Biography of anyone statesman inseparable from the history of the country he represents. This is especially true of monarchs to whom fate has entrusted (usually regardless of their personal wishes) control of an entire empire.
Nicholas II(1868-1918) became the last Russian Tsar. Together with him, the former monarchical Rus', peasant and Orthodox Rus' disappeared forever. The reign of Nicholas 2 from 1894-1917.
Nikolai was born in May 1868 in Tsarskoe Selo. He received an excellent upbringing: at first he was taught an extended gymnasium course, then lectures on economics, politics, and jurisprudence were added. His father carefully chose mentors for him and tried to give his son extensive knowledge, realizing that he would have to solve a variety of issues while at the top state power. Nikolai traveled a lot, was in Japan, China, Greece, India, and traveled all over Siberia. By the time of his coronation, the young man already possessed considerable life experience and information about your home country and about the world around us. It would seem that the political situation was also very favorable. The common people still firmly believed in the Tsar-Father, pinning hopes on him for a better future. But then the first tragedy happened, which no one expected, least of all the newly-made sovereign: the death of 1,300 people on the Khodynskoe field. It was 1896, many people had gathered to celebrate the coronation of Nicholas, and were expecting the promised free treat. But because bad organization and uncoordinated police action, a stampede occurred, killing 1,300 people. This was the first alarm bell - fate seemed to warn Nicholas that his reign would not be prosperous.
Then Bloody Sunday happened, when a completely peaceful procession of workers heading to the Tsar asking for help was shot. The workers drew up a petition about their needs and intended to deliver it directly into the hands of the sovereign. After the police shot unarmed people, Nikolai received the terrible nickname “Bloody,” although he himself not only did not participate in these events, but did not even know about them - the tsar was not in the city.
After 1905, the passage of time seemed to accelerate several times. A socio-political crisis is brewing, there's a war going on with Japan, against the backdrop of an extremely unstable situation, Stolypin carries out his agrarian reforms. Nikolai is at the epicenter of events, but it’s as if he doesn’t accept it himself. necessary solutions, but submits to the inexorable march of time: publishes a manifesto on the State Duma, takes command of the army, then tries to take measures to quickly end the outbreak of the First World War. Almost the entire time he was in power, the last Russian sovereign kept a diary, where events of a global and all-Russian scale are on the same line as family meetings and dinners. Apparently, Nikolai Alexandrovich was quite a closed person, who experienced a lot inside, without splashing out emotions even on the pages of his diary, where he only records the facts with the pedantry of a chronicler.
Those around him often spoke of the sovereign as a man with a rather weak will, they mentioned that he succumbed to the influence of the empress. In general, he was much more drawn to peaceful life, not related to government concerns: hunting, walking, reading. He was interested in cars and photography, and spent a lot of time with his family. Perhaps the emperor missed something important during these quiet activities in turbulent times. And then - like thunder over his head - renunciation.
And then - arrest, life with his family in the Alexander Palace, where he went from being a master to a prisoner. Then - exile to Tobolsk, a quiet existence filled with simple labor (cultivating a garden, chopping wood) and, of course, reflection. About Russia, about his fate, about the fate of his children - what was Nikolai Alexandrovich thinking about at that time? Last year own life?…
The family was shot in Yekaterinburg in Ipatiev’s house. And again, fate seemed to curl up in a cruel smile: the Romanov dynasty began with the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma, from where they were called to the throne young Mikhail, and ended in the Ipatiev House of Yekaterinburg.
What was it like the last king from the Romanov family? Of course, he was not the villain he was portrayed to be. Soviet authority, nor the angel that they try to present today. Nikolai Alexandrovich was an ordinary person with all his strengths and weaknesses; he simply could not do anything in the current situation, not even retain power.
Could anyone else do it? Has anyone been able to do this?
Information about Nicholas 2 briefly.
Nikolay 2 – the last Emperor Russian Empire(May 18, 1868 – July 17, 1918). Received an excellent education, owned several foreign languages perfectly, rose to the rank of colonel Russian army, as well as admiral of the fleet and field marshal british army. Became emperor after sudden death father - the accession to the throne of Nicholas 2, when Nicholas was only 26.
Brief biography of Nicholas 2
From childhood, Nicholas was trained as a future ruler - he was engaged in a deep study of economics, geography, politics and languages. He achieved great success in military affairs, to which he had a penchant. In 1894, just a month after his father's death, he married German princess Alice of Hesse (Alexandra Fedorovna). Two years later (May 26, 1896) the official coronation of Nicholas 2 and his wife took place. The coronation took place in an atmosphere of mourning; in addition, due to the huge number of people wishing to attend the ceremony, many people died in the stampede.
Children of Nicholas 2: daughters Olga (November 3, 1895), Tatyana (May 29, 1897), Maria (June 14, 1899) and Anastasia (June 5, 1901), as well as son Alexey (August 2, 1904 .). Despite the fact that the boy was found serious disease– hemophilia (incoagulability of blood) – he was prepared to rule as the only heir.
Russia under Nicholas 2 was in a stage of economic recovery, despite this, the political situation worsened. Nicholas's failure as a politician led to internal tensions growing in the country. As a result, after a meeting of workers marching to the Tsar was brutally dispersed on January 9, 1905 (the event was called “Bloody Sunday”), the first Russian Revolution of 1905-1907 broke out in the Russian Empire. The result of the revolution was the manifesto “On the Improvement public order", which limited the power of the king and gave the people civil liberties. Because of all the events that occurred during his reign, the tsar received the nickname Nicholas 2 the Bloody.
In 1914, the First World War began, which negatively affected the state of the Russian Empire and only aggravated internal political tension. The failures of Nicholas 2 in the war led to an uprising breaking out in Petrograd in 1917, as a result of which the tsar voluntarily abdicated the throne. The date of abdication of Nicholas 2 from the throne is March 2, 1917.
Years of reign of Nicholas 2 - 1896 - 1917.
In March 1917, the entire royal family was arrested and later sent into exile. The execution of Nicholas 2 and his family occurred on the night of July 16-17.
In 1980 members royal family were canonized by the foreign church, and then, in 2000, by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Politics of Nicholas 2
Under Nicholas, many reforms were carried out. The main reforms of Nicholas 2:
- Agrarian. Assignment of land not to the community, but to private peasant owners;
- Military. Army reform after defeat in the Russo-Japanese War;
- Management. The State Duma was created, the people received civil rights.
Results of the reign of Nicholas 2
- Height Agriculture, ridding the country of hunger;
- Growth of economy, industry and culture;
- Rising tensions in domestic policy, which led to revolution and a change in the government system.
With the death of Nicholas 2 came the end of the Russian Empire and the monarchy in Russia.
Sunday, May 19, 2013 02:11 + to quote book
the last Russian emperor.
The last Russian Emperor Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov), the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna, was born on May 19 (May 6, old style) 1868 in Tsarskoye Selo (now the city of Pushkin, Pushkin district of St. Petersburg).
WITH Immediately after his birth, Nikolai was included in the lists of several guards regiments and appointed chief of the 65th Moscow Infantry Regiment.
D The childhood years of the future Tsar of Russia passed within the walls Gatchina Palace. Nikolai's regular homework began when he was eight years old. Training program included an eight-year general education course and a five-year course higher sciences. IN general education course Special attention devoted to studying political history, Russian literature, French, German and English languages. The course of higher sciences included political economy, law and military affairs (military jurisprudence, strategy, military geography, service General Staff). Classes in vaulting, fencing, drawing, and music were also conducted. Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna themselves selected teachers and mentors. Among them were scientists, statesmen and military figures: Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Nikolai Bunge, Mikhail Dragomirov, Nikolai Obruchev and others.
IN December 1875 Nikolai received his first military rank- ensign, and in 1880 he was promoted to second lieutenant, 4 years later he became a lieutenant. In 1884, Nikolai entered active military service, and in July 1887 began regular service. military service in the Preobrazhensky Regiment and was promoted to staff captain; in 1891 Nikolai received the rank of captain, and a year later - colonel.
D for dating state affairs from May 1889, Nikolai began to attend meetings State Council and the Committee of Ministers. In October 1890, he undertook a sea voyage to the Far East. In 9 months he visited Greece, Egypt, India, China, Japan, and then returned to the capital of Russia by land through all of Siberia.
IN April 1894, the engagement of the future emperor to Princess Alice of Darmstadt-Hesse, daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse, granddaughter Queen of England Victoria. After converting to Orthodoxy, she took the name Alexandra Feodorovna.
2 November (October 21, old style) 1894 Alexander III died. A few hours before his death, the dying emperor obliged his son to sign the Manifesto on his accession to the throne.
TO The oronation of Nicholas II took place on May 26 (14 old style) 1896. May 30 (18 old style) 1896 during the celebration of the coronation of Nicholas II in Moscow.
Coronation of Nicholas II, 1894
IN The reign of Nicholas II was a period of high economic growth in the country. The Emperor supported decisions aimed at economic and social modernization: the introduction of gold circulation of the ruble, Stolypin's agrarian reform, laws on workers' insurance, universal primary education, religious tolerance.
C
The reign of Nicholas II took place in an atmosphere of increasing revolutionary movement and complications foreign policy situation(Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905; Bloody Sunday; Revolution of 1905-1907; First World War; February Revolution of 1917).
Under the influence of a strong social movement in favor political changes, 30 (17 old style) October 1905, Nicholas II signed the famous manifesto “On Improving the State Order”: the people were granted freedom of speech, press, personality, conscience, assembly, and unions; as legislature The State Duma was created.
P The turning point in the fate of Nicholas II was 1914 - the beginning of the First World War. The Tsar did not want war and until the very last moment tried to avoid a bloody conflict. On August 1 (July 19, old style), 1914, Germany declared war on Russia. In August 1915, Nicholas II assumed military command (previously held by Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich). After this, the king spent most of his time at headquarters. Supreme Commander in Mogilev.
IN At the end of February 1917, unrest began in Petrograd, which grew into mass protests against the government and the dynasty. The February Revolution found Nicholas II at headquarters in Mogilev. Having received news of the uprising in Petrograd, he decided not to make concessions and to restore order in the city by force, but when the scale of the unrest became clear, he abandoned this idea, fearing great bloodshed.
IN midnight March 15 (2 old style) March 1917 in the salon carriage of the imperial train, standing on the tracks at railway station Pskov, Nicholas II signed an act of abdication, transferring power to his brother Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, who did not accept the crown.
20 (7 old style) March 1917, the Provisional Government issued an order for the arrest of the Tsar. On March 22 (9 old style), Nicholas II and the royal family were arrested. For the first five months they were under guard in Tsarskoye Selo; in August 1917 they were transported to Tobolsk, where the royal family spent eight months.
IN At the beginning of 1918, the Bolsheviks forced Nikolai to remove his shoulder straps as a colonel (his last military rank), which he took as a serious insult.
IN In May 1918, the royal family was transported to Yekaterinburg, where they were placed in the house of mining engineer Nikolai Ipatiev. The regime for keeping the Romanovs was extremely difficult.
IN night from 16 (3 old style) to 17 (4 old style) July 1918 Nicholas II, Tsarina, their five children: daughters - Olga (1895) -22 years old, Tatiana (1897) -21 years old, Maria (1899) -19 years old and Anastasia (1901) -17 years old, son - Tsarevich, heir to the throne Alexei (1904) -13 years old and several close associates (11 people in total), were shot without trial in a small room in ground floor Houses.
The last Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife and five children
in 1981 they were canonized as martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, and in 2000 they were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church, and in currently are revered by her as
"Holy Royal Passion-Bearers."
Holy royal passion-bearers, pray to God for us.
October 1, 2008 presidium Supreme Court The Russian Federation recognized the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II and members of his family as victims of illegal political repression and rehabilitated them.
"Lenta.ru" is studying the so-called " controversial issues"Russian history. Experts preparing a single school textbook on the subject, they formulated topic No. 16 as follows: “Causes, consequences and assessment of the fall of the monarchy in Russia, the coming to power of the Bolsheviks and their victory in the Civil War.” One of key figures This topic is the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II, killed by the Bolsheviks in 1918, and at the end of the twentieth century, canonized by the Orthodox Church. Lenta.ru asked publicist Ivan Davydov to research the life of Nicholas II in order to figure out whether he can be considered a saint and how private life tsar was associated with the “catastrophe of 1917”.
In Russia, the story ends badly. In the sense that it is reluctant. Our history continues to weigh on us, and sometimes on us. It seems that in Russia there is no time at all: everything is relevant. Historical characters- our contemporaries and participants in political discussions.
In the case of Nicholas II, this is quite clear: he is the last (at least for this moment) Russian Tsar, he began the terrible Russian twentieth century - and with him the empire ended. The events that defined this century and still do not want to let us go - two wars and three revolutions - are episodes of its personal biography. Some even consider the murder of Nicholas II and his family a national, unforgivable sin, the price for which is many Russian troubles. Rehabilitation, search and identification of the remains of the royal family are important political gestures of the Yeltsin era.
And since August 2000, Nicholas has been a canonized holy passion-bearer. Moreover, he is a very popular saint - just remember the “Romanovs” exhibition, held in December 2013. It turns out that the last Russian Tsar, out of spite to his murderers, is now the most alive of all the living.
Where did bears come from?
It is important to understand that for us (including those who see the last tsar as a saint) Nicholas is not at all the same person as he was for millions of his subjects, at least at the beginning of his reign.
In collections of Russian folk legends, a plot similar to Pushkin’s “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” is repeatedly repeated. A peasant goes for firewood and finds a magic tree in the forest. The tree asks not to destroy it, promising various benefits in return. Gradually, the old man's appetites (not without prodding from his grumpy wife) grow - and in the end he declares his desire to be a king. Magic tree he is horrified: is it conceivable - the king was appointed by God, how can one encroach on such a thing? And turns the greedy couple into bears so that people are afraid of them.
So, for his subjects, and by no means only for illiterate peasants, the king was God’s anointed, a bearer sacred power and a special mission. Neither revolutionary terrorists, nor revolutionary theorists, nor liberal freethinkers could seriously shake this faith. There is not even a distance, but an insurmountable gap between Nicholas II, God’s anointed, crowned in 1896, the sovereign of all Rus', and citizen Romanov, whom security officers killed in Yekaterinburg with his family and loved ones in 1918. The question of where this abyss came from is one of the most difficult in our history (which has not been particularly smooth at all). Wars, revolutions, economic growth and political terror, reforms, reaction - everything is connected in this issue. I won’t deceive - I don’t have the answer, but I have a suspicion that some small and insignificant part of the answer is hidden in the human biography of the last carrier autocratic power.
Frivolous son of a stern father
Many portraits have survived: the last tsar lived in the era of photography and he himself loved to take photographs. But words are more interesting than dull and old pictures, and a lot has been said about the emperor, and by people who knew a lot about the arrangement of words. For example, Mayakovsky, with the pathos of an eyewitness:
And I see a landau rolling,
And in this land
Young military man sitting
In a well-groomed beard.
In front of him, like lumps,
Four daughters.
And on the backs of cobblestones, like on our coffins,
His retinue is in eagles and coats of arms.
And the bells rang
Blurred in a lady's squeak:
Hurray! Tsar Nicholas,
Emperor and autocrat of all Russia.
(The poem “Emperor” was written in 1928 and is dedicated to an excursion to the burial place of Nicholas; the poet-agitator, naturally, approved of the murder of the Tsar; but the poems are beautiful, nothing can be done about it.)
But that's all later. In the meantime, in May 1868, a son, Nikolai, was born into the family of the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich. In principle, Alexander Alexandrovich was not preparing to reign, but the eldest son of Alexander II, Nicholas, fell ill during a trip abroad and died. So Alexander III king became in in a certain sense accidentally. And Nicholas II, it turns out, was doubly accidental.
Alexander Alexandrovich ascended the throne in 1881 - after his father, nicknamed the Liberator for the abolition of serfdom, was brutally killed by revolutionaries in St. Petersburg. Alexander III rules cool, unlike its predecessor, without flirting with the liberal public. The tsar responded with terror to terror, caught many revolutionaries and hanged them. Among others - Alexandra Ulyanova. His younger brother Vladimir, as we know, subsequently took revenge on the royal family.
A time of prohibitions, reaction, censorship and police brutality - this is how the era of Alexander III was described by contemporary oppositionists (mostly from abroad, of course) and after them Soviet historians. And this is also the time of the war with the Turks in the Balkans for the liberation of the “Slavic brothers” (the same one in which the brave scout Fandorin accomplished his exploits), conquests in Central Asia, as well as various economic reliefs for peasants, strengthening the army and overcoming budgetary disasters.
For our story, it is important that the busy king did not have many free minutes left for family life. Almost the only (apocryphal) story about the relationship between father and son is associated with the beautiful ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya. Supposedly they told gossips, the king was upset and worried that the heir could not get a mistress. And then one day, stern servants came to his son’s chambers (Alexander III was a simple, rude, harsh man, his friends were mainly with the military) and brought a gift from his father - a carpet. And in the carpet is a famous ballerina. Naked. That's how we met.
Nicholas's mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna (Princess Dagmara of Denmark) had little interest in Russian affairs. The heir grew up under the supervision of tutors - first an Englishman, then local. Received a decent education. Three European languages, and he spoke English almost better than Russian, an in-depth gymnasium course, then some university subjects.
Later, a pleasure trip to mysterious countries East. In particular, to Japan. There was trouble with the heir. During a walk, the crown prince was attacked by a samurai and hit the future king on the head with a sword. In pre-revolutionary foreign brochures published by Russian revolutionaries, they wrote that the heir behaved impolitely in the temple, and in one Bolshevik one - that a drunken Nicholas urinated on some statue. This is all propaganda lies. Nevertheless, there was one blow. Someone from the retinue managed to repel the second one, but the residue remained. And also a scar, regular headaches and a dislike for the Land of the Rising Sun.
By family tradition the heir went through something like military practice in the guard. First - in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, then - in the Life Guards Hussars. There is also an anecdote here. The hussars, in full accordance with the legend, were famous for their rampant drunkenness. At one time, when the regiment commander was Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr. (grandson of Nicholas I, cousin of Nicholas II’s father), the hussars even developed a whole ritual. Having drunk themselves to hell, they ran naked into the night - and howled, imitating a pack of wolves. And so on - until the barman brought them a trough of vodka, after drinking from which the werewolves calmed down and went to sleep. So the heir most likely served cheerfully.
He served cheerfully, lived cheerfully, and in the spring of 1894 he became engaged to Princess Alice of Hesse (she converted to Orthodoxy and became Alexandra Feodorovna). Marrying for love is a problem for crowned persons, but somehow everything worked out right away for the future spouses, and in the future, in the course of life together they showed unostentatious tenderness to each other.
Oh yes. Nikolai abandoned Matilda Kshesinskaya immediately after the engagement. But the royal family liked the ballerina, then she was the mistress of two more great princes. I even gave birth to one.
In 1912, cadet V.P. Obninsky published the book “The Last Autocrat” in Berlin, in which he collected, it seems, all the known defamatory rumors about the tsar. So, he reports that Nicholas tried to renounce the reign, but his father, shortly before his death, forced him to sign the corresponding paper. However, no other historian confirms this rumor.
From Khodynka to the October 17 manifesto
The last Russian Tsar was definitely unlucky. Key events in his life - and in Russian history - placed him in the wrong better light, and often without his obvious guilt.
According to tradition, in honor of the coronation of the new emperor, a celebration was scheduled in Moscow: on May 18, 1896, up to half a million people gathered on the Khodynskoye field (pocked with pits, bordered on one side by a ravine; in general, moderately convenient). The people were promised beer, honey, nuts, sweets, gift mugs with monograms and portraits of the new emperor and empress. And also gingerbread and sausage.
People began to gather the day before, and early in the morning someone shouted in the crowd that there weren’t enough gifts for everyone. A wild stampede began. The police were unable to contain the crowd. As a result, about two thousand people died, hundreds of injured were hospitalized.
But this is in the morning. In the afternoon, the police finally dealt with the unrest, the dead were taken away, the blood was covered with sand, the emperor arrived on the field, his subjects shouted the required “hurray.” But, of course, they immediately started saying that the omen for the beginning of the reign was so-so. “Whoever began to reign over Khodynka will end by standing on the scaffold,” one mediocre but popular poet would later write. This is how a mediocre poet can turn out to be a prophet. It is unlikely that the king was personally responsible for the poor organization of the celebrations. But for many contemporaries, the words “Nikolai” and “Khodynka” somehow linked together.
Moscow students tried to organize a demonstration in memory of the victims. They were dispersed, and the instigators were caught. Nikolai showed that he is, after all, his father’s son and does not intend to become liberal.
However, his intentions were generally vague. He visited his European, so to speak, colleagues (the age of empires had not yet ended) and tried to persuade the leaders of world powers to eternal peace. True, without enthusiasm and without much success, everyone in Europe understood even then that big war- it's a matter of time. And no one understood how big this war would be. No one understood, no one was afraid.
Quiet family life The king was clearly more interested in than state affairs. One after another, daughters were born - Olga (even before the coronation), then Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia. There was no son, this caused concern. The dynasty needed an heir.
Dacha in Livadia, hunting. The king loved to shoot. The so-called “Diary of Nicholas II”, all these dull, monotonous and endless “shot at crows”, “killed a cat”, “drank tea” - a fake; but the king shot at innocent crows and cats with enthusiasm.
Photo: Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky / Library of Congress
As mentioned above, the tsar became interested in photography (and, by the way, supported the famous Prokudin-Gorsky in every possible way). And also - one of the first in Europe to appreciate such new thing like a car. He drove personally and had a fair fleet of vehicles. During pleasant activities, time passed unnoticed. The Tsar drove his car through the parks, and Russia climbed into Asia.
Even Alexander III understood that the empire would have to seriously fight in the East, and he sent his son on a cruise for nine months for a reason. Nikolai, as we remember, did not like it in Japan. A military alliance with China against Japan is one of his first foreign affairs affairs. Next came the construction of the CER (Chinese Eastern Railway) railway), military bases in China, including the famous Port Arthur. And Japan's discontent and breakup diplomatic relations in January 1904, and then there was an attack on the Russian squadron.
The bird cherry quietly crept like a dream,
And someone “Tsushima...” said into the phone.
Hurry, hurry! The deadline is running out!
"Varyag" and "Koreets" went east.
This is Anna Andreevna Akhmatova.
"Varyag" and "Korean", as everyone knows, died heroically in Chemulpo Bay, but at first the reason Japanese successes were seen exclusively in the treachery of “yellow-faced devils.” They were going to fight with the savages, and a mood of sabotage reigned in society. And then the king finally gave birth to an heir, Tsarevich Alexei.
And the tsar, and the military, and many ordinary citizens who were then experiencing patriotic delight, somehow did not notice that the Japanese savages were seriously preparing for war, spending a lot of money, attracting the best foreign specialists and creating an army and navy that were clearly more powerful than the Russians.
Failures followed one after another. The economy of an agricultural country could not maintain the pace necessary to support the front. Communications were no good - Russia is too big and our roads are too bad. The Russian army near Mukden was defeated. The huge fleet crawled around half the Earth from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, and then near the island of Tsushima it was almost completely destroyed by the Japanese in a few hours. Port Arthur was surrendered. Peace had to be concluded on humiliating terms. They gave away, among other things, half of Sakhalin.
Embittered, crippled, having seen hunger, mediocrity, cowardice and theft of the command, the soldiers returned to Russia. Lots of soldiers.
And in Russia by that time a lot had happened. Bloody Sunday, for example, January 9, 1905. The workers, whose situation naturally worsened (after all, there was a war), decided to go to the tsar - to ask for bread and, oddly enough, political freedoms up to popular representation. The demonstration was met with bullets, and the number of people killed - the data varies - from 100 to 200 people. The workers became embittered. Nikolai was upset.
Then there was what is called the revolution of 1905 - riots in the army and cities, their bloody suppression and - as an attempt to reconcile the country - the Manifesto of October 17, which granted Russians basic civil liberties and parliament - State Duma. The emperor dissolved the First Duma by decree less than a year later. He didn't like the idea at all.
All these events did not add to the sovereign’s popularity. It seems that he has no supporters left among the intelligentsia. Konstantin Balmont, a rather bad, but very popular poet in those days, published abroad a book of poems with the pretentious title “Songs of Struggle,” which included, among other things, the poem “Our Tsar.”
Our king is Mukden, our king is Tsushima,
Our king is a bloody stain,
The stench of gunpowder and smoke,
In which the mind is dark.
About the scaffold and Khodynka, quoted above, is from the same place.
Tsar, war and newspapers
The time between the two wars is packed with events tightly and densely. Stolypin terror and Stolypin land reform (“They need great upheavals, we need great Russia" - this beautiful phrase quoted by V.V. Putin, R.A. Kadyrov, N.S. Mikhalkov, and was generated by a little-known speechwriter owned by the formidable prime minister.) The economic growth. First experiences of parliamentary work; The Dumas were always in conflict with the government and were dissolved by the tsar. The behind-the-scenes fuss of the revolutionary parties that destroyed the empire - the Socialist-Revolutionaries, the Mensheviks, the Bolsheviks. Nationalist reaction, the Union of the Russian People secretly supported by the tsar, Jewish pogroms. The flourishing of the arts...
The growth of influence at the court of Rasputin - a crazy old man from Siberia, either a whip or a holy fool, who was eventually able to completely subjugate the Russian Empress to his will: the Tsarevich was ill, Rasputin knew how to help him, and this worried the Empress more than all the upheavals in the external world. world.
To our proud capital
He comes in - God save me! -
Charms the queen
Vast Rus'.
This is Gumilyov Nikolai Stepanovich, the poem “The Man” from the book “The Bonfire”.
There is, perhaps, no point in retelling in detail the history of the First World War, which thundered in August 1914 (by the way, there is an interesting and unexpected document about the state of the country on the eve of the disaster: just in 1914, J. Grosvenor, an American who wrote for The National Geographic Magazine a large and enthusiastic article “Young Russia. A country unlimited possibilities» with a bunch of photographs; the country, according to the American, was blooming).
In short, it all looked like a quote from very recent newspapers: first patriotic enthusiasm, then failures at the front, an economy unable to serve the front, bad roads.
And also the tsar, who decided to personally lead the army in August 1915, and also the endless queues for bread in the capital and major cities, and then there was the revelry of the nouveau riche, who “rose up” from million-dollar military contracts, and also many thousands returning from the front. Cripples and simply deserters. Having seen death up close, the dirt of gray Galicia, having seen Europe...
In addition, probably for the first time: the headquarters of the warring powers launched a large-scale information war, supplying the army and enemy rear with the most terrible rumors, including about august persons. And stories spread across the country in millions of sheets about how our tsar was a cowardly, weak-minded drunkard, and his wife was Rasputin’s mistress and a German spy.
This was all a lie, of course, but what is important is this: in a world where the printed word still believed and where ideas about the sacredness of autocratic power still simmered, they were dealt a very strong blow. It was not German leaflets or Bolshevik newspapers that broke the monarchy, but their role should not be completely discounted.
Tellingly, the German monarchy also did not survive the war. Austro-Hungarian Empire ended. In a world where the authorities have no secrets, where a journalist in a newspaper can rinse the sovereign as he wants, empires will not survive.
Taking all this into account, it probably becomes clearer why, when the king abdicated, no one was particularly surprised. Except, perhaps, himself and his wife. At the end of February, his wife wrote to him that hooligans were operating in St. Petersburg (this is how she tried to comprehend the February Revolution), and he demanded to suppress the unrest, no longer having at hand loyal troops. On March 2, 1917, Nicholas signed his abdication.
Ipatiev House and everything after
The provisional government sent the former tsar and his family to Tyumen, then to Tobolsk. The king almost liked what was happening. It's not so bad to be a private citizen and no longer responsible for a huge, war-torn country. Then the Bolsheviks moved him to Yekaterinburg.
Then... Everyone knows what happened then, in July 1918. Specific ideas of the Bolsheviks about political pragmatism. Brutal murder of the king, queen, children, doctor, servants. Martyrdom turned the last autocrat into a holy passion-bearer. Icons of the Tsar are now sold in any church shop, but with a portrait there is a certain difficulty.
A gallant military man with a well-groomed beard, a quiet, one might even say kindly (forgive the killed cats) man in the street, who loved his family and simple human joys, found himself - not without the intervention of chance - at the head of the big country at the most, probably terrible period her stories.
He seems to be hiding behind this story, there is little brightness in him - not like in the events that passed by, affecting him and his family, in the events that in the end destroyed both him and the country, creating another. It’s as if he’s not there, you can’t see him behind a series of disasters.
And the terrible death removes the questions that people in Russia love to ask: is the ruler to blame for the country’s troubles? Guilty. Certainly. But no more than many others. And he paid dearly to atone for his guilt.
Years of life: 1868-1818
Reign: 1894-1917
Born May 6 (19 old style) 1868 in Tsarskoe Selo. Russian Emperor, who reigned from October 21 (November 2), 1894 to March 2 (March 15), 1917. Belonged to the Romanov dynasty, was the son and successor.
From birth he had the title - His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke. In 1881, he received the title of Heir to Tsarevich, after the death of his grandfather, Emperor.
Title of Emperor Nicholas 2
Full title of the emperor from 1894 to 1917: “By God's favor, We, Nicholas II (Church Slavonic form in some manifestos - Nicholas II), Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod; Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Chersonese Tauride, Tsar of Georgia; Sovereign of Pskov and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuania, Volyn, Podolsk and Finland; Prince of Estland, Livonia, Courland and Semigal, Samogit, Bialystok, Korel, Tver, Yugorsk, Perm, Vyatka, Bulgarian and others; Sovereign and Grand Duke of Novagorod of the Nizovsky lands, Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Belozersky, Udorsky, Obdorsky, Kondiysky, Vitebsk, Mstislavsky and all northern countries Sovereign; and Sovereign of Iversk, Kartalinsky and Kabardian lands and the regions of Armenia; Cherkasy and Mountain Princes and other Hereditary Sovereign and Possessor, Sovereign of Turkestan; Heir of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Ditmarsen and Oldenburg, and so on, and so on, and so on.”
The peak of Russia's economic development and at the same time growth 
revolutionary movement, which resulted in the revolutions of 1905-1907 and 1917, fell precisely on years of reign of Nicholas 2. Foreign policy at that time was aimed at Russia's participation in blocs of European powers, the contradictions that arose between them became one of the reasons for the outbreak of war with Japan and World War I war.
After the events February Revolution 1917 Nicholas II abdicated the throne, and a period soon began in Russia civil war. The Provisional Government sent him to Siberia, then to the Urals. Together with his family, he was shot in Yekaterinburg in 1918.
Contemporaries and historians characterize the personality of the last king contradictory; most of of them believed that his strategic abilities in the conduct of public affairs were not successful enough to change for the better political situation while.
After the revolution of 1917, he began to be called Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov (before that, the surname “Romanov” was not indicated by members imperial family, family affiliation was indicated by the titles: emperor, empress, grand duke, crown prince).
With the nickname Bloody, which the opposition gave him, he appeared in Soviet historiography.
Biography of Nicholas 2
He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Feodorovna and Emperor Alexander III.
In 1885-1890 received home education as part of the gymnasium course on special program, which combined the course of the Academy of the General Staff and Faculty of Law university. Training and education took place under the personal supervision of Alexander the Third with a traditional religious basis.
Most often he lived with his family in the Alexander Palace. And he preferred to relax in the Livadia Palace in Crimea. For annual trips Baltic Sea and Finnish had at his disposal the yacht “Standart”.
At the age of 9 he began keeping a diary. The archive contains 50 thick notebooks for the years 1882-1918. Some of them have been published.
He was interested in photography and liked watching movies. I also read serious works, especially on historical topics, and entertainment literature. I smoked cigarettes with tobacco specially grown in Turkey (a gift from the Turkish Sultan).
On November 14, 1894, a milestone took place in the life of the heir to the throne significant event- marriage with the German princess Alice of Hesse, who after the baptism ceremony took the name Alexandra Fedorovna. They had 4 daughters - Olga (November 3, 1895), Tatyana (May 29, 1897), Maria (June 14, 1899) and Anastasia (June 5, 1901). And the long-awaited fifth child on July 30 (August 12), 1904, became the only son - Tsarevich Alexei.
Coronation of Nicholas 2
On May 14 (26), 1896, the coronation of the new emperor took place. In 1896 he 
traveled around Europe, where he met with Queen Victoria (his wife's grandmother), William II, and Franz Joseph. The final stage of the trip was a visit to the capital of the allied France.
His first personnel changes were the dismissal of the Governor-General of the Kingdom of Poland, Gurko I.V. and the appointment of A.B. Lobanov-Rostovsky as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
And the first major international action was the so-called Triple Intervention.
Having made huge concessions to the opposition at the beginning Russo-Japanese War Nicholas II made an attempt to unite Russian society against external enemies. In the summer of 1916, after the situation at the front had stabilized, the Duma opposition united with the general conspirators and decided to take advantage of the created situation to overthrow the tsar.
They even named the date February 12-13, 1917, as the day the emperor abdicated the throne. It was said that a “great act” would take place - the sovereign would abdicate the throne, and the heir, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, would be appointed as the future emperor, and Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich would become the regent.
In Petrograd, on February 23, 1917, a strike began, which became general three days later. On the morning of February 27, 1917, soldier uprisings took place in Petrograd and Moscow, as well as their unification with the strikers.
The situation became tense after the announcement of the emperor's manifesto on February 25, 1917 to terminate the meeting of the State Duma.
On February 26, 1917, the tsar gave the order to General Khabalov “to stop the unrest that is unacceptable in hard times war." General N.I. Ivanov was sent on February 27 to Petrograd to suppress the uprising.
On the evening of February 28, he headed to Tsarskoe Selo, but was unable to get through and, due to the loss of contact with Headquarters, he arrived in Pskov on March 1, where the army headquarters was located Northern Front under the leadership of General Ruzsky.
Abdication of Nicholas 2 from the throne
At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the emperor decided to abdicate the throne in favor of the crown prince during the regency of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, and in the evening of the same day he announced to V.V. Shulgin and A.I. Guchkov about the decision to abdicate the throne for his son. March 2, 1917 at 11:40 p.m. he handed over to Guchkov A.I. Manifesto of renunciation, where he wrote: “We command our brother to rule over the affairs of the state in complete and inviolable unity with the representatives of the people.”
Nicholas 2 and his relatives lived under arrest in the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo from March 9 to August 14, 1917.
In connection with the strengthening of the revolutionary movement in Petrograd, the Provisional Government decided to transfer the royal prisoners deep into Russia, fearing for their lives. After much debate, Tobolsk was chosen as the city of settlement for the former emperor and his relatives. They were allowed to take personal belongings and necessary furniture with them and offer service personnel to voluntarily accompany them to the place of their new settlement.
On the eve of his departure, A.F. Kerensky (head of the Provisional Government) brought the brother of the former tsar, Mikhail Alexandrovich. Mikhail was soon exiled to Perm and on the night of June 13, 1918 he was killed by the Bolshevik authorities.
On August 14, 1917, a train departed from Tsarskoe Selo under the sign “ Japanese mission Red Cross" with members of the former imperial family. He was accompanied by a second squad, which included guards (7 officers, 337 soldiers).
The trains arrived in Tyumen on August 17, 1917, after which those arrested were taken to Tobolsk on three ships. The Romanovs were accommodated in the governor's house, specially renovated for their arrival. They were allowed to attend services at the local Church of the Annunciation. The protection regime for the Romanov family in Tobolsk was much easier than in Tsarskoe Selo. They led a measured, calm life.
Permission from the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee executive committee) of the fourth convocation, the transfer of Romanov and members of his family to Moscow for the purpose of their trial was received in April 1918.
On April 22, 1918, a column with machine guns of 150 people left Tobolsk for Tyumen. On April 30, the train arrived in Yekaterinburg from Tyumen. To house the Romanovs, a house that belonged to mining engineer Ipatiev was requisitioned. The service staff also lived in the same house: cook Kharitonov, doctor Botkin, room girl Demidova, footman Trupp and cook Sednev.
The fate of Nicholas 2 and his family
To resolve the issue of future fate Imperial family at the beginning of July 1918, military commissar F. Goloshchekin urgently left for Moscow. The All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars authorized the execution of all the Romanovs. After this, on July 12, 1918, based on decision taken At a meeting, the Ural Council of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies decided to execute the royal family.
On the night of July 16-17, 1918 in Yekaterinburg in Ipatiev’s mansion, the so-called “House special purpose"were shot former emperor Russia, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, their children, Doctor Botkin and three servants (except for the cook).
The Romanovs' personal property was plundered.
All members of his family were canonized by the Catacomb Church in 1928.
In 1981, the last Tsar of Russia was canonized by the Orthodox Church abroad, and in Russia the Orthodox Church canonized him as a passion-bearer only 19 years later, in 2000.
In accordance with the decision of August 20, 2000 of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church the last emperor of Russia, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, princesses Maria, Anastasia, Olga, Tatiana, Tsarevich Alexei were canonized as holy new martyrs and confessors of Russia, revealed and unappeared.
This decision was received ambiguously by society and was criticized. Some opponents of canonization believe that attribution Tsar Nicholas 2 sainthood is most likely of a political nature.
The result of all events related to the fate of the former royal family was the appeal Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna Romanova, head of the Russian Imperial House in Madrid, to the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation in December 2005, demanding the rehabilitation of the royal family, executed in 1918.
On October 1, 2008, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (Russian Federation) decided to recognize the last Russian emperor and members of the royal family as victims of illegal political repression and rehabilitated them.