William Tyler
Toward the Abyss: Nicholas II, 1894–1917
Summary
An examination of the life of the last Romanov Tsar, who along with his entire family was shot by a Communist firing squad in July 1918. Ill-suited to the role he inherited, Nicholas was unable to stave off what we now regard as the inevitable finale to his reign—revolution.
William Tyler
William Tyler has spent his entire professional life in adult education, beginning at Kingsgate College in 1969. He has lectured widely for many public bodies, including the University of Cambridge and the WEA, in addition to speaking to many clubs and societies. In 2009, William was awarded the MBE for services to adult education, and he has previously been a scholar in residence at the London Jewish Cultural Centre.
Yes, that’s what people say. I at one time expected him to crown himself czar rather like Napoleon crowned himself emperor.
Yes, he was scared of a revolution. And he thought that if Nicholas came, they would look like twins. That would stir revolution in South Wales and there would be real problems. Lloyd George, the liberal prime minister, argued that we should save them. In the end, the Empress Maria, Nicholas’ mother, was saved and caused enormous problems to George V. She refused to turn the lights off ever in her rooms. And George V was one of these people, I have to say, I’m similar. I can’t go past an empty room with a light on without going to turn it off. I think it’s boarding school’s done that to me. And I guess it was the Navy that did it to George V. In the end, he managed to get shot of her to her family in Denmark. He paid for everything. The Danes didn’t pay. But he managed to get shot of her.
I don’t think his analysis was right. I don’t think the presence of the czar would’ve made revolution more likely. Interestingly, at the end of the war, the British Commander-in-Chief General Haig said, wrote in his diary on the day of, on the 11th of November 1918, that “if the war had gone the other way,” in other words if Britain had lost, “we ourselves would’ve faced revolution.” And that is a quote that’s not very often given. Not made up by me. If you look at, get a copy out of the library of Haig’s war memoirs, you will see that in there. He really thought that had we lost, our empire, in other words, the royal family would’ve gone.