![]() ![]() ![]() Nikolay II in the uniform of the Horseguards Regiment of Her Highness Empress Maria Federovna The conditions of factory workers improved somewhat during Nicholas' reign, but this did not result in a decrease in the number of strikes, especially during the 1905-1907 revolution. The construction of railroads continued, natural resources - such as oil in Baku and in Grozny - were actively exploited. The rate of industrial growth at this time was 4-4.5%, whereas agricultural growth was 2.0%. ![]() On the eve of World War I, in 1913, the country's highest level of economic development was reached, so that the later successes of the USSR were purposely compared with this year. This economic growth permitted the currency reform of 1897 which established the gold standard for the rouble. This pleased the country's monarchists, but disappointed the liberal intelligentsia and the educated elite.Īs a whole, the Russian economy expanded during Nicholas II's reign. Once in power, Nicholas immediately made known his position about the impossibility of constitutional reform and the inviolability of the autocracy. The tragedy became known as the Khodynka, and was considered by many to be a bad omen for the new regime. The coronation of Nicholas and Alexandra (as she was called after her conversion to Orthodoxy) was opulent, but the festivities for the common folk in Khodynskoe Field on the outskirts of Moscow ended tragically: rumors that the free beer and pretzels would not suffice for the huge crowd that had gathered resulted in a stampede in which almost 1,400 people were trampled to death. Despite the time-honored tradition of holding mourning for one year after the death of a monarch, Nicholas decided to get married immediately, and thus the young couple's honeymoon was spent in an atmosphere of mourning. At the time of this tragedy, Nicholas was engaged to Princess Alice from the small German state of Hesse. Nicholas II came to power unexpectedly, after Alexander III died suddenly from kidney failure in Lividia Palace on the Black Sea at the age of forty-nine. Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales, Nicholas II, Alexandra Fedorovna and Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna in 1887 ![]()
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