Nicholas II Romanov
1868 – 1918 · Generation XXXV · Emperor of Russia
Nicholas II Romanov (1868–1918). Emperor of Russia. Married Alix of Hesse in 1894. The last of the Romanov emperors, he clung to autocratic rule even after a Duma was established, resisting the political reform his empire increasingly demanded. Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War and the upheaval of the 1905 Revolution shook confidence in his leadership, and the First World War — with its military losses and economic misery — wore it away entirely. The February Revolution forced his abdication in March 1917, ending three centuries of Romanov rule; imprisoned first by the Provisional Government and then held by the Bolsheviks, he was executed with his family at Yekaterinburg in July 1918. The Russian Orthodox Church canonised them as passion bearers in 2000; historians largely judge him well-meaning but unequal to his task.
Place in the family
- Nicholas II Romanov was a first cousin twice removed of Queen Elizabeth II.
Line of descent: Christian IX of Denmark → Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark) → Nicholas II Romanov.
Parents
- Alexander III of Russia (1845 – 1894)
- Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark) (1847 – 1928)
Partners
- Married Alix of Hesse (1872 – 1918) in 1894
Life
- 1868 — Born
- 1894 — Married Alix of Hesse
- 1918 — Died