On May 6, 1868, a joyful event took place in the royal family: Emperor Alexander II had his first grandson! Cannons fired, salutes thundered, the highest favors rained down. The father of the newborn was Tsarevich (heir to the throne) Alexander Alexandrovich, the future Emperor Alexander III, his mother - grand duchess and Tsesarevna Maria Feodorovna, born Danish Princess Dagmar. The baby was named Nicholas. He was destined to become the eighteenth and last emperor of the Romanov dynasty. For the rest of his life, his mother remembered the prophecy she heard at the time when she was expecting her first child. It was said that an old woman - a clairvoyant predicted to her: "If your son will reign, everything will climb the mountain in order to have wealth and great honor. Only if he doesn’t climb the mountain itself, he will fall from the hand of a peasant."

Little Nicky was a healthy and mischievous child, so that members of the imperial family sometimes had to fight for the ears of the naughty heir. Together with his brothers George and Mikhail and sisters Olga and Xenia, he grew up in a strict, almost Spartan environment. Father punished mentors: “Teach well, don’t make indulgences, ask with all severity, don’t encourage laziness in particular ... I repeat that I don’t need porcelain. I need normal, healthy Russian children. They will fight - please. But the first whip is the prover ".

Nicholas was prepared for the role of ruler from childhood. He received a versatile education from the best teachers and specialists of his time. The future emperor completed an eight-year general education course based on the program of a classical gymnasium, then a five-year course of higher education at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University and the Academy of the General Staff. Nikolay was extremely diligent and received fundamental knowledge of political economy, jurisprudence and military sciences. He was also taught horseback riding, fencing, drawing, and music. He was fluent in French, English, German (he knew Danish worse), he wrote very competently in Russian. He was a passionate lover of books and over the years surprised his interlocutors with the breadth of his knowledge in the field of literature, history and archeology. From an early age, Nikolai had a great interest in military affairs and was, as they say, a born officer. His military career began at the age of seven, when his father enlisted the heir in the Volyn Life Guards Regiment and awarded him the military rank of ensign. He later served in the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment, the most prestigious division of the Imperial Guard. Having received the rank of colonel in 1892, Nikolai Alexandrovich remained in this rank until the end of his days.

From the age of 20, Nicholas had to attend meetings of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers. And although these visits of higher government agencies they did not give him much pleasure, they significantly expanded the horizons of the future monarch. But he took to heart his appointment in 1893 as chairman of the Siberian Railway Committee, which was in charge of building the world's longest railway line. Nikolai quickly got up to speed and quite successfully coped with his role.

“The heir to the crown prince was very carried away by this undertaking ... - wrote in his memoirs S. Yu. Witte, who was then the Minister of Railways, - which, however, is not at all surprising, since Emperor Nicholas II is a man, undoubtedly, of a very quick mind and quick abilities; in general, he grasps everything quickly and understands everything quickly. Nicholas became Tsarevich in 1881, when his father ascended the throne under the name of Alexander III. It happened under tragic circumstances. 13-year-old Niki saw how his grandfather, the reformer Alexander II, was dying, crippled by a terrorist bomb. Twice Nikolai himself was on the verge of death. For the first time - in 1888, when the rails parted under the weight of the royal train near the Borki station, and the cars collapsed down a slope. Then the crowned family survived only by a miracle. Another time, mortal danger lay in wait for the Tsarevich during his round-the-world trip, which he undertook at the request of his father in 1890-1891. Having visited Greece, Egypt, India, China and other countries, Nicholas, accompanied by his relatives and retinue, arrived in Japan.

Here, in the city of Father, on April 29, he was unexpectedly attacked by a mentally ill policeman who tried to hack him to death with a saber. But this time, too, everything worked out: the saber only touched the crown prince's head, without causing him serious harm. In a letter to his mother, Nikolai described this event as follows: “We drove out in jen rickshaws and turned into a narrow street with crowds on both sides. At this time, I received a strong blow on the right side of the head, above the ear. the second time he swung his saber at me ... I just shouted: "What, what do you want?" The military escorting the Tsarevich hacked to death the attempted policeman with sabers. The poet Apollon Maykov dedicated a poem to this incident, in which there were such lines:

Royal youth, twice saved!
Appeared twice tender Russia
God's providence is a shield over you!

It seemed that providence twice saved the future emperor from death, only to be handed over, together with his entire family, into the hands of regicides 20 years later.

Beginning of the reign

On October 20, 1894, Alexander III, who suffered from an ironic kidney disease, died in Livadia (Crimea). His death was a deep shock for the 26-year-old Tsarevich, who has now become Emperor Nicholas II. And the point was not only that the son had lost his beloved father. Later, Nicholas II admitted that the very thought of the impending royal burden, heavy and inevitable, horrified him. "For me, the worst happened, exactly what I was so afraid of a century of life," he wrote in his diary. Even three years after his accession to the throne, he told his mother that only "the holy example of his father" did not allow him "to lose heart when moments of despair sometimes come." Shortly before his death, realizing that his days were numbered, Alexander III decided to speed up the marriage of the crown prince: after all, according to tradition, the new emperor should be married. The bride of Nicholas was urgently called to Livadia - the German princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, granddaughter English queen Victoria. She received a blessing from the dying tsar, and on October 21 she was chrismated in a small Livadia church, becoming the Orthodox Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna.

A week after the funeral of Alexander III, a modest ceremony of marriage took place between Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna. This happened on November 14, the birthday of the tsar's mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, when Orthodox tradition allowed strict mourning to be relaxed. Nicholas II had been waiting for this marriage for several years, and now the great grief in his life was combined with great joy. In a letter to his brother George, he wrote: “I cannot thank God enough for the treasure that He sent me in the form of a wife. I am immeasurably happy with my darling Alix ... But for that, the Lord gave me a heavy cross to bear ... ".

The accession to the throne of the new sovereign stirred up a whole wave of hopes in society for the liberalization of the life of the country. On January 17, 1395, Nicholas received a deputation of the nobility, leaders of zemstvos and cities in the Anichkov Palace. The emperor was very worried, his voice was trembling, he kept looking into the folder with the text of the speech. But the words that sounded in the hall were far from uncertainty: “I know that lately in some zemstvo meetings the voices of people carried away by senseless dreams about the participation of representatives of the zemstvo in the affairs of internal administration have been heard. Let everyone know that I, dedicating everything strength for the good of the people, I will guard the beginning of autocracy as firmly and unswervingly as my unforgettable late parent guarded it. From excitement, Nikolai could not cope with his voice and uttered the last phrase very loudly, turning into a scream. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna still did not understand Russian well and, alarmed, asked the Grand Duchesses who were standing nearby: "What did he say?" "He explains to them that they are all idiots," one of the most august relatives answered her calmly. The society very quickly became aware of the incident, they said that in the real text of the speech it was written "baseless dreams", but the king could not really read the words. It was also said that Utkin, the leader of the nobility of the Tver province, frightened by the cry of Nikolai, dropped a golden tray of bread and salt from his hands. "This was considered a bad omen for the coming reign. Four months later, magnificent coronation celebrations took place in Moscow. May 14, 1896 in Uspensky Cathedral of the Kremlin, Nicholas II and his wife were married to the kingdom.

It was on these festive May days that the first great misfortune in the history of the last reign happened. It received the name - "Khodynki". On the night of May 18, at least half a million people gathered on the Khodynka field, where the exercises of the troops of the Moscow garrison usually took place. They expected a mass distribution of royal gifts, which seemed unusually rich. Rumor has it that money will be distributed. In fact, the "coronation gift" consisted of a commemorative mug, a large gingerbread, sausage and polar cod. At dawn there was a grandiose crush, which eyewitnesses would later call "doomsday". As a result, 1282 people died and several hundred were injured.

This event shocked the king. Many advised him to refuse to go to the ball, which that evening gave french ambassador Count Montebello. But the tsar knew that this reception was supposed to demonstrate the strength of the political alliance between Russia and France. He did not want to offend the French allies. And although the crowned spouses did not stay at the ball for long, public opinion did not forgive them for this step. The next day, the tsar and tsarina attended a memorial service for the dead, visited the Staro-Ekaterininskaya hospital, where the wounded were. The sovereign ordered to issue 1000 rubles for each family of the dead, to establish a special shelter for orphaned children, and to take all the expenses for the funeral to his account. But the people already called the king an indifferent, heartless person. In the illegal revolutionary press, Nicholas II received the nickname "Tsar Khodynsky".

Grigory Rasputin

On November 1, 1905, Emperor Nicholas II wrote in his diary: "We met a man of God - Grigory from the Tobolsk province." On that day, Nicholas II did not yet know that 12 years later, many would associate the fall of the Russian autocracy with the name of this man, that the presence of this man at court would become evidence of the political and moral degradation of tsarist power.

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was born in 1864 or 1865 ( exact date unknown) in the village of Pokrovsky, Tobolsk province. He came from a middle-class peasant family. It seemed that he was destined for the usual fate of a peasant from a remote village. Rasputin started drinking early, at the age of 15. After marrying at the age of 20, his drinking only intensified. Then Rasputin began to steal, for which he was repeatedly beaten by his fellow villagers. And when a criminal case was initiated against him in the Pokrovsky volost court, Grigory, without waiting for the denouement, went to the Perm province to the Verkhotursky monastery. From this three-month pilgrimage began new period Rasputin's life. He returned home greatly changed: he stopped drinking and smoking, he stopped eating meat. For several years, Rasputin, forgetting about his family and household, visited many monasteries, even reaching the sacred Greek Mount Athos. In his native village, Rasputin began to preach in a chapel he had equipped. The newly-appeared "starets" taught his parishioners moral liberation and healing of the soul through committing the sin of adultery: if you don't sin, you won't repent, if you don't repent, you won't be saved.

The fame of the new preacher grew and grew stronger, and he willingly used the benefits of his fame. In 1904, he came to St. Petersburg, was introduced by Bishop Feofan Yamburgsky to aristocratic salons, where he successfully continued his sermons. The seeds of Rasputinism fell into fertile soil. The Russian capital was in those years in a severe moral crisis. Passion for the other world became widespread, sexual promiscuity reached extraordinary proportions. For very short term Rasputin acquired many admirers, ranging from noble ladies and maidens to ordinary prostitutes.

Many of them found a way out for their emotions in "communication" with Rasputin, others tried to solve their money problems with his help. But there were also those who believed in the holiness of the "old man". It was thanks to such admirers that Rasputin ended up at the court of the emperor.

Rasputin was far from the first in a series of "prophets", "righteous ones", "seers" and other rogues who at various times appeared in the entourage of Nicholas P. Even before him, the soothsayers Papus and Philip, various holy fools and other dark personalities entered the royal family .

Why did the royal couple allow themselves to communicate with such people? Such moods were inherent in the Empress, who from childhood was interested in everything unusual and mysterious. Over time, this character trait has become even more entrenched in her. Frequent childbirth, the tense expectation of the birth of a male heir to the throne, and then his severe illness brought Alexandra Feodorovna to religious exaltation. The constant fear for the life of a son with hemophilia (blood incoagulability) forced her to seek protection in religion and even turn to outright charlatans.

It was on these feelings of the empress that Rasputin skillfully played. Rasputin's remarkable hypnotic abilities helped him gain a foothold at court, primarily as a healer. More than once he managed to "talk" - blood to the heir, to alleviate the empress's migraine. Very soon, Rasputin inspired Alexandra Feodorovna, and through her and Nicholas II, that while he was at court, nothing bad would happen to the imperial family. Moreover, in the first years of their relationship with Rasputin, the tsar and tsarina did not hesitate to offer their close associates to use the healing services of the "old man". A case is known when P. A. Stolypin, a few days after the explosion on Aptekarsky Island, found Rasputin praying at the bedside of his seriously wounded daughter. The empress herself recommended to invite Rasputin to Stolypin's wife.

Rasputin was able to gain a foothold at court largely thanks to A. A. Vyrubova, the maid of honor of the Empress and her closest friend. At Vyrubova's dacha, located not far from the Tsarskoye Selo Alexander Palace, the Empress and Nicholas II met with Rasputin. The most devoted admirer of Rasputin, Vyrubova served as a kind of link between him and the royal family. Rasputin's closeness to the imperial family quickly became public, which the "elder" subtly took advantage of. Rasputin refused to accept any money from the Tsar and Tsaritsa. He more than made up for this "loss" in high-society salons, where he accepted offerings from aristocrats who sought closeness to the tsar, bankers and industrialists who defended their interests, and others who were hungry for the patronage of the supreme power. On the highest instructions, the Police Department assigned guards to Rasputin. However, starting from 1907, when the "old man" became more than a "preacher" and "healer", he was put under surveillance - shadowing. The diaries of the sightings of the fillers impartially recorded Rasputin's pastime: revelry in restaurants, going to the bathhouse in the company of women, trips to gypsies, etc. From 1910, reports began to appear in newspapers about Rasputin's riotous behavior. The scandalous fame of the "old man" acquired menacing proportions, compromising the royal family.

At the beginning of 1911, P. A. Stolypin and the chief procurator of the Holy Synod, S. M. Lukyanov, presented Nicholas II with a detailed report that debunked the holiness of the “old man” and depicted his adventures on the basis of documents. The tsar's reaction was very sharp, but, having received help from the empress, Rasputin not only survived, but also strengthened his position even more. For the first time, a "friend" (as Alexandra Fedorovna called Rasputina) had a direct influence on the appointment of a statesman: the opponent of the "old man" Lukyanov was dismissed, and B.K. Sabler, who was loyal to Rasputin, was appointed in his place. In March 1912, the attack on Rasputin was launched by the chairman of the State Duma, M. V. Rodzianko. Having previously talked with the mother of Nicholas II, Maria Fedorovna, he, with documents in his hands at an audience with the emperor, painted a terrible picture of the depravity of the tsar's entourage and emphasized the huge role that he played in the loss of his reputation by the supreme power. But neither Rodzianko's exhortations, nor the subsequent conversations between the tsar and his mother, his uncle Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, who was considered the guardian of traditions in the imperial family, nor the efforts of the Empress' sister, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, shook the position of the "old man". It was to this time that the phrase of Nicholas II refers: "Better one Rasputin than ten scandals a day." Sincerely loving his wife, Nikolai could no longer resist her influence and, in relation to Rasputin, invariably took the side of the empress. For the third time, Rasputin's position at court was shaken in June-August 1915 after a noisy revelry in the Moscow restaurant "Yar", where, after drinking heavily, the "holy old man" began to loudly boast of his exploits, reporting obscene details about his many admirers, not leaving out the royal family. As V. F. Dzhunkovsky, Deputy Minister of the Interior, was later informed, "Rasputin's behavior took on the completely ugly character of some kind of sexual psychopathy ...". It was about this scandal that Dzhunkovsky reported in detail to Nikolai P. The emperor was extremely annoyed by the behavior of the "friend", agreed with the general's requests to send the "old man" to his homeland, but ... a few days later he wrote to the Minister of Internal Affairs: "I insist on the immediate expulsion of General Dzhunkovsky" .

This was the last serious threat to Rasputin's position at court. From that time until December 1916, Rasputin's influence reached its apogee. Until now, Rasputin was interested only in church affairs. The case with Dzhunkovsky showed that the civil authorities can also be dangerous for the "holiness" of the tsar's "lamp holder". From now on, Rasputin seeks to control the official government, and first of all, the key posts of the ministers of internal affairs and justice.

The first victim of Rasputin was the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich. Once upon a time, it was the prince's wife, with his direct participation, who brought Rasputin into the palace. Having settled into the royal chambers, Rasputin managed to spoil the relationship between the tsar and the Grand Duke, becoming the latter's worst enemy. After the outbreak of the war, when Nikolai Nikolaevich, who was popular among the troops, was appointed supreme commander in chief, Rasputin set out to visit the Supreme Headquarters in Baranovichi. In response, he received a laconic telegram: "Come - I'll hang!". Moreover, in the summer of 1915, Rasputin found himself "in a hot pan" when, on the direct advice of the Grand Duke Nicholas II, he dismissed four of the most reactionary ministers, including Sabler, who was replaced by Rasputin's ardent and open enemy A.D. Samarin - from Moscow marshal of the nobility.

Rasputin managed to convince the empress that the presence of Nikolai Nikolayevich at the head of the army threatened the tsar with a coup, after which the throne would pass to the Grand Duke, respected by the military. It ended with the fact that Nicholas II himself took the post of supreme commander-in-chief, and the Grand Duke was sent to the secondary Caucasian front.

Many domestic historians believe that this moment became a key moment in the crisis of supreme power. Away from Petersburg, the emperor finally lost control over the executive power. Rasputin gained unlimited influence on the empress and was given the opportunity to dictate the personnel policy of the autocracy.

The political tastes and predilections of Rasputin are shown by the appointment, under his patronage, as Minister of the Interior A. N. Khvostov, the former governor of Nizhny Novgorod, the leader of conservatives and monarchists in the State Duma, who had long been nicknamed the Nightingale the Robber. This huge "man without detention centres," as he was called in the Duma, ultimately sought to occupy the highest bureaucratic post - chairman of the Council of Ministers. S. P. Beletsky, known in the family circle as exemplary family man, and among acquaintances as the organizer of "Athenian evenings", erotic shows in the ancient Greek style.

Khvostov, having become a minister, carefully concealed Rasputin's involvement in his appointment. But the "old man", wanting to keep Khvostov in his hands, in every possible way advertised his role in his career. In response, Khvostov decided ... to kill Rasputin. However, Vyrubova became aware of his attempts. After a huge scandal, Khvostov was dismissed. The rest of the appointments at the behest of Rasputin were no less scandalous, especially two of them: B.V. time even overshadowed the notoriety of the "old man" himself, became deputy chairman. In many ways, these and other appointments to responsible positions random people upset the internal economy of the country, contributing directly or indirectly to the rapid fall of monarchical power.

Both the king and the empress were well aware of the lifestyle of the "old man" and the very specific aroma of his "holiness". But, in spite of everything, they continued to listen to the "friend". The fact is that Nicholas II, Alexandra Fedorovna, Vyrubova and Rasputin constituted a kind of circle of like-minded people. Rasputin never proposed candidates that completely did not suit the tsar and tsarina. He never recommended anything without consulting Vyrubova, who gradually persuaded the queen, after which Rasputin spoke himself.

The tragedy of the moment was that the representative of the Romanov dynasty who was in power and his wife were worthy of just such a favorite as Rasputin. Rasputin only illustrated the complete lack of logic in the government of the country in the last pre-revolutionary years. "What is it, stupidity or treason?" - P. N. Milyukov asked after each phrase of his speech in the Duma on November 1, 1916. In fact, it was an elementary inability to rule. On the night of December 17, 1916, Rasputin was secretly assassinated by representatives of the St. Petersburg aristocracy, who hoped to save the tsar from destructive influences and save the country from collapse. This murder became a kind of parody of the palace coups of the 18th century: the same solemn surroundings, the same, albeit vain, mystery, the same nobleness of the conspirators. But nothing could change this step. The policy of the king remained the same, there were no improvements in the position of the country. The Russian Empire was moving irresistibly towards its collapse.

"The owner of the Russian land"

The royal "cross" turned out to be heavy for Nicholas II. The emperor never doubted that Divine Providence had been appointed to his highest post in order to rule for the strengthening and prosperity of the state. FROM young years he was brought up in the conviction that Russia and the autocracy are inseparable things. In the questionnaire of the first All-Russian population census in 1897, when asked about the occupation, the emperor wrote: "The owner of the Russian Land." He fully shared the point of view of the well-known conservative Prince V.P. Meshchersky, who believed that "the end of the autocracy is the end of Russia."

Meanwhile, there was almost no "autocracy" in the appearance and character of the last sovereign. He never raised his voice, was polite to ministers and generals. Those who knew him closely spoke of him as a "kind", "extremely educated" and "charming" person. One of the main reformers of this reign, S. Yu. Witte (see the article "Sergei Witte"; wrote about what was hidden behind the charm and courtesy of the emperor: "... Emperor Nicholas II, having ascended the throne quite unexpectedly, representing a kind man, far from stupid, but shallow, weak-willed, in the end a good man who did not inherit all the qualities of his mother and partly of his ancestors (Paul) and very few qualities of a father, was not created to be an emperor in general, but an unlimited emperor of such an empire as Russia, in particular. His main qualities are courtesy when he wanted it, cunning and complete spinelessness and lack of will. "The general who knew the emperor well A. A. Mosolov, head of the Chancellery of the Ministry of the Imperial Court, wrote that "Nicholas II was by nature very shy, did not like to argue, partly out of fear that they might prove wrong the correctness of his views or to convince others of this ... The king was not only polite, but even helpful and affectionate with all those who came into contact with him. He never paid attention to the age, position or social status of the person with whom he spoke. Both for the minister and for the last valet, the tsar always had an even and polite treatment. "Nicholas II never differed in lust for power and looked at power as a heavy duty. He performed his" royal work "carefully and accurately, never allowing himself relax.Contemporaries were surprised by the amazing self-control of Nicholas II, the ability to control himself under any circumstances.His philosophical calm, mainly associated with the peculiarities of the worldview, seemed to many "terrible, tragic indifference".God, Russia and the family were the most important life values ​​​​of the last emperor. He was a deeply religious person, and this explains a lot in his fate as a ruler. From childhood, he strictly observed all Orthodox rituals, knew church customs and traditions well. Faith filled the life of the king with deep content, freed him from the slavery of earthly circumstances, helped to endure numerous shocks and adversity. who believed that everything is in the hands of the Lord and that one must humbly obey His holy will. Shortly before the fall of the monarchy, when the approach of the denouement was felt by everyone, he remembered the fate of the biblical Job, whom God, wanting to test, deprived of children, health, wealth. Responding to the complaints of relatives about the state of affairs in the country, Nicholas II said: "All the will of God. I was born on May 6, the day of commemoration of the long-suffering Job. I am ready to accept my fate."

The second most important value in the life of the last tsar was Russia. From a young age, Nikolai Alexandrovich was convinced that imperial power was good for the country. Shortly before the start of the revolution of 1905-1907. he declared: "I will never, in any case, agree to a representative form of government, for I consider it harmful to the people entrusted to me by God." The monarch, according to Nicholas, was a living personification of law, justice, order, supreme power and traditions. He perceived the departure from the principles of power inherited by him as a betrayal of the interests of Russia, as a desecration of the sacred foundations, bequeathed by the ancestors. "The autocratic power, bequeathed to me by my ancestors, I must pass safely to my son," Nikolai believed. He was always keenly interested in the past of the country, and in Russian history, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, nicknamed the Quietest, evoked his special sympathy. The time of his reign seemed to Nicholas II the golden age of Russia. The last emperor would gladly fail his reign so that he could be awarded the same nickname.

Nevertheless, Nicholas was aware that the autocracy at the beginning of the 20th century. already different in comparison with the era of Alexei Mikhailovich. He could not ignore the demands of the times, but he was convinced that any drastic changes in public life Russia is fraught with unpredictable consequences, disastrous for the country. Thus, perfectly aware of the troubles of the many millions of peasants who suffered from landlessness, he categorically objected to the forcible seizure of land from the landowners and defended the inviolability of the principle of private property. The king always sought to ensure that innovations were implemented gradually, taking into account traditions and past experience. This explains his desire to leave the implementation of reforms to his ministers, himself remaining in the shadows. The emperor supported the policy of industrialization of the country, pursued by the Minister of Finance S. Yu. Witte, although this course was met with hostility in various circles of society. The same thing happened with P. A. Stolypin’s agrarian reform program: only relying on the will of the monarch allowed the prime minister to carry out the planned transformations.

The events of the first Russian revolution and the forced publication of the Manifesto on October 17, 1905 were perceived by Nikolai as a personal deep tragedy. The emperor knew about the upcoming procession of workers to the Winter Palace on January 3, 1905. He told his relatives that he wanted to go out to the demonstrators and accept their petition, but the family opposed such a step in a united front, calling it "madness." The tsar could easily be killed by both the terrorists who wormed their way into the ranks of the workers, and the crowd itself, whose actions were unpredictable. Soft, influenced Nicholas agreed and spent January 5 in Tsarskoye Selo near Petrograd. The news from the capital plunged the sovereign into horror. “A hard day!” he wrote in his diary, “There are serious riots in St. Petersburg ... The troops had to shoot, there were many killed and wounded in different parts of the city. Lord, how painful and hard!”

By signing the Manifesto on granting citizens civil liberties, Nicholas went against those political principles that he considered sacred. He felt betrayed. In his memoirs, S. Yu. Witte wrote about this: “During all the October days, the sovereign seemed completely calm. I don’t think he was afraid, but he was completely confused, otherwise, with his political tastes, of course, he would not have gone on the constitution. I think that the sovereign in those days was looking for support in strength, but did not find any of the admirers of strength - everyone was scared. When Prime Minister P. A. Stolypin informed the emperor in 1907 that "the revolution has been suppressed in general," he heard an answer that stunned him: "I do not understand what kind of revolution you are talking about. True, we had unrest, not a revolution ... Yes, and the riots, I think, would be impossible if more energetic and courageous people were in power. Nicholas II could justifiably apply these words to himself.

Neither in the reforms, nor in the military leadership, nor in the suppression of unrest did the emperor take full responsibility.

royal family

An atmosphere of harmony, love and peace reigned in the emperor's family. Here Nikolai always rested his soul and drew strength for the performance of his duties. On April 8, 1915, on the eve of the next anniversary of the engagement, Alexandra Fedorovna wrote to her husband: “Dear, how much we have experienced severe trials for all these years, but in our native nest it was always warm and sunny.

Having lived a life full of upheavals, Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna maintained a loving and enthusiastic attitude towards each other to the end. Their honeymoon lasted over 23 years. Few people knew about the depth of this feeling at that time. Only in the mid-1920s, when three voluminous volumes of correspondence between the tsar and tsarina (about 700 letters) were published in Russia, was the amazing story of their boundless and all-consuming love for each other revealed. 20 years after the wedding, Nikolai wrote in his diary: “I can’t believe that today is the twentieth anniversary of our wedding. The Lord blessed us with rare family happiness; if only to be able to be worthy of His great mercy for the rest of our lives.”

Five children were born in the royal family: Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatyana, Maria, Anastasia and Tsarevich Alexei. Daughters were born one after another. In the hope of the appearance of an heir, the imperial couple began to get involved in religion, was the initiator of the canonization of Seraphim of Sarov. Piety was complemented by an interest in spiritualism and the occult. Various soothsayers and holy fools began to appear at the court. Finally, in July 1904, a son, Alexei, was born. But parental joy turned out to be overshadowed - the child was found to have an incurable disease. hereditary disease hemophilia.

Pierre Gilliard, a teacher of the royal daughters, recalled: "The best thing about these four sisters was their simplicity, naturalness, sincerity and unaccountable kindness." Characteristic is the entry in the diary of the priest Athanasius Belyaev, who Easter days 1917 had a chance to confess the arrested members royal family. "God grant that all children are morally as high as the children of the former boyfriend. Such kindness, humility, obedience to parental will, unconditional devotion to the will of God, purity in thoughts and complete ignorance of earthly dirt, passionate and sinful, amazed me" he wrote.

Heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei

"An unforgettable great day for us, on which the grace of God so clearly visited us. On the 12th day, Alix had a son, who, during prayer, was named Alexei." So Emperor Nicholas II wrote in his diary on July 30, 1904.

Alexei was the fifth child of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna. Waiting for his birth long years not only the Romanov family, but the whole of Russia, because the significance of this boy for the country was enormous. Alexei became the first (and only) son of the emperor, which means heir to the Tsarevich, as the heir to the throne was officially called in Russia. His birth determined who, in the event of the death of Nicholas II, would have to lead a huge power. After Nicholas' accession to the throne, Grand Duke George Alexandrovich, the tsar's brother, was declared the heir. When Georgy Alexandrovich died of tuberculosis in 1899, the younger brother of the tsar, Mikhail, became the heir. And now, after the birth of Alexei, it became clear that the direct line of succession to the Russian throne would not be interrupted.

The life of this boy from birth was subordinated to one thing - the future reign. Even the name of the heir was given by the parents with meaning - in memory of the idol of Nicholas II, the "quietest" Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Immediately after his birth, little Alexei was included in the lists of twelve guards military units. By the time of his coming of age, the heir should have already had a fairly high military rank and be listed as the commander of one of the battalions of any guards regiment - in accordance with tradition, the Russian emperor must have been a military man. The newborn was also entitled to all other grand ducal privileges: own lands, efficient staff of attendants, financial support, etc.

At first, nothing foreshadowed trouble for Alexei and his parents. But one day, already three-year-old Alexei fell for a walk and badly hurt his leg. An ordinary bruise, which many children do not pay attention to, has grown to an alarming size, the heir's temperature has risen sharply. The verdict of the doctors who examined the boy was terrible: Alexei was sick with a serious illness - hemophilia. Hemophilia, a disease in which there is no blood clotting, threatened the heir to the Russian throne with grave consequences. Now every bruise or cut could be fatal for a child. Moreover, it was well known that the life expectancy of patients with hemophilia is extremely short.

From now on, the entire routine of the life of the heir was subordinated to one main goal - to protect him from the slightest danger. A lively and active boy, Alexei was now forced to forget about active games. With him on walks was inseparably attached "uncle" - sailor Derevenko from the imperial yacht "Standart". And yet, new attacks of the disease could not be avoided. One of the most severe attacks of the disease occurred in the autumn of 1912. During a boat trip, Alexei, wanting to jump ashore, accidentally hit the side. A few days later he was no longer able to walk: the sailor assigned to him carried him in his arms. The hemorrhage turned into a huge tumor that captured half of the boy's leg. The temperature rose sharply, reaching almost 40 degrees on some days. The largest Russian physicians of that time, professors Raukhfus and Fedorov, were urgently called to the patient. However, they could not achieve a radical improvement in the health of the child. The situation was so threatening that it was decided to start publishing official bulletins in the press about the health of the heir. Alexei's serious illness continued throughout the autumn and winter, and only by the summer of 1913 was he able to walk independently again.

Alexey owed his serious illness to his mother. Hemophilia is a hereditary disease that affects only men, but it is transmitted through the female line. Alexandra Fedorovna inherited a serious illness from her grandmother, Queen Victoria of England, whose wide relationship led to the fact that in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century hemophilia was called the disease of kings. Many of the descendants of the famous English queen suffered from a serious illness. Yes, he died of hemophilia. brother Alexandra Fedorovna.

Now the disease has struck the only heir to the Russian throne. However, despite the serious illness, Alexei was prepared for the fact that he would one day take the Russian throne. Like all of his immediate family, the boy was educated at home. The Swiss Pierre Gilliard, who taught the boy languages, was invited to be his teacher. The most famous Russian scientists of that time were preparing to teach the heir. But illness and war prevented Alexei from studying normally. With the outbreak of hostilities, the boy often visited the army with his father, and after Nicholas II took over the supreme command, he was often with him at Headquarters. The February Revolution found Alexei with his mother and sisters in Tsarskoye Selo. Together with his family, he was arrested, together with her he was sent to the east of the country. Together with all his relatives, he was killed by the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg.

Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich

AT late XIX century, by the beginning of the reign of Nicholas II, the Romanov family numbered about two dozen members. Grand dukes and princesses, uncles and aunts of the king, his brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces - they were all quite prominent figures in the life of the country. Many of the Grand Dukes held responsible government positions, participated in the command of the army and navy, the activities of government agencies and scientific organizations. Some of them had a significant influence on the king, allowed themselves, especially in the early years of the reign of Nicholas II, to interfere in his affairs. However, most of the Grand Dukes had a reputation for being incompetent leaders, unfit for serious work.

However, there was one among the great princes who had a popularity almost equal to that of the king himself. This is Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, grandson of Emperor Nicholas I, son of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, the elder, who commanded the Russian troops during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878.

Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr. was born in 1856. He studied at the Nikolaev Military Engineering School, and in 1876 graduated from the Nikolaev military academy, and his name was listed on the marble plaque of honor of this most prestigious military educational institution. The Grand Duke also participated in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-78.

In 1895, Nikolai Nikolayevich was appointed inspector general of the cavalry, effectively becoming the commander of all cavalry units. At this time, Nikolai Nikolaevich gained considerable popularity among guards officers. Tall (his height was 195 cm), fit, energetic, with a noble gray hair at the temples, the Grand Duke was the outward embodiment of the officer's ideal. And the overflowing energy of the Grand Duke only contributed to an increase in his popularity.

Nikolai Nikolaevich is known for his integrity and strictness not only in relation to soldiers, but also to officers. Going around with inspections of the troops, he achieved their excellent training, ruthlessly punished negligent officers, getting them to pay attention to the needs of the soldiers. By this he became famous among the lower ranks, quickly gaining popularity in the army no less than the popularity of the king himself. The owner of a courageous appearance and a loud voice, Nikolai Nikolayevich personified the strength of royal power for the soldiers.

After military failures during the Russo-Japanese War, the Grand Duke was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Guards and the St. Petersburg Military District. He very quickly managed to put out the fire of discontent in the guards units with the mediocre leadership of the army. Largely thanks to Nikolai Nikolayevich, the troops of the guard, without hesitation, dealt with the uprising in Moscow in December 1905. During the revolution of 1905, the influence of the Grand Duke increased tremendously. Commanding the capital's military district and guards, he became one of the key figures in the fight against the revolutionary movement. The situation in the capital depended on his decisiveness, and consequently, the ability of the state apparatus of the empire to govern a vast country. Nikolai Nikolaevich used all his influence to convince the tsar to sign the famous manifesto on October 17th. When the then Chairman of the Council of Ministers S.Yu. Witte provided the tsar with a draft manifesto for signing, Nikolai Nikolaevich did not leave the emperor a single step until the manifesto was signed. The Grand Duke, according to some courtiers, even threatened the tsar to shoot himself in his chambers if he did not sign a document saving the monarchy. And although this information can hardly be considered true, such an act would be quite typical for the Grand Duke.

Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich remained one of the main leaders of the Russian army in subsequent years. In 1905-1908. he presided over the Council of State Defense, which was responsible for planning the combat training of troops. Just as great was his influence on the emperor, although after signing the manifesto on October 17, Nicholas II treated his great uncle without the same tenderness that was characteristic of their relationship before.

In 1912, Minister of War V.A. Sukhomlinov, one of those whom the Grand Duke could not stand, prepared a big military game - staff maneuvers in which all the commanders of the military districts were to take part. The king himself was in charge of the game. Nikolai Nikolaevich, who hated Sukhomlinov, spoke with the emperor half an hour before the start of the maneuvers, and ... the war game, which had been prepared for several months, was canceled. The Minister of War had to resign, which, however, the king did not accept.

When the First World War began, Nicholas II had no doubts about the candidacy of the Supreme Commander. He was appointed Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. The Grand Duke did not have special military talents, but it was thanks to him that the Russian army with honor came out of the hardest trials of the first year of the war. Nikolai Nikolaevich knew how to competently select his officers. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief gathered competent and experienced generals at headquarters. He knew how, after listening to them, to make the most correct decision, for which he now had to bear responsibility alone. True, Nikolai Nikolaevich did not stay at the head of the Russian army for long: a year later, on August 23, 1915, Nicholas II took over the supreme command, and "Nikolasha" was appointed commander of the Caucasian Front. Removing Nikolai Nikolaevich from command of the army, the tsar sought to get rid of his relative, who had gained unprecedented popularity. In the Petrograd salons, they started talking about the fact that "Nikolasha" could replace his not very popular nephew on the throne.

A.I. Guchkov recalled that many politicians at that time, it was believed that it was Nikolai Nikolaevich who, with his authority, was able to prevent the collapse of the monarchy in Russia. Political gossip called Nikolai Nikolaevich a possible successor to Nicholas II in the event of his voluntary or forcible removal from power.

Be that as it may, Nikolai Nikolayevich proved himself during these years both as a successful commander and as an intelligent politician. The troops of the Caucasian Front led by him successfully advanced in Turkey, and the rumors associated with his name remained rumors: the Grand Duke did not miss an opportunity to assure the king of his loyalty.

When the monarchy in Russia was overthrown and Nicholas II abdicated, it was Nikolai Nikolayevich that the Provisional Government appointed as Supreme Commander. True, he stayed with them for only a few weeks, after which, due to belonging to the imperial family, he was again removed from command.

Nikolai Nikolaevich left for the Crimea, where, together with some other representatives of the Romanov family, he settled in Dyulber. As it turned out later, their departure from Petrograd saved their lives. When the Civil War began in Russia, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich found himself in the territory occupied by the White Army. Mindful of the great popularity of the Grand Duke, General A.I. Denikin approached him with a proposal to lead the fight against the Bolsheviks, but Nikolai Nikolaevich refused to participate in the Civil War and in 1919 left the Crimea, going to France. He settled in the south of France, and in 1923 he moved to the town of Choigny near Paris. In December 1924, he received from Baron P.N. Wrangel, the leadership of all foreign Russian military organizations, which, with his participation, were united into the Russian All-Military Union (ROVS). In the same years, Nikolai Nikolayevich fought with his nephew, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich for the right to be locum tenens of the Russian throne.

Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich died in 1929.

Before the Great Upheaval

The decisive role in the fate of the country and the monarchy was played by the First World War, in which Russia stood on the side of England and France against the Austro-German bloc. Nicholas II did not want Russia to enter the war. Russian Foreign Minister S. D. Sazonov later recalled his conversation with the emperor on the eve of the announcement of mobilization in the country: “The sovereign was silent. Then he told me in a voice in which deep excitement sounded:“ This means dooming hundreds of thousands of Russian people to death. How not to stop before such a decision?

The beginning of the war caused an upsurge of patriotic feelings, uniting representatives of various social forces. This time became a kind of finest hour of the last emperor, which turned into a symbol of hope for an early and complete victory. On July 20, 1914, the day war was declared, crowds of people poured into the streets of St. Petersburg with portraits of the tsar. A deputation from the Duma came to the Emperor in the Winter Palace with an expression of support. One of its representatives, Vasily Shulgin, spoke about this event: “Constrained so that he could stretch out his hand to the front rows, the sovereign stood. This was the only time I saw excitement on his brightened face. And was it possible not to worry "What was this crowd shouting not of young men, but of elderly people? They shouted: "Lead us, sovereign!"

But the first successes of Russian weapons in East Prussia and Galicia proved to be fragile. In the summer of 1915, under a powerful onslaught of the enemy, Russian troops left Poland, Lithuania, Volyn, Galicia. The war gradually became protracted and was far from over. Upon learning of the capture of Warsaw by the enemy, the emperor exclaimed with anger: "This cannot continue, I cannot sit here and watch how my army is being crushed; I see mistakes - and I must be silent!" Wanting to raise the morale of the army, Nicholas II in August 1915 assumed the duties of Commander-in-Chief, replacing Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich in this post. As SD Sazonov recalled, "in Tsarskoye Selo a mystical certainty was expressed that the mere appearance of the Sovereign at the head of the troops was to change the state of affairs at the front." He now spent most of his time at the Headquarters of the Supreme Command in Mogilev. Time worked against the Romanovs. The protracted war exacerbated old problems and constantly gave birth to new ones. Failures at the front aroused discontent, which erupted in the critical speeches of newspapers, in the speeches of deputies of the State Duma. The unfavorable course of affairs was associated with poor leadership of the country. Once, while talking with Duma Chairman M. V. Rodzianko about the situation in Russia, Nikolai almost groaned: “Is it really that I tried for twenty-two years to make everything better, and for twenty-two years I was wrong ?!”.

In August 1915, several Duma and other social groups united in the so-called "Progressive Bloc", the center of which was the Cadets Party. Their most important political demand was the creation of a ministry responsible to the Duma - a "cabinet of trust." At the same time, it was assumed that the leading posts in it would be occupied by persons from the Duma circles and the leadership of a number of socio-political organizations. For Nicholas II, this step would mean the beginning of the end of autocracy. On the other hand, the king understood the inevitability of serious reforms government controlled, but considered it impossible to carry them out in a war. In society, a deaf ferment intensified. Some confidently said that "treason" was "breeding" in the government, that dignitaries cooperate with the enemy. Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna was often named among these "agents of Germany". No evidence has ever been presented to support this. But public opinion did not need proof, and once and for all issued its merciless verdict, which played a large role in the growth of anti-Romanov sentiment. These rumors also penetrated the front, where millions of soldiers, mostly former peasants, suffered and died for goals that were known only to the authorities. Talk about the betrayal of the highest dignitaries aroused indignation and enmity towards all the "well-fed capitals of the capital." This hatred was skillfully fueled by left-wing political groups, primarily the Social Revolutionaries and Bolsheviks, who advocated the overthrow of the "Romanov clique".

Abdication

By the beginning of 1917, the situation in the country had become extremely tense. At the end of February, unrest began in Petrograd caused by interruptions in food supplies to the capital. These riots, not meeting with serious opposition from the authorities, in a few days grew into mass demonstrations against the government, against the dynasty. The king learned about these events in Mogilev. "Unrest began in Petrograd," the tsar wrote in his diary on February 27, "regrettably, the troops began to take part in them. It's a disgusting feeling to be so far away and receive fragmentary bad news!" Initially, the tsar wanted to restore order in Petrograd with the help of the troops, but failed to reach the capital. On March 1, he wrote in his diary: "Shame and disgrace! It was not possible to get to Tsarskoe. But thoughts and feelings are always there!"

Some high-ranking military officials, members of the imperial retinue and representatives public organizations they convinced the emperor that in order to pacify the country, a change of government was required, his abdication from the throne was necessary. After much thought and hesitation, Nicholas II decided to renounce the throne. The choice of a successor was also difficult for the emperor. He asked his doctor to frankly answer the question whether Tsarevich Alexei could be cured of a congenital blood disease. The doctor just shook his head - the boy's illness was fatal. "Already if God decided so, I will not part with her poor child," said Nikolai. He renounced power. Nicholas II sent a telegram to Chairman of the State Duma M. V. Rodzianko: “There is no such sacrifice that I would not make in the name of a real good and for the salvation of my mother Russia. Therefore, I am ready to abdicate the throne in favor of my son, so that remained with me until the age of majority, under the regency of my brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. Then the tsar's brother Mikhail Alexandrovich was elected heir to the throne. On March 2, 1917, on the way to Petrograd at the small station Dno near Pskov, in the saloon car of the imperial train, Nicholas II signed the act of abdication. In his diary on that day, the former emperor wrote: "All around is treason, and cowardice, and deceit!"

In the text of the abdication, Nicolai wrote: “In the days of the great struggle with the external enemy, who had been striving to enslave our homeland for almost three years. The Lord God was pleased to send Russia a new ordeal. decisive days in the life of Russia We considered it a duty of conscience to facilitate for Our people the close unity and rallying of all the forces of the people for the speedy achievement of victory, and in agreement with the State Duma we recognized it as a blessing to abdicate the Throne of the Russian State and lay down the Supreme Power ... "

Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, under pressure from the Duma deputies, refused to accept the imperial crown. At 10 am on March 3, the Provisional Committee of the Duma and members of the newly formed Provisional Government went to Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. The meeting took place in the apartment of Prince Putyatin on Millionnaya Street and dragged on until two in the afternoon. Of those present, only Foreign Minister P. N. Milyukov and Minister of War and Naval A. I. Guchkov persuaded Mikhail to accept the throne. Milyukov recalled that when, upon his arrival in Petrograd, he "went straight into the railway workshops and announced Mikhail to the workers," he "hardly escaped beatings or murder." Despite the rejection of the monarchy by the insurgent people, the leaders of the Cadets and Octobrists tried to convince the Grand Duke to lay the crown on himself, seeing in Mikhail the guarantee of the continuity of power. The Grand Duke greeted Milyukov with a joking remark: "Well, it's good to be in the position of the English king. It's very easy and convenient! Eh?" To which he quite seriously replied: "Yes, Your Highness, it is very easy to rule, observing the constitution." Milyukov conveyed in his memoirs his speech addressed to Mikhail: “I argued that strong power is needed to strengthen the new order and that it can be such only when it relies on a symbol of power familiar to the masses. Monarchy serves as such a symbol. the government, without relying on this symbol, simply will not live to see the opening of the Constituent Assembly. It will turn out to be a fragile boat that will sink in the ocean of popular unrest. The country is threatened with the loss of all consciousness of statehood and complete anarchy. "

However, Rodzianko, Kerensky, Shulgin and other members of the delegation had already realized that Mikhail would not be able to reign quietly like a British monarch and that, given the excitement of the workers and soldiers, he would hardly be able to really take power. Mikhail himself was convinced of this. His manifesto, prepared by Duma member Vasily Alekseevich Maksakov and professors Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov (father of the famous writer) and Boris Nolde, read: Supreme power, if such is the will of our great people, which should establish the form of government and the new fundamental laws of the Russian State by popular vote through its representatives in the Constituent Assembly. Interestingly, before the publication of the manifesto, a dispute arose that lasted for six hours. Its essence was as follows. The Cadets Nabokov and Milyukov, foaming at the mouth, argued that Mikhail should be called emperor, since before his abdication he seemed to reign for a day. They tried to maintain at least a slight lead for the possible restoration of the monarchy in the future. However, the majority of members of the Provisional Government eventually came to the conclusion that Mikhail, as he was, and remained just a Grand Duke, since he refused to accept power.

The death of the royal family

The Provisional Government that came to power arrested the tsar and his family on March 7 (20), 1917. The arrest served as a signal for the escape of the Minister of the Court V.B. Frederiks, palace commandant V.N. Voeikov, some other courtiers. “These people were the first to abandon the tsar in a difficult moment. This is how the tsar did not know how to choose his relatives,” M.V. wrote later. Rodzianko. V.A. agreed to voluntarily share the conclusion. Dolgorukov, P.K. Benkendorf, ladies-in-waiting S.K. Buksgevden and A.V. Gendrikova, doctors E.S. Botkin and V.N. Derevenko, teachers P. Gilliard and S. Gibbs. Most of them shared tragic fate royal family.

The deputies of the city councils of Moscow and Petrograd demanded a trial of the former emperor. The head of the Provisional Government, A.F. Kerensky, answered this: “Until now, the Russian revolution has proceeded without bloodshed, and I will not allow it to be overshadowed ... The Tsar and his family will be sent abroad, to England.” However, England refused to accept the deposed emperor's family before the end of the war. For five months, Nikolai and his family were kept under strict supervision in one of the palaces in Tsarskoye Selo. Here, on March 21, the meeting of the former sovereign and Kerensky took place. "A disarmingly charming man," the leader of the February Revolution later wrote. After the meeting, he said with surprise to those who accompanied him: "But Nicholas II is far from being stupid, contrary to what we thought about him." Many years later, in his memoirs, Kerensky wrote about Nicholas: privacy brought him nothing but relief. Old Mrs. Naryshkina relayed his words to me: "It's good that you no longer have to attend these tedious receptions and sign these endless documents. I will read, walk and spend time with the children."

However, the former emperor was too politically significant to be allowed to quietly "read, walk and spend time with children." Soon the royal family was sent under guard to the Siberian city of Tobolsk. A.F. Later, Kerensky justified himself by saying that they expected to send the family from there to the United States. Nikolay reacted indifferently to the change of place of residence. The tsar read a lot, participated in staging amateur performances, and was engaged in the education of children.

Having learned about the October coup, Nikolai wrote in his diary: "It is sickening to read the description in the newspapers of what happened in Petrograd and Moscow! Much worse and more shameful than the events of the Time of Troubles!" Nikolay reacted especially painfully to the message about the armistice, and then about the peace with Germany. In early 1918, Nikolai was forced to take off his colonel's epaulettes (his last military rank), which he took as a serious insult. The usual convoy was replaced by the Red Guards.

After the victory of the Bolsheviks in October 1917, the fate of the Romanovs was sealed. They spent the last three months of their lives in Yekaterinburg, the capital of the Urals. Here the exiled sovereign was settled in the mansion of the engineer Ipatiev. The owner of the house was evicted on the eve of the arrival of the supervised, the house was surrounded by a double wooden fence. The conditions of detention in this "special purpose house" turned out to be much worse than in Tobolsk. But Nicholas behaved courageously. His hardness was passed on to the household. The king's daughters learned how to wash clothes, cook food, and bake bread. The Ural worker A.D. was appointed the commandant of the house. Avdeev, but because of his sympathetic attitude towards the royal family, he was soon removed, and the Bolshevik Yakov Yurovsky became the commandant. "We like this type less and less ..." - Nikolai wrote in his diary.

The civil war pushed back the plan for the trial of the tsar, which the Bolsheviks had originally hatched. On the eve of the fall of Soviet power in the Urals, Moscow decided to execute the tsar and his family. The murder was assigned to Ya.M. Yurovsky and his deputy G.P. Nikulin. Latvians and Hungarians from among the prisoners of war were assigned to help them.

On the night of July 17, 1913, the former emperor and his family were awakened and asked to go down to the basement under the pretext of their safety. "The city is restless," Yurovsky explained to the prisoners. The Romanovs, together with the servants, went down the stairs. Nikolai carried Tsarevich Alexei in his arms. Then 11 Chekists entered the room, and Yurovsky announced to the captives that they were sentenced to death. Immediately after that, indiscriminate shooting began. Tsar Ya.M. Yurovsky shot from a pistol point-blank. When the volleys died down, it turned out that Alexei, the three Grand Duchesses and the royal doctor Botkin were still alive - they were finished off with bayonets. The bodies of the dead were taken out of the city, doused with kerosene, tried to burn, and then buried.

A few days after the execution, on July 25, 1918, Yekaterinburg was occupied by the troops of the White Army. Her command began an investigation into the case of regicide. The Bolshevik newspapers that reported on the execution presented the case in such a way that the execution took place on the initiative local authorities authorities without the consent of Moscow. However, the commission of inquiry created by the White Guards N.A. Sokolova, who was investigating in hot pursuit, found evidence that refutes this version. Later, in 1935, this was recognized by L.D. Trotsky: "The liberals seemed to be inclined to believe that the Urals executive committee, cut off from Moscow, acted independently. This is not true. The decision was made in Moscow." Further, the former leader of the Bolsheviks recalled that, having arrived somehow in Moscow, he asked Ya.M. Sverdlov: "Yes, but where is the tsar?" When Trotsky clarified: "Who decided?", the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee replied: "We decided here. Ilyich believed that it was impossible to leave them a living banner, especially in the current difficult conditions."

Investigator Sergeev found on the south side of the basement room, where the family of the last emperor died along with his servants, stanzas of Heine's poem - "Beltasar" on German, which in poetic translation sound like this:

And before the dawn came
The slaves killed the king...

Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov), the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna, was born May 18 (May 6, old style), 1868 in Tsarskoye Selo (now the city of Pushkin, Pushkinsky district of St. Petersburg).

Immediately after his birth, Nikolai was enrolled in the lists of several guards regiments and was appointed chief of the 65th Moscow Infantry Regiment. The childhood of the future tsar passed within the walls of the Gatchina Palace. Regular homework with Nikolai began at the age of eight.

In December 1875 he received his first military rank - ensign, in 1880 he was promoted to second lieutenant, four years later he became a lieutenant. In 1884 Nikolay entered active military service, in July 1887 year began regular military service in the Preobrazhensky Regiment and was promoted to staff captain; in 1891, Nikolai received the rank of captain, and a year later - colonel.

To get to know state affairs from May 1889 he began attending meetings State Council and the Committee of Ministers. AT October 1890 year went on a trip to the Far East. For nine months, Nikolai visited Greece, Egypt, India, China, and Japan.

AT April 1894 the engagement of the future emperor took place with Princess Alice of Darmstadt-Hesse, daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse, granddaughter of the English Queen Victoria. After converting to Orthodoxy, she took the name of Alexandra Feodorovna.

November 2 (October 21, old style), 1894 Alexander III died. A few hours before his death, the dying emperor ordered his son to sign the Manifesto on accession to the throne.

The coronation of Nicholas II took place 26 (14 old style) May 1896. On the thirtieth (18 according to the old style) May 1896, during the celebration on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II in Moscow, a stampede occurred on the Khodynka field, in which more than a thousand people died.

The reign of Nicholas II took place in an atmosphere of growing revolutionary movement and the complication of the foreign policy situation (the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905; Bloody Sunday; the Revolution of 1905-1907; the First World War; the February Revolution of 1917).

Influenced by a strong social movement in favor of political change, 30 (17 old style) October 1905 Nicholas II signed the famous manifesto "On the improvement of the state order": the people were granted freedom of speech, press, personality, conscience, assembly, unions; The State Duma was created as a legislative body.

The turning point in the fate of Nicholas II was 1914- Beginning of the First World War. August 1st (July 19 old style) 1914 Germany declared war on Russia. AT August 1915 Nicholas II took over the military command (previously Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich held this position). After that, the tsar spent most of his time at the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in Mogilev.

At the end of February 1917 unrest began in Petrograd, which grew into mass demonstrations against the government and the dynasty. The February revolution found Nicholas II at headquarters in Mogilev. Having received the news of the uprising in Petrograd, he decided not to make concessions and to restore order in the city by force, but when the scale of the unrest became clear, he abandoned this idea, fearing great bloodshed.

At midnight 15 (2 old style) March 1917 in the saloon car of the imperial train, standing on the tracks at the Pskov railway station, Nicholas II signed the act of abdication, transferring power to his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, who did not accept the crown.

20 (7 old style) March 1917 The provisional government issued an order for the arrest of the king. On March 22 (9 old style) March 1917, Nicholas II and his family were arrested. For the first five months they were under guard in Tsarskoe Selo, August 1917 they were transported to Tobolsk, where the Romanovs spent eight months.

At the beginning 1918 the Bolsheviks forced Nikolai to remove the shoulder straps of a colonel (his last military rank), he took this as a serious insult. In May of this year, the royal family was transferred to Yekaterinburg, where they were placed in the house of mining engineer Nikolai Ipatiev.

On the night of 17 (4 old) July 1918 and Nicholas II, the queen, their five children: daughters - Olga (1895), Tatiana (1897), Maria (1899) and Anastasia (1901), son - Tsarevich, heir to the throne Alexei (1904) and several close associates (11 people in total) , . The execution took place in a small room on the lower floor of the house, where the victims were brought under the pretext of evacuation. The tsar himself was shot from a pistol point-blank by the commandant of the Ipatiev House, Yankel Yurovsky. The bodies of the dead were taken out of the city, doused with kerosene, tried to burn, and then buried.

Early 1991 The city prosecutor's office filed the first application for the discovery near Yekaterinburg of bodies with signs of violent death. After many years of research on the remains found near Yekaterinburg, a special commission came to the conclusion that they really are the remains of nine Nicholas II and his family. In 1997 they were solemnly buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

In 2000 Nicholas II and members of his family were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.

October 1, 2008 presidium Supreme Court Russian Federation recognized the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II and members of his family as victims of illegal political repression and rehabilitated them.

July 23, 2013, 00:55

The birth of children is a joy, and in the imperial family it is a double joy, especially if a boy is born, since the boys ensured the "stability" of the ruling dynasty. In general, since the time of Paul I, who had four sons, the problem of the heir throughout the 19th century. It was not relevant for the imperial family. There was always a "reserve" in a direct descending line, which made it possible, painlessly for the country, to replace those "dropping out" along different reasons emperors or princes.

All Russian empresses gave birth at home, that is, in those imperial residences in which they found themselves at the time of childbirth. As a rule, during childbirth or in the immediate vicinity of the delivery room, all relatives who happened to be nearby were present. And the husband literally “held his wife by the hand” while in the maternity ward. This tradition dates back to the Middle Ages, in order to verify the truth of the birth and the heir.

Beginning with Paul I, all imperial families had many children. There was no question of any birth control. Empresses, princesses and grand duchesses gave birth, how many "God gave." The exemplary family man Nicholas I and his wife had 7 children, four sons and three daughters. In the family of Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna, despite the poor health of the latter, there were eight children - two daughters and six sons. The family of Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna had six children, one of whom died at an early age. There are three sons and two daughters left in the family. Five children were born in the family of Nicholas II. For Nicholas, the absence of an heir could turn into serious political implications- numerous male relatives from the younger branches of the Romanov dynasty were ready with a great desire to inherit the throne, which did not suit the royal spouses at all.

The birth of children in the family of Nicholas II.

The first childbirth of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was difficult. Nikolai's diary mentions time - from one in the morning until late in the evening, almost a day. As the younger sister of the king, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, recalled, “the baby was dragged with tongs.” Late in the evening of November 3, 1895, the Empress gave birth to a girl, whom her parents named Olga. Pathological childbirth, apparently, was due to both the poor health of the Empress, who at the time of childbirth was 23 years old, and the fact that from adolescence she suffered from sacro-lumbar pain. Pain in her legs haunted her all her life. Therefore, households often saw her in a wheelchair. After a difficult birth, the Empress “got on her feet” only by November 18, and immediately sits in a wheelchair. “I sat with Alix, who rode in a rolling chair and even visited me.”

Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna

The Empress gave birth again less than two years later. This pregnancy was also difficult. On the early dates pregnancy, doctors feared a miscarriage, since the documents dully mention that the empress got out of bed only on January 22, 1897, i.e. stayed for about 7 weeks. Tatyana was born on May 29, 1897 in the Alexander Palace, where the Family moved for the summer. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich wrote in his diary: “In the morning, God gave Their Majesties ... a daughter. The news spread quickly and everyone was disappointed as they were expecting a son.”

Grand Duchess Tatyana Nikolaevna

In November 1998, it turned out that the Empress was pregnant for the third time. As with the first birth, she immediately sits down in a stroller, as she cannot walk because of pain in her legs, and travels around the halls of the Winter Palace "in armchairs." On June 14, 1899, the third daughter, Maria, was born in Peterhof. The series of daughters in the royal family caused a steady mood of disappointment in society. Even the closest relatives of the king in their diaries repeatedly noted that the news of the birth of another daughter caused a sigh of disappointment throughout the country.

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna

The beginning of the fourth pregnancy was confirmed by court physicians in the fall of 1900. The expectation became unbearable. In the diary of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich it is written: “She has become very prettier ... therefore, everyone tremblingly hopes. That this time there will be a son. On June 5, 1901, the fourth daughter of the Tsar, Anastasia, was born in Peterhof. From the diary of Xenia Alexandrovna: “Alix feels great - but, my God! What a disappointment! Fourth girl!

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna

The empress herself was in despair. Her fifth pregnancy began in November 1901. Since the royal family associated this pregnancy exclusively with the “passes” of the court psychic Philip, she was hidden even from her closest relatives. On the recommendation of Philip, the empress did not allow medical doctors to visit her until August 1902, i.e. almost to term. Meanwhile, the birth did not come. Finally, the empress agreed to let herself be examined. The life obstetrician Ott, after the examination, Alix announced that "the Empress is not pregnant and was not pregnant." This news struck a terrible blow to the psyche of Alexandra Feodorovna. The child she had been carrying since November was simply gone. It came as a shock to everyone. The official Government Gazette published a message that the empress's pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. After that, the police ordered to exclude from the opera "Tsar Saltan" the words "the tsarina gave birth on the night of either a son, or a daughter, not a dog, not a frog, so, an unknown little animal."

The Empress with Tsarevich Alexei

It is paradoxical that after an unsuccessful pregnancy, the empress did not lose faith in Philip. In 1903, following the advice of Philip, the whole family visited the Sarov Hermitage. After visiting the village of Diveeva, the empress became pregnant for the sixth time. This pregnancy ended with the successful birth of Tsarevich Alexei on July 30, 1904. Nikolai wrote in his diary: “An unforgettable great day for us, on which the mercy of God so clearly visited us. At 1.4 days, Alix had a son, who, during prayer, was named Alexei. It all happened remarkably soon—for me, at least.” The Empress gave birth to an heir very easily "in half an hour." In her notebook she wrote: "weight - 4660, length - 58, head circumference - 38, chest - 39, on Friday, July 30, at 1:15 in the afternoon." Against the backdrop of the festive bustle of the royal parents, anxiety was consumed, whether alarming signs would appear terrible disease. A number of documents testify that the parents found out about hemophilia in the heir literally on the day of his birth - the baby had bleeding from the umbilical wound.

Tsesarevich Alexei

Igor Zimin, " Child's world imperial residences.

Nicholas II was the last Russian emperor. He was born on May 18, 1868 in Tsarskoye Selo. Nikolai began training at the age of 8. In addition to the standard school subjects, he also studied drawing, music and swordsmanship. Nikolai showed interest in military affairs from childhood. In 1884, he entered the military service, and after 3 years he was appointed staff captain. In 1891, Nikolai received the rank of captain, and a year later, became a colonel.

When Nicholas was 26 years old, he was proclaimed emperor, Nicholas II. At the time of his reign, there were Hard times. This is the war with Japan, World War I. Despite this, Russia was becoming an agrarian-industrial country. Cities, factories and railways. Nicholas sought to improve the economic situation of the country. In 1905, Nicholas signed a manifesto for democratic freedom.

For the first time in Russia, the emperor ruled in the presence of a representative body, which was elected by the people. At the end of 1917, a popular uprising began in Petrograd, the society was opposed to Nicholas II and his dynasty. Nicholas wanted to stop the rebellion by force, but was afraid of great bloodshed. Supporters of the emperor advised him to abdicate, the people needed a change of power.

Tormented in thought, Nicholas II in March 1917 renounces power and transfers the crown to Prince Mikhail, who was Nicholas's brother. A few days later, Nikolai and his family were arrested, they spent 5 months in prison. The prisoners were in Yekaterinburg, they were kept in the basement. On the morning of July 17, 1918, Nicholas, his wife and children were shot without trial.

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Dedicated to the centenary of revolutionary events.

Not a single Russian tsar has created as many myths as about the last, Nicholas II. What really happened? Was the sovereign a sluggish and weak-willed person? Was he cruel? Could he have won World War I? And how much truth is in the black fabrications about this ruler?..

The candidate of historical sciences Gleb Eliseev tells.

Black legend about Nicholas II

Rally in Petrograd, 1917

Already 17 years have passed since the canonization of the last emperor and his family, but you are still faced with an amazing paradox - many, even completely Orthodox, people dispute the justice of reckoning Tsar Nikolai Alexandrovich to the canon of saints.

No one raises any protests or doubts about the legitimacy of the canonization of the son and daughters of the last Russian emperor. Nor did I hear any objections to the canonization of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Even at the Council of Bishops in 2000, when it came to the canonization of the Royal Martyrs, a special opinion was expressed only with regard to the sovereign himself. One of the bishops said that the emperor did not deserve to be glorified, because "he is a traitor ... he, one might say, sanctioned the collapse of the country."

And it is clear that in such a situation, spears are broken not at all about the martyrdom or the Christian life of Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich. Neither one nor the other raises doubts even among the most rabid denier of the monarchy. His feat as a martyr is beyond doubt.

The thing is different - in the latent, subconscious resentment: “Why did the sovereign admit that a revolution had taken place? Why didn't you save Russia? Or, as A. I. Solzhenitsyn pointed out in his article “Reflections on February Revolution": "Weak king, he betrayed us. All of us - for everything that follows.

The myth of a weak king who allegedly surrendered his kingdom voluntarily obscures his martyrdom and obscures the demonic cruelty of his tormentors. But what could the sovereign do under the circumstances, when Russian society, like a herd of Gadarene pigs, had been rushing into the abyss for decades?

Studying the history of Nicholas reign, one is amazed not by the weakness of the sovereign, not by his mistakes, but by how much he managed to do in an atmosphere of fanned hatred, malice and slander.

We must not forget that the sovereign received autocratic power over Russia quite unexpectedly, after the sudden, unforeseen and unimagined death of Alexander III. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich recalled the state of the heir to the throne immediately after the death of his father: “He could not collect his thoughts. He realized that he had become the Emperor, and this terrible burden of power crushed him. “Sandro, what am I going to do! he exclaimed pathetically. - What will happen to Russia now? I'm not ready to be King yet! I can't run the Empire. I don’t even know how to talk to ministers.”

However, after a brief period of confusion, the new emperor firmly took the helm of state administration and held it for twenty-two years, until he fell victim to an apex conspiracy. Until “treason, and cowardice, and deception” swirled around him in a dense cloud, as he himself noted in his diary on March 2, 1917.

The black mythology directed against the last sovereign was actively dispelled both by emigrant historians and modern Russian ones. And yet, in the minds of many, including those who are completely churched, our fellow citizens stubbornly settled down vicious stories, gossip and anecdotes that were presented in Soviet history textbooks as the truth.

The myth about the wine of Nicholas II in the Khodynka tragedy

Any list of accusations is tacitly customary to begin with Khodynka - a terrible stampede that occurred during the coronation celebrations in Moscow on May 18, 1896. You might think that the sovereign ordered to organize this stampede! And if anyone is to be blamed for what happened, then the uncle of the emperor, the Moscow Governor-General Sergei Alexandrovich, who did not foresee the very possibility of such an influx of the public. At the same time, it should be noted that they did not hide what happened, all the newspapers wrote about Khodynka, all of Russia knew about her. The Russian emperor and empress the next day visited all the wounded in hospitals and defended a memorial service for the dead. Nicholas II ordered to pay pensions to the victims. And they received it until 1917, until the politicians, who had been speculating on the Khodynka tragedy for years, made it so that any pensions in Russia ceased to be paid at all.

And the slander, repeated over the years, that the tsar, despite the Khodynka tragedy, went to the ball and had fun there, sounds absolutely vile. The sovereign was indeed forced to go to an official reception at the French embassy, ​​which he could not help attending for diplomatic reasons (an insult to the allies!), He paid his respects to the ambassador and left, having been there only 15 (!) minutes.

And from this they created the myth of a heartless despot having fun while his subjects die. From here the absurd nickname “Bloody” created by the radicals and picked up by the educated public crawled.

The myth of the monarch's guilt in unleashing the Russo-Japanese war

The emperor admonishes the soldiers of the Russo-Japanese War. 1904

They say that the sovereign dragged Russia into the Russo-Japanese war, because the autocracy needed a "small victorious war."

In contrast to the "educated" Russian society, confident in the inevitable victory and contemptuously calling the Japanese "macaques", the emperor was well aware of all the difficulties of the situation in the Far East and tried with all his might to prevent war. And do not forget - it was Japan that attacked Russia in 1904. Treacherously, without declaring war, the Japanese attacked our ships in Port Arthur.

Kuropatkin, Rozhestvensky, Stessel, Linevich, Nebogatov, and any of the generals and admirals, but not the sovereign, who was thousands of miles from the theater of operations and nevertheless did everything for victory.

For example, the fact that by the end of the war 20, and not 4 military echelons per day (as at the beginning) went along the unfinished Trans-Siberian Railway - the merit of Nicholas II himself.

And on the Japanese side, our revolutionary society “fought”, which needed not victory, but defeat, which its representatives themselves honestly admitted. For example, representatives of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party clearly wrote in an appeal to Russian officers: “Every victory of yours threatens Russia with a disaster of strengthening order, every defeat brings the hour of deliverance closer. Is it any wonder if the Russians rejoice at the success of your adversary? Revolutionaries and liberals diligently fanned the turmoil in the rear of the warring country, doing this, including with Japanese money. This is now well known.

The myth of Bloody Sunday

For decades, the tsar's duty accusation was "Bloody Sunday" - the execution of an allegedly peaceful demonstration on January 9, 1905. Why, they say, did he not leave the Winter Palace and fraternize with the people devoted to him?

Let's start from the very simple fact- the sovereign was not in Zimny, he was in his country residence, in Tsarskoye Selo. He was not going to come to the city, since both the mayor I. A. Fullon and the police authorities assured the emperor that they had "everything under control." By the way, they did not deceive Nicholas II too much. In a normal situation, the troops brought out into the street would have been sufficient to prevent riots.

No one foresaw the scale of the demonstration on January 9, as well as the activities of provocateurs. When Socialist-Revolutionary fighters began to shoot at the soldiers from the crowd of allegedly “peaceful demonstrators”, it was not difficult to foresee response actions. From the very beginning, the organizers of the demonstration planned a clash with the authorities, and not a peaceful procession. They did not need political reforms, they needed "great upheavals".

But what about the Emperor himself? During the entire revolution of 1905–1907, he sought to find contact with Russian society, went for specific and sometimes even overly bold reforms (like the provision by which the first State Dumas were elected). And what did he get in return? Spitting and hatred, calls "Down with the autocracy!" and encouraging bloody riots.

However, the revolution was not "crushed". The rebellious society was pacified by the sovereign, who skillfully combined the use of force and new, more thoughtful reforms (the electoral law of June 3, 1907, according to which Russia finally received a normally functioning parliament).

The myth of how the tsar "surrendered" Stolypin

They reproach the sovereign for allegedly insufficient support for the "Stolypin reforms." But who made Pyotr Arkadyevich prime minister, if not Nicholas II himself? Contrary, by the way, to the opinion of the court and the immediate environment. And, if there were moments of misunderstanding between the sovereign and the head of the cabinet, then they are inevitable in any hard and difficult work. The supposedly planned resignation of Stolypin did not mean a rejection of his reforms.

The myth of Rasputin's omnipotence

Tales about the last sovereign cannot do without constant stories about the “dirty peasant” Rasputin, who enslaved the “weak-willed king”. Now, after many objective investigations of the “Rasputin legend”, among which A. N. Bokhanov’s “The Truth about Grigory Rasputin” stands out as fundamental, it is clear that the influence of the Siberian elder on the emperor was negligible. And the fact that the sovereign "did not remove Rasputin from the throne"? How could he remove it? From the bed of a sick son, whom Rasputin saved, when all the doctors had already refused Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich? Let everyone think for himself: is he ready to sacrifice the life of a child for the sake of stopping public gossip and hysterical newspaper chatter?

The myth of the fault of the sovereign in the "wrong conduct" of the First World War

Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II. Photo by R. Golike and A. Vilborg. 1913

Emperor Nicholas II is also reproached for not preparing Russia for the First World War. The public figure I. L. Solonevich most clearly wrote about the sovereign’s efforts to prepare the Russian army for a possible war and about the sabotage of his efforts by the “educated society”: we are democrats and we do not want the military. Nicholas II arming the army by violating the spirit of the Fundamental Laws: in accordance with Article 86. This article provides for the government's right, in exceptional cases and during parliamentary recesses, to pass provisional laws without parliament, so that they would be introduced retroactively at the very first parliamentary session. The Duma was dissolved (holidays), loans for machine guns went through even without the Duma. And when the session began, nothing could be done.”

And again, unlike ministers or military leaders (like Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich), the sovereign did not want war, he tried to delay it with all his might, knowing about the insufficient preparedness of the Russian army. For example, he directly spoke about this to the Russian ambassador to Bulgaria, Neklyudov: “Now, Neklyudov, listen to me carefully. Never for a moment forget the fact that we cannot fight. I don't want war. I have made it my absolute rule to do everything to preserve for my people all the advantages of a peaceful life. At this moment in history, anything that could lead to war must be avoided. There is no doubt that we cannot go to war - at least not for the next five or six years - before 1917. Although, if the vital interests and honor of Russia are at stake, we can, if it is absolutely necessary, accept the challenge, but not before 1915. But remember - not one minute earlier, no matter what the circumstances or reasons are, and no matter what position we are in.

Of course, much in the First World War did not go as planned by its participants. But why should the sovereign be blamed for these troubles and surprises, who at the beginning of it was not even the commander-in-chief? Could he personally prevent the "Samsonian catastrophe"? Or the breakthrough of the German cruisers "Goeben" and "Breslau" into the Black Sea, after which the plans for coordinating the actions of the allies in the Entente went to waste?

When the will of the emperor could improve the situation, the sovereign did not hesitate, despite the objections of ministers and advisers. In 1915, the threat of such a complete defeat loomed over the Russian army that its Commander-in-Chief - Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich - literally sobbed in despair. It was then that Nicholas II took the most decisive step - not only stood at the head of the Russian army, but also stopped the retreat, which threatened to turn into a stampede.

The sovereign did not consider himself a great commander, he knew how to listen to the opinion of military advisers and choose the best solutions for the Russian troops. According to his instructions, the work of the rear was established, according to his instructions, new and even the latest equipment was adopted (like Sikorsky bombers or Fedorov assault rifles). And if in 1914 the Russian military industry produced 104,900 shells, then in 1916 - 30,974,678! So much military equipment was prepared that it was enough for five years civil war, and into service with the Red Army in the first half of the twenties.

In 1917, Russia, under the military leadership of its emperor, was ready for victory. Many wrote about this, even W. Churchill, who was always skeptical and cautious about Russia: “Fate has not been so cruel to any country as to Russia. Her ship sank when the harbor was in sight. She had already weathered the storm when everything collapsed. All the sacrifices have already been made, all the work is done. Despair and treason seized power when the task was already completed. The long retreats are over; shell hunger is defeated; weapons flowed in a wide stream; a stronger, more numerous, better equipped army guarded a vast front; rear assembly points were overflowing with people... In the government of states, when great events are taking place, the leader of the nation, whoever he may be, is condemned for failures and glorified for successes. It's not about who did the work, who drew up the plan of struggle; censure or praise for the outcome prevails on him on whom the authority of supreme responsibility. Why deny Nicholas II this ordeal?.. His efforts are downplayed; His actions are condemned; His memory is being denigrated... Stop and say: who else turned out to be suitable? There was no shortage of talented and courageous people, ambitious and proud in spirit, brave and powerful people. But no one was able to answer those few simple questions on which the life and glory of Russia depended. Holding the victory already in her hands, she fell to the ground alive, like Herod of old, devoured by worms.

At the beginning of 1917, the sovereign really failed to cope with the combined conspiracy of the top of the military and the leaders of the opposition political forces.

And who could? It was beyond human strength.

The myth of voluntary renunciation

And yet, the main thing that even many monarchists accuse Nicholas II of is precisely renunciation, “moral desertion”, “flight from office”. In the fact that, according to the poet A. A. Blok, he "renounced, as if he had surrendered the squadron."

Now, again, after the meticulous work of modern researchers, it becomes clear that no voluntary there was no abdication. Instead, a real coup d'état. Or, as the historian and publicist M. V. Nazarov aptly noted, it was not a “renunciation”, but a “rejection” that took place.

Even in the most remote Soviet times, they did not deny that the events of February 23 - March 2, 1917 at the tsarist Headquarters and at the headquarters of the commander of the Northern Front were an apex coup, “fortunately”, coinciding with the beginning of the “February bourgeois revolution”, started (of course same!) by the forces of the St. Petersburg proletariat.

Related material

On March 2, 1917, the Russian Emperor Nicholas II signed the abdication in favor of his brother Mikhail (who soon also abdicated). This day is considered the date of death Russian monarchy. But there are still many questions about renunciation. We asked Gleb Eliseev, Candidate of Historical Sciences, to comment on them.

With the riots fanned by the Bolshevik underground in St. Petersburg, everything is now clear. The conspirators only took advantage of this circumstance, exaggerating its significance beyond measure, in order to lure the sovereign out of Headquarters, depriving him of contact with any loyal units and the government. And when the royal train with great difficulty reached Pskov, where the headquarters of General N.V. Ruzsky, the commander of the Northern Front and one of the active conspirators, was located, the emperor was completely blocked and deprived of communication with the outside world.

In fact, General Ruzsky arrested the royal train and the emperor himself. And severe psychological pressure on the sovereign began. Nicholas II was begged to give up power, which he never aspired to. Moreover, not only the Duma deputies Guchkov and Shulgin did this, but also the commanders of all (!) Fronts and almost all fleets (with the exception of Admiral A. V. Kolchak). The emperor was told that his decisive step would be able to prevent confusion, bloodshed, that this would immediately stop the Petersburg unrest ...

Now we know very well that the sovereign was basely deceived. What could he think then? At the forgotten Dno station or on the sidings in Pskov, cut off from the rest of Russia? Didn't he consider that it is better for a Christian to humbly yield to royal power than to shed the blood of his subjects?

But even under pressure from the conspirators, the emperor did not dare to go against the law and conscience. The manifesto he compiled clearly did not suit the envoys of the State Duma. The document, which was eventually made public as the text of the renunciation, raises doubts among a number of historians. The original has not been preserved; the Russian State Archives has only a copy of it. There are reasonable assumptions that the sovereign's signature was copied from the order that Nicholas II assumed the supreme command in 1915. The signature of the Minister of the Court, Count V. B. Fredericks, was also forged, allegedly confirming the abdication. Which, by the way, the count himself clearly spoke about later, on June 2, 1917, during interrogation: “But in order for me to write such a thing, I can swear that I would not have done it.”

And already in St. Petersburg, the deceived and confused Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich did what he had no right to do in principle - he transferred power to the Provisional Government. As AI Solzhenitsyn noted: “The end of the monarchy was the abdication of Mikhail. He is worse than abdicated: he blocked the way for all other possible heirs to the throne, he transferred power to an amorphous oligarchy. It was his abdication that turned the change of monarch into a revolution."

Usually, after statements about the illegal overthrow of the sovereign from the throne, both in scientific discussions and on the Web, shouts immediately begin: “Why didn’t Tsar Nicholas protest later? Why didn't he denounce the conspirators? Why didn’t he raise loyal troops and lead them against the rebels?

That is - why did not start a civil war?

Yes, because the sovereign did not want her. Because he hoped that by his departure he would calm down a new turmoil, believing that the whole point was the possible hostility of society towards him personally. After all, he, too, could not help but succumb to the hypnosis of anti-state, anti-monarchist hatred that Russia had been subjected to for years. As A. I. Solzhenitsyn rightly wrote about the “liberal-radical Field” that engulfed the empire: “For many years (decades) this Field flowed unhindered, its lines of force thickened - and pierced, and subjugated all the brains in the country, at least somewhat touched enlightenment, even the beginnings of it. It almost completely owned the intelligentsia. More rare, but its power lines were penetrated by state and official circles, and the military, and even the priesthood, the episcopate (the whole Church as a whole is already ... powerless against this Field), - and even those who most fought against the Field: the most right-wing circles and the throne itself.

And did these troops loyal to the emperor really exist? After all, even Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, on March 1, 1917 (that is, before the formal abdication of the sovereign), transferred the Guards crew subordinate to him to the jurisdiction of the Duma conspirators and appealed to other military units "to join the new government"!

The attempt of Sovereign Nikolai Alexandrovich to prevent bloodshed with the help of renunciation of power, with the help of voluntary self-sacrifice, stumbled upon the evil will of tens of thousands of those who did not want the pacification and victory of Russia, but blood, madness and the creation of a "paradise on earth" for the "new man", free from faith and conscience.

And to such "guardians of humanity" even the defeated Christian sovereign was like sharp knife in the throat. It was unbearable, impossible.

They couldn't help but kill him.

The myth that the execution of the royal family was the arbitrariness of the Ural Regional Council

Emperor Nicholas II and Tsarevich Alexei
in exile. Tobolsk, 1917-1918

The more or less vegetarian, toothless early Provisional Government limited itself to the arrest of the emperor and his family, the socialist clique of Kerensky achieved the exile of the sovereign, his wife and children in. And for whole months, until the very Bolshevik coup, one can see how the worthy, purely Christian behavior of the emperor in exile and the vicious fuss of the politicians of the “new Russia”, who sought “for a start” to bring the sovereign into “political oblivion”, contrast with each other.

And then an openly God-fighting Bolshevik gang came to power, which decided to turn this non-existence from “political” into “physical”. Indeed, back in April 1917, Lenin declared: “We consider Wilhelm II to be the same crowned robber, worthy of execution, like Nicholas II.”

Only one thing is not clear - why did they hesitate? Why didn't they try to destroy Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich immediately after the October Revolution?

Probably because they were afraid of popular indignation, they were afraid of a public reaction under their still fragile power. Apparently, the unpredictable behavior of the “abroad” was also frightening. In any case, the British Ambassador D. Buchanan warned the Provisional Government: "Any insult inflicted on the Emperor and His Family will destroy the sympathy caused by March and the course of the revolution, and will humiliate the new government in the eyes of the world." True, in the end it turned out that these were only “words, words, nothing but words.”

And yet there is a feeling that, in addition to rational motives, there was some inexplicable, almost mystical fear of what the fanatics planned to commit.

Indeed, for some reason, years after the Yekaterinburg murder, rumors spread that only one sovereign was shot. Then they announced (even at a completely official level) that the killers of the king were severely condemned for abuse of power. And later, almost all Soviet period, the version about the “arbitrariness of the Yekaterinburg Soviet”, allegedly frightened by the white units approaching the city, was officially adopted. They say that the sovereign was not released and did not become the "banner of the counter-revolution", and he had to be destroyed. The fog of fornication hid the secret, and the essence of the secret was a planned and clearly conceived savage murder.

Its exact details and background have not been clarified so far, the testimony of eyewitnesses miraculously are confused, and even the discovered remains of the Royal Martyrs still raise doubts about their authenticity.

Now only a few unambiguous facts are clear.

On April 30, 1918, Sovereign Nikolai Alexandrovich, his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and their daughter Maria were taken under escort from Tobolsk, where they had been in exile since August 1917, to Yekaterinburg. They were placed under guard in the former house of engineer N. N. Ipatiev, located on the corner of Voznesensky Prospekt. The remaining children of the emperor and empress - daughters Olga, Tatyana, Anastasia and son Alexei were reunited with their parents only on May 23.

Was this an initiative of the Yekaterinburg Soviet, not coordinated with the Central Committee? Hardly. Judging by indirect data, in early July 1918, the top leadership of the Bolshevik Party (primarily Lenin and Sverdlov) decided to "liquidate the royal family."

For example, Trotsky wrote about this in his memoirs:

“My next visit to Moscow fell after the fall of Yekaterinburg. In a conversation with Sverdlov, I asked in passing:

Yes, where is the king?

- It's over, - he answered, - shot.

Where is the family?

And his family is with him.

All? I asked, apparently with a hint of surprise.

Everything, - Sverdlov answered, - but what?

He was waiting for my reaction. I didn't answer.

- And who decided? I asked.

We have decided here. Ilyich believed that it was impossible to leave us a living banner for them, especially in the current difficult conditions.

(L.D. Trotsky. Diaries and letters. M .: Hermitage, 1994. P. 120. (Entry dated April 9, 1935); Lev Trotsky. Diaries and letters. Edited by Yuri Felshtinsky. USA, 1986 , p.101.)

At midnight on July 17, 1918, the emperor, his wife, children and servants were awakened, taken to the basement and brutally murdered. Here in the fact that they were killed brutally and cruelly, in an amazing way, all the testimonies of eyewitnesses, which differ so much in the rest, coincide.

The bodies were secretly taken outside Yekaterinburg and somehow tried to destroy them. Everything that remained after the desecration of the bodies was buried just as discreetly.

The Yekaterinburg victims had a premonition of their fate, and it was not for nothing that Grand Duchess Tatyana Nikolaevna, while imprisoned in Yekaterinburg, crossed out the lines in one of the books: “Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ went to death as if on a holiday, facing inevitable death, retaining the same wondrous peace of mind that never left them for a minute. They walked calmly towards death because they hoped to enter into a different, spiritual life, opening up for a person beyond the grave.

P.S. Sometimes they notice that "here, de Tsar Nicholas II atoned for all his sins before Russia with his death." In my opinion, this statement manifests some kind of blasphemous, immoral trick. public consciousness. All the victims of the Yekaterinburg Golgotha ​​were "guilty" only of stubborn confession of the faith of Christ until their very death and fell a martyr's death.

And the first of them was the sovereign-passion-bearer Nikolai Alexandrovich.

On the screen saver is a photo fragment: Nicholas II in the imperial train. 1917