Author: Nicholas Romanov II (Николай Александрович Романов) was the last Emperor of Russia. He also given the nickname Bloody Nicholas because of his violent tendencies. He ruled from 1894 to 1917 and saw the total collapse of his country from a world power into an absolute crisis. He abdicated his thrown after a humiliating defeat in a war against Japan and the February Revolution of 1917. The Romanov family was captured and executed along with the higher ranking servants in 1918.

Context: His abdication was written in March of 1917 in the middle of World War I.  War was inevitable and the Emperor mobilized to defend their border with Austria.  They fully mobilized in 1914 and this was taken as a declaration of war by Germany.  The Russian people were very unhappy as Nicholas lead the Russian army to one loss after another.  The people finally forced him to abdicate the thrown.

Language: Even with the collapse of his country and his forced abdication, he seemed to be positive that the next ruler would be helpful and that his abdication is of his own accord. But called upon those who stilled believed in the power of the monarch.

Audience: He addressed the Russian public with this abdication speech. He wanted one last time to try and convince his people that he did well by them and he was a good ruler.

Intent: To remove himself from the thrown in the hope of saving his life and the lives of his family.  It was also to appoint his brother as the heir to the thrown and that he would be working with the new Provisional Government.

Message: That even in that time of trouble Russia will bounce back with the appointing of a new monarch and the new Provisional Government that the people were looking for.  He seemed to have faith that the country would come back and be a great power once more and he wanted to share that belief with his people before he abdicated.