Is there any path that he could have taken that didn't lead to the end of the Russian Empire and/or his own death...

>Japan started the war

Not really, they wanted to sort out who got control over Manchuria and Korea via a conference (they just wanted to have full control in Korea in exchange for letting the Russians have Manchuria). Thinking partly out of racism and party out of pride they could get both they simply stalled negotiations in the hope that if they did it long enough they could get enough soldiers in the region (in addition to the 100K left over from the boxer rebellion which they left there) to just force the Japanese to acquiesce.

Rejecting all diplomacy and massing vast amounts of soldiers to deprive another country of its colonies is "starting it" even if it doesn't involve a deceleration of war.

>The Tsar's advisors did not support the war, foreseeing problems in transporting troops and supplies from European Russia to the East.[46] Convinced that his rule was divinely ordained and that he held responsibility to God, Nicholas II held the ideals of preserving the autocracy and defending the dignity, honor, and worth of Russia.[47] This attitude by the Tsar led to repeated delays in negotiations with the Japanese government.

>He did abdicated

I missed out one, like the issues immediately bellow it I wished to point out that there was calls for him to abdicate before but he was too slow to do so and only did after shit hit the fan and it wasn't helpful anymore.

For all his many faults Wilhelm at least was able to see when the writing was on the wall.

>>le Rasputin bogeyman bullshit

Leaving the capital and becoming directly linked to catestrophic military failures was a big fuck up especially when your court is being run by a German woman (only only converted after being pressured at marriage) who was an unpopular foreign recluse and a heretical man who was deeply unpopular with the clergy, aristocracy and military.

>Rasputin then claimed that he had a revelation that the Russian armies would not be successful until the Tsar personally took command. With this, the ill-prepared Tsar Nicholas proceeded to take personal command of the Russian army, with dire consequences for himself as well as for Russia.

I feel sorry for the guy
He was incompetent while also taking his role very seriously, refusing to abdicate until the last moment

While there was some german blood in the russian nobility, at no point could you say that Russia was led by germans

> taking his role very seriously

I think he took the idea of Divine Right seriously but not Monarchy. I mean upon being informed that his entire navy was destroyed by the Japanese he just stuffed the telegram into his pocket and went back to playing tennis.

>Not really
Yeah, really

>at no point could you say that Russia was led by germans

If you say that you also have to say it was never led by Russians.

Germany was reluctant to fund Russia's growth,they rightfully fear that the Russians will grow mighty enough to challenge Germany as the premier continental power
France basically built up the 18th century infrastructure of Russia without having to fear them being too strong
Russo Jap war would be winnable if they held on for atleast 3 more months,the Japs were basically bankrupt by the end of it regardless of military victory

Had he been competent, the morale boost might have actually worked. But since Byzantine days it has been taboo for an Eastern Emperor to personally take the field. For this very reason.

Actually follow through on an Imperial Republic or go full Autocrat instead of the half measures the 1905 Constitution implemented.
Most importantly however: STAY OUT OF WWI
Russia's best showings in WWI came after Nicholas took over and got past the bureaucracy that stymied STAVKA previously.

>I mean upon being informed that his entire navy was destroyed by the Japanese he just stuffed the telegram into his pocket and went back to playing tennis.
[citation needed]
inb4 Pravda tier in-the-tank-for-commie sources

Many Byzantine emperors led their armies in the field, starting with Heraclius.

Nicky was more for "pan-Orthodox Christian" than "Pan-Slavism."

>The Russian people didnt revolt when Russia didnt declare war for Serbia during the Kumanovo Uprising or the Balkan war.

Three is the smallest number required to establish a pattern. Abandoning Serbia a third time would have ruined the Tsardom's credibility. Pro-Tip: if you sit back and watch while your allies are destroyed, you're not going to have many alliances in the future.

If Pyotr Stolypin hadn't gotten assassinated by ((anarchists)) and his land reforms had been implemented, then he could have survived the storm that was about to rock Russia no matter what.

Not really. Russia abandoned pan-orthodoxy in the 1880s.

It has taken root long before he ascended to the throne.

Almost every single person who actually wanted to improve Russia got assassinated by some leftist faggot. Those people are the fucking plague, shitting up everything they touch. I'm shocked they didn't manage to murder Witte as well.

>Stolypin was shot twice, once in the arm and once in the chest by Dmitry Bogrov, a leftist revolutionary.
>Born Mordechai Gershkovich Bogrov (Russian: Mopдeхaй Гepшкoвич Бoгpoв) into a family of Jewish merchants in Kiev (Russian Empire)
Every fucking time.

Most of russian nobility came out of Rurikid princes and boyars, Peter had to introduce count, duke titles to mimick european noble titles but the highest rank nobles were russian princes (knyaz)

Tuchman, Barbara W. The Guns of August. New York: Presidio Press, 1962, p.71.

>Yeah, really

How so do you think that the only actions that cause war are signing a piece of paper?

>Russo Jap war would be winnable if they held on for atleast 3 more months,the Japs were basically bankrupt by the end of it regardless of military victory

It would have been close remember that Russia was suffering from the mass unrest of the 1905 Revolution. Both countries were at the point of exhaustion one politically one economically.

>Had he been competent

If only.

>Abandoning Serbia a third time would have ruined the Tsardom's credibility

What precedent for this is there?

>you sit back and watch while your allies are destroyed, you're not going to have many alliances in the future.

Serbia and Russia were not allies, likewise the size of their armies and geographical position guaranteed their ability to make alliances - indeed even when they adopted one of the most hostile ideologies to other countries they still were able to make alliances even after abandoning many of their ideolgoical allies.

Even when they go after lenin?

>It was in the city in August 1918 that he [Lenin] survived a second assassination attempt; he was shot following a public speech and injured badly.[179] A Socialist Revolutionary, Fanny Kaplan, was arrested and executed.

>Kaplan was born into a Jewish family, as one of seven children. She became a political revolutionary at an early age and joined a socialist group, the Socialist Revolutionaries. In 1906, when she was 16 years old, Kaplan was arrested in Kiev over her involvement in a terrorist bomb plot, and committed for life to the katorga (a hard-labor prison camp)

tell his wife to shut the fuck up about his job, he's going to do it his way and she's going to just have to live with that.

>give up autocratic powers to some kind of bicameral parliament and just "fuck it I can't deal with these things"

I am referring to a specific policy which is known to byzantine historians. It's not the kind of thing you find on wikipedia, you really have to delve into the details.

>socialist
Because of course.

Be stubborn or dumb but not both