Nicholas II Research Paper

Nicholas II’s abdication resulted from various events, these included his autocratic form of governing, the 1905 Revolution, Bloody Sunday, and the Russo-Japanese war. Nicholas II came into rule in 1894 due to his father, Alexander III, dying suddenly of kidney failure. Nicholas was inexperienced and ill-prepared to be the Tsar of Russia and said to his brother-in-law, “I am not prepared to be a Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling.” Indeed, these factors were key in his eventual overthrow at the hands of the bolsheviks in 1917.

Nicholas II lead an autocracy, however, did not have the characteristics to be a successful ruler. The Tsar did not possess the qualities and required knowledge about constitutional,

The autocratic system was always likely to fail due to his lacking of personality traits and attributes that were essential, such as decisiveness and a strong character. This is evident from Sir G. Buchanan, the British ambassador to Russia from 1910, who said, “Emperor Nicholas had not inherited his father’s commanding personality nor the strong character and prompt decision which are so essential to an autocratic ruler… “. The Tsar was a conservative leader who believed it was his right to have unlimited control over the Russian people. There was no constitution to limit the Tsar’s power or to control the appointment of ministers, Nicholas was free to appoint and dismiss his advisers with no real reason, as said by L. Trotsky in The History of the Russian Revolution, “...But the Tsar reserved his special caresses for just those officials he had decided to dismiss. Charmed beyond measure at a reception, the minister would go home and find a letter requesting his resignation.” The Tsar had an imperial council and a cabinet of ministers to advise him, however, they were responsible to the Tsar alone and not to a prime minister or parliament. Due to the 1905 Revolution, Nicholas was imposed to introduce a Duma and legalise political parties to appease his people. A year of riots and

Preceding the march of January 22, a series of events occurred that led to Bloody Sunday. In 1902, a poor harvest worsened the poverty of the peasants. During 1903, disorder spread to the cities with strikes in the oil industry, engineering works and the railways which threatened to paralyse the economy. Moreover, the Russo-Japanese war began in 1904 with Russia expecting a quick and cheap victory against their ‘inferior’ rival were met with unexpected difficulties. Due to mobilisation of peasants sons, agriculture and food supplies were disrupted, leaving the working class scarce of food. A strike occurred in the Putilov steelworks in St Petersburg in 1905 caused by the dismissal of some men belonging to the Assembly of Russian Workers. The union was founded by Father George Gapon, a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, with police assistance and approval. Gapon organised a protest march to the Winter Palace on Sunday 22 January and a petition that would be presented to the Tsar. An estimated 150000 people marched from all parts of the city. It included the following: a guarantee of civil liberties, for example, freedom of speech, measures to alleviate poverty, including the introduction of an income tax, and better working conditions, such