A Monstrously Great Father | Tsar Nicholas II | Best Dad's in History #shorts

Artist: Scott DeWitt I Writer: Robert Rath I Showrunner & Narrator: Matthew Krol I Video Editor: Devon House Creative I Audio Editor: Clean Waves I Studio Director: Geoffrey Zatkin I Social Media: Kat Rider

#ExtraHistory #Shorts #History

[extrahistory]

Who should be our NEXT Best Dad in History?

[spencersholden]

He was not born to be king. He was born to be a family man.

[yugoslavball]

“I am not ready to be tsar, I don’t know the business of ruling. I can’t even talk to ministers.” -Nicholas Alexandrovich II after the death of his late father, 1894

[EmnM]

He never WANTED to be Tsar. He always knew he didn't have the aptitude for it, and was happier was a military officer who followed orders instead of coming up with them. I think part of Nicholas and Alexandra's vision for their future was to live the quiet high-class lives nobles who were in line for the throne, but would never realistically sit on one. But all his more qualified brothers died, and he ended up thrust into the position. At the end of the day, he seems like a true family man before anything else, and he might have been perfectly happy to take his wife and children out of the country to live peacefully in exile if the choice had been extended.

[nataliebateman]

Just because he was a terrible King, doesn't mean to say that he was a terrible dad.

[mandymagnolia]

Honestly, it’s looking at their family life that makes it a real shame that Nicholas was the heir. Like, had he just been further down the line, they could have had a nice family life. From what I understand, I number of family photos (I guess some of the more candid looking shots) were taken by Nicholas, Alix, and/or their kids

[jonathanwebster]

Teddy Roosevelt's father, Theodore Roosevelt Sr, was by all accounts a really good dad too:

Teddy Roosevelt had chronic asthma as a small child and his father did everything he could (including carrying him around in the middle of the night when Teddy was having a severe asthma attack and cuddling and comforting him) to try and help him.

He also did his best to try and demonstrate to the young Teddy that even though he might have been not as physically strong as other children, that didn't mean he couldn't achieve just as much, if not more as them, and so he encouraged Teddy to engage in as many physical activities and sports as the young boy was interested in.

Teddy wrote many years later that he felt glad to have had a father who combined "both tenderness and firmness".

[HunterKiller]

He would’ve been a lot happier as a minor noble in the country side, most certainly would’ve lived longer.

[MrSpy-joje]

I always loved the Romanovs domestic life, they were the true model family of all time. If the country was a constitutional monarchy, like Great Britain, life could have been very different. One expert even said that Nicholas II would have been the perfect constitutional monarch of that time

[TrampMachine]

For real though, if you think only people who're totally evil can do evil things you might just miss the evil someone you know to be good is doing, or miss the good that someone you think is evil is doing.

[colemair]

He was indecisive because of the unstable situation in Russia at the time. Rasputin was allowed in because he helped his son recover from illnesses that he was prone to having. When you walk a mile in his shoes it becomes clear that the situation he was put through was one without a good outcome. They ended up having a civil war anyway so it doesn’t really matter what he did

[ocathain-games]

Honestly he wasn’t even trained to become Tsar. His father didn’t show him a single thing and he seemed to just wan a lead a normal life. He was a good father even if despite his lack of leadership qualities and supporting of rather questionable things. It didn’t help those he surrounded himself with seemed to only push what would benefit them

[TheDragiix]

Their story is just sad. The family was genuinely happy, these people genuinely loved each other. The kids adored their father. And they all got shot and dumped down a well. Nicolas wasn't made to be tsar, and that shortcoming killed his family.

[p.brooke]

I love the idea of a ruler just sitting on the floor playing games with his kids

[louthegiantcookie]

He would have been happier without the crown.

[em]

Makes sense, as ppl can be selectively terrible/good to specific ppl. Reminds me of how a lot of criminals love and treat their mamas well.

[OluthandoMetuso]

He was a terrible king but an amazing father and that makes him a true king

[jonathanwebster]

Another pretty good royal father was Edward VII of the UK; he wasnt a particularly good son or husband, but he absolutely was a caring and affectionate father: one of the most touching things I ever read in relation to him is that when his youngest son; Prince Alexander John, died as a baby, he insisted on placing the poor baby in his tiny coffin himself, it is recorded "with tears streaming down his face."

When his eldest son, Prince Albert Victor, died aged 29, he wrote to his mother that "gladly I would have given my life for his, as I place no value on my own."

He also had a very close relationship with his son George V (in a marked difference to the relationship George V had with his own eldest son, and the relationship Edward VII had with his own parents). George V wrote in his diary on his father's death that he had lost "my best friend and the best of all fathers, I never had a bad word with him in my life".

[Caiden_P]

When my high school did the musical Anastasia a lot of us agreed that Nicholas II wasn’t a good tsar but he and his family didn’t deserve to die

[shamusclarke]

The death of Nicholas and his family was nothing but a shameful crime. Brings me to tears to think of a happy, loving family being murdered in such an appalling way.