Tsar Nicholas II of Russia

Started by snokitty, March 28, 2015, 05:18:57 AM

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snokitty

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia | Unofficial Royalty
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Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was born May 18, 1868 at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo, St Petersburg. He was the eldest son of Tsar Alexander III and Maria Alexandrovna (born Princess Dagmar of Denmark). At the time of his birth, he was second in line to the Russian throne, following his father. He had five younger siblings:
"Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too"      Voltaire

I can see humor in most things & I would rather laugh than cry.    Snokitty


LouisFerdinand



Curryong

Nicholas visited Denmark far more often than just 1901, albeit unofficially. His mother Marie was of course Princess Dagmar of Denmark before she married Grand Duke Alexander as he then was, and all the Danish royals and their children and other royals who had connections to the Danish Royal House would have wonderful holidays together each year at one of the family's homes.

Among the royals gathered there were the two sisters Dagmar and Alexandra. Marie/Dagmar's husband Alexander revelled in the happy, jokey informal atmosphere that prevailed, but Alexandra's husband Bertie rarely appeared. It was all too unsophisticated for him, including the practical jokes. However, Alexandra's children, including Prince Eddy and the future George V spent happy days there, as did the children of the future King Frederik of Denmark, and Nicholas and his siblings, and other cousins. 

amabel

Alix enjoyed being with her family and Bertie watnted to chase women and she often had long hols with her family wen she was annoyied about one of his affairs.

LouisFerdinand

Nicholas II with the French President Raymond Poincare.   
Raymond visited Russia inn 1912-1914     
Romanovs. Tsar Nicholas II & Raymond Poincaré - YouTube


LouisFerdinand

Which bank in England did Tsar Nicholas II have valuables sent to?


LouisFerdinand

In the First World War Nicholas II changed the name of the imperial capital from the Germanic Saint Petersburg to the Slavic Petrograd.


LouisFerdinand

Nicholas II smoked Benson & Hedges made especially for him.


LouisFerdinand

Nicholas II as Tsarevich visited England for the wedding of Prince George and Princess Mary of Teck.   
Nicholas II , the last Emperor of Russia, visits England for the... News Photo | Getty Images


LouisFerdinand

In his haste to be married, Nicholas II had allowed no time for preparation of a place for himself and Alexandra to live. They moved temporarily into the rooms Nicholas and his brother George had shared as boys.


LouisFerdinand

In 1896 Nicholas and Alexandra visited Balmoral. Nicholas II disliked Balmoral. He did not like being surrounded by all his wife's German family. He disliked being taken out for sport in the freezing wet weather.


amabel

Quote from: LouisFerdinand on November 18, 2018, 09:21:43 PM
In 1896 Nicholas and Alexandra visited Balmoral. Nicholas II disliked Balmoral. He did not like being surrounded by all his wife's German family. He disliked being taken out for sport in the freezing wet weather.
I should have said that Scotland was positively tropical compared to Russia

Curryong

Nicholas liked his home comforts and he was dismayed when he realised he was expected to join the POW and the other male royals in shooting every day in often lashing rain. It's weird that Bertie was quite the voluptuary but didn't mind harsh conditions on shoots.

Nicholas was also suffering from toothache. Like many Romanovs he was far too fond of sweets and candies and his teeth were rotting. (This family were not big on dental health. One of Nicholas's enormous uncles, Michael, had one tooth waggling in his mouth in middle age.)

I don't know about Alix's 'German family'. Who was German among them?  Certainly not Alexandra Prss of Wales, who loathed Germans. Bertie wasn't fond of some of them himself.  The Duke of Connaught wasn't German, though his wife was. Both were present. It was on this visit that the Tsar and Tsarina were asked to be godparents to George and May of York's eldest child, Edward, who had just been born. They weren't German either.

amabel


Curryong

#14
 
In 1896 Nicholas and Alexandra visited Balmoral. Nicholas II disliked Balmoral. He did not like being surrounded by all his wife's German family. He disliked being taken out for sport in the freezing wet weather.
[/quote]

The quote above from LF that was relevant to my reply.

Alix's Hessian family (married or not)  were not at Balmoral with the visiting Tsar and Tsarina. . 

amabel

but they were relatives of Alix's - I assume that's what Louis F meant.  Princess Alice was the sister of Edward VII or the POW as he was then.   and so he was her uncle... while of course Alexandra was Nicholas's aunt on his mothers' side...
And the Russian IF married into German Princely families quite a lot.. so German relatives were hardly new to them..

Curryong

#16
Then the reference to Alix's German family (relatives) shouldn't have been directly linked by L.F. to Nicholas's reactions to being at Balmoral. Nicholas didn't refer to Queen Victoria as being part of Alix's 'German' family, did he? Or the Duke of Connaught, or the Prince and Princess of Wales? Or any other of Victoria's British-based family who were staying at Balmoral/Birkhall?  Because they were the ones there during the visit and I'm damn sure that the vast majority of them would have thought it bizarre to have been referred to as 'Germans'. In fact none of the British Royal family, in spite of their bloodlines, thought of themselves as being German (with the exception of the long-dead Prince Consort) and hadn't since the time of George II.

Nor did Alice, even though she lived in Hesse-Darmstardt from her early 20s, think of herself as a German woman. Of course the Russian Imperial Family had some German ancestry, including Marie of Hesse, Nicky's paternal grandmother, and several of his uncles and cousins had married Germans. However, Nicky had also grown up with a Danish mother, Dagmar/Marie, who, like her sister Alexandra, loathed Germany, and he was heavily influenced by her. Most of the British Royal family and in fact most of Willy's relations, disliked Kaiser Wilhelm II. And that included Alix.

If Willy and Dona had been at Balmoral with their retinue, or Irene with Henry of Prussia, or even Alix's brother Ernie, (though he was no German nationalist,) one would have understood references to Nicholas disliking being surrounded by Germans during his stay there. However, as there was only some members of the BRF staying at the Scottish retreat the reference to Nicholas 'disliking being surrounded by ALL Alix's German family' at Balmoral seems odd.

LouisFerdinand

Nicholas II hated the prospect of war. He agonized as his advisers unanimously argued that full mobilization was essential if the Russian forces were to be ready for war. He had given his permission for the ukase declaring general mobilization.   
   
:brr: :brr: :brr: :brr: :brr: :brr: :brr: :brr: :brr: :brr:


LouisFerdinand

Nicholas II had able ministers, but as he felt it necessary to involve himself in everything there was no coordination of government, no real cabinet system.


Curryong

There couldn't have been a real Cabinet system as there was no Parliamentary democracy in Russia before 1905 and only a very pale imitation of it after that date. Nicholas II continued, with his wife's encouragement, to regard himself as an absolutist monarch and his ministers as mere advisers. 

LouisFerdinand

Throughout their childhood Nicholas admired his brother Grand Duke George's sparkling humor. Whenever his brother cracked a joke, the Tsarevich Nicholas carefully wrote it down on a slip of paper and filed it away in a box. Years later as Tsar, when Nicholas was heard laughing in his study, he would be found reading his collection of George's jokes.       

:D :D :D :lol: :lol: :lol: :D :D :D :lol: :lol: :lol:


LouisFerdinand

In foreign affairs, Tsar Alexander III had left a legacy of thirteen peaceful years. He did not aquaint his heir with even the most basic information concerning Russia's international position. It was not until Nicholas II's accession that he learned the terms of the Franco-Russian alliance.


LouisFerdinand

Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra during a hunting expedition in the Bialowieza Forest in 1897     
Tsar Nicholas II Romanov of Russia and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna... News Photo - Getty Images


LouisFerdinand

When the Tsarevich Nicholas was in Coburg with Princess Alix (Alexandra) of Hesse, he summoned a choir across Europe from the Imperial Guard to sing for her.


LouisFerdinand

Nicholas II and Alexandra visited Nicky's uncle Edward VII of England in 1909.   
They received several deputations. They received a deputation from London, led by the Lord Mayor who gave Their Majesties a magnificent gold coffret.