Nicholas II

NICHOLAS II was the last Emperor of the Russian Empire and the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna. He was born at Tsarskoye Selo. His education was conducted privately according to a specially designed programme: it began with the subjects of a secondary-school curriculum, foreign languages and history, and later included military studies, law and economics. He succeeded to the throne after the death of Alexander III in 1894 and was crowned in Moscow in 1896. In 1894 he married Alexandra Feodorovna; their children were Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei. His reign encompassed the Russo-Japanese War, the Revolution of 1905–1907, the establishment of the State Duma and the First World War. In 1915 Nicholas II assumed the duties of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. During the February Revolution of 1917 he abdicated the throne. After his abdication he and his family were held under arrest at Tsarskoye Selo, then sent to Tobolsk and in the spring of 1918 transferred to Yekaterinburg. On the night of 16–17 July 1918 Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna, their five children and members of their household were executed at the Ipatiev House. In 1998 the remains of Nicholas II and members of his family were reinterred in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg; in 2000 the Russian Orthodox Church canonised Nicholas II and his family as passion-bearers.