Nicholas II (1868—1918)


Tzar of Russia (1895–1917)

Nicholas II was more of a pater familias than a Tzar. He more was attracted by the Army than by politics. Just like many of his fellow emperors, he usually wore a military uniform and a flat cap. His only son’s rare form of illness was a hard blow for him. His treatment was taken over by a peasant called Rasputin, and Alexandra Fyodorovna, the Tzarina fell under the spell of healer monk. The belief was widely shared that instead of the Tzar, decisions on vital political issues were being taken by the Tzarina and Rasputin, the man who manipulated her.

The Tzar was convinced that Russia had to expand its empire eastward in order to repel the threat coming from the East. The defeat suffered in the 1905 war triggered serious disturbances in an indication of the instability of his reign.

He loved spending time in nature doing sports or taking photos. He was a devoted father of his children and a loving husband. By the end of the war, under the impact of the many defeats, he got tired of ruling the country and felt relieved when abdicating on March 3, 1917. Nicholas and his family were massacred by the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg on July 17, 1918. He and his family are remembered by posterity as martyrs. They were canonised as passion bearers by the Orthodox Church in 2000.


„The Tsar reigns but the Tsarina governs”
Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov Russian Foreign Minister
Maurice Paléologue: La Russie des Tsars pendant la Grande Guerre

„Lord, help us, protect and appease Russia.”
The tsar's diary entry after the 1905 defeat from Japan
Richard Pipes: A Concise History of the Russian Revolution

„If sacrifice is needed to save Russia, let me be that sacrifice.”
Elisabeth Heresch: Nikolaus II. Feigheit, Lüge, Verrat


More biographies

Franz Ferdinand (1863—1914)

from 1889 Heir Apparent of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy

Franz Joseph (1830—1916)

Emperor of Austria from 1848, crowned King of Hungary from 1867

Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929)

Prime Minister of France (1906—1909) and (1917—1920)

Nicholas II (1868—1918)

Tzar of Russia (1895–1917)

Wilhelm II (1859—1941)

King of Prussia, Emperor of Germany from 1888 to 1918

(Thomas) Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)

President of the United States (1913–1921)

Count István Tisza (1861—1918)

Prime Minister of Hungary 1903—1905 and 1913—1917

George V (1865—1936)

King of  the British Empire from 1910

Rudolf (1858—1889)

Son of Franz Joseph, Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy

Mehmed V (1844–1918)

Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1909

Elizabeth Wittelsbach (Sissi) (1837—1898)

Empress of Austria from 1854, Queen of Hungary from 1867

Peter I (1844—1921)

King of Serbia from 1903; King of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes from 1918

Victor Emmanuel III (1869—1947)

King of Italy from 1900; Emperor of the Italian Empire and of Abyssinia from 1936; King of Albania from 1939