History UsefulNotes / TsarTsarAutocrats

* BaldOfAuthority: Several of the tsars, such as Nicholas I and Alexander II were bald or balding. A common political joke is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald-hairy noting that]] a bald leader would be succeeded by a hairy leader and vice versa, which would continue into the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] and UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia up until UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin.

While UsefulNotes/RussianHeadsOfState lists the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]]'s leaders and UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n [[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia Federation]]'s leaders since 1991, this article, a companion to UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia, is a listing of all Russian monarchs from the early Moscovia period to the [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Revolution of 1917]].

While UsefulNotes/RussianHeadsOfState lists the republican Russian leaders, this article, a companion to UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia, is a listing of all Russian monarchs from the early Moscovia period to the [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Revolution of 1917]].

* ''Elizabeth'' (1741-1761). Better known as the precursor to Catherine the Great, she was just as welcoming to lovers but much less talented in politics. She became famous for the merriment and sex-fest that happened in her court. She had no legitimate children, but her sister had married into the German house of Holstein-Gottorp and she chose the resulting nephew as her heir; because of that, the Romanovs after her should be more properly described as House Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov. The first of them was the aforementioned nephew...
* ''Peter III'' (1761-1762). A strange man, a fan of table-top war games, a lover of the Prussian order - this tsar was named a madman, an eccentric, a misunderstood reformer by various historians. Right now we realize he was just a typical [[JustForFun/OneOfUs geek]], brilliant yet socially awkward. Oh, and he is also the source of inspiration for the famous ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' Mad Emperor, Pelagius. He was soon overthrown by his wife...

* ''Paul I'' (1796-1801). Another crowned fanboy, Paul was the son of Peter III and UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat. He was a fan of medieval knightly romances, built castles all over Russia, and challenged the other European monarchs to duels. His ideas of forcing the nobility to adopt a [[CodeOfHonour code of chivalry]] and granting of greater rights to the peasantry were too much for certain nobles, who concocted a plot and killed Paul in his own castle. Allegedly, Paul tried to [[CurtainCamouflage hide behind drapes]], but was easily discovered and forced to sign his own abdication, and was killed when he refused. One important legacy of Paul I was his succession law, which was semi-Salic and virtually removed any woman's chance to inherit the Russian throne. As such, when the assassins deposed of Paul, they found his 23-year-old son Alexander and demanded that he [[TakingUpTheMantle take up his father's crown]]. Unusually for a succeeding monarch, Alexander never punished his father's assassins and Paul's official death certificate [[BlatantLies claimed apoplexy]].

* ''Alexander II the Liberator'' (1855-1881). The liberal Tsar who abolished serfdom (essentially slavery at the time)[[note]]While he was fairly liberal in Russia proper and in Finland, he was a lot worse in his other holdings, ranging from brutally suppressing uprisings to outlawing even speaking Polish anywhere in the Russian Empire outside of Poland (where it was only allowed in private conversation) to ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circassian_genocide genocide]]''[[/note]]. He was a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln and justifiably felt a kindred spirit in him, which led to him supporting the Northern war effort in the USA. However, his reforms weren't radical enough for a group of anti-capitalist revolutionaries who sent an assassin to kill him. Repeatedly. The sixth attempt was successful. His last, never-implemented reform was meant to be transforming Russia into a constitutional monarchy, with the intention of ending autocracy in Russia forever. [[DownerEnding 140 years later, the monarchy is long gone from Russia but autocracy is still going strong.]]

* ''[[UsefulNotes/IvanTheTerrible Ivan IV the Terrible]]'' (1533-1584). Of this guy, legends abound, but let's start with hard facts. First, he was the first ruler of Russia who used "Tsar" as his coronation title, claiming imperial status. Second, his cognomen (Russian: Grozny) does not mead "very bad": in Old Russian, it meant "awesome", as in, "worthy of awe". Or "Very badass", if you wish. Though "terrifying" would also apply. Third, he wasn't an epitome of sadism and bloodthirstiness; it's true that he started the [[SincerityMode proud Russian tradition]] of having a StateSec, but his body count isn't much different from that of his European contemporaries. It just wasn't a good time to be a believer in sanctity of human life. Fourth, he created what we now consider the Russian nation. The other Rus' principalities had either collapsed, been absorbed by Moscow or in the case of Kiev itself by the UsefulNotes/PolishLithuanianCommonwealth, so with Moscow being the last principality standing, Ivan elevated it to the rank of Tsardom (Empire) and declared it the nation of ''all'' Rus', hence the name Russia.

* BaldOfAuthority: Several of the tsars, such as Nicholas I and Alexander II were bald or balding. A common political joke is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald%E2%80%93hairy noting that]] a bald leader would be succeeded by a hairy leader and vice versa, which would continue into the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] and UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia up until UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin.

While UsefulNotes/RussianHeadsOfState lists the republican Russian leaders, this article, a companion to UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia, is a listing of all Russian monarchs from the early Moscovia period to the [[UsefuloNotes/RedOctober Revolution of 1917]].

While UsefulNotes/RussianHeadsOfState lists the republican Russian leaders, this article, a companion to UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia, is a listing of all Russian monarchs from the early Moscovia period to the Revolution of 1917.

The Rurikid dynasty is as old as Kievan Rus itself. Princes descending from Rurik ruled various principalities of what would later become Russia, Ukraine and Belarus during the Dark Ages, the High Middle Ages and afterwards. However, Russia proper started to differentiate from the rest of the Mongol-dominated Eastern European feudal mess in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with several major distinctly Russian principalities (Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov and Tver were the most important) gaining prominence. The principality of Moscow ended up the richest and the most influential, and it was its branch of the Rurikids that gave the start to the Rurikid Tsars. The numbering of the Moscow Rurikids starts from the age of the Mongol vassalage, so do not be surprised that it starts with a third Ivan. The first Ivan (Ivan the Moneybag) was a [[TheQuisling Quisling]] of the Mongol Horde, and his bag was full of money because he collected taxes on behalf of the Mongols and pocketed a small percent.

* BaldOfAuthority: Several of the tsars, such as Nicholas I and Alexander II were bald or balding. A common political joke is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald%E2%80%93hairy noting that]] a bald leader would be succeeded by a hairy leader and vice versa, which would continue to UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn, up until UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade / HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Russian Czars will be depicted worse than they actually were while ignoring their accomplishments, while others while depicted greatly without mentioning their worst aspects.

* ''Catherine I (1725-1727)''. No matter how ridiculous it sounds, Catherine I wasn't Romanov at all. She was a Swedish camp follower picked up by Peter the Great as a mistress and, later, wife. Because Peter left a trollish succession law which estabilished whoever designated by the previous Emperor as a successor but never managed to designate one, she succeeded him. She was a grieving widow and an alcoholic, but nothing significant as a statesperson.

* ''Anna Ioannovna'' (1730-1740). A particularly infamous Empress and daughter of the aforementioned Ivan V, she was invited by the High Privy Council, a group of aristocrats formed after Peter II's death, as a figurehead ruler of Russia. She deceived the Council, tore the Conditions by which she was meant to rule, and took the supreme power. During her reign, German favourites such as Duke Ernst Biren, held all the reins of power in Russia.

* ''Peter III'' (1761-1762). A strange man, a fan of table-top war games, a lover of the Prussian order - this Tsar was named a madman, an eccentric, a misunderstood reformer by various historians. Right now we realize he was just a typical [[JustForFun/OneOfUs geek]], brilliant yet socially awkward. Oh, and he is also the source of inspiration for the famous ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' Mad Emperor, Pelagius. He was soon overthrown by his wife...

* ''Paul I'' (1796-1801). Another crowned fanboy, Paul was the son of Peter III and UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat. He was a fan of medieval knightly romances, built castles all over Russia, and challenged the other European monarchs to duels. His ideas of running the country were too much for certain nobles, who concocted a plot and killed Paul in his own castle. One important legacy of Paul the First was his succession law, which was semi-Salic and virtually removed any woman's chance to inherit the Russian throne.
* ''Alexander I'' the Blessed (1801-1825). A day before he succeeded his father Paul, he said: "My reign will be the same as my grandma's". And he kept true to his word: his reign was also mildly liberal but not much threatening to the remnants of the Russian feudalism. One important thing he did was to allow land-owners to give their serfs freedom. The other important achievement of his was presiding over the army that defeated Napoleon Bonaparte. He was known to be eccentric and mercurial, especially towards the end of his life (with some even speculating he was possibly schizophrenic), holding contradictory opinions and random narratives about himself which randomly switches depending on his mood or other factors, greatly complicating his domestic rule and foreign diplomacy. To note, he rolled back almost as many of his reforms as he had passed them, switched his and Russia's position with France among neutrality, opposition, and alliance no less than four times during the Napoleonic Wars between 1804 and 1812, threw out the Allies' war plans in 1814 to march on Paris with his army as a matter of 'personal honour', and even embarrassed and outraged all the other allied monarchs and diplomats by acknowledging Napoleon as a fellow monarch and accepting his surrender as an equal where the other members of the Sixth Coalition - especially Britain - had refused to as a matter of principle.

* ''UsefulNotes/Nicholas II'' (or the Bloody, or the Martyr, or the Spineless, depending on who you ask) (1894-1917). The guy about whom opinions differ. Ask communists, and you will hear a lot of ramblings of how bloody and reactionary he was. Ask monarchists, and you will hear a lot of ramblings on how perfect he was. What remains a hard fact is that he was weak-willed and not very smart, which led to the [[UsefulNotes/RomanovsAndRevolutions Russian]] [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Revolutions]].

* ''Nicholas II the Bloody'' (or the Martyr, or the Spineless, depending on who you ask) (1894-1917). The guy about whom opinions differ. Ask communists, and you will hear a lot of ramblings of how bloody and reactionary he was. Ask monarchists, and you will hear a lot of ramblings on how perfect he was. What remains a hard fact is that he was weak-willed and not very smart, which led to the [[UsefulNotes/RomanovsAndRevolutions Russian]] [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Revolutions]].

* ''[[UsefulNotes/IvanTheTerrible Ivan IV the Terrible]]'' (1533-1584). Of this guy, legends abound, but let's start with hard facts. First, he was the first ruler of Russia who used "Tsar" as his coronation title, claiming imperial status. Second, his cognomen (Russian: Grozny) does not mead "very bad": in Old Russian, it meant "awesome", as in, "worthy of awe". Or "Very badass", if you wish. Third, he wasn't an epitome of sadism and bloodthirstiness; it's true that he started the [[SincerityMode proud Russian tradition]] of having a StateSec, but his body count isn't much different from that of his European contemporaries. It just wasn't a good time to be a believer in sanctity of human life.