Opacity

It is a very common and wide spread believe that the last Tsar of Russia was Nicholas II. The real story is slightly varied, because Nichols II was not last Romonov tsar of Russia. In the spring of 1917, with the fortunes of war going badly for the Russians, there were a serious of riots in Russia.

In response to these riots, there were demands on Nicholas to form a new cabinet, but like all politicans; he delayed his final decision. Finally, unable to wish the problem away, Nicholas realized that a new cabinet would not remedy the problems because the calls of the hour were demanding his abdication. Faced with no choice, he abdicated the throne but in doing so, he also renounced the right of his son to the throne. The reason was that his son suffered from hemophalia and Nicholas may have been a lot of things, but he was also a concerned and loving father. Realizing that his perpetually sick son would never have a normal life if he was crowned the tsar and to protect him from the harshnes of strangers, with whom he would deal with; Nicholas was reacting to his paternal instincts to protect his son.

The crown, then, went to his nearest cousin - Michael. Michael on becoming the tsar became known Michael II. Michael II did not rule for long because facing an implacable opposition and realizing how loathsome the Romanovs had become, soon himself abdicated. In doing, he said that he would become the tsar, again, if asked by a poopularly elected assembly.

There was no popular demand for him to become the tsar and in 1917, after nearly three hundrend years of rule, the Romanov dynasty ended. The ironic coincidence in this was that the Romanov dynasty's first tsar was named Michael, elected tsar in 1618, and the last tsar of the Romanovs was his namesake; also named Michael.

It makes one wonder how much of history we really know and how much of it is commonly held myths, which pass as history?

The German philosopher, Frederick von Schiller, was right when he said that "man learns nothing from history except that man learns nothing from history".