“To correctly understand Tsar Nicholas II, you must be Orthodox. Emperor Nicholas II

Biography of Emperor Nicholas II from birth and adolescence to the heir to the throne last days life.

Nicholas II (May 6 (19), 1868, Tsarskoe Selo - July 17, 1918, Yekaterinburg), Russian Emperor (1894-1917), eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna, honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1876).

His reign coincided with the rapid industrial and economic development of the country. Under Nicholas II, Russia was defeated in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, which was one of the reasons for the Revolution of 1905-1907, during which the Manifesto of October 17, 1905 was adopted, which allowed the creation of political parties and established the State Duma; The Stolypin agrarian reform began to be implemented. In 1907, Russia became a member of the Entente, as part of which it entered the First World War. Since August (September 5), 1915, Supreme Commander-in-Chief. During the February Revolution of 1917, on March 2 (15), he abdicated the throne. Shot along with his family. In 2000 he was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Nikolai's regular homework began when he was 8 years old. Training program included an eight-year general education course and a five-year course in higher sciences. It was based on a modified classical gymnasium program; Instead of Latin and Greek, mineralogy, botany, zoology, anatomy and physiology were studied. Courses in history, Russian literature and foreign languages ​​were expanded. Cycle higher education included political economy, law and military affairs (military jurisprudence, strategy, military geography, service of the General Staff). Classes in vaulting, fencing, drawing, and music were also conducted. Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna themselves selected teachers and mentors. Among them were scientists, statesmen and military figures: K. P. Pobedonostsev, N. Kh. Bunge, M. I. Dragomirov, N. N. Obruchev, A. R. Drenteln, N. K. Girs.

From an early age, Nicholas 2 had a passion for military affairs: he knew the traditions of the officer environment and military regulations perfectly, in relation to the soldiers he felt like a patron-mentor and did not shy away from communicating with them, resignedly endured the inconveniences of army everyday life at camp gatherings or maneuvers.

Immediately after his birth, he was enrolled in the lists of several guards regiments and appointed chief of the 65th Moscow Infantry Regiment. At the age of five he was appointed chief of the Life Guards of the Reserve Infantry Regiment, and in 1875 he was enlisted in the Erivan Life Guards Regiment. In December 1875 he received his first military rank - ensign, and in 1880 he was promoted to second lieutenant, and 4 years later he became a lieutenant.

In 1884, Nikolai entered active military service, in July 1887 he began regular military service in the Preobrazhensky Regiment and was promoted to staff captain; in 1891, Nicholas 2 received the rank of captain, and a year later - colonel.

On October 20, 1894, Nicholas, at the age of 26, accepted the crown in Moscow under the name of Nicholas II. On May 18, 1896, during the coronation celebrations, tragic events occurred on the Khodynskoye field. His reign occurred during a period of sharp aggravation of the political struggle in the country, as well as the foreign policy situation (Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905; Bloody Sunday; Revolution of 1905-1907 in Russia; World War I; February Revolution of 1917).

During the reign of Nicholas 2, Russia turned into an agrarian-industrial country, cities grew, railways were built, industrial enterprises. Nikolai supported decisions aimed at the economic and social modernization of the country: the introduction of gold circulation of the ruble, the Stolypin agrarian reform, laws on workers' insurance, universal primary education, religious tolerance.

Not being a reformer by nature, Nicholas II was forced to make important decisions that did not correspond to his inner convictions. He believed that in Russia the time had not yet come for a constitution, freedom of speech, and universal suffrage. However, when a strong social movement in favor of political change arose, he signed the Manifesto on October 17, 1905, proclaiming democratic freedoms.
In 1906, the State Duma, established by the Tsar's manifesto, began to work. For the first time in Russian history, the emperor began to rule with a representative body elected by the population. Russia gradually began to transform into a constitutional monarchy. But despite this, the emperor still had enormous power functions: he had the right to issue laws (in the form of decrees); appoint a prime minister and ministers accountable only to him; determine the course of foreign policy; was the head of the army, court and earthly patron of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The personality of Nicholas II, the main traits of his character, advantages and disadvantages caused conflicting assessments of his contemporaries. Many noted “weak will” as the dominant feature of his personality, although there is a lot of evidence that the tsar was distinguished by a persistent desire to implement his intentions, often reaching the point of stubbornness (only once was someone else’s will imposed on him - the Manifesto of October 17). Unlike his father Alexander III, Nicholas 2 did not give the impression of a strong personality. At the same time, according to the reviews of people who knew him closely, he had exceptional self-control, which was sometimes perceived as indifference to the fate of the country and people (for example, he met the news of the fall of Port Arthur or the defeats of the Russian army during the First World War with composure, striking the royal entourage). In dealing with state affairs, the tsar showed “extraordinary perseverance” and accuracy (he, for example, never had a personal secretary and himself stamped letters), although in general the rule of a huge empire was a “heavy burden” for him. Contemporaries noted that Nicholas II had a tenacious memory, keen powers of observation, and was a modest, friendly and sensitive person. At the same time, most of all he valued his peace, habits, health and especially the well-being of his family.

Nicholas's support was his family. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (nee Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt) was not only a wife for the Tsar, but also a friend and adviser. The habits, ideas and cultural interests of the spouses largely coincided. They got married on November 14, 1894. They had five children: Olga (1895-1918), Tatiana (1897-1918), Maria (1899-1918), Anastasia (1901-1918) and Alexey (1904-1918).
The fatal drama of the royal family was associated with the incurable illness of their son, Tsarevich Alexei - hemophilia (incoagulability of blood). The illness of the heir to the throne led to the appearance in the royal house of Grigory Rasputin, who, even before meeting the crowned crown bearers, became famous for his gift of foresight and healing; He repeatedly helped Tsarevich Alexei overcome attacks of illness.
The turning point in the fate of Nicholas 2 was 1914 - the beginning of the First World War. The tsar did not want war and until the very last moment tried to avoid a bloody conflict. However, on July 19 (August 1), 1914, Germany declared war on Russia.

In August (September 5), 1915, during a period of military failures, Nicholas 2 assumed military command (previously, this position was held by Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich). Now the tsar visited the capital only occasionally, and spent most of his time at the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in Mogilev.

The war exacerbated the country's internal problems. The tsar and his entourage began to be held primarily responsible for military failures and the protracted military campaign. Allegations spread that there was “treason in the government.” At the beginning of 1917, the high military command led by the Tsar (together with allies - England and France) prepared a plan for a general offensive, according to which it was planned to end the war by the summer of 1917.

At the end of February 1917, unrest began in Petrograd, which, without encountering serious opposition from the authorities, a few days later grew into mass protests against the government and the dynasty. Initially, the tsar intended to restore order in Petrograd by force, but when the scale of the unrest became clear, he abandoned this idea, fearing much bloodshed. Some high-ranking military officials, members of the imperial retinue and politicians convinced the king that to pacify the country a change of government was required, his abdication from the throne was necessary. On March 2, 1917, in Pskov, in the lounge carriage of the imperial train, after painful thoughts, Nicholas signed an act of abdication, transferring power to his brother Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich.

On March 9, Nicholas 2 and the royal family were arrested. For the first five months they were under guard in Tsarskoe Selo, in August 1917 they were transported to Tobolsk. In April 1918, the Bolsheviks transferred the Romanovs to Yekaterinburg. On the night of July 17, 1918, in the center of Yekaterinburg, in the basement of the Ipatiev house, where the prisoners were imprisoned, Nicholas, the queen, five of their children and several close associates (11 people in total) were summarily shot.

Birth and youth of Nicholas II. Nikolai Alexandrovich - Grand Duke

Tsar Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov was born on May 6/19, 1868, into the family of Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich and His wife Maria Fedorovna, the first-born was born, for whom no one predicted an early reign. For the boy's grandfather - the fifty-year-old Russian Emperor Alexander the Second - was a strong, healthy man, whose reign could last decades, and his father - the future Russian Emperor Alexander the Third - was a young man, twenty-three years old. The following entry was preserved in the diary of Alexander the Third: “God sent us a son, whom We named Nicholas. What kind of joy there was, it’s impossible to imagine. I rushed to hug my darling wife, who at once cheered up and was terribly happy. I cried like a child, and my soul was so light and pleasant... and then Ya. G. Bazhanov came to read prayers, and I held My little Nikolai in my arms.” (Oleg Platonov. Conspiracy of the Regicides. P. 85-86.)
Let us note that Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich does not know the prophecies of the Monk Abel, neither about His fate, nor about the fate of His son, for they are sealed and are in the Gatchina Palace. But He names His firstborn son Nicholas. For this obedience to His heart, the Lord endows the Tsarevich with joy that “cannot be imagined,” gives tears of joy, and His soul “felt light and pleasant”!

Birth on the day of Job the Long-Suffering

The birth of the future Tsar Nicholas II took place at 14.30 in the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoe Selo on the day when the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of Saint Job the Long-Suffering. Both Nikolai Alexandrovich Himself and many of those around Him attached great importance to this coincidence as a harbinger of terrible trials.
“Truly,” St. John Chrysostom wrote about the righteous Job, “there is no human misfortune that this man, harder than any adamant, would not endure, who suddenly experienced hunger, and poverty, and illness, and the loss of children, and the deprivation of such wealth; and then, having experienced treachery from his wife [from his neighbors], insults from friends, attacks from slaves. In everything he turned out to be harder than any stone, and, moreover, to law and grace." According to the teachings of the Church, Saint Job is a prototype of the suffering Redeemer of the world.” For all his sufferings were not because of his sins; the words have nothing to do with him: those who shouted wickedness and sowed evil reaped it; they perish by the breath of God and disappear by the spirit of His wrath (Job 4:8-9).
To his friends, who told him: how can a man be right before God, and how can one born of a woman be pure? (Job 25:4) - and many other similar things, Saint Job answered: what do your accusations prove? Are you making up diatribes? You are throwing your words into the wind (Job 6:25-26). As God lives, who has deprived me of judgment, and the Almighty, who has grieved my soul, so that while my breath is still in me and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my mouth will not speak unrighteousness, and my tongue will not utter a lie! I am far from recognizing you as fair; Until I die, I will not yield to my integrity (Job 27:2-5).
And the Lord, summing up the denunciations of the “pious” friends, said to one of those who accused the righteous Job: My anger burns against you and against your two friends because you did not speak about Me as truly as My servant Job (Job 42:7 ). If it were not for his sake, I would have destroyed you (Iov. 42:8). That is, you were pardoned for the sake of his prayers, for you his prayers are saving. And the accusers of their wrong faith went and did as the Lord commanded them, and the Lord (Job 42:9) forgave their sins for Job’s sake (Job 42:9). And the Lord restored Job’s loss when he prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before (Job 42:10). Here we see that God’s plan included the most difficult temptations of the righteous Job and the holy Tsar Nicholas II, including from relatives and friends, and the prayer of the tempted for those who tempted them. And in the case of Saint Nicholas II, the Lord God intended prayer for the entire Russian people, who, having broken the vow given to God in 1613 to faithfully serve the legitimate Tsars from the Reigning House of Romanov, committed the sin of perjury. Abel the Seer directly predicted this: “The people are between fire and flame... But they will not be destroyed from the face of the earth, as the prayer of the martyred King is sufficient for them!”

The character of Emperor Alexander Alexandrovich the Third is based on truth, honesty and directness.

“Nicholas’ father, Tsarevich Alexander, was a truly Russian man in both soul and appearance, a deeply religious, caring husband and father. With His life, He set an example for those around Him: He was unpretentious in everyday life, wore clothes almost full of holes, and did not like luxury. Alexander was distinguished by physical strength and strength of character, most of all he loved the truth, calmly thought through every matter, was remarkably easy to use, and generally preferred everything Russian.” (Oleg Platonov. Conspiracy of the Regicides. P. 86).
“In addition to general and special military education, Tsarevich Alexander was presented with political and legal sciences. After the premature death of His dearly beloved elder brother, the Sovereign Heir Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich (April 12, 1865), hotly mourned by the August family and the entire Russian people, His Imperial Highness Alexander Alexandrovich, having become the Heir Tsarevich, began to continue both theoretical studies and implementation many responsibilities state affairs, entrusted to Him. As ataman of the Cossack troops, chancellor of the University of Helsingfors, head of successively various military units (including the command of the district troops), member of the State Council, His Imperial Highness was involved in all areas of government. The travels undertaken throughout Russia strengthened the seeds of deep love for everything truly Russian and historical that had been buried since childhood.
During the last Eastern War with Turkey (1877-1878), His Highness was appointed commander of the Rushunsky detachment, which played, tactically, both an important and difficult role in this campaign, glorious for the Russian name.” (Encyclopedia of the Russian Monarchy, edited by V. Butromeev. U-Factoria. Yekaterinburg, 2002).
“Alexander the Third became Emperor at thirty-six years old. For 16 of these years He was Tsarevich, preparing, in the words of his father, “to intercede for me every minute.” By this age, even ordinary average person enters the period of maturity. The Emperor differed from any of His subjects in that on His shoulders lay a huge responsibility before the country and people, for which He was answerable only to God and Himself. Such a heavy burden could not but affect the formation of the Heir’s worldview, His actions, and attitude towards others.

A capacious psychological portrait of Alexander III of that period was recreated many years later by Prince V.P. Meshchersky: “The Emperor was then 36 years old. But He was undoubtedly older in spiritual age in the sense of life experience. This temper was greatly facilitated by His life as the leader of the Rushchuk detachment during the war, where, separated from his family in constant concentration, He experienced all impressions alone in front of Himself, and then His also lonely political life after the war in those difficult years 79, 80 and 81st, when, again, in Himself He had to conceal so many difficult impressions from the heard role of spectator and participant in the course of internal politics, where His voice of straightforwardness and common sense did not always have the power to carry out what He considered necessary, and interfere with what He recognized as harmful...
Three main characteristics were firmly at the core of His character: truth, honesty and integrity. I will not be mistaken if I say that it was precisely thanks to these three main features of His spiritual personality, which made it truly beautiful, that disappointment began to penetrate His soul even when it was very young...
But this disappointment... did not influence His spiritual personality enough to arm Him against people with the armor of fundamental distrust or implant the beginnings of apathy in His soul...” “.
“A kind and caring, but at the same time domineering and intolerant of any contradiction father in the family, the Emperor transferred this patriarchal-fatherly attitude to His huge country. [Which many of His entourage, damaged by Western freethinking, did not like.] None of the Romanovs, according to contemporaries, corresponded to such an extent with the traditional popular idea of ​​the real Russian Tsar as Alexander the Third. A mighty brown-bearded giant, towering above any crowd, He seemed to be the embodiment of the strength and dignity of Russia. Alexander III’s commitment to domestic traditions and interests greatly contributed to His popularity [among the Russian people and the fierce hatred of the enemies of God, the enemies of His Anointed One and the enemies of the Russian people].” “As a politician and statesman, the father of Nicholas II showed a strong will in implementing the decisions made (a trait that, as we will see later, His son inherited).
The essence of the policy of Alexander the Third (the continuation of which was the policy of Nicholas the Second) can be characterized as the preservation and development of Russian foundations, traditions and ideals. Assessing the reign of Emperor Alexander III, the Russian historian V. O. Klyuchevsky wrote: " Science will give Emperor Alexander III his rightful place not only in the history of Russia and the entire country, but also in Russian historiography, will say that He won a victory in the area where victories are most difficult to achieve, defeated the prejudice of peoples and thereby contributed to their rapprochement, conquered the public conscience in the name of peace and truth, increased the amount of good in the moral circulation of humanity, encouraged and raised Russian historical thought, Russian national self-awareness." ...
Alexander the Third had great physical strength. Once, during a train accident, He managed to hold on to the falling roof of the carriage for some time until His wife and children were safe.
».
You and I will remember the prophecy of the Monk Abel about Emperor Alexander the Third, told to Emperor Paul the First, which the Emperor Himself did not know: “Your great-grandson, Alexander the Third, is the true Peacemaker. Glorious will be His reign. He will besiege the accursed sedition, He will bring peace and order. But he will only reign for a short time.” “There is an opinion that the king is played by his retinue. The personality of Alexander the Third completely contradicts this established measure of the merits of statesmen. [And it’s clear why: the king may be played by his retinue, but the Anointed One is “played” by the Lord God Himself!]
There were no favorites in the Emperor's entourage. He was the sole master and director, determining...[the rules for preparing His subjects for life in the Kingdom of Heaven] on one sixth of the world's landmass, in His, Alexander the Third, Russian Empire. Even such outstanding statesmen as S. Yu. Witte, K. P. Pobedonostsev, D. A. Tolstoy could not claim exclusivity, a special place at the Court or the government - here everything was decided by one person - Autocrat of All-Russia Alexander III Alexandrovich Romanov . Emperor Alexander the Third sought to set by personal example a model of behavior that he considered true and correct for each of His subjects. The basis of His ethical standards of behavior, His entire worldview came from deep religiosity. It is unlikely that any of the twelve predecessors of Alexander III on the Russian Imperial throne was more devout and sincerely religious. [At the same time, one should still remember that all legitimate Kings - the Anointed of God, being the Incarnate Name of God - are always sincere believers and the most devout Christians, for the Lord God Himself chose Them to shepherd His people, Jacob, and the earthly Church - His inheritance, Israel, and the Lord Himself helps Them to do this in the purity of His heart and to lead them with wise hands (Ps. 77:71-72).]
The faith of Emperor Alexander III - pure and free from dogmatism [more precisely: from inertia and fanaticism] - explained both the divine choice of the Russian Autocracy and the special Russian path that His power should follow. For Alexander III, believing was as natural as breathing. He scrupulously observed Orthodox rituals, whether fasting or divine services, and regularly visited St. Isaac's and Peter and Paul Cathedrals, the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and palace churches.
Not all clergy could boast of such knowledge of the intricacies of the complex church Orthodox rite as the Russian Emperor sometimes showed. ...The faith of Alexander the Third was combined with a sober, rational mind that did not tolerate sectarianism or obscurantism. The emperor watched with undisguised skepticism the attempts of some hierarchs to strengthen their political influence.
[Any Orthodox hierarch (from bishop to metropolitan and patriarch) is a monk who has renounced this world; being a clergyman, any bishop has the power from God only to shepherd spiritually, without dominating the inheritance of God (1 Peter 5:3). And therefore, even the patriarch (as we remember, the ruling bishop of the city of Moscow) does not have any lordly power and cannot interfere in the decisions of worldly affairs, and, therefore, no bishop can have any political influence on life in the Orthodox Kingdom.]
When the Kiev Metropolitan Philotheus, deciding to be like John Chrysostom, gave the Emperor a note in which he reproached Him [the Anointed One!] for distancing himself from the people, Alexander the Third only shrugged his shoulders and offered to examine the Bishop’s mental abilities. [Or maybe it is necessary to check the mental abilities of those who came up with the idea of ​​calling the Orthodox ruling bishop of the city of Moscow “Great Lord and Our Father of all Russia” instead of the canonical “Holy Patriarch”, and those who, instead of praying for the coming victorious Tsar, at every service he repeatedly offers “prayers” (in reproach of himself!) for the “Great Master...”. After all, a sick person, deprived of intelligence by God, will not be judged at the Last Judgment as a papist heretic!] A deeply religious Orthodox man, Emperor Alexander the Third professed Christian norms not only when solving state problems, but also in private life.” (Unknown Alexander the Third. pp. 197-198).

“I need normal, healthy Russian children”

There were five children in the family - Nikolai (the eldest), Georgy, Ksenia, Mikhail and Olga. The father taught his children to sleep on simple soldier's beds with hard pillows, to douse themselves with cold water in the morning, and to eat simple porridge for breakfast. Nikolai's first, of course unconscious, acquaintance with ordinary Russian people took place through his wet nurse. Mothers were chosen from Russian peasant families and, at the end of their mission, went back to their native villages, but had the right to come to the palace, firstly, on the day of the Angel of their pet, and secondly, on Easter and for the Christmas tree, on Christmas day.
During these meetings, teenagers talked with their mothers, absorbing into their consciousness the popular expressions of Russian speech. As rightly noted, “with the incredible mixture of blood in the Royal Family, these mothers were, so to speak, a precious reservoir of Russian blood, which poured into the veins of the Romanov House in the form of milk and without which it would have been very difficult to sit on the Russian Throne. All the Romanovs who had Russian mothers spoke Russian with a touch of common folk. That’s what (Nicholas’ father) Alexander the Third said. If He didn’t take care of himself, then in His intonations... there was something of Varlamov’s boomingness.”
From 1876 until the age of ten, Nikolai’s teacher was Alexandra Petrovna Ollengren (nee Okoshnikova), the daughter of an admiral, Knight of St. George, and the widow of a Russian officer of Swedish origin. Nicholas’s first teacher was tasked with teaching Him basic Russian literacy, basic prayers, and arithmetic.
The dialogue that took place between Nikolai’s father and his first teacher is very characteristic (I present it briefly):
“They give you two boys, who are too early to think about the Throne, who you need not to let go of and not give in to. Keep in mind that neither I nor the Grand Duchess want to turn Them into greenhouse flowers. They should be naughty in moderation, play, study, pray well to God and not think about any thrones,” said Tsarevich Alexander.
- Your Highness! - Ollengren exclaimed. - But I still have little Vladimir.
- How old is he? - asked the Heir.
- Eighth year.
- Just the same age as Nika. “Let him be brought up together with My children,” said the Heir, “and you will not be separated, and Mine will have more fun.” Everyone is an extra boy.
- But he has character, Your Highness.
- What character?
- Pugnacious, Your Highness... [In the words of this Vladimir: “By the age of seven, I had developed into that type of street boy who in Paris is called “gaman.” ...My main concern was to achieve the title of “first strongman” on Pskovskaya Street [outskirts of St. Petersburg]. This title, as is known in boyish circles all over the globe, is developed in tireless battles and feats close to military ones. And so bruises and lanterns were, to my mother’s horror, permanent marks of my differences.” As we can see, behind the word “pugnacious” is really the character of the street “Daredevil” of the St. Petersburg outskirts.]
- It's nothing, honey. This is before the first deal. Mine are not heavenly angels either. There are two of them. With their united forces, They will quickly bring your hero to the Christian faith. Not made from sugar. Teach the boys well, don’t give them any concessions, enforce them to the fullest extent of the law, don’t encourage laziness in particular. If anything, address yourself directly to Me, and I know what to do. I repeat that I don’t need porcelain. I need normal, healthy Russian children. They'll fight, please. But the informer gets the first whip. This is My very first requirement. Do you understand me?
- Got it, Your Imperial Highness.
From childhood, the future Tsar Nicholas II cultivated in himself a deep religious feeling and genuine piety. The boy was not burdened by long church services, which were held strictly and solemnly in the palace. The child empathized with the torments of the Savior with all his soul and, with childish spontaneity, thought about how to help Him. The son A.P. Ollengren, who grew up with Nicholas, recalled, for example, how the ceremony of taking out the Shroud on Good Friday, solemn and mournful, struck Nicholas’s imagination. He became mournful and depressed all day and asked to tell how the evil high priests tortured the good Savior. [In March 1917, the high priests of the Russian Orthodox Church were in the forefront of those who betrayed the Anointed Tsar Nicholas II.] “His little eyes filled with tears, and He often said, clenching his fists: “Oh, I wasn’t there then, I would have shown them!” And at night, left alone in the bedchamber, the three of us (Nikolai, His brother George and Ollengren’s son Volodya. - O.P.) developed plans for the salvation of Christ. Nicholas II especially hated Pilate, who could have saved Him and did not. I remember that I was already dozing off when Nikolai came up to my bed and, crying, said mournfully: I feel sorry for God. Why did they hurt him so much? And I still can’t forget His big excited eyes.”
In his childhood and youth, Nicholas 2 slept on a narrow iron bed with a simple mattress. He spent a significant part of his time outdoors, playing sports. Even in the cold season, in order to harden his son, the Father insisted on walks. Active children's games and physical work in the garden were encouraged. Nikolai and the other children of Tsarevich Alexander often visited the poultry yard, greenhouse, farm, and worked in the menagerie. They were given birds, geese, rabbits, bear cubs, which They themselves looked after: they fed them, cleaned them. Birds constantly lived in the children's rooms - bullfinches, parrots, canaries, which the children took with them when they went to Gatchina in the summer.
During the years 1876-1879, Nikolai passed all the subjects in the program for admission to a secondary educational institution. To test Nikolai's knowledge, a special commission was assembled, which gave him an exam. The commission was very pleased with the success of the ten-year-old boy. To further continue the teaching of his son, Tsarevich Alexander invited Adjutant General G. G. Danilovich, who at his discretion chose teachers of the Law of God, the Russian language, mathematics, geography, history, French and German for Nicholas.

To be able to restrain yourself... to fulfill your duty... to love ordinary people... - the main traits of Tsarevich Nicholas

The child grew up quiet and thoughtful. From an early age, the main features of His character are already reflected in him, and - above all - self-control. “It happened, during a major quarrel with brothers or playmates,” says His teacher K.I. Heath, “Nikolai Alexandrovich, in order to refrain from a harsh word or movement, silently went into another room, took up a book and, only having calmed down, he returned to the offenders and took up the game again, as if nothing had happened.”
And another trait: a sense of duty. The boy studies his lessons diligently; He reads a lot, especially what concerns the life of the people. The love of His people... This is what He always dreams of. One day He reads with His teacher Heath one of the episodes from the history of England, which describes the entry of King John, who loved the common people, and whom the crowd greeted with enthusiastic cries: “Long live the king of the people!” The boy’s eyes sparkled, he blushed all over with excitement and exclaimed: “Oh, I would like to be like that!”
To be able to restrain yourself... to step away silently... to fulfill your duty... to love ordinary people... These traits of the boy reflect the whole of Emperor Nicholas II.
But by His character, a boy, and then a youth and a young man, is far from gloomy sadness; Even the flame of naive and carefree fun burns in Him, which, later, under the pressure of the heavy burden of power, worries and grief, will fade and occasionally only manifest itself in quiet humor, in a smile, in a good-natured joke
.

Used Books:

See the prophecy of St. Abel the Seer of Mysteries, section 2.1.
Tsar's collection. Compiled by S. and T. Fomin. Services. Akathists. Monthsword. Memorial. Prayers for the King. Coronation. From-Pilgrim. 2000. [below is the Tsar's collection.] P. 414.
Let us pay attention to the fact that on the icon of the holy Tsar-Redeemer Nicholas II, on the scroll that the Tsar holds in His hands, these are precisely these words.
The prophecy of St. Abel the Seer of Mysteries is given in section 2.1.
O. Barkovets, A. Krylov-Tolstikovich. Unknown Alexander the Third. RIPOL CLASSIC. M. 2002. [below - Unknown Alexander the Third.] P. 106-107.
Nikolai Romanov. Pages of life. Compiled by N. Yu. Shelaev and others. "Faces of Russia". SPb.2001. [below - Pages of life.] P. 8.
Oleg Platonov. Russia's crown of thorns. Nicholas II in secret correspondence. Spring. M. 1996. [below - O. Platonov. Nicholas II in secret correspondence.] pp. 10-11.
For this reason, not a single Orthodox clergyman (from a simple priest to the most holy patriarch) can bear the title of our Great Master and Father. If someone calls a clergyman the Great Master, then this someone loudly declares to the Lord and the coming victorious King that he is in the heresy of papism, just like the Catholics, who honor the Pope as the Great Master.
Compiled by R.S., a fragment of chapter 14 from Oleg Platonov’s book “Conspiracy of the Regicides” is given.
Surguchev I. Childhood of Emperor Nicholas II. Paris, b/g. pp. 138-139.
His brother Georgiy also studied with Nikolai.
Ilya Surguchev. The childhood of Emperor Nicholas II. A royal matter. St. Petersburg 1999. pp. 11-13.
Babkin Mikhail Anatolyevich - candidate historical sciences, senior lecturer at South Ural University state university. In the journals of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Questions of History” (No. 6 2003, No. 2-5 2004, No. 2 2005) and “Domestic History” (No. 3 2005). And also in the book “The Russian Clergy and the Overthrow of the Monarchy in 1917” (Materials and archival documents on the history of the Russian Orthodox Church. Indrik Publishing House. 2006) he published interesting documents “dedicated to the history of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) for the period from early March to mid-July 1917. From them one can get an idea of ​​the attitude of the clergy to the overthrow of the Monarchy in Russia, the establishment of the power of the Provisional Government and its activities.” But most importantly, these documents very effectively cure mild and moderate degrees of spiritual damage to Orthodox Christians by the heresy of papism!
Surguchev I. Childhood of Emperor Nicholas II. Paris, b/g. P. 108.
Compiled by R.S., a fragment of the 1st chapter from the book by I.P. Yakobiy “Emperor Nicholas II and the Revolution” is given.

After the murder of his grandfather, Nikolai Alexandrovich became the Heir to the Throne of the Russian Empire.

After several unsuccessful assassination attempts, Emperor (God's Anointed!!!) Alexander II, the dear and beloved grandfather of Nicholas II, was villainously killed. Alexander II (1818-1881), who went down in Russian history under the name of the Tsar-Liberator, was one of the most outstanding statesmen Russia of the XIX century.
The greatest act of His reign was the signing of the Manifesto on February 19, 1861 on the abolition of serfdom of some Orthodox Christians over others.

The question that arose during the reign of Boris Godunov, which weighed heavily on all the Tsars and Emperors from the Royal House of Romanov and before which all His predecessors hesitated, was resolved by Him.

The world's evil, through the hands of spiritually corrupt half-educated Russian intellectuals, responded to the liberation of God's chosen Russian people from serfdom with such a terrible crime - the murder of the Father of the great Russian people.

“The mysterious prediction of a fortune teller has come true, who once prophesied to Alexander the Second that He would survive seven attempts on His life. This tragedy became an important milestone in the development of Nikolai’s personality and character.”

The end of the serene childhood of Tsarevich Nicholas

But this was an important milestone for all humanity. And before, tsars and kings were publicly killed, but the Lord God allowed His Anointed Ones, due to the sins of His chosen Russian people, to be killed only secretly.
And although Emperor Paul the First was brutally killed (on the night of March 11 - on Sophronius of Jerusalem in 1801) by drunken “guards” officers, he was also drunk at night!

And then the artists spent the whole night making up what the world evil of English origin had created at the hands of drunken Russian traitors to God, the Tsar, and the Fatherland. The murder was declared a death from apoplexy, that is, from a rapidly developing hemorrhage in the brain, supposedly a natural death. So, “Nicholas’s serene childhood ended on March 1, 1881.

On this day, a thirteen-year-old boy was faced with a terrible crime that amazed Him with its monstrous cruelty - the murder of his grandfather, Emperor Alexander II, by political bandits. The criminals pelted the Emperor [the Anointed One!!!] with bombs, seriously wounding Him. Alexander II was brought to the Winter Palace bleeding, with his legs broken.” (Oleg Platonov. Conspiracy of the Regicides. P. 89).

You and I will remember the prophecy spoken to Emperor Paul the First by the Venerable Abel about Emperor Alexander the Second, which Alexander the Second Himself did not know: “Your grandson, Alexander the Second, was ordained to be the Tsar-Liberator. Your plan will be fulfilled: He will give freedom to the serfs, and after that He will beat the Turks and free the Slavs from the yoke of the infidel. The Jews will not forgive Him for his great deeds, they will begin to hunt for Him, they will kill Him in the middle of a clear day in the loyal capital with the hands of renegades. Like You, He will seal the feat of His service with Royal blood, and on the blood the Temple will be erected.”

It was Emperor Alexander II who turned the bedroom into the home’s “Temple on the Blood” where Emperor Paul the First was killed as a result of a conspiracy planned in the English embassy, ​​but at the hands of Russian officers who forgot their oaths to faithfully serve their Emperor. From the windows of this “Church on Blood”, behind the trees of the park of the Russian Museum, another “Temple on Blood” is clearly visible - the Church of the Resurrection of Christ - “Savior on Blood”, built on the site where Emperor Alexander II was mortally wounded in 1881.
As Abel the Seer predicted, “the Jews did not forgive Him for His great deeds, they organized a hunt for Him and on the eighth attempt they killed Him “in the middle of a clear day in the capital of a loyal subject with renegade hands.”

Already on March 2, 1881, at an emergency meeting, the city duma asked Emperor Alexander III “to allow the city public administration to erect... at the expense of the city a chapel or monument.” The emperor replied: “It would be desirable to have a church... and not a chapel.” However, they temporarily decided to build a chapel. Already in April the chapel was erected. Every day, memorial services were served in the chapel in memory of the murdered Emperor Alexander II. This chapel stood on the embankment until the spring of 1883, then, in connection with the start of construction of the cathedral, it was moved to Konyushennaya Square. Emperor Alexander the Third expressed his wish that the temple be in the style of Russian churches of the 16th-17th centuries. Naturally, the Emperor's wish became a prerequisite. In October 1883, the ceremonial laying of the temple took place. Its construction took 24 years. For the construction of the temple-monument, the state allocated an estimated 3 million 600 thousand rubles in silver. This was huge money at that time. However, the actual cost of construction exceeded the estimate by 1 million rubles. The Royal Family contributed this million rubles to the construction of the memorial temple. On August 19/September 1, 1907, the Cathedral of the Resurrection was consecrated.

“Together with his younger brother George, Nikolai was present at the death of His Grandfather.” “My Father led Me to the bed,” the last [currently] Autocrat later recalled. - “Dad,” He said, raising his voice, “Your ray of sunshine” is here.” I saw my eyelashes tremble, My Grandfather’s blue eyes opened, He tried to smile. He moved his finger, He could not raise his hands or say what he wanted, but He undoubtedly recognized Me...” [“On the night of the assassination of Alexander II, a solid crowd of people loyal to the Sovereigns did not disperse through the streets of the capitals. Sovereign Nicholas II remembered that day and night...” (Pavlov. His Majesty Sovereign Nicholas II. P. 47).]

The shock he experienced remained in Nikolai’s memory until the last days of His life; He remembered it even in distant Tobolsk. “...Anniversary of the death of Apap (Alexander II. - Author),” noted in the diary on March 1, 1918. - At 2 o’clock we had a memorial service. The weather was the same as then - frosty and sunny...”

In 1881, “for a week, twice a day, Nikolai, along with the entire Family, came to solemn funeral services in the Winter Palace. On the morning of the eighth day, the body [of the deceased Anointed of God] was solemnly transferred to the Peter and Paul Cathedral. So that the Russian people could say goodbye to the Tsar-Liberator, the Tsar-Great Martyr, the longest path was chosen along all the main streets of the capital, which Nicholas took along with everyone else.

The murder of Grandfather changed the political situation and [status] of Nicholas. From a simple Grand Duke He became Heir to the Throne of the Russian Empire, clothed with enormous responsibility before the country [and before the earthly Church of Christ, as the Heir to the Throne of David].

A few hours after the death of Alexander II, the Highest Manifesto was issued, which said: “We announce to all Our faithful subjects: the Lord God was pleased in His inscrutable ways to strike Russia with a fatal blow and suddenly recall to Himself its benefactor, the State. Imp. Alexandra II. He fell from the sacrilegious hand of murderers who made repeated attempts on His precious life. They encroached on this so precious life because they saw in it the stronghold and guarantee of the greatness of Russia and the prosperity of the Russian people. Humbling ourselves before the mysterious dictates of Divine Providence and raising prayers to the Almighty for the repose of the pure soul of Our deceased Parent, We ascend to Our Ancestor Throne of the Russian Empire...

Let us lift the heavy burden that God places on Us, with firm hope in His Almighty help. May He bless Our labors for the good of Our beloved Fatherland and may He direct Our strength to create the happiness of all Our loyal subjects.

Repeating the vow given to Us by Our Parent, sacred before the Lord Almighty, to devote, according to the behest of Our ancestors, Our entire life to the care of the prosperity, power and glory of Russia, We call upon Our loyal subjects to unite their prayers with Our prayers before the Altar of the Most High and command them to take an oath of allegiance to Us and the Heir Ours, His Imp. High Tsarevich Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich."

[The above text from the Manifesto makes it possible for Orthodox Christians, and all believers in God, to see how the Anointed Tsar, chosen by God Himself for the Royal service, differs from the President, chosen by people. In addition, the Russian Tsar strives to direct all His forces to “arranging the happiness of all His loyal subjects,” and not just the Russian people. The atheist in the above text will see some meaningless, from his point of view, spells and appeals to “some” God, he will see an attempt by Alexander the Third to shift all responsibility for governing the country to the incomprehensible entity “God” for the atheist. This is for such atheists, offended by God or punished by Him, “the institution of monarchy has only historical and sentimental significance in the modern world.” The only thing that can be done for those enlightened by the world’s evil is to pray to God for them, so that He would grant them “if death, then instantaneous,” but it would be better, if still possible, then He would grant them at least a handful of the mind of Christ!]

For the teenager Nikolai, such a terrible death of Grandfather became an unhealing mental wound. He could not understand why the murderers raised their hands against the Tsar, who was famous among the Russian people for his justice, kindness and meekness, who freed the serfs, who established a public court and self-government of local authorities. Even then, Nikolai begins to realize that not all subjects of Russia want the good of their Motherland [that is, not all subjects are loyal subjects, but it turns out that in Russia the Anointed of God has subjects who want to serve not God, the Tsar and the Fatherland, but Satan , world evil and the underworld]. Dark, atheistic forces rebelled against Holy Rus' and the Russian state and social structure, the existence of which the boy was once told about by His mentor according to the Law of God.

Nikolai’s consciousness also included the understanding that the most essential thing in state life Russia - the traditional spiritual, patriarchal connection between the Tsar and the Russian people." It became clear after March 1, 1881 that the Russian Tsar would never again be able to treat His subjects with boundless trust. He will not be able to forget the regicide and devote himself entirely to state affairs.

Training course for gymnasium and university, from ensign to colonel

Tsarevich “Nicholas was slightly taller than average, physically well developed and resilient - this was the result of his father’s training and the habit of physical labor, which He did, at least little by little, all his life.
The king had an “open, pleasant, thoroughbred face.” Everyone who knew the Tsar, both in his youth and in his mature years, noted His amazing eyes, so wonderfully conveyed in the famous portrait of V. Serov. They are expressive and radiant, although sadness and defenselessness lurk in their depths.

The upbringing and education of Nicholas II took place under the personal guidance of His Father, on a traditional religious basis in Spartan conditions. “Since Nicholas by His very birth was destined for the future supreme power, the closest attention was paid to His upbringing and education.
His systematic education began at the age of eight according to a special program developed by Adjutant General G. G. Danilovich, who was obliged to supervise Nikolai’s educational activities. The program was divided into two parts.

The general education course, designed for eight years, in general terms corresponded to the gymnasium course, although with significant changes. The ancient [classical] languages ​​- Greek and Latin - were excluded, and instead of them, the Tsarevich was taught political history, Russian literature, geography, and the elementary fundamentals of mineralogy and biology in an expanded volume. In the first eight years of study, special attention was paid to studying modern European languages.

Nikolai mastered English and French perfectly, but knew German and Danish less well.
Since childhood, he fell in love with historical and fiction, read it both in Russian and in foreign languages, and even once admitted that “if I were a private person, I would devote myself to historical works.” Over time, His literary preferences were also revealed: Tsarevich Nikolai turned with pleasure to Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, loved Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov...”

The higher course of education, “the next five years were devoted to the study of military affairs, legal and economic sciences necessary for a statesman. The teaching of these sciences was carried out by outstanding Russian scientists with a worldwide reputation: [presbyter] Yanyshev I.L. taught canon law in connection with the history of the church, the most important departments of theology and the history of religion”; "HER. Zamyslovsky conducted political history; professor-economist, minister of finance in 1881-1889 and chairman of the committee of ministers in 1887-1895 N. H. Bunge taught - statistics and political economy [financial law]; Russian Foreign Minister in 1882-1895 N.K. Girs introduced the Tsarevich into the complex world of European international relations; Academician N.N. Beketov taught a course in general chemistry. Professor and corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences... Infantry General G. A. Leer was entrusted with courses in strategy and military history. Military engineer General Ts. A. Cui... conducted classes on fortification. The history of military art was read by A.K. Puzyrevsky. This series was supplemented by professors of the Academy of the General Staff, generals M.I. Dragomirov, N.N. Obruchev, P.K. Gudima-Levkovich, P.L. Lobko and others. The role of the Tsarevich's spiritual and ideological mentor undoubtedly belonged to K. P. Pobedonostsev, a prominent lawyer who taught Nicholas courses in jurisprudence, state, civil and criminal law.

Tsarevich Nikolai studied a lot. By the age of fifteen, He had more than 30 lessons a week, not counting the daily hours of self-study. During the training process, the mentors could not grade Him for his performance and did not ask questions to test his knowledge, but in general their impression was favorable. Nikolai was distinguished by perseverance, pedantry and innate accuracy. He always listened carefully and was very efficient. ...The heir, like all the children of Alexander III, had an excellent memory. He easily remembered what he heard or read. A fleeting meeting with a person (and there were thousands of such meetings in His life) was enough for him to remember not only the name and patronymic of the interlocutor, but also his age, origin and length of service. Nikolai’s natural tact and delicacy made communicating with him pleasant.” (Pages of life. 12-13).
“In order for the future Tsar to become practically acquainted with military life and the order of military service, the Father sends Him to military training. First, Nikolai served for two years in the ranks of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, performing the duties of a subaltern officer and then a company commander. For two summer seasons, Tsarevich Nicholas served in the ranks of the cavalry hussar regiment as a platoon officer and then as a squadron commander. And finally, the future Emperor holds one camp meeting in the ranks of the artillery.” He received successive officer ranks, starting with warrant officer, and successively held corresponding positions in the troops.

“According to the testimony of contemporaries, He was loved in the guards regiments, noting the amazing evenness and goodwill in relations with fellow officers, regardless of ranks and titles. The Tsarevich was not one of those who were frightened by the hardships of camp life. He was hardy, strong, unpretentious in everyday life and truly loved the army. ...

Military career Nicholas reached its peak on August 6, 1892, when He was promoted to colonel. Due to the premature death of Alexander the Third, His Son was not destined to become a general in the Russian army, which were all of His predecessors on the Throne and most of the Grand Dukes. The emperors did not assign military ranks to themselves... “But He was awarded general ranks in the armies of the allies.

The Tsarevich's activities were not limited to military service. At the same time, the Father introduces Him to the affairs of governing the country, inviting Him to participate in the sessions of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers.

“By the age of 21, Nikolai had become a highly educated person with a broad outlook, an excellent knowledge of Russian history and literature, and a perfect command of the main European languages.... Nikolai’s brilliant education was combined with deep religiosity and knowledge of spiritual literature, which was not often found among young people from higher education. , ruling class that time. Alexander the Third managed to instill in His Son selfless love for Russia and a sense of responsibility for its fate. [All this gave Him the opportunity to bear the cross of the redemptive feat, to become like Jesus Christ!] From childhood, Nicholas became close to the idea that His main purpose was to follow the Russian Orthodox, spiritual foundations, traditions and ideals.” (Oleg Platonov. Conspiracy of the Regicides. P. 94.)

The miraculous rescue of the Royal Family in Borki

On October 17, 1888, Tsarevich Nikolai experienced a terrible shock. On this day near Borki station during train accident The entire Royal Family could have died. When the Tsar's train passed through a deep beam, subsidence occurred and several cars fell into a hole at full speed.
The Royal Family was in the dining car at the time of the crash. Breakfast was coming to an end when everyone felt a terrible shaking. The disaster had three moments. Two shocks, and then not even a second had passed before the wall of the carriage began to shatter into pieces.
This is what the newspaper “Citizen”, published at that time, wrote: “ After the first shock there was a stop.
The second push, the force of inertia, knocked out the bottom of the car. Everyone fell onto the embankment. Then came the third moment, the most terrible: the walls of the carriage separated from the roof and began to fall inward. By the will of the Lord, the falling walls met and formed a roof onto which the roof of the carriage fell: the dining car turned into a flattened mass.

The entire course of the wheels was thrown far to the side and broken into tiny pieces. The roof, then folded and thrown aside, revealed the pitiful remains of a carriage. It seemed that the Royal Family was buried under the rubble.
But the Lord showed a great miracle. The Tsar, Queen and Royal Children were preserved for the Fatherland by a miracle of the Almighty.

The roof fell on them askew, says eyewitness Zichy, who was in the carriage.
“There was a hole between the wall of the carriage and the roof through which I entered. Countess Kutuzova came in behind me. The Empress was taken out of the carriage window. The Sovereign Emperor had a flattened silver cigarette case in his pocket on the right side
».

According to an eyewitness, the crash site presented a terrible picture. The kitchen car went downhill.
The roof of another, ministerial, carriage was blown towards the lake. The first four cars were a pile of wood chips, sand and iron. The locomotive, undamaged, stood on the track, but the rear wheels dug into the ground, derailing.
The second locomotive dug into the sand of the embankment. When Alexander III saw the picture of the crash, tears came to his eyes.
Little by little, the retinue and all the survivors began to group around the Sovereign. The only witnesses to the crash were the soldiers of the Penza Infantry Regiment, numb with horror, standing in a chain in this area. Seeing that there was no way to provide assistance to the victims using the forces and means of the broken train, the Emperor ordered the soldiers to shoot. The alarm began. Soldiers came running all along the line; a doctor from the Penza regiment was with them; dressings appeared, although in meager quantities.

There was slush, there was a fine, cold rain with frost. The Empress was wearing only a dress, which was badly damaged at the time of the disaster. There was nothing at hand to cover Her from the cold, and an officer's coat was thrown over Her shoulders. At the first moment, many of the generals who were on the spot, wanting to provide all possible assistance, each made their own orders, but this only slowed down the overall progress of the relief work. Seeing this, the Emperor took upon himself the order to provide assistance.”

Since 1889, the Sovereign began to involve Nicholas in work in the highest government bodies, inviting him to participate in the sessions of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers. Alexander III developed a practical educational program for his Son to familiarize himself with various regions of Russia.

For this purpose, the Heir accompanied His Father on numerous trips around the country. [“To complete His education, Nicholas II traveled around the world. In nine months He traveled through Austria, Trieste, Greece, Egypt, India, China, Japan, and then by land through all of Siberia.”]

In Vladivostok, He participated in the opening of the construction of the Siberian Railway, at the laying of a dock and a monument to Admiral Nevelsky.

In Khabarovsk, the Heir attended the consecration of the monument to Muravyov-Amursky. Through Irkutsk, Tobolsk, and Yekaterinburg, Nikolai returned to Tsarskoe Selo, matured and stronger. He spent 9 months away from his parents (from October 23, 1890 to August 4, 1891), traveling 35 thousand miles.

After such a school of life, which the Heir went through during his trip around the world, Alexander III began to entrust Him with more serious matters. Nikolai was appointed chairman of the Siberian Railway Committee. He attended all its meetings, treating this appointment with great responsibility. His father also instructed Nikolai to chair a special committee for the delivery of aid to the population of the provinces affected by crop failure (valid until March 5, 1893). The committee collected donations worth more than 13 million rubles and distributed them among the starving peasants.

In addition to working on these committees, Nikolai is constantly invited to meetings of senior government agencies, where he practically gets acquainted with the science of governing a great country.

“Oh, You, Heavenly Chosen One, Oh, great redeemer, You are above all!”

The sermon delivered after the war by Bishop (then Archpriest) Mitrofan (Znosko-Borovsky) on the name day of the Tsar-Redeemer is very interesting and explains a lot both in the actions of Tsar Nicholas II during His Reign and in Russian events after 1917.

[The sermon tells a prophecy about the stunningly grandiose role of the holy Tsar, then still Tsarevich, Nicholas in the destinies of the whole world, in the salvation of the Russian people, in the victory of good over evil.]

A). All Buddhism, represented by Buddhist clergy, bowed before the Tsarevich

“Our tortured and murdered Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich, while still the Heir, [in April 1891] visited Japan. This interesting voyage is described by Prince Ukhtomsky in his 2-volume work. May the Lord bless me to tell you, my dears, about this interesting and extremely important, but little known, page from the life of the Redeemer King before we begin to pray for Him. [It would be more correct to turn to Him in prayer!] During this journey, general attention, says the historian, a participant in the journey, was attracted by those special signs of veneration and honors that were shown to the Heir Tsarevich by Buddhist clergy when He visited Buddhist temples. These were not just honors given to the Heir to the Throne of the Great Power - in their person, it was as if all Buddhism bowed before the Tsarevich. [Isn’t this the preaching of Orthodoxy by Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, and by Buddhism the recognition of the omnipotence of Jesus Christ!]

One day, one of the thoughtful companions of the Tsarevich rightly noted that each such meeting bore the character of some incomprehensible mysterious cult, performed before the highest incarnation, who, by the will of Heaven, came to earth with a special mission. When the Tsarevich entered the temple, the Buddhist clergy prostrated themselves before Him, and when He raised them, they looked at Him with reverence and awe, solemnly, barely touching Him, they introduced Him into the sanctuary of their temple.

If anyone from the retinue wanted to enter after the Tsarevich, he was not allowed in. Once Prince George of Greece made such an attempt, but the lamas blocked his path.

[Here let us remember the words of the Apostle Paul: the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified, for when the pagans, who do not have the law, by nature do what is lawful, then, not having the law, they are a law unto themselves: they show that the work of the law they have it written in their hearts, as their conscience and their thoughts testify to (Rom. 2:13-15).

Buddhists are pagans who do not have the law of Christ, but by their nature, having cleansed their hearts from earthly passions by observing moral laws, they can find the Truth, which will be written in their hearts! This is what Jesus Christ Himself said about such pagans: Blessed are the pure heart, for they will see God (Matt. 5:8).

And the Buddhists saw the earthly God - the Redeemer King, who redeemed, for the likeness and glory of Christ, the collective sin of treason committed by His subjects; they saw an earthly man whose holy feat is in likening the Most Important Feat of Jesus Christ - in likening His Redemptive Feat.

To the possible question of why the Lord revealed to the Buddhists, but hid the “ascetics” from the “Orthodox”, we will answer together with the Apostle Paul: “The Lord gives Orthodox Christians a reason to boast of a pure heart, and even pagans, so that they may have something to say to those who boast in their appearance, and not with the heart” (2 Cor. 5:12).

And about the “Orthodox” Christians who blasphemed and blaspheme the holy Tsar Nicholas II, Jesus Christ says: these people draw near to Me with their lips, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; but in vain they worship Me, teaching doctrines, commandments and wisdom of men (Matthew 15:8-9). Here is one of these human wisdom: “The Priesthood is higher than the Kingdom!” Why would this be like this???

And the Lord explains why they think so, He convicts them: your heart is hardened (Mark 8:17), and therefore the Holy Spirit does not penetrate such a heart and does not cleanse it of human wisdom. If anyone among you thinks that he is pious and does not bridle his tongue about the anointed of God, but deceives his heart with his arrogance, his piety is empty (James 1:26).

To those who reject the order of holiness, the “King Redeemer” said Jesus Christ: O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe everything that the prophets predicted! (Luke 24:25) For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears are hard to hear, and they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and lest they be converted, that I might heal them (Matt. 13) ,15; Acts 28:27) from the heresy of kingship, from the non-Orthodox understanding of the dogmas of Icon Veneration and Redemption. Fierce-necked! People with uncircumcised hearts and ears! you always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did, so do you (Acts 7:51).

To all priests and other thieves of the Royal power, the Lord's brother the Apostle James strongly advises: if in your heart you have bitter envy towards the owners of the power of the Anointed of God and are quarrelsome, because you do not understand Their actions, then do not boast about your piety and do not lie about the truth (Jas. 3.14).

This is said about them: a veil lies over their heart (2 Cor. 3:15), and their eyes are filled with lust and incessant sin; they seduce unsteady souls; their heart is accustomed to covetousness: these are the sons of the curse (2 Peter 2:14).

Therefore I was indignant at this generation and said: they continually err in heart, they have not known My ways; therefore I have sworn in My wrath that they will not enter My rest (Heb. 3:10-11).]

B). “There is no more blessed than Thy sacrifice for all Thy people!”

In Japan, the Heir Tsarevich was pleased to visit on one island the cemetery of our sailors from the frigate "Askold", which circumnavigated the world in the 1860s under the command of the outstanding Unkovsky and was under repair for a long time near this island.

In the Tsarevich's retinue were the sons of two officers from Askold - Ukhtomsky and Eristov. The heir charmed with His affection and attention the old Japanese, the keeper of the graves of our sailors. During a meal in a purely Japanese spirit and taste, he asked the Heir for the grace to give Him advice, for which he received the Highest permission. “The distinguished Guest is going to visit our sacred ancient capital of Kyoto,” began the Japanese, the keeper of the graves of Russian sailors, “not far from the latter our famous hermit monk Terakuto labors, to whose gaze the secrets of the world and the fate of people are revealed. There is no time for it and it gives only signs of deadlines. He does not like to interrupt his contemplative solitude and rarely goes out to see anyone. If the Royal traveler wishes to see him, he will come out to Him, if there is a blessing from Heaven.

In civilian dress, accompanied by Prince George of Greece and an interpreter - the Marquis of Ito, a prominent figure in Japan, the Heir Tsarevich walked on foot to Terakuto, who lived in one of the groves near Kyoto. Already from a distance, those approaching saw the prostrate figure of a reclusive Buddhist. The heir bent down and carefully picked it up from the ground. No one said a word, waiting for what the recluse would say. Looking with unseeing eyes, as if cut off from everything earthly, Terakuto spoke:

O You, Heavenly Chosen One, O great Redeemer, shall I prophesy the secret of Your earthly existence? You are above all. There is no guile or flattery in my mouth before the Almighty. And here is a sign for this: danger hovers over Your head, but death will recede and the reed will be stronger than the sword... and the reed will shine with brilliance. Two crowns are destined for You, Tsarevich: earthly and heavenly. Precious stones play on Your crown, Lord of the mighty Power, but the glory of the world passes away and the stones on the earthly crown will fade, but the radiance of the heavenly crown will remain forever. The heritage of Your ancestors calls You to sacred duty. Their voice is in Your blood. They are alive in You, many of them are great and beloved, but of all of them You will be the greatest and most beloved.

Great sorrows and upheavals await You and Your country. You will fight for EVERYONE, and EVERYONE will be against You. Beautiful flowers bloom on the edge of the abyss, but their poison is pernicious; children rush to flowers and fall into the abyss if they do not listen to the Father. Blessed is he who lays down his life for his friends. Thrice blessed is he who lays it down for his enemies. But there is nothing more blessed than Your sacrifice for all Your people. [That is, none of the earthly people has and will not have a feat higher than the holy Tsar Nicholas!] It will come that You are alive and the people are dead, but it will come true: the people are saved, and (You) are holy and immortal. Your weapon against anger is meekness, against resentment is forgiveness. Both friends and enemies will bow before You, and the enemies of Your people will be destroyed. [While there is still a little time, the enemies of the God-bearing Russian people may still try to become friends and allies of the Russians against the world behind the scenes to save their souls and bodies! The Russians accept everyone who comes in peace.

But whoever comes to Rus' with a sword will die by the sword! This happens for one single reason: God is with us, with the Russians, and therefore tremble, Gentiles, and submit! And remember what Abel the Seer of the Mystery said about the Jewish yoke to Emperor Paul the First: “do not be sad, Father the Tsar, the Christ-killers will bear their toll.” “Russia will then be great, having thrown off the Jewish yoke.

Back to basics ancient life By the time of the Equal-to-the-Apostles, he will have learned his wisdom through bloody misfortune [the bloody scourge of the Jewish yoke!]. ... A great destiny is destined for Russia. [That is why the enemies of God hate everything Russian; everything connected with Russia; everything that reminds of its great past and future greatness! That is why Russians should not forget their destiny, their service to God!] That is why she will suffer in order to be cleansed and kindle the light in the revelation of tongues... “] I see tongues of fire above Your head and Your Family. This is dedication. I see countless sacred lights in the altars before you. This is execution. May a pure sacrifice be made and atonement be accomplished. You will become a shining barrier to evil in the world. Terakuto told You what was revealed to him from the Book of Fates. Here is wisdom and part of the mystery of the Creator. Beginning and the end. Death and immortality, moment and eternity. Blessed be the day and hour at which You came to old Terakuto.

IN). The cane turned out to be stronger than the sword and the cane began to shine

Having touched the ground, Terakuto, without turning around, began to move away until he disappeared into the thicket of trees. [What reverence this Buddhist monk has for the saint, whose feat of serving God in terms of height and likeness to Jesus Christ is the highest among those possible for humans. What a powerful reproof for their lack of the Spirit of Christ to all “Orthodox” Christians who lived at the same time as Saint Nicholas Alexandrovich and who still blaspheme and revile Him.

Holy Tsar Nicholas said that the Old Believers and Cossacks would not understand Him. And it’s clear why: these two communities of people, and now fighters against the Taxpayer Identification Number, with globalization, with new passports, etc., have a firmly established practice of zealously pleasing God to serve Satan!

These communities of Orthodox Christians, zealously engaged in the virtues of fallen nature, are zealous to serve God as and where they themselves decide, and not as and where the Lord will bless. And therefore they absolutely do not understand that the heart of the King is in the hand of God ( Proverbs 21:1), and not in their hands. They do not understand that the Lord God Himself guides His Anointed One, and not servile wisdom! But they wear a cross and go to church regularly, and now they also offer fervent prayers for the Great Lord and Father of all papist heretics!]

The Tsarevich stood with his head bowed. His companions too. The Tsarevich returned excitedly and asked not to talk about Terakuto’s prediction. A few days later, an attempt was made on the life of the Heir to the Tsarevich in Kyoto.

A Japanese fanatic [also zealous to serve God!] hit Him on the head with a saber, but the blow only slipped, causing a harmless wound. Prince George of Greece hit the criminal with all his might with a bamboo cane, which saved the life of the Tsarevich. Upon the return of the heir to the Tsarevich in St. Petersburg, talking with Prince George, Emperor Alexander III expressed a desire to receive a cane for a while. The Emperor returned it to Prince George already in a frame of the finest jewelry, all sprinkled with diamonds. The sign came true, the first prediction of old Terakuto: the cane turned out to be stronger than the sword and the cane began to shine.

On June 23, 1901, the Sovereign Emperor was pleased to receive big hall Peterhof Palace a special mission of the Dalai Lama, who arrived from Tibet. The embassy bowed low when His Majesty entered the hall, accompanied by his retinue. The Tibetan embassy carried with it a heavily shackled chest, which it never left for a moment.

Presenting His Majesty with the robes taken out of the chest, the head of the embassy, ​​the old honored lama, said: “These are the original robes of the Buddha, which no one touched after him. They belong to you alone by right, and now accept them from all of Tibet.” The words of the embassy from Tibet, like those predicted by the recluse Terakuto, are the key to understanding the secret sealed from Above of our Sovereign and Russia.” (Bishop Mitrofan (Znosko). Chronicle of one life. To the sixtieth anniversary of pastoral ministry IX.1935-IX.1995. M. 1995. pp. 294-297).

The Tsarevich showed himself to be deeply religious, selflessly loving and possessing an exceptionally strong character

A). “Everything is in the will of God. Trusting in His mercy, I calmly and humbly look to the future."

The Heir Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich had to endure the first serious test of willpower in connection with His marriage, when, thanks to His stubborn persistence, endurance and patience, He successfully overcame three seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Back in 1884, when He was only sixteen years old, He first met the twelve-year-old strikingly beautiful Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, who came to the wedding of His elder sister Vel. Book Elizaveta Feodorovna and Vel. Book Sergei Alexandrovich - uncle of the Heir to the Tsarevich.

From that moment on, a close friendship arose between Them, and then a holy, selfless, selfless and ever-increasing love that united Their lives until their joint acceptance...[martyrdom].

Such marriages are a rare gift of God even among mere mortals, and among Crowned Persons, where marriages are performed mainly for political reasons and not for love, this is an exceptional phenomenon.

In 1889, when the Heir Tsarevich was twenty-one years old and had reached adulthood, according to Russian laws, He turned to His Parents with a request to bless Him for marriage with Princess Alice. Emperor Alexander III’s answer was brief: “You are very young to get married.” There is still time, and, in addition, remember the following: You are the Heir to the Russian Throne, You are betrothed to Russia, and we will still have time to find a wife.”

Before the will of the Father - heavy, unwavering - what is said, that is, the law, Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich resignedly resigned himself for a while and began to wait.

A year and a half after this conversation, He wrote in His diary: “Everything is in the will of God. Trusting in His mercy, I look calmly and humbly to the future.”

From Princess Alice's family, their marriage plans also did not meet with sympathy. Since She lost Her mother when She was only 6 years old, and her father at eighteen, She was raised mainly by Her maternal grandmother, Queen Victoria of England.

This Queen, so celebrated in the Anglo-Saxon world, during many decades of her 64-year reign (1837-1901), pursued an extremely ignoble foreign policy, built on intricate insidious intrigues directed mainly against Russia.

Queen Victoria especially disliked the Russian Emperors Alexander II and Alexander III, who in turn responded to Her with contemptuous hostility. It is no wonder that with such unfriendly relations between the Russian and English Courts, the Heir Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich could not find support from the grandmother of Princess Alice. [“For Alexander III, his son’s love did not seem something serious. The marriage of the Heir to the Russian Throne was always too serious a political event for only tender feelings to be taken into account. Although Nikolai’s parents did not intend to forcefully marry him, he different time Several options for a possible marriage were offered.

One of the brides was the daughter of the Count of Paris, head of the Bourbon dynasty, possible president of France. This marriage could significantly strengthen the Russian-French alliance, the favorite foreign policy brainchild of Alexander III. Princess Margaret of Prussia was considered as another contender for the role of the future Empress.

Nikolai wrote at the end of 1891: “December 21. In the evening at Mom's...they talked about family life...; involuntarily this conversation touched the most living string of my soul, touched the dream and the hope with which I live every day. A year and a half has already passed since I talked about this with Papa in Peterhof... My dream is to someday marry Alix G. I have loved her for a long time, but even deeper and stronger since 1889, when she spent six weeks in St. Petersburg! I resisted my feeling for a long time, trying to deceive myself with the impossibility of realizing my cherished dream. ... The only obstacle or gap between her and me is the question of religion! Apart from this barrier, there is no other; I'm almost sure that our feelings are mutual! [Everything is in the will of God. Trusting in His mercy, I calmly and humbly look to the future]"...

Maria Feodorovna decided to distract Him a little from thoughts about Alex. At this time, a new star shone on the stage of the Imperial Mariinsky Theater - ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya. [The parents of the Tsarevich contributed to the rapprochement of the young people... “There was gossip about this affair, but in Nicholas’s Family they did not attach serious importance to it - the Heir seemed too responsible and devoted to duty to connect His life with a dancer. Alexander the Third was condescending towards his son’s hobby and, perhaps, even hoped that Kshesinskaya would help him forget the German princess his parents didn’t like.”]

Of course, Kshesinskaya understood the hopelessness of their romance, and Nikolai’s love for the Darmstadt princess was not a secret to her: “We have more than once talked about the inevitability of His marriage and the inevitability of our separation. Of all those whom He was prophesied as a bride, He considered her the most suitable and that He was attracted to her more and more [for they were created for each other according to God’s plan!], that she would be His chosen one, if parental permission followed.”]

Five years have passed since the day when Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich turned to His August Father with a request to allow Him to marry Princess Alice.

[During these ten years, they saw each other only when Princess Alice came to Russia twice (in 1884 and 1889). They are united by the Lord God. And those around Them only see that “between Them there are only fantasies and memories, correspondence fueling passions through sister Ella” (through Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna).]

In the early spring of 1894, seeing the unshakable decision of His Son, His patience and meek submission to the Parental will, Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna finally gave Their blessing for the marriage.

At the same time, in England, Princess Alice, who by this time had lost Her father, who died in 1890, received a blessing from Queen Victoria. The last obstacle remained - a change of religion and the adoption by the August Bride of holy Orthodoxy.

B). Tsarevich Nicholas managed to reveal to Princess Alice the truth of His Orthodox faith

Princess Alice was extremely religious. She was raised Protestant and was sincerely and deeply convinced of the truth of Her religion. At the same time, She knew that She could not become the Russian Empress without accepting Holy Orthodoxy, but changing religion.

She considered it a betrayal of Her most sacred feelings and beliefs. Being extremely honest with herself, distinguished by her nobility and devotion to Her ideals and, moreover, being well educated - She received a PhD from Oxford University - She was not able to sacrifice Her entire inner world as a sacrifice of love for her loved one.

Thus, this question became a matter of conscience for Princess Alice, since the Russian Throne, although the most brilliant of that era, in itself, did not seduce Her, especially since, thanks to Her amazing beauty and inner attractiveness, She enjoyed enormous success among European Crowned Grooms and Heirs to Thrones.

So, the last obstacle to the marriage of the Heir to the Tsarevich and Princess Alice seemed insurmountable. There was only one possible way out - a complete reversal of Her religious views, i.e. sincere understanding of the falsity of the Protestant faith and sincere acceptance of holy Orthodoxy. This is difficult and difficult task fell to the lot of Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich himself.

At the beginning of April, He visited Coburg and spent twelve days in the palace of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, where Princess Alice was also staying. Here Their fate was to be decided, depending on the conviction of the Heir to the Tsarevich in the correctness of His arguments. On the third day, a decisive conversation took place between Them. There was no one in the living room. They were left alone to decide the question of their lives. The princess was lovely. There was no need to speak, it was clear without words. He now knew that Their love was mutual, that in this love was the happiness of the future life. One obstacle remained - a change of religion; He had foreseen this before, but did not imagine that this obstacle could turn out to be so decisive and difficult.

He saw the spiritual struggle of Princess Alice - the real real struggle of a Christian woman. He understood that it now depended on Him to convince Her that She was not committing apostasy, that by accepting Orthodoxy, She was approaching God in the brightest forms of communication with Him. And He found wonderful words in His heart. “Alix, I understand and respect your religious feelings. But we believe in Christ alone; there is no other Christ. God, who created the world, gave us a soul and a heart. He filled both my heart and yours with love, so that we could merge soul with soul, so that we would become united and walk the same path in life.

Without His will there is nothing. Let your conscience not disturb you that my faith will become your faith. When you learn later how beautiful, gracious and humble our Orthodox religion is, how majestic and magnificent our churches and monasteries are and how solemn and stately our divine services are, you will love them, Alix, and nothing will separate us “...

At that moment, the great, immense one appeared before Him - from the Solovetsky monasteries to the New Athos monasteries, from the northern grayish-blue waters of the Baltic Sea to the bright blue Pacific Ocean - His sovereign Mother Russia, Holy God-Bearing Orthodox Rus'. Tears of tenderness and delight appeared in my eyes. The Princess listened attentively, looking into His blue eyes, at His excited face, and a transformation took place in Her soul. Seeing the tears, She could not help herself. Then she whispered only two words: “I agree.” Their tears mixed together.

He laid out the sequence of His conversations, told how He convinced Her to change religion and how She felt.

... “She cried all the time and only from time to time said in a whisper: “No, I can’t.” I, however, continued to insist and repeat my arguments, and although this conversation lasted two hours, it did not lead to anything , because neither she nor I gave in. I gave her your letter and after that she could no longer argue. She decided to talk with Aunt Michen (Grand Prince Maria Pavlovna (senior)). As for me, during these three days I was always in the most anxious state... This morning we were left alone, and then, from the very first words, she agreed. Only God knows what happened to me. I cried like a child and so did she. But her face expressed complete contentment.

No, dear Mom, I cannot express to you how happy I am, and at the same time, how sorry I am that I cannot hold you and my dear Dad to my heart. The whole world immediately changed for me: nature, people, everything; and everyone seems kind, sweet and happy to me. I couldn’t even write, my hands were shaking so much. She completely changed: she became cheerful, funny, talkative and tender... The Savior told us: “Everything that you ask of God, God will give you.” These words are endlessly dear to me, because for five years I prayed with them, repeating them every night, begging Him to ease Alix’s transition to the Orthodox faith and give me her as a wife...

It's time to finish the letter. Goodbye my dear Mom. I hug you tightly. Christ is with you. Niki, who loves you warmly and with all my heart.” He took an elegant dark crimson shagreen notebook - his diary and made the following entry in it: “A wonderful, unforgettable day in my life - the day of my engagement to my dear, beloved Alix... God, what a weight has been lifted from my shoulders; what joy we managed to please dear Dad and Mom. I walked around all day as if in a daze, not fully realizing what had actually happened to me.”... [After breakfast we went to Comrade Marie’s church and served a thanksgiving prayer service.]... (S. Pozdnyshev. Op. Cit., pp. 11-16).

On the same day, April 8/21, 1894, their engagement was officially announced. [Until her death, Alexandra Fedorovna wore Nicholas's groom's gift - a ring with a ruby ​​- around her neck along with a cross. (Oleg Platonov. Conspiracy of the Regicides. P. 102.) “The news delivered to Russia on the same day prompted a response telegram from the parents, and a few days later... a personal message from Alexander the Third arrived. “Dear, dear Niki,” the father wrote, “you can imagine with what a feeling of joy and with what gratitude to the Lord we learned about your engagement! I confess that I did not believe the possibility of such an outcome and was sure of the complete failure of your attempt, but the Lord instructed you, strengthened you and blessed you, and great gratitude to Him for His mercies... Now I am sure that you are doubly enjoying and everything you have gone through, although forgotten, I am sure it has brought you benefit, proving that not everything comes so easily and for free, and especially such a great step that decides your entire future and your entire subsequent family life! ”(Pages of Life. P. 24.)]

Ten years have passed since the August Bride and Groom met for the first time, and five years have passed since the Parents refused to bless Their marriage. The heir Tsarevich meekly humbled himself, but waited patiently and steadily strived towards His goal. Over these years, He managed to gradually overpower His August Father, a mighty hero distinguished by his unshakable willpower, overcome the lack of sympathy for His plans on the part of Empress Maria Feodorovna and Princess Alice’s grandmother, Queen Victoria of England, and, finally, without being a theologian, reveal to Princess Alice the truth of His faith, change Her firm religious convictions and incline Her to a sincere, sincere acceptance of holy Orthodoxy. Only a deeply religious and selfless person could overcome all these obstacles. loving person with an exceptionally strong character.

[“After almost a quarter of a century, She [Alexandra Feodorovna] will remind Him [Nikolai Alexandrovich] of the events of that day with words in which sincere love is felt: “On this day, the day of our engagement, all my tender thoughts are with you, filling my heart with endless gratitude for the deep love and happiness that you have always given me, since that memorable day - 22 years ago. May God help me to repay you a hundredfold for all your affection!

Yes, I,” I say quite sincerely, “doubt that there are many wives as happy as I am, you showed me so much love, trust and devotion during these long years in happiness and sorrow. For all my torment, suffering and indecision, you gave me so much in return, my precious fiancé and husband... Thank you, my treasure, do you feel how I want to be in your strong arms and relive those wonderful days that brought Are we getting new evidence of love and tenderness? Today I will wear that expensive brooch. I can still feel your gray clothes and smell them - there by the window in Coburg Castle.

How vividly I remember all this! Those sweet kisses that I dreamed and yearned for for so many years and which I no longer hoped to receive. You see how, already at that time, faith and religion played a big role in my life. I cannot take this simply and if I decide on something, it is forever, the same is true in my love and affection.

The heart is too big - it devours me. Also, love for Christ - it was always so closely connected with our lives during these 22 years! “(Correspondence of Nikolai and Alexandra Romanov. M.-L. 1926. T.4. P. 204).

Before leaving for Russia, Nikolai decided to tell his bride about his affair with Kshesinskaya. “What happened, happened,” Alice writes with tears in her eyes, “the past can never be returned. We are all subject to temptation in this world, and when we are young, it is especially difficult for us to resist and not give in to temptation. But if we can repent, God will forgive us. Sorry that I talk about this so much, but I want you to be sure of my love for you. I love you even more after you told me this story. Your trust touched me deeply. I will try to be worthy of him. God bless you, my beloved Nicky...”

The words that Alice writes in her fiancé’s diary are imbued with the most sublime feeling of love, the light of which they were able to carry throughout their lives.” Just before leaving England, She will write in His diary: “I am yours, and you are mine, rest assured. You are locked in my heart, the key is lost, and you will have to stay there forever."]

Used Books:
Pages of life. P. 7.
As Abel the Seer of the Seer predicted to the holy Emperor Paul the First.
G. P. Butnikov. Savior on Spilled Blood. St. Petersburg B/g.
This is how Emperor Alexander II called his beloved grandson Tsarevich Nicholas.
Pages of life. P. 7.
About the oath, see the explanation of St. Philaret (Drozdov), Metropolitan of Moscow, given in the notes “Christian Teaching on Royal Power and the Obligations of Loyal Subjects.”
A popular proverb teaches us: “Whoever God wants to punish, He takes away his reason.”
TVNZ. March 23, 2006.
Oleg Platonov. Plot of regicides. 89-91.
“The perfection with which the Heir spoke the English language was such that an Oxford professor mistook Him for an Englishman.” (Oleg Platonov. Conspiracy of the Regicides. P. 94.)
Pages of life. P. 12.
O. Platonov. Nicholas II in secret correspondence. P. 11.
Oleg Platonov. Plot of regicides. P. 94.
Pages of life. P. 14.
Compiled by R.S., a fragment of chapter 16 from Oleg Platonov’s book “Conspiracy of the Regicides” is given.
O. Platonov. Nicholas II in secret correspondence. pp. 11-12.
The compiler R.S. quotes the text from the book compiled by S. Fomin “Orthodox Tsar-Martyr”. (Hegumen Seraphim (Kuznetsov). Pilgrim. 1997. [below - Hegumen Seraphim. Orthodox Tsar.] P. 499-501.)
In Russia, the book of Bishop Mitrofan (Znosko-Borovsky) “Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism and Sectarianism” (Lectures on comparative theology, read at the Holy Trinity Theological Seminary) is known. (Publication of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius (reprint). 1991.) We draw attention to this fact in order to prevent in advance possible accusations by “zealots” not according to the mind of Christ of this bishop of ignorance of the teachings of the Orthodox Church and of being unorthodox, of having a biased attitude towards Buddhism and predictions of the Buddhist hermit monk Terakuto.
S. Fomin has it here and everywhere below: Tsar-Martyr.
Who boast of their theological or other education, their ordination to the priesthood, their “Orthodoxy,” their belonging to the Russian chosen people of God, their social status, etc. It should be understood that all of these are talents given by God, which impose an obligation on their owners to use them in a godly manner and thereby acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Double headed eagle State Emblem The Russian Empire clearly indicates that both the Priesthood and the Kingdom are in obedience to the Anointed Tsar!
The root of this word is “fornication,” and therefore being deceived in heart means spiritual fornication.
That is, chosen as the King of Heaven!
No one has greater love than this, but one who lays down his life for his friends (John 15:13) - Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).
The compiler cites the 2nd chapter from the book by E. E. Alferyev “Emperor Nicholas II as a man of strong will.” (Published by Holy Trinity Monastery. Jordanville, 1983. pp. 15-21.)
S. Pozdnyshev. Crucify Him. Paris. 1952. P. 9.
Ibidem, p. 10.
From Queen Victoria, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna inherited, as a transmitter, the fatal disease hemophilia. which She passed on to Her son, the Heir, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. See The Last Courts of Europe - A Royal Family Album 1860-1914. Introductory text by Robert K. Massie. J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., London, 1981, p. 25.
Pages of life. P. 20.
Pages of life. P. 18.
Unknown Alexander the Third. pp. 215-216.
Pages of life. P. 18.
Wife of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, daughter of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna is the third lady in the Russian Empire after both Empresses. She was considered the head of the grand ducal opposition to Emperor Nicholas II. (Encyclopedia of the Russian Empire. Edited by V. Butromeev. U-Factoria. Yekaterinburg. 2002.) (Note from the compiler R.S.).
Pages of life. P. 22.
E. E. Alferev. Letters from the Royal Family from captivity. Publication of the Holy Trinity Monastery. Jordanville, 1974, pp. 340-341.
Unknown Alexander the Third. P. 218.
Oleg Platonov. Plot of regicides. pp. 101-102.

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 the 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 in a certain sense accidentally. 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 ruled coolly, unlike his 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.

By 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 - placed him in the wrong better 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.

The king was clearly more interested in a quiet family life than in 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), 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 for Japanese successes was seen solely in the treachery of the “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. The huge fleet crawled around half the Earth from the Baltic to the 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 terror and Stolypin land reform (“They need great upheavals, we need a great Russia” - this beautiful phrase quoted by V.V. Putin, R.A. Kadyrov, N.S. Mikhalkov, and was generated by a little-known speechwriter owned by the formidable prime minister.) 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 major cities, and then there was the revelry of the nouveau riche, who “rose up” from million-dollar military contracts, and also many thousands returning from the 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 the important thing is this: in a world where the printed word was still believed and where ideas about the sacredness of autocratic power were still simmering, they were dealt a very strong blow. 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.

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.”

The peak of Russia's economic development 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, it 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 the war with Japan and World War I.

After the events of the February Revolution of 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 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 his home education as part of a gymnasium course under a special program that 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 on July 30 (August 12), 1904, became 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 major international action was 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 the future fate of the imperial family, at the beginning of July 1918, military commissar F. Goloshchekin urgently left for Moscow. All-Russian Central Executive Committee and Council People's Commissars authorized the execution of all Romanovs. After this, on July 12, 1918, based on decision taken At a meeting, the Ural Council of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies 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 Orthodox Church She 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 Russian Federation in December 2005, demanding the rehabilitation of the royal family, executed in 1918.

On October 1, 2008, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of 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.

The last Russian emperor loved port wine, disarmed the planet, raised his stepson and almost moved the capital to Yalta [photo, video]

Photo: RIA Novosti

Change text size: A A

Nicholas II ascended the throne on November 2, 1894. What do we all remember about this king? Basically, school cliches are stuck in my head: Nikolai is bloody, weak, was under the strong influence of his wife, is to blame for Khodynka, established the Duma, dispersed the Duma, was shot near Yekaterinburg... Oh yes, he also conducted the first census of Russia, recording himself as “owner of the land” Russian". Moreover, Rasputin looms on the side with his dubious role in history. In general, the image turns out to be such that any schoolchild is sure: Nicholas II is almost the most shameful Russian Tsar of all eras. And this despite the fact that most of the documents, photographs, letters and diaries remained from Nikolai and his family. There is even a recording of his voice, which is quite low. His life has been thoroughly studied, and at the same time it is almost unknown to the general public outside the clichés from the textbook. Did you know, for example, that:

1) Nicholas took the throne in Crimea. There, in Livadia, a royal estate near Yalta, his father Alexander III died. A confused young man, literally crying from the responsibility that had fallen on him - this is how the future king looked then. Mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, did not want to swear allegiance to her son! The younger one, Mikhail, is who she saw on the throne.


2) And since we are talking about Crimea, it was to Yalta that he dreamed of moving the capital from his unloved St. Petersburg. The sea, the fleet, trade, the proximity of European borders... But I didn’t dare, of course.


3) Nicholas II almost handed over the throne to his eldest daughter Olga. In 1900, he fell ill with typhus (again in Yalta, well, just a fateful city for the family of the last Russian emperor). The king was dying. Since the time of Paul I, the law has prescribed: the throne is inherited only through the male line. However, bypassing this order, the conversation turned to Olga, who was then 5 years old. The king, however, pulled out and recovered. But the idea of ​​staging a coup in Olga’s favor, and then marrying her off to a suitable candidate who would rule the country instead of the unpopular Nicholas - this thought excited the royal relatives for a long time and pushed them into intrigue.

4) It is rarely said that Nicholas II became the first global peacemaker. In 1898, at his instigation, a note on a general limitation of armaments was published and a program for an international peace conference was developed. It took place in May of the following year in The Hague. 20 European countries, 4 Asian, 2 American took part. This act of the tsar simply did not fit into the minds of the then progressive intelligentsia of Russia. How can this be, he is a militarist and an imperialist?! Yes, the idea of ​​​​the prototype of the UN, of conferences on disarmament, arose precisely in Nikolai’s head. And long before the World War.


5) It was Nikolai who completed the Siberian railway. It is still the main artery connecting the country, but for some reason it is not customary to give credit to this king. Meanwhile, he considered the Siberian railway one of his main tasks. Nikolai generally foresaw many challenges that Russia then had to deal with in the 20th century. He said, for example, that the population of China is growing astronomically, and this is a reason to strengthen and develop Siberian cities. (And this at a time when China was called sleeping).

Nicholas' reforms (monetary, judicial, wine monopoly, working day law) are also rarely mentioned. It is believed that since the reforms were started in previous reigns, then Nicholas II seems to have no special merit. The Tsar “only” pulled this burden and complained that he “worked like a convict.” “Only” brought the country to that peak, 1913, by which the economy will be measured for a long time to come. He just confirmed two of the most famous reformers in office - Witte and Stolypin. So, 1913: the strongest gold ruble, income from the export of Vologda oil is higher than from the export of gold, Russia is the world leader in grain trade.


6) Nicholas was like two peas in a pod like his cousin, the future English king George V. Their mothers are sisters. Even relatives confused “Nicky” and “Georgie”.


"Nicky" and "Georgie". They are so similar that even their relatives confused them

7) Raised his adopted son and daughter. More precisely, the children of his uncle Pavel Alexandrovich - Dmitry and Maria. Their mother died in childbirth, their father quite soon entered into a new marriage (unequal), and the two little grand dukes were eventually raised by Nicholas personally, they called him “dad”, the empress “mama”. He loved Dmitry like his own son. (This is the same Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, who later, together with Felix Yusupov, will kill Rasputin, for which he will be exiled, survive the revolution, escape to Europe and even manage to have an affair with Coco Chanel there).



10) I couldn’t stand women’s singing. He would run away when his wife, Alexandra Fedorovna, or one of the daughters or ladies-in-waiting sat down at the piano and started playing romances. The courtiers recall that at such moments the king complained: “Well, they howled...”

11) I read a lot, especially contemporaries, subscribed to a lot of magazines. Most of all he loved Averchenko.

Another controversial and incomprehensible figure in the history of our country is the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II Romanov, whose death ended an entire era in the history of the country. He was called the most weak-willed ruler, and he himself considered government to be the heaviest burden and burden. During his reign, tension increased enormously, foreign policy ties became increasingly shaky, and revolutionary sentiments raged within the country. Nevertheless, he managed to make his feasible contribution to the political and economic development of the state. Let's figure out together where the truth is and where the fiction is in his difficult life path.

The last Russian Emperor Nicholas 2: short biography

Many people are accustomed to presenting exactly the kind of story that was advantageous to present under a certain “sauce.” Nikolai 2 Romanov had a firmly established reputation as an incompetent, lazy and slightly stupid person who did not see anything beyond his own nose. They nicknamed him the Bloody because of the incident in Khodynka, they predicted bad news for him, imminent death and the end of his reign, and they practically guessed it right. So who was this man, what qualities did he have, what did he dream and think about, what did he hope for? Let's look at his life from a historical perspective to better understand ourselves.

By the time little Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov was born, his name had already become traditional in the family of monarchs. Moreover, they named him, according to the old Russian tradition, in honor of his father’s brother, the so-called “naming after his uncle.” He died at a young age, without even having time to get married. It is interesting that they had the same not only names, but also patronymics and even namesake saints.

Childhood and growing up

Little Niki, as he was called at home, was born on May 6, 1868 in the family of the Russian Tsar Alexander III, as well as his wife Maria Fedorovna. The heir to the throne was born in Tsarskoe Selo, and in the same month he was baptized by Protopresbyter Vasily Bazhanov, the personal confessor of the royal family. By that time, his father did not even think that he would be on the throne, since it was planned that his older brother would become the heir. However, life took its own course and soon Nicholas, in poor health, died, Alexander 3 had to prepare to take the helm of a huge empire.

When the terrorist managed to throw a bomb at the Tsar’s feet, Alexander 3 was faced with a fact. However, he was a completely unique king; he preferred to live in Gatchina, with its narrow closet rooms, and not in the city residence - the Winter Palace. It was in this huge cold building with millions of rooms and thousands narrow corridors and the future heir to the throne spent his early childhood. Remembering very well his own academic successes and aspirations in childhood, he tried to raise his children in such a way as to instill in them from an early age the idea of ​​the need for education and the inadmissibility of laziness.

As soon as the boy was four years old, he was assigned a personal tutor, a real Englishman, Karl Osipovich Heath, who instilled in him an irresistible love for foreign languages. From the age of six, young Nikolai began to study languages ​​and succeeded a lot. At the age of eight, the Tsarevich, like other children, received a course of general gymnasium education. Then Grigory Grigorievich Danilovich, the most a real general from infantry. The future Tsar Nicholas II did well in all subjects, but he especially loved military affairs, like all the other boys. By the age of five, he became the chief of the Life Guards of the Reserve Infantry Regiment, while dashing through his teacher’s problems on strategy, military tactics or geography.

Youth and personal qualities of Nikolai Romanov

The personality of Nicholas 2 appears to be quite contradictory from early childhood. He was not stupid, well educated, but he still managed to allow what happened later. All this will come later, but for now, from 1885 to 1890, he also took a course at the university’s law faculty, which was combined with a course at the Academy of the General Staff. In general, the education of the emperor's children lasted exactly thirteen years, and not ten or eleven, as in the modern world. First of all, subjects such as foreign languages, political history, Russian and foreign literature.

In the last five years, other subjects, more military in orientation, as well as economic and legal knowledge, prevailed. The teenage future ruler, like his brothers and sisters, was taught by the most illustrious minds on the planet, not just our country. Among the teachers of the last emperor of Russia one can find such names as Nikolai Beketov, Mikhail Dragomirov, Caesar Cui, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Nikolai Obruchev, Nikolai Bunge and many others. The prince even received very good grades for his studies.

As for his personal qualities, which determined the subsequent reign of Nicholas 2, we can rely on the opinion of people who knew him personally. The maid of honor and Baroness Sofia Karlovna Buxhoeveden wrote that he was unusually easy to use, but at the same time had an innate dignity that never allowed those around him to forget with whom they were talking. At the same time, it is believed that, for an aristocrat, Nicholas had a very sentimental and tearful, and perhaps even pitiful, worldview. He was very responsible about his own debt, but for others he could easily make concessions.

He was quite attentive and sensitive to the needs of the peasantry. The only thing he did not tolerate in any form was dirty money fraud, and he never forgave anyone for anything like that. All this undoubtedly influenced the historical portrait of Nicholas 2 and the memory of him, which, despite the efforts of the Bolsheviks, was nevertheless preserved, today paints somewhat different pictures than we could have imagined previously.

The reign of Nicholas II: the hard path of the last tsar

Some historians emphasize the weakness of spirit and character throughout the years of Nicholas II’s life. Such thoughts were expressed, for example, by Sergei Witte, Alexander Izvolsky, and even the Tsar’s wife Alexandra Fedorovna herself. A French teacher who, from 1905 until the tragic events of 1918, Pierre Gilliard, said that the burden placed on the fragile shoulders of such a romantic and sentimental person was too heavy for him. Moreover, even his wife suppressed him, she subordinated his will to hers, and he did not even have time to notice it. In 1884, the heir took his first oath in the Great Church of the Winter Palace.

Worth knowing

There is information that Emperor Nikolai Romanov never aspired to become one. A member of the State Duma, as well as a radical opposition politician, Viktor Obninsky, in his book “The Last Autocrat” writes that at one time he actively refused the throne, even wanted to abdicate in favor of his younger brother Mishenka. However, Alexander the Third decided to insist and on May 6, 1884, a manifesto was signed, and in honor of this, fifteen thousand gold rubles were distributed to those in need.

Beginning of reign: Nikolka the Bloody

For the first time, Alexander began to involve the heir in state affairs quite early, and already in 1889, Nicholas for the first time took part in meetings of the Cabinet of Ministers and the State Council. Around that time, the father sent his son on a trip around the country, as well as abroad, so that before he assumed the throne, he would have a clear idea of ​​what he was dealing with. In the company of his brothers and servants, Nikolai traveled to many countries, China, Japan, Greece, India, Egypt and many others.

On October 20, 1894, Alexander III, having held the collapsed roof of the carriage on his mighty shoulders and after all this having lain with kidney nephritis for only a month, ordered him to live long. He died and after an hour and a half, his son, the new Tsar Nicholas 2, was already taking the oath of allegiance to the country and the throne. Tears choked the emperor, but he had to hold on, and he held on as best he could. On November 14 of the same year, in the Great Church of the Winter Palace, the young ruler was married to the nee Princess Victoria Alice Elena Louise Beatrice of Hesse-Darmstadt, who received the name Alexandra Feodorovna in Orthodoxy. The newlyweds' honeymoon was marked by funeral services and the necessary sympathetic visits.

Like his father, the emperor began to rule the country, even issued some decrees, supervised something, delimited his influence in the world with an excessively insolent Britain, but was in no hurry to be crowned. He also hoped that everything would “resolve” on its own, but it didn’t work out that way. The Tsar and his wife, the Great Tsarina, were crowned on May 14, 1896 in Moscow. All celebrations were scheduled four days later, when the real tragedy happened. Poor organization of the holiday and careless organizers are to blame for the tragedy that happened.

Interesting

The emperor's mother Maria Fedorovna, who believed that Niki was not capable of governing not only the country, but even himself, did not take the oath to him. Until the end of her life, she never swore allegiance to her son as emperor, believing that he was not worthy of the memory of his great father, who, when he could not prevail with knowledge or ingenuity, prevailed with perseverance and diligence.

The start of the festivities, where festive bags with sweets and souvenirs were to be distributed, was scheduled for ten o'clock in the morning, but already in the evening people began to gather on Khodynskoye Field, where the festivities were to be held. By five o'clock in the morning there were already at least half a million people there. When at ten they began to distribute colorful bundles of food and a mug, the police were unable to contain the pressure of the crowd. Distributors began throwing bundles into the crowd, but this made the situation even worse.

In a terrible stampede, diagnosed with compression asphyxia, more than one thousand three hundred people died. Despite this, further festivities were not cancelled, for which the king subsequently received the nickname Bloody. The accession to the throne of Nicholas II did not go well, as did his further path.

On the throne: the reign of Nicholas 2

Despite the weak will and non-fighting character, in the first years of the reign of Nicholas II, many reforms and improvements were carried out in the state system. A general population census was carried out, and monetary reform was implemented. Moreover, the Russian ruble was then almost twice as expensive as the German mark. Moreover, his dignity was ensured by pure gold. In 1897, Stolypin began to introduce his agrarian and factory reforms, and made worker insurance and primary education mandatory. In addition, some preventive measures for criminals were completely abolished. For example, there was no longer anyone to be frightened by exile to Siberia.

  • On January 24, 1904, Russia was handed a note about the severance of diplomatic relations with Japan, and already on January 27, war was declared, which we lost in disgrace.
  • January 6, 1905, just at Holy holiday During the baptism ceremony, which was held on the frozen waters of the Neva, a cannon suddenly fired in front of the Winter Palace. On January 9 of the same year in St. Petersburg, on the initiative of priest Georgy Gapon, a procession was held to the Winter Palace and a “Petition for Workers’ Needs” was drawn up. The protesters were dispersed, but it was rumored that there were more than two hundred dead and about a thousand wounded.
  • On February 4, 1905, a terrorist threw a bomb at the feet of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. Unrest began to grow in the country, “forest brothers” were rampant everywhere, and various swindlers and bandits began to emerge under the noise of the revolution.
  • On August 18, 1907, an agreement was finally signed with Britain on delimiting spheres of influence in Persia, Afghanistan and China.
  • On June 17, 1910, Russification laws in Finland were regulated by law.
  • In 1912-1914, Mongolia asked for help and the Russian Empire met it halfway, helping it gain independence.
  • On July 19, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia, which it did not expect at all. Nicholas II Romanov made every effort to prevent it, but he failed to influence anything, and on October 20 of the same year, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire.
  • The February Revolution of 1917 began as a kind of spontaneous action, which grew into something more. On February 7, 1917, the Tsar received news that almost the entire Petrograd garrison had gone over to the side of the revolutionaries. On February 28, the Mariinsky Palace was captured, and on March 2, the sovereign had already abdicated the throne in favor of the young heir, on the condition that his brother Mikhail would become regent.

On March 8, 1917, the executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet, which heard about the former tsar’s plans to leave for England, decided to arrest the tsar and his family, confiscate property and abolish all civil rights.

Personal life and death of Nikolai Romanov: beloved Alix and unnecessary execution

The father of the future king, Alexander, spent a long time choosing a bride for him, but he didn’t like everything, and his wife was meticulous in matters of blood. Nicholas 2 had a chance to see his bride for the first time only in 1889, when the marriage was already a done deal. This was Princess Alice's second visit to Russia, then the future emperor fell in love with her and even gave her the affectionate nickname Alix.

Most of the time, the tsar, together with his royal family, lived in Tsarskoe Selo, where the Alexander Palace was located. This was the favorite place of Nikolai and his wife. The couple also visited Peterhof often, but in the summer they always went to Crimea, where they lived in the Livadia Palace. They loved to take pictures, read a lot of books, and the king also had the largest fleet of vehicles on the continent at that time.

Family and Children

On a bright autumn day on November 14, 1894, in the church of the Winter Palace, the wedding of Nicholas II with Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna took place, because this was the name she received when converting to Orthodoxy, which was mandatory for Russian rulers. It was this sickly and neurasthenic woman who bore him all his children.

  • Olga (November 3, 1895)
  • Tatiana (May 29, 1897).
  • Maria (June 14, 1899).
  • Anastasia (June 5, 1901).
  • Alexey (July 30, 1904).

The last Tsarevich, the only boy and heir to the throne, had a blood disease from birth - hemophilia, which he inherited from his mother, who was a carrier, but did not suffer from it herself.

Death of the last Russian Tsar and perpetuation of memory

The reign of Nicholas 2 turned out to be difficult, but it ended life path undeservedly tragic. After the revolutionary events, he dreamed of simply leaving the country to lick his wounds somewhere, but the new government could not allow such a situation to happen. The provisional government was going to transport the royal family to Tobolsk, from where they were supposed to go to the United States. However, Lenin and the Bolsheviks, who came to power, ordered to send the tsar, his wife, son and daughters to Yekaterinburg.

The Bolsheviks were going to hold a show trial and try the Tsar for all his sins, in turn, for the fact that he was the Tsar. However, the unfolding Civil War did not allow distractions, otherwise it was possible to lose what had already been won. On a troubled and windy night from July 16 to 17, 1918, the decision was made and put into practice to shoot the monarch himself, as well as his entire family. The bodies were doused with kerosene and burned, and the ashes were buried in the ground.

It is clear that Soviet ideology did not in any way imply any perpetuation of the memory of the tsar who died so tragically, killed without trial. However, starting in the twenties of the last century, the so-called “Union of Zealots of the Memory of Emperor Nicholas II” was created abroad, which regularly held memorial and funeral services for him. On October 19, 1981, he was canonized by the Russian Church Abroad, and on August 14, 2000, by the internal Orthodox Church. In Yekaterinburg, right where the house of engineer Ipatiev stood, in which the royal family was killed, the Temple on the Blood was built in the name of All Saints who shone in the Russian land.