Forced Abdication of Nicholas II? Fact or Myth ?

[tzarinaella]

I'm doing a report on the abdication of nicholas II. I was told that that the tzar was left completely on his own and deserted by those closest to him before he took the decision to abdicate but have failed to find any source to that effect!

I'd be so grateful if anyone could enlighten me to the actual events leading to his abdication.

[LisaDavidson]

I'm doing a report on the abdication of nicholas II. I was told that that the tzar was left completely on his own and deserted by those closest to him before he took the decision to abdicate but have failed to find any source to that effect!

I'd be so grateful if anyone could enlighten me to the actual events leading to his abdication.

I presume you are using the usual sources for Nicholas II - such as Massie, his published letters during the war, Steinburg, et al. If you are not, let us know and we can suggest sources for you.

In answer to your question, the Emperor was apart from his immediate family at Stavka when the unrest in the capital began. He was unable to return to them until after he abdicated. He was deserted at the end by many of those he trusted and regarded as friends, and the whole situation was undoubtedly devasting for him personally.

He relied on the army, all of whom said he should abdicate, including other members of the Imperial house. They precipitated his decision, but really, it's a fairly complex issue - there were numerous coup plots during the time, for example.

Best of luck to you!

[AGRBear]

Find Orlando Fies book called A PEOPLE'S TRAGEDY, THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 1891-1924.

Robert Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra

Richard Pipes's  A CONCISS HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

Books about Nicholas II of course.

I'll go see if I can find a certain discussion on this somewhere in the old threads which I can't seem to pull up in the "search".

AGRBear



PS
Who Betrayed Nicholas II:
http://forum.alexanderpalace.org/YaBB.cgi?num=1118964336/0#0

PSS
Nicholas II's Abdication
http://forum.alexanderpalace.org/YaBB.cgi?num=1109833108/0#0

PSSS
Then there is a bunch of stuff under the Imperial Succession Section
http://forum.alexanderpalace.org/YaBB.cgi?board=succession

[Jeremiah]

Lili Dehn’s account of Nicholas’ abdication is quite different from any other I have read. She states that she heard Nicholas himself relating how the facts took place on the train in Pskov. I was surprised to read about Nicholas’ reaction: “I struck the table with my fist. I'm going to speak, I will speak!”

All the other accounts present Nicholas accepting almost pathetically the option of abdicating, whereas in Dehn’s book one sees a very different story, a very different Nicholas.

Is her story reliable?

Link to the chapter: http://www.alexanderpalace.org/realtsaritsa/2chap4.html

[GDSophie]

Lili Dehn’s account of Nicholas’ abdication is quite different from any other I have read. She states that she heard Nicholas himself relating how the facts took place on the train in Pskov. I was surprised to read about Nicholas’ reaction: “I struck the table with my fist. I'm going to speak, I will speak!”

All the other accounts present Nicholas accepting almost pathetically the option of abdicating, whereas in Dehn’s book one sees a very different story, a very different Nicholas.

Is her story reliable?

Link to the chapter: http://www.alexanderpalace.org/realtsaritsa/2chap4.html

Lili was retelling what actually happened from hearing it from Nicholas himself, who would have told what had happened from his point of view, and in the case of his reaction Lili would be more reliable. She heard it from the man himself and unlike the other people in the room, had no ill motive to lie.

[Jeremiah]

Isn’t it a bit strange that such an important first-hand account has not been mentioned by other authors? The events of the abdication are of the most crucial for the IF’s history. Especially since the actual behaviour of Nicholas at that very moment has been a poignant topic of lengthy discussions and cruel judgments for the so called “relief” he felt from being exempted of his autocratic burden! On the contrary, according to Dehn’s account, he has held a strong position at that historical moment.

It is also interesting that Lili Dehn relates more incidents of similar powerful expressions by Nicholas, which one does not find in other authors.

[GDSophie]

Isn’t it a bit strange that such an important first-hand account has not been mentioned by other authors? The events of the abdication are of the most crucial for the IF’s history. Especially since the actual behaviour of Nicholas at that very moment has been a poignant topic of lengthy discussions and cruel judgments for the so called “relief” he felt from being exempted of his autocratic burden! On the contrary, according to Dehn’s account, he has held a strong position at that historical moment.

It is also interesting that Lili Dehn relates more incidents of similar powerful expressions by Nicholas, which one does not find in other authors.

Nicholas may have not liked being Tsar, but he believed he and his own direct descendants through Alexei-I saw people saying 'his children' instead of 'Alexei' but the girls were so far from the throne it wasn't going to happen, unless Nicholas was planning to change the succession later on which is very much debate-were given the throne by God and so they should be the only ones to sit upon it.

[BobAtchison]

Dehn made errors in her book in her descriptions of the Alexander Palace.  I am not sure if the translation was the problem.  She must have known the rooms very well.

[Jeremiah]

Could it be that she was wrong about the facts of the abdication? I’m still surprised by her account.

[Andrei Beanov]

https://vk.com/@epohanikolaya2-po-povodu-tn-poslednego-prikaza-gosudarya-imperatora-nikolay