16 June 2008: Tsar Nicholas II

I really don’t have much to report from today. After class, I went to the computer lab to start this blog, actually. You know, it’s kind of weird to pretend these entries are current, when I’m actually writing most of this a week or more later. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up soon, and I won’t have to keep pretending I don’t know how things are going to turn out . . .

When I got back to the apartment, there was no one home, so I started to settle in to get some work done. Just as I was starting, Daniel called to ask if I wanted to come watch a documentary on Tsar Nicholas II which our teacher had given him to check out. He’s super interested in the life of Nicholas II, which is part of the reason he chose Slavic Studies as a concentration. It’s a good thing he knows a lot about the last tsar, because my comprehension of the film didn’t get much past his favorite food. It’s a very interesting story, as a matter of fact.

Those of you who have read Animal Farm are familiar with Orwell’s depiction of the tsar as a tyrannical despot. Most of us are pretty used to this idea. On the other hand, we have movies like Anastasia where Nicholas is shown in a friendly, fatherly sort of way, and we fear for the royal family as they attempt to flee the revolution. Granted, George Orwell was kind of pessimistic about a lot of things, and we can’t expect a children’s movie to accurately depict anything, but there is something to this bipolar representation of Nicholas. During the Soviet era, propagandists naturally did their best to slander the Romanov dynasty as wretched imperialists. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, however, a lot of information has resurfaced concerning Nicholas II, and many Russians (my teacher included) harbor a very fond image of him. The very fact that the tsar and his family were canonized and the abundance of flowers at their tomb substantiate this change of heart.

As it turns out, Nicholas never wanted to be tsar at all. Once thrown into position, though, he turned out to be quite the change from his despotic predecessors. Nicholas was a deeply religious man who cared a great deal for humanity. He commissioned the construction of many dozens of new churches throughout Russia. One the eve of the first world war, Nicholas, who many have branded as a war-monger, actually convened an international peace conference to try to prevent the coming nightmare. Once the war broke out, his wife, Alexandra, left St. Petersburg to become a nurse. Some scholars like to chastise Nicholas for being poorly educated and ill-prepared for rule. In actuality, Nicholas was quite proficient English, French, and German, and did try very hard to keep things working. The image of a tsar isolated within his palace is also inaccurate, as Nicholas often went out to meet and speak with his people. Only when his family was threatened by the Bolsheviks (which ironically means “majority” even though they were a small party) did Nicholas retreat into the palace.

Well, that got a little long, but truth is always a good thing. No one’s perfect, and I’m sure Nicholas had his share of unfortunate deeds, but it’s good to re-examine these sorts of things and reconcile individuals slighted by history.