love were to prove woeful preparation for the subtleties and demands of an intense social and political life. Having grown up in a cloistered Imperial setting, Nicholas had grown used to a continual reliance upon the stabilizing presence and keen political advice of his mother, the Dowager Empress Marie, an accomplished maneuverer in the social and political hotbed of public life. But he had never been tutored to rule, and his inability to objectively gauge the wisdom of his advisors was never to materialize. In 1894, his reliance on his uncles' advice to marry after the long funeral of the old Tsar led to the compromising, inappropriate appearance of Alexandra in the funeral procession. This generated scandal among the more superstitious peasants, who complained --"she has come to us behind a coffin" (Massie 44-45).
Alexandra herself, intimidated by the overpowering Dowager Empress, doubted in her new husband's abilities to weather the many storms ahead, writing "I weep and I worry all day long because my husband is so young and inexperienced" (Massie 49). Lieven notes how Nicholas' sister, the Grand Duchess Olga, blamed Alexander III for not preparing his son to ascend the throne. In 1894, astutely criticizing his abilities, she remembered her brother "..was in despair. He kept saying that he did not know what would become of us all, that he was wholly unfit to reign. Even then I felt...that sensitivity and kindness on their own were not enough for a sovereign to have...Nicky's unfitness was by no means his fault. He had intelligence,...faith and courage--and he was wholly ignorant about governmental matters. Nicky had been trained as a soldier. He should have been taught statesmanship, and he was not" (34).
Steinberg and Khrustalev propose that Nicholas' powerful sense of faith and moral duty led him to be a strong family man, committed to his wife and children, one who valued his family and their love (18-20). His faith a...