The future Emperor of All Russia Nicholas II was born on May 6, 1868, on the day of the holy righteous Job the Long-Suffering. He was the eldest son of the Emperor Alexandra III and his wife Empress Maria Feodorovna. The upbringing he received under the guidance of his father was strict, almost harsh. “I need normal, healthy Russian children” - this was the demand the Emperor put forward to the educators of his children. And such an upbringing could only be Orthodox in spirit. Even as a small child, the Heir Tsarevich showed special love for God and His Church. He received a very good education at home - he knew several languages, studied Russian and world history, had a deep understanding of military affairs, and was a widely erudite person. Emperor Alexander III had a program of comprehensive preparation of the Heir for the performance of royal duties, but these plans were not destined to be fully realized...

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (Princess Alice Victoria Elena Louise Beatrice) was born on May 25 (June 7), 1872 in Darmstadt, the capital of a small German duchy, by that time already forcibly incorporated into the German Empire. Alice's father was Grand Duke Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt, and her mother was Princess Alice of England, the third daughter of Queen Victoria. As an infant, Princess Alice—her name at home was Alix—was a cheerful, lively child, earning her the nickname “Sunny” (Sunny). The children of the Hessian couple—there were seven of them—were brought up in deeply patriarchal traditions. Their life passed according to the rules strictly established by their mother; not a single minute should pass without doing anything. The children's clothing and food were very simple. The girls lit the fireplaces themselves and cleaned their rooms. From childhood, their mother tried to instill in them qualities based on a deeply Christian approach to life.

Alix suffered her first grief at the age of six - her mother died of diphtheria at the age of thirty-five. After the tragedy she experienced, little Alix became withdrawn, alienated, and began to avoid strangers; She calmed down only in the family circle. After the death of her daughter, Queen Victoria transferred her love to her children, especially her youngest, Alix. Her upbringing and education from now on took place under the control of her grandmother.

The first meeting of the sixteen-year-old Heir Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich and the very young Princess Alice took place in 1884, when her older sister, the future Martyr Elizabeth, married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the Tsarevich’s uncle. A strong friendship began between the young people, which then turned into deep and growing love. When in 1889, having reached adulthood, the Heir turned to his parents with a request to bless him for his marriage to Princess Alice, his father refused, citing the Heir’s youth as the reason for the refusal. I had to submit to my father's will. In 1894, due to the unshakable determination of the son, usually soft and even timid in dealing with his father, Emperor Alexander III gave his blessing for the marriage. The only obstacle remained the transition to Orthodoxy - according to Russian laws, the bride of the Heir to the Russian throne must be Orthodox. A Protestant by upbringing, Alice was convinced of the truth of her confession and was at first embarrassed by the need to change her religion.

The joy of mutual love was overshadowed by a sharp deterioration in the health of his father, Emperor Alexander III. A trip to Crimea in the fall of 1894 did not bring him relief; a serious illness inexorably took away his strength...

On October 20, Emperor Alexander III died. The next day, in the palace church of the Livadia Palace, Princess Alice was united to Orthodoxy through Confirmation, receiving the name Alexandra Feodorovna.

Despite the mourning for his father, it was decided not to postpone the wedding, but it took place in the most modest atmosphere on November 14, 1894. The days of family happiness that followed soon gave way for the new Emperor to the need to assume the entire burden of governing the Russian Empire.

The early death of Alexander III did not allow him to fully complete the preparation of the Heir to fulfill the duties of a monarch. He was not yet fully introduced to the higher affairs of state; after his accession to the throne, he had to learn a lot from the reports of his ministers.

However, the character of Nikolai Alexandrovich, who was twenty-six years old at the time of his accession, and his worldview by this time were completely determined.

Persons standing close to the court noted his lively mind - he always quickly grasped the essence of the questions presented to him, his excellent memory, especially for faces, and the nobility of his way of thinking. But the Tsarevich was overshadowed by the powerful figure of Alexander III. Nikolai Alexandrovich, with his gentleness, tact in his manners, and modest manners, gave many the impression of a man who had not inherited the strong will of his father.

The guidance for Emperor Nicholas II was his father’s political testament: “I bequeath to you to love everything that serves the good, honor and dignity of Russia. Protect autocracy, remembering that you you are responsible for the fate of your subjects before the Throne of the Most High. Let faith in God and the holiness of your royal duty be the basis of your life. Be strong and courageous, never show weakness. Listen to everyone, there is nothing shameful in this, but listen to yourself and your conscience.”

From the very beginning of his reign as a Russian power, Emperor Nicholas II treated the duties of a monarch as a sacred duty. The Emperor deeply believed that for the hundred million Russian people, tsarist power was and remains sacred. He always had the idea that the Tsar and Queen should be closer to the people, see them more often and trust them more.

The year 1896 was marked by coronation celebrations in Moscow. The crowning is the most important event in the life of a monarch, especially when he is imbued with deep faith in his calling. The Sacrament of Confirmation was performed over the royal couple - as a sign that just as there is no higher, so there is no more difficult on earth royal power, there is no burden heavier than royal service, the Lord... will give strength to our king (1 Sam. 2:10). From that moment the Emperor felt himself to be a true Anointed One of God. Betrothed to Russia since childhood, he seemed to have married her on that day.

To the great sorrow of the Tsar, the celebrations in Moscow were overshadowed by the disaster on the Khodynskoye Field: a stampede occurred in the crowd awaiting royal gifts, in which many people died. Having become the supreme ruler of a huge empire, in whose hands the entire legislative, executive and judicial power was practically concentrated, Nikolai Alexandrovich took upon himself enormous historical and moral responsibility for everything that happened in the state entrusted to him. And the Sovereign considered one of his most important duties to be the preservation of the Orthodox faith, according to the word of the Holy Scripture: “the king... made a covenant before the Lord - to follow the Lord and keep His commandments and His revelations and His statutes with all my heart and with all my soul” (2 Kings 23, 3). A year after the wedding, on November 3, 1895, the first daughter, Grand Duchess Olga, was born; she was followed by the birth of three daughters, full of health and life, who were the joy of their parents, the Grand Duchesses Tatiana (May 29, 1897), Maria (June 14, 1899) and Anastasia (June 5, 1901). But this joy was not without an admixture of bitterness - the cherished desire of the Royal couple was the birth of an Heir, so that the Lord would add days to the days of the king, extend his years for generations and generations (Ps. 60:7).

The long-awaited event took place on August 12, 1904, a year after the Royal Family’s pilgrimage to Sarov, for the celebration of the glorification of St. Seraphim. It seemed that a new bright streak was beginning in their family life. But a few weeks after the birth of Tsarevich Alexy, it turned out that he had hemophilia. The child's life hung in the balance all the time: the slightest bleeding could cost him his life. The mother's suffering was especially intense...

Deep and sincere religiosity distinguished the Imperial couple from representatives of the then aristocracy. From the very beginning, the upbringing of the children of the Imperial Family was imbued with the spirit of the Orthodox faith. All its members lived in accordance with the traditions of Orthodox piety. Mandatory attendance at divine services on Sundays and holidays, and fasting during fasting were an integral part of the life of the Russian tsars, for the tsar trusts in the Lord and will not be shaken in the goodness of the Most High (Ps. 20:8).

However, the personal religiosity of Sovereign Nikolai Alexandrovich, and especially his wife, was undoubtedly something more than simple adherence to traditions. The royal couple not only visit churches and monasteries during their numerous trips, venerate miraculous icons and relics of saints, but also make pilgrimages, as they did in 1903 during the glorification of St. Seraphim of Sarov. Brief services in court churches no longer satisfied the Emperor and Empress. Services were held especially for them in the Tsarskoye Selo Feodorovsky Cathedral, built in the style of the 16th century. Here Empress Alexandra prayed in front of a lectern with open liturgical books, carefully following the progress of the church service.

Needs Orthodox Church The Emperor paid great attention throughout his reign. Like all Russian emperors, Nicholas II generously donated to the construction of new churches, including outside Russia. During the years of his reign, the number of parish churches in Russia increased by more than 10 thousand, and more than 250 new monasteries were opened. The emperor himself participated in the laying of new churches and other church celebrations. The personal piety of the Sovereign was also manifested in the fact that during the years of his reign more saints were canonized than in the two previous centuries, when only 5 saints were glorified. During the last reign, St. Theodosius of Chernigov (1896), St. Seraphim of Sarov (1903), Holy Princess Anna Kashinskaya (restoration of veneration in 1909), St. Joasaph of Belgorod (1911), St. Hermogenes of Moscow (1913), Saint Pitirim of Tambov (1914), Saint John of Tobolsk (1916). At the same time, the Emperor was forced to show special persistence, seeking the canonization of St. Seraphim of Sarov, Saints Joasaph of Belgorod and John of Tobolsk. Emperor Nicholas II highly revered the holy righteous father John of Kronstadt. After his blessed death, the king ordered a nationwide prayerful commemoration of the deceased on the day of his repose.

During the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, the traditional synodal system of governing the Church was preserved, but it was under him that the church hierarchy had the opportunity not only to widely discuss, but also to practically prepare for the convening of a Local Council.

The desire to bring public life Christian religious and moral principles of their worldview have always distinguished the foreign policy of Emperor Nicholas II. Back in 1898, he approached the governments of Europe with a proposal to convene a conference to discuss issues of maintaining peace and reducing armaments. The consequence of this was the peace conferences in The Hague in 1889 and 1907. Their decisions have not lost their significance to this day.

But, despite the Tsar’s sincere desire for the First World, during his reign Russia had to participate in two bloody wars, which led to internal unrest. In 1904, without declaring war, Japan began military operations against Russia - the revolutionary turmoil of 1905 became the consequence of this difficult war for Russia. The Tsar perceived the unrest in the country as a great personal sorrow...

Few people communicated with the Emperor informally. And everyone who knew his family life first-hand noted the amazing simplicity, mutual love and agreement of all members of this closely knit family. Its center was Alexey Nikolaevich, all attachments, all hopes were focused on him. The children were full of respect and consideration towards their mother. When the Empress was unwell, the daughters were arranged to take turns on duty with their mother, and the one who was on duty that day remained with her indefinitely. The children's relationship with the Emperor was touching - he was for them at the same time a king, a father and a comrade; their feelings changed depending on the circumstances, moving from almost religious worship to complete trust and the most cordial friendship.

A circumstance that constantly darkened the life of the Imperial family was the incurable illness of the Heir. Attacks of hemophilia, during which the child experienced severe suffering, were repeated several times. In September 1912, due to careless movement, a internal bleeding, and the situation was so serious that they feared for the life of the Tsarevich. Prayers for his recovery were served in all churches in Russia. The nature of the illness was a state secret, and parents often had to hide their feelings while participating in the normal routine of palace life. The Empress understood well that medicine was powerless here. But nothing is impossible for God! Being a deeply religious person, she devoted herself wholeheartedly to fervent prayer in the hope of a miraculous healing. Sometimes, when the child was healthy, it seemed to her that her prayer had been answered, but the attacks were repeated again, and this filled the mother’s soul with endless sorrow. She was ready to believe anyone who was able to help her grief, to somehow alleviate the suffering of her son - and the Tsarevich’s illness opened the doors to the palace to those people who were recommended to the Royal Family as healers and prayer books. Among them, the peasant Grigory Rasputin appears in the palace, who was destined to play his role in the life of the Royal Family, and in the fate of the entire country - but he had no right to claim this role. People who sincerely loved the Royal Family tried to somehow limit Rasputin’s influence; among them were the venerable martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth, the hieromartyr Metropolitan Vladimir... In 1913, all of Russia solemnly celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of the House of Romanov. After the February celebrations in St. Petersburg and Moscow, in the spring, the Royal Family completes a tour of ancient Central Russian cities, the history of which is connected with the events of the early 17th century. The Tsar was greatly impressed by the sincere manifestations of the people's devotion - and the population of the country in those years was rapidly increasing: in a multitude of people there is greatness to the king (Proverbs 14:28).

Russia was at the peak of glory and power at this time: industry was developing at an unprecedented pace, the army and navy were becoming more and more powerful, agrarian reform was being successfully implemented - about this time we can say in the words of Scripture: the superiority of the country as a whole is a king who cares about the country ( Ecclesiastes 5:8). It seemed that all internal problems would be successfully resolved in the near future.

But this was not destined to come true: the first World War. Using the murder of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne by a terrorist as a pretext, Austria attacked Serbia. Emperor Nicholas II considered it his Christian duty to stand up for the Orthodox Serbian brothers...

On July 19 (August 1), 1914, Germany declared war on Russia, which soon became pan-European. In August 1914, the need to help its ally France led Russia to launch an overly hasty offensive in East Prussia, which resulted in a heavy defeat. By the fall it became clear that there was no imminent end to hostilities in sight. However, since the beginning of the war, internal divisions have subsided in the country on a wave of patriotism. Even the most difficult issues became solvable - the Tsar’s long-planned ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages for the entire duration of the war was implemented. His conviction of the usefulness of this measure was stronger than all economic considerations.

The Emperor regularly travels to Headquarters, visiting various sectors of his huge army, dressing stations, military hospitals, rear factories - in a word, everything that played a role in the conduct of this grandiose war. The Empress devoted herself to the wounded from the very beginning. Having completed courses for sisters of mercy, together with her eldest daughters, the Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana, she spent several hours a day caring for the wounded in her Tsarskoye Selo infirmary, remembering that the Lord requires us to love works of mercy (Mic. 6, 8).

On August 22, 1915, the Emperor left for Mogilev to assume command of all Russian armed forces. From the beginning of the war, the Emperor considered his tenure as Supreme Commander-in-Chief as the fulfillment of a moral and national duty to God and the people: he appointed paths for them and sat at their head and lived as a king in the circle of soldiers, as a comforter to those who mourn (Job 29, 25). However, the Emperor always provided leading military specialists with broad initiative in resolving all military-strategic and operational-tactical issues.

From that day on, the Emperor was constantly at Headquarters, and the Heir was often with him. About once a month the Emperor came to Tsarskoe Selo for several days. All important decisions were made by him, but at the same time he instructed the Empress to maintain relations with the ministers and keep him informed of what was happening in the capital. The Empress was the person closest to him, on whom he could always rely. Alexandra Feodorovna herself took up politics not out of personal ambition and thirst for power, as they wrote about it then. Her only desire was to be useful to the Emperor in Hard time and help him with your advice. Every day she sent detailed letters and reports to Headquarters, which was well known to the ministers.

The Emperor spent January and February 1917 in Tsarskoe Selo. He felt that the political situation was becoming more and more tense, but continued to hope that a sense of patriotism would still prevail and retained faith in the army, whose position had improved significantly. This raised hopes for the success of the great spring offensive, which would deal a decisive blow to Germany. But forces hostile to the sovereign also understood this well.

On February 22, the Tsar left for Headquarters - this moment served as a signal for the enemies of order. They managed to sow panic in the capital because of the impending famine, because during the famine they will get angry and blaspheme their king and their God (Isa. 8:21). The next day, unrest began in Petrograd caused by interruptions in the supply of bread; they soon developed into a strike under political slogans - “Down with the war”, “Down with the autocracy”. Attempts to disperse the demonstrators were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, debates were going on in the Duma with sharp criticism of the government - but first of all these were attacks against the Tsar. The deputies claiming to be representatives of the people seemed to have forgotten the instruction of the supreme apostle: Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king (1 Pet. 2:17).

On February 25, Headquarters received a message about unrest in the capital. Having learned about the state of affairs, the Emperor sends troops to Petrograd to maintain order, and then he himself goes to Tsarskoe Selo. His decision was obviously caused by the desire to be at the center of events to take action if necessary. quick solutions, and concern for the family. This departure from Headquarters turned out to be fatal. 150 versts from Petrograd, the Tsar's train was stopped - the next station, Lyuban, was in the hands of the rebels. We had to go through the Dno station, but even here the path was closed. On the evening of March 1, the Emperor arrived in Pskov, at the headquarters of the commander of the Northern Front, General N.V. Ruzsky.

There was complete anarchy in the capital. But the Tsar and the army command believed that the Duma controlled the situation; in telephone conversations with the Chairman of the State Duma M.V. Rodzianko, the Emperor agreed to all concessions if the Duma could restore order in the country. The answer was: it's too late. Was this really the case? After all, only Petrograd and the surrounding area were covered by the revolution, and the authority of the Tsar among the people and in the army was still great. The Duma's response confronted the Tsar with a choice: abdication or an attempt to march on Petrograd with troops loyal to him - the latter meant civil war while the external enemy was within Russian borders.

Everyone around the Emperor also convinced him that renunciation was the only way out. The commanders of the fronts especially insisted on this, whose demands were supported by the Chief of the General Staff M.V. Alekseev - fear and trembling and murmuring against the kings occurred in the army (3 Ezra 15, 33). And after long and painful reflection, the Emperor made a hard-won decision: to renounce both for himself and for the Heir, in view of his incurable disease, in favor of his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. The Emperor left supreme power and command as a Tsar, as a warrior, as a soldier, not forgetting his high duty until the last minute. His Manifesto is an act of the highest nobility and dignity.

On March 8, the commissioners of the Provisional Government, having arrived in Mogilev, announced through General Alekseev the arrest of the Sovereign and the need to proceed to Tsarskoye Selo. For the last time, he addressed his troops, calling on them to be loyal to the Provisional Government, the very one that arrested him, to fulfill their duty to the Motherland until complete victory. The farewell order to the troops, which expressed the nobility of the Tsar’s soul, his love for the army, and faith in it, was hidden from the people by the Provisional Government, which banned its publication. The new rulers, some overcoming others, neglected their king (3 Ezra 15, 16) - they, of course, were afraid that the army would hear the noble speech of their Emperor and Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

In the life of Emperor Nicholas II there were two periods of unequal duration and spiritual significance - the time of his reign and the time of his imprisonment, if the first of them gives the right to talk about him as an Orthodox ruler who fulfilled his royal duties as a sacred duty to God, about the Sovereign , remembering the words of the Holy Scripture: Thou hast chosen me as king for Thy people (Wisdom 9:7), then the second period is the way of the cross of ascension to the heights of holiness, the path to the Russian Golgotha...

Born on the day of remembrance of the holy righteous Job the Long-Suffering, the Tsar accepted his cross just like the biblical righteous man, and endured all the trials sent down to him firmly, meekly and without a shadow of a murmur. It is this long-suffering that is revealed with particular clarity in history. last days Emperor. From the moment of abdication, it is not so much external events as the internal spiritual state of the Sovereign that attracts attention. The Emperor, having accepted, as it seemed to him, the only correct solution, nevertheless experienced severe mental anguish. “If I am an obstacle to the happiness of Russia and all the social forces now at the head of it ask me to leave the throne and hand it over to my son and brother, then I am ready to do this, I am even ready to give not only my kingdom, but also my life for the Motherland. I think no one who knows me doubts this,” the Emperor said to General D.N. Dubensky.

On the very day of the abdication, March 2, the same General Shubensky recorded the words of the Minister of the Imperial Court, Count V.B. Fredericks: “The Emperor is deeply sad that he is considered an obstacle to the happiness of Russia, that they found it necessary to ask him to leave the throne. He was worried about the thought of his family, which remained alone in Tsarskoe Selo, the children were sick. The Emperor is suffering terribly, but he is the kind of person who will never show his grief in public.” Nikolai Alexandrovich is also reserved in his personal diary. Only at the very end of the entry for this day does his inner feeling break through: “My renunciation is needed. The point is that in the name of saving Russia and keeping the army at the front calm, you need to decide to take this step. I agreed. A draft Manifesto was sent from Headquarters. In the evening, Guchkov and Shulgin arrived from Petrograd, with whom I spoke and gave them the signed and revised Manifesto. At one o'clock in the morning I left Pskov with a heavy feeling of what I had experienced. There is treason and cowardice and deceit all around!”

The Provisional Government announced the arrest of Emperor Nicholas II and his August wife and their detention in Tsarskoe Selo. The arrest of the Emperor and Empress did not have the slightest legal basis or reason.

When the unrest that began in Petrograd spread to Tsarskoe Selo, part of the troops rebelled, and a huge crowd of rioters - more than 10 thousand people - moved towards the Alexander Palace. The Empress that day, February 28, almost did not leave the room of the sick children. She was informed that all measures would be taken to ensure the safety of the palace. But the crowd was already very close - a sentry was killed just 500 steps from the palace fence. At this moment, Alexandra Feodorovna shows determination and extraordinary courage - together with Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, she bypasses the ranks of soldiers loyal to her, who have taken up defense around the palace and are ready for battle. She convinces them to come to an agreement with the rebels and not shed blood. Fortunately, at this moment prudence prevailed. The Empress spent the following days in terrible anxiety about the fate of the Emperor - she only heard rumors of abdication. It was only on March 3 that she received a short note from him. The Empress’s experiences during these days were vividly described by an eyewitness, Archpriest Afanasy Belyaev, who served a prayer service in the palace: “The Empress, dressed as a nurse, stood next to the Heir’s bed. Several thin wax candles were lit in front of the icon. The prayer service began... Oh, what a terrible, unexpected grief befell the Royal Family! The news came out that the Tsar, who was returning from Headquarters to his family, was arrested and even possibly abdicated the throne... One can imagine the situation in which the helpless Tsarina, a mother with her five seriously ill children, found herself! Having suppressed the weakness of a woman and all her bodily ailments, heroically, selflessly, devoting herself to caring for the sick, [with] complete trust in the help of the Queen of Heaven, she decided first of all to pray before the miraculous icon of the Sign Mother of God. Hotly, on her knees, with tears, the Earthly Queen asked for help and intercession from the Queen of Heaven. Having venerated the icon and walked under it, she asked to bring the icon to the beds of the sick, so that all the sick children could immediately venerate the Miraculous Image. When we took the icon out of the palace, the palace was already cordoned off by troops, and everyone in it was arrested.”

On March 9, the Emperor, who had been arrested the day before, was transported to Tsarskoe Selo, where the whole family was eagerly awaiting him. An almost five-month period of indefinite stay in Tsarskoe Selo began. The days passed in a measured manner - with regular services, shared meals, walks, reading and communication with family. However, at the same time, the life of the prisoners was subjected to petty restrictions - A. F. Kerensky announced to the Emperor that he must live separately and see the Empress only at the table, and speak only in Russian. The guard soldiers made rude comments to him; access to the palace for persons close to the Royal Family was prohibited. One day, soldiers even took away a toy gun from the Heir under the pretext of a ban on carrying weapons.

Father Afanasy Belyaev, who regularly performed divine services in the Alexander Palace during this period, left his testimonies about the spiritual life of the Tsarskoye Selo prisoners. This is how the Good Friday Matins service took place in the palace on March 30, 1917. “The service was reverent and touching... Their Majesties listened to the entire service while standing. Folding lecterns were placed in front of them, on which the Gospels lay, so that they could follow the reading. Everyone stood until the end of the service and left through the common hall to their rooms. You have to see for yourself and be so close to understand and see how the former royal family fervently, in the Orthodox manner, often on their knees, prays to God. With what humility, meekness, and humility, having completely surrendered themselves to the will of God, they stand behind the divine service.”

The next day the whole family went to confession. This is what the rooms of the royal children looked like, in which the Sacrament of Confession was performed: “What amazingly Christian decorated rooms. Each princess has a real iconostasis in the corner of the room, filled with many icons of different sizes depicting especially revered saints. In front of the iconostasis is a folding lectern, covered with a shroud in the form of a towel; prayer books and liturgical books, as well as the Holy Gospel and a cross are placed on it. The decoration of the rooms and all their furnishings represent an innocent, pure, immaculate childhood, ignorant of everyday dirt. To listen to prayers before confession, all four children were in the same room...”

“The impression [from the confession] was this: God grant that all children would be as morally high as the children of the former Tsar. Such kindness, humility, obedience to the parental will, unconditional devotion to the will of God, purity of thoughts and complete ignorance of earthly dirt - passionate and sinful, writes Father Afanasy, - I was amazed, and I was absolutely perplexed: is it necessary to remind me as a confessor about sins, perhaps unknown to them, and how to incite them to repent of the sins known to me.”

Kindness and peace of mind did not leave the Empress even in these most difficult days after the abdication of the Sovereign from the throne. These are the words of consolation she addresses in a letter to cornet S.V. Markov: “You are not alone, do not be afraid to live. The Lord will hear our prayers and will help, comfort and strengthen you. Do not lose your faith, pure, childish, remain as small when you become big. It is hard and difficult to live, but ahead there is Light and joy, silence and reward, all suffering and torment. Walk straight on your path, do not look to the right or left, and if you do not see a stone and fall, do not be afraid and do not lose heart. Get up again and move forward. It hurts, it’s hard on the soul, but grief cleanses us. Remember the life and suffering of the Savior, and your life will seem to you not as black as you thought. We have the same goal, we all strive to get there, let us help each other find the way. Christ is with you, do not be afraid."

In the palace Church or in the former royal chambers, Father Athanasius regularly celebrated the all-night vigil and Divine Liturgy, which were always attended by all members of the Imperial family. After the Day of the Holy Trinity, alarming messages appeared more and more often in the diary of Father Afanasy - he noted the growing irritation of the guards, sometimes reaching the point of rudeness towards the Royal Family. The spiritual state of the members of the Royal Family does not go unnoticed by him - yes, they all suffered, he notes, but along with the suffering their patience and prayer increased. In their suffering they acquired true humility - according to the word of the prophet: Say to the king and queen: humble yourself... for the crown of your glory has fallen from your head (Jer. 13:18).

“...Now the humble servant of God Nicholas, like a meek lamb, kind to all his enemies, not remembering insults, praying earnestly for the prosperity of Russia, deeply believing in her glorious future, kneeling, looking at the cross and the Gospel... expresses to the Heavenly Father the innermost secrets of his long-suffering life and, throwing himself into the dust before the greatness of the Heavenly King, tearfully asks for forgiveness for his voluntary and involuntary sins,” we read in the diary of Father Afanasy Belyaev.

Meanwhile, serious changes were brewing in the lives of the Royal prisoners. The Provisional Government appointed a commission to investigate the activities of the Emperor, but despite all efforts to discover at least something discrediting the Tsar, nothing was found - the Tsar was innocent. When his innocence was proven and it became obvious that there was no crime behind him, the Provisional Government, instead of releasing the Tsar and his August wife, decided to remove the prisoners from Tsarskoye Selo. On the night of August 1, they were sent to Tobolsk - this was done allegedly in view of possible unrest, the first victim of which could be the Royal Family. In fact, by doing so, the family was doomed to the cross, because at that time the days of the Provisional Government itself were numbered.

On July 30, the day before the departure of the Royal Family to Tobolsk, the last Divine Liturgy was served in the royal chambers; for the last time, the former owners of their home gathered to pray fervently, asking with tears, kneeling on their knees, the Lord for help and intercession from all troubles and misfortunes, and at the same time realizing that they were embarking on the path outlined by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself for all Christians: They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, handing you over to prison, and bringing you before the rulers for My name’s sake (Luke 21:12). The entire Royal family and their already very few servants prayed at this liturgy.

On August 6, the royal prisoners arrived in Tobolsk. The first weeks of the Royal Family's stay in Tobolsk were perhaps the calmest during the entire period of their imprisonment. September 8, Christmas Day Holy Mother of God, the prisoners were allowed to go to church for the first time. Subsequently, this consolation extremely rarely fell to their lot. One of the greatest hardships during my life in Tobolsk was the almost complete absence of any news. The letters arrived with a huge delay. As for newspapers, we had to be content with a local leaflet, printed on wrapping paper and giving only old telegrams several days late, and even those most often appeared here in a distorted and truncated form. The Emperor watched with alarm the events unfolding in Russia. He understood that the country was rapidly heading towards destruction.

Kornilov suggested that Kerensky send troops to Petrograd to put an end to the Bolshevik agitation, which was becoming more and more threatening day by day. The Tsar’s sadness was immeasurable when the Provisional Government rejected this last attempt to save the Motherland. He understood perfectly well that this was the only way to avoid an imminent disaster. The Emperor repents of his abdication. “After all, he made this decision only in the hope that those who wanted to remove him would still be able to continue the war with honor and would not ruin the cause of saving Russia. He was afraid then that his refusal to sign the renunciation would lead to civil war in the sight of the enemy. The Tsar did not want even a drop of Russian blood to be shed because of him... It was painful for the Emperor to now see the futility of his sacrifice and realize that, having in mind then only the good of his homeland, he had harmed it with his renunciation,” recalls P Gilliard, tutor of Tsarevich Alexei.

Meanwhile, the Bolsheviks had already come to power in Petrograd - a period had begun about which the Emperor wrote in his diary: “much worse and more shameful than the events of the Time of Troubles.” The news of the October revolution reached Tobolsk on November 15. The soldiers guarding the governor's house warmed up to the Royal Family, and several months passed after the Bolshevik coup before the change in power began to affect the situation of the prisoners. In Tobolsk, a “soldiers’ committee” was formed, which, in every possible way striving for self-affirmation, demonstrated its power over the Sovereign - they either force him to take off his shoulder straps, or destroy the ice slide built for the Tsar’s children: he mocks the kings, according to the word of the prophet Habakkuk (Hab. 1 , 10). On March 1, 1918, “Nikolai Romanov and his family were transferred to soldiers’ rations.”

The letters and diaries of members of the Imperial Family testify to the deep experience of the tragedy that unfolded before their eyes. But this tragedy does not deprive the Royal prisoners of fortitude, faith and hope for God’s help.

“It’s incredibly difficult, sad, hurtful, ashamed, but don’t lose faith in God’s mercy. He will not leave his homeland to perish. We must endure all these humiliations, disgusting things, horrors with humility (since we are unable to help). And He will save, long-suffering and abundantly merciful - He will not be angry to the end... Without faith it would be impossible to live...

How happy I am that we are not abroad, but with her [the Motherland] we are going through everything. Just as you want to share everything with your beloved sick person, experience everything and watch over him with love and excitement, so it is with your Motherland. I felt like her mother for too long to lose this feeling - we are one, and share grief and happiness. She hurt us, offended us, slandered us... but we still love her deeply and want to see her recovery, like a sick child with bad but also good qualities, and our homeland...

I firmly believe that the time of suffering is passing, that the sun will again shine over the long-suffering Motherland. After all, the Lord is merciful and will save the Motherland...” wrote the Empress.

The suffering of the country and people cannot be meaningless - the Royal Passion-Bearers firmly believe in this: “When will all this end? Whenever God pleases. Be patient, dear country, and you will receive a crown of glory, a reward for all your suffering... Spring will come and bring joy, and dry the tears and blood shed in streams over the poor Motherland...

There is still a lot of hard work ahead - it hurts, there is so much bloodshed, it hurts terribly! But the truth must finally win...

How can you live if there is no hope? You must be cheerful, and then the Lord will give you peace of mind. It’s painful, annoying, insulting, ashamed, you suffer, everything hurts, it’s punctured, but there is silence in your soul, calm faith and love for God, who will not abandon His own and will hear the prayers of the zealous and will have mercy and save...

How long will our unfortunate Motherland be tormented and torn apart by external and internal enemies? Sometimes it seems that you can’t endure it anymore, you don’t even know what to hope for, what to wish for? But still, no one like God! May His holy will be done!”

Consolation and meekness in enduring sorrows are given to the Royal prisoners by prayer, reading spiritual books, worship, Communion: “... The Lord God gave unexpected joy and consolation, allowing us to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, for the cleansing of sins and eternal life. Bright jubilation and love fill the soul.”

In suffering and trials, spiritual knowledge, knowledge of oneself, one’s soul, increases. Striving for eternal life helps to endure suffering and gives great consolation: “...Everything that I love suffers, there is no counting of all the dirt and suffering, and the Lord does not allow despondency: He protects from despair, gives strength, confidence in a bright future yet in this world."

In March it became known that a separate peace with Germany had been concluded in Brest. The Emperor did not hide his attitude towards him: “This is such a shame for Russia and it is “tantamount to suicide.” When there was a rumor that the Germans were demanding that the Bolsheviks hand over the Royal Family to them, the Empress declared: “I prefer to die in Russia than to be saved by the Germans.” The first Bolshevik detachment arrived in Tobolsk on Tuesday, April 22. Commissioner Yakovlev inspects the house and gets acquainted with the prisoners. A few days later, he reports that he must take the Emperor away, assuring that nothing bad will happen to him. Assuming that they wanted to send him to Moscow to sign a separate peace with Germany, the Sovereign, who under no circumstances abandoned his high spiritual nobility (remember the Message of the Prophet Jeremiah: king, show your courage - Epistle Jer. 1, 58), firmly said : “I’d rather let my hand be cut off than sign this shameful agreement.”

The heir was ill at that time, and it was impossible to carry him. Despite fear for her sick son, the Empress decides to follow her husband; Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna also went with them. Only on May 7, family members remaining in Tobolsk received news from Yekaterinburg: the Sovereign, Empress and Maria Nikolaevna were imprisoned in Ipatiev’s house. When the Heir's health improved, the remaining members of the Royal Family from Tobolsk were also taken to Yekaterinburg and imprisoned in the same house, but most of the people close to the family were not allowed to see them.

There is much less evidence left about the Yekaterinburg period of imprisonment of the Royal Family. Almost no letters. Basically, this period is known only from brief entries in the Emperor’s diary and the testimony of witnesses in the case of the murder of the Royal Family. Particularly valuable is the testimony of Archpriest John Storozhev, who performed the last services in the Ipatiev House. Father John served mass there twice on Sundays; the first time was on May 20 (June 2), 1918: “... the deacon spoke the petitions of the litanies, and I sang. Two female voices (I think Tatyana Nikolaevna and one of them) sang along with me, sometimes in a low bass voice, and Nikolai Alexandrovich... They prayed very hard...”

“Nikolai Alexandrovich was dressed in a khaki tunic, the same trousers, and high boots. On his chest is an officer's St. George's Cross. There were no shoulder straps... [He] impressed me with his firm gait, his calmness, and especially his manner of looking intently and firmly into the eyes...” wrote Father John.

Many portraits of members of the Royal Family have been preserved - from beautiful portraits of A. N. Serov to later photographs taken in captivity. From them one can get an idea of ​​the appearance of the Sovereign, Empress, Tsarevich and Princesses - but in the descriptions of many persons who saw them during their lifetime, special attention is usually paid to the eyes. “He looked at me with such lively eyes...” Father John Storozhev said about the Heir. Probably, this impression can most accurately be conveyed in the words of the Wise Solomon: “In the bright gaze of the king there is life, and his favor is like a cloud with the latter rain...” In the Church Slavonic text this sounds even more expressive: “in the light of life the son of kings” (Proverbs 16, 15).

Living conditions in the “special purpose house” were much more difficult than in Tobolsk. The guard consisted of 12 soldiers who lived in close proximity to the prisoners and ate with them at the same table. Commissar Avdeev, an inveterate drunkard, worked every day together with his subordinates to invent new humiliations for the prisoners. I had to put up with hardships, endure bullying and obey the demands of these rude people - among the guards were former criminals. As soon as the Emperor and Empress arrived at Ipatiev’s house, they were subjected to a humiliating and rude search. The Royal couple and the Princesses had to sleep on the floor, without beds. During lunch, a family of seven was given only five spoons; The guards sitting at the same table smoked, brazenly blew smoke into the faces of the prisoners, and rudely took food from them.

A walk in the garden was allowed once a day, at first for 15-20 minutes, and then no more than five. The behavior of the guards was completely indecent - they were even on duty near the door to the toilet, and they did not allow the doors to be locked. The guards wrote obscene words and made indecent images on the walls.

Only Doctor Evgeny Botkin remained with the Royal Family, who surrounded the prisoners with care and acted as a mediator between them and the commissars, trying to protect them from the rudeness of the guards, and several tried and true servants: Anna Demidova, I. S. Kharitonov, A. E. Trupp and the boy Lenya Sednev.

The faith of the prisoners supported their courage and gave them strength and patience in suffering. They all understood the possibility of a speedy end. Even the Tsarevich somehow escaped the phrase: “If they kill, just don’t torture...” The Empress and the Grand Duchesses often sang church hymns, which their guards listened to against their will. In almost complete isolation from the outside world, surrounded by rude and cruel guards, the prisoners of the Ipatiev House display amazing nobility and clarity of spirit.

In one of Olga Nikolaevna’s letters there are the following lines: “Father asks to tell all those who remained devoted to him, and those on whom they may have influence, that they do not take revenge for him, since he has forgiven everyone and is praying for everyone, and so that they do not avenge themselves, and so that they remember that the evil that is now in the world will be even stronger, but that it is not evil that will defeat evil, but only love.”

Even the rude guards gradually softened in their interactions with the prisoners. They were surprised by their simplicity, they were captivated by their dignified spiritual clarity, and they soon felt the superiority of those whom they thought to keep in their power. Even Commissar Avdeev himself relented. This change did not escape the eyes of the Bolshevik authorities. Avdeev was removed and replaced by Yurovsky, the guards were replaced by Austro-German prisoners and people chosen from among the executioners of the “extraordinary emergency” - the “special purpose house” became, as it were, its department. The life of its inhabitants turned into continuous martyrdom.

On July 1 (14), 1918, Father John Storozhev performed the last divine service in the Ipatiev House. The tragic hours were approaching... Preparations for the execution were being made in the strictest secrecy from the prisoners of the Ipatiev House.

On the night of July 16-17, around the beginning of three, Yurovsky woke up the Royal Family. They were told that the city was unquiet and therefore it was necessary to go to safe place. About forty minutes later, when everyone had dressed and gathered, Yurovsky and the prisoners went down to the first floor and led them into a semi-basement room with one barred window. Everyone was outwardly calm. The Emperor carried Alexei Nikolaevich in his arms, the others had pillows and other small things in their hands. At the request of the Empress, two chairs were brought into the room, and pillows brought by the Grand Duchesses and Anna Demidova were placed on them. The Empress and Alexei Nikolaevich sat on the chairs. The Emperor stood in the center next to the Heir. The remaining family members and servants settled in different parts of the room and prepared to wait for a long time - they were already accustomed to night alarms and various types of movements. Meanwhile, armed men were already crowded in the next room, waiting for the killer’s signal. At that moment, Yurovsky came very close to the Emperor and said: “Nikolai Alexandrovich, according to the resolution of the Ural Regional Council, you and your family will be shot.” This phrase was so unexpected for the Tsar that he turned towards the family, stretching out his hands to them, then, as if wanting to ask again, he turned to the commandant, saying: “What? What?" The Empress and Olga Nikolaevna wanted to cross themselves. But at that moment Yurovsky shot at the Sovereign with a revolver almost point-blank several times, and he immediately fell. Almost simultaneously, everyone else started shooting - everyone knew their victim in advance.

Those already lying on the floor were finished off with shots and bayonet blows. When it seemed that everything was over, Alexei Nikolaevich suddenly groaned weakly - he was shot several more times. The picture was terrible: eleven bodies lay on the floor in streams of blood. After making sure that their victims were dead, the killers began to remove their jewelry. Then the dead were taken out into the yard, where a truck was already standing ready - the noise of its engine was supposed to drown out the shots in the basement. Even before sunrise, the bodies were taken to the forest in the vicinity of the village of Koptyaki. For three days the killers tried to hide their crime...

Most of the evidence speaks of the prisoners of the Ipatiev House as suffering people, but deeply religious, undoubtedly submissive to the will of God. Despite the bullying and insults, they led a decent family life in Ipatiev’s house, trying to brighten up the depressing situation with mutual communication, prayer, reading and feasible activities. “The Emperor and Empress believed that they were dying as martyrs for their homeland,” writes one of the witnesses to their life in captivity, the Heir’s teacher, Pierre Gilliard, “they died as martyrs for humanity. Their true greatness stemmed not from their kingship, but from the amazing moral height to which they gradually rose. They became an ideal force. And in their very humiliation they were a striking manifestation of that amazing clarity of soul, against which all violence and all rage are powerless and which triumphs in death itself.”

Along with the Imperial family, their servants who followed their masters into exile were also shot. These, in addition to those shot along with the Imperial family by Doctor E. S. Botkin, the Empress's room girl A. S. Demidova, the court cook I. M. Kharitonov and footman A. E. Trupp, included those killed in various places and in different months of 1918 of the year, Adjutant General I. L. Tatishchev, Marshal Prince V. A. Dolgorukov, “uncle” of the Heir K. G. Nagorny, children's footman I. D. Sednev, maid of honor of the Empress A. V. Gendrikova and goflektress E. A. Schneider .

Soon after the execution of the Emperor was announced, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon blessed the archpastors and pastors to perform memorial services for him. His Holiness himself on July 8 (21), 1918, during a service in the Kazan Cathedral in Moscow, said: “The other day a terrible thing happened: the former Sovereign Nikolai Alexandrovich was shot... We must, obeying the teachings of the word of God, condemn this matter, otherwise the blood of the executed man will fall and on us, and not just on those who committed it. We know that he, having abdicated the throne, did so with the good of Russia in mind and out of love for her. After his abdication, he could have found security and a relatively quiet life abroad, but he did not do this, wanting to suffer with Russia. He did nothing to improve his situation and resignedly resigned himself to fate.”

The veneration of the Royal Family, begun by His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon in the funeral prayer and word at the memorial service in the Kazan Cathedral in Moscow for the murdered Emperor three days after the Yekaterinburg murder, continued - despite the prevailing ideology - throughout several decades of the Soviet period of our history.

Many clergy and laity secretly offered prayers to God for the repose of the murdered sufferers, members of the Royal Family. IN last years in many houses in the red corner one could see photographs of the Royal Family, and icons depicting the Royal Martyrs began to circulate in large numbers. Prayers addressed to them, literary, cinematic and musical works were compiled, reflecting the suffering and martyrdom of the Royal Family. The Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints received appeals from ruling bishops, clergy and laity in support of the canonization of the Royal Family - some of these appeals had thousands of signatures. By the time of the glorification of the Royal Martyrs, a huge amount of evidence had accumulated about their gracious help - about the healing of the sick, the unification of separated families, the protection of church property from schismatics, about the streaming of myrrh from icons with images of Emperor Nicholas and the Royal Martyrs, about the fragrance and the appearance of blood stains on the icon faces of the Royal Martyrs colors.

One of the first witnessed miracles was deliverance during civil war hundreds of Cossacks surrounded in impenetrable swamps by red troops. At the call of the priest Father Elijah, in unanimity the Cossacks addressed a prayer appeal to the Tsar-Martyr, the Sovereign of Russia - and incredibly escaped the encirclement.

In Serbia in 1925, a case was described when an elderly woman, whose two sons died in the war and the third was missing, had a dream vision of Emperor Nicholas, who reported that the third son was alive and in Russia - a few months later the son returned home.

In October 1991, two women went to pick cranberries and got lost in an impassable swamp. Night was approaching, and the swamp bog could easily drag in unwary travelers. But one of them remembered the description miraculous deliverance detachment of Cossacks - and following their example, she began to fervently pray for help to the Royal Martyrs: “Murdered Royal Martyrs, save us, servant of God Eugene and Love!” Suddenly, in the darkness, the women saw a glowing branch from a tree; Grasping it, they got out to a dry place, and then went out into a wide clearing, along which they reached the village. It is noteworthy that the second woman, who also testified to this miracle, was at that time still a person far from the Church.

A high school student from the city of Podolsk, Marina, an Orthodox Christian who especially reveres the Royal Family, was saved from a hooligan attack by the miraculous intercession of the Royal children. The attackers, three young men, wanted to drag her into a car, take her away and dishonor her, but suddenly they fled in horror. Later they admitted that they saw the Imperial children who stood up for the girl. This happened on the eve of the Feast of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple in 1997. Subsequently, it became known that the young people repented and radically changed their lives.

Dane Jan-Michael was an alcoholic and drug addict for sixteen years, and became addicted to these vices from an early youth. On the advice of good friends, in 1995 he went on a pilgrimage to the historical places of Russia; He also ended up in Tsarskoe Selo. At the Divine Liturgy in the house church, where the Royal Martyrs once prayed, he turned to them with an ardent plea for help - and felt that the Lord was delivering him from sinful passion. On July 17, 1999, he converted to the Orthodox faith with the name Nicholas in honor of the holy Martyr Tsar.

On May 15, 1998, Moscow doctor Oleg Belchenko received an icon of the Martyr Tsar as a gift, in front of which he prayed almost every day, and in September he began to notice small blood-colored spots on the icon. Oleg brought the icon to the Sretensky Monastery; During the prayer service, all those praying felt a strong fragrance from the icon. The icon was transferred to the altar, where it remained for three weeks, and the fragrance did not stop. Later, the icon visited several Moscow churches and monasteries; the flow of myrrh from this image was repeatedly witnessed, witnessed by hundreds of parishioners. In 1999, miraculously, at the myrrh-streaming icon of Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II, 87-year-old Alexander Mikhailovich was healed of blindness: a complex eye operation did not help much, but when he venerated the myrrh-streaming icon with fervent prayer, and the priest serving the prayer service covered his face with a towel with marks peace, healing came - vision returned. The myrrh-streaming icon visited a number of dioceses - Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, Odessa... Everywhere where the icon visited, numerous cases of its myrrh-streaming were witnessed, and two parishioners of Odessa churches reported healing from leg disease after praying before the icon. The Tulchin-Bratslav diocese reported cases of grace-filled help through prayers before this miraculous icon: the servant of God Nina was healed of severe hepatitis, parishioner Olga received healing of a broken collarbone, and the servant of God Lyudmila was healed of a severe lesion of the pancreas.

During the Jubilee Council of Bishops, parishioners of the church being built in Moscow in honor of the Monk Andrei Rublev gathered for joint prayer to the Royal Martyrs: one of the chapels of the future church is planned to be consecrated in honor of the new martyrs. While reading the akathist, the worshipers felt a strong fragrance emanating from the books. This fragrance continued for several days.

Many Christians now turn to the Royal Passion-Bearers with prayer for strengthening the family and raising children in faith and piety, for preserving their purity and chastity - after all, during the persecution, the Imperial family was especially united and carried the indestructible Orthodox faith through all the sorrows and suffering.

The memory of the holy passion-bearers Emperor Nicholas, Empress Alexandra, their children - Alexy, Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia is celebrated on the day of their murder, July 4 (17), and on the day of the conciliar memory of the new martyrs and confessors of Russia, January 25 (February 7), if this the day coincides with Sunday, and if it does not coincide, then on the nearest Sunday after January 25 (February 7).

Life according to the magazine:

Moscow Diocesan Gazette. 2000. No. 10-11. pp. 20-33.

Lenta.ru studies the so-called “controversial issues” of Russian history. Experts preparing a unified school textbook on the subject formulated topic No. 16 as follows: “Causes, consequences and assessment of the fall of the monarchy in Russia, the rise of the Bolsheviks to power and their victory in the Civil War.” One of the key figures in this topic is the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II, who was killed by the Bolsheviks in 1918 and canonized by the Orthodox Church at the end of the 20th century. Lenta.ru asked publicist Ivan Davydov to research the life of Nicholas II to figure out whether he could be considered a saint and how the tsar’s private life was connected with the “catastrophe of 1917.”

In Russia, the story ends badly. In the sense that it is reluctant. Our history continues to weigh on us, and sometimes on us. It seems that in Russia there is no time at all: everything is relevant. Historical characters are our contemporaries and participants in political discussions.

In the case of Nicholas II, this is quite clear: he is the last (at least for this moment) Russian Tsar, he began the terrible Russian twentieth century - and with him the empire ended. The events that defined this century and still do not want to let us go - two wars and three revolutions - are episodes of his personal biography. Some even consider the murder of Nicholas II and his family a national, unforgivable sin, the price for which is many Russian troubles. Rehabilitation, search and identification of the remains of the royal family are important political gestures of the Yeltsin era.

And since August 2000, Nicholas has been a canonized holy passion-bearer. Moreover, he is a very popular saint - just remember the “Romanovs” exhibition, held in December 2013. It turns out that the last Russian Tsar, out of spite to his murderers, is now the most alive of all the living.

Where did bears come from?

It is important to understand that for us (including those who see the last tsar as a saint) Nicholas is not at all the same person as he was for millions of his subjects, at least at the beginning of his reign.

In collections of Russian folk legends, a plot similar to Pushkin’s “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” is repeatedly repeated. A peasant goes for firewood and finds a magic tree in the forest. The tree asks not to destroy it, promising various benefits in return. Gradually, the old man's appetites (not without prodding from his grumpy wife) grow - and in the end he declares his desire to be a king. The magic tree is horrified: is it conceivable - a king has been appointed by God, how can one encroach on such a thing? And turns the greedy couple into bears so that people are afraid of them.

So, for his subjects, and not only for illiterate peasants, the king was God’s anointed, the bearer of sacred power and a special mission. Neither revolutionary terrorists, nor revolutionary theorists, nor liberal freethinkers could seriously shake this faith. There is not even a distance, but an insurmountable gap between Nicholas II, God’s anointed, crowned in 1896, the sovereign of all Rus', and citizen Romanov, whom security officers killed in Yekaterinburg with his family and loved ones in 1918. The question of where this abyss came from is one of the most difficult in our history (which has not been particularly smooth at all). Wars, revolutions, economic growth and political terror, reforms, reaction - everything is connected in this issue. I won’t deceive - I don’t have the answer, but I have a suspicion that some small and insignificant part of the answer is hidden in the human biography of the last bearer of autocratic power.

Frivolous son of a stern father

Many portraits have survived: the last tsar lived in the era of photography and he himself loved to take photographs. But words are more interesting than dull and old pictures, and a lot has been said about the emperor, and by people who knew a lot about the arrangement of words. For example, Mayakovsky, with the pathos of an eyewitness:

And I see a landau rolling,
And in this land
Young military man sitting
In a well-groomed beard.
In front of him, like lumps,
Four daughters.
And on the backs of cobblestones, like on our coffins,
His retinue is in eagles and coats of arms.
And the bells rang
Blurred in a lady's squeak:
Hurray! Tsar Nicholas,
Emperor and autocrat of all Russia.

(The poem “Emperor” was written in 1928 and is dedicated to an excursion to the burial place of Nicholas; the poet-agitator, naturally, approved of the murder of the Tsar; but the poems are beautiful, nothing can be done about it.)

But that's all later. In the meantime, in May 1868, a son, Nikolai, was born into the family of the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich. In principle, Alexander Alexandrovich was not preparing to reign, but the eldest son of Alexander II, Nicholas, fell ill during a trip abroad and died. So Alexander III became king, in a sense, by accident. And Nicholas II, it turns out, was doubly accidental.

Alexander Alexandrovich ascended the throne in 1881 - after his father, nicknamed the Liberator for the abolition of serfdom, was brutally killed by revolutionaries in St. Petersburg. Alexander III rules cool, unlike its predecessor, without flirting with the liberal public. The tsar responded with terror to terror, caught many revolutionaries and hanged them. Among others - Alexandra Ulyanova. His younger brother Vladimir, as we know, subsequently took revenge on the royal family.

A time of prohibitions, reaction, censorship and police tyranny - this is how the era of Alexander III was described by contemporary oppositionists (mostly from abroad, of course) and, after them, by Soviet historians. And this is also the time of the war with the Turks in the Balkans for the liberation of the “Slavic brothers” (the same one in which the brave intelligence officer Fandorin performed his exploits), conquests in Central Asia, as well as various economic reliefs for peasants, strengthening the army and overcoming budgetary disasters.

For our story, it is important that the busy king did not have many free minutes left for family life. Almost the only (apocryphal) story about the relationship between father and son is associated with the beautiful ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya. Allegedly, evil tongues said, the king was upset and worried that the heir could not get a mistress. And then one day, stern servants came to his son’s chambers (Alexander III was a simple, rude, harsh man, his friends were mainly with the military) and brought a gift from his father - a carpet. And in the carpet is a famous ballerina. Naked. That's how we met.

Nicholas's mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna (Princess Dagmara of Denmark) had little interest in Russian affairs. The heir grew up under the supervision of tutors - first an Englishman, then local. Received a decent education. Three European languages, and he spoke English almost better than Russian, an in-depth gymnasium course, then some university subjects.

Later - a pleasure trip to the mysterious countries of the East. In particular, to Japan. There was trouble with the heir. During a walk, the crown prince was attacked by a samurai and hit the future king on the head with a sword. In pre-revolutionary foreign brochures published by Russian revolutionaries, they wrote that the heir behaved impolitely in the temple, and in one Bolshevik one - that a drunken Nicholas urinated on some statue. This is all propaganda lies. Nevertheless, there was one blow. Someone from the retinue managed to repel the second one, but the residue remained. And also a scar, regular headaches and a dislike for the Land of the Rising Sun.

According to family tradition, the heir underwent something like military practice in the guard. First - in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, then - in the Life Guards Hussars. There is also an anecdote here. The hussars, in full accordance with the legend, were famous for their rampant drunkenness. At one time, when the regiment commander was Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr. (grandson of Nicholas I, cousin of Nicholas II’s father), the hussars even developed a whole ritual. Having drunk themselves to hell, they ran naked into the night - and howled, imitating a pack of wolves. And so on - until the barman brought them a trough of vodka, after drinking from which the werewolves calmed down and went to sleep. So the heir most likely served cheerfully.

He served cheerfully, lived cheerfully, and in the spring of 1894 he became engaged to Princess Alice of Hesse (she converted to Orthodoxy and became Alexandra Feodorovna). Marrying for love is a problem for crowned persons, but somehow everything worked out for the future spouses right away, and later in the course of their life together they showed unostentatious tenderness towards each other.

Oh yes. Nikolai abandoned Matilda Kshesinskaya immediately after the engagement. But the royal family liked the ballerina, then she was the mistress of two more great princes. I even gave birth to one.

In 1912, cadet V.P. Obninsky published the book “The Last Autocrat” in Berlin, in which he collected, it seems, all the known defamatory rumors about the tsar. So, he reports that Nicholas tried to renounce the reign, but his father, shortly before his death, forced him to sign the corresponding paper. However, no other historian confirms this rumor.

From Khodynka to the October 17 manifesto

The last Russian Tsar was definitely unlucky. Key events in his life - and in Russian history - did not show him in the best light, and often without his obvious guilt.

According to tradition, in honor of the coronation of the new emperor, a celebration was scheduled in Moscow: on May 18, 1896, up to half a million people gathered on the Khodynskoye field (pocked with pits, bordered on one side by a ravine; in general, moderately convenient). The people were promised beer, honey, nuts, sweets, gift mugs with monograms and portraits of the new emperor and empress. And also gingerbread and sausage.

People began to gather the day before, and early in the morning someone shouted in the crowd that there weren’t enough gifts for everyone. A wild stampede began. The police were unable to contain the crowd. As a result, about two thousand people died, hundreds of injured were hospitalized.

But this is in the morning. In the afternoon, the police finally dealt with the unrest, the dead were taken away, the blood was covered with sand, the emperor arrived on the field, his subjects shouted the required “hurray.” But, of course, they immediately started saying that the omen for the beginning of the reign was so-so. “Whoever began to reign over Khodynka will end by standing on the scaffold,” one mediocre but popular poet would later write. This is how a mediocre poet can turn out to be a prophet. It is unlikely that the king was personally responsible for the poor organization of the celebrations. But for many contemporaries, the words “Nikolai” and “Khodynka” somehow linked together.

Moscow students tried to organize a demonstration in memory of the victims. They were dispersed, and the instigators were caught. Nikolai showed that he was, after all, his father’s son and did not intend to become liberal.

However, his intentions were generally vague. He visited his European, so to speak, colleagues (the age of empires had not yet ended) and tried to persuade the leaders of world powers to commit to eternal peace. True, without enthusiasm and without much success, everyone in Europe understood even then that a big war was a matter of time. And no one understood how big this war would be. No one understood, no one was afraid.

Quiet family life The king was clearly more interested in than state affairs. One after another, daughters were born - Olga (even before the coronation), then Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia. There was no son, this caused concern. The dynasty needed an heir.

Dacha in Livadia, hunting. The king loved to shoot. The so-called “Diary of Nicholas II”, all these dull, monotonous and endless “shot at crows”, “killed a cat”, “drank tea” are fake; but the king shot at innocent crows and cats with enthusiasm.

Photo: Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky / Library of Congress

As mentioned above, the tsar became interested in photography (and, by the way, supported the famous Prokudin-Gorsky in every possible way). And also - one of the first in Europe to appreciate such a new thing as a car. He drove personally and had a fair fleet of vehicles. During pleasant activities, time passed unnoticed. The Tsar drove his car through the parks, and Russia climbed into Asia.

Even Alexander III understood that the empire would have to seriously fight in the East, and he sent his son on a cruise for nine months for a reason. Nikolai, as we remember, did not like it in Japan. A military alliance with China against Japan is one of his first foreign affairs affairs. Next came the construction of the CER (Chinese Eastern Railway) railway), military bases in China, including the famous Port Arthur. And the discontent of Japan, and the rupture of diplomatic relations in January 1904, and then an attack on the Russian squadron.

The bird cherry quietly crept like a dream,
And someone “Tsushima...” said into the phone.
Hurry, hurry! The deadline is running out!
"Varyag" and "Koreets" went east.

This is Anna Andreevna Akhmatova.

"Varyag" and "Korean", as everyone knows, died heroically in Chemulpo Bay, but at first the reason Japanese successes were seen exclusively in the treachery of “yellow-faced devils.” They were going to fight with the savages, and a mood of sabotage reigned in society. And then the king finally gave birth to an heir, Tsarevich Alexei.

And the tsar, and the military, and many ordinary citizens who were then experiencing patriotic delight, somehow did not notice that the Japanese savages were seriously preparing for war, spending a lot of money, attracting the best foreign specialists and creating an army and navy that were clearly more powerful than the Russians.

Failures followed one after another. The economy of an agricultural country could not maintain the pace necessary to support the front. Communications were no good - Russia is too big and our roads are too bad. The Russian army near Mukden was defeated. A huge fleet crawled around half the Earth from the Baltic to Pacific Ocean, and then near the island of Tsushima it was almost completely destroyed by the Japanese in a few hours. Port Arthur was surrendered. Peace had to be concluded on humiliating terms. They gave away, among other things, half of Sakhalin.

Embittered, crippled, having seen hunger, mediocrity, cowardice and theft of the command, the soldiers returned to Russia. Lots of soldiers.

And in Russia by that time a lot had happened. Bloody Sunday, for example, January 9, 1905. The workers, whose situation naturally worsened (after all, there was a war), decided to go to the tsar - to ask for bread and, oddly enough, political freedoms, including popular representation. The demonstration was met with bullets, and the number of people killed - the data varies - from 100 to 200 people. The workers became embittered. Nikolai was upset.

What followed was what is called the revolution of 1905 - riots in the army and cities, their bloody suppression and - as an attempt to reconcile the country - the Manifesto of October 17, which granted Russians basic civil liberties and parliament - the State Duma. The emperor dissolved the First Duma by decree less than a year later. He didn't like the idea at all.

All these events did not add to the sovereign’s popularity. It seems that he has no supporters left among the intelligentsia. Konstantin Balmont, a rather bad, but very popular poet in those days, published abroad a book of poems with the pretentious title “Songs of Struggle,” which included, among other things, the poem “Our Tsar.”

Our king is Mukden, our king is Tsushima,
Our king is a bloody stain,
The stench of gunpowder and smoke,
In which the mind is dark.

About the scaffold and Khodynka, quoted above, is from the same place.

Tsar, war and newspapers

The time between the two wars is packed with events tightly and densely. Stolypin’s terror and Stolypin’s land reform (“They need great upheavals, we need a great Russia,” - this beautiful phrase was quoted by V.V. Putin, R.A. Kadyrov, N.S. Mikhalkov, and was created by a little-known speechwriter owned by the formidable premiere.) Economic growth. First experiences of parliamentary work; The Dumas were always in conflict with the government and were dissolved by the tsar. The behind-the-scenes fuss of the revolutionary parties that destroyed the empire - the Socialist-Revolutionaries, the Mensheviks, the Bolsheviks. Nationalist reaction, the Union of the Russian People secretly supported by the tsar, Jewish pogroms. The flourishing of the arts...

The growth of influence at the court of Rasputin - a crazy old man from Siberia, either a whip or a holy fool, who was eventually able to completely subjugate the Russian Empress to his will: the Tsarevich was ill, Rasputin knew how to help him, and this worried the Empress more than all the upheavals in the external world. world.

To our proud capital
He comes in - God save me! -
Enchants the queen
Vast Rus'.

This is Gumilyov Nikolai Stepanovich, the poem “The Man” from the book “The Bonfire”.

There is, perhaps, no point in retelling in detail the history of the First World War, which thundered in August 1914 (by the way, there is an interesting and unexpected document about the state of the country on the eve of the disaster: just in 1914, J. Grosvenor, an American who wrote for The National, visited Russia Geographic Magazine a large and enthusiastic article “Young Russia. Country of Unlimited Possibilities” with a bunch of photographs; the country, according to the American, was blooming).

In short, it all looked like a quote from very recent newspapers: first patriotic enthusiasm, then failures at the front, an economy unable to serve the front, bad roads.

And also the tsar, who decided to personally lead the army in August 1915, and also the endless queues for bread in the capital and large cities, and then there was the revelry of the nouveau riche, who “rose up” on million-dollar military contracts, and also many thousands returning from front. Cripples and simply deserters. Having seen death up close, the dirt of gray Galicia, having seen Europe...

In addition, probably for the first time: the headquarters of the warring powers launched a large-scale information war, supplying the army and enemy rear with the most terrible rumors, including about august persons. And stories spread across the country in millions of sheets about how our tsar was a cowardly, weak-minded drunkard, and his wife was Rasputin’s mistress and a German spy.

This was all, of course, a lie, but this is what is important: in a world where the printed word was still believed and where ideas about the sacredness of autocratic power still simmered, they were greatly damaged swipe. It was not German leaflets or Bolshevik newspapers that broke the monarchy, but their role should not be completely discounted.

Tellingly, the German monarchy also did not survive the war. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is over. In a world where the authorities have no secrets, where a journalist in a newspaper can rinse the sovereign as he wants, empires will not survive.

Taking all this into account, it probably becomes clearer why, when the king abdicated, no one was particularly surprised. Except, perhaps, himself and his wife. At the end of February, his wife wrote to him that hooligans were operating in St. Petersburg (this is how she tried to comprehend the February Revolution), and he demanded to suppress the unrest, no longer having loyal troops at hand. On March 2, 1917, Nicholas signed his abdication.

Ipatiev House and everything after

The provisional government sent the former tsar and his family to Tyumen, then to Tobolsk. The king almost liked what was happening. It's not so bad to be a private citizen and no longer responsible for a huge, war-torn country. Then the Bolsheviks moved him to Yekaterinburg.

Then... Everyone knows what happened then, in July 1918. Specific ideas of the Bolsheviks about political pragmatism. Brutal murder of the king, queen, children, doctor, servants. Martyrdom turned the last autocrat into a holy passion-bearer. Icons of the Tsar are now sold in any church shop, but with a portrait there is a certain difficulty.

A brave military man with a well-groomed beard, a quiet, one might even say kindly (forgive the killed cats) man in the street, who loved his family and simple human joys, found himself - not without the intervention of chance - at the head of the largest country in what was probably the most terrible period of its history.

He seems to be hiding behind this story, there is little brightness in him - not like in the events that passed by, affecting him and his family, in the events that in the end destroyed both him and the country, creating another. It’s as if he’s not there, you can’t see him behind a series of disasters.

And the terrible death removes the questions that people in Russia love to ask: is the ruler to blame for the country’s troubles? Guilty. Certainly. But no more than many others. And he paid dearly to atone for his guilt.

Nicholas 2nd (May 18, 1868 - July 17, 1918) - the last Russian emperor, son of Alexander 3rd. He received an excellent education (he studied history, literature, economics, law, military affairs, mastered three languages ​​perfectly: French, German, English) and ascended to the throne early (at the age of 26) due to the death of his father.

Let's add short biography Nicholas 2nd history of his family. On November 14, 1894, the German princess Alice of Hesse (Alexandra Feodorovna) became the wife of Nicholas 2nd. Soon their first daughter, Olga, was born (November 3, 1895). In total, there were five children in the royal family. Daughters were born one after another: Tatiana (May 29, 1897), Maria (June 14, 1899) and Anastasia (June 5, 1901). Everyone was expecting an heir who was supposed to take the throne after his father. On August 12, 1904, Nikolai’s long-awaited son was born, they named him Alexei. At the age of three, doctors discovered he had a severe hereditary disease - hemophilia (incoagulability of blood). Nevertheless, he was the only heir and was preparing to rule.

On May 26, 1896, the coronation of Nicholas II and his wife took place. During the holidays, a terrible event occurred, called Khodynka, as a result of which 1,282 people died in a stampede.

During the reign of Nicholas II, Russia experienced rapid economic growth. The agricultural sector strengthened - the country became Europe's main exporter of agricultural products, and a stable gold currency was introduced. Industry was actively developing: cities grew, enterprises and railways were built. Nicholas II was a reformer; he introduced a rationed day for workers, provided them with insurance, and carried out reforms in the army and navy. The Emperor supported the development of culture and science in Russia.

But, despite significant improvements, popular unrest occurred in the country. In January 1905 it happened, the stimulus for which was. As a result, it was adopted on October 17, 1905. It talked about civil liberties. A parliament was created, which included the State Duma and the State Council. On June 3 (16), 1907, the Third June Revolution took place, which changed the rules of elections to the Duma.

In 1914, it began, as a result of which the situation within the country worsened. Failures in battles undermined the authority of Tsar Nicholas 2nd. In February 1917, an uprising broke out in Petrograd and reached enormous proportions. On March 2, 1917, fearing mass bloodshed, Nicholas II signed an act of abdication.

On March 9, 1917, the Provisional Government arrested everyone and sent them to Tsarskoye Selo. In August they were transported to Tobolsk, and in April 1918 - to their final destination - Yekaterinburg. On the night of July 16-17, the Romanovs were taken to the basement, the death sentence was read out and they were executed. After a thorough investigation, it was determined that no one from the royal family managed to escape.

Titled from birth His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich. After the death of his grandfather, Emperor Alexander II, in 1881 he received the title of Heir Tsesarevich.

...neither by his figure nor by his ability to speak, the tsar touched the soldier’s soul and did not make the impression that was necessary to lift the spirit and strongly attract hearts to himself. He did what he could, and one cannot blame him in this case, but he did not produce good results in the sense of inspiration.

Childhood, education and upbringing

Nikolai received his home education as part of a large gymnasium course and in the 1890s - according to a specially written program that combined the course of the state and economic departments of the university law faculty with the course of the Academy of the General Staff.

The upbringing and training of the future emperor took place under the personal guidance of Alexander III on a traditional religious basis. Nicholas II's studies were conducted according to a carefully developed program for 13 years. The first eight years were devoted to the subjects of the extended gymnasium course. Special attention was devoted to the study of political history, Russian literature, English, German and French, which Nikolai Alexandrovich mastered to perfection. The next five years were devoted to the study of military affairs, legal and economic sciences necessary for a statesman. Lectures were given by outstanding Russian academicians of world renown: N. N. Beketov, N. N. Obruchev, Ts. A. Cui, M. I. Dragomirov, N. H. Bunge, K. P. Pobedonostsev and others. Presbyter I. L. Yanyshev taught the Tsarevich canon law in connection with the history of the church, the most important departments of theology and the history of religion.

Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. 1896

For the first two years, Nikolai served as a junior officer in the ranks of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. For two summer seasons he served in the ranks of a cavalry hussar regiment as a squadron commander, and then a camp training in the ranks of the artillery. On August 6 he was promoted to colonel. At the same time, his father introduces him to the affairs of governing the country, inviting him to participate in meetings of the State Council and the Cabinet of Ministers. At the suggestion of the Minister of Railways S. Yu. Witte, Nikolai in 1892, in order to gain experience in government affairs, was appointed chairman of the committee for the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. By the age of 23, Nikolai Romanov was a widely educated man.

The emperor's education program included travel to various provinces of Russia, which he made together with his father. To complete his education, his father allocated a cruiser at his disposal for a trip to the Far East. In nine months, he and his retinue visited Austria-Hungary, Greece, Egypt, India, China, Japan, and later returned to the capital of Russia by land through all of Siberia. In Japan, an attempt was made on Nicholas's life (see Otsu Incident). A shirt with blood stains is kept in the Hermitage.

His education was combined with deep religiosity and mysticism. “The Emperor, like his ancestor Alexander I, was always mystically inclined,” recalled Anna Vyrubova.

The ideal ruler for Nicholas II was Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich the Quiet.

Lifestyle, habits

Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich Mountain landscape. 1886 Paper, watercolor Signature on the drawing: “Nicky. 1886. July 22” The drawing is pasted on the passe-partout

Most of the time, Nicholas II lived with his family in the Alexander Palace. In the summer he vacationed in Crimea at the Livadia Palace. For recreation, he also annually made two-week trips around the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea on the yacht “Standart”. I read both light entertaining literature and serious scientific works, often on historical topics. He smoked cigarettes, the tobacco for which was grown in Turkey and sent to him as a gift from the Turkish Sultan. Nicholas II was fond of photography and also loved watching films. All his children also took photographs. Nikolai began keeping a diary at the age of 9. The archive contains 50 voluminous notebooks - the original diary for 1882-1918. Some of them were published.

Nikolai and Alexandra

The first meeting of the Tsarevich with his future wife took place in 1884, and in 1889 Nicholas asked his father for his blessing to marry her, but was refused.

All correspondence between Alexandra Feodorovna and Nicholas II has been preserved. Only one letter from Alexandra Feodorovna was lost; all her letters were numbered by the empress herself.

Contemporaries assessed the empress differently.

The Empress was infinitely kind and infinitely compassionate. It was these properties of her nature that were the motivating reasons for the phenomena that gave rise to intriguing people, people without conscience and heart, people blinded by the thirst for power, to unite among themselves and use these phenomena in the eyes of the dark masses and the idle and narcissistic part of the intelligentsia, greedy for sensations, to discredit The Royal Family for their dark and selfish purposes. The Empress became attached with all her soul to people who really suffered or skillfully acted out their suffering in front of her. She herself suffered too much in life, both as a conscious person - for her homeland oppressed by Germany, and as a mother - for her passionately and endlessly beloved son. Therefore, she could not help but be too blind to other people approaching her, who were also suffering or who seemed to be suffering... ...The Empress, of course, sincerely and strongly loved Russia, just as the Sovereign loved her.

Coronation

Accession to the throne and beginning of reign

Letter from Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Maria Feodorovna. January 14, 1906 Autograph. “Trepov is irreplaceable for me, a kind of secretary. He is experienced, smart and careful in giving advice. I let him read thick notes from Witte and then he reports them to me quickly and clearly. This is, of course, a secret from everyone!”

The coronation of Nicholas II took place on May 14 (26) of the year (for the victims of coronation celebrations in Moscow, see “Khodynka”). In the same year, the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition was held in Nizhny Novgorod, which he attended. In 1896, Nicholas II also made a big trip to Europe, meeting with Franz Joseph, Wilhelm II, Queen Victoria (Alexandra Feodorovna's grandmother). The end of the trip was the arrival of Nicholas II in the capital of the allied France, Paris. One of the first personnel decisions of Nicholas II was the dismissal of I.V. Gurko from the post of Governor-General of the Kingdom of Poland and the appointment of A.B. Lobanov-Rostovsky to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs after the death of N.K. Girs. The first of Nicholas II's major international actions was the Triple Intervention.

Economic policy

In 1900, Nicholas II sent Russian troops to suppress the Yihetuan uprising together with the troops of other European powers, Japan and the United States.

The revolutionary newspaper Osvobozhdenie, published abroad, did not hide its fears: “ If Russian troops defeat the Japanese... then freedom will be calmly strangled to the sounds of cheers and the ringing of bells of the triumphant Empire» .

The difficult situation of the tsarist government after the Russo-Japanese War prompted German diplomacy to make another attempt in July 1905 to tear Russia away from France and conclude a Russian-German alliance. Wilhelm II invited Nicholas II to meet in July 1905 in the Finnish skerries, near the island of Bjorke. Nikolai agreed and signed the agreement at the meeting. But when he returned to St. Petersburg, he abandoned it, since peace with Japan had already been signed.

American researcher of the era T. Dennett wrote in 1925:

Few people now believe that Japan was deprived of the fruits of its upcoming victories. The opposite opinion prevails. Many believe that Japan was already exhausted by the end of May and that only the conclusion of peace saved her from collapse or complete defeat in a clash with Russia.

Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (the first in half a century) and the subsequent brutal suppression of the revolution of 1905-1907. (subsequently aggravated by the appearance of Rasputin at court) led to a decline in the authority of the emperor in the circles of the intelligentsia and nobility, so much so that even among monarchists there were ideas about replacing Nicholas II with another Romanov.

The German journalist G. Ganz, who lived in St. Petersburg during the war, noted a different position of the nobility and intelligentsia in relation to the war: “ The common secret prayer not only of liberals, but also of many moderate conservatives at that time was: “God, help us to be defeated.”» .

Revolution of 1905-1907

With the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Nicholas II tried to unite society against an external enemy, making significant concessions to the opposition. So, after the murder of the Minister of Internal Affairs V.K. Plehve by a Socialist-Revolutionary militant, he appointed P.D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky, who was considered a liberal, to his post. On December 12, 1904, a decree “On plans for improving the State order” was issued, promising the expansion of the rights of zemstvos, insurance of workers, emancipation of foreigners and people of other faiths, and the elimination of censorship. At the same time, the sovereign declared: “I will never, under any circumstances, agree to a representative form of government, because I consider it harmful for the people entrusted to me by God.”

...Russia has outgrown the form of the existing system. It strives for a legal system based on civil freedom... It is very important to reform the State Council on the basis of the prominent participation of the elected element in it...

Opposition parties took advantage of the expansion of freedoms to intensify attacks on the tsarist government. On January 9, 1905, a large labor demonstration took place in St. Petersburg, addressing the Tsar with political and socio-economic demands. Demonstrators clashed with troops, resulting in a large death toll. These events became known as Bloody Sunday, the victims of which, according to V. Nevsky's research, were no more than 100-200 people. A wave of strikes swept across the country, and the national outskirts became agitated. In Courland, the Forest Brothers began to massacre local German landowners, and the Armenian-Tatar massacre began in the Caucasus. Revolutionaries and separatists received support with money and weapons from England and Japan. Thus, in the summer of 1905, the English steamer John Grafton, which ran aground, was detained in the Baltic Sea, carrying several thousand rifles for Finnish separatists and revolutionary militants. There were several uprisings in the navy and in various cities. The largest was the December uprising in Moscow. At the same time, Socialist Revolutionary and anarchist individual terror gained great momentum. In just a couple of years, thousands of officials, officers and policemen were killed by revolutionaries - in 1906 alone, 768 were killed and 820 representatives and agents of the authorities were wounded.

The second half of 1905 was marked by numerous unrest in universities and even in theological seminaries: due to the unrest, almost 50 secondary theological educational institutions were closed. The adoption of a temporary law on university autonomy on August 27 caused a general strike of students and stirred up teachers at universities and theological academies.

The ideas of senior dignitaries about the current situation and ways out of the crisis were clearly manifested during four secret meetings under the leadership of the emperor, held in 1905-1906. Nicholas II was forced to liberalize, moving to constitutional rule, while simultaneously suppressing armed uprisings. From a letter from Nicholas II to the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna dated October 19, 1905:

Another way is to provide civil rights to the population - freedom of speech, press, assembly and unions and personal integrity;…. Witte passionately defended this path, saying that although it was risky, it was nevertheless the only one at the moment...

On August 6, 1905, the manifesto on the establishment of the State Duma, the law on the State Duma and the regulations on elections to the Duma were published. But the revolution, which was gaining strength, easily overcame the acts of August 6; in October, an all-Russian political strike began, over 2 million people went on strike. On the evening of October 17, Nicholas signed a manifesto promising: “1. To grant the population the unshakable foundations of civil freedom on the basis of actual personal inviolability, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and association.” On April 23, 1906, the Basic State Laws of the Russian Empire were approved.

Three weeks after the manifesto, the government granted amnesty to political prisoners, except for those convicted of terrorism, and a little over a month later it abolished preliminary censorship.

From a letter from Nicholas II to the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna on October 27:

The people were outraged by the impudence and insolence of the revolutionaries and socialists...hence the Jewish pogroms. It is amazing how unanimously and immediately this happened in all the cities of Russia and Siberia. In England, of course, they write that these riots were organized by the police, as always - an old, familiar fable!.. Incidents in Tomsk, Simferopol, Tver and Odessa clearly showed what lengths an angry crowd could reach when it surrounded houses in The revolutionaries locked themselves in and set them on fire, killing anyone who came out.

During the revolution, in 1906, Konstantin Balmont wrote the poem “Our Tsar”, dedicated to Nicholas II, which turned out to be prophetic:

Our king is Mukden, our king is Tsushima,
Our king is a bloody stain,
The stench of gunpowder and smoke,
In which the mind is dark. Our king is a blind misery,
Prison and whip, trial, execution,
The king is a hanged man, so half as low,
What he promised, but didn’t dare give. He is a coward, he feels with hesitation,
But it will happen, the hour of reckoning awaits.
Who began to reign - Khodynka,
He will end up standing on the scaffold.

The decade between two revolutions

On August 18 (31), 1907, an agreement was signed with Great Britain to delimit spheres of influence in China, Afghanistan and Iran. It has become important step in the formation of the Entente. On June 17, 1910, after lengthy disputes, a law was adopted that limited the rights of the Sejm of the Grand Duchy of Finland (see Russification of Finland). In 1912, Mongolia, which gained independence from China as a result of the revolution that took place there, became a de facto protectorate of Russia.

Nicholas II and P. A. Stolypin

The first two State Dumas turned out to be unable to conduct regular legislative work - the contradictions between the deputies on the one hand, and the Duma with the emperor on the other, were insurmountable. So, immediately after the opening, in a response to the speech of Nicholas II from the throne, the Duma members demanded the liquidation of the State Council (the upper house of parliament), the transfer of appanage (private estates of the Romanovs), monastic and state lands to the peasants.

Military reform

Diary of Emperor Nicholas II for 1912-1913.

Nicholas II and the church

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by a reform movement, during which the church sought to restore the canonical conciliar structure, there was even talk of convening a council and establishing the patriarchate, and there were attempts in the year to restore the autocephaly of the Georgian Church.

Nicholas agreed with the idea of ​​an “All-Russian Church Council,” but changed his mind and on March 31 of the year, at the report of the Holy Synod on the convening of the council, he wrote: “ I admit it is impossible to do..."and established a Special (pre-conciliar) presence in the city to resolve issues of church reform and a Pre-conciliar meeting in the city.

An analysis of the most famous canonizations of that period - Seraphim of Sarov (), Patriarch Hermogenes (1913) and John Maksimovich ( -) allows us to trace the process of growing and deepening crisis in relations between church and state. Under Nicholas II the following were canonized:

4 days after Nicholas’s abdication, the Synod published a message supporting the Provisional Government.

Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod N. D. Zhevakhov recalled:

Our Tsar was one of the greatest ascetics of the Church of recent times, whose exploits were overshadowed only by his high title of Monarch. Standing on the last step of the ladder of human glory, the Emperor saw above him only the sky, towards which his holy soul irrepressibly strove...

World War I

Along with the creation of special meetings, Military-Industrial Committees began to emerge in 1915 - public organizations bourgeoisie, who were semi-oppositional in nature.

Emperor Nicholas II and front commanders at a meeting of Headquarters.

After such severe defeats for the army, Nicholas II, not considering it possible for himself to remain aloof from hostilities and considering it necessary in these difficult conditions to take upon himself full responsibility for the position of the army, to establish the necessary agreement between Headquarters and the governments, and to put an end to the disastrous isolation of power, standing at the head of the army, from the authorities governing the country, on August 23, 1915, assumed the title of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. At the same time, some members of the government, the high army command and public circles opposed this decision of the emperor.

Due to the constant movements of Nicholas II from Headquarters to St. Petersburg, as well as insufficient knowledge of issues of troop leadership, the command of the Russian army was concentrated in the hands of his chief of staff, General M.V. Alekseev, and General V.I. Gurko, who replaced him in late and early 1917. Autumn call 1916 put 13 million people under arms, and losses in the war exceeded 2 million.

During 1916, Nicholas II replaced four chairmen of the Council of Ministers (I.L. Goremykin, B.V. Sturmer, A.F. Trepov and Prince N.D. Golitsyn), four ministers of internal affairs (A.N. Khvostova, B. V. Sturmer, A. A. Khvostov and A. D. Protopopov), three foreign ministers (S. D. Sazonov, B. V. Sturmer and Pokrovsky, N. N. Pokrovsky), two military ministers (A. A. Polivanov, D. S. Shuvaev) and three ministers of justice (A. A. Khvostov, A. A. Makarov and N. A. Dobrovolsky).

Probing the world

Nicholas II, hoping for an improvement in the situation in the country if the spring offensive of 1917 was successful (which was agreed upon at the Petrograd Conference), did not intend to conclude a separate peace with the enemy - he saw the victorious end of the war as the most important means strengthening the throne. Hints that Russia might begin negotiations for a separate peace were a normal diplomatic game and forced the Entente to recognize the need to establish Russian control over the Mediterranean straits.

February Revolution of 1917

The war affected the system of economic ties - primarily between city and countryside. Famine began in the country. The authorities were discredited by a chain of scandals such as the intrigues of Rasputin and his entourage, as they were then called “dark forces”. But it was not the war that gave rise to the agrarian question in Russia, acute social contradictions, conflicts between the bourgeoisie and tsarism and within the ruling camp. Nicholas's commitment to the idea of ​​unlimited autocratic power extremely narrowed the possibility of social maneuvering and knocked out the support of Nicholas's power.

After the situation at the front stabilized in the summer of 1916, the Duma opposition, in alliance with conspirators among the generals, decided to take advantage of the current situation to overthrow Nicholas II and replace him with another tsar. The leader of the cadets, P. N. Milyukov, subsequently wrote in December 1917:

Since February, it was clear that Nicholas’s abdication could take place any day now, the date was given as February 12-13, it was said that a “great act” was coming - the abdication of the Emperor from the throne in favor of the heir, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, that the regent would be Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich.

On February 23, 1917, a strike began in Petrograd, and 3 days later it became general. On the morning of February 27, 1917, there was an uprising of soldiers in Petrograd and their union with the strikers. A similar uprising took place in Moscow. The queen, who did not understand what was happening, wrote reassuring letters on February 25

The queues and strikes in the city are more than provocative... This is a “hooligan” movement, boys and girls run around shouting that they don’t have bread just to incite, and the workers don’t let others work. If it were very cold, they would probably stay at home. But all this will pass and calm down if only the Duma behaves decently

February 25, 1917 manifesto of Nicholas II meeting State Duma were stopped, which further inflamed the situation. Chairman of the State Duma M.V. Rodzianko sent a number of telegrams to Emperor Nicholas II about the events in Petrograd. This telegram was received at Headquarters on February 26, 1917 at 10 p.m. 40 min.

I most humbly inform Your Majesty that the popular unrest that began in Petrograd is becoming spontaneous and of threatening proportions. Their foundations are the lack of baked bread and the weak supply of flour, inspiring panic, but mainly complete distrust in the authorities, which are unable to lead the country out of a difficult situation.

The civil war has begun and is flaring up. ...There is no hope for the garrison troops. The reserve battalions of the guards regiments are in revolt... Order the legislative chambers to be reconvened to repeal your highest decree... If the movement spreads to the army... the collapse of Russia, and with it the dynasty, is inevitable.

Abdication, exile and execution

Abdication of the throne by Emperor Nicholas II. March 2, 1917 Typescript. 35 x 22. In the lower right corner is the signature of Nicholas II in pencil: Nikolay; in the lower left corner in black ink over a pencil there is an attestation inscription in the hand of V. B. Frederiks: Minister of the Imperial Household, Adjutant General Count Fredericks."

After the outbreak of unrest in the capital, the tsar on the morning of February 26, 1917 ordered General S.S. Khabalov to “stop the unrest, which is unacceptable in difficult times of war.” Having sent General N.I. Ivanov to Petrograd on February 27

to suppress the uprising, Nicholas II left for Tsarskoye Selo on the evening of February 28, but was unable to travel and, having lost contact with Headquarters, on March 1 arrived in Pskov, where the headquarters of the armies of the Northern Front of General N.V. Ruzsky was located, at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon he made a decision about abdication in favor of his son during the regency of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, in the evening of the same day he announced to the arriving A.I. Guchkov and V.V. Shulgin about the decision to abdicate for his son. On March 2 at 23:40 he handed over to Guchkov the Manifesto of Abdication, in which he wrote: “ We command our brother to rule over the affairs of the state in complete and inviolable unity with the representatives of the people».

The personal property of the Romanov family was looted.

After death

Glorification among the saints

Decision of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church dated August 20, 2000: “To glorify the Royal Family as passion-bearers in the host of new martyrs and confessors of Russia: Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra, Tsarevich Alexy, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia.” .

The act of canonization was received ambiguously by Russian society: opponents of canonization claim that the canonization of Nicholas II is of a political nature. .

Rehabilitation

Philatelic collection of Nicholas II

Some memoir sources provide evidence that Nicholas II “sinned with postage stamps,” although this hobby was not as strong as photography. On February 21, 1913, at a celebration in the Winter Palace in honor of the anniversary of the House of Romanov, the head of the Main Directorate of Posts and Telegraphs, Actual State Councilor M.P. Sevastyanov, presented Nicholas II with albums in morocco bindings with proof proofs and essays of stamps from the commemorative series published in 300 as a gift. -anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. It was a collection of materials related to the preparation of the series, which was carried out over almost ten years - from 1912. Nicholas II valued this gift very much. It is known that this collection accompanied him among the most valuable family heirlooms in exile, first in Tobolsk, and then in Yekaterinburg, and was with him until his death.

After the death of the royal family, the most valuable part of the collection was plundered, and the remaining half was sold to a certain English army officer stationed in Siberia as part of the Entente troops. He then took her to Riga. Here this part of the collection was acquired by philatelist Georg Jaeger, who put it up for sale at auction in New York in 1926. In 1930, it was again put up for auction in London, and the famous collector of Russian stamps, Goss, became its owner. Obviously, it was Goss who significantly replenished it by buying missing materials at auctions and from private individuals. The 1958 auction catalog described the Goss collection as “a magnificent and unique collection of proofs, prints and essays... from the collection of Nicholas II.”

By order of Nicholas II, the Women's Alekseevskaya Gymnasium, now the Slavic Gymnasium, was founded in the city of Bobruisk

see also

• Family of Nicholas II

fiction:

• E. Radzinsky. Nicholas II: life and death.
• R. Massey. Nikolai and Alexandra.

Illustrations

Portrait of Emperor Nicholas II by Ernst Liphart. 1896	Portrait of Nicholas II by Ilya Galkin. 1898.
The Tsar on a gold five-ruble coin. 1899.	Diary of Emperor Nicholas II for 1895-1896.

Years of life: 1868-1818
Reign: 1894-1917

Born May 6 (19 old style) 1868 in Tsarskoe Selo. Russian emperor who reigned from October 21 (November 2), 1894 to March 2 (March 15), 1917. Belonged to the Romanov dynasty, was the son and successor.

From birth he had the title - His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke. In 1881, he received the title of Heir to Tsarevich, after the death of his grandfather, Emperor.

Title of Emperor Nicholas 2

Full title of the emperor from 1894 to 1917: “By God's favor, We, Nicholas II (Church Slavonic form in some manifestos - Nicholas II), Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod; Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Chersonese Tauride, Tsar of Georgia; Sovereign of Pskov and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuania, Volyn, Podolsk and Finland; Prince of Estland, Livonia, Courland and Semigal, Samogit, Bialystok, Korel, Tver, Yugorsk, Perm, Vyatka, Bulgarian and others; Sovereign and Grand Duke of Novagorod of the Nizovsky lands, Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Belozersky, Udorsky, Obdorsky, Kondiysky, Vitebsk, Mstislavsky and all northern countries Sovereign; and Sovereign of Iversk, Kartalinsky and Kabardian lands and regions of Armenia; Cherkasy and Mountain Princes and other Hereditary Sovereign and Possessor, Sovereign of Turkestan; Heir of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Ditmarsen and Oldenburg, and so on, and so on, and so on.”

Peak economic development Russia and at the same time growth
revolutionary movement, which resulted in the revolutions of 1905-1907 and 1917, fell precisely on years of reign of Nicholas 2. Foreign policy at that time was aimed at Russia's participation in blocs of European powers, the contradictions that arose between them became one of the reasons for the outbreak of war with Japan and World War I war.

After the events February Revolution 1917 Nicholas II abdicated the throne, and a period of civil war soon began in Russia. The Provisional Government sent him to Siberia, then to the Urals. Together with his family, he was shot in Yekaterinburg in 1918.

Contemporaries and historians characterize the personality of the last king contradictory; Most of them believed that his strategic abilities in the conduct of public affairs were not successful enough to change the political situation at that time for the better.

After the revolution of 1917, he began to be called Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov (before that, the surname “Romanov” was not indicated by members of the imperial family, the titles indicated the family affiliation: emperor, empress, grand duke, crown prince).
With the nickname Bloody, which the opposition gave him, he appeared in Soviet historiography.

Biography of Nicholas 2

He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Feodorovna and Emperor Alexander III.

In 1885-1890 received home education as part of a gymnasium course in special program, which combined the course of the Academy of the General Staff and the Faculty of Law of the university. Training and education took place under the personal supervision of Alexander the Third with a traditional religious basis.

Most often he lived with his family in the Alexander Palace. And he preferred to relax in the Livadia Palace in Crimea. For annual trips to the Baltic and Finnish Seas he had at his disposal the yacht “Standart”.

At the age of 9 he began keeping a diary. The archive contains 50 thick notebooks for the years 1882-1918. Some of them have been published.

He was interested in photography and liked watching movies. I read both serious works, especially on historical topics, and entertaining literature. I smoked cigarettes with tobacco specially grown in Turkey (a gift from the Turkish Sultan).

On November 14, 1894, a significant event took place in the life of the heir to the throne - the marriage with the German Princess Alice of Hesse, who after the baptismal ceremony took the name Alexandra Fedorovna. They had 4 daughters - Olga (November 3, 1895), Tatyana (May 29, 1897), Maria (June 14, 1899) and Anastasia (June 5, 1901). And the long-awaited fifth child became on July 30 (August 12), 1904 The only son- Tsarevich Alexei.

Coronation of Nicholas 2

On May 14 (26), 1896, the coronation of the new emperor took place. In 1896 he
traveled around Europe, where he met with Queen Victoria (his wife's grandmother), William II, and Franz Joseph. The final stage of the trip was a visit to the capital of the allied France.

His first personnel changes were the dismissal of the Governor-General of the Kingdom of Poland, Gurko I.V. and the appointment of A.B. Lobanov-Rostovsky as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
And the first big one international action became the so-called Triple Intervention.
Having made huge concessions to the opposition at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, Nicholas II attempted to unite Russian society against external enemies. In the summer of 1916, after the situation at the front had stabilized, the Duma opposition united with the general conspirators and decided to take advantage of the created situation to overthrow the Tsar.

They even named the date February 12-13, 1917, as the day the emperor abdicated the throne. It was said that a “great act” would take place - the sovereign would abdicate the throne, and the heir, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, would be appointed as the future emperor, and Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich would become the regent.

In Petrograd, on February 23, 1917, a strike began, which became general three days later. On the morning of February 27, 1917, soldier uprisings took place in Petrograd and Moscow, as well as their unification with the strikers.

The situation became tense after the announcement of the emperor's manifesto on February 25, 1917 to terminate the meeting of the State Duma.

On February 26, 1917, the Tsar gave an order to General Khabalov “to stop the unrest, which is unacceptable in difficult times of war.” General N.I. Ivanov was sent on February 27 to Petrograd to suppress the uprising.

On the evening of February 28, he headed to Tsarskoe Selo, but was unable to get through and, due to the loss of contact with Headquarters, he arrived in Pskov on March 1, where the headquarters of the armies of the Northern Front under the leadership of General Ruzsky was located.

Abdication of Nicholas 2 from the throne

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the emperor decided to abdicate the throne in favor of the crown prince during the regency of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, and in the evening of the same day he announced to V.V. Shulgin and A.I. Guchkov about the decision to abdicate the throne for his son. March 2, 1917 at 11:40 p.m. he handed over to Guchkov A.I. Manifesto of renunciation, where he wrote: “We command our brother to rule over the affairs of the state in complete and inviolable unity with the representatives of the people.”

Nicholas 2 and his relatives lived under arrest in the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo from March 9 to August 14, 1917.
In connection with the strengthening of the revolutionary movement in Petrograd, the Provisional Government decided to transfer the royal prisoners deep into Russia, fearing for their lives. After much debate, Tobolsk was chosen as the city of settlement for the former emperor and his relatives. They were allowed to take personal belongings and necessary furniture with them and offer service personnel to voluntarily accompany them to the place of their new settlement.

On the eve of his departure, A.F. Kerensky (head of the Provisional Government) brought the brother of the former tsar, Mikhail Alexandrovich. Mikhail was soon exiled to Perm and on the night of June 13, 1918 he was killed by the Bolshevik authorities.
On August 14, 1917, a train departed from Tsarskoe Selo under the sign “Japanese Red Cross Mission” with members of the former imperial family. He was accompanied by a second squad, which included guards (7 officers, 337 soldiers).
The trains arrived in Tyumen on August 17, 1917, after which those arrested were taken to Tobolsk on three ships. The Romanovs were accommodated in the governor's house, specially renovated for their arrival. They were allowed to attend services at the local Church of the Annunciation. The protection regime for the Romanov family in Tobolsk was much easier than in Tsarskoe Selo. They led a measured, calm life.

Permission from the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the fourth convocation to transfer Romanov and his family members to Moscow for the purpose of trial was received in April 1918.
On April 22, 1918, a column with machine guns of 150 people left Tobolsk for Tyumen. On April 30, the train arrived in Yekaterinburg from Tyumen. To house the Romanovs, a house that belonged to mining engineer Ipatiev was requisitioned. The service staff also lived in the same house: cook Kharitonov, doctor Botkin, room girl Demidova, footman Trupp and cook Sednev.

The fate of Nicholas 2 and his family

To resolve the issue of future fate Imperial family at the beginning of July 1918, military commissar F. Goloshchekin urgently left for Moscow. The All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars authorized the execution of all the Romanovs. After this, on July 12, 1918, based on the decision made, the Ural Council of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies at a meeting decided to execute the royal family.

On the night of July 16-17, 1918 in Yekaterinburg, in the Ipatiev mansion, the so-called “House of Special Purpose,” the former Emperor of Russia, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, their children, Doctor Botkin and three servants (except for the cook) were shot.

The Romanovs' personal property was plundered.
All members of his family were canonized by the Catacomb Church in 1928.
In 1981, the last Tsar of Russia was canonized by the Orthodox Church abroad, and in Russia the Orthodox Church canonized him as a passion-bearer only 19 years later, in 2000.

In accordance with the decision of August 20, 2000 of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, the last Emperor of Russia, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, princesses Maria, Anastasia, Olga, Tatiana, Tsarevich Alexei were canonized as holy new martyrs and confessors of Russia, revealed and unmanifested.

This decision was received ambiguously by society and was criticized. Some opponents of canonization believe that attribution Tsar Nicholas 2 sainthood is most likely of a political nature.

The result of all the events related to the fate of the former royal family was the appeal of Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna Romanova, head of the Russian Imperial House in Madrid, to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation in December 2005, demanding the rehabilitation of the royal family, executed in 1918.

October 1, 2008 Presidium Supreme Court The Russian Federation (Russian Federation) decided to recognize the last Russian emperor and members of the royal family as victims of illegal political repression and rehabilitated them.