Nicholas Romanov II’s Failures as a Leader
Introduction For over three hundred years, Russia was ruled by the Romanov dynasty. In 1917, that monarchy ended with Nicholas II, the last tsar. Nicholas II’s father, Tsar Alexander III died in 1894 when Nicholas II was only twenty-six years old. Nicholas inherited the role as supreme autocrat of Russia, which contained one sixth of the world’s land mass and over a hundred and thirty million people (Nilsen). When Nicholas II’s reign started, millions of his subjects were living in poverty and foreign relations were precarious. Regardless of his own abilities, the task of being tsar was a daunting one and there were many issues facing Nicholas. Unfortunately, Nicholas II only added to the problems …show more content…
He firmly believed that Russia’s well being and prosperity depended on the Romanov autocracy. Susan Walker describes Romanov’s outdated policies saying:
“[Nicholas] had total faith in the age-old formula which ‘reduced the essential elements of the Russian Empire to three: Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality.’ These sacred beliefs left little, if any, room for the development of new ideas or Russian progress. Nicholas’ close minded and weak nature was, in essence, the beginning of the downfall of himself, his family, and his nation.” (Walker)
Like his father, Nicholas II did little to modernize Russia. He did not listen to his people and was frequently blind to their liberal ideas in his struggle to maintain a conservative and outdated way of life. He even resisted the Duma and their constitutional rule (Sokolsky). Nicholas was a fervent nationalist and had an immense love and pride for his country. This trait was not necessarily outdated because many other nations shared the same nationalistic drive. Imperialism is proof of that. Many European nations colonized Africa. Nicholas wanted to expand the Russian empire eastward and conquer Japan so Russia could be a great Eurasian power. However, he underestimated the strength of the Japanese navy and lost a large part of the Russian fleet as well as the lives of many Russian soldiers in the Russo-Japanese war that was mentioned
Introduction For over three hundred years, Russia was ruled by the Romanov dynasty. In 1917, that monarchy ended with Nicholas II, the last tsar. Nicholas II’s father, Tsar Alexander III died in 1894 when Nicholas II was only twenty-six years old. Nicholas inherited the role as supreme autocrat of Russia, which contained one sixth of the world’s land mass and over a hundred and thirty million people (Nilsen). When Nicholas II’s reign started, millions of his subjects were living in poverty and foreign relations were precarious. Regardless of his own abilities, the task of being tsar was a daunting one and there were many issues facing Nicholas. Unfortunately, Nicholas II only added to the problems …show more content…
He firmly believed that Russia’s well being and prosperity depended on the Romanov autocracy. Susan Walker describes Romanov’s outdated policies saying:
“[Nicholas] had total faith in the age-old formula which ‘reduced the essential elements of the Russian Empire to three: Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality.’ These sacred beliefs left little, if any, room for the development of new ideas or Russian progress. Nicholas’ close minded and weak nature was, in essence, the beginning of the downfall of himself, his family, and his nation.” (Walker)
Like his father, Nicholas II did little to modernize Russia. He did not listen to his people and was frequently blind to their liberal ideas in his struggle to maintain a conservative and outdated way of life. He even resisted the Duma and their constitutional rule (Sokolsky). Nicholas was a fervent nationalist and had an immense love and pride for his country. This trait was not necessarily outdated because many other nations shared the same nationalistic drive. Imperialism is proof of that. Many European nations colonized Africa. Nicholas wanted to expand the Russian empire eastward and conquer Japan so Russia could be a great Eurasian power. However, he underestimated the strength of the Japanese navy and lost a large part of the Russian fleet as well as the lives of many Russian soldiers in the Russo-Japanese war that was mentioned