Nicholas II ( 186817 July 1918) was the last Emperor of Russia from 1 November 1894 until his abdication in 1917, during the Russian Revolution. A member of the Romanov dynasty, he oversaw the Russian Empire's role in the Russo-Japanese War and the First World War. During the Russian Civil War, Nicholas and his family were executed by Bolshevik forces.
Born in Tsarskoye Selo, Nicholas was the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna. He was educated privately and trained for military service, but was widely considered ill-prepared for the demands of ruling a vast empire. Despite ostensibly presiding over a constitutional monarchy, Nicholas resisted political reform and retained autocratic control over the nation's governance even after the establishment of the Duma. While his reign witnessed significant industrial growth and diplomatic engagement, it was also marked by domestic unrest, military defeats, and widespread criticism of his leadership.
Nicholas faced mounting disapproval following Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War as well as the turmoil of the 1905 Revolution. During World War I, his popularity declined even further as military losses and economic hardship eroded public confidence in his rule. In March 1917, the February Revolution forced his abdication, ending the Romanov dynasty's 304-year rule. He and his family were imprisoned by the Provisional Government and later transferred to Bolshevik custody. On 17 July 1918, they were executed in Yekaterinburg.
In the years following his death, Nicholas was reviled by Soviet historians and state propaganda as a "callous tyrant" who "persecuted his own people while sending countless soldiers to their deaths in pointless conflicts". Despite being viewed more positively in recent years, 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. He and his family were canonised as passion bearers by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000, following the discovery and reburial of their remains in 1998.
Early life Birth and family background
Nicholas was born on 1868 at the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, south of Saint Petersburg, during the reign of his paternal grandfather, Emperor Alexander II. He was the eldest child of the then-Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich and his wife, Tsesarevna Maria Feodorovna (née Princess Dagmar of Denmark). Alexandrovich was heir apparent to the Russian throne as the second, but eldest surviving, son of Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna (née Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine). Maria Feodorovna was the daughter of King Christian IX and Queen Louise of Denmark.
Nicholas was christened on 1 June [O.S. 20 May] in the Chapel of the Resurrection of the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo by the imperial family's confessor, protopresbyter Vasily Borisovich Bazhanov. His godparents were Alexander II (his paternal grandfather), Queen Louise of Denmark (his maternal grandmother), Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (his maternal uncle), and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna (his great-great-aunt). He received the traditional Romanov name Nicholas, in memory of his father's elder brother and his mother's first fiancé, Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Russia, who had died in 1865. Informally, he was known as "Nicky" throughout his life.
Nicholas was of primarily German and Danish descent and was related to several European monarchs. His mother's siblings included Kings Frederick VIII of Denmark and George I of Greece, as well as Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom (consort of King Edward VII). Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and Wilhelm II, German Emperor, were all first cousins of King George V of the United Kingdom. Nicholas was also a first cousin of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway, as well as King Christian X of Denmark and King Constantine I of Greece. Nicholas and Wilhelm II were second cousins once removed through descent from King Frederick William III of Prussia, and third cousins as great-great-grandsons of Tsar Paul I of Russia. In addition to being second cousins through descent from Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse, and his wife Princess Wilhelmine of Baden, Nicholas and Alexandra were also third cousins once removed through descent from King Frederick William II of Prussia.
Nicholas was the first cousin once removed of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich. To distinguish between them, the Grand Duke was often known within the imperial family as Nikolasha and Nicholas the Tall, while the Tsar was Nicholas the Short.
Childhood
Nicholas had five younger siblings: Alexander (1869–1870), George (1871–1899), Xenia (1875–1960), Michael (1878–1918), and Olga (1882–1960). Nicholas often referred nostalgically to his father in letters after Alexander's death in 1894, and he remained very close to his mother, as shown in their published correspondence. During his childhood, Nicholas, his parents, and his siblings made annual visits to the Danish royal palaces of Fredensborg and Bernstorff to see his grandparents, the king and queen. These gatherings also served as wider family reunions, with his mother's siblings travelling from the United Kingdom, Germany, and Greece with their families. It was during one such visit in 1883 that he had a brief flirtation with his British first cousin, Princess Victoria. In 1873, Nicholas accompanied his parents and his younger brother George on a two‑month semi‑official visit to the United Kingdom. In London, the family stayed at Marlborough House as guests of his uncle and aunt, Edward and Alexandra, the Prince and Princess of Wales, where Nicholas was indulged by his uncle.
In February 1880, a group of nihilist activists detonated a bomb in the dining room of the Winter Palace, destroying almost the entire room. No one was injured. Following the attack, Alexander III and his family moved to the Yelagin Palace on Yelagin Island.
Tsesarevich On 1 March 1881, following the assassination of his grandfather, Tsar Alexander II, by the Narodnaya Volya Nicholas became heir apparent, or tsesarevich, upon his father's accession as Alexander III. Nicholas and other family members witnessed Alexander II's death, at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, where he was brought after the attack. For security reasons, the new Tsar and his family relocated their primary residence to the Gatchina Palace, 48 kilometres from the city, only entering the capital for ceremonial functions. On such occasions, Alexander III and his family occupied the nearby Anichkov Palace. The Gatchina Palace had been built for Alexander I's father Paul I. Nicholas kept a diary.
Nicholas, colloquially called Nicky by his family, spent much of his vacations with them in his mother's home country Denmark and on cruises along the coasts of the Grand Duchy of Finland, especially on Alexander III's fishing lodge in Langinkoski, on the river Kymi in Kotka. In summertime the family lived at the Alexander Palace, at the Livadia Palace in Crimea or sometimes hunted deer in Łowicz County, Poland.
Nicholas and his siblings were raised in a Spartan way, in an English fashion. They slept in tent bends, rose at 6 and took cold baths, sometimes they were given a warm bath in their mother's bathroom. Breakfast consisted of porridge and black bread, lunch of lamb chops or roast beef with peas and roasted potatoes, and tea of bread, butter and jam. Nicholas and brother George had their own salon, dining room, play room and bedroom, which were simply decorated. The only prominent item was an icon surrounded by pearls and jewels. Because of the happy marriage of Nicholas's parents, he was raised surrounded by love and safety, which was missing in many other royal families.
Nicholas and George shared the same teachers, but studied in adjacent rooms. They followed the course of the academy of the general staff, and their teachers were valued professors. Their English teacher Charles Heath, who was Nicholas's favourite teacher,10 important facts about the murder of Russia's royal family had acted as teacher of their uncles, Grand Duke Sergei and Paul. Both brothers spoke and wrote English. Heath inspired them in sport, especially shooting and fly fishing. They spoke fluent French as well as passable German and Danish. Konstantin Pobedonostsev, was Nicholas' teacher of law and history. His home teacher general Danilovich did not ask for much from the tsesarevich, as "the sacrament of coronation will give the ruler all the information he needs."
Neither Nicholas's upbringing, nor his nature, was suitable for the difficult duties that awaited him as emperor. He had received military education from his teachers, and his taste and interests were similar to other young Russian officers. He had little intelligent ambition, but enjoyed physical exercise and the supplies of military life: uniforms, insignia and parades. But he felt uncomfortable in official situations. Even though he had charm, he was shy and avoided close contact with his subjects, preferring the privacy of his family.Nicholas II: Biography, Wife, Abdication, Death, & Facts, Encyclopaedia Britannica 2024. Accessed on 15 February 2024. According to his diary he played childish games well past the age of 20.
Nicholas's brawny father, who could not tolerate weakness, was discouraging to Nicholas. Once when Nicholas made a mistake and let a playmate take the blame, Alexander shouted at him: "You are a girl!" Alexander was aware his son was too childish to take on responsibility, which he said clearly to minister of finance Sergei Witte. Nicholas learnt to obey his father, who told him to participate in committees. Nicholas found political tasks uninteresting and instead partied with other young officers from the Preobrazhensky, and Hussar Guards from the Romanov family, in restaurants and in the company of young women on islands near St Petersburg. He was especially influenced by his uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov.
Nicholas underwent military training under general Gregory Danilovich and was inspired by him and senior procurator Konstantin Pobedonostsev in a Pan-Slavist and even mystical religious way.Carlquist, Gunnar, ed. (1937): Svensk uppslagsbok. Bd 19. Malmö: Svensk Uppslagsbok AB, p. 1145. Pobedonostsev's teachings caused Nicholas to think that as emperor by the grace of God he had a sacred duty to upkeep the autocracy and the Eastern Orthodox religion.Nikolaj 2
In 1884, Nicholas' coming-of-age ceremony was held at the Winter Palace, where he pledged loyalty to his father. Later that year, Nicholas' uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, married Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, and his late wife Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. At the wedding in St Petersburg, the sixteen-year-old Tsarevich met with and admired the bride's youngest surviving sister, twelve-year-old Princess Alix. Those feelings became romantic following her visit to St Petersburg in 1889. Alix had feelings for him in turn. As a devout Lutheran, she was reluctant to convert to Russian Orthodoxy to marry Nicholas, but relented.