Nicholas quotes

View Quote [Tsarista Alexandra has just given birth to her fifth child; Tsar Nicholas is sitting by a family portrait of himself and his four daughters when Count Fredricks, his chief of staff, enters the room]

Count Fredericks:<Showing tears of joy>: 'Mon cher!' (My good man!)

Tsar Nicholas II:"A son? I have a son?"

Count Fredericks: "Eight pounds."

Tsar Nicholas II:"And Sunny? Is she all right?"

Count Fredericks: "Oh yes. Shall I make the announcement?"

[Nicholas II nods in the affirmative. Count Fredericks exits room; Nicholas II is musing to himself]

Tsar Nicholas II:"It is incredible. I have a son!"

View Quote [A moment alone with his wife after she has given birth to a baby boy]

The boy will bring us luck. It has all changed. I have a son to fight for now. We will smash the Japanese and drive them from Korea and I do not care what the cost will be!

View Quote [After hearing the advice of his prime minister and supreme commander that the Russo-Japanese War is costing too many Russian lives and recommended a troop withdrawal]

The Russia my father gave me never lost a war. What shall I say to my son when his time comes? That I was weak? That I had no pride? We shall fight on to victory.

View Quote [Considering the fact that Russia is the last European nation, and the only European country during the 20th Century, to still have an autocracy, or absolute monarchy]

The Windsors have a parliament. Our British cousins gave their rights away. So did the Hapsburgs, and the Hohrenzollens too. The Romanovs will not. What I was given, I will give my son.

View Quote [On his train car riding through Russian villages during the 300th anniversary of the Romanov family ruling Russia. Russian peasants are seen waving at the royal family's train as it passes by their villages.]

I did not want to come on this tour. But by God, I do so love it when they stand and wave!

View Quote [At an opera performance in Kiev; Prime Minister Stolypin has just been assassinated. A woman screams and a panic ensues. The Tsar is taken to an upper level floor where an aide briefs him on the current developments of the situation. Although the aide is listening, it appears more that the Tsar is talking to himself as his men are moving rapidly.]

Stolypin is a good man. They always kill the good ones. I cannot find a match. Does anyone have a match? [The Tsar is nervously fumbling trying to light a cigarette. One of his aides lights the cigarette, then tells him the assassin has been apprehended, and informs him it was a revolutionary] It happened with my grandfather too. He helped the serfs; he freed them. So how did the peasants express their gratitude? They threw a bomb at him. Damn those revolutionaries. You try to help them by giving them what they want and what do you get for it? Bombs, gunshots, assassinations! I want them rooted out. I want something done, do you understand me? I want them paid in kind!

View Quote [After her doctors have concluded that her son Alexei has hemophilia; she tells her reaction to her husband]

Tell them they are mistaken. Tell them we shall go to other doctors. Tell them to get out! My son is perfect! He will lead a long life, and grow up to be a great Tsar, like his father!

View Quote Alexei, Alexei, must not run and must not climb. Alexei, Alexei, must not jump and must be careful all the time!

View Quote [Alexei is seen climbing rocks. Everyone runs in shock when they see the hemophiliac boy attempt such a dangerous stunt. Nagorny, the Russian sailor assigned to protect the Tsarevitch, climbs up the rocks after him. Alexei suddenly falls, but is immediately caught in a bear hug by Nagorny]

It is all right Nagorny. You caught me. You will always be there to catch me.

View Quote The people want more schools and health clinics, laws to protect the workers, and the right to vote for an elected Duma. They are angry sir, and they are serious. Imagine sire, imagine if you would, that you are a factory worker living in Vladivostok or Saint Petersburg. You are really poor; meals almost never fill your belly. You freeze eight months out of the year. Your children have no school; no doctors. Your country taxes you, and sends the men a continent away to die for a piece of land on the Pacific Ocean. Imagine all that you have to deal with. You must give your people a little of what they want. Not everything mind you; just a taste.

View Quote [The Russian flag officers are all celebrating and congratulating themselves on their war plans and believe their entry into the First World War will be quick and painless for Russia. Witte, now retired, is trying in vain to convince them and the Tsar of the dire consequences of what World War One will do. It seems Witte is prophetic in predicting the rise of the Soviet Union, the rise of Nazi Germany, and the eventual coming of the Second World War]

None if you will be here when this war ends. Everything we worked to build will be destroyed. There is no question another great war will come. The societies and kingdoms of Europe we knew will crumble, and out of the wreckage madmen and lunatics will come to power. And the world will grow old.

View Quote [Describing to Nicholas II the logistics problems of the Russo-Japanese War; holding a bullet]

Well, Nicky, let me put it this way. This is a bullet, munitioned in Saint Petersburg. I send it off to war. How does it get there? On a single spur of railroad track four thousand miles long, and in the middle, no track at all. God help us, it spends three days packed on sleds. It works the same way for every pair of boots, first aid kit, or pound of tea we send. Get out now, Nicky. While there is time!

View Quote I studied late to be a starets (faith healer). I was twenty when this vision came. We peasants get them all the time. The Virgin Mary appears to us, she tells us when to sell our sheep when we want to make a profit. She told me to start walking, so I did. I kept walking throughout Europe and I waited for Her to tell me when to stop walking, but she did not. When I got to Greece I could walk no more, so I resided in a monastery for two years and then proceeded to walk back to Russia again. Sometimes people ask me "What do I need to become a starets." and I respond "Good feet".

View Quote All saints were sinners once. God loves sinners.

View Quote You must understand that you are free to say whatever you like. You must also understand that I am free to shoot you for saying it.