Nicholas was born May 6th, 1868 in his mother?lush Blue Bedroom located at The Alexander Palace. Nicholas?other was born the Dagmer, Princess of Denmark and was given the name Maria Fyodrovna Romanova. 5 At the time when Nicholas was born, she was known as the Dowager Empress Maria Alexandrovna. 6 She kept that name until her death. 
At the age of 26, Nicholas Romanov II married the love of his life, Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt, Queen Victoria?randdaughter. 7 To show her love for Nicholas, Alix had to convert her deeply religious beliefs of Protestantism to Russian Orthodoxy, the appropriate religion of the Romanov family. She had to then change her name to Alexandra Fyodoruna at her Baptism.8Alexandra and Nicholas?arriage was fun at first but when Alexander III died in 1894, Nicholas became the new tsar of all Imperial Russia. At first Nicholas was insecure about being the new tsar. In a conversation with his brother he said, ?t is going to happen to me??all of Russia? I am not prepared to be a tsar!??e was right in what he said, he had no interests in politics and he also lacked the qualities of a statesman and a leader. His education wasn?omplete and he didn?now the first steps in being a tsar.10
The night that Nicholas was crowned was the night that Russia saw its future. 11 During the coronation, Nicholas crowned himself and then his wife Alexandra with the same crown created for Catherine the Great in 1762. 12 That very same night was the night that 1,400 people lost their lives and close to 3,000 people became injured due to a stampede caused by millions of people wanting to see the new tsar to give him gifts of appreciation. 13 Thinking he needed to show firmness, Nicholas made no effort to cancel the coronation?arties. Even a party that the French Ambassador was holding still continued to be running. People said that Nicholas was showing tact ness instead of firmness. 14 A lot of people blamed Nicholas II for this uncontrollable incident but others blamed Nicholas?ncle, Sergei Alexandrovich because he was the Governor and General of Moscow, therefore in charge of controlling large crowds. 15
Nicholas and his wife weren?he best rulers that there could have been. Nicholas never paid any attention to his people, not because he didn?are, but because he didn?now to care16. His wealth, position, lifestyle, and close family relationship isolated him from real understanding of lower class conditions. He was a loving family man and he took really good care of his children and every possible moment he had?? spent with them.
During the years of 1895 ??01 the tsarina gave birth to four children: Olga in 1895, Tatiana in 1897, Maria in 1899, and Anastasia in 1901. The fact that all the descendants were female was a political dilemma because the person to take over the thrown had to be male; thus Nicholas had no legitimate heir to the throne.
Finally in 1904, Alexandra gave birth to a baby boy. They named him Alexander or Alexi. He was soon named the tsarivich and was going to be pronounced tsar when his father died or abdicated the throne. 17 Joy rang through the ears of Russia now that they had an heir to the throne. However, the boy was always sick and rarely ever could recover strength. News about the boy?llness was known throughout Russia but the type of illness wasn?nown. The boy suffered from hemophilia??disease brought down to him from his grandmother, Queen Victoria. 17 The tsar and his wife forbid anyone to know of this disease. They thought disturbances would be caused throughout the country. Doctors that tried helping Alexi, were to keep the disease a secret and to post that he was doing better at every visit made.
As Alexi?ufferings continued, Russia?ociety got fed up with the way things were going. The tsar and tsarina didn?ay any attention to the way Russia was declining in economic activity. Secret groups such as the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks began developing ideas that Russia should have some form of Democratic government. Due to the way things were going people started praying to the tsar saying they needed help. On Sunday, January 9, 1905 in St. Petersburg, a great crowd of workers including wives and children wearing holiday outfits marched to the Winter Palace with signs petitioning prayers to tsar. Some of these prayers written on signs said, ? have come to you, our sovereign, to seek truth and protection.??th fear and stupidity in mind, the tsar gave orders to military officers to open fire on the crowd of people. Close to 1,000 people died on the event that is known as ?ody Sunday.??is was the start of the first Russian Revolution. 18
After the incident of ?ody Sunday??ppened, people stopped believing the tsar?romises. The people gave demands about changes in the government. They wanted Democratic freedoms, land that belonged to the upper class, to be given to peasants, and they also wanted say in government. 19 In October of 1905, political strikes and petitions broke out in St. Petersburg. The crowds continued to get out of control and the tsar started to grow more fearful. The people of Russia forced tsar Nicholas II to sign a manifesto guaranteeing ?irm basis of civil liberty??d a legislative body that was to be called The State Duma. The demands made by the people were answered therefore ending the revolution. 20 The Bolshevik party and Lenin, their leader, realized that the Revolution wasn?ver, that it was taking a break for the ?nd finale,??d that every organization in every city should prepare for the future. 21
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