Journal 118 - Lenin ordered to murder Czar’s Nicholas II family

Nicholas II, 1868-1918, was the last czar of Russia. He ruled from 1894 to 1917 and believed that a czar must have absolute power.
During Nicholas II reign, industry developed rapidly in Russia. Literature, science, and other branches of learning also made impressive gains. However, workers in the cities became dissatisfied with living and working conditions.
Nicholas II attempted to expand Russian territory in Asia. It was a reason the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Russia lost it and people revolted in 1905.
In the beginning 1906, Nicholas’s government gave workers some health insurances, allowed peasant families to assume ownership of the village land which they farming, and improved public education. In 1914, these reforms were interrupted by the World War I. Nicholas took direct command of the Russian army. The Russian people blamed him for Russia’s military failures. Some people accused Alexandra, Nicolas’s German-born wife, of treason. In country were shortages of food and fuel. The people revolted in March 1917. Nicholas gave up his throne on March 15.
In November 1917, Bolsheviks took power in the country. They imprisoned Nicholas II, his wife and children in Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains. On July 17 or 18, 1918, they were killed. The czar’s family consisted of: Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra and their 5 children. There were 4 daughters and son Alexei, who was afflicted by hemophilia. At that time, this disease was untreatable; it usually led to death. Together with them, were killed all members czar’s court staff. Historians consider that decision about this murder was personally made by Lenin.
In 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church declared as saints Czar Nicholas II and his family. Contemporarily, 860 others who were killed by the Bolsheviks were canonized.