Nicholas II

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Nicholas II (1868–1918) Last Tsar of Russia (1894–1917). Torn between the autocracy of his father, Alexander III, and the reformist policies of ministers, such as Count Sergei Witte, he lacked the capacity for firm leadership. Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War was followed by the Russian Revolution of 1905. Nicholas agreed to constitutional government but, as danger receded, removed most of the powers of the Duma (Parliament). In World War I he took military command (1915), but a succession of defeats provoked the Russian Revolution (1917). Nicholas was forced to abdicate, and in July 1918 he and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks.

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