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