Nicholas, the eldest son of Alexander III, the Tsar of Russia, and Marie Feodorovna, was born at Krasnoye Selo in May 1868. When he was twenty-three he narrowly escaped assassination in Japan.
Nicholas succeeded to the throne following his father's death from liver disease on 20th October, 1894.
Soon afterwards he married the German princess, Alexandra of Hesse-Darmstadt. Alexandra, the grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, was a strong believer in the autocratic power of Tsardom and urged him to resist demands for political reform.
A cultural nationalist, Nicholas was opposed to the Westernization of Russia. He made a speech in January, 1895, denouncing the "senseless dreams" of those who favour democratic reforms. Leon Trotsky later remarked: "Nicholas inherited from his ancestors not only a giant empire, but also a revolution. And they did not beqeath him one quality which would have made him capable of governing an empire. Or even a country.