Nicholas quotes

View Quote Rasputin: "God works in mysterious ways, Matushka. There was a man in Prokovskoe. He did not work or wash himself. He drank, he stole, he lied, he chased after all the peasant girls. Why then, of all people, did the Virgin Mary come to him?

Tsaritsa Alexandra: "Maybe he lied. You said he was a liar."

Rasputin: "No, Matushka', she came. I saw her. God is here. Pray with me, Matushka.
[A large open area. Alexander Kerensky is with a group of men protesting the Russo-Japanese War]

Men (shouting in unison): "NO!"

Alexander Kerensky: "More men! Port Arthur falls and Nicholas is sending more men!"

Men (shouting in unison): "NO!"

Alexander Kerensky: "I say we students lead the way!"

Men (shouting in unison): "YEAH!"

Alexander Kerensky: "I say we give Nicholas a Port Arthur right here!"
Men (shouting in unison): "YEAH!"

[Russian soldiers march into the area to draft the men into military service]

Alexander Kerensky: "They are coming for us. Now, do we run or do we fight?"

Men (shouting in unison): "WE FIGHT!"

[Kerensky and the men rush the soldiers; who proceed to club the men for their resistance to conscription. Kerensky is knocked to the floor]

View Quote [A ghastly textile factory in Saint Petersburg. People are toiling, harvesting fiber. The factory also doubles as squalid living quarters for the peasants. An old lady is lying on a wooden slab which serves as her deathbed. Petya, a peasant man, is leading Father Georgi Gapon his dying mother, as Sonya, his wife, looks on]]

Petya: "This way Father, please hurry!"

Sonya: "It is too late Petya. She has died."

[Petya then appears clearly upset at the loss of his mother, Sonya places his arm around him while Father Gapon kneels to give his now-decased mother Extreme Unction and say a prayer of the dead for her]]

Petya: "My mother spent her whole life here. She was born in this factory, grew up here, took her classes here, played here, got married here. I was born, Father died, I got married here and had children. And now it is all over for her. The other people here just keep on working. Well, I cannot blame them, they have to work to feed their families. Father, I have a confession to make. I want to kill somebody. The other factory workers come visit me sometime, they tell me we ought to make bombs, blow things up. Well, I want to fight back for once!"

Father Gapon: "The only thing violence produces is more violence. They will beat you and throw you in jail. There is a better way. We will go to see the Tsar with our grievances."

Sonya: "You know the saying Father. God is too high and the Tsar is too far away."

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 [Addressing a group of peasants about taking their grievances to the Tsar]

The Tsar is here in Saint Petersburg to bless the troops. He is staying at the Winter Palace. This Sunday, hundreds of us will walk to the palace in a peaceful parade. I will meet him on the balcony and read this: Your Majesty, we the working men and women of Saint Petersburg come to you seeking justice and protection. Only you can hear our grievances. If you do not help us, we will stay here and die, right in this very courtyard.

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 [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 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 [Another unnamed combat zone. Two ragged enlisted men have just killed a rabbit for their meal and are skinning it and cooking it over a fire; their only source of food as they are not regularly fed. A Russian captain orders them to stop what they are doing and get themselves in gear]

Russian Captain: "We have orders to deploy. Pick up your rifles and get going!"

Russian Private: "Bug off! We're eating!"

Russian Captain: "I said move! NOW!"

[One of the enlisted men picks up his rifle, loads it and without the faintest fear of a court-martial, aims it at the superior officer and opens fire. This scene is indicative of the rampant mutiny and lack of discipline in the Russian military during World War One]

View Quote [At a chapel in the Tsarskoe Selo palace. Tsaritsa Alexandra, dressed in black, is arranging wood carvings of saints on a table. Her baby boy has suffered a hemophilia attack and she is beggging for the recovery of her son. Rasputin enters.]
Tsaritsa Alexandra: "I know there is supposed to be a proper arrangement of the saints. Now I cannot even remember all their names."

Rasputin: "It does not matter Matushka (Mother of the Russian people), they know you."

View Quote [At a war gaming scenario discussing Russia's impending involvement in the First World War. Colonel Volkov and other military officers are convinced their war plan is flawless and show great overconfidence, which was also common in all other nations involved in World War One]

They will not last a week. We will bury the German Army and that little pansy of a Kaiser and be home in time for Christmas!

View Quote [At an a secret location printing out copies of Pravda, a Bolshevik party newspaper, which at this time is an underground publication. Lenin chides him on an article criticizing him]

Lenin thinks freedom is something you write on a wall but you do not actually practice. I do not understand you. You hate anyone who is not your kind of Bolshevik more than you hate the Tsar. No wonder why they call you Robespierre. Everybody has got to think like you are they are out!

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 [At the Empress Dowager's birthday ball. The Tsar and Tsaritsa are performing a solo dance in front of all the guests]

Tsaritsa Alexandra: "May I say something intimate?"

Tsar Nicholas II: "In public?"

Tsaritsa Alexandra: "I will whisper it."

Tsar Nicholas II:"Well, if you must."

Tsaritsa Alexandra:"Nicky, I adore you."

View Quote [Commenting on the Bloody Sunday massacre and Russo-Japanese War]

Look at this, a massacre in Saint Petersburg! People were shot by the palace guards and Russia is in a riot! This time the Tsar has outdone himself. There is raw, naked power in the streets, just waiting for us to claim it! On top of that, the Japanese have forced Nicholas to accept peace on their terms. He has lost the war and all for nothing!

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.