Undated photograph of Nicholas Romanov in military dress. Nicholas II (May 18, 1868 - July 17, 1918) was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Duke of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias. He has often been referred to as Saint Nicholas the Martyr. Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until his abdication in 1917. His reign saw Imperial Russia go from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse. Enemies nicknamed him Bloody Nicholas because of the Khodynka Tragedy, the anti-Semitic pogroms, Bloody Sunday, the violent suppression of 1905 Revolution, and his execution of political opponents. He abdicated following the February Revolution of 1917 during which he and his family were imprisoned. Nicholas II, his wife, his son, his four daughters, the family's medical doctor, the Emperor's footman, the Empress' maidservant, and the family's cook were executed in the same room by the Bolsheviks on the night of July 17, 1918. This led to the canonization of Nicholas II, his wife the Empress Alexandra and their children as passion bearers, a category used to identify believers who, in imitation of Christ, endured suffering and death at the hands of political enemies, on August 15, 2000.