Nicholas II as a Ruler

• Nicholas was not the natural autocrat his father was and lacked the political understanding of his grandfather.
• Nicholas II was not the same imposing figure that Alexander III was.
• Small, shy and unassertive, he was given the nickname of "girlie" by his dad.
• Nicholas was dominated first by his mother and then by his wife Tsarina Alexandra and was far more comfortable as a family man than as the autocrat of an enormous empire.
• Even Nicholas II himself did not have faith that he was cut out to rule - "What is going to happen to me and all of Russia? I am not prepared to be a Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling."
• Nicholas was not the idiot his father thought he was, he had an excellent memory and spoke several languages but he was not a "doer" and lacked many of the skills required to be a Tsar.
• Perhaps worried about his own weakness, he was determined to be a strong ruler like his father and make no concessions and maintain autocracy.

  
  

  His tutor Pobedonostsev, who also taught Alexander III, was key in instilling these ideas in him.
• There was a lot of resentment towards the Tsarist system when Nicholas came to power due to failings in dealing with the 1891-92 famine and the repression carried out by Alexander III.