RUSSIAN CZAR NICHOLAS II METAL BUST

RUSSIAN CZAR NICHOLAS II BUST. Heavy white metal, painted in black. Perfect condition. Not an antique. Height 4.5"

Nicholas II,  Nikolay Aleksandrovich; (1868-1918) Czar of Russia (1894-1917).
Son of Alexander III, he received a military education and succeeded his father as czar in 1894. He was an autocratic but indecisive ruler and was devoted to his wife, Alexandra, who strongly influenced his rule. His interest in Asia led to construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad and also helped cause the disastrous Russo-Japanese War (1904-5). After the Russian Revolution of 1905, he agreed reluctantly to a representative Duma but restricted its powers andmade only token efforts to enact its measures. His prime minister, Piotr Stolypin, attempted reforms, but Nicholas, increasingly influenced by Alexandra and GrigoryRasputin, opposed him. After Russia suffered setbacks in World War I, Nicholas ousted the popular grand duke Nicholas as commander in chief of Russian forcesand assumed command himself, at the bidding of Alexandra and Rasputin. His absence from Moscow and Alexandra's mismanagement of the government causedincreasing unrest and culminated in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Nicholas abdicated in March 1917 and was detained with his family by Georgy Y. Lvov's provisional government. Plans for the royal family to be sent to England were overruled by the local Bolsheviks. Sent to the city of Yekaterinburg, the family was executed in a cellar there in July 1918.