How Did Tsar Alexander II Build Russia In 1905

World War I was a tragic episode in European history. As with most wars, there were some causes that led to this event. A few of these causes were militarism, alliances, and imperialism. The first spark of the war was on June 28, 1914 when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist group called the Black Hand. The Austrian leaders demanded an apology from Serbia, they got upset and Russia said they would help Serbia. With no apology and the threat of Russia, on June 28 Austria-Hungary declared war on them; Russia in return declared war on Austria-Hungary. Germany declared war on Russia, France on both Germany and Austria-Hungary. Finally Britain had joined France and Russia, then all of Europe was at war.

In 1917 the Russian revolution had began, this was the biggest factor in the fall of the Romanov dynasty. The white Russians arrested the tsarist and abdicated him from his throne putting Nicholas and his family on house arrest and he was no longer known as the Tsar, replacing him with a Bolshevik government. The red Russians had captured Nicholas and his family causing a civil war between the white and red Russians. In July 1918 Lenin and his red Russian squad had won the civil war, and shot Nicholas and his family, leaving Russia a communist country until the 1990’s.

The Grand Duchess Olga wrote in her journal: “…and he was wholly ignorant about governmental matters. Nicky had been trained as a soldier”. (Fiehn, T. 1996). Nicholas’ sister suggests that he was not ready due to his lack of training. Margot Tracey, daughter of a Russian industrialist declared in 1917, after Nicholas’ abdication “Everybody was fed up with the Tsar because they thought he was weak. When he abdicated there was great rejoicing everywhere. My parents opened champagne bottles and celebrated with friends.”.(White 1994 p.14) Margot shows her understanding of what was going on at the time and that Nicholas was very weak leader, although still a tyrant. Margot’s statement supports the hypothesis as it plainly says that the people did not like Nicholas as a leader due to how weak he was. Margot’s statement is further corroborated by Sergei Witte, a Russian Minister during Nicholas II rule “I pity the Tsar. I pity Russia. He is a poor and unhappy sovereign. What did he inherit and what will he leave? He is obviously a good and quite intelligent man, but he lacks will power, and it from that character that his state defects developed, that is, his defects as a ruler, especially an autocratic and absolute ruler.” (Russian Revolution Quotations 2015). These sources work together to support the fact that Nicholas II was responsible for his own downfall due to his weak character and that he was not properly prepared for the role. This caused

In 1905 and 1917 Russia was tormented by chaotic revolutions. The workers and the intelligentsia had arrived at the point of hating the autocracy because they could no longer endure the suffering, hunger and repression that the tsarist policies brought with them. Years later Lenin referred to the revolution of 1905 as a “dress rehearsal for the October Revolution” of 1917. In 1905 tsardom nearly fell. Nicholas II succeeded in remaining in power, stabilizing the situation, only thanks to various concessions. However, his continuing to rule harshly and unwisely brought him to be forced to abdicate in the February of 1917, signing the end of the Russian monarchy.

The argument that the First World War led to the downfall of the Tsardom in Russia is supported by how unprepared the military were from the outset and throughout the war. Poor conditions and lack of weaponry led to low morale. Production of weapons was seriously flawed as seen in the Russian front at Gorlice, where “many soldiers had no rifles and had to wait for a comrade to be killed before taking his weapon”3. “By the end of December 1914, 6,554,000 men had been mobilized with only 4,652,000 rifles available to them”4. Furthermore the appalling conditions that were reported in the Russian trenches caused outbreaks of diseases such as typhoid and cholera creating tensions amongst Russia's “indestructible army”5. The dreadful conditions caused soldiers to turn against their

Czar Nicholas II was a very poor leader at the time. Many of his bad leadership decisions and weak skills lead to the Russian Revolution. The Czars were rich, but many Russians were very poor. The Czars took advantage of this and and made them slaves. Finally, Czar Alexander II freed them in 1905. When there were protests and many people were getting killed, he

On the 20th October 1894 Nicholas II ascended the throne as tsar of Russia. He idolised the concept of continuing to rule Russia under the autocratic system, in the same way his father and predecessor Alexander III had done so. However, Nicholas lacked the qualities and characters of the autocratic style of leadership. The

Russia’s death toll was 1.7 million people. Their total number of casualties was 9.1 million deaths.

Nicholas II was a poor leader, and he was aggressive to the people. For example, his armies were weak in World War I, and he had citizens who complained about work conditions killed. Also, inflation rose and many died of starvation during his time of leadership. Czar Nicholas was a bad leader and caused a lot of frustration throughout the country. Because of the bad reputation of Anastasia’s father, her whole family had a bad reputation.

Tsar Alexander II and III while father and son had very different ambitions as Tsar and different view for the future of the empire. Alexander III succeeded to his father’s throne in 1894. His reign is looked upon by most historians as a time of repression that saw the undoing of many of the reforms carried out by his father. Certainly that was a time of great economic and social change but these had led, in the West of the nation, great pressure on political system. However Alexander was deeply suspicious of the direction in which his father had taken Russia and the internal reforms that he instituted were designed to correct what he saw as the too-liberal tendencies of his father's reign.

In the books of history countries and communities that cannot adapt, and change into new modern thinking, tend to fail. This is what happened to Russia. New ideas like communism and industrialization jeopardized the Tsar's power. So Nicholas II tried his hardest to stand his ground and maintain himself in leadership.

Russian Kings called themselves Tsar, which means ‘Emperor’. The Tsar would run on his own, assisted by a few ministers that he chooses on his own. There was no parliament and the other people did not have any right to vote in elections. Tsars ruled in harsh manner, ruining everyone who dared to complain. Nicholas II was born on May 18, 1868 in Pushkin, Russia.

During World War I Nicholas II assumed supreme command of the Russian Army in September 1915. Nicholas II's personal expectation of command grew out of one of the critical weaknesses of his reign: his own incompetence as a ruler and as an individual. In addition to his naive belief that he shared a personal communion with the Russian people, he ruled over a political system that could not function without his immediate presence. This fact was not merely perceived in hindsight. When the Emperor announced his decision to his cabinet, ten of the twelve ministers of state objected and tried to convince him to reconsider.

It was on the 22nd of August 1915 that the Tsar Nicholas the 2nd took control as head of the army and dismissed his uncle The Grand Duke Nicholai as the previous head. This meant hat the Tsar would be away from St Petersburg, which left the Tsarina and Rasputin in charge. This was mistakes for the Tsar as it made people see Russia’s army as weak and left numerous accusations of Rasputin and the Tsarina having a relationship.

Alexander II, was a good hearted, unselfish leader who wanted even the poor peasants and serfs of Russia to have a grand life. Tsar Alexander II freed serfs, with a sign of his name on the Emancipation Manifesto. Further, he expanded the railroad system which created a boost in the economic life in a hitherto predominantly feudal agricultural society (Mosse); this helped Russia establish and gain more territory. The great Russian tsar, an innovator; during his reign, which began in 1855 he abolished serfdom, expanded the rail system, reformed the aged judicial system, and liberated Bulgaria. Tsar Alexander II of Russia assassinated (Mosse) in St. Petersburg in 1881.