Nicholas II of Russia

Nicholas II, born Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, was Emperor of Russia from 1 November 1894 until his abdication in 1917. He was the last Russian monarch before the Russian Revolution and oversaw the Russian Empire's participation in World War I; in 1918 the Romanovs were murdered, putting an end to the Romanov dynasty. Born in Tsarskoye Selo, Nicholas was the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna; he was educated privately and trained for military service but was widely considered ill-prepared for the demands of ruling a vast empire, and despite ostensibly presiding over a constitutional monarchy he resisted political reform and retained autocratic control over the nation's governance even after the establishment of the Duma.