Bulgarian Empire

Chapter 52: Nikolai II

Nikolai II Aleksandrovich was born in St. Petersburg on May 18, 1868.

He was the eldest son of Aleksandr III and Tsesarevna Mariya (Princess Dagmar of Denmark). He was the last emperor of Russia and reigned from 1894 to 1917.

Nikolai II came to the throne at a time of rapid change. From the end of the 19th century, the industrial system of Russia, centered on heavy industry, was perfected. The capitalist economy and the decadent and backward Russian political system created a conflict that he could not overcome.

And the gap between the rich and the poor in Russia widened, many peasants went bankrupt, and social conflicts intensified. Faced with these conditions, he continued internal repression and external expansion from the point of view of maintaining his rule.

In 1891, while attending the opening ceremony of the Siberian Railway in Vladivostok, Nikolai was invited by the Japanese Imperial Family to visit Japan and was attacked in tsu, which is known as the 'tsu Incident'.

After the Meiji Restoration, capitalism developed rapidly in Japan, and the country grew in strength, becoming a power in Asia by the end of the 19th century.

At that time, Japan was determined to become the dominant power in Asia and be among the world powers. The Japanese government was panicking in the face of Russia's aggressive expansion in the Far East.

Strong Russophobic sentiments were also rampant among Japanese nationals, and organizations such as Kokurykai emerged among the people. Thus, before Nikolai's departure date, anti-Russian organizations had already started planning the assassination of the Russian Crown Prince.

During Nikolai's visit to Japan, he was touring the streets of Tokyo when a Japanese samurai rushed up to him and swung his saber at Nikolai.

Fortunately, Nikolai's entourage reacted quickly and pushed him away to save him from being a victim under the sword, but was still the blade cut off at the forehead. They took the Crown Prince to the hospital at once.

Although he escaped, Nikolai II has been left with a visible scar on his head and suffers from a severe migraine, a memento of his trip to the Far East.

Nikolai said that the tour influenced him and made him interested in the Far East later on his return from the Far East.

Although the Japanese officials quickly arrested the murderer, apologized to Nikolai, and paid a hefty price, the matter was set right.

This matter is not so easy to finish. Nikolai's heart is not so open-minded, and the mere capture of an assassin cannot satisfy him.

After the Sino-Japanese War in 1894, the conflict between Japan and Russia in the Far East became a more open one.

In 1895 he joined forces with Germany and France to interfere with Japan's efforts to regain Qing Dynasty's Liaodong Peninsula. It laid the seeds for the Russo-Japanese War.

In 1900, after the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion, Nikolai sent troops to join the Eight-Nation Alliance, which invaded Beijing and occupied northeastern China.

During the expansion activities in the Far East, there were violent conflicts with Japan in Korea and Manchuria, which led to the Russo-Japanese War in 1904.

At the beginning of the war, the ill-prepared Russia surprised Japan and took heavy losses. Later on, although they slowed down because of their strong national power, they could not support their counter-attack due to the poor access and logistics in the Far East, and they have been in a stalemate.

Nikolai, probably eager for revenge, had his head in the clouds and sent the Russian Navy to the Far East. It was a suicidal campaign that killed the world's second-largest Navy at that time. "Russo-Japanese War" saw Russia lose and Japan win.

In 1905, after the capture of Lushun by Japan, the revolution broke out in St. Petersburg, which became known as the Bloody Sunday. It was temporarily overcome by the Stolypin reforms but was plunged into more complex Balkan problems, which continued to drain the empire's energy.

Due to the hemophilia of Crown Prince Alexei, Nikolai II spent most of his time in retreat in the Imperial Estate of St. Petersburg as well as in the Black Sea, staying with his family.

As the Empress favored the 'evil monk' Rasputin, which caused discontent among the young nobility and the officer corps, Nikolai II gradually lost the support of the military, bureaucrats, and capitalists.

In 1914, when Russia had just restored its strength, Nikolai II led Russia into the Great War and gradually lost popular support due to poor war conditions, lack of supplies, and capitalist hoarding.

In 1917, Germany gave support to the Soviet Communist Party, and Lenin returned home from Switzerland through German territory via Finland to start a revolution to get Russia out of the war.

In March 1917, the February Revolution broke out when the citizens of St. Petersburg staged anti-hunger protests.

On March 15, 1917, Nikolai abdicated and passed the throne to his younger brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, but he refused, so the Romanov Dynasty fell.

After the abdication of Nikolai II, the British government refused to accept his family's asylum in England. After the outbreak of the October Revolution, Nikolai II's family was killed by the Bolshevik army.

Of course, this is all in our time, and now Nikolai is in his prime. As the crown prince of one of the most powerful empires in the world now, it precisely is what he wants.

Three days later, in the port of Burgas, Nikolai and his entourage left the warship and stepped into Bulgaria.

"Oh, there you are, Archbishop Kliment. I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to congratulate you on the opening of the Sobu Railroad!" Nikolai said with a smile.

Kliment said excitedly: "Your Imperial Highness, you are too kind! Compared to the great Russian Empire, our achievements are not worth mentioning!"

Nikolai smiled and did not say anything as he obviously thought so. In 1891, the total railroad mileage in Russia was already up to 30,723 km.

And what about Bulgaria? Even by Ferdinand, the traverser who opened the door, the total railroad mileage is now only a thousand kilometers.

Nikolai did not seem to be in a hurry. When he arrived at the port of Burgas, he did not rush to Sofia but began to tour the mountains.

Ferdinand received a telegram from Kliment and knew that Nikolai was not as bad as the future reviews of the world had made him. Any emperor who can hold real power is not to be underestimated.

The "tour of the mountains" mainly was to observe the strength of Bulgaria. He then decides what attitude to take towards Bulgaria. Except for political naive like Kliment, basically, all can see the purpose of Nikolai.

Nikolai directly uses the foreign plot that Ferdinand cannot do anything even though it is clear. Ferdinand is very upset about this situation that is beyond control.

It has been going on for more than a month. Nikolai traveled all over the road, stopping and wandering around, probably bored, or maybe it was the right thing to see. By May, he finally arrived in the city of Sofia.

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