The Legacy of Nicholas II

[Alixz]

How on Earth did he go from "the Advocate of Universal Peace" in 1899 to "Bloody Nicholas" in 1905?

Six short years and so much changed.

But even as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in 1914, Nicholas was asking that the matter be referred to the Hague.

[TimM]

even as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in 1914, Nicholas was asking that the matter be referred to the Hague.

Too bad nobody was listening.  Millions of young lives would have been saved and the history of the last 100 years might have been a lot less bloody.

[PAGE]

This year we are celebrating 120 years of the first international peace conference.

An initiative of Tsar Nicholas II which has allowed the creation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

One of the great decisions of Tsar Nicholas II, although it did not prevent the Russo-Japanese war and the First World War.

[Ellie]

Nicholas II did try to prevent WWI. In his last communication to the Kaiser, he asked his cousin to take their dispute to the Hague. Cousin Willy did not reply.

[JamesAPrattIII]

Nicholas II became bloody Nicholas do to the the Russo-Japanese was which was a disaster to Russia and Nicholas. Of course it did lead to the creation of the Duma ect.

If you want to see how inept the Russians were see the youtube presentation " The Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron Voyage of the Damned' while it is LOL funny it is also true see the books:
The Fleet that had to die
The Tide at Sunrise
The Tsar's Last Armada

As for the start of WW I see on youtube:
National WW I Museum and Memorial
Chris Clark The Sleep Walkers
Max Hastings Catastrophe

[JamesAPrattIII]

The protests that led to "Bloody Sunday" were because of the surrender of the fortress of Port Arthur by it's inept commander.

[Marie-Catherine]

The protests that led to "Bloody Sunday" were because of the surrender of the fortress of Port Arthur by it's inept commander.

That's quite a big generalization, many more causes can be linked to the Bloody Sunday like the long insatisfaction towards monarchy, the poor social conditions of the worker class, etc. The end of the Russo-Japanese war was included, but it should probably be seen as a catalyst and not the only cause. History is always more complex.

[JamesAPrattIII]

True Russia had a whole lot of economic, social and political problems coming from a almost medieval agricultural state to a 1900s industrial state in a few decades. Few if any in the Russian government understood what was going on. The defeat at Port Arthur and the other defeats of the Russo-Japanese war were the straws that broke the camels back so to speak. Adding to the problems the government was archaic, corrupt and bureaucratic. Nicholas II being a micromanager didn't help matters. The truth is it would have taken a military and political genius to have gotten Russia through this trouble which Nicholas II was not. One should also point out he was not a total idiot either.

Also government was autocratic enough to antagonize many people but not nasty enough to put the fear of god in to them so to speak and by 1900 many people have had enough.

Beside the Russo-Japanese war the Crimean war was also a disaster for Russia and the Romanovs. Add to this the defeats of WW I convinced many people the monarchy was unfit to rule Russia.

To Have recovered form the Russo-Japanese War and 1905 revolution 1905-08 Russia needed at least 15-20 years Nicholas II and others realized this. They just did not get the time to recover when in 1914 WW I began. Sadly just as Russia started a major Army expansion and reorganization plan that would have on paper at least made Russia a military super power in 1917. The Germans and Austrians realized this and hence used the Assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand as an excuse to start WW I.

[JamesAPrattIII]

What is even more unbelievable when the Austrians went to war in 1914 many of their leaders thought they were going to lose!?

I would like to point out that for Russia to have to fight a war in 1914 would be like the US having to fight a major war around 1981. The country and military were still in bad shape do to the Vietnam war.

If Alexandra was a liability the rest of the Romanovs could hardly be called assets. The Grand Dukes got to a series of divorces, and other personal problems that hurt the monarchy.

Grand Duke Alexei M the Grand Admiral of the Russian navy during the Russo-Japanese war deserves much blame for the really poor performance of the Russian navy in this war.

Grand Duke Nicholas N proved to be a mediocre at best army commander during the 1914-15 period. He does deserve the blame for the defeats suffered by the Russian army in the 1914-15 period and needed to be relieved. And it was his wife who introduced Rasputin to Nicholas and Alexandra.

[JamesAPrattIII]

Both Nicholas and Alexandra did not realize the value of self promotion. They had thousands of servants but I don't think they had a press office. Alexandra and Rasputin were on the recieving end of a smear campaign and they just could not contain it or "spin" their way out of it. It didn't help matters that the DEMF and Maria P the elder both turned their gossip machines loose on Alexandra in 1915. I also find it odd that no member of the Romanov family met with Rasputin and gave a newspaper interview saying Rasputin is not a bad man ect.

The Brusilov Offensive was a great victory for the Russian Army. What people forget it was won at heavy cost to the Russians. By the end of 1916 the Russian Army was at the breaking point. Many men in it felt they were not getting anywhere and that they could not defeat the Germans. This was made worse by short rations and wartime inflation. Add to this was a anti-war and anti-government propaganda campaign being waged by the Bolsheviks, the SRs and others in part paid for by the Germans which helped undermine morale. Meanwhile on the home front inflation and shortages and the breakdown of the Russian rail system were realing hurting the people.

[JamesAPrattIII]

Nicholas and Alexandra have been blasted for there relations to Rasputin. Emperor Franz Joesph  routinely had breakfast with an actress Katherina Schratt see their wiki bios. According to the World Crises the Eastern Front by Winston S Churchill page 24-25 she was his newspaper on what was going on this book is on archive.org. Also see the miniseries the fall of Eagles. Some high ups weren't happy about this but no one as as hate full to her as some Russians were to Rasputin.

[JamesAPrattIII]

two presentations on the National WW I museum and Memorial that apply:
Between a Rock and a Hard Place on the problems faced by autocratic regimes
Armageddon the Modern Middle east which deals with the results of WW I
as well as others that deal with WW I in the east