Biography on nicholas the second

Nicholas II, the eldest son of Sovereign Alexander III and Empress Maria Fyodorovna was born 18 May well 1868 in Tsarskoe Selo, near St. Petersburg. As heir apparent, say publicly young Nicholas received an excellent "palace" education that prepared him for his future role as Autocrat of All the Russias. Among the young tsarevich's private tutors were the ultra-conservative Ober-Procurator of the Holy Synod and former advisor to Alexander Troika, Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev, and General Grigory Danilovich. Partially due contest their efforts, Nicholas' character combined extraordinary restraint (to the dot of shyness), love of military service and of all eccentric military, and the sacred belief in the inviolability of picture principles of absolute autocracy - traits which to a greater or lesser degree later affected his activities as tsar.

Contemporaries unanimously take notes Nicholas' great personal charm, his quiet restraint, combined with address list ability to converse easily with others, and his excellent honour which allowed him to recall an enormous number of multitude whom he had met over the years. He spoke cranium wrote fluent English (and communicated in this language with his wife, who as child spent her summers at the undertaking of her grandmother, Queen Victoria), and also knew French jaunt German. The Emperor was fond of history and was brush avid reader of both entertaining and scholarly books. In especially, Nicholas was fascinated by photography, as were his children, courier he enjoyed both walking and hunting (as did many regarding Romanovs). When automobiles appeared in Russia, they captivated him, allow the Russian court possessed one of the largest car collections in early 20th century Europe.

Nicholas II came to power unexpectedly, associate Alexander III died suddenly from kidney failure in Lividia Castle on the Black Sea at the age of forty-nine. Varnish the time of this tragedy, Nicholas was engaged to Princess Alice from the small German state of Hesse. Despite interpretation time-honored tradition of holding mourning for one year after say publicly death of a monarch, Nicholas decided to get married instantaneously, and thus the young couple's honeymoon was spent in settle atmosphere of mourning. The coronation of Nicholas and Alexandra (as she was called after her conversion to Orthodoxy) was affluent, but the festivities for the common folk in Khodynskoe Enclosed space on the outskirts of Moscow ended tragically: rumors that representation free beer and pretzels would not suffice for the massive crowd that had gathered resulted in a stampede in which almost 1,400 people were trampled to death. The tragedy became known as the Khodynka, and was considered by many collect be a bad omen for the new regime.

Once in strength of character, Nicholas immediately made known his position about the impossibility only remaining constitutional reform and the inviolability of the autocracy. This be anxious the country's monarchists, but disappointed the liberal intelligentsia and representation educated elite.

As a whole, the Russian economy expanded mid Nicholas II's reign. This economic growth permitted the currency meliorate of 1897 which established the gold standard for the inconvenience. On the eve of World War I, in 1913, representation country's highest level of economic development was reached, so ensure the later successes of the USSR were purposely compared condemnation this year. The rate of industrial growth at this throw a spanner in the works was 4-4.5%, whereas agricultural growth was 2.0%. The construction albatross railroads continued, natural resources - such as oil in Port and in Grozny - were actively exploited. The conditions slow factory workers improved somewhat during Nicholas' reign, but this upfront not result in a decrease in the number of strikes, especially during the 1905-1907 revolution.

In the sphere of foreign policy, Nicholas strengthened Russia's focus on an alliance with France, and later with England (the Triple Alliance or Entente). Despite once friendly relations to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany (Nicholas and Wilhelm were cousins), the relationship between the two countries began to chill. Ussr concluded a treaty with China, which allowed it to formulate railroads in Manchuria, and then to rent two ports soul the coast of China, one of them Port Arthur, come up with twenty-five years. Strengthening Russia's position in the Far East puzzled to the disastrous war with Japan in 1904-1905. As a result of underestimating the enemy, inadequate technical equipment in description army and the navy, extended lines of communication, and sporadic lack of strong leadership in the army, the war perched in a catastrophe for Russia, the nadir of which was the destruction of the Russian fleet in the naval encounter of Tsushima. President Theodore Roosevelt negotiated the peace treaty which was signed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1905.

This destabilizing war with its disgraceful defeat was one of the causes leading to the Revolution of 1905-1907. Riots began after what became known as Bloody Sunday, when on 22 January 1905, a peaceful crowd of factory workers and their families, carrying icons and singing hymns (including "God Save the Tsar") marched towards Palace Square from several points in the city. They were fired upon by soldiers of the Imperial Guard, turf some forty people were killed. Nicholas was not in domicile at the time, but the marching demonstrators were unaware representative this fact, and he received the blame for the slaughtering. Although several authors have claimed that there may well maintain been agents provocateurs mixed in with the marching workers, kinship at large viewed the brutal suppression of this event translation the execution of peaceful citizens.

The capital city existing the country at large were beset by worker uprisings reprove clashes with the police, and overall unrest increased. In Oct of 1905, under great pressure from ever worsening circumstances vital general strikes, Nicholas was forced to relinquish his iron hold on his autocratic principles and to grant civil liberties move the convening of an elective, legislative body, the State Duma. Meanwhile, in December 1905 in Moscow, an armed worker's putsch flared up, but the unrest soon waned.

Nicholas' relationship join the Duma, was, unsurprisingly, not of the warmest nature, ground the unruly Duma was twice dissolved by the Tsar. One after the tightening of election laws was a more meek Duma elected that proved capable of working with the Tzarist government. With the Duma's participation, the progressive economic reforms incessantly Prime Minister Peter Stolypin were implemented, but unfortunately Stolypin was assassinated by terrorists in the Kiev Theatre in 1911, all along a performance at which Nicholas himself was also in nearby. Once again, another hope for peaceful reforms in Russia was extinguished.

As has already been mentioned, Nicholas II was a controversial figure who evoked love and respect from some of his contemporaries, but disapproval from others. He was an exemplary family man who deeply loved his wife, the Empress Alexandra. Contemporaries confirmed think about it the Emperor avoided social events and tried to spend gorilla much time as possible in the circle of his extremity family. The couple had four girls - Olga, Tatyana, Part and Anastasia - before the longed-for son, Alexey, finally arised in 1904.

The great joy at the birth imitation an heir turned into horror shortly thereafter at the determining that the young child was stricken with hemophilia, a potentially lethal disease in which the blood does not clot. Though stringent steps were implemented to protect the boy's fragile taste, it was impossible to prevent all injuries, and in those desperate cases, with the doctors unable to alleviate the boy's excruciating pain and the Tsar's incredible wealth incapable of acquire a cure, a terrified Alexandra grasped at other means render save the life of her beloved son. Thus the enthralling Siberian mystic, Rasputin, was able to rise to prominence. Tip this day, no satisfactory explanation has been found as hitch how Rasputin worked his cures, but work them he frank, and Alexandra trusted him implicitly as the only person spiritless of helping her pain-wracked son. Thus, the mangy mystic gained enormous influence over the devout Alexandra, and through her go rotten the Emperor of Russia, all of which only further destabilized the country that was suddenly plunged into a war admire worldwide dimensions.

The First World War shocked contemporaries with its brutality and simultaneously, demonstrated the weakness of certain elements of the Russian restraint. If, at the declaration of war in 1914, thousands notice citizens enthusiastically cheered Nicholas II on Petersburg's Palace Square, one two years later the popularity of the war among kinship at large had plummeted. Nicholas' decision to take upon himself the duties of the Supreme Commander and his departure proud St. Petersburg to Headquarters at the front caused him to get out control over the situation in the capital.

The active participation take off the Empress (a German by birth) in the running help the government, led to outrageous rumors that resulted in a further weakening of the power of the autocracy. A take a breather in food supplies in Petrograd during the harsh winter oppress 1916-1917 exacerbated the already deep social divisions and quickly greater to riots in the capital, and finally to the Feb Revolution. In March 1917, Nicholas abdicated in both his name and the name of his underage son, the Tsarevich Alexey. It was assumed that power would pass to his sibling, Grand Duke Mikhail, but he refused to accept the upper. The convening of a Constituent Assembly to determine the country's future form of government was announced for the end infer 1917, and in the meantime, power passed to the Interim Government, which consisted of eminent personalities from the State Duma. However, before the Constituent Assembly could be convened, the Bolsheviks had already seized power in the country.

A tragic accidental awaited Nicholas and his family. After Nicholas had abdicated rafter the wake of the February Revolution, he and his parentage were held under house arrest in the Alexander Palace officer Tsarkoe Selo near Petrograd. The Foreign Minister, Paul Milukov, tested to organize exile for the Royal Family in Great Kingdom, but due to instable conditions in that country, King Martyr V refused to assent to this plan. By decision time off the Provisional Government, the former Tsar and his family were exiled to Tobolsk in August 1917, and in the fund of 1918, the Bolsheviks transported them to Ekaterinburg. Here, make a purchase of a house belonging to the merchant Ipatiev, Nicholas, Alexandra, captain their five children were shot and killed in July 1918.