How well was the Russian Tsar running his country?

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1. Spellbound says

   Tsar Nicholas II was not running the country at all in the period leading up to the February Revolution. He was away with his armies, directing the war; his wife, the Tsarina Alexandra was ruling in his place – she was nearly as incompetent as he was, although she was ruling in his name, so her failings were seen as his failings.

   Nicholas II was an autocrat, in other words he ruled by himself, no parliament, only advisors and ministers to carry out his orders. Unfortunately for him, and for Russia, he was vain, stupid, overly religious and badly advised.
   His downfall began when he lost the 1904 Russo-Japanese War; this led to the 1905 Revolution, which led to the institution of a parliament, the Duma. Nicholas allowed it to meet, and then politically neutered it, robbing it of its authority and powers.
   He could have weathered this storm, perhaps, if he hadn't plunged Russia into WWI. The war was a disaster for Russia, and, when the he took personal command of the army – the people blamed him for the way that the war was turning out.
   Eventually the resentment turned from anger to hatred and, in February 1917, the women of Petrograd marched on the Winter Palace and Nicholas abdicated.
   He was arrested on charges of treason, and held in various locations until he ended up, with his family in the Ipatiev house in Ekaterinburg in Western Siberia. Here, on July 17 1918 he, along with his entire family and their servants were taken to the basement and executed.

   See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/nic… http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/nicholas.htm

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