Was Tsar Nicholas Responsible For The Collapse Of The Romanov Dynasty?

Whether Tsar Nicholas II was responsible for the collapse of the Romanov Dynasty is a question many historians have posed. There are numerous facts and sources that point towards ‘yes’, but maybe it was a long time coming or other factors were involved. The Romanov reign began in 1613 with Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich. Notable members of the family include Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Alexander II. This Romanov family tree shows the great scale of the line, starting from Tsar Mikhail and ending with Tsar Nicholas II.

Nicholas II was born Nicholay Aleksandrovich on the 6th of May 1868 (according to the old Russian calendar) or the 18th of May according to the new style calendar. He was the eldest son of Tsar Alexander III and Tsarina

Since the majority of Russians were Orthodox, they believed that he had been appointed Tsar by God, it was his divine right, worshipping him as his own deity. Source 1 is a Russian Orthodox icon, depicting Nicholas as a saint, symbolising the country and the religion's devotion to him. But this was all about to change.

So was the collapse of the Romanov Dynasty Nicholas’ fault? Starting with reasons for

When Nicholas’ father died rather unexpectedly, he became tsar, though he was rather underprepared, knowing very little of how to run a country and how to deal with social and economic problems. Source 6 is a quote from Nicholas himself: ‘I am not yet ready to be Tsar. I know nothing of the business of ruling’. At least he’s self aware. Nicholas was probably following along the previous tsar’s footsteps and modeling his rulings based on them, in regards to policies. Maybe he thought that by copying other successful tsars he could be one too. He much preferred spending time with his wife and children, a devoted ‘family man’, as shown in source 7, a royal portrait. The Russian economy was also declining and crumbling because of factors out of his control such as a series of failed crop seasons, which caused a lack of food sources, leading to inflation. There were also some political factors which may have led to the end of the dynasty, like the faulty legal system, which had no formal court of appeals who could look at and assess the Tsar’s laws. I also find it hard to believe that one person alone could cause such a downfall of a long established line of rulers, after all there were plenty equally, if not more, incompetent Romanov tsars who didn’t cause the collapse of the family. Historian Robert K. Massie, author of Nicholas and Alexandra, seems to have a more extremist view on this take in source 8: “Peter, who broke his enemies on the rack