Nicholas and his father

[edubs31]

Naslednik you bring up an interesting point or two. Funny the timing of your comment as on the "mini-series" thread I not only just got done writing and discussing a semi-fictional scene with Nicholas speaking with his two parents about his marriage prospects, but I've also been flipping through Witte's "Memoirs" recently.

I think you can argue how "disappointed" Alexander and Maria were with their son's decision to marry Alix. Certainly Alexander acted like a perfect gentleman (purportedly) when meeting her for the first time post-engagement even as he was ill.  But from the various sources ive read it seems obvious that Alix of Hesse certainly wasnt their first choice or even thought of as a serious contender for the role of bride to the next Tsar.

Nicholas was vehemently opposed to the idea of marrying Princess Margaret of Prussia...one of at least three women Alexander & Maria were trying to set their son up with. We also have the quote from Nicholas himself..."I wish to move in one direction and it's clear that mama wishes to move me in another".

[Princess Sophie]

I always find Alexander and Marie Feodorovna's desire to pair Nicholas with Margaret of Prussia hard to swallow given the way they feel about Germany in general and the way Alexander felt about Wilhelm specifically in the last years of his life.

[Vanya Ivanova]

I agree Princess Sophie, I suppose it shows that their reservations about Alix of Hesse were based perhaps entirely on her personality, not her nationality or even her relatively minor royal status. I often wonder how the fact that Alexander III's own mother being a Princess of Hesse played into these negotiations. It surely meant they couldn't dismiss a candidate from that Duchy as not being good enough as that was partly their own lineage?

Maria Alexandrovna like her great niece Alix was regarded as shy and stiff and without charm by the Romanovs perhaps unfairly but owing to that perception and her health she too was never a 'big hit' at the Russian court and spent most of her time as Empress quite isolated aswell. The major difference between these two Empresses from Hesse being the type of relationship they had with their husbands. By all accounts Alexander III took his mother's part against his father's infidelities and they were always close.

Alexander III and Nicholas II were very unusual for Russian Emperor's in their complete adherence to monogamy and devotion to their wives. Alexander III's marriage was completely arranged but nevertheless turned out to be 'a lifelong passion'. Nicholas as Tsarevitch had a rather rare example in this respect in his parents and to my mind is why he was so adamant to marry for love too.

[LadyHezter]

Could it have had more to do with the fact that Alexandra was Queen Victorias granddaughter ? Queen Victoria was never fond of the Romanov
men, despicing their "immoral" behavior,  and-as far as I know-Alexander III didn´t like Queen Victoria either.  Secondly, Russia and Great Britain
was not "good friends" after the Crimean war. Maybe A III and Maria F. were afraid of a pro-British influence through Alexandra ?

LadyH.

[Vanya Ivanova]

That's a really valid point Lady H, I had never really thought of the British angle before and thought of Alix of Hesse as primarily German, but yes you are right as Queen Victoria's 'favourite' granddaughter that must certainly have been a factor.

I have read that many in the British Royal family resented Alix being so obviously favoured by Queen Victoria who was not known for her tact at the best of times. The amount of visits and correspondence between Alix and her Grandmother after she and Nicholas married bears out the fear that had QV lived longer the Russian court would indeed have had a 'pro British' element.

[mcdnab]

I don't think that point flies too well.
Politically the two nations were not close and were imperial rivals but for a shift in Russian Foreign Policy under Alexander III and Nicholas II (away from Germany and Austria towards France) they would not have been allies in 1914 for example.
There was little affection between Alexander III and Victoria (which was not helped by Alexander's sister's experiences as the wife of Victoria's second son Alfred at the far less formal British Court) - however Alexander had quite a warm personal relationship with his wife's brother in law (Edward VII) and certainly the family holidays in Denmark meant that relationship between the Wales' and the Imperial Family was good.
There was a clear seperation between the personalties and the politics though - Nicholas continued his affection for his and his wife's british relatives whilst celebrating British defeats during the Boer War (although that wasn't unusual since most of European public opinion was pro-Boer at the period) equally Britain was not supportive of Russia's abortive campaign against Japan.
Victoria herself was quite fond of Nicholas - her concerns over the marriage related to the country, religion and the fact she knew that the groom's mother wasn't keen on the match.
The concerns over Alex on the Russian side may simply boil down to the fact she hadn't been the first choice of either of Nicholas' parents rather than anything else.
On the whole Russian Empresses had been chosen because of a low Royal status (not connected to the great powers) to avoid them becoming 'political'.