Nicholas II

Nicholas II
Russian SFSR
Cause of death	Execution by firing squad
Burial	17 July 1998 Peter and Paul Cathedral, Saint Petersburg , Russian Federation
Spouse	Alix of Hesse and by Rhine ​ ​ (m. 1894; their deaths 1918)​
Issue	Grand Duchess Olga Grand Duchess Tatiana Grand Duchess Maria Grand Duchess Anastasia Tsesarevich Alexei
Names Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov
Russian Orthodox
Signature
Nicholas II's voice Recorded 1910

Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov;

Nicholas signed the

Grand Duke Nicholas was born on 18 May [

Nicholas was of primarily German and

Grand Duke Nicholas was to have five younger siblings: Alexander (1869–1870), George (1871–1899), Xenia (1875–1960), Michael (1878–1918) and Olga (1882–1960). Nicholas often referred to his father nostalgically in letters after Alexander's death in 1894. He was also very close to his mother, as revealed in their published letters to each other.^[3] In his childhood, Nicholas, his parents and siblings made annual visits to the Danish royal palaces of Fredensborg and Bernstorff to visit his grandparents, the king and queen. The visits also served as family reunions, as his mother's siblings would also come from the United Kingdom, Germany and Greece with their respective families.^[4] It was there in 1883, that he had a flirtation with one of his British first cousins, Princess Victoria. In 1873, Nicholas also accompanied his parents and younger brother, two-year-old George, on a two-month, semi-official visit to the United Kingdom.^[5] In London, Nicholas and his family stayed at Marlborough House, as guests of his "Uncle Bertie" and "Aunt Alix", the Prince and Princess of Wales, where he was spoiled by his uncle.^[6]

Tsarevich

On 1 March 1881,

In 1890 Nicholas, his younger brother George, and their cousin Prince

Though Nicholas was heir-apparent to the throne, his father failed to prepare him for his future role as Tsar. He attended meetings of the State Council; however, as his father was only in his forties, it was expected that it would be many years before Nicholas succeeded to the throne.^[13] Sergei Witte, Russia's finance minister, saw things differently and suggested to the Tsar that Nicholas be appointed to the Siberian Railway Committee.^[14] Alexander argued that Nicholas was not mature enough to take on serious responsibilities, having once stated "Nikki is a good boy, but he has a poet's soul...God help him!" Witte stated that if Nicholas was not introduced to state affairs, he would never be ready to understand them.^[14] Alexander's assumptions that he would live a long life and had years to prepare Nicholas for becoming Tsar proved wrong, as by 1894, Alexander's health was failing.^[15]

Engagement

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

In April 1894, Nicholas joined his uncle Sergei and aunt Elizabeth on a journey to

That summer, Nicholas travelled to England to visit both Alix and the Queen. The visit coincided with the birth of the Duke and Duchess of York's first child, the future King Edward VIII. Along with being present at the christening, Nicholas and Alix were listed among the child's godparents.^[16] After several weeks in England, Nicholas returned home for the wedding of his sister, Xenia, to a cousin, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich ("Sandro").^[17]

By that autumn, Alexander III lay dying. Upon learning that he would live only a fortnight, the Tsar had Nicholas summon Alix to the

Nicholas may have felt unprepared for the duties of the crown, for he asked his cousin and brother-in-law, Grand Duke Alexander,[20] "What is going to happen to me and all of Russia?"^[21] Though perhaps under-prepared and unskilled, Nicholas was not altogether untrained for his duties as Tsar. Nicholas chose to maintain the conservative policies favoured by his father throughout his reign. While Alexander III had concentrated on the formulation of general policy, Nicholas devoted much more attention to the details of administration.^[22]

Leaving Livadia on 7 November, Tsar Alexander's funeral procession—which included Nicholas's maternal aunt through marriage and paternal first cousin once removed Queen Olga of Greece, and the Prince and Princess of Wales—arrived in Moscow. After lying in state in the Kremlin, the body of the Tsar was taken to St. Petersburg, where the funeral was held on 19 November.^[23]

Nicholas and Alix's wedding was originally scheduled for the spring of 1895, but it was moved forward at Nicholas's insistence. Staggering under the weight of his new office, he had no intention of allowing the one person who gave him confidence to leave his side.^[24] Instead, Nicholas's wedding to Alix took place on 26 November 1894, which was the birthday of the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna, and court mourning could be slightly relaxed. Alexandra wore the traditional dress of Romanov brides, and Nicholas a hussar's uniform. Nicholas and Alexandra, each holding a lit candle, faced the palace priest and were married a few minutes before one in the afternoon.^[25]

Coronation

Despite a visit to the United Kingdom in 1893, where he observed the

... it has come to my knowledge that during the last months there have been heard in some assemblies of the zemstvos the voices of those who have indulged in a senseless dream that the zemstvos be called upon to participate in the government of the country. I want everyone to know that I will devote all my strength to maintain, for the good of the whole nation, the principle of absolute autocracy, as firmly and as strongly as did my late lamented father.^[29]

On 26 May 1896, Nicholas's formal coronation as Tsar was held in Uspensky Cathedral located within the Kremlin.^[30]

In a celebration on 27 May 1896, a large festival with food, free beer and souvenir cups was held in Khodynka Field outside Moscow. Khodynka was chosen as the location as it was the only place near Moscow large enough to hold all of the Moscow citizens.^[31] Khodynka was primarily used as a military training ground and the field was uneven with trenches. Before the food and drink was handed out, rumours spread that there would not be enough for everyone. As a result, the crowd rushed to get their share and individuals were tripped and trampled upon, suffocating in the dirt of the field.^[32] Of the approximate 100,000 in attendance, it is estimated that 1,389 individuals died^[30] and roughly 1,300 were injured.^[31] The Khodynka Tragedy was seen as an ill omen and Nicholas found gaining popular trust difficult from the beginning of his reign. The French ambassador's gala was planned for that night. The Tsar wanted to stay in his chambers and pray for the lives lost, but his uncles believed that his absence at the ball would strain relations with France, particularly the 1894 Franco-Russian Alliance. Thus Nicholas attended the party; as a result the mourning populace saw Nicholas as frivolous and uncaring.^{[citation needed]}

During the autumn after the coronation, Nicholas and Alexandra made a tour of Europe. After making visits to the emperor and empress of Austria-Hungary, the Kaiser of Germany, and Nicholas's Danish grandparents and relatives, Nicholas and Alexandra took possession of their new yacht, the Standart, which had been built in Denmark.^[33] From there, they made a journey to Scotland to spend some time with Queen Victoria at Balmoral Castle. While Alexandra enjoyed her reunion with her grandmother, Nicholas complained in a letter to his mother about being forced to go shooting with his uncle, the Prince of Wales, in bad weather, and was suffering from a bad toothache.^[34]

The first years of his reign saw little more than continuation and development of the policy pursued by Alexander III. Nicholas allotted money for the

Ecclesiastical affairs

Nicholas always believed God chose him to be the tsar and therefore the decisions of the tsar reflected the will of God and could not be disputed. He was convinced that the simple people of Russia understood this and loved him, as demonstrated by the display of affection he perceived when he made public appearances. His old-fashioned belief made for a very stubborn ruler who rejected constitutional limitations on his power. It put the tsar at variance with the emerging political consensus among the Russian elite. It was further belied by the subordinate position of the Church in the bureaucracy. The result was a new distrust between the tsar and the church hierarchy and between those hierarchs and the people. Thereby the tsar's base of support was conflicted.^[35]

In 1903, Nicholas threw himself into an ecclesiastical crisis regarding the

His tolerance if not preference for charlatans and adventurers extended to grave matters of external policy, and his vacillating conduct and erratic decisions aroused misgivings and occasional alarm among his more conventional advisers. The foreign ministry itself was not a bastion of diplomatic expertise. Patronage and "connections" were the keys to appointment and promotion.^[37]

Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria paid a state visit in April 1897 that was a success. It produced a "gentlemen's agreement" to keep the status quo in the Balkans, and a somewhat similar commitment became applicable to Constantinople and the Straits. The result was years of peace that allowed for rapid economic growth.^[38]

Nicholas followed the policies of his father, strengthening the Franco-Russian Alliance and pursuing a policy of general European pacification, which culminated in the famous

Nicholas aimed to strengthen the Franco-Russian Alliance and proposed the unsuccessful Hague Convention of 1899 to promote disarmament and peacefully solve international disputes.^[43]

Russo-Japanese War

A clash between Russia and the

Before the war in 1901, Nicholas told his brother-in-law Prince Henry of Prussia "I do not want to seize Korea but under no circumstances can I allow Japan to become firmly established there. That will be a casus belli."^[46]

War began in February 1904 with a preemptive Japanese attack on the Russian Pacific Fleet in Port Arthur, prior to a formal declaration of war.^[44]

With the Russian Far East fleet trapped at Port Arthur, the only other Russian Fleet was the

As Russia faced imminent defeat by the Japanese, the call for peace grew. Nicholas's mother, as well as his cousin Emperor Wilhelm II, urged Nicholas to negotiate for peace. Despite the efforts, Nicholas remained evasive, sending a telegram to the Kaiser on 10 October that it was his intent to keep on fighting until the Japanese were driven from Manchuria.[44] It was not until 27–28 May 1905 and the annihilation of the Russian fleet by the Japanese, that Nicholas finally decided to sue for peace.^[47] Nicholas II accepted American mediation, appointing Sergei Witte chief plenipotentiary for the peace talks. The war was ended by the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth.^{[44][48][49][50]}

Tsar's confidence in victory

Nicholas's stance on the war was so at variance with the obvious facts that many observers were baffled. He saw the war as an easy God-given victory that would raise Russian morale and patriotism. He ignored the financial repercussions of a long-distance war.^[51] Rotem Kowner argues that during his visit to Japan in 1891, where Nicholas was attacked by a Japanese policeman, he regarded the Japanese as small of stature, feminine, weak, and inferior. He ignored reports of the prowess of Japanese soldiers in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) and reports on the capabilities of the Imperial Japanese Navy, as well as negative reports on the lack of readiness of Russian forces.^[11]

Before the Japanese attack on Port Arthur, Nicholas held firm to the belief that there would be no war. Despite the onset of the war and the many defeats Russia suffered, Nicholas still believed in, and expected, a final victory, maintaining an image of the racial inferiority and military weakness of the Japanese.

Anti-Jewish pogroms of 1903–1906

The

In Finland, Nicholas had become associated with deeply unpopular Russification measures. These began with the February Manifesto proclaimed by Nicholas II in 1899,^[59] which restricted Finland's autonomy and instigated a period of censorship and political repression.^[60] A petition of protest signed by more than 500,000 Finns was collected against the manifesto and delivered to St. Petersburg by a delegation of 500 people, but they were not received by Nicholas. Russification measures were reintroduced in 1908 after a temporary suspension in the aftermath of the 1905 Revolution, and Nicholas received an icy reception when he made his only visit to Helsinki on 10 March 1915.^[61][62][63]

Bloody Sunday (1905)

A few days prior to Bloody Sunday (9 (22) January 1905), priest and labor leader Georgy Gapon informed the government of the forthcoming procession to the Winter Palace to hand a workers' petition to the tsar. On Saturday, 8 (21) January, the ministers convened to consider the situation. There was never any thought that the tsar, who had left the capital for Tsarskoye Selo on the advice of the ministers, would actually meet Gapon; the suggestion that some other member of the imperial family receive the petition was rejected.^[64]

Finally informed by the Prefect of Police that he lacked the men to pluck Gapon from among his followers and place him under arrest, the newly appointed Minister of the Interior, Prince

The official number of victims was 92 dead and several hundred wounded. Gapon vanished and the other leaders of the march were seized. Expelled from the capital, they circulated through the empire, increasing the casualties. As bullets riddled their icons, their banners and their portraits of Nicholas, the people shrieked, "The Tsar will not help us!"[65] Outside Russia, the future British Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald attacked the Tsar, calling him a "blood-stained creature and a common murderer".^[66]

That evening Nicholas wrote in his diary:

Difficult day! In St. Petersburg there were serious disturbances due to the desire of workers to get to the Winter Palace. The troops had to shoot in different places of the city, there were many dead and wounded. Lord, how painful and bad!^[66][67]

His younger sister, Grand Duchess

Nicky had the police report a few days before. That Saturday he telephoned my mother at the Anitchkov and said that she and I were to leave for Gatchina at once. He and Alicky went to Tsarskoye Selo. Insofar as I remember, my Uncles Vladimir and Nicholas were the only members of the family left in St. Petersburg, but there may have been others. I felt at the time that all those arrangements were hideously wrong. Nicky's ministers and the Chief of Police had it all their way. My mother and I wanted him to stay in St. Petersburg and to face the crowd. I am positive that, for all the ugly mood of some of the workmen, Nicky's appearance would have calmed them. They would have presented their petition and gone back to their homes. But that wretched Epiphany incident had left all the senior officials in a state of panic. They kept on telling Nicky that he had no right to run such a risk, that he owed it to the country to leave the capital, that even with the utmost precautions taken there might always be some loophole left. My mother and I did all we could to persuade him that the ministers' advice was wrong, but Nicky preferred to follow it and he was the first to repent when he heard of the tragic outcome.^[68]

From his hiding place Gapon issued a letter, stating "Nicholas Romanov, formerly Tsar and at present soul-murderer of the Russian empire. The innocent blood of workers, their wives and children lies forever between you and the Russian people ... May all the blood which must be spilled fall upon you, you Hangman. I call upon all the socialist parties of Russia to come to an immediate agreement among themselves and bring an armed uprising against

Confronted with growing opposition and after consulting with Witte and Prince Sviatopolk-Mirsky, the Tsar issued a reform ukase on 25 December 1904 with vague promises.^[69] In hopes of cutting the rebellion short, many demonstrators were shot on

Around August/September, after his diplomatic success on ending the Russo-Japanese War, Witte wrote to the Tsar stressing the urgent need for political reforms at home. The Tsar remained quite impassive and indulgent; he spent most of that autumn hunting.^[71] With the defeat of Russia by a non-Western power, the prestige and authority of the autocratic regime fell significantly.^[72] Tsar Nicholas II, taken by surprise by the events, reacted with anger and bewilderment. He wrote to his mother after months of disorder:

It makes me sick to read the news! Nothing but strikes in schools and factories, murdered policemen, Cossacks and soldiers, riots, disorder, mutinies. But the ministers, instead of acting with quick decision, only assemble in council like a lot of frightened hens and cackle about providing united ministerial action... ominous quiet days began, quiet indeed because there was complete order in the streets, but at the same time everybody knew that something was going to happen—the troops were waiting for the signal, but the other side would not begin. One had the same feeling, as before a thunderstorm in summer! Everybody was on edge and extremely nervous and of course, that sort of strain could not go on for long.... We are in the midst of a revolution with an administrative apparatus entirely disorganized, and in this lies the main danger.^[73]

In October a railway strike developed into a

For the next six months, Witte was the Prime Minister. According to Harold Williams: "That government was almost paralyzed from the beginning." On 8 November (26 October O.S.) the tsar appointed Dmitri Feodorovich Trepov Master of the Palace (without consulting Witte), and had daily contact with the emperor; his influence at court was paramount. On 14 November 1905 (1 November O.S.), Princess Milica of Montenegro presented Grigori Rasputin to Tsar Nicholas and his wife (who by then had a hemophiliac son) at Peterhof Palace.^[78]

Relationship with the Duma

Under pressure from the attempted

There was such gloom at Tsarskoye Selo. I did not understand anything about politics. I just felt everything was going wrong with the country and all of us. The October Constitution did not seem to satisfy anyone. I went with my mother to the first Duma. I remember the large group of deputies from among peasants and factory people. The peasants looked sullen. But the workmen were worse: they looked as though they hated us. I remember the distress in Alicky's eyes.^[68]

Minister of the Court Count

A grotesque deputation is coming from England to see liberal members of the Duma. Uncle Bertie informed us that they were very sorry but were unable to take action to stop their coming. Their famous "liberty", of course. How angry they would be if a deputation went from us to the Irish to wish them success in their struggle against their government.^[83]

A little while later he further wrote:

All would be well if everything said in the Duma remained within its walls. Every word spoken, however, comes out in the next day's papers which are avidly read by everyone. In many places the populace is getting restive again. They begin to talk about land once more and are waiting to see what the Duma is going to say on the question. I am getting telegrams from everywhere, petitioning me to order a dissolution, but it is too early for that. One has to let them do something manifestly stupid or mean and then—slap! And they are gone!^[84]

After the Second Duma resulted in similar problems, the new prime minister

The third Duma remained an independent body. This time the members proceeded cautiously. Instead of hurling themselves at the government, opposing parties within the Duma worked to develop the body as a whole. In the classic manner of the British Parliament, the Duma reached for power grasping for the national purse strings. The Duma had the right to question ministers behind closed doors as to their proposed expenditures. These sessions, endorsed by Stolypin, were educational for both sides, and, in time, mutual antagonism was replaced by mutual respect. Even the sensitive area of military expenditure, where the October Manifesto clearly had reserved decisions to the throne, a Duma commission began to operate. Composed of aggressive patriots no less anxious than Nicholas to restore the fallen honour of Russian arms, the Duma commission frequently recommended expenditures even larger than those proposed.^[citation needed]

With the passage of time, Nicholas also began to have confidence in the Duma. "This Duma cannot be reproached with an attempt to seize power and there is no need at all to quarrel with it," he said to Stolypin in 1909.^[85] Nevertheless, Stolypin's plans were undercut by conservatives at court. Although the tsar at first supported him, he finally sided with the arch critics.^[86] Reactionaries such as Prince Vladimir Nikolayevich Orlov never tired of telling the tsar that the very existence of the Duma was a blot on the autocracy. Stolypin, they whispered, was a traitor and secret revolutionary who was conniving with the Duma to steal the prerogatives assigned the tsar by God. Witte also engaged in constant intrigue against Stolypin. Although Stolypin had had nothing to do with Witte's fall, Witte blamed him. Stolypin had unwittingly angered the tsaritsa. He had ordered an investigation into Rasputin and presented it to the tsar, who read it but did nothing. Stolypin, on his own authority, ordered Rasputin to leave St. Petersburg. Alexandra protested vehemently but Nicholas refused to overrule his prime minister,^[87] who had more influence with the emperor.^{[citation needed]}

By the time of Stolypin's assassination in September 1911, Stolypin had grown weary of the burdens of office. For a man who preferred clear decisive action, working with a sovereign who believed in fatalism and mysticism was frustrating. As an example, Nicholas once returned a document unsigned with the note:

Despite most convincing arguments in favour of adopting a positive decision in this matter, an inner voice keeps on insisting more and more that I do not accept responsibility for it. So far my conscience has not deceived me. Therefore I intend in this case to follow its dictates. I know that you, too, believe that "a Tsar's heart is in God's hands." Let it be so. For all laws established by me I bear a great responsibility before God, and I am ready to answer for my decision at any time.^[87]

Alexandra, believing that Stolypin had severed the bonds that her son depended on for life, hated the prime minister.^[87] In March 1911, in a fit of anger stating that he no longer commanded the imperial confidence, Stolypin asked to be relieved of his office. Two years earlier when Stolypin had casually mentioned resigning to Nicholas he was informed: "This is not a question of confidence or lack of it. It is my will. Remember that we live in Russia, not abroad...and therefore I shall not consider the possibility of any resignation."^[88] He was assassinated in September 1911.

In 1912, a fourth Duma was elected with almost the same membership as the third. "The Duma started too fast. Now it is slower, but better, and more lasting", stated Nicholas to Sir Bernard Pares.^[85]

The

Further complicating domestic matters was the matter of the succession. Alexandra bore Nicholas four daughters, Grand Duchess

Before Rasputin's arrival, the tsarina and the tsar had consulted numerous mystics, charlatans, "holy fools", and miracle workers. The royal behavior was not some odd aberration, but a deliberate retreat from the secular social and economic forces of his time—an act of faith and vote of confidence in a spiritual past. They had set themselves up for the greatest spiritual advisor and manipulator in Russian history.[90]

Because of the fragility of the autocracy at this time, Nicholas and Alexandra chose to keep secret Alexei's condition. Even within the household, many were unaware of the exact nature of the tsarevich's illness. At first Alexandra turned to Russian doctors and medics to treat Alexei; however, their treatments generally failed, and Alexandra increasingly turned to mystics and holy men (or starets as they were called in Russian). One of these starets, an illiterate Siberian named Grigori Rasputin, gained amazing success. Rasputin's influence over Empress Alexandra, and consequently the tsar himself, grew even stronger after 1912 when the tsarevich nearly died from an injury. His bleeding grew steadily worse as doctors despaired, and priests administered the Last Sacrament. In desperation, Alexandra called upon Rasputin, to which he replied, "God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much."^[91] The hemorrhage stopped the very next day and the boy began to recover. Alexandra took this as a sign that Rasputin was a starets and that God was with him; for the rest of her life she would fervently defend him and turn her wrath against anyone who dared to question him.^{[citation needed]}

European affairs

In 1907, to end longstanding controversies over central Asia, Russia and the United Kingdom signed the

In February 1913, Nicholas presided over the

On 28 June 1914

On 25 July 1914, at his council of ministers, Nicholas decided to intervene in the Austro-Serbian conflict, a step toward general war. He put the Russian army on "alert"[96] on 25 July. Although this was not general mobilization, it threatened the German and Austro-Hungarian borders and looked like military preparation for war.^[96] However, his army had no contingency plans for a partial mobilization, and on 30 July 1914 Nicholas took the fateful step of confirming the order for general mobilization, despite being strongly counselled against it.^{[citation needed]}

On 28 July, Austria-Hungary formally declared war against Serbia. On 29 July 1914, Nicholas sent a telegram to Wilhelm with the suggestion to submit the Austro-Serbian problem to the Hague Conference (in Hague tribunal). Wilhelm did not address the question of the Hague Conference in his subsequent reply.^[97][98] Count Witte told the French Ambassador, Maurice Paléologue that from Russia's point of view the war was madness, Slav solidarity was simply nonsense and Russia could hope for nothing from the war.^[99] On 30 July, Russia ordered general mobilization, but still maintained that it would not attack if peace talks were to begin. Germany, reacting to the discovery of partial mobilization ordered on 25 July, announced its own pre-mobilization posture, the Imminent Danger of War. Germany requested that Russia demobilize within the next twelve hours.^[100] In Saint Petersburg, at 7 pm, with the ultimatum to Russia having expired, the German ambassador to Russia met with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Sazonov, asked three times if Russia would reconsider, and then with shaking hands, delivered the note accepting Russia's war challenge and declaring war on 1 August. Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August and its ally France on 3 August.^[101] Less than a week later, on 6 August, Franz Joseph signed the Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Russia.^{[citation needed]}

The outbreak of war on 1 August 1914 found Russia grossly unprepared. Russia and her allies placed their faith in her army, the famous 'Russian steamroller'.^[102] Its pre-war regular strength was 1,400,000; mobilization added 3,100,000 reserves and millions more stood ready behind them. In every other respect, however, Russia was unprepared for war. Germany had ten times as much railway track per square mile, and whereas Russian soldiers travelled an average of 1,290 kilometres (800 mi) to reach the front, German soldiers traveled less than a quarter of that distance. Russian heavy industry was still too small to equip the massive armies the Tsar could raise, and her reserves of munitions were pitifully small; while the Imperial German Army in 1914 was better equipped than any other, man-for-man, the Russians were severely short on artillery pieces, shells, motorized transports, and even boots. With the Baltic Sea barred by German U-boats and the Dardanelles by the guns of Germany's ally, the Ottoman Empire, Russia initially could receive help only via Archangel, which was frozen solid in winter, or via Vladivostok, which was over 6,400 kilometres (4,000 mi) from the front line. By 1915, a rail line was built north from Petrozavodsk to the Kola Gulf and this connection laid the foundation of the ice-free port of what eventually was called Murmansk. The Russian High Command was moreover greatly weakened by the mutual contempt between Vladimir Sukhomlinov, the Minister of War, and the incompetent Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolayevich who commanded the armies in the field.^[103] In spite of all of this, an immediate attack was ordered against the German province of East Prussia. The Germans mobilised there with great efficiency and completely defeated the two Russian armies which had invaded. The Battle of Tannenberg, where an entire Russian army was annihilated, cast an ominous shadow over Russia's future. Russia had great success against both the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman armies from the very beginning of the war, but they never succeeded against the might of the German Army. In September 1914, to relieve pressure on France, the Russians were forced to halt a successful offensive against Austria-Hungary in Galicia to attack German-held Silesia.^[104]

Gradually a war of attrition set in on the vast Eastern Front, where the Russians were facing the combined forces of the German and Austro-Hungarian armies, and they suffered staggering losses. General Anton Denikin, retreating from Galicia wrote, "The German heavy artillery swept away whole lines of trenches, and their defenders with them. We hardly replied. There was nothing with which we could reply. Our regiments, although completely exhausted, were beating off one attack after another by bayonet ... Blood flowed unendingly, the ranks became thinner and thinner and thinner. The number of graves multiplied."^[105] On 5 August, with the Russian army in retreat, Warsaw fell. Defeat at the front bred disorder at home. At first, the targets were German, and for three days in June shops, bakeries, factories, private houses and country estates belonging to people with German names were looted and burned.^{[citation needed]} The inflamed mobs then turned on the government, declaring the empress should be shut up in a convent, the tsar deposed and Rasputin hanged. Nicholas was by no means deaf to these discontents. An emergency session of the Duma was summoned and a Special Defense Council established, its members drawn from the Duma and the tsar's ministers.^{[citation needed]}

In July 1915, King

The Duma was still calling for political reforms and political unrest continued throughout the war. Cut off from public opinion, Nicholas could not see that the dynasty was tottering. With Nicholas at the front, domestic issues and control of the capital were left with his wife Alexandra. However, Alexandra's relationship with Grigori Rasputin, and her German background, further discredited the dynasty's authority. Nicholas had been repeatedly warned about the destructive influence of Rasputin but had failed to remove him. Rumors and accusations about Alexandra and Rasputin appeared one after another; Alexandra was even accused of harboring treasonous sympathies towards Germany. Anger at Nicholas's failure to act and the extreme damage that Rasputin's influence was doing to Russia's war effort and to the monarchy led to Rasputin's eventual murder by a group of nobles, led by Prince

As the government failed to produce supplies, mounting hardship resulted in massive riots and rebellions. With Nicholas away at the front from 1915 through 1916, authority appeared to collapse and the capital was left in the hands of strikers and mutineering soldiers. Despite efforts by the British Ambassador Sir George Buchanan to warn the Tsar that he should grant constitutional reforms to fend off revolution, Nicholas continued to bury himself away at the Staff HQ (Stavka) 600 kilometres (400 mi) away at Mogilev, leaving his capital and court open to intrigues and insurrection.^[108]

Ideologically the tsar's greatest support came from the right-wing monarchists, who had recently gained strength. However they were increasingly alienated by the tsar's support of Stolypin's Westernizing reforms taken early in the Revolution of 1905 and especially by the political power the tsar had bestowed on Rasputin.^[109]

By early 1917, Russia was on the verge of total collapse of morale. An estimated 1.7 million Russian soldiers were killed in World War I.^[110] The sense of failure and imminent disaster was everywhere. The army had taken 15 million men from the farms and food prices had soared. An egg cost four times what it had in 1914, butter five times as much. The severe winter dealt the railways, overburdened by emergency shipments of coal and supplies, a crippling blow.^[108]

Russia entered the war with 20,000 locomotives; by 1917, 9,000 were in service, while the number of serviceable railway wagons had dwindled from half a million to 170,000. In February 1917, 1,200 locomotives burst their boilers and nearly 60,000 wagons were immobilized. In Petrograd, supplies of flour and fuel had all but disappeared.

On 23 February 1917 in Petrograd, a combination of very severe cold weather and acute food shortages caused people to break into shops and bakeries to get bread and other necessities. In the streets, red banners appeared and the crowds chanted "Down with the German woman! Down with Protopopov! Down with the war! Down with the Tsar!"^[108]

Police shot at the populace which incited riots. The troops in the capital were poorly motivated and their officers had no reason to be loyal to the regime, with the bulk of the tsar's loyalists away fighting World War I. In contrast, the soldiers in Petrograd were angry, full of revolutionary fervor and sided with the populace.^[112]

The tsar's Cabinet begged Nicholas to return to the capital and offered to resign completely. The tsar, 800 kilometres (500 mi) away, misinformed by the Minister of the Interior Alexander Protopopov that the situation was under control, ordered that firm steps be taken against the demonstrators. For this task, the Petrograd garrison was quite unsuitable. The cream of the old regular army had been destroyed in Poland and Galicia. In Petrograd, 170,000 recruits, country boys or older men from the working-class suburbs of the capital itself, were available under the command of officers at the front and cadets not yet graduated from the military academies. The units in the capital, although many bore the names of famous Imperial Guard regiments, were in reality rear or reserve battalions of these regiments, the regular units being away at the front. Many units, lacking both officers and rifles, had never undergone formal training.^[112]

General

Order broke down and Prime Minister Nikolai Golitsyn resigned; members of the Duma and the Soviet formed a Provisional Government to try to restore order. They issued a demand that Nicholas must abdicate. Faced with this demand, which was echoed by his generals, deprived of loyal troops, with his family firmly in the hands of the Provisional Government, and fearful of unleashing civil war and opening the way for German conquest, Nicholas had little choice but to submit.^{[citation needed]}

Revolution

Abdication (1917)

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Abdication of Nicholas II

Nicholas had suffered a

The French government declined to accept the Romanovs in view of increasing unrest on the Western Front and on the home front as a result of the ongoing war with Germany.[121]^[122] The British ambassador in Paris, Lord Bertie, advised the Foreign Secretary that the Romanovs would be unwelcome in France as the ex-empress was regarded as pro-German.^[117]

Even if an offer of asylum had been forthcoming, there would have been other obstacles to be overcome. The Provisional Government only remained in power through an uneasy alliance with the Petrograd Soviet, an arrangement known as "The Dual power". An initial plan to send the imperial family to the northern port of Murmansk had to be abandoned when it was realised that the railway workers and the soldiers guarding them were loyal to the Petrograd Soviet, which opposed the escape of the tsar; a later proposal to send the Romanovs to a neutral port in the Baltic Sea via the Grand Duchy of Finland faced similar difficulties.^[123]

Imprisonment

Tsarskoye Selo

On 20 March 1917, the Provisional Government decreed that the imperial family should be held under house arrest in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo. Nicholas joined the rest of the family there two days later, having traveled from the wartime headquarters at Mogilev.^[124] The family had total privacy inside the palace, but walks in the grounds were strictly regulated.^[125] Members of their domestic staff were allowed to stay if they wished and culinary standards were maintained.^[126] Colonel Eugene Kobylinsky was appointed to command the military garrison at Tsarskoye Selo,^[127] which increasingly had to be done through negotiation with the committees or soviets elected by the soldiers.^[128] During his imprisonment Nicholas read The Protocols of the Elders of Zion to his family.^[129]

Tobolsk

That summer, the failure of the

In February 1918, the Council of People's Commissars (abbreviated to "Sovnarkom") in Moscow, the new capital, announced that the state subsidy for the family would be drastically reduced, starting on 1 March. This meant parting with twelve devoted servants and giving up butter and coffee as luxuries, even though Nicholas added to the funds from his own resources.^[140] Nicholas and Alexandra were appalled by news of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, whereby Russia agreed to give up Poland, Finland, the Baltic States, most of Belarus, Ukraine, the Crimea, most of the Caucasus, and small parts of Russia proper including areas around Pskov and Rostov-on-Don.^[141] What kept the family's spirits up was the belief that help was at hand.^[142] The Romanovs believed that various plots were underway to break them out of captivity and smuggle them to safety. The Western Allies lost interest in the fate of the Romanovs after Russia left the war. The German government wanted the monarchy restored in Russia to crush the Bolsheviks and maintain good relations with the Central Powers.^[143]

The situation in Tobolsk changed for the worse on 26 March, when 250 ill-disciplined

At 3 am on 25 April, the three Romanovs, their retinue, and the escort of Yakovlev's detachment, left Tobolsk in a convoy of nineteen tarantasses (four-wheeled carriages), as the river was still partly frozen which prevented the use of the ferry.^[149] After an arduous journey which included two overnight stops, fording rivers, frequent changes of horses and a foiled plot by the Yekaterinburg Red Guards to abduct and kill the prisoners, the party arrived at Tyumen and boarded a requisitioned train. Yakovlev was able to communicate securely with Moscow by means of a Hughes' teleprinter and obtained agreement to change their destination to Omsk, where it was thought that the leadership were less likely to harm the Romanovs.^[150] Leaving Tyumen early on 28 April, the train left towards Yekaterinburg, but quickly changed direction towards Omsk. This led the Yekaterinburg leaders to believe that Yakovlev was a traitor who was trying to take Nicholas to exile by way of Vladivostok; telegraph messages were sent, two thousand armed men were mobilized and a train was dispatched to arrest Yakovlev and the Romanovs. The Romanovs' train was halted at Omsk station and after a frantic exchange of cables with Moscow, it was agreed that they should go to Yekaterinburg in return for a guarantee of safety for the imperial family; they finally arrived there on the morning of 30 April.^[151]

They were imprisoned in the two-story

Although the Bolshevik leadership in Moscow still intended to bring Nicholas to trial, as the military situation deteriorated, Leon Trotsky and Yakov Sverdlov began to publicly equivocate about the possible fate of the former tsar.^[156] On 16 July, the Yekaterinburg leadership informed Yurovsky that it had been decided to execute the Romanovs as soon as approval arrived from Moscow, because the Czechs were expected to reach the city imminently. A coded telegram arrived in Moscow from Yekaterinburg that evening; after Lenin and Sverdlov had conferred a reply was sent, although no trace of that document has ever been found. In the meantime, Yurovsky had organized his firing squad and they waited through the night at the Ipatiev House for the signal to act.^[157]

Execution

There are several accounts of what happened and historians have not agreed on a solid, confirmed scope of events. According to the account of Bolshevik officer Yakov Yurovsky (the chief executioner), in the early hours of 17 July 1918,^[49][50] the royal family was awakened around 2:00 am, got dressed, and were led down into a half-basement room at the back of the Ipatiev house. The pretext for this move was the family's safety, i.e. that anti-Bolshevik forces were approaching Yekaterinburg, and the house might be fired upon.^[158]

Present with Nicholas, Alexandra and their children were their doctor and three of their servants, who had voluntarily chosen to remain with the family: the Tsar's personal physician Eugene Botkin, his wife's maid Anna Demidova, and the family's chef, Ivan Kharitonov, and footman, Alexei Trupp. A firing squad had been assembled and was waiting in an adjoining room, composed of seven Communist soldiers from Central Europe, and three local Bolsheviks, all under the command of Yurovsky.^[158]

Nicholas was carrying his son. When the family arrived in the basement, the former tsar asked if chairs could be brought in for his wife and son to sit on. Yurovsky ordered two chairs brought in, and when the empress and the heir were seated, the executioners filed into the room. Yurovsky announced to them that the Ural Soviet of Workers' Deputies had decided to execute them. A stunned Nicholas asked, "What? What did you say?" and turned toward his family. Yurovsky quickly repeated the order and Nicholas said, according to Peter Ermakov, "You know not what you do."

The executioners drew handguns and began shooting; Nicholas was the first to die. Yurovsky took credit afterwards for firing the first shot that killed the tsar, but his protege—Grigory Nikulin—said years later that Mikhail Medvedev had fired the shot that killed Nicholas. "He fired the first shot. He killed the Tsar," he said in 1964 in a tape-recorded statement for the radio.^[159] Nicholas was shot several times in the chest (sometimes erroneously said to have been shot in his head, but his skull bore no bullet wounds when it was discovered in 1991). Anastasia, Tatiana, Olga, and Maria survived the first hail of bullets; the sisters were wearing over 1.3 kilograms of diamonds and precious gems sewn into their clothing, which provided some initial protection from the bullets and bayonets.^[160] They were then stabbed with bayonets and finally shot at close range in their heads.^[161]

An announcement from the Presidium of the Ural Regional Soviet of the Workers' and Peasants' Government emphasized that conspiracies had been exposed to free the ex-tsar, that counter-revolutionary forces were pressing in on Soviet Russian territory, and that the ex-tsar was guilty of unforgivable crimes against the nation.^[162]

In view of the enemy's proximity to Yekaterinburg and the exposure by the Cheka of a serious White Guard plot with the goal of abducting the former tsar and his family… In light of the approach of counterrevolutionary bands toward the Red capital of the Urals and the possibility of the crowned executioner escaping trial by the people (a plot among the White Guards to try to abduct him and his family was exposed and the compromising documents will be published), the Presidium of the Ural Regional Soviet, fulfilling the will of the Revolution, resolved to shoot the former Tsar, Nikolai Romanov, who is guilty of countless, bloody, violent acts against the Russian people.^[163]

The bodies were driven to nearby woodland, searched and burned. The remains were soaked in acid and finally thrown down a disused

In 1979, the bodies of Tsar Nicholas II, Tsaritsa Alexandra, three of their daughters, and those of four non-family members killed with them, were discovered near

In July 2007, an amateur historian discovered bones near Yekaterinburg belonging to a boy and young woman.[172] Prosecutors reopened the investigation into the deaths of the imperial family^[173] and, in April 2008, DNA tests performed by an American laboratory proved that bone fragments exhumed in the Ural Mountains belonged to two children of Nicholas II, Alexei and a daughter.^[174] That same day it was announced by Russian authorities that remains from the entire family had been recovered.^[174][175]

On 1 October 2008, the Supreme Court of Russia ruled that Nicholas II and his family were victims of political persecution and should be rehabilitated.^[176][177] In March 2009, results of the DNA testing were published, confirming that the two bodies discovered in 2007 were those of Alexei and one of his sisters.^[178]

In late 2015, at the insistence of the Russian Orthodox Church,^[179] Russian investigators exhumed the bodies of Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra, for additional DNA testing,^[180] which confirmed that the bones were of the couple.^{[181][182][183]}

Funeral

After the DNA testing of 1998, the remains of the tsar and his immediate family were interred at St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Saint Petersburg, on 17 July 1998, on the eightieth anniversary of their assassination. The ceremony was attended by Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who said, "Today is a historic day for Russia. For many years, we kept quiet about this monstrous crime, but the truth has to be spoken."^[184]

The British Royal Family was represented at the funeral by Prince Michael of Kent, and more than twenty ambassadors to Russia, including Sir Andrew Wood, Archbishop John Bukovsky, and Ernst-Jörg von Studnitz, were also in attendance.^[185]

Sainthood

In 1981, Nicholas and his immediate family were recognised as martyred saints by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.^[186] On 14 August 2000, they were recognised by the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. This time they were not named as martyrs, since their deaths did not result immediately from their Christian faith; instead, they were canonized as passion bearers.^[187] According to a statement by the Moscow synod, they were glorified as saints for the following reasons:

In the last Orthodox Russian monarch and members of his family we see people who sincerely strove to incarnate in their lives the commands of the Gospel. In the suffering borne by the Royal Family in prison with humility, patience, and meekness, and in their martyrs' deaths in Yekaterinburg in the night of 17 July 1918 was revealed the light of the faith of Christ that conquers evil.^{[citation needed]}

However, Nicholas' canonization was controversial. The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad was split on the issue back in 1981, some members suggesting that the emperor was a weak ruler and had failed to thwart the rise of the Bolsheviks. It was pointed out by one priest that martyrdom in the Russian Orthodox Church has nothing to do with the martyr's personal actions but is instead related to why he or she was killed.^[188]

The Russian Orthodox Church inside Russia rejected the family's classification as martyrs because they were not killed on account of their religious faith. Religious leaders in both churches also had objections to canonising the tsar's family because they perceived him as a weak emperor whose incompetence led to the revolution and the suffering of his people and made him partially responsible for his own assassination and those of his wife, children and servants. For these opponents, the fact that the tsar was, in private life, a kind man and a good husband and father or a leader who showed genuine concern for the peasantry did not override his poor governance of Russia.^[188]

Despite the original opposition, the Russian Orthodox Church inside Russia ultimately recognised the family as "passion bearers",^[e] or people who met their deaths with Christian humility. Since the late 20th century, believers have attributed healing from illnesses or conversion to the Orthodox Church to their prayers to the children of Nicholas, Maria and Alexei, as well as to the rest of the family.^[189][190]

Legacy

Contemporary evaluations of Nicholas portrayed him as a well-meaning but indecisive leader, whose actions as monarch were heavily influenced by his advisors. Historian Raymond Esthus states:

The contemporary assessments of Nicholas are remarkably uniform. He was described as shy, charming, gentle in disposition, fearful of controversy, indecisive, indulgent to his relatives, and deeply devoted to his family. Aleksandr Mosolov, who headed his Court Chancellery for sixteen years, wrote that Nicholas, though intelligent and well-educated, never adopted a definite, energetic attitude and loathed making a decision in the presence of others. Sergei Witte, who served Nicholas and his father for eleven years as Minister of Finance, commented that the tsar was a well-intentioned child, but his actions were entirely dependent upon the character of his counselors, most of whom were bad.^[191]

During the Soviet period, Nicholas II's legacy was widely criticised within Russia, although discussion was heavily influenced by state propaganda, which described him as a bloodthirsty tyrant.^[192] Pavel Bykov, who wrote the first full account of the downfall of the tsar for the new Soviet government, denounced Nicholas as a "tyrant, who paid with his life for the age-old repression and arbitrary rule of his ancestors over the Russian people, over the impoverished and blood-soaked country". Soviet-era historians described Nicholas II as unfit for rule, arguing that he had a weak will and was manipulated by adventurist forces. He was also criticised for fanning nationalism and chauvinism, and his regime was condemned for its extensive use of the army, police, and courts to destroy the revolutionary movement. During his reign, Nicholas had become known as "Nicholas the Bloody" for his role in the Khodynka Tragedy and the suppression of the 1905 Revolution.^[192][193]

The majority view among historians is that Nicholas was a well-intentioned yet poor ruler who proved incapable of handling the challenges facing his nation.

Historian Robert K. Massie provides a similar indictment of his incompetence, although he emphasises Nicholas' personal morality, describing him as a tragic figure:

... there still are those who for political or other reasons continue to insist that Nicholas was "Bloody Nicholas". Most commonly, he is described as shallow, weak, stupid—a one-dimensional figure presiding feebly over the last days of a corrupt and crumbling system. This, certainly, is the prevailing public image of the last Tsar. Historians admit that Nicholas was a "good man"—the historical evidence of personal charm, gentleness, love of family, deep religious faith and strong Russian patriotism is too overwhelming to be denied—but they argue that personal factors are irrelevant; what matters is that Nicholas was a bad tsar .... Essentially, the tragedy of Nicholas II was that he appeared in the wrong place in history.^[198]

Following the

National^[204]

• Knight of St. Andrew, 1 June 1868
• Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky
  , 1 June 1868
• Knight of the White Eagle
  , 1 June 1868
• Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class
  , 1 June 1868
• Knight of St. Stanislaus, 1st Class, 1 June 1868
• Knight of St. Vladimir
  , 4th Class, 11 September 1890
• Knight of St. George, 4th Class, 7 November 1915

Foreign^[204]

Nicholas II was granted honorary senior rank in a number of foreign armies, reciprocating by extending similar distinctions to a number of his fellow monarchs. These included the Imperial German, Spanish, Italian, Danish and British armies.^{[citation needed]}

He was

Children

Image	Name	Birth	Death	Notes
By Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (6 June 1872 – 17 July 1918, married on 26 November 1894)
	Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna	15 November [O.S. 3 November] 1895	17 July 1918	Assassinated, along with their parents, at Yekaterinburg by the Bolsheviks
	Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna	10 June [O.S. 29 May] 1897
	Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna	26 June [O.S. 14 June] 1899
	Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna	18 June [O.S. 5 June] 1901
	Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich	12 August [O.S. 30 July] 1904

Ancestry

Wealth

Estimates of Nicholas II's personal wealth have been vastly exaggerated. As Emperor of All The Russias, and an

Several films about Nicholas II and his family have been made, including Nicholas and Alexandra (1971).

See also

• Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War
• Emperor railway station in Pushkin town

References

Notes

• Gregorian Calendar
  . Russia switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar on 1 February (O.S.) / 14 February (N.S.) 1918.

1. ^ O.S. 20 October 1894
2. ^ O.S. 2 March 1917
3. ^ O.S. 14 May 1896
4. ^ Russian: Николай II Александрович Романов, tr. Nikolay II Aleksandrovich Romanov, IPA: [nʲɪkɐˈlaj ftɐˈroj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ rɐˈmanəf]; spelled Александровичъ Романовъ in pre-revolutionary script.
5. ^ Russian: Святой страстотерпец Николай, tr. Svyatoy strastoterpets Nikolay, IPA: [svʲɪˈtoj strəstɐˈtʲerpʲɪts nʲɪkɐˈlaj]; also called Saint Nicholas II of Russia

References

1. ^ Высочайше утверждённый церемониал о святом крещении его императорскаго высочества государя великаго князя Николая Александровича // Русский инвалид [The Highest Approved Ceremonial of the Holy Baptism of His Imperial Highness the Sovereign Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich] (in Russian). 31 May 1868. p. 1.
2. Вопросы истории (in Russian). 6: 76–83. Archived from the original
   on 15 April 2019.
3. ^ The letters of Tsar Nicholas and Empress Marie: being confidential correspondence between Nicholas II, last of the Tsars, and his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Edward J. Bing (ed.). London: Nicholson and Watson, 1937.
4. ^ Van Der Kiste, John (2003) The Romanovs: 1818–1959, Sutton Publishing, p. 151
5. ISBN 0802716237
   , p. 54
6. ^ Magnus, Philip (1964) King Edward the Seventh , E.P. Dutton & Co, p. 126
7. ^ 1 March 1881 in the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, which is the same day as 13 March 1881 in the Gregorian calendar used elsewhere at that time.
8. ^ Massie (1967) p. 38
9. ^ King (1994) p. 54
10. ^ Omelchenko, Ulyana D.; Karpenko, Arina A.; Volkodav, Tatiana V. (2019). "Tattoo or Taboo? The Social Stigma of Tatoos". Форум молодых ученых: 17–25.
11. ^ ^{a b} Rotem Kowner, "Nicholas II and the Japanese body: Images and decision-making on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War." Psychohistory Review (1998) 26#3 pp. 211–252. online Archived 21 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine.
12. ^ Kshessinska 1960. Dancing in Petersburg. London, transl Haskell.^{[page needed]}
13. ^ Massie (1967) p. 40
14. ^ ^{a b} Pierre, Andre (1925) Journal Intime de Nicholas II, Paris: Payot, p. 45
15. ^ "The Health of the Czar". Western Daily Press. 15 February 1894. Retrieved 10 March 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
16. ^ King (1994) p. 70
17. ^ "The Czarewitch". St James's Gazette. 30 July 1894. Retrieved 11 March 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
18. ^ King (2006) p. 326
19. ^ "The Czar and Princess Alix. Another Manifesto". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 5 November 1894. Retrieved 11 March 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
20. ^ Figes, p. 18.
21. ISBN 978-1400033782
    .
22. hdl:2346/17071
    .
23. ^ "Czar Alexander's Funeral". Sheffield Evening Telegraph. 20 November 1894. Retrieved 11 March 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
24. ^ Massie (1967) p. 42.
25. ^ Massie (1967) p. 44
26. ^ Warth, p. 20
27. ^ Figes, p. 165
28. ^ Pierre, Andre (1925) Journal Intime de Nicholas II, Paris: Payot, p. 127
29. ^ Radziwill, Catherine (1931) Nicholas II, The Last of the Tsars, London: Cassell And Company Ltd., p. 100.
30. ^ ^{a b} Warth, p. 26
31. ^ ^{a b} Massie (1967) p. 1017
32. ^ Warth, pp. 26–27
33. ^ King (2006) p. 420
34. ^ King, Greg (2007) Twilight of Splendor: the Court of Queen Victoria in Her Diamond Jubilee Year , John Wiley & Sons, pp. 173–175
35. ^ Sergei L. Firsov, "Emperor Nicholas II as an Orthodox Tsar" Russian Studies in History 50.4 (2012): 79–90.
36. ^ King (2006) p. 137
37. ^ Robert D. Warth, Nicholas II: The Life and Reign of Russia's Last Monarch (1997) p. 47.
38. ^ Warth, Nicholas II p. 49.
39. ^ Maartje Abbenhuis. The Hague Conferences and International Politics, 1898–1915 (2018) excerpt
40. ^ Thomas K. Ford, "The Genesis of the First Hague Peace Conference" Political Science Quarterly (1936) 51#3 pp. 354–382 online
41. ^ See The Nomination Database for the Nobel Prize in Peace, 1901–1956. Nobelprize.org. Retrieved on 1 May 2014.
42. ^ Dan L. Morrill, "Nicholas II and the Call for the First Hague Conference' Journal of Modern History (1974) 46#2 pp. 296–313, quoting p. 297 online
43. ^ "Tsar Nicholas II: Peace and International Jurisdiction | Peace Palace Library". Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
44. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Kowner, Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War, pp. 260–264.
45. ^ ^{a b} Raymond A. Esthus, "Nicholas II and the Russo-Japanese War." The Russian Review 40.4 (1981): 396–411. online
46. ISBN 978-0-7181-9295-2
    .
47. ^ "The Last Tsar – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia: Protect us Lord, for We Reign Too Young". History is Now Magazine, Podcasts, Blog and Books | Modern International and American history. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
48. ISBN 978-0-8129-8066-0
    .
49. ^
    ISBN 978-0253220424
    .
50. ^
    ISBN 0-7894-9627-5
    .
51. ^ Warth, p. 67
52. ^ Kowner (1998)
53. ISBN 978-0-8129-8066-0
    .
54. ^ "Beyond the Pale: The Pogroms of 1903–1906". Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
55. ^ Massie (1967) pp. 94–95, 122 in Russian edition
56. ^ Solzhenitsyn, Alexander (2001) Two hundred years together. Moscow. p. 329
57. ^ Figes, pp. 197–198
58. ^ Massie, Robert K. Nicholas and Alexandra (1967) p. 228
59. ^ John Wargelin, A.M.: The Americanization of the Finns Archived 7 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine – Genealogia
60. ASIN B00PS4PTOA
    .
61. ^ Kimmo Pietiläinen: Kansalaiskalenteri 1991, p. 84, WSOY, 1990. (in Finnish)
62. ^ Elävä Arkisto: Vihattu tsaari Nikolai II vieraili Helsingissä 1915 – YLE (in Finnish)
63. ^ IS: Tuskallinen verilöyly päätti vuosisatoja kestäneen hallitsijuuden: Netflix-uutuus nostaa pinnalle Venäjän tsaariperheen julman kohtalon (in Finnish)
64. ^ ^{a b} Massie (1967) p. 124
65. ^ ^{a b} Massie (1967) pp. 124–125
66. ^ ^{a b c} Cf.: Massie (1967) p. 125. – Massie's translation is not authentic.
67. ^ "State Archive of the Russian Federation, ф.601.ОП.1, д.248. Diary of Nickolas Romanov. 9 January 1905. (in Russian)". Militera.lib.ru. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
68. ^ ^{a b} Vorres, Ian (1985) The Last Grand Duchess, London, Finedawn Publishers, p. 121
69. ^ Harold Williams, Shadow of Democracy, pp. 11, 22
70. ^ H. Williams, p. 77
71. ^ Figes, p. 191
72. ISBN 0521311985
    , p. 7. This was especially true among the illiterate peasantry or 'dark masses' who although they followed their own (almost pagan) rituals, had until this point held complete naive faith in the Tsar.
73. ISBN 0710078021
    , p. 116
74. ^ История России в портретах. В 2-х тт. Т.1. с. 285–308 Сергей Витте. Peoples.ru (9 April 2006). Retrieved on 5 December 2018.
75. ^ Features And Figures Of The Past Covernment And Opinion In The Reign Of Nicholas II. Internet Archive (21 July 2010). Retrieved on 5 December 2018.
76. ^ Witte's Memoirs, p. 241
77. ^ Paul W. Werth, "The emergence of" freedom of conscience" in imperial Russia." Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 13.3 (2012): 585–610. online
78. ^ "Nicolas' diary 1905 (in Russian)". Rus-sky.com. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
79. ^
    ISBN 978-0-312-36041-2
    .
80. ISBN 978-0-14-024364-2
    .
81. ^ Massie (1967) p. 243
82. ^ ^{a b} Massie (1967) p. 242
83. ^ Massie (1967) p. 244
84. ^ ^{a b} Massie (1967) p. 245
85. ^ ^{a b} Massie (1967) p. 246
86. ^ Mikhail F. Florinskii, "Nicholas II and Stolypin's Cabinet" Russian Social Science Review 53.4 (2012): 4–14.
87. ^ ^{a b c} Massie (1967) p. 247.
88. ^ Massie (1967) p. 248
89. ^ Tames, p. 49.
90. ^ Robert D. Warth, "Before Rasputin: Piety and the Occult at the Court of Nicholas II." Historian 47.3 (1985): 323–337.
91. ^ Massie (1967) p. 185
92. S2CID 145507675
    .
93. ISBN 0802716237
    , pp. 300–301
94. ^ King (2006) p. 391
95. ^ King (2006) p. 397
96. ^
    ISBN 0393933857
    , p. 967
97. ^ Hew Strachan, The First World War, Vol I: To Arms (2001), p. 85
98. ^ Hamilton, Richard F. and Herwig, Holger H. (2003) Origins of World War One, p. 514
99. ^ Tames, p. 43
100. ^ Josef und Ulli. "Germany during World War One". Archived from the original on 18 October 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
101. ^ "World War I Declarations". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
102. ^ ^{a b} Tames, p. 42
103. ^ Paul Robinson, Paul. "A Study of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich as Supreme Commander of the Russian Army, 1914–1915." Historian 75.3 (2013): 475–498. online
104. ^ Massie, Robert K. Nicholas and Alexandra: The Last Tsar and His Family (1967) pp. 309–310
105. ^ Tames, p. 46
106. ISBN 0841914222
     , p. 264
107. ISBN 0471207683
108. ^ ^{a b c d} Tames, p. 52
109. JSTOR 24657737
     .
110. ^ "World War I – Killed, wounded, and missing". Encyclopædia Britannica.
111. ^ Warth, p. 199
112. ^ ^{a b c d} Tames, p. 53
113. ISBN 978-0-679-64561-0
     .
114. ISBN 978-0-14-024364-2
     .
115. ^ Tames, p. 55
116. ^ Service 2018, p. 49
117. ^ ^{a b} Massie, Robert K. Nicholas and Alexandra: The Last Tsar and His Family (1967) p. 461
118. ^ Rappaport 2018, pp. 62, 63.
119. ^ Welch 2018, p. 246.
120. ^ Massie, Robert K. Nicholas and Alexandra: The Last Tsar and His Family (1967) p. 462
121. ISBN 9781445634395
     .
122. ^ Rose, Kenneth King George V (1983) p. 210
123. ^ Service 2018, pp. 51–52 and pp. 68–69
124. ^ Service 2018, p. 34
125. ^ Service 2018, p. 36
126. ^ Service 2018, pp. 54–56
127. ^ Service 2018, p. 35
128. ^ Service 2018, p. 74
129. ^ "Five myths about the Romanovs". The Washington Post. 26 October 2018. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023.
130. ^ Service 2018, pp. 70–71
131. ^ Service 2018, p. 80
132. ^ Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra (1967) p. 487
133. ^ Service 2018, p. 145
134. ^ Service 2018, pp. 76–78
135. ^ Massie, K. Nicholas and Alexandra (1967) pp. 488–492
136. ^ Service 2018, pp. 132–133
137. ^ Service 2018, p. 150
138. ^ Service 2018, p. 125
139. ^ Service 2018, p. 157
140. ^ Service 2018, pp. 128–129
141. ^ Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra (1967) pp. 493–494
142. ^ Tames, p. 62.
143. ^ Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra (1967) pp. 502–505
144. ^ Service 2018, pp. 145–148
145. ^ Service 2018, pp. 152–153
146. ^ Service 2018, p. 158
147. ^ Service 2018, pp. 160–161
148. ^ Service 2018, pp. 163–165
149. ^ Service 2018, p. 167
150. ^ Service 2018, pp. 170–174
151. ^ Service 2018, pp. 179–182
152. ^ Service 2018, pp. 203–204
153. ^ Service 2018, pp. 228–229
154. ^ Service 2018, p. 201
155. ^ Rappaport 2009, p. 38
156. ^ Service 2018, p. 238
157. ^ Service 2018, pp. 250–254
158. ^
     ISBN 1861540388
159. ^ Radzinsky p. 431
160. ^ Massie (1995) p. 8.
161. ^ Massie (1995) p. 6.
162. ISBN 978-1101200360
     .
163. ^ Telegraph quoted in The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander (unpaginated).
164. ^ Service pp. 256–257
165. ^ Service pp. 263–264
166. ISBN 978-0679645634
     .
167. PMID 21943354
     .
168. ^ "Экспертиза подтвердила, что найденные останки принадлежат Николаю II" (in Russian). ITAR-TASS. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011.
169. PMID 19277206
     .
170. ^ "Famous DNA". Isogg.org. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
171. S2CID 32812244
     .
172. ^ Harding, Luke (25 August 2007). "Bones found by Russian builder finally solve riddle of the missing Romanovs". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
173. ^ "Remains of Tsar missing children found". Reuters. 24 August 2007.
174. ^ ^{a b} "DNA Confirms Remains of Tsar's Children". CBS News. Associated Press. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
175. ^ Details on further testing of the Imperial remains are contained in Rogaev, E.I., Grigorenko, A.P., Moliaka, I.K., Faskhutdinova, G., Goltsov, A., Lahti, A., Hildebrandt, C., Kittler, E.L.W. and Morozova, I., "Genomic identification in historical case of the Nicholas II royal family.", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (2009).
176. ^ BBC News. Russia's last Tsar rehabilitated. Retrieved on 1 October 2008
177. ^ "Russia's Last Tsar Declared Victim of Repression". Time. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
178. ^ "DNA proves Bolsheviks killed all of Russian Tsar's children". CNN. 22 December 2008.
179. ^ "Russia readies to exhume Tsar Alexander III in Romanov probe". AFP.com. Agence France-Presse. 3 November 2015. Archived from the original on 9 November 2015.
180. ^ "Russia exhumes bones of assassinated Tsar Nicholas and wife". BBC News. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
181. ^ New DNA tests establish remains of Tsar Nicholas II and wife are authentic. Ibtimes.co.uk (15 November 2015). Retrieved on 5 December 2018.
182. ^ Russia says DNA tests confirm remains of country's last tsar are genuine. Reuters (11 November 2015)
183. ^ DNA Testing Verifies Bones of Russia's Last Tsar. Themoscowtimes.com. Retrieved on 5 December 2018.
184. ^ "Romanovs laid to rest". BBC News. 17 July 1998.
185. ^ 17 July 1998: The funeral of Tsar Nicholas II at romanovfamily.org, accessed 11 August 2016
186. ^ A Reader's Guide to Orthodox Icons The Icons that Canonized the Holy Royal Martyrs
187. ^ "Orthodox Terminology", Church of the Mother of God Archived 19 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Churchmotherofgod.org. Retrieved on 5 December 2018.
188. ^ ^{a b} Massie (1995) pp. 134–135.
189. ^ Serfes, Demetrios (2000). "'Miracle of the Child Martyr Grand Duchess Maria'". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2007.
190. ^ Serfes, Demetrios (2000). "A Miracle Through the Prayers of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarevich Alexis". The Royal Martyrs of Russia. Archived from the original on 6 February 2007. Retrieved 25 February 2007.
191. ^
     JSTOR 129919
     .
192. ^ ^{a b} Kallistov, D. P. (1977). History of the USSR in Three Parts: From the earliest times to the Great October Socialist Revolution. Progress Publishers.^{[page needed]}.
193. ^ "Трагедия на Ходынском поле" [The tragedy on the Khodynka Field]. ИМПЕРАТОР НИКОЛАЙ II. Omsk State University. Retrieved 5 July 2016. Сергей Александрович с тех пор получил в народе титул "князя Ходынского", а Николай II стал именоваться «Кровавым». [Sergei Aleksandrovich was thenceforth called the "Prince of Khodynka" amongst the people, while Nicholas II known as called "Nicholas the Bloody".]
194. ^ "Восстановим историческую справедливость!". За-Царя.рф (in Russian). Retrieved 17 February 2021.
195. ^
     ISBN 0-19-508192-7
     , p. 2
196. ISBN 0-500-05093-7
     .
197. ^ Tuchman, Barbara W. The Guns of August. New York: Presidio Press, 1962, p. 71.
198. ^ Massie (1967) pp. viii–x.
199. ^ "The main merits of Emperor Nicholas II" (in Russian). 2017.
200. ^ "On the Title of His Imperial Majesty and the State Coat of Arms", Russian Imperial House: Official site of the Romanov Dynasty. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
201. JSTOR 1796946
     .
202. ^ Архипелаг Северная Земля – один из наиболее крупных районов оледенения на территории России Archived 24 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine. My.krskstate.ru. Retrieved on 5 December 2018.
203. ^ Депутаты Законодательного собрания Красноярского края против переименования островов архипелага "Северная Земля". newslab.ru (in Russian). 27 May 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
204. ^ ^{a b} Russian Imperial Army – Emperor Nicholas II of Russia Archived 17 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine (In Russian)
205. ^ Alexei Popovkin (2012). "Visits of the Slavic Monarchs to Russia" (in Russian). Retrieved 7 April 2020.
206. ^ Bille-Hansen, A. C.; Holck, Harald, eds. (1912) [1st pub.:1801]. Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1912 [State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1912] (PDF). Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender (in Danish). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri. pp. 3, 6. Retrieved 16 September 2019 – via da:DIS Danmark.
207. ISBN 978-2-35077-135-9
     .
208. ^ "Schwarzer Adler-orden", Königlich Preussische Ordensliste (in German), vol. 1, Berlin, 1886, p. 9 – via hathitrust.org{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
209. ^ ^{a b} "Königlich Preussische Ordensliste (supp.)", Preussische Ordens-Liste (in German), 1, Berlin: 5, 108, 1886 – via hathitrust.org
210. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1896), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 62, 76
211. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Bayern (1906), "Königliche Orden" p. 7
212. ^ Großherzoglich Hessische Ordensliste (in German), Darmstadt: Staatsverlag, 1914, pp. 3, 5 – via hathitrust.org
213. ^ Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach Archived 6 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine (1900), "Großherzogliche Hausorden" p. 16
214. ^ Sachsen (1901). "Königlich Orden". Staatshandbuch für den Königreich Sachsen: 1901. Dresden: Heinrich. p. 5 – via hathitrust.org.
215. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg (1896), "Königliche Orden" p. 28
216. ^ Italy. Ministero dell'interno (1916). Calendario generale del regno d'Italia. p. 83.
217. ^ "Romanov Nicola II Czar di Russia" (in Italian), Il sito ufficiale della Presidenza della Repubblica. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
218. ^ Justus Perthes, Almanach de Gotha (1918) p. 81
219. ^ 刑部芳則 (2017). 明治時代の勲章外交儀礼 (PDF) (in Japanese). 明治聖徳記念学会紀要. pp. 143, 149.
220. ^ "Partie Officielle" (PDF). Journal de Monaco (in French). 26 May 1896. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
221. ^ "The Order of Sovereign Prince Danilo I", orderofdanilo.org. Archived 9 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine
222. ^ Bragança, Jose Vicente de; Estrela, Paulo Jorge (2017). "Troca de Decorações entre os Reis de Portugal e os Imperadores da Rússia" [Exchange of Decorations between the Kings of Portugal and the Emperors of Russia]. Pro Phalaris (in Portuguese). 16: 11. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
223. ^ "Image: carol-i-nicholas-ii.jpg, (500 × 315 px)". royalromania.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
224. ^ Acović, Dragomir (2012). Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima. Belgrade: Službeni Glasnik. p. 128.
225. Royal Thai Government Gazette (29 March 1891). "การรับฮิสอิมปีเรียลไฮเนสแกรนด์ดุกซารวิตส์กรุงรุสเซีย" (PDF) (in Thai). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help
     )
226. ^ "Caballeros de la insigne orden del toisón de oro". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 147. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
227. ^ Svensk Rikskalender (in Swedish), 1909, p. 613, retrieved 6 January 2018 – via runeberg.org
228. ^ Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England, I, London, p. 69
229. ^ Shaw, p. 416
230. ^ "Russian honours: Emperor Nicholas II of Russia". Received 26 November 2018.
231. ^ ^{a b} Alexander III, Emperor of Russia at the Encyclopædia Britannica
232. ^ ^{a b c d} "Christian IX". The Danish Monarchy. Archived from the original on 3 April 2005. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
233. ^ ^{a b} Alexander II, Emperor of Russia at the Encyclopædia Britannica
234. ^ ^{a b} Zeepvat, Charlotte. Heiligenberg: Our Ardently Loved Hill. Published in Royalty Digest. No 49. July 1995.
235. ^ ^{a b} Vammen, Tinne (15 May 2003). "Louise (1817–1898)". Dansk Biografisk Leksikon (in Danish).
236. ^ ^{a b} Massie, Robert K. Nicholas and Alexandra, New York, Atheneum, 1967, p. 64
237. ^ Clarke, William The Lost Fortune of the Tsars, St. Martin's Griffin; Reprint edition, 1996, p. 101.
238. ^ Ferrand, Jacques Les Princes Youssoupoff & les comtes Soumarkoff Elston, Paris 1991

Bibliography

• Figes, Orlando (2015). A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924. The Bodley Head.
• King, Greg (1994). The Last Empress. Birch Lane Press.
• King, Greg (2006). The Court of the Last Czar: Pomp, Power and Pageantry in the Reign of Nicholas II. John Wiley & Sons.
• ISBN 978-0-8108-4927-3
  .
• Lieven, Dominic (1993). Nicholas II, Emperor of all the Russias. London: Pimlico.
• Massie, Robert, Nicholas and Alexandra, London: Pan Books, 1967. online free to borrow
• ISBN 978-0-394-58048-7
  .
• Radzinsky, Edvard (1992). The Last Tsar. New York: Doubleday. p. 431.
  ISBN 978-0-385-42371-7
  .
• ISBN 978-0099520092
  .
• Rappaport, Helen (2018). The Race to save the Romanoffs. New York: St Martin’s Press.
  ISBN 978-1-250-15121-6
  .
• ISBN 978-1447293101
  .
• Tames, Richard (1972). Last of the Tsars. London: Pan Books Ltd.
• Warth, Robert D. (1997). Nicholas II, The Life and Reign of Russia's Last Monarch. Praeger. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
• Welch, Frances (2018). The Imperial Tea Party: Family, Politics and Betrayal; The Ill-fated British and Russian Royal Alliance. London: Short Books.
  ISBN 978-1-78072-306-8
  .

Further reading

See also: Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War

• Antonov, Boris. Russian Czars, St. Petersburg, Ivan Fiodorov Art Publishers (
  ISBN 5-93893-109-6
  )
• Baden, Michael M. Chapter III: Time of Death and Changes after Death. Part 4: Exhumation, In: Spitz, W.U. & Spitz, D.J. (eds): Spitz and Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation of Death. Guideline for the Application of Pathology to Crime Investigations (Fourth edition). Charles C. Thomas, pp.: 174–183, Springfield, Illinois: 2006
• Emmerson, Charles. "The Future's Bright, the Future's Russian" History Today (2013) 63#10 pp 10–18. Optimism prevailed in 1913.
• Ferro, Marc. Nicholas II: The Last Tsar (1993) online free to borrow
• Dominic Lieven, Nicholas II: Emperor of All the Russias. 1993.
• Lyons, Marvin. Nicholas II The Last Czar, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1974
  ISBN 0-7100-7802-1
  )
• Maylunas, Andrei, and Sergei Mironenko, A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas & Alexandra 1999
• Multatuli, P. "Emperor Nicholas II and His Foreign Policy: Stages, Achievements and Results." International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy & International Relations (2017) 63#3 pp 258–267
• Bernard Pares, "The Fall of the Russian Monarchy" London: 1939, reprint London: 1988
• John Curtis Perry and Konstantin Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs. 1999.
• ISBN 0-385-42371-3
  .
• Mark D. Steinberg and Vladimir M. Khrustalev, The Fall of the Romanovs: Political Dreams and Personal Struggles in a Time of Revolution, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.
• Anthony Summers and Tom Mangold, The File on the Czar. 1976.
• Tereshchuk, Andrei V. "The Last Autocrat Reassessing Nicholas II" Russian Studies in History 50#4 (2012) pp. 3–6.
  doi:10.2753/RSH1061-1983500400
• Verner, Andrew M. The Crisis of the Russian Autocracy: Nicholas II and the 1905 Revolution 1990
• Wade, Rex A. "The Revolution at One Hundred: Issues and Trends in the English Language Historiography of the Russian Revolution of 1917." Journal of Modern Russian History and Historiography 9.1 (2016): 9–38.

Primary sources

• The Complete Wartime Correspondence of Czar Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra, April 1914 – March 1917. Edited by Joseph T. Furhmann Fuhrmann. Westport, Conn. and London: 1999
• Letters of Czar Nicholas and Empress Marie Ed. Edward J. Bing. London: 1937
• Letters of the Czar to the Czaritsa, 1914–1917 Trans. from Russian translations from the original English. E. L. Hynes. London and New York: 1929
• Nicky-Sunny Letters: correspondence of the Czar and Czaritsa, 1914–1917. Hattiesburg, Miss: 1970.
• The Secret Letters of the Last Czar: Being the Confidential Correspondence between Nicholas II and his Mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Ed. Edward J. Bing. New York and Toronto: 1938
• Willy-Nicky Correspondence: Being the Secret and Intimate Telegrams Exchanged Between the Kaiser and the Czar. Ed. Herman Bernstein. New York: 1917.
• Paul Benckendorff, Last Days at Czarskoe Selo. London: 1927
• Sophie Buxhoeveden, The Life and Tragedy of Alexandra Fedorovna, Empress of Russia: A Biography London: 1928
• Pierre Gilliard, Thirteen Years at the Russian Court New York: 1921
• A. A. Mossolov (Mosolov), At the Court of the Last Czar London: 1935
• Page, Walter Hines; Page, Arthur Wilson (October 1904). "The Personality of the Czar: An Explanation, By A Russian Official of High Authority".
  The World's Work: A History of Our Time
  . VIII: 5414–5430.
• Anna Vyrubova, Memories of the Russian Court London: 1923
• A. Yarmolinsky, editor, The Memoirs of Count Witte New York & Toronto: 1921 online
• Sir George Buchanan (British Ambassador) My Mission to Russia & Other Diplomatic Memories (2 vols, Cassell, 1923)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nicholas II of Russia.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Nicholas II of Russia.

Wikisource has the text of the 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Nicholas II.".

• Nicholas II and the Royal Family Newsreels // Net-Film Newsreels and Documentary Films Archive
• Nicholas_II at
  Curlie
• Photos of the last visit of Tsar Nicholas and family to France, to Cherbourg 1909 from contemporary Magazine, Illustration
• The Execution of Czar Nicholas II, 1918, EyeWitness to History.
• Brief Summary of Czar
• Nicholas and Alexandra Exhibition
• Frozentears.org A Media Library to Nicholas II and his Family.
• Romanov sisters
• Scientists Reopen Czar Mystery Archived 7 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
• Ipatiev House – Romanov Memorial detailed site on the historical context, circumstances and drama surrounding the Romanov's execution
• (in Russian) The Murder of Russia's Imperial Family Archived 22 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Nicolay Sokolov. Investigation of execution of the Romanovs in 1918.
• (in Russian) Nikolay II – Life and Death, Edvard Radzinski. Later published in English as The Last Czar: the Life and Death of Nicholas II.
• (in Russian) Memoirs: The reign of Nicholas II 1–12 13–33 34–45 46–52 (incomplete), Sergei Witte. It was originally published in 1922 in Berlin. No complete English translations are available yet.
• New Russian Martyrs. Czar Nicholas and His Family. A story of life, canonisation. Photoalbum.
• Russian History Magazine Articles about the Romanovs from Atlantis magazine.
• Resurrecting the Czar Archived 28 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine – November 2010 (Smithsonian magazine)
• The coronation of Emperor Nicholas II. 26 (14, old style), may, 1896. Historical photos.
• Portraits of Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Nicholas II House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov Cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg Born: 18 May 1868 Died: 17 July 1918
Regnal titles
Preceded by Alexander III	Emperor of Russia 1894–1917	Monarchy abolished
	Grand Duke of Finland 1894–1917	Vacant Title next held by Frederick Charles as king-elect
Titles in pretence
Loss of title Empire abolished	— TITULAR — Emperor of Russia 1917 Reason for succession failure: Empire abolished in 1917	Succeeded by Nikolai Nikolaevich