Tsar Nicholas II’s reign (1894-1917) is marked by many contradictions, both in Russia and outside of Russia, often portraying him as an evil man, which wasn’t the truth.
During his reign the tsar took many initiatives to improve both internal and external affairs of Russia, that he deeply loved and cared for. He strongly believed that his reign was blessed by God and that it was his duty to serve his land as fairly as possible.
Internally, Tzar tried to improve lives of ordinary people, such as reducing working hours, but fell short on other important initiatives to improve lives of workers because he run out of time. He signed a law to transfer part of appanage lands to the Peasant Land Bank (it is important to mention that Russia never had slaves). He signed the decree to allowing peasants to buy their own lands, and offered free lands to those would relocate to Altai. In 1906 he signed the decree to finalize the equalization of the peasants’ rights with other classes. They could enter the government service without restrictions, move freely and chose where to live, etc, etc.
By 1913 Russia reached incredible economic development. “The population exceeded 174 million people (and increase of approximately 23% compared to 1897). The successful agricultural years of 1913-1914 yielded record grain harvests (over 4 billion poods, or 65.5 million tons per year). The successes of industry were striking (the growth of metallurgy since the beginning of the century was 60-70%, mechanical engineering – more than 2-fold). The state budget in 1913 exceeded 3 billion roubles. Russia’ share of GDP in the global economy also grew – from 5% (1900) to 5.3% (1913: 5th place in the world). The level of material well-being of Nicholas II’s subjects increased” dramatically, “the size of deposits in savings banks alone in 1914 reached almost 1.7 billion roubles” (Lukoyanov, 2022).
It was also under his reign that The Trans-Siberian railway was almost completed, allowing Russia’s trade in the Far East.
Externally, he led the policy of pacification between nations. The Anglo-Russian convention signed between Russia and the British Empire in 1907, put a stop to the animosity between Russia and the British Empire. He also tried to improve the relations with France, and organized a famous Hague Peace conference, and was nominated for Nobel prize, due to his efforts towards pacification between different nations.
He was a devoted family man, and led a very simple, modest life. The family, who already had four daughters, were desperate for a heir, and the son Alexei was born in 1904, but with a terrible, untreatable disease, Hemophilia B. Unfortunately, due the desperate attempts of the tzar’s family to heal their son, they got prey to be influenced by all sorts of charlatans, including the famous Rasputin, who manipulated both the tzar and the affairs in Russia.
The reign of Nicholas II was marked by some terrible events, such as the Khodynka tragedy, anti-Jewish pogroms, Bloody Sunday, and attempt at revolution in 1905.
Unfortunately, most of these events happened before the tsar knew anything about it, as his entourage was corrupt. The Jewish pogroms, for instance, were initiated by Viacheslav Plehve, and strongly condemned by the Tsar, leading to arrests and persecution of those responsible. Its condemnation was publicly read across Russian churches.
The Bloody Sunday happened when the Tsar wasn’t in Saint Petersburg, and learned about the tragedy only several days later. The march was organized by the corrupt priest Gapon.
Russia was a prosperous, well-developed country.
But unfortunately, first World War started, signaling a terrible end to Russia as an Empire…
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