THE CZAR NICHOLAS II.
Nicholas II., desiring to say farewell to his troops, left Pskoff on
March 16th and returned to G.H.Q. He stayed there until the 21st, living
in the Governor’s house as before and receiving General Alexeieff’s
report every day. The Dowager Empress, Marie Feodorovna, had come from
Kieff to join the Czar, and she remained with him until the day he left
for Tsarskoïe-Selo.
On the 21st the Commissioners sent by the Provisional Government and the
Duma arrived at Mohileff. They instructed General Alexeieff to tell the
Czar that on the orders of the Provisional Government he was under
arrest, and that their duty was to conduct him to Tsarskoïe-Selo. The
Commissioners’ carriage was attached to the Czar’s train and they all
left together the same evening.
Before leaving G.H.Q, Nicholas II. insisted on taking leave of his
troops by addressing to them the following Order of the Day:
PRIKAZE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.
8 (21) March, 1917. No. 371.
I address my soldiers, who are dear to my heart, for the last time.
Since I have renounced the Throne of Russia for myself and my son,
power has been taken over by the Provisional Government which has
been formed on the initiative of the Duma of the Empire.
May God help it to lead Russia into the path of glory and
prosperity! May God help you, my glorious soldiers, to defend our
Fatherland against a cruel enemy! For two and a half years you have
endured the strain of hard service; much blood has been shed, great
efforts have been made, and now the hour is at hand in which Russia
and her glorious Allies will break the enemy’s last resistance in
one common, mightier effort.
This unprecedented war must be carried through to final victory.
Anyone who thinks of peace or desires it at this moment is a
traitor to his country and would deliver her over to the foe. I
know that every soldier worthy of the name thinks as I do.
Do your duty, protect our dear and glorious country, submit to the
Provisional Government, obey your leaders, and remember that any
failure in duty can only profit the enemy.
I am firmly convinced that the boundless love you bear our great
country is not dead within you. God bless you, and may St. George,
the great martyr, lead you to victory!
NICHOLAS.
_The Chief of the General Staff_, ALEXEIEFF.
In this sad and tragic hour the Czar had only one desire--to make the
task of the Government which had dethroned him easier. His only fear was
that the events which had happened might have an evil effect on the army
which the enemy could turn to his own advantage.
On the orders of the Minister of War this Order of the Day was never
brought to the knowledge of the troops!
* * * * *
Why did Fate decree that the Czar Nicholas II. should reign at the
beginning of the twentieth century and in one of the most troublous
periods of history? Endowed with remarkable personal qualities, he was
the incarnation of all that was noblest and most chivalrous in the
Russian nature. But he was weak. The soul of loyalty, he was the slave
of his pledged word. His fidelity to the Allies, which was probably the
cause of his death, proves it beyond doubt. He despised the methods of
diplomacy and he was not a fighter. He was crushed down by events.
Nicholas II. was modest and timid; he had not enough self-confidence:
hence all his misfortunes. His first impulse was usually right. The pity
was that he seldom acted on it because he could not trust himself. He
sought the counsel of those he thought more competent than himself; from
that moment he could no longer master the problems that faced him. They
escaped him. He hesitated between conflicting causes and often ended by
following that to which he was personally least sympathetic.
The Czarina knew the Czar’s irresolute character. As I have said, she
considered she had a sacred duty to help him in his heavy task. Her
influence on the Czar was very great and almost always unfortunate; she
made politics a matter of sentiment and personalities, and too often
allowed herself to be swayed by her sympathies or antipathies, or by
those of her _entourage_. Impulsive by nature, the Czarina was liable to
emotional outbursts which made her give her confidence unreservedly to
those she believed sincerely devoted to the country and the dynasty.
Protopopoff was a case in point.
The Czar was always anxious to be just and to do the right thing. If he
sometimes failed, the fault lies at the door of those who did their
utmost to hide the truth from him and isolate him from his people. All
his generous impulses were broken against the passive resistance of an
omnipotent bureaucracy or were wilfully frustrated by those to whom he
entrusted their realisation. He thought that personal initiative,
however powerful and well meant, was nothing compared to those higher
forces which direct the course of events. Hence that sort of mystical
resignation in him which made him follow life rather than try to lead
it. It is one of the characteristics of the Russian nature.
An essentially reflective man, he would have been perfectly happy to
live as a private individual, but he was resigned to his lot, and humbly
accepted the superhuman task which God had given him. He loved his
people and his country with all the force of his nature; he had a
personal affection for the least of his subjects, those _moujiks_ whose
lot he earnestly desired to better.
What a tragic fate was that of this sovereign whose only desire during
his reign was to be close to his people and who never succeeded in
realising his wish. The fact is that he was well guarded, and by those
whose interest it was that he should not succeed.[57]