Accession of Nicholas II to the throne. Nicholas II: how the last emperor ascended the throne Accession to the throne of Nicholas 2 briefly

Nicholas II is the last Russian emperor who went down in history as the weakest tsar. According to historians, governing the country was a “heavy burden” for the monarch, but this did not prevent him from making a feasible contribution to the industrial and economic development of Russia, despite the fact that the revolutionary movement was actively growing in the country during the reign of Nicholas II, and the foreign policy situation was becoming more complicated. . IN modern history The Russian emperor is mentioned with the epithets “Nicholas the Bloody” and “Nicholas the Martyr”, since assessments of the tsar’s activities and character are ambiguous and contradictory.

Nicholas II was born on May 18, 1868 in Tsarskoe Selo Russian Empire in the imperial family. For his parents, and, he became the eldest son and the only heir to the throne, which from the very early years taught the future work of his life. The future tsar was raised from birth by the Englishman Karl Heath, who taught young Nikolai Alexandrovich to speak fluent English.

The childhood of the heir to the royal throne was spent within the walls of the Gatchina Palace under the strict guidance of his father Alexander III, who raised his children in the traditional religious spirit - he allowed them to play and fool around in moderation, but at the same time did not allow manifestations of laziness in their studies, suppressing all thoughts of his sons about future throne.

At the age of 8, Nicholas II began to receive general education at home. His education was carried out within the framework of the general gymnasium course, but the future tsar did not show much zeal or desire to study. His passion was military affairs - at the age of 5 he became the chief of the Life Guards of the Reserve Infantry Regiment and happily mastered military geography, law and strategy. Lectures for the future monarch were given by the best world-famous scientists, who were personally selected for the king’s son Alexander III and his wife Maria Feodorovna.

The heir especially excelled in studying foreign languages, therefore, in addition to English, he was fluent in French, German and Danish. After eight years of the general gymnasium program, Nicholas II began to be taught the necessary higher sciences for the future statesman, included in the course of the economics department of the law university.

In 1884, upon reaching adulthood, Nicholas II took the oath in the Winter Palace, after which he entered active military service, and three years later began regular military service. military service, for which he was awarded the rank of colonel. Completely devoting himself to military affairs, the future tsar easily adapted to the inconveniences of army life and endured military service.

The heir to the throne had his first acquaintance with state affairs in 1889. Then he began to attend meetings of the State Council and the Cabinet of Ministers, at which his father brought him up to date and shared his experience on how to govern the country. During the same period, Alexander III made numerous trips with his son, starting from the Far East. Over the next 9 months, they traveled by sea to Greece, India, Egypt, Japan and China, and then returned to the Russian capital through the whole of Siberia by land.

Ascension to the throne

In 1894, after the death of Alexander III, Nicholas II ascended the throne and solemnly promised to protect the autocracy as firmly and steadfastly as his late parent. The coronation of the last Russian emperor took place in 1896 in Moscow. These solemn events were marked by tragic events on the Khodynskoe field, where, during the distribution of royal gifts, mass riots occurred that took the lives of thousands of citizens.

Due to the mass crush, the monarch who came to power even wanted to cancel the evening ball on the occasion of his ascension to the throne, but later decided that the Khodynka disaster was a real misfortune, but not worth overshadowing the coronation holiday. These events educated society perceived it as a challenge, which became the laying of the foundation for the creation liberation movement in Russia from the Tsar-dictator.

Against this background, the emperor introduced strict domestic politics, according to which any dissent among the people was persecuted. In the first few years of the reign of Nicholas II, a population census was carried out in Russia, and currency reform, which established the gold standard of the ruble. The gold ruble of Nicholas II was equal to 0.77 grams of pure gold and was half “heavier” than the mark, but twice “lighter” than the dollar at the exchange rate of international currencies.

During the same period, “Stolypin” agrarian reforms were carried out in Russia, factory legislation was introduced, and several laws were adopted on compulsory insurance of workers and universal primary education, and also the tax levy on landowners of Polish origin was abolished and penalties such as exile to Siberia were abolished.

In the Russian Empire, during the time of Nicholas II, large-scale industrialization took place, the rate of agricultural production increased, and coal and oil production began. Moreover, thanks to the last Russian emperor, more than 70 thousand kilometers of railway were built in Russia.

Reign and abdication

The reign of Nicholas II at the second stage took place during the years of aggravation within political life Russia and a rather difficult foreign policy situation. At the same time, the Far Eastern direction was in his first place. The main obstacle for the Russian monarch to dominate the Far East There was Japan, which without warning in 1904 attacked a Russian squadron in the port city of Port Arthur and, due to the inaction of the Russian leadership, defeated the Russian army.

As a result of the failure of the Russo-Japanese War, a revolutionary situation began to rapidly develop in the country, and Russia had to cede to Japan the southern part of Sakhalin and the rights to the Liaodong Peninsula. It was after this that the Russian emperor lost authority in the intelligent and ruling circles of the country, who accused the tsar of defeat and connections with, who was an unofficial “adviser” of the monarch, but was considered in society a charlatan and a fraudster with full influence over Nicholas II.

The turning point in the biography of Nicholas II became the First World War 1914. Then the emperor, on the advice of Rasputin, tried with all his might to avoid a bloodbath, but Germany went to war against Russia, which was forced to defend itself. In 1915, the monarch took over military command of the Russian army and personally traveled to the fronts, inspecting military units. At the same time, he made a number of fatal military mistakes, which led to the collapse of the Romanov dynasty and the Russian Empire.

The war aggravated the country's internal problems; all military failures in the environment of Nicholas II were blamed on him. Then “treason began to nest” in the government of the country, but despite this, the emperor, together with England and France, developed a plan for a general offensive of Russia, which was supposed to be completed triumphantly for the country by the summer of 1917 military confrontation.

The plans of Nicholas II were not destined to come true - at the end of February 1917, mass uprisings began in Petrograd against royal dynasty and the current government, which he initially intended to suppress by force. But the military did not obey the king’s orders, and members of the monarch’s retinue tried to persuade him to abdicate the throne, which supposedly would help quell the unrest. After several days of painful deliberation, Nicholas II decided to abdicate the throne in favor of his brother, Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich, who refused to accept the crown, which meant the end of the Romanov dynasty.

Execution of Nicholas II and his family

After the Tsar signed the abdication manifesto, the Russian Provisional Government issued an order to arrest royal family and his associates. Then many betrayed the emperor and fled, so divide tragic fate Only a few close people from his entourage agreed with the monarch, who, together with the tsar, were exiled to Tobolsk, from where, allegedly, the family of Nicholas II was supposed to be transported to the USA.

After October revolution and the coming to power of the Bolsheviks led by royal family transported to Yekaterinburg and imprisoned in a “special purpose house.” Then the Bolsheviks began to hatch a plan trial over the monarch, but the Civil War did not allow their plan to be realized.

Because of this, in the upper echelons Soviet power it was decided to shoot the king and his family. On the night of July 16-17, 1918, the family of the last Russian emperor was shot in the basement of the house in which Nicholas II was kept captive. The Tsar, his wife and children, as well as several of his associates, were taken into the basement under the pretext of evacuation and shot point-blank without explanation, after which the victims were taken outside the city, their bodies were burned with kerosene, and then buried in the ground.

Personal life and royal family

The personal life of Nicholas II, unlike many other Russian monarchs, was the standard of the highest family virtue. In 1889, during the visit of the German princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt to Russia, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich paid special attention to the girl and asked his father for his blessing to marry her. But the parents did not agree with the choice of the heir, so they refused their son. This did not stop Nicholas II, who did not lose hope of marrying Alice. They were helped by Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, the sister of the German princess, who arranged secret correspondence for the young lovers.

Five years later, Tsarevich Nicholas again persistently asked his father’s consent to marry the German princess. Alexander III, due to his rapidly deteriorating health, allowed his son to marry Alice, who, after anointing, became. In November 1894, the wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra took place in the Winter Palace, and in 1896 the couple accepted the coronation and officially became the rulers of the country.

The marriage of Alexandra Fedorovna and Nicholas II produced 4 daughters (Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia) and the only heir, Alexei, who had a serious hereditary disease - hemophilia, associated with the process of blood clotting. The illness of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich forced the royal family to meet the then widely known Grigory Rasputin, who helped the royal heir fight attacks of illness, which allowed him to gain enormous influence over Alexandra Feodorovna and Emperor Nicholas II.

Historians report that family was the most important meaning of life for the last Russian emperor. He always spent most of his time in the family circle, did not like secular pleasures, and especially valued his peace, habits, health and well-being of his relatives. At the same time, the emperor was no stranger to worldly hobbies - he enjoyed hunting, participated in horse riding competitions, enthusiastically skated and played hockey.

The last Russian emperor ascends the throne. In 1888, near the Borki station (45 km from Kharkov) it crashed imperial train. Alexander III held the roof of the carriage on his shoulders and saved his wife and children, but received several bruises, one of which apparently hit his kidneys. The development of kidney disease was facilitated by alcohol consumption. October 20, 1894 Alexander III died. His eldest son took the throne Nicholas II (1868-1918).

Nikolai Alexandrovich was 26 years old at that time. His education was supervised by K. P. Pobedonostsev. Thin and short, the new emperor looked younger than his years, behaved modestly, even insecurely, and seemed to many not mature enough. He wasn't married yet. His chosen one, Princess Alice of Hesse, was not liked by his parents, and the wedding was postponed for a long time. Now, after the accession, we had to first arrange a wedding and then a coronation. In November 1894, the young emperor married the Hessian princess, who accepted Orthodox name Alexandra Fedorovna.

On Nicholas II At the beginning of his reign, great hopes were placed. Willingly or unwittingly, he soon dispelled them. On January 17, 1895, a ceremonial reception of deputations from the nobility, zemstvos, cities and Cossacks took place. Nikolai, noticeably worried, made a short speech, peeking at a piece of paper hidden in his cap. The key point of this speech made many wince. " “I know,” said the king, “that in Lately the voices of people who were carried away by meaningless dreams about the participation of representatives of the zemstvo in affairs were heard in some zemstvo assemblies internal management; let everyone know that I... will guard the beginning of autocracy as firmly and steadily as my unforgettable parent guarded it».

The cheat sheet written by Pobedonostsev spoke about “ baseless dreams" But Nikolai either misspoke, or someone advised him "enhance" this place. Words about " meaningless dreams”, which sounded extremely offensive, immediately and forever alienated the liberals from Nicholas.

In May 1896, coronation celebrations took place in Moscow. On Khodynskoye Field a folk festival was held with distribution of "royal gifts"(a cod fish, a piece of sausage, a gingerbread and a mug). The field was not leveled, and the kiosks were placed too closely. On May 18, amid a huge crowd of people, a terrible stampede occurred, 1,389 people died. This made an unpleasant impression on the king, but the celebrations continued. That evening, Nikolai and Alexandra were at a ball in the Kremlin and danced a polonaise. The next day there was lunch with the German ambassador. When the Tsar drove through Moscow, shouts were heard from the crowd: “ Go to the funeral!», « Find the culprits!»

Several years passed, and one day the imperial couple were present at the launching of the battleship " Alexander III" A heavy flagpole was torn down by a gust of wind and fell into the audience, killing several people. Since then, the people have developed a belief that the young queen brings misfortune.

Nicholas II at such moments he always remained calm and calm. Many spoke of his indifference. But with the same stoic calm he met the fatal end of his reign, his death and the death of his loved ones. It is not easy to understand the mysterious soul of the last Russian Tsar.

It is clear, however, that Nicholas II was not created for state affairs, although he treated them conscientiously. It was created for the family, for home comfort. His affections were limited only to his family; he gave love and warmth only to his wife and children. Outside the family the world seemed hostile to him. From there, he always expected attacks on himself, his loved ones, their peace, peace and property. He considered the autocratic power that he received from his father and which he considered it his duty to pass on to his son as an integral, bequeathed property of his family.

Nicholas II was as conservative as Alexander III, although he did not inherit his father’s strong and firm character. Those who pinned hopes on a turn towards long-overdue reforms with the accession of the young emperor were very mistaken.

120 years ago, on November 2, 1894, the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II Alexandrovich ascended the throne. Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, the 26-year-old son of Emperor Alexander III, inherited the throne after the sudden death of his father. On the same day, officials, courtiers and troops took the oath to the emperor.

Nikolai Alexandrovich was on his own a good man and a family man. In calmer times, he would have ruled to the delight of himself and the people, Russia continued to gradually strengthen. But he was very unlucky. Firstly, his father died suddenly, and Nicholas unexpectedly received the throne ahead of time. Secondly, the Romanov empire was in a deep crisis, and it had to be radically reformed, and this had to be done quickly, but without breaking (Stalin had to do everything extremely quickly in order to save civilization and the people). Thirdly, it was during the reign of Nicholas II that the “world community” (“the civilized West”) sentenced Russia to division. The whole world has come to new era and the old empires, including Russia, were to become a thing of the past. The owners of the Anglo-Saxon project were preparing the planet for a big redistribution. Germany and Russia were to exhaust each other in a brutal struggle, and their resources would serve as the foundation of the New World Order.

In general, Nicholas II was unlucky. He did not have the iron will of his father Alexander III and great-grandfather Nicholas I to resist a sophisticated and treacherous enemy, nor the ability and ruthlessness of Peter I to radically rebuild Russia. In order for it to survive the world war and be able to win and emerge renewed. And without a radical transformation, old, Roman Russia could not survive. Too deep contradictions lay at its core. Over the three centuries of its existence, the safety margin of the “White Empire” was exhausted.

Peter I is usually accused of distorting the historical path of Russia, “cutting a window to Europe” and Westernizing the country. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Peter only completed a long process that his predecessors began. Without raising the topic of the accession of the Romanovs to the throne (this is a separate and extensive complex topic), it is obvious that from the first Romanovs Russia gradually began to be rebuilt in a Western way. To begin with, the Romanovs achieved complete freedom from society, gradually reducing the role of Zemsky Sobors and other popular institutions to zero. Then the Romanovs and the power-hungry church hierarchs dealt a terrible blow to the basis of Russian society - the Russian faith, which carried the civilizational values ​​of “Kitezh-grad” (the Kingdom of God on Earth). The spiritual tradition was suppressed, the line of Sergius of Radonezh and his disciples, non-covetous people, Archimandrite Dionysus and the elders of the Solovetsky Monastery. After all, it was the Russian faith that was the source of the people’s energy, their strength, capable of performing any miracle.

Nikon and other “reformers” who introduced modern Greek rituals completely changed the meaning of faith. Living faith was replaced by empty, formal religion. Avvakum and other “Old Believers” were brutally suppressed. Holy Rus', which the Nikonians reduced to rituals, total nationalization of the church, bureaucratic veneration and police surveillance of parishioners (priests were obliged to “knock” on suspicious parishioners), essentially went underground. The healthiest part of Russian society - the Old Believers - became persecuted for steadfastly preserving their ideals. It is they who will subsequently create Russian national capital with their hard work and patience. And before that, for two centuries they retreated to the most remote corners of Russia, maintaining their way of life.

Nikon and the Romanovs cut off this life-giving source, the Russian faith. Suffice it to remember how troops from 1666 to 1674. besieged the Solovetsky Monastery, the last stronghold of the Russian spirit. Having taken it thanks to betrayal, the troops brutally killed the monks who heroically fought for their monastery. They were drowned in ice holes, skinned and hung on meat hooks. As a result, the split led to the formation of a huge gap between the people and the authorities. This split fully took shape under Peter, when two peoples were formed in Russia - the Russian people themselves, and the German and French-speaking “elite”. At the same time, the best part of the people (up to a quarter of the population) went into a “schism”, forming their own, “parallel” Russia. The Old Believers preserved the Russian faith, spiritual and physical sobriety, honesty and perseverance.

Peter the Great completed the job by abolishing the patriarchate and making the church a department of the state. Gradually, most of the population lost their faith, and the clergy lost authority. Only a few elders, like Seraphim of Sarov, retained the faith. Official “Orthodoxy” has degenerated and become a formality. Therefore, it is not surprising that the people as a whole showed indifference to the murder of churchmen and the destruction of churches and monasteries in the years Civil War. It should be noted that the current “official Orthodoxy” is no better than what it was in the Russian Empire; the disease has not been eradicated. Beautiful remodeled churches and empty ritualism cannot revive spirituality. Thus, in terms of its spirituality and good morals, Soviet society of the 1940-1950s. stands an order of magnitude higher than Russian society in the 2000s.

The Romanovs' attempt to recode Russian civilization and turn it into Europe completely failed and ended in a national catastrophe in 1917. But it took more than 300 years. Peter I was not the first Westernizer, but it was he who made Westernization irreversible. Peter's cultural revolution formalized the turn towards Europe. The autocrat literally drove Western culture into Russia with an iron fist, the most brutal reprisals, like the execution of the archers, when the king personally cut off their heads and forced his associates to do this, suppressing any resistance. There is nothing fun in shaving beards, dressing in foreign clothes, sending young people who are most easily susceptible to suggestion, recoding, abroad, women participating in joint parties, all these are elements cultural revolution, replacing your values ​​with someone else’s. The new capital - St. Petersburg became western city, the place of residence of the new “elite”. It is not for nothing that the city bore and still bears a lot of Western, including hidden, Masonic symbolism.

The deep meaning of Peter’s policy was best expressed by one of his closest associates, Peter Saltykov: “Russians are similar to Western peoples in everything, but they are behind them. Now we need to get them on the right road.” These words became the guiding star of all the “reformers” and “perestroikas” who tried to remake Russia and the Russian people in a Western manner. Peter developed this view under the influence of foreign mentors and, at the same time, drinking buddies.

As a result, Peter created the powerful Russian Empire with all its ups and downs, and he also predetermined its death. The tragedy of his son Alexei is a kind of sign that speaks of the future of Romanov Russia. Peter was able to modernize Russia in a Western way, to make it a powerful military, naval and economic power, but the spirit of the people, their cultural code was distorted, which in the future predetermined the death of the Russian Empire.

The Russian people were divided into two parts - the masters and the enslaved population. high, Western culture the masters possessed, they could receive an excellent education, travel, live happily, and the population was reduced to the level of almost slaves who had to fight for the empire, bear all the costs, and pay taxes. At the same time, the “elite” gradually degraded. Unfortunately, there were not enough people of such Russian spirit as Lomonosov, Suvorov, Ushakov, Nakhimov, Kornilov for the whole of Russia, they could not close all the “embrasures”. In general, the “elite,” having lost the iron king-reformer who did not spare anyone, including himself, decayed, becoming saturated with Western values. The “elitist” even killed Emperor Paul when he tried to restore discipline and order in the aristocracy. In the end, it was the “elite” who committed February revolution 1917, tired of tolerating such “relics” as autocracy. The pro-Western “elite” wanted to finally join Europe, to make Russia like England or France.

Under Alexander III (and even a little earlier), the Russian Empire received a chance for transformation and restoration on the basis of the Russian path. The Eastern (Crimean) War and the Berlin Congress of 1878, which deprived us of the fruits of victory over Ottoman Empire, showed that Russia has no friends and allies in Europe. It was under Alexander Alexandrovich that Russia’s foreign and domestic policies began to rapidly “russianize.” Traditional motifs began to appear in Russian culture. She unexpectedly began searching for the deep foundations of Holy Rus', the moral origins of Russian life. Tolstoy, Leskov, Tyutchev, Dostoevsky, Leontyev, Fet, Savrasov, Levitan, Nesterov, Mussorgsky, Dal, Danilevsky and many others revealed the depths of Russian existence. Major figures of Russian culture knew and appreciated European culture very well, but they realized that it was alien, that Russian culture and civilization were original and self-sufficient. As a result, opportunities opened up for the Russian people and state for radical changes based on the Russian path.

However, the Russophile Alexander III fell prematurely, and Nicholas II was unable to turn the situation around and save the empire, create a new elite that was Russian in spirit, eliminate illiteracy, carry out industrialization and restructuring Agriculture. At the same time, continuing the foreign policy course of Alexander the Peacemaker, without getting involved in external conflicts, focusing on the internal development of the Russian Empire.

It was especially dangerous for Russia at that time to fight. She could not have fought in any case. The most far-sighted people, like Durnovo, Stolypin and Rasputin (the last two were physically eliminated by Masonic structures) warned about this. Already Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 showed all the rottenness of the empire and the precariousness of the internal situation, where severe political, socio-economic and national contradictions were brewing. The war revealed the problem of the lack of strategic planning for decades to come. Russia had decades of peace in the Far East, but did not use them for serious development of the region. The war showed the weakness of the “peacetime” generals; among the generals there were no Suvorovs and Skobelevs who were ready for decisive and swift actions, capable of using the unique combat potential of the Russian soldier and officer. That Russian diplomacy is not capable of amicably resolving controversial issues with Tokyo, delimiting spheres of influence in China and Korea, making the Japanese friends and allies in Pacific Ocean. That officials and the bourgeoisie are overwhelmed by corruption and are stealing from the army (this was in Crimean War and will be in the First World War). And no one answered for this collapse and theft.

The war revealed a deep split in Russian society. The common people did not know at all what the country was fighting for, and the liberal intelligentsia openly wished defeat for their country. The army was completely betrayed. Even after a series of defeats and heavy losses, the Russian army was not defeated and strengthened, but Japanese army was on the verge of a military disaster. By the summer of 1905, Japan was exhausted; Russia was able to concentrate a powerful army in Manchuria, ready to finally launch a decisive offensive. It was possible to defeat the Japanese, return Port Arthur, and generally throw the enemy out of China and Korea. Japan was on the verge of financial collapse, its military and demographic resources were depleted, the Japanese would have to sue for peace. However, at an opportune moment, a revolution was provoked in Russia, the United States persistently offered mediation in the negotiations, and Russian politicians like Witte actively supported the peace initiative. Russia admitted defeat on the verge of its victory.

In general, the war with Japan was a warning that Russia should not fight. Behind any enemy of Russia will be England and the United States, who want to destroy Rus' with someone else’s hands and take its resources into their own hands. It was they who skillfully played off the Russians and the Japanese, and then the Russians and the Germans.

At the same time, Russia’s external enemies have been working for decades to create a diverse “fifth column” within Russia. These were all kinds of socialists, anarchists, nationalists, separatists, liberal democrats, freemasons and other evil spirits. Moreover, the most dangerous were not the Bolsheviks, who were on the sidelines of political life, but high-ranking liberals, members of Masonic lodges - grand dukes, generals, bankers, industrialists, Duma figures, large publishers and journalists, lawyers, etc. And the rather powerful repressive machine of the Russian The empire was struck by liberalism, softness and strange inaction. She did everything except her immediate duties. Revolution 1905-1907 became a test of the stability of the empire, its immunity.

Stolypin made a heroic attempt to keep the empire from collapse. But his policy partially failed, having not met with support from the authorities and the people, and was partially designed for a long peaceful period of development, which the country did not have. In addition, he was killed, since Stolypin stubbornly stood for peace at any cost. The First World War was the death sentence of the empire. All the best forces and resources were sent to the front. The regular army, which could have given a tough rebuff to the revolutionaries, was killed in battle. There was destabilization in almost all spheres of life, and chaos began to grow. The "fifth column" had the opportunity to prepare and carry out a coup d'etat in February 1917. Nicholas II was doomed, the sovereign and his family were made ritual victims, which symbolized the death of Russia and the Russian people.

True, the enemies of the Russian people miscalculated. Russia and the Russian people were able to crawl out of this hole, albeit at the cost of millions of victims. It should be noted that the current situation in Russian Federation has obvious similarities with the late Russian Empire. The head of state Vladimir Putin (or his successor) must carry out the “Russification” of Russia, the “nationalization of the elite”, new industrialization, return independence to the country’s finances, and prevent the country from being drawn into big war in her initial period(one will have to participate in it, one way or another), complete the rearmament of the armed forces, etc. Otherwise, Russia will face another turmoil.

On November 1, 1894, according to the old style, the new - and last - Russian Emperor, Nicholas II, arrives in St. Petersburg. He enters the capital on a funeral train, on which the coffin with the body of his father, Emperor Alexander III, arrives in the city.

Alexander III died a little more than two weeks earlier, on October 20, old style (November 1, new style) in the Livadia Palace in Crimea, surrounded by his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna, and his son, Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich, who was destined to accept the imperial crown from his father. The Grand Duke was 26 years old at that time. In the next three weeks, he was to become the head of the Russian Empire and marry his bride - Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt, future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Or, as Nicholas II himself called his wife, “dear Alix.”

A year and a half later, in May 1896, his coronation will take place, at the same time, during the coronation celebrations, about 1.3 thousand people will die in a stampede on Khodynskoye Field in Moscow - many will consider this a bad omen. But in the fall of 1894, Nicholas II was torn between the happiness of his young husband, sadness for his departed father, and the imperial responsibilities that had fallen on his shoulders.

What the last Russian emperor felt and thought about in the first days of his reign - in a selection of his diaries compiled by Izvestia.

“We’ve finally entered winter”

October 20, 1894, day of death of Alexander III: « My God, my God, what a day! The Lord called back our adored, dear, beloved Pope. My head is spinning, I don’t want to believe it - the terrible reality seems so implausible. We spent the whole morning upstairs next to him!<…>Lord, help us in these difficult days! Poor dear Mom!.. In the evening at 9 1/2 there was a funeral service - in the same bedroom! I felt like I was dead.”

Soon after this, the imperial train leaves Crimea and heads to St. Petersburg, passing Moscow along the way, where a memorial service for Alexander III is being held in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Nicholas II carefully documents the trip, making short notes (he records the weather, worries about the condition of his mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, and awaits upcoming official speeches with some apprehension). Nicholas II and the rest of the imperial family change trains on the funeral train only at the entrance to the capitals.

October 29, 1894: « We have finally entered winter. We stayed three times: in Kursk, Orel and Tula. For me, the presence of my dear beloved Alix on the train is a huge comfort and support! I sat with her all day.”

October 30, 1894 the young emperor arrives in Moscow: “How many bright memories there are here in the Kremlin - and how hard it is now for me to do everything instead of dear Papa! I read, took meals and sat between classes with my dear Alix. We had dinner at 8 o’clock and went to bed early.”

“I had to talk again”

On November 1, the funeral train with the body of the deceased arrives in St. Petersburg - and Nicholas II finally assumes the role of ruler of the empire.

November 1, 1894:“We moved to the station. Obukhovo on the funeral train and at 10 o'clock. arrived in St. Petersburg. A bitter meeting with the rest of the relatives. The procession from the station to the fortress lasted 4 hours, thanks to the fact that the bridges on the Neva were raised. The weather was gray - it was melting. After the funeral service we arrived at Anichkov [palace].”

Until now, his main support was meetings with his bride, the future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, but here, in St. Petersburg, they are becoming more and more fragmentary: representatives of the monarchical houses of Europe begin to gather in the capital for mourning events, Nicholas II himself is gradually starting to perform their imperial duties. He tries to combine all this with his usual sports activities.

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November 2, 1894: « I slept well; but as soon as you come to your senses, immediately the terrible oppression and heavy consciousness of what has happened return to your soul with new strength! Poor Mom felt weak again, and during the day she had a slight fainting spell. At 10.25 D. Willie arrived with Georgie; the whole family met them, as well as a guard of honor from the Izmailovsky regiment. I brought him to Anichkov. At 12 o'clock received the State. The Council in full force - I had to speak again! Dear Alix arrived for breakfast; It’s sad to see her only in fits and starts!<...>. I ran around the garden three times...”

Nicholas II still carefully records almost every day (reports, meetings of foreign guests, visits), but every day he complains more and more persistently about rare meetings with his bride.

November 3, 1894:“I read reports in the morning. At 11 o'clock I went to the station from the village of Bertie to meet the villages of Alfred, Erni, Jorzhi and Irene. Alix and Ella also met their own. Accepted N.X. Bunge. We had breakfast alone, because... Mom ate with Comrade Alix. At 1 1/2 I went with Misha to the fortress, then visited foreign princes. At 3 1/2 I received the entire retinue, again I had to say a few words.<..>It’s boring that we see Alix so little, I wish I could get married as soon as possible - then there’ll be no more goodbyes!”

“The little Neapolitan prince arrived in the evening”

Preparations for the wedding, as well as the subsequent honeymoon, take place for the emperor in an atmosphere of mourning celebrations.

November 6, 1894: « Sad day of the Hussar holiday. At 11 o'clock We went to mass in the fortress. The Serbian King arrived there straight from the station. We had breakfast at one o'clock at home. Then he received a lot of delegations: four German, two Austrian, Danish and Belgian - I had to talk to everyone! I walked a little in the garden, my head was spinning. The Serbian king visited me, then Ferdinand of Romania - they took away from me those few free minutes of the day in which I am allowed to see Alix. She drank tea with Ernie. At 7 1/2 I went to Zimny ​​for Ksenia and took her to the fortress for a memorial service. We had dinner at 9 o'clock. In the evening the little Neapolitan prince arrived. My dear darling Alix was sitting with me.”

November 7, 1894:“For the second time we had to go through those hours of grief and sadness that befell us on October 20th. At 10 1/2 the bishop's service began and then the funeral service and funeral of the dear unforgettable Pope! It’s hard and painful to put such words here - it still seems that we are all in some kind of sleepy state and what suddenly! he will appear between us again!”

November 8, 1894: «<…>Two of the princes had already left: it would have been more likely that the rest would have been carried away as well. It’s easier to work when there are no strangers around, whose presence only increases the burden on me!”

Burden state power by this moment it really begins to put pressure on the shoulders of the young emperor, who, moreover, had just buried his father.

November 9, 1894: «<…>Received various foreigners with and without letters. You have to answer all sorts of questions - so you get completely lost and confused! I took a walk in the garden. My Alix came to me at 4 o'clock. We drank tea upstairs. At 7 o'clock. gathered in the Malachite [hall].”

“I was choosing curtains, I was pretty tired”

At the same time, along with state affairs, the emperor is also engaged in arranging family housing in anticipation of the upcoming wedding.

November 10, 1894:“I woke up at 7 o’clock and, after drinking coffee, went to get some fresh air. It was cold and it was snowing. I read until 10 o'clock. After a joint breakfast, I received and had reports from Durnovo, Richter and Vorontsov. We had breakfast at one o'clock. Again I received until 3 1/4. After the walk, with Alix I chose carpets and curtains for two rooms, which will be added to my old ones , from Gosh - due to the fact that it would be too cramped to fit two of us in the 4 previous rooms! I’m pretty tired of this day.”

November 11, 1894: « In the morning I walked in the garden. It was terrible darkness all day. After breakfast, he had reports: Witte and Krivoshein. Then he received the second series of governors-general and military commanders. We had breakfast with Mama, Apapa and Jorji (Greek), since the rest had all left. Received by the entire Senate in full force ballroom. Walked and rode a bicycle in the garden."

November 12, 1894:“Quite a tiring day: at 10 o’clock in the morning the reports began - Den, Count Vorontsov, D. Alexei and Chikhachev, and then all the Kazakh atamans introduced themselves. troops. Had breakfast with Mama, Apapa and Comrade Alix. At 3 o'clock I received it in the Winter Palace. a lot of delegations from all over Russia - up to 460 people, all at once in the Nikolaev Hall."

"My Wedding Day"

The long-awaited wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra Fedorovna (by this time she had already received Orthodox baptism) takes place extremely modestly and in an atmosphere of deep mourning - they are married in the Great Church of the Winter Palace. But Nicholas II is happy.

November 14, 1894: « My wedding day! After general coffee, we went to get dressed: I put on my hussar uniform and at 11 1/2 I went with Misha to the Winter Palace. Troops were stationed all over Nevsky for Mama and Alix to pass. While her toilet was taking place in Malachite, we all waited in the Arab room. At 10 min. The first one began to go to a large church, from where I returned as a married man! My best men were: Misha, Georgie, Kirill and Sergey. In Malakhitova we were presented with a huge silver swan from the family. Having changed clothes, Alix got into a carriage with a Russian harness and a postilion with me, and we went to the Kazan Cathedral. There were a ton of people on the streets - they could barely get through! Upon arrival in Anichkov, I was greeted in the courtyard with honor and punishment. from her L.Tv. Ulansky village. Mom was waiting with bread and salt in our rooms. We sat all evening and answered telegrams. We had dinner at 8 o'clock. We went to bed early because... She had a bad headache!”

"Three workers lifted the heavy grate"

23 years later, in March 1917, Nicholas II would abdicate the throne - for himself and for his son and direct heir, Tsarevich Alexei. “In the name of the good and salvation of Russia,” he will explain his decision to representatives of the Provisional Committee who came to him from revolutionary Petrograd State Duma A.I. Guchkov and V.V. Shulgin.

Nicholas II will continue to keep diaries even after abdicating the throne - during his exile in Tobolsk. The last entries in them were made shortly before the execution of the royal family, at the end of June 1918.

« June 28. Thursday. In the morning around 10 1/2 o'clock. Three workers approached the open window, lifted a heavy grill and attached it to the outside of the frame - without warning from Yu (Yurovsky - commandant of the Ipatiev House, where the imperial family was kept - Izvestia). We like this guy less and less! I started reading Volume VIII of Saltykov [-Shchedrin],” says one of the last diary entries.

On the night of July 17, “Citizen Romanov”, Alexandra Fedorovna and their children were shot. Along with them, Doctor Botkin and three members of the servants who remained with the imperial family died.

The last Russian emperor loved port wine, disarmed the planet, raised his stepson and almost moved the capital to Yalta [photo, video]

Photo: RIA Novosti

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Nicholas II ascended the throne on November 2, 1894. What do we all remember about this king? Basically, school cliches are stuck in my head: Nikolai is bloody, weak, was under the strong influence of his wife, is to blame for Khodynka, established the Duma, dispersed the Duma, was shot near Yekaterinburg... Oh yes, he also conducted the first census of Russia, recording himself as “owner of the land” Russian". Moreover, Rasputin looms on the side with his dubious role in history. In general, the image turns out to be such that any schoolchild is sure: Nicholas II is almost the most shameful Russian Tsar of all eras. And this despite the fact that most of the documents, photographs, letters and diaries remained from Nikolai and his family. There is even a recording of his voice, which is quite low. His life has been thoroughly studied, and at the same time it is almost unknown to the general public outside the clichés from the textbook. Did you know, for example, that:

1) Nicholas took the throne in Crimea. There, in Livadia, a royal estate near Yalta, his father Alexander III died. A confused young man, literally crying from the responsibility that had fallen on him - this is how the future king looked then. Mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, did not want to swear allegiance to her son! The younger one, Mikhail, is who she saw on the throne.

2) And since we are talking about Crimea, it was to Yalta that he dreamed of moving the capital from his unloved St. Petersburg. The sea, the navy, trade, the proximity of European borders... But I didn’t dare, of course.

3) Nicholas II almost handed over the throne eldest daughter Olga. In 1900, he fell ill with typhus (again in Yalta, well, just a fateful city for the family of the last Russian emperor). The king was dying. Since the time of Paul I, the law has prescribed: the throne is inherited only through the male line. However, bypassing this order, the conversation turned to Olga, who was then 5 years old. The king, however, pulled out and recovered. But the idea of ​​staging a coup in Olga’s favor, and then marrying her off to a suitable candidate who would rule the country instead of the unpopular Nicholas - this thought excited the royal relatives for a long time and pushed them into intrigue.

4) It is rarely said that Nicholas II became the first global peacemaker. In 1898, at his instigation, a note on a general limitation of armaments was published and a program for an international peace conference was developed. It took place in May of the following year in The Hague. 20 European countries, 4 Asian, 2 American took part. This act of the tsar simply did not fit into the minds of the then progressive intelligentsia of Russia. How can this be, he is a militarist and an imperialist?! Yes, the idea of ​​​​the prototype of the UN, of conferences on disarmament, arose precisely in Nikolai’s head. And long before the World War.

5) It was Nikolai who completed the Siberian railway. It is still the main artery connecting the country, but for some reason it is not customary to give credit to this king. Meanwhile, he considered the Siberian railway one of his main tasks. Nikolai generally foresaw many challenges that Russia then had to deal with in the 20th century. He said, for example, that the population of China is growing astronomically, and this is a reason to strengthen and develop Siberian cities. (And this at a time when China was called sleeping).

Nicholas' reforms (monetary, judicial, wine monopoly, working day law) are also rarely mentioned. It is believed that since the reforms were started in previous reigns, then Nicholas II seems to have no special merit. The Tsar “only” pulled this burden and complained that he “worked like a convict.” “Only” brought the country to that peak, 1913, by which the economy will be measured for a long time to come. He just confirmed two of the most famous reformers in office - Witte and Stolypin. So, 1913: the strongest gold ruble, income from the export of Vologda oil is higher than from the export of gold, Russia is the world leader in grain trade.

6) Nicholas was like two peas in a pod like his cousin, the future English king George V. Their mothers are sisters. Even relatives confused “Nicky” and “Georgie”.

"Nicky" and "Georgie". They are so similar that even their relatives confused them

7) Raised his adopted son and daughter. More precisely, the children of his uncle Pavel Alexandrovich - Dmitry and Maria. Their mother died in childbirth, their father quite soon entered into a new marriage (unequal), and the two little grand dukes were eventually raised by Nicholas personally, they called him “dad”, the empress “mama”. He loved Dmitry like his own son. (This is the one Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, who later, together with Felix Yusupov, will kill Rasputin, for which he will be exiled, survives the revolution, escapes to Europe and even manages to have an affair with Coco Chanel there).

10) I couldn’t stand women’s singing. He would run away when his wife, Alexandra Fedorovna, or one of the daughters or ladies-in-waiting sat down at the piano and started playing romances. The courtiers recall that at such moments the king complained: “Well, they howled...”

11) I read a lot, especially contemporaries, subscribed to a lot of magazines. Most of all he loved Averchenko.