Nich′olas II of Russia, born at St. Petersburg, May 18, 1868, succeeded to the throne on Nov. 1, 1894. He married Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt on Nov. 26, 1894. His reign has been marked by the construction of a railroad through Siberia to the Pacific coast, by adroit diplomacy with China and by a strong and conservative attitude toward Turkey, as also toward the European powers. In August, 1905, an elective state council (the Duma) was created, giving representation to the provinces and great cities of the Empire and so modifying the previous absolutism of rule in Russia and giving the nation a constitution. In 1898 he initiated the peace-conference held at The Hague in 1899. The data for intelligent judgment of him as a ruler are not yet present. See Russia.
