Note 57 — Chapter XVI · THE CZAR NICHOLAS II.
F. A. (Frederic Appleby) Holt translation
It was a great misfortune for the Czar Nicholas II. and the Czarina Alexandra Feodorovna that they ascended the throne so young. Like Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, they could have said, “Guard us, protect us, O God! We are reigning too young!”
History will ultimately give them their due. What was not written about Louis XVI. at the time of the French Revolution? What accusations were levelled against him? Was there any calumny of which he was not the victim? Yet the children in France learn to-day that “he was honest and kind, and desired to do good” (Malet, Révolution et Empire, p. 312). It will be the same with Nicholas II., with the difference that he was a victim to his devotion to his country because he rejected all compromise with the enemy.