Nikolai II holds the distinction of being the last Tsar and Emperor of Russia, but let it be said, he would have preferred not to have had that distinction. Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov was about 26 years old when he ascended the throne after the unexpected death of his father, Alexander III; and he was ill-prepared for the job (as evidenced by his prophetic statement to one of his cousins: “What is going to happen to me and all of Russia?”). Oh, Nikolai, if you only knew… After becoming Tsar, Nikolai II took a page out of Nikolai I’s Handbook of Autocratic Control. Such autocratic styles of government generally lead to the continued suppression of intellectual liberal ideals, the execution of political opponents and the persecution of religious minorities (especially Russian Jews). Underground revolutionary movements began to take root in reaction to the Russian people’s extreme discontent. Then Nikolai II’s eastern expansionist policies instigated the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) with disastrous results (let’s just say the Japanese kicked a little Russian Black Sea Fleet booty). Back in homeland Russia, the 1905 Revolution and “Bloody Sunday†led to the formation of a legislative assembly (the Duma). Just when things couldn’t get worse domestically for Nikolai II, he decided to single handedly take control of the Russian Army during World War I (a war which took 3.3 million Russian lives). Russia had basically lost all of its prestige and power on the world stage and the Romanov Dynasty was left in tatters. Nikolai was forced to abdicate in March 1917 after yet another one of those revolutions Russian people are so fond of. The Bolsheviks killed the entire Romanov family: Nikolai II, Alexandra his wife, and their five children, daughters Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and son Alexei. A horrible end to a dreadful reign. The family have since become honored as Christian martyrs inside and out of Russia.
