At the beginning of the 19th century, it was estimated that the Russian Tsar ranked as the fifth wealthiest ruler of the time, with vast power and wealth stemming from his empire. Who wouldn’t want to sit on the throne of the Russian Empire? Well, one person didn’t: the man who wore the crown himself—Tsar Nicholas II Romanov (1868–1918). The young tsar (who ascended to the throne at 26 after his father Alexander III’s death in 1894) reportedly burst into tears upon hearing of his succession, confessing, “I am not ready to be a tsar. I never wanted this. I know nothing about governing. I have no idea how to speak to ministers.”

Nicholas had never been groomed for the life of a tsar by his father, and although he was highly educated and had a respectable military career, his gentle, kind nature—perhaps overly so—and the strong conviction (instilled by his tutors) of his God-given role as leader of the Russian people made him somewhat deaf to the calls for modernization and liberalization that had by then reached the Empire. He deserves credit for the Hague Conference of 1898, where his involvement proved crucial in calling for general disarmament among world powers. However, his malleable character led him to follow the disastrous decisions (the war against Japan in 1905, the firing on protesters at the Winter Palace, etc.) of the politicians around him, quickly damaging his reputation in the eyes of the people.

Despite granting some reforms, such as creating the Duma, Nicholas II failed to quell the increasingly fierce protests that eventually culminated in the October Revolution of 1917, leading to his forced abdication. “All around me is cowardice, deceit, and betrayal”, lamented the Tsar as he prepared to renounce the throne on his imperial train, thus ending 300 years of the Romanov dynasty. During his year in captivity, Nicholas’s true character emerged: a gentlemanly prince, affectionate towards his family and kind to his captors; a good man weighed down by a crown he had never wanted.