Tsar Nicholas III-Japanese War

The connotation of revolutions very often evokes a sense of rebirth, a political reconstruction of a fallen system. While there is very little misunderstanding of the destruction that comes with the upheaval of a previous system, such violence is typically tolerated in the hopes that a superior regime will replace the one that had once been. Such was the goal of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 within Russia, a previous monarchal system to a believed better communist government. The world of Imperial Russia, a far cry from its superseding Soviet Union, can be looked upon in an extremely romanticized manner, the lavish lifestyles of the nobility and royal family illustrating a state of wonder and wealth. While in reality, outside the glistening …show more content…
In the case of the Russo-Japanese War, it became painfully apparent that Tsar Nicholas II was not fit to be head of state, especially not in a time of war. Instead of analytically reviewing his own military power and comparing it to that of his enemy, he placed his fate “more based on his belief in God than on confidence in” his military personal and their predictions for how battles would unfold . Despite the confidence that the ruler felt in his men, the actuality of the situation was that Japanese forces were far more equipped and capable to handle such a conflict. Regardless of the wide spread sentiment “that Russia was defeated and should make peace…[Nicholas] gave every indication of a determination to see the war through to victory” . Approval for the war continued to fall drastically, greatly affecting the overall popularity of the present leader. The blatant disregard that the ruler held for the general wellbeing of those involved in the war and his almost painful overconfidence in a cause that was glaringly lost reinforced his already stoic beliefs and unwavering …show more content…
While in theory, such an act was meant to rally the people, in reality, “the Tsar knew little about the command and organization of large military forces, and the serious of defeats and humiliations continued” . By taking command, the tsar effectively shifted all of the possible blame in any failures faced by the army, once again reinforcing the unpopularity that grew to be faced toward him. As Nicholas II was away from St. Petersburg, focusing his attention on the war front, his sovereign power fell to his wife, the Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. The empress, in turn, looked for guidance in the Siberian monk Rasputin, whom she and the tsar trust, while all other despised. While Nicholas himself was an innately poor leader, he suffered from poor advisors, even in his absence from his direct seat of power; “those few who were competent had either lost his trust of had been alienated by him because of Rasputin . With an already present unpopularity with the common people, the tsar allowed for a growth of the same sentiment amongst his