History Quotes 5 Flashcards
“The most powerful man in Russia was the last minister to speak to the Tsar”
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich
“Nicholas II was not fit to run a village post office”
A cabinet minister under Nicholas II
“Nicholas was the source of all the problems”
Orlando Figes (historian)
“Politically… Tsar Nicholas II was a complete idiot
Christian Reed (historian)
“I am not prepared to be a Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling, I have no idea of how to even talk to ministers.”
Tsar Nicholas II
“The Bolsheviks did not seize power; they picked it up”
Adam Ulam
“Imperial Russia simply rotted away from the centre outward until its shell fell in.”
Edward Crankshaw
“There were not to be found anywhere in the country any groups of the population, any parties, institutions, or military units which were ready to put up a fight for the old regime.”
Leon Trotsky
“Nicholas II fell not because he was hated but because he was held in contempt.”
Richard Pipes
“It was not the bullets of revolutionary terrorists, nor the shells of Germans at the front, but the existence of a single person (Rasputin) that was threatening to destroy one of the greatest empires in the world.”
Edvard Radzinsky
“The Emperor Nicholas has not inherited his father’s commanding personality nor the strong character and prompt decision making which are essential to an autocratic ruler.”
Sir George Buchanan (British ambassador to Russia)
“I will preserve the principle of autocracy as sternly and unflinchingly as my late father.”
Tsar Nicholas II
“Politically… Tsar Nicholas II was a complete idiot”
Christian Reed (historian)
“What we need is a small, victorious war to hold Russia back from revolution.”
Plehve (Minister of Interior)
“The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Working men of all countries unite.”
Karl Marx
