A devoted family man, Tsar Nicholas II had little aptitude for governing or affairs of state. Nevertheless, he clung stubbornly to the autocratic powers of his office, dismissing the aspirations of his subjects for a more representational government as "senseless dreams." After reluctantly granting a limited constitutional order and parliament to end the Revolution of 1905, the tsar remained a defiant opponent of any democratic reform. In the photograph below, he poses in military uniform as commander of the Russian forces, surrounded by his wife, Alexandra, and their children, including the young male heir, Alexei.
