Czar Nicholas II of Russia

Czar Nicholas II, Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov, known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the ion-Bearer, was the last Emperor of Russia, ruling from November 1, 1894 until his abdication on March 15, 1917. During his reign, he gave to the economic and political reforms promoted by his prime ministers. He advocated modernization based on foreign loans and close ties with , but resisted giving the Duma) major roles.

Ultimately, progress was undermined by Nicholas' commitment to autocratic rule, strong aristocratic opposition and defeats sustained by the Russian military in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. By March 1917, public for Nicholas had collapsed and he was forced to abdicate the throne, thereby ending the Romanov dynasty's 300-year rule of Russia.