Captain Vrungel said: "Whatever you call a ship, so it will sail." The statement is true for different spheres of human life. At least many believe that the nickname of Nicholas 2 "bloody" determined the fate of the last Russian tsar. It was it that caused the troubles of the crowned family. Let's try to figure it out. But before talking about the nickname, let's remember what Nikolai Alexandrovich was like. The last ruler of the Russian Empire. The last tsar of the Romanov dynasty.
Publicism on the topic
There is not much information left about the last Russian Tsar. After the death of the Generalissimo of the Soviet Union - Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, information about imperial terror was tabooed. And at one time not many managed to write monographs: Kasvinov, Usherovich and a few other lone enthusiasts.
After the collapse of the USSR, publications dedicated to the last emperor of Russia appeared one after another. In 2017, many sources were summarized and the book by Gennady Potapov and Alexander Kolpakidi "Nicholas 2. Saint or bloody?"
Authorsposition their work as a base of facts about the last Russian tsar. And they are trying to answer one of the rhetorical questions of our time: "What was he, Nicholas 2?" And they also express their opinion why the washing of the king’s personality from bloodstains is happening right now. Who benefits from this and what awaits Russia if a unanimous opinion is formed in society about the personality of Nikolai Aleksandrovich.
Identity of the Emperor
Calm, imperturbable and cold-blooded, weak-willed, indecisive and unprincipled, secretive and trusting - what qualities his contemporaries did not endow the emperor with, arguing, holy or bloody Nicholas 2. But on one thing everyone agrees unanimously - he was well educated and well brought up. Having studied the course of jurisprudence and military affairs at the level of higher educational institutions, Nicholas 2 was a literate person.
He spent his childhood in a modest, by imperial standards, estate in Gatchina. After the death of his father, Alexander 3 significantly narrowed his circle of contacts and moved away from the center with his whole family. And there life was seething, there were conversations, balls were held. Little Nicky and his brother Mikhail were deprived, as they would say today, of socialization. Perhaps that is why, even after the abdication, Nicholas 2 felt good in the dilapidated houses in which he lived with his family until the execution.
The legacy of the last Russian Tsar
The country went to Nicholas 2 in good condition. The economy was on the rise. Technology, science and culture developed rapidly. At the beginning of the 20th century, about 10% of the world's populationlived in Russia (now only 2%).
If we refer to the data of the Brockhaus and Efron encyclopedia, the Russian Empire was one of the 6 advanced countries in terms of the pace of development and the results achieved.
What the last Russian Tsar left behind
The result of the reign of Nicholas 2, nicknamed bloody, were terrible events. The Revolution and the Civil War claimed the lives of about 15 million people, 90% of them were civilians.
By the end of the 19th century, changes were ripe for the country. Many historians believe that they were a necessary outcome of development. The bourgeoisie wanted the counter-reforms of Alexander 3 to be canceled and the country to enter the path of capitalism. The workers complained about the reduction of the Labor Day by 4 hours - to 8. The intelligentsia wanted political freedom, and the peasants wanted land. However, having ascended the throne, Nicholas 2 announced that everything would remain the same.
Contemporaries would like to place great reform hopes on the educated and literate Nika. In part, they were justified, for example, the famous Stolypin and monetary reform, as well as tolerance of religion, the abolition of "mutual responsibility" and the introduction of a wine monopoly. But this was not enough for society. The textbooks speak of only a few uprisings that were suppressed in St. Petersburg during the reign of Nicholas 2, others are evidenced by entries from the diary of the emperor. Some believe that this is why the tsar began to be called Nicholas 2 "bloody" - too often people died in the struggle with power.
Coronation
Many historians believe that the price of the nickname of Nicholas 2 "bloody" was the family royal enamel mug,filled with sausage, nuts, candies and treats. Such a set was promised to everyone who would come to the Khodynka field to share with the imperial family the joy of Nike's dedication to the kingdom. As eyewitnesses of those days write in the memoirs, the weather was fine, many people decided to spend the night on the field in order to be sure to be in time for the theatrical performance and the distribution of gifts.
As a result of the pandemonium, a stampede began, about 2,500 people were injured in it. Of these, about 1,400 died and the rest were injured.
Having canceled the festivities on this day, the tsar would not have gone down in history as Nicholas 2 "bloody". No mourning was declared for the dead, and angry people dubbed the tsar a tormentor, and the correspondent of Russkiye Vedomosti, Gilyarovsky, called his triumph “a holiday over corpses.”
A small victorious war
By the end of the 19th century, several opposition parties had already formed in the country. The Social Revolutionaries began hunting for dignitaries. The hands of the members of the Socialist Revolutionaries killed the Minister of the Interior Dmitry Sergeevich Sipyagin and Senator Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Plehve.
To awaken the spirit of patriotism among the people, it was decided to organize a small victorious war. Japan received the honorary title of enemy. However, Russia was not prepared for a possible confrontation. As a result: the defeat in Manchuria, the Battle of Tsushima, the surrender of Port Arthur. The people blamed the king and military leaders for everything. The war with Japan and its victims strengthened the nickname of Nicholas 2 "bloody" in the minds of the people. Why is complicatedquestion. The tsar spared the main military leaders - Kuropatnik, Rozhdestvensky and Stessel, and adequately accepted the news of the defeat.
Returning from the battlefield, the soldiers even then allowed themselves to commit excesses with their superiors. At full speed, they threw their commanders out of the cars. The gap between the authorities and the people, as well as the stratification in society, has intensified. A small victorious war brought the country to the threshold of revolution. All that remained was to knock on the door.
Fatal Sunday
Shaken the reputation of Nicholas 2 "Bloody Sunday". Opinions about this event, like many others, are divided among historians. Someone considers it a provocation, and someone - a way of expressing will. From time immemorial, the people have worn petitions to the kings, and the monarchs, wanting to be closer to the people, gave them a go. For example, Catherine the Great condemned the merchant's wife S altychikha precisely at the request of the people.
The list of workers' demands dated November 5 was not radical: an eight-hour working day, a minimum wage of 1 ruble, round-the-clock work in 3 shifts, and others.
The reason for the march as a drastic measure was the financial crisis, the fall in oil and coal prices, the ruin of banks and rising unemployment. For example, shares of the Putilov factory fell by 71%.
However, there is another opinion that "Bloody Sunday" was a planned action. The organizer of the event, the former priest Gapon, was associated with the revolutionaries. Oppositionists knew that this could endvictims, and consciously pushed the people to this step. They got their way. The result of "Bloody Sunday" was the execution of civilians and an even greater increase in the discontent of the people.
Lena execution
Despite the high income of the enterprises, the working conditions of the workers were terrible: cold water, poorly heated barracks. Many risked their he alth and life to feed their families. And there was something to risk for: at the Lena mines, gold miners received about 50 rubles, excluding overtime. Perhaps Nicholas 2 would not have received the nickname "bloody" for another execution, in which he was impassively accused, but only in 1912, the shareholders of the Lena Gold Association began to issue coupons instead of salaries and canceled overtime. The angry people went out to a peaceful procession, and they suffered the fate of the St. Petersburg workers. Several hundred employees were shot, and Nicholas 2 was also blamed for this trouble.
The reason for the deterioration of working conditions was the struggle of shareholders for the right to own mines. Carried away, they stopped paying attention to the demands and discontent of the workers, for which they paid millions. After the massacre of colleagues from the partnership, about 80% of the employees quit. For more than one year, the Lena mines suffered serious losses.
World War I
At the beginning of the 20th century, European states were on the verge of a world war. All that was needed was a reason. And he was found - the Serbian student Gavrilo Princip helped. He killed in Sarajevo the heir to the Austrian throne, the ArchdukeFranz Ferdinand and his wife.
Austria declares war on Serbia, Russia stands up for the Slav brothers. However, neither the country nor the army was ready for this war. Its results were also of no interest to the empire; it turned from a local war into a redivision of the world.
At the beginning of the entry into the arena of confrontation, the people were determined and patriotic. Many people remember the manifestation on Palace Square on July 20, 1914, the participants of which, when Nicholas II appeared on the balcony of the Winter Palace, knelt down. But the king changed his mind about the war, which allowed the opposition to strengthen their position in society.
The results of the First World War were the February and October revolutions in Russia and the November revolution in Germany, the liquidation of four empires (Russian, German, Ottoman empires and Austria-Hungary, the latter two being divided). The authority of the king fell even more.
The contribution of the Bolsheviks
According to historians, the Bolsheviks did a lot to demonize Nicholas 2. But the most significant contribution to the desecration of the name of the last Russian Tsar was made with the help of the November provocation.
As a result of a consistent policy, the power passed to the Bolshevik criminals. They set a course for mass violence and genocide, for the "Red Terror". And in order to justify their actions, they continued to tell the people about the atrocities of the former king. This is the main answer to the question: "Why did Nicholas 2 get the nickname"bloody"?"
