Which emperor's reign ended in 1894? Nicholas II and his family
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
Change text size: A A
Nicholas II ascended the throne on November 2, 1894. What do we all remember about this king? Basically, school cliches are stuck in my head: Nikolai 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 Russia, recording himself as “owner of the land” Russian". Moreover, Rasputin looms on the side with his dubious role in history. In general, the image turns out to be such that any schoolchild is sure: Nicholas II is almost the most shameful Russian Tsar of 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, which is quite low. His life has been thoroughly studied, and at the same time it is almost unknown to the general public outside the clichés from the textbook. Did you know, for example, that:
1) Nicholas took the throne in Crimea. There, in Livadia, a royal estate near Yalta, his father Alexander III died. A confused young man, literally crying from the responsibility that had fallen on him - this is how the future king looked then. Mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, did not want to swear allegiance to her son! The younger one, Mikhail, is who she saw on the throne.
![](https://i0.wp.com/s12.stc.all.kpcdn.net/share/i/4/867796/wx1080.jpg)
2) And since we are talking about Crimea, it was to Yalta that he dreamed of moving the capital from his unloved St. Petersburg. The sea, the navy, trade, the proximity of European borders... But I didn’t dare, of course.
![](https://i1.wp.com/s13.stc.all.kpcdn.net/share/i/4/867797/wx1080.jpg)
3) Nicholas II almost handed over the throne to his 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 has prescribed: the throne is inherited only through the male line. However, bypassing this order, the conversation turned to Olga, who was then 5 years old. The king, however, pulled out and recovered. But the idea of staging a coup in Olga’s favor, and then marrying her off to a suitable candidate who would rule the country instead of the unpopular Nicholas - this thought excited the royal relatives for a long time and pushed them into intrigue.
4) It is rarely said that Nicholas II became the first global peacemaker. In 1898, at his instigation, a note on a general limitation of armaments was published and a program for an international peace conference was developed. It took place in May of the following year in The Hague. 20 European countries, 4 Asian, 2 American took part. This act of the tsar simply did not fit into the minds of the then progressive intelligentsia of Russia. How can this be, he is a militarist and an imperialist?! Yes, the idea of the prototype of the UN, of conferences on disarmament, arose precisely in Nikolai’s head. And long before the World War.
![](https://i0.wp.com/s14.stc.all.kpcdn.net/share/i/4/867799/wx1080.jpg)
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 give credit to this king. Meanwhile, he considered the Siberian railway one of his main tasks. Nikolai generally foresaw many 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).
Nicholas' reforms (monetary, judicial, wine monopoly, working day law) are also rarely mentioned. It is believed that since the reforms were started in previous reigns, then Nicholas II seems to have no special merit. The Tsar “only” pulled this burden and complained that he “worked like a convict.” “Only” brought the country to that peak, 1913, by which the economy will be measured for a long time to come. He just confirmed two of the most famous reformers in office - Witte and Stolypin. So, 1913: the strongest gold ruble, income from the export of Vologda oil is higher than from the export of gold, Russia is the world leader in grain trade.
![](https://i1.wp.com/s14.stc.all.kpcdn.net/share/i/4/867800/wx1080.jpg)
6) Nicholas was like two peas in a pod like his cousin, the future English king George V. Their mothers are sisters. Even relatives confused “Nicky” and “Georgie”.
![](https://i1.wp.com/s9.stc.all.kpcdn.net/share/i/4/867801/wx1080.jpg)
"Nicky" and "Georgie". They are so similar that even their relatives confused them
7) Raised his adopted son and daughter. More precisely, the children of his uncle Pavel Alexandrovich - Dmitry and Maria. Their mother died in childbirth, their father quite soon entered into a new marriage (unequal), and the two little grand dukes were eventually raised by Nicholas personally, they called him “dad”, the empress “mama”. 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 the revolution, escape to Europe and even manage to have an affair with Coco Chanel there).
![](https://i0.wp.com/s9.stc.all.kpcdn.net/share/i/4/867802/wx1080.jpg)
![](https://i0.wp.com/s13.stc.all.kpcdn.net/share/i/4/867804/wx1080.jpg)
10) I couldn’t stand women’s singing. He would run away when his wife, Alexandra Fedorovna, or one of the daughters or ladies-in-waiting sat down at the piano and started playing romances. The courtiers recall that at such moments the king complained: “Well, they howled...”
11) I read a lot, especially contemporaries, subscribed to a lot of magazines. Most of all he loved Averchenko.
In we publish the answers of an Orthodox Englishman, who has no Russian roots, to the questions of his many acquaintances from Russia, Holland, Great Britain, France and the USA about the holy Passion-Bearers and especially about the holy Emperor Nicholas II and his role in Russian and world history. These questions were asked especially often in 2013, when the 95th anniversary of the Yekaterinburg tragedy was celebrated. At the same time, Father Andrei Phillips formulated the answers. One cannot agree with all of the author’s conclusions, but they are certainly interesting, if only because he, being an Englishman, knows Russian history so well.– Why are rumors about Tsar Nicholas so widespread? II and harsh criticism against him?
– To correctly understand Tsar Nicholas II, you must be Orthodox. It is not enough to be a secular person or nominal Orthodox, or semi-Orthodox, or to perceive Orthodoxy as a hobby, while maintaining the same Soviet or Western (which is essentially the same thing) cultural baggage. One must be consciously Orthodox, Orthodox in essence, culture and worldview.
Tsar Nicholas II acted and reacted in an Orthodox manner
In other words, to understand Nicholas II, you need to have the spiritual integrity that he had. Tsar Nicholas was deeply and consistently Orthodox in his spiritual, moral, political, economic and social views. His Orthodox soul looked at the world with Orthodox eyes, he acted and reacted in an Orthodox way.
– Why do professional historians treat him so negatively?
– Western historians, like Soviet ones, have a negative attitude towards him, because they think in a secular way. Recently I read the book “Crimea” by the British historian Orlando Figes, a specialist on Russia. This is an interesting book about the Crimean War, with many details and facts, written as befits a serious scholar. However, the author by default approaches events with purely Western secular standards: if the reigning Tsar Nicholas I at that time was not a Westernizer, then he must have been a religious fanatic who intended to conquer the Ottoman Empire. With his love for detail, Fidges loses sight of the most important thing: what the Crimean War was for Russia. With Western eyes, he sees only imperialist goals, which he attributes to Russia. What motivates him to do this is his worldview as a secular Westerner.
Figes does not understand that the parts of the Ottoman Empire that Nicholas I was interested in were lands where Orthodox Christian populations had suffered under Islamic oppression for centuries. The Crimean War was not a colonial, imperialist war by Russia to advance into the territory of the Ottoman Empire and exploit it, unlike the wars waged by the Western powers to advance into and enslave Asia and Africa. In the case of Russia, it was a struggle for freedom from oppression - essentially an anti-colonial and anti-imperialist war. The goal was the liberation of Orthodox lands and peoples from oppression, and not the conquest of someone else's empire. As for the accusations of Nicholas I of “religious fanaticism,” in the eyes of secularists, any sincere Christian is a religious fanatic! This is explained by the fact that there is no spiritual dimension in the consciousness of these people. They are unable to see beyond their secular cultural environment and do not go beyond established thinking.
– It turns out that it is because of their secular worldview that Western historians call Nicholas II “weak” and “incapable”?
The myth of the “weakness” of Nicholas II as a ruler is Western political propaganda, invented at that time and still repeated today
- Yes. This is Western political propaganda, invented at that time and still repeated today. Western historians are trained and funded by the Western "establishment" and fail to see the broader picture. Serious post-Soviet historians have already refuted these accusations against the Tsar, fabricated by the West, which Soviet communists gleefully repeated to justify the destruction of the Tsar's empire. They write that the Tsarevich was “unable” to rule, but the whole point is that at the very beginning he simply was not ready to become king, since his father, Tsar Alexander III, died suddenly and relatively young. But Nikolai quickly learned and became “capable.”
Another favorite accusation of Nicholas II is that he allegedly started wars: the Japanese-Russian War, called the “Russian-Japanese”, and the Kaiser’s War, called the First World War. It is not true. The Tsar was at that time the only world leader who wanted disarmament and did not want war. As for the war against Japanese aggression, it was the Japanese themselves, armed, sponsored and incited by the USA and Great Britain, who started the Japanese-Russian War. Without warning, they attacked the Russian fleet in Port Arthur, whose name is so similar to Pearl Harbor. And, as we know, the Austro-Hungarians, spurred on by the Kaiser, who was looking for any reason to start a war, unleashed.
It was Nicholas II in 1899 who was the first in world history to call on the rulers of states for disarmament and universal peace
Let us remember 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 universal 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 God’s anointed one, he had in his heart the universal task of all Orthodox Christianity - to bring all humanity created by God to Christ. Otherwise, why did he make such sacrifices for Serbia? He was a man of unusually strong will, as noted, for example, by the French President Emile Loubet. All the forces of hell rallied to destroy the king. They would not have done this if the king was weak.
– You say that Nikolai II is a deeply Orthodox person. But there’s very little Russian blood in him, isn’t there?
– Forgive me, but this statement contains a nationalist assumption that one must be of “Russian blood” in order to be considered Orthodox, to belong to universal Christianity. I think that the tsar was one 128th Russian by blood. And what? The sister of Nicholas II answered this question perfectly more than fifty years ago. In a 1960 interview with Greek journalist Ian Worres, 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 raised, the language in which you speak and think.”
– Today some Russians portray Nicholas 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 Nazis was redemptive. Rus' was “crucified” for the sins of the world. Indeed, the suffering of the Russian Orthodox in their blood and tears was redemptive. 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 “redeemer”, call Grigory Rasputin a saint.
– Is Nikolai’s personality significant? II today? Orthodox Christians form a small minority among other Christians. Even if Nicholas II is of particular importance to all Orthodox Christians, it will still be little compared to all Christians.
– Of course, we Christians are a minority. According to statistics, of the 7 billion people living on our planet, only 2.2 billion are Christians - that’s 32%. And Orthodox Christians make up only 10% of all Christians, that is, only 3.2% are Orthodox 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 heterodoxy by their leaders for a variety of political reasons and for the sake of worldly well-being. We can understand Catholics as Catholicized Orthodox Christians, and Protestants as Catholics who have been denounced. We, unworthy Orthodox Christians, 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 still know about its action. For example, almost all of them confess the Holy Trinity and Christ as the Son of God. Why? Thanks to the Church, which established these teachings many centuries ago. Such is the grace present in the Church and flowing from it. 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 murder completely changed the course of church history, and the same can be said about his recent glorification.
– If this is so, then why was the king overthrown 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 members of the expanding middle class. The revolution was the result of a loss of faith.
Most of the upper class in Russia wanted power, just as the rich merchants and middle class in France 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, such a thirst for power, which came from the West, was based on blind worship of the West and hatred of one’s 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 an 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 the Parisian emigration, where various figures distinguished themselves by their adherence to theosophy, anthroposophy, Sophianism, name-worship 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 still justified themselves! The poet Sergei Bekhteev (1879–1954) had strong words to say about this in his 1922 poem “Remember, Know,” comparing the privileged position of emigration in Paris with the situation of people in crucified Russia:
And again their hearts are filled with intrigue,
And again there is betrayal and lies on the lips,
And writes life into the chapter of the last book
Vile betrayal of arrogant nobles.
These representatives of the upper classes (although not all 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 implanted 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 the patronage of Russia. This was a consequence of the West's conceit that its model could become universal. This idea is inherent in Western elites today; they are trying to impose their model called the “new world order” on the whole world.
The Tsar - God's anointed, the last defender of the Church on earth - had to be removed because he was holding back the West from seizing power in the world
The Tsar - God's anointed, the last defender of the Church on earth - had to be removed because he was holding back the West from seizing power in the world. However, in their incompetence, the aristocratic revolutionaries of February 1917 soon lost control of the situation, and within a few months power passed from them to the lower ranks - to the criminal Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks set a course for mass violence and genocide, for the “Red Terror”, similar to the terror in France five generations earlier, but with much more brutal 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 maliciously interpreted as follows: “obscurantism, tyranny, nationalism.” Godless communists deformed this ideology even further, so that it turned into “centralized communism, totalitarian dictatorship, national Bolshevism.” What did the original ideological triad mean? It meant: “(full, embodied) true Christianity, spiritual independence (from the powers 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 the revolution occurred because there were a lot of poor people and there was 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 donated generously from his wealth and imposed high taxes on the rich under the remarkable Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin, who did so much for land reform. Unfortunately, the Tsar's social justice agenda was one of the reasons why the aristocrats came to hate the Tsar. The king and the people were united. Both were betrayed by the pro-Western elite. This is already evidenced by the murder of Rasputin, which was preparation for the revolution. The peasants rightly saw this as a betrayal of the people by the nobility.
– What was the role of the Jews?
– There is a conspiracy theory that supposedly Jews alone are to blame for everything bad that has happened and is happening in Russia (and in the world in general). This contradicts the words of Christ.
Indeed, most of the Bolsheviks were Jews, but the Jews who participated in the preparation of the Russian Revolution were, first of all, apostates, atheists like K. Marx, and not believers, practicing Jews. The Jews who participated in the revolution worked hand in hand with and depended on non-Jewish atheists such as the American banker P. Morgan, as well as the Russians and many others.
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 financed by the USA, 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 specific nation, but uses for his own purposes everyone who is ready to subordinate their free will to him 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 to Tsarist Russia. Is this true in your opinion?
– Undoubtedly, there is continuity... of Western Russophobia! Look, for example, at issues of The Times between 1862 and 2012. 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 narrow-minded people - simply nationalists who believe that any nation other than their own should be denigrated, no matter what its political system is and no matter how this system changes. We saw this in the recent Iraq War. We see this today in news reports where the peoples of Syria, Iran and North Korea are accused of all their sins. We do not take such prejudices seriously.
Let's return to the question of continuity. After a period of complete nightmare that began in 1917, continuity actually appeared. This happened after in June 1941. Stalin realized that he could win the war only with the blessing of the Church; he remembered the past victories of Orthodox Russia, won, for example, under the holy princes and Demetrius Donskoy. He realized that any victory can be achieved only together with his “brothers and sisters,” that is, the people, and not with “comrades” and communist ideology. Geography does not change, so there is continuity in Russian history.
The Soviet period was a deviation from history, a departure from Russia's national destiny, 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 happened? 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 rushed to take action. They had a narrow loophole through which they could operate before the great offensive of 1917 began.
If there had been no revolution, Russia would have defeated the Austro-Hungarians, whose multinational and largely Slavic army was still on the verge of mutiny and collapse. Russia would then push the Germans, or most likely their Prussian commanders, back into Berlin. In any case, the situation would be similar to 1945, but 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 liberate Berlin, just as she 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 O. Bismarck's Second Reich, which was a revival of the First Reich of the militant heretic Charlemagne and led to A. Hitler's Third Reich.
If Russia had won, the Prussian/German government would have been diminished, and the Kaiser would have obviously been exiled to some small island, just like Napoleon. 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 World War II. By the way, this also led to the “Fourth Reich” of the current European Union.
– Wouldn’t France, Britain and the USA oppose the relations between victorious Russia and Berlin?
The Allies did not want to see Russia as a winner. They only wanted to use her as "cannon fodder"
– France and Britain, stuck in their blood-soaked trenches or perhaps having reached the French and Belgian borders with Germany by that time, would not be able to prevent this, because a victory over the Kaiser’s Germany would be primarily a victory for Russia. And the United States would never have entered the war if Russia had not been withdrawn from it first - partly thanks to US funding of the revolutionaries. That's why the Allies did everything to eliminate Russia from the war: they did not want to see Russia as a winner. They only wanted to use it as “cannon fodder” to tire Germany out and prepare for its defeat at the hands of the Allies - and they would finish Germany off and capture it unhindered.
– Would the Russian armies have left Berlin and Eastern Europe soon 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”, meaning occupation, suppression and enslavement through terror. After the fall of the German and Austro-Hungarian empires, freedom would have come for Eastern Europe with the movement of populations to border territories and the establishment of new states without minorities: these would have been 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.
This would be Eastern Europe with reasonable and secure borders
It would be an Eastern Europe with reasonable and secure borders, and the mistake of creating conglomerate states like the future (now former) Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia would be avoided. By the way, about Yugoslavia: Tsar Nicholas established the Balkan Union back in 1912 to prevent subsequent Balkan wars. Of course, he failed due to the intrigues of the German princeling (“Tsar”) Ferdinand in Bulgaria and the nationalist intrigues in Serbia and Montenegro. We can imagine that after the First World War, from which Russia emerged victorious, such a 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 its freedom.
– What would be the fate of the Ottoman Empire?
– The Allies already agreed in 1916 that Russia would be allowed to liberate Constantinople and control the Black Sea. Russia could have achieved this 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. (Remember that Tsar Nicholas I was buried with a silver cross depicting the “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 and a large part of present-day Syria and Jordan would come under the protection of Russia. There wouldn't be any 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 noted that “he who rules Palestine rules the whole world.” Today this is known to Israel and the United States.
– What would be the consequences for Asia?
Saint Nicholas II was destined to “open a window to Asia”
– Peter I “cut a window to Europe.” Saint Nicholas II was destined to “open a window to Asia.” Despite the fact that the holy king was actively building churches in Western Europe and both Americas, he had little interest in the Catholic-Protestant West, including America and Australia, because the West itself had and still has only limited interest in the Church. In the West, both then and now, the potential for the growth of Orthodoxy is low. 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.
Tsar Nicholas's goal to serve Christ was thus more associated with Asia, especially Buddhist Asia. His Russian Empire was populated by former Buddhists who had converted to Christ, and the Tsar knew that Buddhism, like Confucianism, was not a religion but a philosophy. Buddhists called him “white Tara” (White King). There were relations with Tibet, where he was called “Chakravartin” (King of Peace), 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 Tsar prevented Siam from becoming a French colony. It was an influence that would extend to Laos, Vietnam and Indonesia. The people living in these countries today make up almost half of the world's population.
In Africa, home today to almost a seventh of the world's population, the holy king had diplomatic relations with Ethiopia, which he successfully defended from colonization by Italy. The Emperor also intervened for the sake of the interests of the Moroccans, as well as the Boers in South Africa. Nicholas II's strong disgust at what the British did to the Boers is well known - 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 Muslims, who called him "Al-Padishah", that is, "The Great King". In general, Eastern civilizations, which recognized the sacred, respected the “White Tsar” much more than bourgeois Western civilizations.
It is important that the Soviet Union later also opposed the cruelty of Western colonial policies in Africa. There is also continuity here. Today, Russian Orthodox missions already operate in Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, India and Pakistan, and there are parishes in Africa. I think that today's BRICS group, consisting of rapidly developing states, is an example of what Russia could achieve 90 years ago as a member of a group of independent countries. No wonder the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, Duleep 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 colonialist policies and imperialism. It is enough to compare the Russian advance into Siberia, which was largely peaceful, and the European advance into the Americas, which was accompanied by genocide. There were completely different attitudes towards the same peoples (Native Americans are mostly close relatives of Siberians). Of course, in Siberia and Russian America (Alaska) there were Russian exploitative traders and drunken fur trappers who behaved in the same way as cowboys towards the local population. We know this from the lives of Saints Stephen of Great Perm and Macarius of Altai, as well as from the lives of missionaries in eastern Russia and Siberia. But such things were the exception rather than the rule, 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 hypotheticals, 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 with the aim of creating 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 only we realize this, then we can pick up where we left off in 1918 and bring together the remnants of Orthodox civilization throughout the world. No matter how dire the current situation may be, there is always hope that comes from repentance.
– What could 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, out-of-balance world.
“Then you can probably be accused of being overly optimistic.”
– Look what has happened recently, 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 thanks to the repentance of enough people from the former Soviet Union to change the whole world. The last 25 years have witnessed a revolution - the only true, spiritual revolution: a return to the Church. Taking into account the historical miracle that we have already seen (and this seemed to us, born amid 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 discussed above in the future?
In 1914, the world entered a tunnel, and during the Cold War we lived in complete darkness. Today we are still in this tunnel, but there are already glimpses 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, humanly speaking, the above is very optimistic, and there is no guarantee for anything. But the alternative to the above is an apocalypse. There is little time left, and we must hurry. Let this be a warning and a call to us all.
It’s no longer a secret that the history of Russia is distorted. This especially applies to the great people of our country. Which are presented to us in the image of tyrants, crazy or weak-willed people. One of the most slandered rulers is Nicholas II.
However, if we look at the numbers, we will be convinced that much of what we know about the last king is a lie.
In 1894, at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, Russia had 122 million inhabitants. 20 years later, on the eve of the 1st World War, its population increased by more than 50 million; Thus, in Tsarist Russia the population increased by 2,400,000 per year. If the revolution had not happened in 1917, by 1959 its population would have reached 275,000,000.
Unlike modern democracies, Imperial Russia based its policy not only on deficit-free budgets, but also on the principle of significant accumulation of gold reserves. Despite this, state revenues grew steadily from 1,410,000,000 rubles in 1897, without the slightest increase in the tax burden, while state expenditures remained more or less at the same level.
Over the last 10 years before the First World War, the excess of state revenues over expenses amounted to 2,400,000,000 rubles. This figure seems all the more impressive since during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, railway tariffs were lowered and redemption payments for lands transferred to the peasants from their former landowners in 1861 were abolished, and in 1914, with the outbreak of the war, all types of drinking taxes were abolished.
During the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, by law of 1896, a gold currency was introduced in Russia, and the State Bank was authorized to issue 300,000,000 rubles in credit notes not backed by gold reserves. But the government not only never took advantage of this right, but, on the contrary, ensured paper circulation of gold cash by more than 100%, namely: by the end of July 1914, bank notes were in circulation in the amount of 1,633,000,000 rubles, while the gold reserve in Russia it was equal to 1,604,000,000 rubles, and in foreign banks 141,000,000 rubles.
The stability of monetary circulation was such that even during the Russo-Japanese War, which was accompanied by widespread revolutionary unrest within the country, the exchange of banknotes for gold was not suspended.
In Russia, taxes, before the First World War, were the lowest in the whole world.
The burden of direct taxes in Russia was almost four times less than in France, more than 4 times less than in Germany and 8.5 times less than in England. The burden of indirect taxes in Russia was on average half as much as in Austria, France, Germany and England.
The total amount of taxes per capita in Russia was more than half as much as in Austria, France and Germany and more than four times less than in England.
Between 1890 and 1913 Russian industry quadrupled its productivity. Its income not only almost equaled the income received from agriculture, but goods covered almost 4/5 of the domestic demand for manufactured goods.
Over the last four years before the First World War, the number of newly founded joint-stock companies increased by 132%, and the capital invested in them almost quadrupled.
In 1914, the State Savings Bank had deposits worth 2,236,000,000 rubles.
The amount of deposits and equity capital in small credit institutions (on a cooperative basis) was about 70,000,000 rubles in 1894; in 1913 - about 620,000,000 rubles (an increase of 800%), and by January 1, 1917 - 1,200,000,000 rubles.
On the eve of the revolution, Russian agriculture was in full bloom. During the two decades preceding the 1914-18 war, the grain harvest doubled. In 1913, in Russia the harvest of major cereals was 1/3 higher than that of Argentina, Canada and the United States. States combined.
During the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, Russia was the main breadwinner of Western Europe.
Russia supplied 50% of the world's egg imports.
During the same period of time, sugar consumption per inhabitant increased from 4 to 9 kg. in year.
On the eve of World War I, Russia produced 80% of the world's flax production.
Thanks to extensive irrigation work in Turkestan, undertaken during the reign of Emperor Alexander III, the cotton harvest in 1913 covered all the annual needs of the Russian textile industry. The latter doubled its production between 1894 and 1911.
The railway network in Russia covered 74,000 versts (one verst equals 1,067 km), of which the Great Siberian Road (8,000 versts) was the longest in the world.
In 1916, i.e. at the height of the war, more than 2,000 miles of railways were built, which connected the Arctic Ocean (port of Romanovsk) with the center of Russia.
In Tsarist Russia in the period from 1880 to 1917, i.e. in 37 years, 58,251 km were built. For 38 years of Soviet power, i.e. by the end of 1956, only 36,250 km had been built. expensive
On the eve of the war of 1914-18. the net income of the state railways covered 83% of the annual interest and amortization of the public debt. In other words, the payment of debts, both internal and external, was ensured in a proportion of more than 4/5 by the income alone that the Russian state received from the operation of its railways.
It should be added that Russian railways, compared to others, were the cheapest and most comfortable in the world for passengers.
Industrial development in the Russian Empire was naturally accompanied by a significant increase in the number of factory workers, whose economic well-being, as well as the protection of their lives and health, were the subject of special concerns of the Imperial Government.
It should be noted that it was in Imperial Russia, and moreover in the 18th century, during the reign of Empress Catherine II (1762-1796), for the first time in the whole world, laws were issued regarding working conditions: the work of women and children in factories was prohibited a 10-hour working day was established, etc. It is characteristic that the code of Empress Catherine, which regulated child and female labor, printed in French and Latin, was prohibited from publication in France and England as “seditious.”
During the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, before the convening of the 1st State Duma, special laws were issued to ensure the safety of workers in the mining industry, on railways and in enterprises that were especially dangerous to the life and health of workers.
Child labor under 12 years of age was prohibited, and minors and females could not be hired for factory work between 9 pm and 5 am.
The amount of penalty deductions could not exceed one third of wages, and each fine had to be approved by a factory inspector. The fine money went into a special fund intended to meet the needs of the workers themselves.
In 1882, a special law regulated the work of children from 12 to 15 years old. In 1903, worker elders were introduced, elected by factory workers of the relevant workshops. The existence of workers' unions was recognized by law in 1906.
At that time, Imperial social legislation was undoubtedly the most progressive in the world. This forced Taft, then President of the Union. States, two years before the 1st World War, publicly declare, in the presence of several Russian dignitaries: “Your Emperor created such perfect labor legislation that no democratic state can boast of.”
During the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, public education achieved extraordinary development. In less than 20 years, loans allocated to the Ministry of Public Education, from 25.2 mil. rubles increased to 161.2 mil.
This did not include the budgets of schools that received their loans from other sources (military, technical schools), or those maintained by local self-government bodies (zemstvos, cities), whose loans for public education increased from 70,000,000 rubles. in 1894 up to 300,000,000 rubles. in 1913
Initial training was free by law, and from 1908 it became compulsory. Since this year, about 10,000 schools have been opened annually. In 1913 their number exceeded 130,000.
In terms of the number of women studying in higher educational institutions, Russia ranked first in Europe, if not in the whole world, in the 20th century.
The reign of Nicholas II was a period of the highest rates of economic growth in Russian history. For 1880-1910 The growth rate of Russian industrial output exceeded 9% per year. According to this indicator, Russia has taken first place in the world, ahead of even the rapidly developing United States of America (although it should be noted that on this issue different economists give different estimates, some put the Russian Empire in first place, others - the United States, but the fact that the pace growth were comparable - an indisputable fact). Russia has taken first place in the world in the production of the main agricultural crops, growing more than half of the world's rye, more than a quarter of wheat, oats and barley, and more than a third of potatoes. Russia has become the main exporter of agricultural products, the first “granary of Europe”. Its share accounted for 2/5 of all world exports of peasant products.
Successes in agricultural production were the result of historical events: the abolition of serfdom in 1861 by Alexander II and the Stolypin land reform during the reign of Nicholas II, as a result of which more than 80% of arable land ended up in the hands of peasants, and almost all of it in the Asian part. The area of landowners' lands was steadily declining. Granting peasants the right to freely dispose of their land and the abolition of communities had enormous national significance, the benefits of which, first of all, the peasants themselves were aware of.
The autocratic form of government did not impede Russia's economic progress. According to the manifesto of October 17, 1905, the population of Russia received the right to personal integrity, freedom of speech, press, assembly, and unions. Political parties grew in the country, and thousands of periodicals were published. The Parliament - the State Duma - was elected by free will. Russia was becoming a rule of law state - the judiciary was practically separated from the executive.
The rapid development of the level of industrial and agricultural production and a positive trade balance allowed Russia to have a stable gold convertible currency. The Emperor attached great importance to the development of railways. Even in his youth, he participated in the laying of the famous Siberian road.
During the reign of Nicholas II, the best labor legislation for those times was created in Russia, providing for the regulation of working hours, the choice of worker elders, remuneration for accidents at work, compulsory insurance of workers against illness, disability and old age. The Emperor actively promoted the development of Russian culture, art, science, and reforms of the army and navy.
All these achievements of the economic and social development of Russia are the result of the natural historical process of development of Russia and are objectively related to the 300th anniversary of the reign of the House of Romanov.
The French economist Théry wrote: “Not a single European nation has achieved such results.”
The myth is that workers lived very poorly.
1. Workers. The average salary of a worker in Russia was 37.5 rubles. Let us multiply this amount by 1282.29 (the ratio of the Tsarist ruble exchange rate to the modern one) and get an amount of 48,085 thousand rubles in modern terms.
2. Janitor 18 rubles or 23081 rubles. with modern money
3. Second lieutenant (modern equivalent - lieutenant) 70 rub. or 89,760 rub. with modern money
4. Policeman (ordinary police officer) 20.5 rubles. or 26,287 rub. with modern money
5. Workers (St. Petersburg). It is interesting that the average salary in St. Petersburg was lower and by 1914 amounted to 22 rubles 53 kopecks. Let's multiply this amount by 1282.29 and get 28890 Russian rubles.
6. Cook 5 - 8 r. or 6.5.-10 thousand in modern money
7. Primary school teacher 25 rub. or 32050 rub. with modern money
8. Gymnasium teacher 85 rub. or 108970 rub. with modern money
9.. Senior janitor 40 rub. or 51,297 rub. with modern money
10..District warden (modern analogue - local police officer) 50 rub. or 64,115 in modern money
11. Paramedic 40 rub. or 51280 rub.
12. Colonel 325 rub. or 416,744 rub. with modern money
13. Collegiate assessor (middle class official) 62 rubles. or 79,502 rub. with modern money
14. Privy Councilor (high-class official) 500 or 641,145 in modern money. An army general received the same amount
How much, you ask, did the products cost back then? A pound of meat in 1914 cost 19 kopecks. The Russian pound weighed 0.40951241 grams. This means that a kilogram, if it were then a measure of weight, would cost 46.39 kopecks - 0.359 grams of gold, that is, in today's money, 551 rubles 14 kopecks. Thus, a worker could buy 48.6 kilograms of meat with his salary, if, of course, he wanted.
Wheat flour 0.08 rub. (8 kopecks) = 1 pound (0.4 kg)
Rice pound 0.12 rubles = 1 pound (0.4 kg)
Biscuit RUR 0.60 = 1 lb (0.4 kg)
Milk 0.08 rubles = 1 bottle
Tomatoes 0.22 rub. = 1 pound
Fish (pike perch) 0.25 rub. = 1 pound
Grapes (raisins) 0.16 rubles = 1 pound
Apples 0.03 rub. = 1 pound
A very worthy life!!!
Hence the opportunity to support a large family.
Now let's see how much it cost to rent a house. Renting housing cost 25 in St. Petersburg, and 20 kopecks per square arshin per month in Moscow and Kyiv. These 20 kopecks today amount to 256 rubles, and a square arshin is 0.5058 m². That is, the monthly rent of one square meter cost in 1914 506 today's rubles. Our clerk would rent an apartment of one hundred square arshins in St. Petersburg for 25 rubles a month. But he did not rent such an apartment, but was content with a basement and attic closet, where the area was smaller and the rental rate was lower. Such an apartment was rented, as a rule, by titular advisers who received a salary at the level of an army captain. The bare salary of a titular adviser was 105 rubles per month (134 thousand 640 rubles) per month. Thus, a 50-meter apartment cost him less than a quarter of his salary.
The myth about the weakness of the king's character.
French President Loubet said: “People usually see Emperor Nicholas II as a kind, generous, but weak man. This is a deep mistake. He always has long-thought-out plans, the implementation of which he slowly achieves. Beneath his apparent timidity, the king has a strong soul and a courageous heart, unshakably loyal. He knows where he's going and what he wants."
Tsar's service required strength of character, which Nicholas II possessed. During the Holy Coronation to the Russian Throne on May 27, 1895, Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow in his address to the Sovereign said: “Just as there is no higher, so there is no more difficult on earth royal power, there is no burden heavier than royal service. Through visible anointing may invisible power from above be given to you, acting to exalt your royal virtues..."
A number of arguments refuting this myth are presented in the above-mentioned work by A. Eliseev.
Thus, in particular, S. Oldenburg wrote that the Tsar had an iron hand; many are only deceived by the velvet glove he wore.
The presence of a strong will in Nicholas II is brilliantly confirmed by the events of August 1915, when he assumed the responsibilities of Supreme Commander-in-Chief - against the wishes of the military elite, the Council of Ministers and all “public opinion”. And, I must say, he coped with these responsibilities brilliantly.
The Emperor did a lot to improve the country's defense capability, having learned the hard lessons of the Russo-Japanese War. Perhaps his most significant act was the revival of the Russian fleet, which saved the country at the beginning of the First World War. It happened against the will of military officials. The Emperor was even forced to dismiss Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich. Military historian G. Nekrasov writes: “It must be noted that, despite its overwhelming superiority in forces in the Baltic Sea, the German fleet made no attempts to break into the Gulf of Finland in order to bring Russia to its knees with one blow. Theoretically, this was possible, since most of Russia's military industry was concentrated in St. Petersburg. But in the way of the German fleet stood the Baltic Fleet, ready to fight, with ready-made mine positions. The cost of a breakthrough for the German fleet was becoming unacceptably expensive. Thus, only by the fact that he achieved the reconstruction of the fleet, Emperor Nicholas II saved Russia from imminent defeat. This should not be forgotten!”
We especially note that the Emperor made absolutely all the important decisions contributing to victorious actions himself - without the influence of any “good geniuses”. The opinion that the Russian army was led by Alekseev, and the Tsar was in the post of Commander-in-Chief for the sake of formality, is completely unfounded. This false opinion is refuted by Alekseev’s own telegrams. For example, in one of them, in response to a request to send ammunition and weapons, Alekseev replies: “I cannot resolve this issue without the Highest permission.”
The myth that Russia was a prison of nations.
Russia was a family of peoples thanks to the balanced and thoughtful policies of the Sovereign. The Russian Tsar-Father was considered the monarch of all peoples and tribes living on the territory of the Russian Empire.
He pursued a national policy based on respect for traditional religions - the historical subjects of state building in Russia. And this is not only Orthodoxy, but also Islam. So, in particular, the mullahs were supported by the Russian Empire and received a salary. Many Muslims fought for Russia.
The Russian Tsar honored the feat of all peoples who served the Fatherland. Here is the text of the telegram, which serves as clear confirmation of this:
TELEGRAM
The Ingush regiment fell on the German iron division like a mountain avalanche. He was immediately supported by the Chechen regiment.
In the history of the Russian Fatherland, including our Preobrazhensky Regiment, there was no case of a cavalry attack on an enemy heavy artillery unit.
4.5 thousand killed, 3.5 thousand captured, 2.5 thousand wounded. In less than 1.5 hours, the iron division, which the best military units of our allies, including those in the Russian army, were afraid to come into contact with, ceased to exist.
Convey on my behalf, on behalf of the royal court and on behalf of the Russian army fraternal heartfelt greetings to the fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and brides of these brave eagles of the Caucasus, who with their immortal feat marked the beginning of the end of the German hordes.
Russia will never forget this feat. Honor and praise to them!
With fraternal greetings, Nicholas II.
The myth that Russia under the Tsar was defeated in the First World War.
S.S. Oldenburg, in his book “The Reign of Emperor Nicholas II,” wrote: “The most difficult and most forgotten feat of Emperor Nicholas II was that, under incredibly difficult conditions, he brought Russia to the threshold of victory: his opponents did not allow her to cross this threshold.”
General N.A. Lokhvitsky wrote: “...It took Peter the Great nine years to turn the Narva vanquished into the Poltava victors.
The last Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army, Emperor Nicholas II, did the same great work in a year and a half. But his work was appreciated by his enemies, and between the Sovereign and his Army and victory “there was a revolution.”
A. Eliseev cites the following facts. The Sovereign's military talents were fully revealed at the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Already the very first decisions of the new commander-in-chief led to a significant improvement in the situation at the front. Thus, he organized the Vilna-Molodechno operation (September 3 - October 2, 1915). The Emperor managed to stop a major German offensive, as a result of which the city of Borisov was captured. He issued a timely directive ordering an end to panic and retreat. As a result, the onslaught of the 10th German Army was stopped, which was forced to retreat - in some places completely disorderly. The 26th Mogilev Infantry Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Petrov (a total of 8 officers and 359 bayonets) made its way to the German rear and during a surprise attack captured 16 guns. In total, the Russians managed to capture 2,000 prisoners, 39 guns and 45 machine guns. “But most importantly,” notes historian P.V. Multatuli, “the troops regained confidence in their ability to beat the Germans.”
Russia definitely began to win the war. After the failures of 1915, the triumphant 1916 came - the year of the Brusilov breakthrough. During the fighting on the Southwestern Front, the enemy lost one and a half million people killed, wounded and captured. Austria-Hungary was on the verge of defeat.
It was the Emperor who supported Brusilov’s offensive plan, with which many military leaders did not agree. Thus, the plan of the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief M.V. Alekseev provided for a powerful strike on the enemy by forces of all fronts, with the exception of the Brusilov Front.
The latter believed that his front was also quite capable of an offensive, with which other front commanders disagreed. However, Nicholas II decisively supported Brusilov, and without this support the famous breakthrough would simply have been impossible.
Historian A. Zayonchkovsky wrote that the Russian army achieved “in terms of its numbers and technical supply with everything necessary, the greatest development in the entire war.” More than two hundred combat-ready divisions confronted the enemy. Russia was preparing to crush the enemy. In January 1917, the Russian 12th Army launched an offensive from the Riga bridgehead and took the German 10th Army by surprise, which found itself in a catastrophic situation.
The chief of staff of the German army, General Ludendorff, who cannot be suspected of sympathizing with Nicholas II, wrote about the situation in Germany in 1916 and about the increase in the military power of Russia:
“Russia is expanding its military formations. The reorganization she has undertaken gives a great increase in strength. In its divisions it left only 12 battalions, and in its batteries only 6 guns, and from the battalions and guns liberated in this way it formed new combat units.
The battles of 1916 on the Eastern Front showed an increase in Russian military equipment and an increase in the number of firearms supplies. Russia has moved some of its factories to the Donetsk basin, greatly increasing their productivity.
We understood that the numerical and technical superiority of the Russians in 1917 would be felt even more acutely than in 1916.
Our situation was extremely difficult and there was almost no way out of it. There was no point in thinking about our own offensive - all reserves were needed for defense. Our defeat seemed inevitable... food supply was difficult. The rear was also seriously damaged.
The prospects for the future were extremely bleak.”
Moreover, as Oldenburg writes, on the initiative of Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, in the summer of 1916, a commission was established to prepare a future peace conference in order to determine in advance what Russia’s wishes would be. Russia was to receive Constantinople and the straits, as well as Turkish Armenia.
Poland was to be reunited in a personal union with Russia. The Emperor declared (at the end of December) gr. Wielepolsky that he thinks of a free Poland as a state with a separate constitution, separate chambers and its own army (apparently, he meant something like the situation of the Kingdom of Poland under Alexander I).
Eastern Galicia, Northern Bukovina and Carpathian Rus' were to be included in Russia. The creation of a Czechoslovak kingdom was planned; regiments of captured Czechs and Slovaks were already being formed on Russian territory.
B. Brasol “The reign of Emperor Nicholas II in figures and facts”
Biography of Emperor Nicholas 2 Alexandrovich
Nicholas II Alexandrovich (born - May 6 (18), 1868, death - July 17, 1918, Yekaterinburg) - Emperor of All Russia, from the imperial house of Romanov.
Childhood
The heir to the Russian throne, Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich, grew up in the atmosphere of a luxurious imperial court, but in a strict and, one might say, Spartan environment. His father, Emperor Alexander III, and mother, Danish princess Dagmara (Empress Maria Feodorovna) fundamentally did not allow any weaknesses or sentimentality in raising children. A strict daily routine was always established for them, with mandatory daily lessons, visits to church services, mandatory visits to relatives, and mandatory participation in many official ceremonies. The children slept on simple soldier's beds with hard pillows, took cold baths in the mornings and were given oatmeal for breakfast.
The youth of the future emperor
1887 - Nikolai was promoted to staff captain and assigned to the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. There he was listed for two years, first performing the duties of a platoon commander and then a company commander. Then, to join the cavalry service, his father transferred him to the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, where Nikolai took command of the squadron.
Thanks to his modesty and simplicity, the prince was quite popular among his fellow officers. 1890 - his training was completed. The father did not burden the heir to the throne with state affairs. He appeared from time to time at meetings of the State Council, but his gaze was constantly directed at his watch. Like all guard officers, Nikolai devoted a lot of time to social life, often visited the theater: he adored opera and ballet.
Nicholas and Alice of Hesse
Nicholas II in childhood and youth
Apparently women also occupied him. But it is interesting that Nikolai experienced his first serious feelings for Princess Alice of Hesse, who later became his wife. They first met in 1884 in St. Petersburg at the wedding of Ella of Hesse (Alice's older sister) with Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. She was 12 years old, he was 16. 1889 - Alix spent 6 weeks in St. Petersburg.
Later, Nikolai wrote: “I dream of someday marrying Alix G. I have loved her for a long time, but especially deeply and strongly since 1889... All this long time I did not believe my feeling, did not believe that my cherished dream could come true.”
In reality, the heir had to overcome many obstacles. Parents offered Nicholas other parties, but he resolutely refused to associate himself with any other princess.
Ascension to the throne
1894, spring - Alexander III and Maria Fedorovna were forced to give in to their son’s wishes. Preparations for the wedding have begun. But before it could be played, Alexander III died on October 20, 1894. For no one was the death of an emperor more significant than for the 26-year-old young man who inherited his throne.
“I saw tears in his eyes,” recalled Grand Duke Alexander. “He took me by the arm and led me downstairs to his room. We hugged and both cried. He couldn't gather his thoughts. He knew that he had now become an emperor, and the severity of this terrible event struck him down... “Sandro, what should I do? - he exclaimed pathetically. - What is going to happen to me, to you... to Alix, to my mother, to all of Russia? I'm not ready to be a king. I never wanted to be him. I don't understand anything about government affairs. I don’t even have a clue how to talk to ministers.’”
The next day, when the palace was draped in black, Alix converted to Orthodoxy and from that day began to be called Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna. On November 7, the solemn burial of the late emperor took place in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, and a week later the wedding of Nicholas and Alexandra took place. On the occasion of mourning there was no ceremonial reception or honeymoon.
Personal life and royal family
1895, spring - Nicholas II moved his wife to Tsarskoe Selo. They settled in the Alexander Palace, which remained the main home of the imperial couple for 22 years. Everything here was arranged according to their tastes and desires, and therefore Tsarskoye always remained their favorite place. Nikolai usually got up at 7, had breakfast and disappeared into his office to start work.
By nature, he was a loner and preferred to do everything himself. At 11 o'clock the king interrupted his classes and went for a walk in the park. When children appeared, they invariably accompanied him on these walks. Lunch in the middle of the day was a formal ceremonial occasion. Although the Empress was usually absent, the Emperor dined with his daughters and members of his retinue. The meal began, according to Russian custom, with prayer.
Neither Nikolai nor Alexandra liked expensive, complex dishes. He received great pleasure from borscht, porridge, and boiled fish with vegetables. But the king’s favorite dish was roasted young pig with horseradish, which he washed down with port wine. After lunch, Nikolai took a horseback ride along the surrounding rural roads in the direction of Krasnoe Selo. At 4 o'clock the family gathered for tea. According to etiquette, introduced back in the day, only crackers, butter and English biscuits were served with tea. Cakes and sweets were not allowed. Sipping tea, Nikolai quickly looked through newspapers and telegrams. Afterwards he returned to his work, receiving a stream of visitors between 5 and 8 p.m.
At exactly 20 o'clock all official meetings ended, and Nicholas II could go to dinner. In the evening, the emperor often sat in the family living room, reading aloud, while his wife and daughters worked on needlework. According to his choice, it could be Tolstoy, Turgenev or his favorite writer Gogol. However, there could have been some kind of fashionable romance. The sovereign's personal librarian selected for him 20 of the best books a month from all over the world. Sometimes, instead of reading, the family spent evenings pasting photographs taken by the court photographer or themselves into green leather albums embossed with the royal monogram in gold.
Nicholas II with his wife
The end of the day came at 11 pm with the serving of evening tea. Before leaving, the emperor wrote notes in his diary, and then took a bath, went to bed and usually immediately fell asleep. It is noted that, unlike many families of European monarchs, the Russian imperial couple had a common bed.
1904, July 30 (August 12) - the 5th child was born in the imperial family. To the great joy of the parents it was a boy. The king wrote in his diary: “A great, unforgettable day for us, on which the mercy of God so clearly visited us. At 1 o’clock in the afternoon Alix gave birth to a son, who was named Alexei during prayer.”
On the occasion of the appearance of the heir, guns were fired throughout Russia, bells rang and flags fluttered. However, a few weeks later, the imperial couple was shocked by the terrible news - it turned out that their son had hemophilia. The following years passed in a difficult struggle for the life and health of the heir. Any bleeding, any injection could lead to death. The torment of their beloved son tore the hearts of the parents. Alexei's illness had a particularly painful effect on the empress, who over the years began to suffer from hysteria, she became suspicious and extremely religious.
Reign of Nicholas II
Meanwhile, Russia was going through one of the most turbulent stages of its history. After the Japanese War, the first revolution began, suppressed with great difficulty. Nicholas II had to agree to the establishment of the State Duma. The next 7 years were lived in peace and even relative prosperity.
Promoted by the emperor, Stolypin began to carry out his reforms. At one time it seemed that Russia would be able to avoid new social upheavals, but the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 made the revolution inevitable. The crushing defeats of the Russian army in the spring and summer of 1915 forced Nicholas 2 to lead the troops himself.
From that time on, he was on duty in Mogilev and could not delve deeply into state affairs. Alexandra began to help her husband with great zeal, but it seems that she harmed him more than she actually helped. Both senior officials, grand dukes, and foreign diplomats felt the approach of revolution. They tried as best they could to warn the emperor. Repeatedly during these months, Nicholas II was offered to remove Alexandra from affairs and create a government in which the people and the Duma would have confidence. But all these attempts were unsuccessful. The Emperor gave his word, despite everything, to preserve autocracy in Russia and transfer it whole and unshakable to his son; Now, when pressure was put on him from all sides, he remained faithful to his oath.
Revolution. Abdication
1917, February 22 - without making a decision on the new government, Nicholas II went to Headquarters. Immediately after his departure, unrest began in Petrograd. On February 27, the alarmed emperor decided to return to the capital. On the way, at one of the stations, he accidentally learned that a temporary committee of the State Duma, headed by Rodzianko, was already operating in Petrograd. Then, after consulting with the generals of his retinue, Nikolai decided to make his way to Pskov. Here, on March 1, from the commander of the Northern Front, General Ruzsky, Nikolai learned the latest amazing news: the entire garrison of Petrograd and Tsarskoye Selo went over to the side of the revolution.
His example was followed by the Guard, the Cossack convoy and the Guards crew with Grand Duke Kirill at their head. The negotiations with the front commanders, undertaken by telegraph, finally defeated the tsar. All the generals were merciless and unanimous: it was no longer possible to stop the revolution by force; In order to avoid civil war and bloodshed, Emperor Nicholas 2 must abdicate the throne. After painful hesitation, late in the evening of March 2, Nicholas signed his abdication.
Arrest
Nicholas 2 with his wife and children
The next day, he gave the order for his train to go to Headquarters, to Mogilev, as he wanted to say goodbye to the army one last time. Here, on March 8, the emperor was arrested and taken under escort to Tsarskoye Selo. From that day on, a time of constant humiliation began for him. The guard behaved defiantly rudely. It was even more offensive to see the betrayal of those people who were used to being considered the closest. Almost all the servants and most of the ladies-in-waiting abandoned the palace and the empress. Doctor Ostrogradsky refused to go to the sick Alexei, saying that he “finds the road too dirty” for further visits.
Meanwhile, the situation in the country began to deteriorate again. Kerensky, who by that time had become the head of the Provisional Government, decided that for security reasons the royal family should be sent away from the capital. After much hesitation, he gave the order to transport the Romanovs to Tobolsk. The move took place in early August in deep secrecy.
The royal family lived in Tobolsk for 8 months. Her financial situation was very cramped. Alexandra wrote to Anna Vyrubova: “I am knitting socks for little (Alexey). He requires a couple more, since he is all in holes... I'm doing everything now. Dad’s (the king’s) pants were torn and needed mending, and the girls’ underwear was in rags... I became completely grey...” After the October coup, the situation for the prisoners became even worse.
1918, April - the Romanov family was transported to Yekaterinburg, they were settled in the house of the merchant Ipatiev, which was destined to become their last prison. 12 people lived in the 5 upper rooms of the 2nd floor. Nicholas, Alexandra and Alexey lived in the first, and the Grand Duchesses lived in the second. The rest was divided among the servants. In the new place, the former emperor and his relatives felt like real prisoners. Behind the fence and on the street there was an external guard of Red Guards. There were always several people with revolvers in the house.
This internal guard was selected from among the most reliable Bolsheviks and was very hostile. It was commanded by Alexander Avdeev, who called the emperor nothing more than “Nicholas the Bloody.” None of the members of the royal family could have privacy, and even to the toilet the grand duchesses walked accompanied by one of the guards. For breakfast, only black bread and tea were served. Lunch consisted of soup and cutlets. The guards often took pieces from the pan with their hands in front of the diners. The prisoners' clothes were completely shabby.
On July 4, the Ural Soviet removed Avdeev and his people. They were replaced by 10 security officers led by Yurovsky. Despite the fact that he was much more polite than Avdeev, Nikolai felt the threat emanating from him from the first days. In fact, the clouds were gathering over the family of the last Russian emperor. At the end of May, a Czechoslovak rebellion broke out in Siberia, the Urals and the Volga region. The Czechs launched a successful attack on Yekaterinburg. On July 12, the Ural Council received permission from Moscow to decide for itself the fate of the deposed dynasty. The Council decided to shoot all the Romanovs and entrusted the execution to Yurovsky. Later, the White Guards were able to capture several participants in the execution and, from their words, reconstruct in all details the picture of the execution.
Execution of the Romanov family
On July 16, Yurovsky distributed 12 revolvers to the security officers and announced that the execution would take place today. At midnight he woke up all the prisoners, ordered them to quickly get dressed and go downstairs. It was announced that the Czechs and Whites were approaching Yekaterinburg, and the local Council decided that they must leave. Nikolai went down the stairs first, carrying Alexei in his arms. Anastasia held her spaniel Jimmy in her arms. Along the ground floor, Yurovsky led them to a semi-basement room. There he asked to wait until the cars arrived. Nikolai asked for chairs for his son and wife. Yurovsky ordered three chairs to be brought. In addition to the Romanov family, there was Doctor Botkin, footman Trupp, cook Kharitonov and the Empress Demidova's room girl.
When everyone had gathered, Yurovsky re-entered the room, accompanied by the entire Cheka detachment with revolvers in their hands. Coming forward, he quickly said: “Due to the fact that your relatives continue to attack Soviet Russia, the Urals Executive Committee decided to shoot you.”
Nikolai, continuing to support Alexei with his hand, began to rise from the chair. He only managed to say: “What?” and then Yurovsky shot him in the head. At this signal, the security officers began shooting. Alexandra Fedorovna, Olga, Tatyana and Maria were killed on the spot. Botkin, Kharitonov and Trupp were mortally wounded. Demidova remained on her feet. The security officers grabbed their rifles and began to pursue her in order to finish her off with bayonets. Screaming, she rushed from one wall to another and eventually fell, receiving more than 30 wounds. The dog's head was smashed with a rifle butt. When silence reigned in the room, the heavy breathing of the Tsarevich was heard - he was still alive. Yurovsky reloaded the revolver and shot the boy twice in the ear. Just at that moment, Anastasia, who was only unconscious, woke up and screamed. She was finished off with bayonets and rifle butts...
Nicholas II (short biography)
Nicholas II (May 18, 1868 – July 17, 1918) was the last Russian emperor, as well as the son of Alexander III. Thanks to this, he received an excellent education, studying languages, military affairs, law, economics, literature and history. Nicholas had to sit on the throne quite early due to the death of his father.
On May 26, 1896, the coronation of Nicholas II and his wife took place. On these holidays, a terrible event also took place, which remained in history under the name “Khodynki”, which resulted in the death of many people (according to some sources, more than one thousand two hundred people).
During the reign of Nicholas II, the state experienced an unprecedented economic growth. At the same time, the agricultural sector was significantly strengthened - the state became the main exporter of agricultural products in Europe. A gold stable currency is also being introduced. The industry is developing at an active pace: enterprises are being built, large cities are growing, and railways are being built. Nicholas II was a successful reformer. So, he introduces a standard day for workers, providing them with insurance and carrying out excellent reforms for the navy and army. Emperor Nicholas fully supported the development of science and culture in the state.
However, despite such an improvement in the life of the country, popular unrest still occurred. For example, in January 1905, the first Russian revolution took place, the stimulus for which was an event referred to by historians as “Bloody Sunday.” As a result, on October 17 of the same year, the manifesto “On Improving Public Order” was adopted, which dealt with civil liberties. A parliament was formed which included the State Council and the State Duma. On June 3, the so-called “Third June Revolution” took place, changing the rules for electing members of the Duma.
In 1914, the First World War began, due to which the state of the state deteriorated significantly. Each of the failures in the battles undermined the authority of the ruler Nicholas II. In February 1917, an uprising began in Petrograd, which reached enormous proportions. On March 2, 1917, fearing large-scale bloodshed, Nicholas signed an act of abdication of the Russian throne.
On March 9, 1917, the provisional government arrested the entire Romanov family, after which it was sent to the Tsar’s village. In August they were transported to Tobolsk, and already in April 1918 - to Yekaterinburg. On the night from the sixteenth to the seventeenth of July, the Romanovs were taken to the basement, the death sentence was read out and they were shot.
- The frigate Neustrashimy will be returned to the Russian Navy
- Japanese authorities awarded five Russians the Order of the Rising Sun
- Squadron battleships of the Andrei Pervozvanny type (Eagles of the Fatherland) Battleship Andrei Pervozvanny drawings
- "Giulio Cesare - Novorossiysk" - battleship of Italy - Russia