Nicholas II of Russia

Nicholas II of Russia ( 18 May 1868 – 17 July 1918){{fn|1}} was the last crowned Emperor of Russia. He ruled from 1894 until his forced abdication in 1917. It is said that Nicholas proved unequal to the combined tasks of managing a country in political turmoil and commanding its army in the largest international war to date. His rule ended with the Russian Revolution, during which he and his family were murdered by Bolsheviks, in 1918.

Revolution and abdication

The government's inability to maintain constant supplies and an active economy over a prolonged period of warfare led to mounting national hardship. The army's initial failure to maintain the temporary military successes up to June 1916 led to renewed strikes and riots in the following winter. With Nicholas away at the Front, authority appeared to collapse, and Saint Petersburg was left in the hands of strikers and mutineering conscript soldiers. At the end of the "February Revolution" of 1917 (February in the old Russian calendar), on 2 March (Julian Calendar)/ 15 March (Gregorian Calendar), 1917, Nicholas II was forced to abdicate. However he did so in his own name, and that of his son, in favor of his brother, saying, "We bequeath Our inheritance to Our brother the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and give him Our Blessing on his accession to the throne." http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1917/abnick2.html Grand Duke Mikhail declined to accept the throne, which then theoretically fell vacant, pending a decision on the next righful heir. Contrary to some popular belief, Michael never abdicated, as he was never formally crowned. The abdication of Nicholas II and the subsequent revolution brought three centuries of Romanov rule to an end.

Related Topics:
1916 - February Revolution - 1917 - 2 March - Julian Calendar - 15 March - Gregorian Calendar - Mikhail

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