Nicholas II
Birth and family background

Grand Duke Nicholas was born on 18 May 1868, in the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo south of Saint Petersburg, during the reign of his paternal grandfather, Emperor Alexander II. He was the eldest child of then- Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich and his wife, Tsesarevna Maria Feodorovna (née Princess Dagmar of Denmark). Alexander Alexandrovich was heir apparent to the Russian throne as the second but eldest surviving son of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna (née Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine). Maria Feodorovna was the daughter of King Christian IX and Queen Louise of Denmark.

Nicholas was christened in the Chapel of the Resurrection of the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo on 1 June 1868 by the confessor of the imperial family, protopresbyter Vasily Borisovich Bazhanov. His godparents were Emperor Alexander II (his paternal grandfather), Queen Louise of Denmark (his maternal grandmother), Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (his maternal uncle), and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna (his great-great-aunt). The boy received the traditional Romanov name Nicholas and was named in memory of his father's older brother and mother's first fiancé, Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Russia, who had died young in 1865. Informally, he was known as "Nicky" throughout his life.

Nicholas was of primarily German and Danish descent and was related to several monarchs in Europe. His mother's siblings included Kings Frederick VIII of Denmark and George I of Greece, as well as the United Kingdom's Queen Alexandra (consort of King Edward VII). Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and Wilhelm II, German Emperor were all first cousins of King George V of the United Kingdom. Nicholas was also a first cousin of both King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway, as well as King Christian X of Denmark and King Constantine I of Greece. Nicholas and Wilhelm II were in turn second cousins once-removed, as each descended from King Frederick William III of Prussia, as well as third cousins, as they were both great-great-grandsons of Tsar Paul I of Russia. In addition to being second cousins through descent from Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse, and his wife Princess Wilhelmine of Baden, Nicholas and Alexandra were also third cousins once-removed, as they were both descendants of King Frederick William II of Prussia.

Tsar Nicholas II was the first cousin once-removed of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich. To distinguish between them, the Grand Duke was often known within the imperial family as "Nikolasha" and "Nicholas the Tall", while the Tsar was "Nicholas the Short".
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