Tsar Nicholas II, the “Mad Tsar”

Tsar Nicholas II was most commonly referred to as the “Mad Tsar” of Imperial Russia. He ruled for 18 years before facing his demise after his most famous and heinous act, what would become The Terrible Famine of 1909. He was survived by one younger brother, George Alexandrovich. Many historians have speculated that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and there are speculations that he was the master mind behind one of the most powerful spy rings of the time, the Edik Ring, allegedly created to stop any communication between the citizens of Russia and the West. Tsar Nicholas II is thought to have lived with an irrational fear of being invaded by the West and believed that the only way to rule was with absolute power and control over his people. He was feared by his subjects, committing one monstrous act after another until his death in 1910. It is widely speculated that The Terrible Famine of 1909 was the last straw for his younger brother and that the “Mad Tsar’s” heart attack was no act of nature.