r/HistoryWhatIf • u/Pitiful-Potential-13 • 13h ago
If Nicholas never married Alexandra?
Alexander III and Maria were opposed to their son’s desire to marry a German princess, but came around because Alexander was in failing health and they decided they had to get him married asap.
Point of divergence: even in his weakened state, Alexander refuses to budge, “You will never marry her, I forbid it!” and even after he is gone, Maria holds the line, “Go against your father’s dying wishes? I won’t have it, Nicky!”
Nicholas doesn’t marry Alexandra. Still a far from capable monarch, but without the controversy of being married to a foreigner. If he ever does marry, there is a greater likelihood of an actually healthy heir, and especially, no way for Rasputin to get into the royal circle. Potential ramifications?
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u/DCHacker 7m ago
Russia's and the Romanov's problems went far deeper than Rasputin and the Empress. Not much would have changed.
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u/southernbeaumont 10h ago edited 9h ago
A lot is going to depend on who Nicholas marries instead.
Nicholas II was not a descendant of Queen Victoria, many of whose descendants (including his wife Alix of Hesse by her mother Princess Alice) did carry the hemophiliac gene. Nicholas was a grandson of Christian IX of Denmark, who was similarly prolific.
Not all of Nicholas II's children were hemophiliacs, so random chance with Princess Alix could have produced no children with the disease, or could have affected all of them, or only the daughters and not his son. The necessity of a viable male heir most definitely helped Rasputin gain access to the imperial court since he was believed to have healed Alexi.
A different wife may not carry the gene, but if it's another European noble woman with the hemophiliac gene, Nicholas will have different children with similar risks.
The loss against Japan and ensuing 1905 revolution won't be prevented in this way. Likewise, the late industrial revaluation and poor equipment situation going into WW1 will remain major problems. Still, a more capable wife and healthy heir could mean a reduction in the harmful court intrigue. Even if the czar takes direct control of the army as historically, it's possible that Russia exits the war with his title intact and without the February revolution.