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Omelchenko, Ulyana D.; Karpenko, Arina A.; Volkodav, Tatiana V. (2019). "Tattoo or Taboo? The Social Stigma of Tatoos". Форум молодых ученых: 17–25. The French government declined to accept the Romanovs in view of increasing unrest on the Western Front and on the home front as a result of the ongoing war with Germany. [121] [122] The British ambassador in Paris, Lord Bertie, advised the Foreign Secretary that the Romanovs would be unwelcome in France as the ex-empress was regarded as pro-German. [117] The First World War developed badly for Russia. By late 1916, Romanov family desperation reached the point that Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, younger brother of Alexander III and the Tsar's only surviving uncle, was deputed to beg Nicholas to grant a constitution and a government responsible to the Duma. Nicholas sternly and adamantly refused, reproaching his uncle for asking him to break his coronation oath to maintain autocratic power for his successors. In the Duma on 2 December 1916, Vladimir Purishkevich, a fervent patriot, monarchist and war worker, denounced the dark forces which surrounded the throne in a thunderous two-hour speech which was tumultuously applauded. "Revolution threatens," he warned, "and an obscure peasant shall govern Russia no longer!". [89] Tsarevich Alexei's illness and Rasputin Alexei in 1913

In 1912, a fourth Duma was elected with almost the same membership as the third. "The Duma started too fast. Now it is slower, but better, and more lasting", stated Nicholas to Sir Bernard Pares. [85] King, Greg (2007) Twilight of Splendor: the Court of Queen Victoria in Her Diamond Jubilee Year , John Wiley & Sons, pp. 173–175 Because of the fragility of the autocracy at this time, Nicholas and Alexandra chose to keep secret Alexei's condition. Even within the household, many were unaware of the exact nature of the tsarevich's illness. At first Alexandra turned to Russian doctors and medics to treat Alexei; however, their treatments generally failed, and Alexandra increasingly turned to mystics and holy men (or starets as they were called in Russian). One of these starets, an illiterate Siberian named Grigori Rasputin, gained amazing success. Rasputin's influence over Empress Alexandra, and consequently the tsar himself, grew even stronger after 1912 when the tsarevich nearly died from an injury. His bleeding grew steadily worse as doctors despaired, and priests administered the Last Sacrament. In desperation, Alexandra called upon Rasputin, to which he replied, "God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much." [91] The hemorrhage stopped the very next day and the boy began to recover. Alexandra took this as a sign that Rasputin was a starets and that God was with him; for the rest of her life she would fervently defend him and turn her wrath against anyone who dared to question him. [ citation needed] European affairs Nicholas II and his son Alexei aboard the Imperial yacht Standart, during King Edward VII's state visit to Russia in Reval, 1908Josef und Ulli. "Germany during World War One". Archived from the original on 18 October 2009 . Retrieved 7 September 2009.

Sergei L. Firsov, "Emperor Nicholas II as an Orthodox Tsar" Russian Studies in History 50.4 (2012): 79–90. New DN Coble, M. D.; Loreille, O. M.; Wadhams, M. J.; Edson, S. M.; Maynard, K.; Meyer, C. E.; Niederstätter, H.; Berger, C.; Berger, B.; Falsetti, A. B.; Gill, P.; Parson, W.; Finelli, L. N. (2009). "Mystery Solved: The Identification of the Two Missing Romanov Children Using DNA Analysis". PLOS ONE. 4 (3): e4838. Bibcode: 2009PLoSO...4.4838C. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004838. PMC 2652717. PMID 19277206. Further complicating domestic matters was the matter of the succession. Alexandra bore Nicholas four daughters, Grand Duchess Olga in 1895, Grand Duchess Tatiana in 1897, Grand Duchess Maria in 1899, and Grand Duchess Anastasia in 1901, before their son Alexei was born on 12 August 1904. The young heir was afflicted with Hemophilia B, a hereditary disease that prevents blood from clotting properly, which at that time was untreatable and usually led to an untimely death. As a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Alexandra carried the same gene mutation that afflicted several of the major European royal houses, such as Prussia and Spain. Hemophilia, therefore, became known as " the royal disease". Through Alexandra, the disease had passed on to her son. As all of Nicholas and Alexandra's daughters were assassinated with their parents and brother in Yekaterinburg in 1918, it is not known whether any of them inherited the gene as carriers. [ citation needed] In 1903, Nicholas threw himself into an ecclesiastical crisis regarding the canonisation of Seraphim of Sarov. The previous year, it had been suggested that if he were canonised, the imperial couple would beget a son and heir to throne. While Alexandra demanded in July 1902 that Seraphim be canonised in less than a week, Nicholas demanded that he be canonised within a year. Despite a public outcry, the Church bowed to the intense imperial pressure, declaring Seraphim worthy of canonisation in January 1903. That summer, the imperial family travelled to Sarov for the canonisation. [36] Initiatives in foreign affairs

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The energetic and efficient General Alexei Polivanov replaced Sukhomlinov as Minister of War, which failed to improve the strategic situation. [102] In the aftermath of the Great Retreat and the loss of the Kingdom of Poland, Nicholas assumed the role of commander-in-chief after dismissing his cousin, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolayevich, in September 1915. This was a mistake, as the tsar came to be personally associated with the continuing losses at the front. He was also away at the remote HQ at Mogilev, far from the direct governance of the empire, and when revolution broke out in Petrograd he was unable to halt it. In reality the move was largely symbolic, since all important military decisions were made by his chief-of-staff General Michael Alexeiev, and Nicholas did little more than review troops, inspect field hospitals, and preside over military luncheons. [107] Nicholas II with his family in Yevpatoria, Crimea, May 1916 Podbolotov, Sergei (2004). "Monarchists Against Their Monarch: The Rightists' Criticism of Tsar Nicholas II" (PDF). Russian History. 31 (1/2): 105–120. doi: 10.1163/187633104X00043. hdl: 11693/49114. JSTOR 24657737. In a celebration on 27 May 1896, a large festival with food, free beer and souvenir cups was held in Khodynka Field outside Moscow. Khodynka was chosen as the location as it was the only place near Moscow large enough to hold all of the Moscow citizens. [31] Khodynka was primarily used as a military training ground and the field was uneven with trenches. Before the food and drink was handed out, rumours spread that there would not be enough for everyone. As a result, the crowd rushed to get their share and individuals were tripped and trampled upon, suffocating in the dirt of the field. [32] Of the approximate 100,000 in attendance, it is estimated that 1,389 individuals died [30] and roughly 1,300 were injured. [31] The Khodynka Tragedy was seen as an ill omen and Nicholas found gaining popular trust difficult from the beginning of his reign. The French ambassador's gala was planned for that night. The Tsar wanted to stay in his chambers and pray for the lives lost, but his uncles believed that his absence at the ball would strain relations with France, particularly the 1894 Franco-Russian Alliance. Thus Nicholas attended the party; as a result the mourning populace saw Nicholas as frivolous and uncaring. [ citation needed] Clark, Christopher (2012). The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914. Penguin Books Limited. p.176. ISBN 978-0-7181-9295-2.