The weekly Alaska citizen., 1918-07-15

l
 peace.
 1 By some Nicholas was held large ly responsible for the Russo-Japan csc war on the ground that he per mitted his favorites to develop the aggressive policy in Manchuria and Korea which aroused Japan to hos tilities. He was accused of hinderins preparations for the war, of med ding with General Kuropatkin, his commander, but is credited in some quarters with having by his firm in sistence saved Russia from paying an indemnity to Japan after peace was proclaimed.
 The constitutional reforms in Rus sia inaugurated by Nicholas were at tributed to the growth of a demo cratic spirit among the Russian peo pie and to internal dissensions caus ed by the revelations of official in competence and dishonesty in the war with Japan. general strike in Petrograd in September, 1905 gave the emperor warning of the danger of revolution and, to pre-. vent this, he issued in October a ukase promising representative as. sembly and other reforms.
 Election of radical dumas, as the Russian constitutional assembly is known. apparently aroused in Nicho. las fears of what might develop from a popular government and they were soon prorogued. Restriction of suf. frage resulted and more conserva- tive duma was elected.
 Adoption of policy of fostering development of Slav nationalities in the Balkans led Nicholas into a clash with Austria Hungary and when the German emperor aligned himself beside Austria "in chinning armor," Russian ambitions suffered check. To what extent Nicholas dictated the policy of challenging Austrian aggressions upon Serbia which led to the great war that began in 1914 is not revealed, but he is said to have insisted that Germany should not be permitted to awe Russia a second time.
 Soon after the beginning of the war the emperor proclaimed the au- tonomy of reunited Poland and in this, as we'll as in his resistance to German aggression, he was in line with the development of Russian liberalism. After months of con. tinuous disaster to the Russian arms, Nicholas took command of the Rus sian armies from Grand Duke Nicholas in September. 1915. His command, however, was regarded as only nominal.
 Although the influences leading to the revolution of March, 1917, which forced his abdication. were various and some of them obscure, it was evident that the leaders of Russian liberal thought blamed the emperor for failure to prosecute the war suc- cessfully. for continuing the rule of the bureaucrats and for the growth of a pro-German influence at the Russian court which were undermin- Ing Russia's war strength. There was a bitter struggle between the duma and the reactionary party, a shortage of food, lack of supplies for the army, neglect of precaution and organization. Some of these were at tributed by the liberal leaders to dark forces" at the court.
 One of these for which the en- peror was held personally respons- ible was the mysterious power exer- cised by Gregory Rasputin, the mys- tic monk, who had obtained great ascendency over both emperor and empress One explanation was that Rasputin had fostered the emperor's mined by deception--the belief that the health of his only son, the Grand Duke Alexis, depended upon Raspu- tins good offics and presence at the court. Protests against the monks power and presence and against the mysticism and superstition that en- veloped the Russian throne were sup. pressed. The resentment eliminated in the murder of Rasputin and was famed to renewed flame by the honors paid him after death, includ- ing burial in chapel on the grounds of the emperor's palace at Petrograd.
 The government had ordered the dissolution of the council of the empire and the duma. The hungry people were incensed by lack of food supplies and held the government responsible for their sufferings. The duma rejected the imperial ukase of dissolution, continued its meetings and organized an executive commit tee. It was believed to represent the demand of the people that the war should be prosecuted with greater vigor and efficiency. The troops in Petrograd sustained the duma and within three days from it's inception