The years of the reign of Nicholas 2. Nicholas II Alexandrovich. Philatelic collection of Nicholas II

Nicholas 2nd (May 18, 1868 - July 17, 1918) - the last Russian emperor, son of Alexander 3rd. He received an excellent education (studied history, literature, economics, jurisprudence, military affairs, perfectly mastered three languages: French, German, English) and ascended the throne early (at 26) due to the death of his father.

Let's supplement the short biography of Nicholas II with the history of his family. On November 14, 1894, the German princess Alice of Hesse (Alexandra Fedorovna) became the wife of Nicholas 2nd. Soon their first daughter Olga was born (November 3, 1895). In total, the royal family had five children. Daughters were born one after another: Tatyana (May 29, 1897), Maria (June 14, 1899) and Anastasia (June 5, 1901). Everyone expected an heir who was to take the throne after his father. On August 12, 1904, the long-awaited son was born to Nikolai, they named him Alexei. At the age of three, doctors diagnosed him with a severe hereditary disease - hemophilia (blood incoagulability). Nevertheless, he was the only heir and was preparing to rule.

On May 26, 1896, the coronation of Nicholas II and his wife took place. During the holidays, a terrible event took place, called Khodynka, as a result of which 1282 people died in a stampede.

During the reign of Nicholas II in Russia there was a rapid economic recovery. The agricultural sector has strengthened - the country has become the main exporter of agricultural products in Europe, a stable gold currency has been introduced. The industry was actively developing: cities grew, enterprises and railways were built. Nicholas 2nd was a reformer, he introduced a standardized day for workers, provided them with insurance, and carried out reforms in the army and navy. The emperor supported the development of culture and science in Russia.

But, despite significant improvements, there were popular unrest in the country. In January 1905, an event took place, the stimulus for which was. As a result, October 17, 1905 was adopted. It talked about civil liberties. A parliament was created, which included the State Duma and the State Council. On June 3 (16), 1907, the Third-June coup took place, which changed the rules for elections to the Duma.

In 1914, it began, as a result of which the state inside the country worsened. Failures in battles undermined the authority of Tsar Nicholas II. In February 1917, an uprising broke out in Petrograd, reaching grandiose proportions. March 2, 1917, fearing mass bloodshed, Nicholas II signed the act of abdication.

On March 9, 1917, the Provisional Government arrested all of them and sent them to Tsarskoye Selo. In August they were transported to Tobolsk, and in April 1918 - to their last destination - Yekaterinburg. On the night of July 16-17, the Romanovs were taken to the basement, the death sentence was read out and the execution was carried out. After a thorough investigation, it was determined that none of the royal family managed to escape.

Today marks the 147th anniversary of the birth of the last Russian emperor. Although a lot has been written about Nicholas II, much of what has been written refers to "folk fiction", delusions.

The king was modest in dress. unpretentious

Nicholas II was remembered by the many surviving photographic materials as an unpretentious man. In food, he was really unpretentious. He loved fried dumplings, which he often ordered while walking on his favorite yacht Shtandart. The king kept fasts and generally ate moderately, tried to keep himself in shape, so he preferred simple food: cereals, rice cutlets and pasta with mushrooms.

Among the guards officers, the snack "nikolashka" was a success. Her recipe is attributed to Nicholas II. Powdered sugar was mixed with ground coffee, this mixture was sprinkled with a slice of lemon, which was used to eat a glass of cognac.

With regard to clothing, the situation was different. The wardrobe of Nicholas II in the Alexander Palace alone consisted of several hundred pieces of military uniform and civilian clothing: frock coats, uniforms of guards and army regiments and overcoats, cloaks, sheepskin coats, shirts and underwear made in the Nordenstrem workshop in the capital, a hussar mentik and dolman, in which Nicholas II was on the wedding day. When receiving foreign ambassadors and diplomats, the tsar put on the uniform of the state where the envoy came from. Often, Nicholas II had to change clothes six times a day. Here, in the Alexander Palace, a collection of cigarette cases collected by Nicholas II was kept.

However, it must be admitted that out of the 16 million allocated per year for the royal family, the lion's share went to the payment of benefits for employees of the palaces (one Winter Palace served a staff of 1200 people), to support the Academy of Arts (the royal family was a trustee, therefore, carried expenses) and other needs.

The spending was serious. The construction of the Livadia Palace cost the Russian treasury 4.6 million rubles, 350 thousand rubles a year were spent on the royal garage, and 12 thousand rubles a year for photography.

This is taking into account the fact that the average expenditure of households in the Russian Empire at that time was about 85 rubles per capita per year.

Each Grand Duke was also entitled to an annual annuity of two hundred thousand rubles. Each of the Grand Duchesses was given a dowry of one million rubles upon marriage. At birth, a member of the imperial family received a capital of one million rubles.

The Tsar Colonel personally went to the front and led the armies

Many photographs have been preserved where Nicholas II takes the oath, arrives at the front and eats from the field kitchen, where he is "the father of the soldiers." Nicholas II really loved everything military. He practically did not wear civilian clothes, preferring uniforms.

It is generally accepted that the emperor himself led the actions of the Russian army in. However, it is not. The generals and the military council decided. Several factors influenced the improvement of the situation at the front with the assumption of command by Nikolai. Firstly, by the end of August 1915, the Great Retreat was stopped, the German army suffered from stretched communications, and secondly, the situation was also affected by the change of the commanders-in-chief of the General Staff - Yanushkevich to Alekseev.

Nicholas II really went to the front, loved to live in Headquarters, sometimes with his family, often took his son with him, but never (unlike his cousins George and Wilhelm) approached the front line closer than 30 kilometers. The emperor accepted IV degree shortly after a German plane flew over the horizon during the arrival of the king.

The absence of the emperor in St. Petersburg had a bad effect on domestic policy. He began to lose influence on the aristocracy and the government. This proved fertile ground for intra-corporate splits and indecision during the February Revolution.

From the emperor's diary on August 23, 1915 (the day he assumed the duties of the Supreme High Command): "Slept well. The morning was rainy: in the afternoon the weather improved and it became quite warm. At 3.30 he arrived at his Headquarters, one verst from the mountains. Mogilev. Nikolasha was waiting for me. After talking with him, he accepted the gene. Alekseev and his first report. Everything went well! After drinking tea, I went to inspect the surrounding area. The train stops in a small dense forest. Dined at 7½. Then I took another walk, the evening was excellent.

The introduction of gold security is the personal merit of the emperor

It is customary to refer to the economically successful reforms that Nicholas II carried out as the monetary reform of 1897, when the gold backing of the ruble was introduced in the country. However, preparations for monetary reform began as early as the mid-1880s, under the finance ministers Bunge and Vyshnegradsky, during the reign.

The reform was a forced means of avoiding credit money. can be considered its author. The tsar himself avoided resolving monetary issues; by the beginning of World War I, Russia's external debt was 6.5 billion rubles, only 1.6 billion were secured with gold.

Made personal "unpopular" decisions. Often in defiance of the Duma

It is customary to say about Nicholas II that he personally carried out reforms, often in defiance of the Duma. However, in fact, Nicholas II rather "did not interfere." He didn't even have a personal secretariat. But under him, well-known reformers were able to develop their abilities. Such as Witte and. At the same time, relations between the two "second politicians" were far from idyllic.

Sergei Witte wrote about Stolypin: "No one has destroyed even the semblance of justice as he, Stolypin, and that's all, accompanied by liberal speeches and gestures."

Pyotr Arkadyevich did not lag behind. Witte, dissatisfied with the results of the investigation about the attempt on his life, he wrote: “From your letter, Count, I must draw one conclusion: either you consider me an idiot, or you find that I am also participating in the attempt on your life ... ".

About the death of Stolypin, Sergei Witte wrote succinctly: "Killed."

Nicholas II personally never wrote detailed resolutions, he limited himself to marginal notes, most often he simply put a “reading mark”. He sat on official commissions no more than 30 times, always on extraordinary occasions, the emperor's remarks at meetings were brief, he chose one side or another in the discussion.

The Hague court is a brilliant "brainchild" of the king

It is believed that the Hague International Court was the brilliant brainchild of Nicholas II. Yes, indeed the Russian Tsar was the initiator of the First Hague Peace Conference, but he was not the author of all its decisions.

The most useful thing that the Hague Convention was able to do concerned military laws. Thanks to the agreement, the prisoners of war of the First World War were kept in acceptable conditions, they could contact the house, they were not forced to work; sanitary posts were protected from attacks, the wounded were cared for, the civilian population was not subjected to mass violence.

But in reality, the Permanent Court of Arbitration has not brought much benefit in its 17 years of operation. Russia did not even approach the Chamber during the Japanese crisis, and so did the other signatories. “Turned into a zilch” and the Convention on the Peaceful Settlement of International Issues. The Balkans broke out in the world, and then the First World War.

The Hague does not influence international affairs even today. Few of the heads of state of world powers appeal to the international court.

Grigory Rasputin had a strong influence on the king

Even before the abdication of Nicholas II, rumors began to appear among the people about excessive influence on the king. According to them, it turned out that the state was controlled not by the tsar, not by the government, but personally by the Tobolsk "elder".

Of course, this was far from true. Rasputin had influence at court, and was well received into the emperor's house. Nicholas II and the Empress called him “our friend” or “Gregory”, and he called them “dad and mother”.

However, Rasputin still exerted influence on the empress, while government decisions were made without his participation. Thus, it is well known that Rasputin opposed Russia's entry into the First World War, and even after Russia's entry into the conflict, he tried to convince the royal family to go to peace negotiations with the Germans.

Most of the (grand dukes) supported the war with Germany and focused on England. For the latter, a separate peace between Russia and Germany threatened defeat in the war.

Do not forget that Nicholas II was a cousin of both the German Emperor Wilhelm II and the brother of the British King George V. Rasputin also performed an applied function at court - he relieved the suffering of the heir Alexei. A circle of exalted admirers really formed around him, but Nicholas II did not belong to them.

Didn't abdicate

One of the most enduring delusions is the myth that Nicholas II did not abdicate the throne, and the abdication document is a fake. It really has a lot of oddities: it was written on a typewriter on telegraph forms, although there were pens and writing paper on the train where Nicholas abdicated on March 15, 1917. Supporters of the version about the falsification of the renunciation manifesto cite the fact that the document was signed with a pencil.

There is just nothing strange about this. Nikolai signed many documents with a pencil. Another strange thing. If this is really a fake and the tsar did not renounce, he should have written at least something about it in his correspondence, but there is not a word about this. Nicholas abdicated for himself and his son in favor of his brother, Mikhail Alexandrovich.

The diary entries of the tsar's confessor, rector of the Fedorovsky Cathedral, Archpriest Athanasius Belyaev, have been preserved. In a conversation after confession, Nicholas II told him: “... And now, alone, without a close adviser, deprived of liberty, like a caught criminal, I signed an act of renunciation both for myself and for my son’s heir. I decided that if it is necessary for the good of the motherland, I am ready for anything. I'm sorry for my family!".

The very next day, March 3 (16), 1917, Mikhail Alexandrovich also abdicated, transferring the decision on the form of government to the Constituent Assembly.

Yes, the manifesto was obviously written under pressure, and it was not Nicholas himself who wrote it. It is unlikely that he himself would have written: "There is no sacrifice that I would not make in the name of a real good and for the salvation of my dear Mother Russia." However, there was a formal renunciation.

Interestingly, the myths and clichés about the abdication of the king largely came from Alexander Blok's book The Last Days of Imperial Power. The poet enthusiastically accepted the revolution and became the literary editor of the Extraordinary Commission for the affairs of the former tsarist ministers. That is, he literally processed the verbatim records of interrogations.

Against the creation of the role of the tsar-martyr, young Soviet propaganda carried out active agitation. Its effectiveness can be judged from the diary of the peasant Zamaraev (he kept it for 15 years), preserved in the museum of the city of Totma, Vologda region. The head of a peasant is full of cliches imposed by propaganda:

“Romanov Nikolai and his family have been deposed, they are all under arrest and receive all the food on an equal basis with others on the cards. Indeed, they did not at all care about the welfare of their people, and the patience of the people burst. They brought their state to hunger and darkness. What was going on in their palace? This is terrible and shameful! It was not Nicholas II who ruled the state, but the drunkard Rasputin. All the princes were replaced and dismissed from their posts, including the commander-in-chief Nikolai Nikolaevich. Everywhere in all cities there is a new administration, there is no old police.”

Years of life: 1868-1818
Years of government: 1894-1917

Born on May 6 (19 according to the old style) May 1868 in Tsarskoe Selo. The 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 of His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke. In 1881, he received the title of Tsarevich's Heir, after the death of his grandfather, the Emperor.

Title of Emperor Nicholas II

The full title of the emperor from 1894 to 1917: “By God's hastening mercy, 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 Tauric Chersonese, Tsar of Georgia; Sovereign of Pskov and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuanian, Volyn, Podolsk and Finland; Prince of Estonia, Livonia, Courland and Semigalsky, Samogitsky, Belostoksky, Korelsky, Tversky, Yugorsky, Permsky, Vyatsky, Bulgarian and others; Sovereign and Grand Duke of Novgorod of the Nizovsky lands, Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Belozersky, Udorsky, Obdorsky, Kondia, Vitebsk, Mstislav and all northern countries Sovereign; and Sovereign of Iver, Kartalinsky and Kabardian lands and 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 others, and others, and others.

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 which became one of the reasons for the start of the war with Japan and World War I.

After the events of the February Revolution of 1917, Nicholas II abdicated the throne, and a period of civil war soon began in Russia. 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 inconsistently; most of them believed that his strategic abilities in the conduct of public affairs were not successful enough to change for the better the political situation at that time.

After the revolution of 1917, he began to be called Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov (before that, the surname "Romanov" was not indicated by members of the imperial family, the titles indicated the family affiliation: 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 a gymnasium course according to a special program that combined the course of the Academy of the General Staff and the Faculty of Law of the University. Training and education took place under the personal supervision of Alexander III 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 the Crimea. For annual trips to the Baltic Sea and the Finnish Sea, he had at his disposal the Shtandart yacht.

From the age of 9 he began keeping a diary. The archive has preserved 50 thick notebooks for the years 1882-1918. Some of them have been published.

He was fond of photography, he liked to watch movies. He also read serious works, especially on historical topics, and entertaining literature. He smoked cigarettes with tobacco grown specially in Turkey (a gift from the Turkish Sultan).

On November 14, 1894, a significant event took place in the life of the heir to the throne - the marriage with the German princess Alice of Hesse, who, after the rite of baptism, took the name - Alexandra Feodorovna. 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 was 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
made a trip to Europe, where he met with Queen Victoria (grandmother of his wife), Wilhelm II, Franz Joseph. The final stage of the trip was a visit to the capital of the allied France.

His first personnel reshuffle was the fact of 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 of the 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 generals' conspirators and decided to take advantage of the situation to overthrow the tsar.

They even called the date February 12-13, 1917, as the day the emperor abdicated from the throne. It was said that a “great act” would take place - the sovereign would abdicate the throne, and the heir Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich would be appointed the future emperor, and it was Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich who would become regent.

On February 23, 1917, a strike began in Petrograd, which became general three days later. On February 27, 1917, in the morning, soldiers' uprisings took place in Petrograd and Moscow, as well as their association with the strikers.

The situation escalated after the proclamation of the emperor's manifesto on February 25, 1917, on the termination of the session of the State Duma.

On February 26, 1917, the tsar gave an order to General Khabalov "to stop the riots, unacceptable in the difficult time of the war." General N.I. Ivanov was sent on February 27 to Petrograd with the aim of suppressing the uprising.

On February 28, in the evening, he went to Tsarskoe Selo, but could not pass, and, due to the loss of communication with Headquarters, he arrived in Pskov on March 1, where the headquarters of the armies of the Northern Front under the leadership of General Ruzsky was located.

Abdication of Nicholas 2 from the throne

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the emperor decided to abdicate in favor of the Tsarevich under 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 23:40 he handed over to Guchkov A.I. The renunciation manifesto, where he wrote: “We command our brother to rule the affairs of the state in complete and indestructible unity with the representatives of the people.”

Nicholas 2 and his family from March 9 to August 14, 1917 lived under arrest in the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo.
In connection with the strengthening of the revolutionary movement in Petrograd, the Provisional Government decided to transfer the royal prisoners to the depths of Russia, fearing for their lives. After long disputes, Tobolsk was chosen as the city of settlement of the former emperor and his relatives. They were allowed to take personal belongings, necessary furniture with them and offer the attendants a voluntary escort to the place of the 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 was killed by the Bolshevik authorities.
On August 14, 1917, a train set off from Tsarskoye Selo under the sign "Japanese Mission of the 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 the arrested were taken on three ships to Tobolsk. The Romanovs were settled in the governor's house, specially renovated for their arrival. They were allowed to go to worship at the local Church of the Annunciation. The regime of protection of the Romanov family in Tobolsk was much easier than in Tsarskoye Selo. They led a measured, calm life.

The permission of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (All-Russian Central Executive Committee) of the fourth convocation to transfer Romanov and members of his family to Moscow for the purpose of holding a trial against them was received in April 1918.
On April 22, 1918, a convoy with machine guns of 150 people left Tobolsk for the city of Tyumen. On April 30, the train arrived in Yekaterinburg from Tyumen. To accommodate the Romanovs, a house was requisitioned, which belonged to the mining engineer Ipatiev. The staff also lived in the same house: the cook Kharitonov, Dr. Botkin, the room girl Demidova, the lackey Trupp and the cook Sednev.

The fate of Nicholas 2 and his family

To resolve the issue of the future fate of the imperial family in early July 1918, the 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 that, on July 12, 1918, on the basis of the decision taken, the Ural Council of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies at a meeting decided to execute the royal family.

On the night of July 16-17, 1918 in Yekaterinburg, in the Ipatiev mansion, the so-called "House of Special Purpose", the former emperor of Russia, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, their children, Dr. Botkin and three servants (except for the cook) were shot.

The personal property of the Romanovs was looted.
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 martyr 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 unmanifested.

This decision was perceived by society ambiguously and was criticized. Some opponents of canonization believe that reckoning Tsar Nicholas 2 to the face of the saints is most likely a political character.

The result of all the events related to the fate of the former royal family was the appeal of the 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, who was shot 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 repressions and rehabilitated them.

Nicholas II Alexandrovich
Years of life: 1868 - 1918
Years of government: 1894 - 1917

Nicholas II Alexandrovich was born on May 6 (18 according to the old style) May 1868 in Tsarskoye Selo. Russian emperor, who reigned from October 21 (November 1), 1894 to March 2 (March 15), 1917. belonged to Romanov dynasty, was the son and successor of Alexander III.

Nikolai Alexandrovich from birth had the title - His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke. In 1881, he received the title of Tsarevich's Heir after the death of his grandfather, Emperor Alexander II.

Full title Nicholas II as emperor from 1894 to 1917: “By God's hastening mercy, 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 Tauric Chersonese, Tsar of Georgia; Sovereign of Pskov and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuanian, Volyn, Podolsk and Finland; Prince of Estonia, Livonia, Courland and Semigalsky, Samogitsky, Belostoksky, Korelsky, Tversky, Yugorsky, Permsky, Vyatsky, Bulgarian and others; Sovereign and Grand Duke of Novgorod Nizovsky lands, Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Belozersky, Udorsky, Obdorsky, Kondia, Vitebsk, Mstislav and all northern countries Sovereign; and Sovereign of Iversky, Kartalinsky and Kabardian lands and 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 others, and others, and others.

The peak of the economic development of Russia and at the same time the growth of the revolutionary movement, which resulted in the revolutions of 1905-1907 and 1917, fell precisely on the reign of Nicholas II. Foreign policy at that time was aimed at Russia's participation in blocs of European powers, the contradictions that arose between which became one of the reasons for the start of the war with Japan and World War I.

After the events of the February Revolution of 1917 Nicholas II abdicated the throne, and a period of civil war soon began in Russia. The provisional government sent Nicholas to Siberia, then to the Urals. Together with his family, he was shot in Yekaterinburg in 1918.

Contemporaries and historians characterize the personality of Nicholas inconsistently; most of them believed that his strategic abilities in the conduct of public affairs were not successful enough to change for the better the political situation at that time.

After the revolution of 1917, it became known as Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov(prior to this, the surname "Romanov" was not indicated by members of the imperial family; titles indicated the family affiliation: emperor, empress, grand duke, crown prince).

With the nickname Nicholas the Bloody, which was given to him by the opposition, he appeared in Soviet historiography.

Nicholas II was the eldest son of Empress Maria Feodorovna and Emperor Alexander III.

In 1885-1890. Nicholas received home education as part of a gymnasium course according to a special program that combined the course of the Academy of the General Staff and the Faculty of Law of the University. Training and education took place under the personal supervision of Alexander III with a traditional religious basis.

Nicholas II most often he lived with his family in the Alexander Palace. And he preferred to relax in the Livadia Palace in the Crimea. For annual trips to the Baltic Sea and the Finnish Sea, he had at his disposal the Shtandart yacht.

From 9 years old Nicholas started keeping a diary. The archive has preserved 50 thick notebooks for the years 1882-1918. Some of them have been published.

The emperor was fond of photography, he liked to watch movies. He also read serious works, especially on historical topics, and entertaining literature. He smoked cigarettes with tobacco grown specially in Turkey (a gift from the Turkish Sultan).

On November 14, 1894, a significant event took place in the life of Nicholas - the marriage with the German princess Alice of Hesse, who, after the rite of baptism, took the name - Alexandra Feodorovna. 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 was the only son - Tsarevich Alexei.

May 14 (26), 1896 took place coronation of Nicholas II. In 1896 he made a trip to Europe, where he met Queen Victoria (his wife's grandmother), Wilhelm II, Franz Joseph. The final stage of the trip was a visit by Nicholas II to the capital of the allied France.

His first personnel reshuffle was the fact of 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 Nicholas II was the so-called Triple Intervention.

Having made huge concessions to the opposition at the beginning of the 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 generals' conspirators and decided to take advantage of the situation to overthrow Emperor Nicholas II.

They even called the date February 12-13, 1917, as the day the emperor abdicated from the throne. It was said that a “great act” would take place - the sovereign emperor would abdicate the throne, and the heir Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich would be appointed the future emperor, and it was Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich who would become regent.

The situation escalated after the proclamation of the manifesto Nicholas II February 25, 1917 on the termination of the meeting of the State Duma.

Nicholas II On February 28, in the evening, he went to Tsarskoe Selo, but could not pass, and, due to the loss of communication with Headquarters, he arrived in Pskov on March 1, where the headquarters of the armies of the Northern Front under the leadership of General Ruzsky was located.

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the emperor decided to abdicate in favor of the Tsarevich under the regency of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, and in the evening of the same day, Nikolai announced to V. V. Shulgin and A. I. Guchkov about the decision to abdicate the throne for his son. March 2, 1917 at 23:40 Nicholas II handed over to Guchkov A.I. The renunciation manifesto, where he wrote: “We command our brother to rule the affairs of the state in complete and indestructible unity with the representatives of the people.”

Nikolay Romanov with his family from March 9 to August 14, 1917 he lived under arrest in the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo.

In connection with the strengthening of the revolutionary movement in Petrograd, the Provisional Government decided to transfer the royal prisoners to the depths of Russia, fearing for their lives. After long disputes, Tobolsk was chosen as the city of settlement of the former emperor and his family. They were allowed to take personal belongings, necessary furniture with them and offer the attendants a voluntary escort to the place of the new settlement.

On August 14, 1917, a train set off from Tsarskoye Selo under the sign "Japanese Mission of the 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 the arrested were taken on three ships to Tobolsk. The Romanov family settled in the governor's house, specially renovated for their arrival. They were allowed to go to worship at the local Church of the Annunciation. The regime of protection of the Romanov family in Tobolsk was much easier than in Tsarskoye Selo. The family led a measured, calm life.

On April 22, 1918, a convoy with machine guns of 150 people left Tobolsk for the city of Tyumen. On April 30, the train arrived in Yekaterinburg from Tyumen. To accommodate the Romanov family, a house was requisitioned, which belonged to the mining engineer Ipatiev. The family's attendants also lived in the same house: the cook Kharitonov, Dr. Botkin, the room girl Demidova, the footman Trupp and the cook Sednev.

To resolve the issue of the future fate of the imperial family in early July 1918, the 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 members of the Romanov family. After that, on July 12, 1918, on the basis of the decision taken, the Ural Council of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies at a meeting decided to execute the royal family.

On the night of July 16-17, 1918 in Yekaterinburg, in the Ipatiev mansion, the so-called "House of Special Purpose", the former emperor of Russia was shot Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, their children, Dr. Botkin and three servants (except for the cook).

The personal property of the former royal family of the Romanovs was looted.

Nicholas II and members of his family were canonized by the Catacomb Church in 1928.

In 1981, Nicholas was canonized by the Orthodox Church abroad, and in Russia the Orthodox Church canonized him as a martyr only 19 years later, in 2000.

Icon of St. royal martyrs.

In accordance with the decision of August 20, 2000 of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, princesses Maria, Anastasia, Olga, Tatyana, Tsarevich Alexei were canonized as holy new martyrs and confessors of Russia, revealed and unmanifested.

This decision was perceived by society ambiguously and was criticized. Some opponents of canonization believe that reckoning Nicholas II to the face of the saints is most likely a political character.

On October 1, 2008, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (Russian Federation) decided to recognize the last Russian emperor Nicholas II and members of the royal family victims of illegal political repression and rehabilitated them.

Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov), the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna, was born May 18 (May 6, old style), 1868 in Tsarskoye Selo (now the city of Pushkin, Pushkinsky district of St. Petersburg).

Immediately after his birth, Nikolai was enrolled in the lists of several guards regiments and was appointed chief of the 65th Moscow Infantry Regiment. The childhood of the future tsar passed within the walls of the Gatchina Palace. Regular homework with Nikolai began at the age of eight.

In December 1875 he received his first military rank - ensign, in 1880 he was promoted to second lieutenant, four years later he became a lieutenant. In 1884 Nikolay entered active military service, in July 1887 year began regular 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.

To get acquainted with state affairs from May 1889 he began to attend meetings of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers. V October 1890 year went on a trip to the Far East. For nine months, Nikolai visited Greece, Egypt, India, China, and Japan.

V April 1894 the engagement of the future emperor took place with Princess Alice of Darmstadt-Hesse, daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse, granddaughter of the English Queen Victoria. After converting to Orthodoxy, she took the name of Alexandra Feodorovna.

November 2 (October 21, old style), 1894 Alexander III died. A few hours before his death, the dying emperor ordered his son to sign the Manifesto on accession to the throne.

The coronation of Nicholas II took place 26 (14 old style) May 1896. On the thirtieth (18 according to the old style) May 1896, during the celebration on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II in Moscow, a stampede occurred on the Khodynka field, in which more than a thousand people died.

The reign of Nicholas II took place in an atmosphere of growing revolutionary movement and the complication of the foreign policy situation (the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905; Bloody Sunday; the Revolution of 1905-1907; the First World War; the February Revolution of 1917).

Influenced by a strong social movement in favor of political change, 30 (17 old style) October 1905 Nicholas II signed the famous manifesto "On the improvement of the state order": the people were granted freedom of speech, press, personality, conscience, meetings, unions; The State Duma was created as a legislative body.

The turning point in the fate of Nicholas II was 1914- Beginning of the First World War. August 1st (July 19 old style) 1914 Germany declared war on Russia. V August 1915 Nicholas II took over the military command (previously Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich held this position). After that, the tsar spent most of his time at the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in Mogilev.

At the end of February 1917 unrest began in Petrograd, which grew into mass demonstrations against the government and the dynasty. The February revolution found Nicholas II at headquarters in Mogilev. Having received the 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.

At midnight 15 (2 old style) March 1917 in the saloon car of the imperial train, standing on the tracks at the Pskov railway station, Nicholas II signed the 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 king. On March 22 (9 old style) March 1917, Nicholas II and his family were arrested. For the first five months they were under guard in Tsarskoe Selo, August 1917 they were transported to Tobolsk, where the Romanovs spent eight months.

At the beginning 1918 the Bolsheviks forced Nikolai to remove the shoulder straps of a colonel (his last military rank), he took this as a serious insult. In May of this year, the royal family was transferred to Yekaterinburg, where they were placed in the house of mining engineer Nikolai Ipatiev.

On the night of 17 (4 old) July 1918 and Nicholas II, the queen, their five children: daughters - Olga (1895), Tatiana (1897), Maria (1899) and Anastasia (1901), son - Tsarevich, heir to the throne Alexei (1904) and several close associates (11 people in total) , . The execution took place in a small room on the lower floor of the house, where the victims were brought under the pretext of evacuation. The tsar himself was shot from a pistol point-blank by the commandant of the Ipatiev House, Yankel Yurovsky. The bodies of the dead were taken out of the city, doused with kerosene, tried to burn, and then buried.

Early 1991 The city prosecutor's office filed the first application for the discovery near Yekaterinburg of bodies with signs of violent death. After many years of research on the remains found near Yekaterinburg, a special commission came to the conclusion that they really are the remains of nine Nicholas II and his family. In 1997 they were solemnly buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

In 2000 Nicholas II and members of his family were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.

On October 1, 2008, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II and members of his family as victims of illegal political repressions and rehabilitated them.