Tsuyoshi Hasegawa is a historian specializing in Russian and Soviet history. A professor emeritus at UC Santa Barbara, he has written acclaimed works on the Russian Revolution, Stalin, and World War II.

In this interview clip, we explore the fatal mistakes of Tsar Nicholas II—errors that Niccolò Machiavelli, in The Prince, warned rulers never to make.

Nicholas II’s downfall was not just a result of bad luck or external pressures; it was a failure of leadership. He alienated his allies, ignored the shifting political landscape, and refused to adapt when his rule was threatened. Machiavelli argued that a ruler must be both feared and respected, but Nicholas inspired neither. His indecisiveness, misplaced loyalty to a crumbling autocracy, and inability to crush opposition at the right moments made his fall inevitable.

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