I can remember as child of nine watching TV and listening to the tragedy of Civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman. These young men disappeared at approximately 10:00 p.m., Sunday, June 21, 1964. It turned out that they were tortured and murdered by the Philadelphia, Mississippi Police Department for registering African Americans to vote. That story became so ingrained in my character, that I never let an act of injustice pass unchallenged. I don't apologize for it either. A conscience is a heavy burden, but it allows me to sleep at night.
There are things about Nicholas II which should be condemned, anti-semitism(which was a very common point of view at the time and in the US South when I grew up. I can actually remember kids cheering when Martin Luther King was assassinated: it made me sick), poor military leadership(I agree with General Samsanov, General Rennenkampf should have been shot. Field Marshall Paul Von Hindenburg gives Rennenkampf credit for the German Victory at The "Tannenberg Forest".) and an inability to see that it was the support of the peasants and working class who were the strongest supporters of the Monarchy and himself.
But "Nicky" had a great strength in his ability to appreciate the need for new and better military technology, Igor Sikorsky being the greatest example. I remember that Lincoln was a man who thought that technology would be harbinger of a more civilized warfare. He actually cared for the people, the soldiers who served under him. And anyone who has ever seen the pictures from the military hospital in Livadia, knows that Olga, Tatiana and Alexandra were real nurses who came to know the real horrors of war. The Romanovs were good people.
What I don't understand, is why in defending Nicholas II, no one trumpets his role in calling for the 1899 Geneva Conference? To me, this is one of the most profound moments in the history of mankind and there are two heroes in that story, Nicholas II and, later, Teddy Roosevelt. It was they who championed Rules of War, which outlawed poison gas, war crimes, torture and crimes against humanity. To me, that is Nicky's shinning moment. And the man he was in private life.
There is so much to say in Nicky's defense which has never been said, now is the time to say it. Hopefully, certain American political leaders will learn what it means to be civilized from their example.
I think in light of current events, Nicholas II give proof that the men and women behind the Geneva Conventions should be judged among the greatest heroes of the last century and maybe in all of history. Nicholas II and Teddy Roosevelt were such men.
