Table of contents:
- A friendly act or a personal motive: Why did Estramadura go to the Russian shores?
- Heart relationship: Alphonse XIII and Nicholas II
- Why the Spanish marquis did not wait for the Russian emperor
- Why the act of support for the Russian emperor, conceived by the Spanish king, was unsuccessful and unjustified
Video: How the Spanish king Alphonse XIII wanted to support his relative Nicholas II, and what came of it
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
In a difficult time for Emperor Nicholas II, when the country was immersed in the events of the first Russian revolution, in 1906 the Spanish ship Estramadura entered the waters of the Gulf of Finland. His mission was the moral support of the Russian emperor. This decision was made by a relative and most sincere friend of Nicholas II - the Spanish king Alphonse XIII. He could not stand aside, he wanted to somehow support the Russian emperor. But whether this decision was correct is a very controversial question.
A friendly act or a personal motive: Why did Estramadura go to the Russian shores?
The relationship between the two monarchs, Alphonse XIII and Nicholas II, developed in a special way: they were built on the basis of mutual trust, understanding and careful participation. So during the Spanish-American military conflict in 1898, Russia declared its neutrality, and Spain did the same in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese war.
Alphonse XIII and Nicholas II tried to cope with the difficult situation (each in his own country) after the defeat in these military conflicts: the weakening of the country's foreign policy position, the crisis of power, and economic difficulties. Alphonse XIII, like no one else, understood the full danger of a difficult moment in Russia in 1906 - he experienced a similar experience a little earlier. Therefore, he decided to morally support Emperor Nicholas II and sent his warship Extremadura to the Russian shores in order to “provide His Majesty the Tsar with proof of special heartfelt respect”.
Sympathy for the fate of the Russian emperor Alphonse XIII will also express in 1917 - from the moment of the arrest of Nicholas II and his family, he will make a number of attempts to save them, applying for release to both the Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks. He will also try to convey his idea of saving the royal family to the English king George V. But all these efforts will be in vain. Much later, Alphonse XIII himself would find himself in a similar situation during the April Revolution of 1931: the overwhelming majority of voters would vote for Republicans and Socialists, Spain would become a republic, and the emperor and his family would secretly leave their homeland on the Prince of Asturias.
Heart relationship: Alphonse XIII and Nicholas II
Alphonse XIII was married to Princess Victoria Eugenia, who was the daughter of Heinrich Battenberg and the granddaughter of Alexander of Hesse (the brother of the wife of Emperor Alexander II, Maria Alexandrovna), as well as the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, as well as Alexandra Fedorovna, the wife of Nicholas II. In addition to family relations, the royal families were tied by great mutual sympathy for each other and the similarity of destinies. Both couples married for great love. For the sake of a loved one, both princesses had to switch to another faith - Victoria Eugenia from Anglicanism converted to Catholicism, Alexandra Fedorovna - to Orthodoxy.
But tragic coincidences follow. During the coronation of the Russian emperor, there is a terrible crush on the Khodynskoye field (1389 people died). And after the wedding ceremony, as soon as the carriage of the newlyweds - Alphonse XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenia - drove out of the church gate, a bouquet of flowers was thrown into it. As it turned out, a bomb was hidden in it. The spouses were not injured, but 25 people died, many were injured.
Another sad coincidence is an incurable hereditary disease. Queen Victoria's male descendants suffered from hemophilia. This disease was transmitted to the heirs of the emperors Nicholas II and Alfonso XIII. Both families experienced the same feelings of longing and despair, trying to figure out what could be done, how to help the children. There was constant correspondence between the families on this topic. Common grief brought them closer together.
Why the Spanish marquis did not wait for the Russian emperor
On arrival in St. Petersburg, the commander of the Extremadura, Don Jose de Duopkas, visited the Spanish ambassador, the Marquis Ayrbe, who introduced him to the heads of the Russian naval ministries and the ministries of foreign affairs. Soon, the captain was warmly received by Emperor Nicholas II, who asked to convey to the King of Spain words of gratitude, as well as wishes of well-being and prosperity to his family and people of the country. The Russian emperor wished to visit the ship, which had arrived from a friendly country, and said that the captain would be notified of the date and time. When the date had already been set, the visit was postponed for two days due to technical necessity (loading coal onto the ship) and bad weather conditions.
On the day to which the visit was postponed, the captain, together with the crew of the ship in ceremonial uniforms, awaited the arrival of the emperor on deck. By the end of the day, the adjutant arrived with the message that the visit was canceled due to difficult political circumstances requiring the emperor's special attention.
Why the act of support for the Russian emperor, conceived by the Spanish king, was unsuccessful and unjustified
A farewell banquet in honor of the Spanish guests was held by Foreign Minister A. P. Izvolsky. For the Spanish side, the situation cleared up some time after the ship returned home. Ambassador Ayrbe announced in his dispatch that a manifesto had been issued in the Russian Empire on the dissolution of the Duma of the first convocation. It became clear why the emperor could not visit the ship. The situation in Russian society at that moment was tense to the limit. The question of parliamentarism in the country was acute, and the reaction to the dissolution of the Duma was the most painful.
The Spanish ambassador expressed his satisfaction with the mission of the Spanish ship and added that he was happy with the safe return of its crew to their homeland. For the Russian authorities and the emperor himself, this visit was untimely and could even complicate the situation. Nicholas II, of course, appreciated the kind impulse of his relative and friend, but at that moment it would have been easier for him not to have this visit at all. The ambassador's explanations neutralized some bewilderment and misunderstanding on the Spanish side about the fact that the Russian emperor never visited the ship, and the friendly relations between the two emperors remained as unclouded and sincere as they always were.
And at the time Catherine II considered the works of the writer Mikhail Chulkov to be immoral.
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