Tsar Nicholas II And The Japanese Body Images And...

The two essays I have selected take different approaches concerning Tsar Nicholas II and his decision making process. The two men take not only different approaches to the tsar but arrive at different conclusions. Rotem Kowner’s essay, Nicholas II and the Japanese body: Images and decision-making on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, examines Nicholas’s attitude toward the Japanese and how it affected his decision. Raymond Esthus’s essay, Nicholas II and the Russo-Japanese War, shows Nicholas’s commitment to autocracy and a stubborn resolve to defend Russia’s honor. Ethmus dismisses the idea of Nicholas being weak minded and easily led. It was the mismanagement of the administration that caused Nicholas to misread the political realities the Russian nation was encountering. The Russians were not aware of the threat they were to the Japanese, as the Russians pushed for the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Russia’s management of the situation was an idea of avoiding a conflict Kowner sees the increasing strain on the relationship between Japan and Russia as the tsar â€Å"meddled with the work of the ministries in the capital.† While Ethmus sees the administration as mismanaging the situation, Kowner would agree with the tsar misreading the crisis but not where the mismanagement came from. He places the blame directly on the tsar. â€Å"Had the tsar realized the full military potential of his enemy, Russia could have prepared better for war, and strategic decisions, suchShow MoreRelatedAssess the Role of the Tsar in the Fall of the Tsarist Regime931 Words   |  4 PagesAssess the role of the Tsar in the fall of the Tsarist Regime. In Russia, Tsarism had been the system of government since 1547, the country being ruled as an autocracy. For many years the Tsars had been powerful, strong and had the qualities needed to be a great leader, though in 1917, the Tsarist regime came to an end, with Nicholas Romanov II as the country’s current monarch. Tsar Nicholas played a great role in the fall of Tsarism; his incompetency and lack of leadership skills lead to downfallRead MoreRussia Notes as/A2 1881-19147263 Words   |  30 Pagesused on farms – subsistence farming. †¢ Largest standing army in Europe. †¢ No political parties and the press was heavily censored. †¢ Fierce loyalty to the Tsar – often enforced by brutal secret police. †¢ Royalty owned most of the land – Tsar’s estate was larger than some countries. †¢ 1861 – Tsar Alexander II freed serfs but peasants still tied to land. †¢ Aristocracy could no longer buy/sell peasants and they could freely marry. †¢ Government loans given to peasantsRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesGosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture in Recent America Joanne Meyerowitz, ed., History and September 11th John McMillian and Paul Buhle, eds., The New Left Revisited David M. Scobey, Empire City: The Making and Meaning of the New York City Landscape Gerda Lerner, Fireweed: A Political Autobiography Allida M. Black, ed., Modern American Queer History Eric Sandweiss, St. Louis: The Evolution of an American Urban Landscape Sam Wineburg, Historical