Nicholas Hammond

Does Alexander II truly deserve the title of liberator? To liberate is to set free (a group or individual) from legal, social or political restrictions. There is evidence to suggest that he disliked serfdom. Even his father, Nicholas I, believed that serfdom was an “evil palpable to all,” and Alexander II was certainly even more liberally educated than his father. His arguably most fundamental reform was the emancipation of serfdom in 1861. As he said, “It is best to abolish serfdom from above

What was the significance in WW1 in bringing about the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in March 1917? The Romanov dynasty began in 1613, however 1917 saw an abrupt end to the Romanov’s with the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. Demonstrations and strikes gripped the Russian people and with anti-governmental soldiers taking control, the Tsar had no alternative but to abdicate. Historians such as Michael Lynch1 and John Daborn2 state that in Russia’s great need of strength and power came a Tsar of

their lower class people desperate. The Russian people, on multiple occasions, were desperate for rights and food. With each passing day of the Romanov administration overlooking their people, the people’s faith and loyalty began to waver. Through Nicholas’ incompetence in dealing with social reforms and foreign policies, the tragic assassination of his family was irrevocable. Although it may seem as if Russia’s decline happened overnight, a detailed timeline of Russia’s history would prove quite the

Tsar Nicholas II is thought to be personally responsible for the collapse of the Russian Monarchy. His nature wasn’t well suited for the role he held therefore he was an incompetent leader. Russia was undergoing many changes and was in early stages of industrialization. This was followed by an embarrassing string of defeats of which the Tsar was badly prepared. His unsuccessful involvement in the First World War added to the disappointment in the government’s incompetence and corruption. There were

through isolated news articles and speakers. I must admit, however, I did not understand the full scope of the problems faced by this universal underclass of citizens until I read the book Half the Sky, written by married New York Times reporters Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. I picked up this book on the recommendation of my girlfriend and found myself unable to put it down. Insert picture of book The book is an account of the wide range of structural issues faced by women in third world

that created dialogue and prompted historians to pose perspectives as to what factors contributed to the Russian Monarchy ending in catastrophe. Many of these perspectives are focused on personalities. Some historians may argue that the rule of Tsar Nicholas II was tragically flawed, as there were many political mistakes such as mismanagement of the war effort by the Tsar, therefore upsetting the Russian civilians, such as the nobility as well as the monarchists who believed that the Tsar caused the

If you 'd like to connect with an entire community of writers, see the photo accompanying this column, and, possibly, win a paperback book, you 'll want to read this column on my blog. I have a neighbour who often drove her three kids to school. I’m too polite to have told her off for this, but they lived a 10-minute walk from both grade school and high school. What was she thinking? This kind of attitude — as well as the one that sees city officials failing to put sidewalks on all of their streets

XVI of France was “... not raised to be a king.” In fact, Louis XVI’s older brother was supposed to take over the kingdom, but he died leaving Louis in his place. Similarly, the leadership skills of Nicholas of Russia were questioned from an early age. Many knew that “People acquainted with Nicholas were, in fact, alarmed

Tsar Nicholas II’s leadership proved to be completely inefficient – he essentially allowed the working class to fully embrace their long-held desires to alter the political regime in Russia. Historians J.D. Smele and Bob McKean agree that the outbreak of the First World War simply expedited the rise of pre-existing trends, which have emerged as a result of shortfalls of Nicholas’s rule. Consequently, for at least a decade leading up to 1917 the workers were tempted to rise up against Nicholas and

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was an infamous Siberian ‘holy man’, whose ability to cure the Tsar and Tsarina’s son of haemophilia led to him becoming an important friend and spiritual advisor to the Romanov royal family (Duffy, 2009). Rasputin was a paradox, by day he was a supreme mystic at court and at night he obtained a reputation as a notorious drunk and philanderer (Rae & Thompson, 2014). By 1916 Rasputin was viewed by many as a malevolent puppeteer who infiltrated his way into the royal family