Abdication of Nicholas II (russian: Отречение Николая II) was a
manifesto of the
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Nicholas II, signed in
Pskov on 2 March (
O.S.) / 15 March (
N.S.) 1917, in the midst of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the
February Revolution. The Emperor renounced the throne of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
on behalf of himself and his son,
Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, in favor of his brother
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich. The next day the Grand Duke refused to accept the imperial authority, stating that he would accept it only if that was the consensus of democratic action by the
Russian Constituent Assembly
The All Russian Constituent Assembly (Всероссийское Учредительное собрание, Vserossiyskoye Uchreditelnoye sobraniye) was a constituent assembly convened in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917. It met fo ...
, which shall define the
form of government for Russia. The rule of the
300 year-old House of Romanov
The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastacia of Russia, Anastasi ...
ended with the Grand Duke's decision.
Power in Russia then passed to the
Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...
, signaling the victory for the February Revolution.
Text of the manifesto
See also
*
Abdication of Wilhelm II
References
Bibliography
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdication of Nicholas II
1917 in Russia
House of Romanov
Nicholas II of Russia
Russian Revolution
March 1917 events
Abdication
Politics of the Russian Empire
Dissolution of the Russian Empire