman Empire?
The Allies agreed as early as 1916 that Russia would be allowed to liberate Constantinople and control the Black Sea. This Russia could have achieved 60 years earlier, thereby preventing the massacres committed by the Turks in Bulgaria and Asia Minor, if France and Great Britain had not defeated Russia in the Crimean War. (Recall that Tsar Nicholas I was buried with a silver cross depicting "Aghia Sophia" - the Church of the Wisdom of God, "so that in Heaven he would not forget to pray for his brothers in the East"). Christian Europe would be freed from the Ottoman yoke.
The Armenians and Greeks of Asia Minor would also be protected, and the Kurds would have their own state. Moreover, Orthodox Palestine, a large part of the current Syria and Jordan would come under the protection of Russia. There would be none of these constant wars in the Middle East. Perhaps the current situation in Iraq and Iran could also have been avoided. The consequences would be colossal. Can we imagine a Russian-controlled Jerusalem? Even Napoleon remarked that "he who governs Palestine governs the whole world." Today it is known to Israel and the United States.
- What would be the consequences for Asia?
Saint Nicholas II was destined to "cut a window to Asia"
Peter I "cut a window to Europe." Saint Nicholas II was destined to "cut a window into Asia." Although the holy king was actively building churches in Western Europe and the Americas, he had little interest in the Catholic Protestant West, including America and Australia, because the West itself had and still has only a limited interest in the Church. In the West, both then and now, there is little potential for the growth of Orthodoxy. In fact, today only a small part of the world's population lives in the Western world, despite the fact that it occupies a large area.
The purpose of Tsar Nicholas to serve Christ was thus more connected with Asia, especially with Buddhist Asia. In his Russian Empire there lived former Buddhists who had converted to Christ, and the king knew that Buddhism, like Confucianism, is not a religion, but a philosophy. The Buddhists called him "White Tara" ( white king). There were relations with Tibet, where he was called "Chakravartin" (King of the World), Mongolia, China, Manchuria, Korea and Japan - countries with great development potential. He also thought about Afghanistan, India and Siam (Thailand). King Rama V of Siam visited Russia in 1897 and the king prevented Siam from becoming a French colony. It was an influence that would have extended to Laos, Vietnam and Indonesia. The people living in these countries today make up almost half of the world's population.
In Africa, where almost a seventh of the world's population lives today, the holy king had diplomatic relations with Ethiopia, which he successfully defended from colonization by Italy. The emperor intervened for the sake of the interests of the Moroccans, as well as the Boers in South Africa. It is well known that Nicholas II was deeply disgusted with what the British did to the Boers - and they simply killed them in concentration camps. We have reason to assert that the tsar thought something similar about the colonial policy of France and Belgium in Africa. The emperor was also respected by the Muslims, who called him "Al-Padishah", that is, the "Great King". In general, the Eastern civilizations, which recognized the sacred, respected the "White Tsar" much more than the bourgeois Western civilizations.
Significantly, the Soviet Union later also opposed the brutality of Western colonial policy in Africa. There is also continuity here. Today, Russian Orthodox missions are already operating in Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, India and Pakistan, and there are parishes in Africa. I think that today's BRICS group, which consists of rapidly developing states, is an example of what Russia could achieve 90 years ago as a member of the group of independent countries. No wonder the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, Dulip Singh (d. 1893), asked Tsar Alexander III to free India from exploitation and oppression by Britain.
- So, Asia could become a colony of Russia?
No, definitely not a colony. Imperial Russia was against the colonial policy and imperialism. It suffices to compare the advance of Russia into Siberia, which was mostly peaceful, and the advance of Europeans into the Americas, accompanied by genocide. To the same peoples (Native Americans are mostly close relatives of Siberians) there were completely different attitude. Of course, in Siberia and Russian America (Alaska) there were Russian exploitative traders and drunken fur hunters who behaved towards the local population in the same way as cowboys. This we know from the lives of, as well as missionaries in eastern Russia and Siberia - Saints Stephen of Great Perm and Macarius of Altai. But such things were not the rule, but the exception, and no genocide took place.
All this is very good, but we are now talking about what could happen. And these are just hypothetical assumptions.
Yes, these are hypothetical assumptions, but hypotheses can give us a vision of the future.
Yes, hypothetical assumptions, but hypotheses can give us a vision of the future. We can view the last 95 years as a hole, as a catastrophic deviation from the course of world history with tragic consequences that cost the lives of hundreds of millions of people. The world lost its balance after the fall of the bastion - Christian Russia, carried out by transnational capital in order to create a "unipolar world". This "unipolarity" is just a code for a new world order led by a single government - a world anti-Christian tyranny.
If we only realize this, then we can continue where we left off in 1918 and bring together the remnants of Orthodox civilization throughout the world. As dire as the current situation may be, there is always hope that comes from repentance.
- What can be the result of this repentance?
A new Orthodox empire with a center in Russia and a spiritual capital in Yekaterinburg - the center of repentance. Thus, it would be possible to restore balance to this tragic, unbalanced world.
- Then you, probably, can be convicted of excessive optimism.
Look at what has happened lately, since the celebration of the millennium of the Baptism of Rus' in 1988. The situation in the world has changed, even transformed - and all this is due to the repentance of enough people from the former Soviet Union, capable of changing the whole world. The last 25 years have witnessed a revolution - the only true, spiritual revolution: the return to the Church. Considering the historical miracle we have already seen (which seemed to us, born amidst the nuclear threats of the Cold War, only ridiculous dreams - we remember the spiritually gloomy 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s), why don't we imagine these possibilities mentioned above in the future?
In 1914, the world entered the tunnel, and during the Cold War we lived in total darkness. Today we are still in this tunnel, but there are already glimmers of light ahead. Is this the light at the end of the tunnel? Let us remember the words of the Gospel: "All things are possible with God" (Mark 10:27). Yes, as a human being, the above is very optimistic, and there is no guarantee for anything. But the alternative to what has been said is the apocalypse. Time is short, and we must hurry. Let this be a warning and a call to us all.
Titled from birth His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich. After the death of his grandfather, Emperor Alexander II, in 1881 he received the title of Tsarevich's heir.
... neither the figure nor the ability to speak the king did not touch the soldier's soul and did not make the impression that is necessary to raise the spirit and strongly attract hearts to himself. He did what he could, and one cannot blame him in this case, but he did not cause good results in the sense of inspiration.
Childhood, education and upbringing
Nikolai was educated at home as part of a large gymnasium course and in the 1890s, according to a specially written program that connected the course of the state and economic departments of the law faculty of the university with the course of the Academy of the General Staff.
The upbringing and training of the future emperor took place under the personal guidance of Alexander III on a traditional religious basis. The training sessions of Nicholas II were conducted according to a carefully designed program for 13 years. The first eight years were devoted to the subjects of the extended gymnasium course. Particular attention was paid to the study of political history, Russian literature, English, German and French, which Nikolai Alexandrovich mastered to perfection. The next five years were devoted to the study of military affairs, the legal and economic sciences necessary for a statesman. Lectures were given by outstanding Russian scientists-academicians of world renown: N. N. Beketov, N. N. Obruchev, Ts. A. Cui, M. I. Dragomirov, N. Kh. Bunge, K. P. Pobedonostsev and others. I. L. Yanyshev taught the crown prince canon law in connection with the history of the church, the main departments of theology and the history of religion.
Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. 1896
For the first two years, Nikolai served as a junior officer in the ranks of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. For two summer seasons, he served in the ranks of the cavalry hussars as a squadron commander, and then camped in the ranks of the artillery. On August 6, he was promoted to colonel. At the same time, his father introduces him to the affairs of the country, inviting him to participate in meetings of the State Council and the Cabinet of Ministers. At the suggestion of the Minister of Railways S. Yu. Witte, in 1892 Nikolai was appointed chairman of the committee for the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway to gain experience in public affairs. By the age of 23, Nikolai Romanov was a widely educated person.
The emperor's education program included travels to various provinces of Russia, which he made with his father. To complete his education, his father gave him a cruiser to travel to the Far East. For nine months, he and his retinue visited Austria-Hungary, Greece, Egypt, India, China, Japan, and later returned by land through all of Siberia to the capital of Russia. In Japan, an assassination attempt was made on Nicholas (see the Otsu Incident). The blood-stained shirt is kept in the Hermitage.
He combined education with deep religiosity and mysticism. “The sovereign, like his ancestor, Alexander I, was always mystical,” recalled Anna Vyrubova.
The ideal ruler for Nicholas II was Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich the Quietest.
Lifestyle, habits
Tsesarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich Mountain landscape. 1886 Watercolor on paper Caption on the drawing: “Niki. 1886. July 22 "The drawing is pasted on a passe-partout
Most of the time, Nicholas II lived with his family in the Alexander Palace. In the summer, he rested in the Crimea in the Livadia Palace. For recreation, he also annually made two-week trips to Gulf of Finland And Baltic Sea on the yacht "Standard". He read both light entertainment literature and serious scientific works, often on historical topics. He smoked cigarettes, the tobacco for which was grown in Turkey and was sent to him as a gift from Turkish Sultan. Nicholas II was fond of photography, he also liked to watch movies. All of his children were also photographed. Nikolai began to keep a diary from the age of 9. The archive contains 50 voluminous notebooks - the original diary for 1882-1918. Some of them have been published.
Nicholas and Alexandra
The first meeting of the Tsarevich with his future wife took place in 1884, and in 1889 Nikolai asked his father for his blessing to marry her, but was refused.
All correspondence between Alexandra Feodorovna and Nicholas II has been preserved. Only one letter from Alexandra Feodorovna has been lost; all her letters are numbered by the Empress herself.
Contemporaries assessed the empress differently.
| The empress was infinitely kind and infinitely compassionate. It was these properties of her nature that were the motives in the phenomena that gave rise to people who intrigued, people without conscience and hearts, people blinded by a thirst for power, to unite among themselves and use these phenomena in the eyes of the dark masses and the idle and narcissistic part of the intelligentsia greedy for sensations to discredit Royal Family for their dark and selfish purposes. The empress was attached with all her soul to people who really suffered or skillfully played out their suffering in front of her. She herself suffered too much in life, both as a conscious person - for her homeland oppressed by Germany, and as a mother - for her passionately and infinitely beloved son. Therefore, she could not help being too blind to other people who approached her, who were also suffering or seemed to be suffering ...
... The Empress, of course, sincerely and strongly loved Russia, just like the Sovereign loved her. |
Coronation
Accession to the throne and beginning of reign
Letter from Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Maria Feodorovna. January 14, 1906 Autograph. "Trepov is an indispensable secretary for me, a kind of secretary. He is experienced, smart and cautious in advice. I give him thick notes from Witte to read and then he reports them to me quickly and clearly. This is of course a secret from everyone!"
The coronation of Nicholas II took place on May 14 (26) of the year (for the victims of the coronation celebrations in Moscow, see Khodynka). In the same year, the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition was held in Nizhny Novgorod, which he attended. In 1896, Nicholas II also made a big trip to Europe, meeting with Franz Joseph, Wilhelm II, Queen Victoria (Alexandra Feodorovna's grandmother). The trip ended with the arrival of Nicholas II in Paris, the capital of allied France. One of the first personnel decisions of Nicholas II was the dismissal of I. V. Gurko from the post of Governor-General of the Kingdom of Poland and the appointment of A. B. Lobanov-Rostovsky to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs after the death of N. K. Girs. The first of Nicholas II's major international actions was the Triple Intervention.
Economic policy
In 1900, Nicholas II sent Russian troops to suppress the Ihetuan uprising together with the troops of other European powers, Japan and the United States.
The revolutionary newspaper Osvobozhdenie, published abroad, made no secret of its misgivings: If the Russian troops defeat the Japanese... then freedom will be calmly strangled to the cries of cheers and the bell ringing of the triumphant Empire» .
The plight of the tsarist government Russo-Japanese War prompted German diplomacy to make another attempt in July 1905 to tear Russia away from France and conclude a Russian-German alliance. Wilhelm II invited Nicholas II to meet in July 1905 in the Finnish skerries, near the island of Björke. Nikolay agreed, and at the meeting he signed the contract. But when he returned to St. Petersburg, he refused it, since peace with Japan had already been signed.
The American researcher of the era T. Dennett wrote in 1925:
Few people now believe that Japan was deprived of the fruits of the upcoming victories. The opposite opinion prevails. Many believe that Japan was already exhausted by the end of May and that only the conclusion of peace saved her from collapse or total defeat in a clash with Russia.
Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (the first in half a century) and the subsequent brutal suppression of the revolution of 1905-1907. (subsequently aggravated by the appearance at the court of Rasputin) led to a fall in the authority of the emperor in the circles of the intelligentsia and the nobility, so much so that even among the monarchists there were ideas about replacing Nicholas II with another Romanov.
The German journalist G. Ganz, who lived in St. Petersburg during the war, noted a different position of the nobility and intelligentsia in relation to the war: “ The common secret prayer not only of liberals, but also of many moderate conservatives at that time was: "God help us to be broken."» .
Revolution of 1905-1907
With the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Nicholas II tried to unite society against an external enemy, making significant concessions to the opposition. So after the murder of the Minister of Internal Affairs V.K. On December 12, 1904, a decree was issued “On plans for the improvement state order”, which promised the expansion of the rights of zemstvos, insurance of workers, the emancipation of foreigners and non-believers, and the elimination of censorship. At the same time, the sovereign declared: “I will never, in any case, agree to a representative form of government, for I consider it harmful to the people entrusted to me by God.”
... Russia has outgrown the form of the existing system. It is striving for a legal system based on civil freedom... It is very important to reform the State Council on the basis of the prominent participation of an elected element in it...
The opposition parties took advantage of the expansion of freedoms to intensify attacks on the tsarist government. On January 9, 1905, a large workers' demonstration took place in St. Petersburg, turning to the tsar with political and socio-economic demands. Demonstrators clashed with troops, resulting in a large number of deaths. These events became known as Bloody Sunday, the victims of which, according to V. Nevsky, were no more than 100-200 people. A wave of strikes swept across the country, the national outskirts were agitated. In Courland, the Forest Brothers began to massacre local German landowners, and the Armenian-Tatar massacre began in the Caucasus. Revolutionaries and separatists received support in money and weapons from England and Japan. So, in the summer of 1905, the English steamer John Grafton, which had run aground, carrying several thousand rifles for Finnish separatists and revolutionary militants, was detained in the Baltic Sea. There were several uprisings in the fleet and in various cities. The largest was December uprising in Moscow. At the same time, the Socialist-Revolutionary and anarchist individual terror gained a large scope. In just a couple of years, thousands of officials, officers and policemen were killed by revolutionaries - in 1906 alone, 768 were killed and 820 representatives and agents of power were wounded.
The second half of 1905 was marked by numerous unrest in universities and even in theological seminaries: almost 50 secondary theological educational institutions were closed because of the riots. The adoption on August 27 of a provisional law on the autonomy of universities caused a general strike of students and stirred up teachers at universities and theological academies.
The ideas of the highest dignitaries about the current situation and ways out of the crisis were clearly manifested during four secret meetings under the leadership of the emperor, held in 1905-1906. Nicholas II was forced to liberalize, moving to constitutional government while simultaneously suppressing armed uprisings. From a letter from Nicholas II to Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna dated October 19, 1905:
Another way is to provide civil rights to the population - freedom of speech, press, assembly and association and inviolability of the person;…. Witte ardently defended this path, saying that although it is risky, it is nevertheless the only one at the moment ...
On August 6, 1905, the manifesto on the establishment of the State Duma, the law on the State Duma, and the regulation on elections to the Duma were published. But the revolution, which was gaining strength, easily stepped over the acts of August 6, in October an all-Russian political strike began, more than 2 million people went on strike. On the evening of October 17, Nikolai signed a manifesto promising: “1. To grant the population the unshakable foundations of civil freedom on the basis of real inviolability of the person, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and associations. On April 23, 1906, the Basic State Laws of the Russian Empire were approved.
Three weeks after the manifesto, the government granted amnesty to political prisoners, except for those convicted of terrorism, and a little over a month later lifted prior censorship.
From a letter from Nicholas II to Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna on October 27:
The people were indignant at the arrogance and audacity of the revolutionaries and socialists ... hence the Jewish pogroms. It is amazing with what unanimity and at once this happened in all the cities of Russia and Siberia. In England, of course, they write that these riots were organized by the police, as always - an old, familiar fable! .. The cases in Tomsk, Simferopol, Tver and Odessa clearly showed how far a furious crowd can go when it surrounded houses in which revolutionaries locked themselves in, and set fire to them, killing anyone who came out.
During the revolution, in 1906, Konstantin Balmont wrote the poem "Our Tsar", dedicated to Nicholas II, which turned out to be prophetic:
Our king is Mukden, our king is Tsushima,
Our king is a bloodstain
The stench of gunpowder and smoke
In which the mind is dark. Our king is blind squalor,
Prison and whip, jurisdiction, execution,
The king is a hangman, the lower is twice,
What he promised, but did not dare to give. He's a coward, he feels stuttering
But it will be, the hour of reckoning awaits.
Who began to reign - Khodynka,
He will finish - standing on the scaffold.
Decade between two revolutions
On August 18 (31), 1907, an agreement was signed with Great Britain on the delimitation of spheres of influence in China, Afghanistan and Iran. This was an important step in the formation of the Entente. On June 17, 1910, after lengthy disputes, a law was passed that limited the rights of the Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Finland (see Russification of Finland). In 1912, Mongolia became a de facto protectorate of Russia, having gained independence from China as a result of the revolution that took place there.
Nicholas II and P. A. Stolypin
The first two State Dumas were unable to conduct regular legislative work - the contradictions between the deputies on the one hand, and the Duma with the emperor on the other - were insurmountable. So, immediately after the opening, in a response address to the throne speech of Nicholas II, the Duma members demanded the liquidation of the State Council (the upper house of parliament), the transfer of appanage (private possessions of the Romanovs), monastic and state lands to the peasants.
Military reform
Diary of Emperor Nicholas II for 1912-1913.
Nicholas II and the church
The beginning of the 20th century was marked by a movement for reforms, during which the church sought to restore the canonical conciliar structure, there was even talk of convening a council and establishing a patriarchate, there were attempts to restore the autocephaly of the Georgian Church in the year.
Nicholas agreed with the idea of an “All-Russian Church Council”, but changed his mind and on March 31, at the report of the Holy Synod on the convening of the council, he wrote: “ I acknowledge that it is impossible to...”and established a Special (pre-Council) Presence in the city to resolve issues of church reform and a Pre-Council Meeting in the city of
An analysis of the most famous canonizations of that period - Seraphim of Sarov (), Patriarch Hermogenes (1913) and John Maksimovich (-) allows us to trace the process of a growing and deepening crisis in relations between church and state. Under Nicholas II were canonized:
4 days after the abdication of Nicholas, the Synod published a message with the support of the Provisional Government.
Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod N. D. Zhevakhov recalled:
Our Tsar was one of the greatest ascetics of the Church of recent times, whose exploits were obscured only by his high rank of Monarch. Standing on the last rung of the ladder of human glory, the Sovereign saw above him only the sky, towards which his holy soul was irresistibly striving...
World War I
Along with the creation of special conferences, military-industrial committees began to arise in 1915 - public organizations bourgeoisie, who were semi-oppositional in nature.
Emperor Nicholas II and commanders of the fronts at a meeting of the Headquarters.
After such heavy defeats of the army, Nicholas II, not considering it possible for himself to remain aloof from hostilities and considering it necessary to assume full responsibility for the position of the army in these difficult conditions, to establish the necessary agreement between the Headquarters and governments, to put an end to the disastrous isolation of power, standing at the head of the army, from the authorities governing the country, on August 23, 1915, he assumed the title of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. At the same time, some members of the government, the high army command and public circles opposed this decision of the emperor.
Due to the constant relocations of Nicholas II from Headquarters to St. Petersburg, as well as insufficient knowledge of the issues of leadership of the troops, the command of the Russian army was concentrated in the hands of his chief of staff, General M.V. Alekseev and General V.I. Gurko, who replaced him in late and early 1917. The autumn draft of 1916 put 13 million people under arms, and the losses in the war exceeded 2 million.
In 1916, Nicholas II replaced four chairmen of the Council of Ministers (I. L. Goremykin, B. V. Shturmer, A. F. Trepov and Prince N. D. Golitsyn), four ministers of the interior (A. N. Khvostov, B. V. Shtyurmer, A. A. Khvostov and A. D. Protopopov), three Ministers of Foreign Affairs (S. D. Sazonov, B. V. Shtyurmer and Pokrovsky, N. N. Pokrovsky), two Ministers of War (A. A. Polivanov, D.S. Shuvaev) and three Ministers of Justice (A.A. Khvostov, A.A. Makarov and N.A. Dobrovolsky).
Probing the world
Nicholas II, hoping for an improvement in the situation in the country in the event of the success of the spring offensive of 1917 (which was agreed upon at the Petrograd Conference), was not going to conclude a separate peace with the enemy - he saw the most important means of consolidating the throne in the victorious end of the war. Hints that Russia might start negotiations on a separate peace were a normal diplomatic game, forced the Entente to recognize the need to establish Russian control over the Mediterranean straits.
February Revolution of 1917
The war struck the system of economic ties - primarily between the city and the countryside. Famine began in the country. The authorities were discredited by a chain of scandals such as the intrigues of Rasputin and his entourage, as the “dark forces” then called them. But it was not the war that gave rise to the agrarian question in Russia, the sharpest social contradictions, conflicts between the bourgeoisie and tsarism and within the ruling camp. Nicholas' adherence to the idea of unlimited autocratic power narrowed to the limit the possibility of social maneuvering, knocked out the support of Nicholas's power.
After the stabilization of the situation at the front in the summer of 1916, the Duma opposition, in alliance with conspirators among the generals, decided to take advantage of the situation to overthrow Nicholas II and replace him with another tsar. The leader of the Cadets P. N. Milyukov subsequently wrote in December 1917:
From February it was clear that Nikolai’s abdication could take place any day, the date was February 12-13, it was said that there was a “great act” to come - the abdication of the emperor from the throne in favor of the heir to Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, that Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich would be regent.
On February 23, 1917, a strike began in Petrograd, after 3 days it became general. On the morning of February 27, 1917, there was an uprising of soldiers in Petrograd and their connection with the strikers. A similar uprising took place in Moscow. The queen, who did not understand what was happening, wrote soothing letters on February 25
The queues and strikes in the city are more than provocative... This is a "hooligan" movement, young men and women run around screaming that they have no bread, and the workers do not let others work. It would be very cold, they would probably stay at home. But all this will pass and calm down if only the Duma behaves decently.
On February 25, 1917, by the manifesto of Nicholas II, the meetings of the State Duma were stopped, which further inflamed the situation. Chairman of the State Duma M. V. Rodzianko sent a number of telegrams to Emperor Nicholas II about the events in Petrograd. This telegram was received at Headquarters on February 26, 1917 at 22:00. 40 min.
I most humbly convey to Your Majesty that the popular unrest that began in Petrograd is assuming a spontaneous character and menacing proportions. Their foundations are the lack of baked bread and the weak supply of flour, which inspires panic, but mainly a complete distrust of the authorities, unable to lead the country out of a difficult situation.
The civil war has begun and is flaring up. ... There is no hope for the troops of the garrison. The reserve battalions of the guards regiments are in mutiny ... Order, in the repeal of your royal decree, to convene again the legislative chambers ... If the movement is transferred to the army ... the collapse of Russia, and with it the dynasty, is inevitable.
Renunciation, exile and execution
Abdication of the throne of Emperor Nicholas II. March 2, 1917 Typescript. 35 x 22. In the lower right corner, the signature of Nicholas II in pencil: Nicholas; in the lower left corner, in black ink over a pencil, a confirmation inscription by the hand of V. B. Frederiks: Minister of the Imperial Court, Adjutant General Count Fredericks."
After the start of unrest in the capital, the tsar on the morning of February 26, 1917 ordered General S. S. Khabalov "to stop the unrest, unacceptable in the difficult time of the war." On February 27, sending General N. I. Ivanov to Petrograd
to suppress the uprising, Nicholas II departed for Tsarskoe Selo on the evening of February 28, but could not pass and, having lost contact with Headquarters, arrived in Pskov on March 1, where the headquarters of the armies of the Northern Front, General N.V. about the abdication in favor of his son under the regency of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, in the evening of the same day he announced to the arrivals A.I. Guchkov and V.V. Shulgin about the decision to abdicate for his son. On March 2, at 11:40 p.m., he handed Guchkov a Manifesto of Abdication, in which he wrote: We command our brother to manage the affairs of the state in complete and indestructible unity with the representatives of the people».
The personal property of the Romanov family was looted.
After death
Glory to the saints
Decision of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church of August 20, 2000: “To glorify as passion-bearers in the host of new martyrs and confessors of Russia the Royal Family: Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra, Tsarevich Alexy, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia.” .
The act of canonization was perceived by Russian society ambiguously: opponents of canonization argue that the reckoning of Nicholas II to the saints is political in nature. .
Rehabilitation
Philatelic collection of Nicholas II
In some memoir sources there is evidence that Nicholas II “sinned with postage stamps”, although this passion was not as strong as photography. On February 21, 1913, at a celebration in the Winter Palace in honor of the anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, the head of the Main Directorate of Posts and Telegraphs, Acting State Councilor M. P. Sevastyanov, presented Nicholas II with morocco-bound albums with test proof prints and essays of stamps from a commemorative series published for 300 anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. It was a collection of materials related to the preparation of the series, which was carried out for almost ten years - from 1912 to 1912. Nicholas II greatly valued this gift. It is known that this collection accompanied him among the most valuable family relics in exile, first in Tobolsk, and then in Yekaterinburg, and was with him until his death.
After the death of the royal family, the most valuable part of the collection was stolen, and the surviving half was sold to a certain officer of the English army, who was in Siberia as part of the Entente troops. He then took her to Riga. Here, this part of the collection was acquired by the philatelist Georg Jaeger, who in 1926 put it up for sale at an auction in New York. In 1930, it was again put up for auction in London, - the famous collector of Russian stamps Goss became its owner. Obviously, it was Goss who pretty much replenished it by buying missing materials at auctions and from private individuals. The 1958 auction catalog described the Goss collection as "a magnificent and unique collection of samples, prints and essays ... from the collection of Nicholas II."
By order of Nicholas II, the Female Alekseevskaya Gymnasium was founded in the city of Bobruisk, now the Slavic Gymnasium
see also
- Family of Nicholas II
- E. Radzinsky. Nicholas II: life and death.
- R. Massey. Nicholas and Alexandra.
Illustrations
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Portrait of Emperor Nicholas II by Ernst Lipgart. 1896 |
Portrait of Nicholas II by Ilya Galkin. 1898. |
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The king on a gold five-ruble coin. 1899. |
Diary of Emperor Nicholas II for 1895-1896. |
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