How Successful Was Czar Nicholas's Rule In Russia

Under Czar Nicholas’s rule in World War 1, there were 1,700,000 to 2,254,396 total military deaths and 410,000 civilian deaths. As the head of the Imperial Russian Army, each and every one of these deaths was blamed on Czar Nicholas, the Czar of Russia. The wrath of his people later led to the the Russian Revolution and the end of the Romanov dynasty. Czar Nicholas II was an autocratic and inefficient ruler, which caused political opposition, neglect, and internal rebellions. Czar Nicholas was famous for his autocratic ideas, meaning that he theoretically had total power. His autocratic belief led to an ineffective rule. Nicholas II was the leader of the Russian Empire; however, he was not prepared for the tremendous obligations of administration. The Britannica article, “Nicholas II” claims, “Neither by upbringing nor by temperament was Nicholas fitted for the complex tasks that awaited him as autocratic ruler of a vast empire.” This suggests that Czar Nicholas’s rule was doomed from the start of his czarship. Nicholas’s inexperience explained his ineffectiveness as a ruler. In addition, Czar Nicholas’s absolutist beliefs blinded him from change. Nicholas II’s belief that he had absolute power and stubbornness clouded his view of change. According to Encyclopedia.com’s “Nicholas II,” “[Nicholas] was too stubborn and very slow to recognize the need for change. Nicholas found it
difficult to accept that his powers had been limited.” By refusing to adapt, Nicholas II demonstrated that he would not mold the government to fit the changing problems of the general population. Nicholas’s refusal was the motivation for the revolts that culminated in the Russian Revolution, and Nicholas’s abdication and death. Since Nicholas II couldn’t recognize change, his stubbornness created political opposition both inside and out of Russia. His absolutist conviction prompted an insufficient rule. During the reign of Nicholas II, Russia fought and lost important conflicts, such as the Russo-Japanese War and World War I, as Nicholas II refused to learn from his mistakes. In 1916, the limitations of the Russian Empire were clear, and many pushed for reform. According to “The Last Czar,” “The Czar’s failure to consider reform led to the growth of political opposition.” The Russian people wanted economic and agricultural reform. They mainly craved for rights and a voice in the government. Nicholas’s rejection of these reforms created an opposition that stoked the fires that would become the Russian Revolution. After some time, the Czar’s opposition to reform resulted in domestic turmoil. According to “The Last Czar,” the workers finally went on strike in November 1916 (Gregorian Calendar) after the Czar denied their demands. The Czar’s stubbornness caused many Russians to rebel because he did not demonstrate any amount of understanding for the lower classes. Russians didn’t think that Nicholas understood the issues of the common people. Nicholas’s brutal response to the strikes convinced disaffected Russians that only the end of the Czar could help their situation. Despite his failure to help and understand his own people, Nicholas II refused to adapt and learn from his mistakes, angering his people and leading to his eventual downfall along with the downfall of Russia. To conclude, the last Czar’s absolutist ideas led to the people’s disillusionment with his regime, which resulted in his abdication.
Under Nicholas, the people suffered from his draconian policies, inciting a series of revolts. The Czar’s significance comes from his role in starting the Russian Revolution, which ended a backwards Russian Empire and created the Soviet Union, a state that influenced the world today. A person today can learn from the Czar’s mistakes and use them in daily life; for example, one can learn to listen to the problems of others before making a major
decision.