July 25, 2018

Last week, July 17th marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia, on July 17, 1918. Czar, also spelled tsar, was the title used by the emperors of Russia. Czar comes from Caesar, the name used by the emperors of Rome. Ivan the Terrible in 1547 became the first Russian ruler crowned czar. Nicholas II ruled from 1894 to 1917, when he was removed from power during the Russian Revolution. A year later, he and his family were murdered by Bolshevik (later known as Communist) revolutionaries.

Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia, and his family posed for this photograph shortly before the Russian Revolution of 1917. The entire family was killed 100 years ago on July 17, 1918. Credit: © Everett Historical/Shutterstock

Russia traces its history back to a state that emerged in Europe among the East Slavs during the 800′s. For the next several hundred years, control of Russia was contested by various princes and Mongol invaders from the east. As power in Russia consolidated in Moscow, the city’s grand prince became the most powerful ruler in the land.

Grand Prince Ivan IV, often called “the terrible” because of his great cruelty, in 1547 became the first czar. After Ivan’s death in 1584, power struggles led to the “Time of Troubles,” a period of strife and civil war that lasted until 1613, when Michael I became czar. A member of the Romanov family, Michael began a dynasty that lasted until the end of the czars more than 300 years later. Notable czars of the Romanov line included Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Alexander I, and Nicholas I.

Ivan IV, the first Russian czar, was often called Ivan the Terrible because he was widely known for his cruelty. Credit: © RIA Novosti/Alamy Images

Nicholas II succeeded his father, Alexander III, as czar in 1894. Nicholas believed a czar must have absolute power and opposed parliamentary government. During his reign, industry developed rapidly in Russia. Literature, science, and other branches of learning also made impressive gains. But the middle class increasingly felt the monarchy was out of touch with the needs of the new industrial society. Workers in the cities became dissatisfied with living and working conditions.

Nicholas attempted to expand Russian territory in Asia. This effort led to the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), which Russia lost. The war sharpened dissatisfaction with the government, and the people revolted in 1905. Workers joined with peasants and intellectuals to force Nicholas to grant reforms. He agreed to establish an elected legislature and granted the people civil liberties.

Beginning in 1906, Nicholas’s government expanded public education, gave workers some insurance against illness and injury, and allowed peasant families to assume ownership of the village land they were farming. But these reforms were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Nicholas’s approval of a buildup of Russian troops along the country’s borders with Germany and Austria-Hungary helped trigger the war.

Russia suffered severe losses in World War I. In 1915, Nicholas assumed direct command of the army. As a result, the people blamed him for Russia’s military failures. Many Russians also unjustly accused Alexandra, his German-born wife, of treason. These problems and shortages of food and fuel led the people to revolt in March 1917. Nicholas lost all political support, and he gave up his throne on March 15.

In November 1917, revolutionaries called Bolsheviks seized power in Russia. They imprisoned Nicholas and his wife and children in Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains and killed them there on July 17, 1918.