Nicholas: The Importance Of The Last Tsar In Russia

Generally referred to as the 'Last Tsar', his short but significant reign ushered in a revolutionary political system that would change the world. He claimed his throne unprepared after the sudden death of his father "Alexander III". His father rarely taught him the things necessary to control an empire as big as Russia and shortly after this, the country quickly fell into turmoil. Many unfortunate incidents occurred during his rule, the first one being at his corronation in Moscow (1895), where a number of people (the number itself is disputed and ranges from several hundred to several thousand) were trampled to death in a huge field whilst rushing forward in order to receive presents from the new Emperor. Nicholas, after hearing of the catastrophe, wished to cancel all previous engagements and festivities, but was persuaded to continue with them thanks to the convincing of relatives and advisors. This was generally seen as a bad omen by many and showed that Nicholas' advisors and other's opinions had a great effect on him, due to his uncertainty with being a Tsar. One of his main advisor's, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, usually gave advice that would instead suit his intrests more than that of his cousin. An ill-concieved war with
In addition to this, domestic issues such as the assaination of his Grandfather, Alexander II, by revolutonaries, even though he had done much to improve the situation in his country added to the problems Nicholas was facing. The revolutionaries were bent not on achieving power through the existing regime, but by toppling it altogether. As a young man, Nicholas, with his family, had survived an assassination attempt by a bomb on a train in 1888. Defeat by Japan emboldened the internal opponents of his regime, unleashing the Russian Revolution of 1905, during which organized strikes and local uprisings forced Nicholas to concede to an indirectly-elected national parliament