Posted by Damian on 6/26/2008, 2:40:31, in reply to "Maria Feodorovna"
195.93.21.67
"Did she bear some responsibilties for the fall of the Empire? Did she educate her son and the heir to the throne in such a way that he was able to fullfill his functions?"
I think that the education of her son was largely in the hands of her autocratic husband,Alexander III.It was Alexander's prime responsibility to educate their son in the duties and responsibilities of a future Czar but he failed to do so.He was a bully and despised Nicholas's abilities and ignored him so that he was utterly unprepared for power after his father's sudden death.In my view he,not Marie,must bear the chief blame for Nicholas's lack of preparation to take over the reins of power.
"Did she ever grasp what was going on in Russia as a whole or was she only the "Empress of the Ballrooms and Salons" where she fullfilled her ceremonial functions to perfection?"
She was an intelligent woman and I think she knew all too well what was happening but she tended to blame her daughter-in-law Alexandra rather than her son Nicholas for the latter's failings as a ruler.She must be held partly accountable,in my opinion,for failing to win Alexandra's trust and friendship at the outset by insisting on her prerogatives as dowager empress and taking advantage of her daughter-in-law's shyness and insecurity to sideline her at court thus increasing their mutual distrust.But she eventually lost the battle for influence over Nicholas and when the crisis came,she was unable to offer either of them any sensible advice because Alexandra no longer trusted her and so neither did Nicholas.
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