Lesson plan
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Nicholas II
Nicholas &
Alexandra
Life of the
peasants
Life of the
workers
Outbreak
of revolution
1905
revolution
Week 5
Web Wiz
Nicholas and Alexandra
Nicholas II (reproduced with permission)
Nicholas was born in 1868 during the reign of his grandfather, Alexander II. In 1881 Alexander was assassinated by a revolutionary group. His legs were blown off by the bomb thrown at his carriage as he returned from a military parade. Alexander was carried to the Winter Palace where he died surrounded by his family. Nicholas was 13 years old when he watched his grandfather bleed to death.
Nicholas was brought up by his father to believe that strong, autocratic rule was the only way to rule a huge multi-national empire. His father was a such a ruler but he died suddenly aged in 1894 aged 49. Nicholas then aged 26, had not expected to rule so soon.
Nicholas was a handsome but not very clever man who truly believed that he had been chosen by God to rule Russia.
Nicholas the Tsar
From the start of his reign, Nicholas decided to rule as an autocrat and not to make changes to the political or social system. As you have read earlier even strong autocrats cannot rule by themselves. Like his predecessors Nicholas ruled with the support of two powerful groups; the army and the Orthodox Church. He also had a system of secret police used to spy on any possible unrest. So the autocratic system at the end of the 19th Century still relied on force to survive.
Nicholas and Alexandra
In 1889 Nicholas married his cousin, Alexandra. The marriage was a very happy one and they had five children, four daughters and last a son, Alexis. Alexis suffered from haemophilia, a disease of the blood which at that time was untreatable. The family went to great lengths to hide his illness from the Russian people. The family was a very close; Nicholas and Alexandra were more at home on their country estates with their children than they were in the Russian court or on public occasions.
Nicholas and family (reproduced with permission)
The Characters of Nicholas and Alexandra
The characters of the Tsar and the Tsarina had an important effect on Russia in the years before 1917. Most historians agree that the couple were devoted to each other and to their family but that the were totally unsuited to ruling a rapidly changing empire.
Use the following selection of historical sources to form your own opinion on Nicholas. Make your assessmnet based on:
- what he said about himself
- what others said about him at the time
- what he did
- what historians say about him now
Source A
An extract from Nicholas' diary written in 1894:"What is going to happen to me, to all Russia? I am not prepared to be the Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling. I have no idea of even how to talk to minister'.
Published in 'Russia, War and Revolution', Josh Brooman
Source B
A comment by Count Sergei Witte, Prime Minister of Russia in 1906:"We talked for two solid hours. He shook my hand, he wished me all the luck in the world. I went home beside myself with happiness and found a written order for my dismissal [as Prime Minister] on my desk."
Published in Brooman, Russia in War and Revolution
Source C
Written by Alexander Kerensky, a member of the Russian parliament before the revolution in 1917 in his memoirs."The Daily work of a ruler he found terribly boring. He could not stand listening long or seriously to minister's reports, or reading reports. He liked those ministers as could tell an amusing story and did not weary his attention with too much business".
Source D: An Historians opinion of Nicholas
". . . unlike his father Nicholas was weak in character and intellect, and politically naïve. . . He did not trust his ministers and preferred to rely on advisers of dubious ability and reputation. His dislike of government business prevented him from understanding the complexity of problems and his poor knowledge and understanding of affairs of state encouraged intrigue (scheming) within the bureaucracy".
Philip Cummins, Russia 1800 - 1914, published Sydney 1996
Source E: An Historian's opinion
Historians seeking to say something good about Nicholas sometimes point out that he was a good husband. This he was, but family happiness has never yet saved a dynasty".
J.N. Westwood, Endurance and Endeavour: Russian History 1812-1971
Source F
Leon Trotsky a revolutionary leader in the 1917 October Revolution"He felt at east only among completely mediocre and brainless people. . . His ancestors did not bequeath [pass on to} him one quality which would have made him capable of governing an empire".
L Trotsky: The History of the Russian Revolution, published 1932
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Exercise 4.2a: Character study from sources Which of the sources could you use to support the following statements about Nicholas.
Exercise 4.2b: Character study from sources
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