Tsar Nicholas II Essay

1050 Words3 Pages

Tsar Nicholas II was a leader that possessed no competency to be the ruler of Russia. Unwilling, unprepared and easily influenced, his rule was the catalyst of the decline and fall of the tsarist system. His weak leadership, which was a combination of his upbringing, the ideas of Russia at the time and his ignorance effectively ended not only the Romanov dynasty, but also his life.

The foundation of the factors that brought upon the end of the tsarist system lie in the upbringing of Tsar Nicholas II. Nicholas was brought up on the belief that autocracy was what was best for Russia and to be ruler was to be ordained by God, “The Russian Tsars are the masters whom God has willed to bestow on Holy Russia in their boundless immensity.” (Mossolov,
The influences that people had on him such as his wife, Alexandra and Rasputin were detrimental to the end of centuries of imperial rule. Alexandra was a strong believer in autocratic power and urged him to resist demands for political reform and she turned him against few men who could offer him sensible advice. Rasputin would also tell Nicholas that he must not concede any of his powers. By the influence on the Tsar, Rasputin and Alexandra interfered in government matters which further decreased support in Nicholas. “The growing influence of Gregory Rasputin over the Romanov’s did a great deal to damage the royal family” (Historian, Chris Trueman). Rasputin’s reputation, along with his meddling in the government had Nicholas losing the last of the support he had as an autocrat (picture on the right depicts his control/influence over the Tsar and Tsarina). But Nicholas depended on others and their advice because he refused to face the political realities, unfortunately he looked to Rasputin and his wife. This played a huge part in the fall of the Romanov Dynasty. The cumulative effect of the events mentioned before as well as the damaging influences on the Tsar resulted in the revolution that ended tsarist rule in

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