Tsar Nicholas II

IN the second profile of six significant First World War figures, we look at Tsar Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia.

He was born on May 18,1868,asNikolai Alexandrovich Romanov,andwasthe eldest son of Tsar Alexander III.

Aged just 26, he succeeded his father’s throne when his dad died in 1894.

In the same year, he married the grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Alexandra of Hesse-Darmstadt (a place in Germany). They had four daughters and a son, and Alexandra had a big influence on how Nicholas ruled Russia.

Nicholas was not the most popular ruler in Russia’s history. Defeat in the 1904-05 war with Japan damaged the nation’s reputation, while at the same time there was industrial unrest at home with protests and strikes from workers unhappy with their long hours, poor conditions and low pay. The 1905 Revolution, sparked by more than 100 protesters being killed in St Petersburg, spread across the country, with mutiny throughout the army and navy. There were some concessions from Tsar Nicholas II, but people still had doubts about him as a leader.

It was the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 that temporarily strengthened the Russian monarchy.

Russia’s allies were Britain and France, so they fought on their side against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Millions of Russians lost their lives in the war.

Nicholas decided to take personal command of his army in 1915. It proved to be a bad move, as every Russian military failure during the war was blamed on him.

In late 1916, he was warned that a revolution was imminent, and in 1917 it happened, with Nicholas II persuaded to abdicate his throne on March 15 under the recommendation of the Russian Army High Command.

Moving to the Siberian city of Ekaterinburg, Nicholas and his family were killed in July 1918.