The Ides of March- the fateful day decried by Julius Caesar who also lost his empire and his life. Nichols II was cornered in the Imperial train and his own Uncle, the towering Duke Nikolasha (Big Nicky) ordered him to sign away- to save Russia. Nicholas II was bitter but signed while writing privately- "All around me I see...deceit!" Alexandra, unknowing even if he lived, write to her husband "My Angel, we know nothing of you..." Nicholas II abdicated first for his son, Alexei but then changed "my son is ill...I want to keep him..." and changed the abdication to his brother, Michael who rejected it! Who was the Last Tsar? Nicholas-II- was a forced abdication legal? Certainly having abdicated- he had no authority to appoint his brother. Alexei, ill with measles, when he heard from his French tutor, that there would be no Tsar asked "Who will rule Russia then?" Nicholas II when he returned, knelt before Alexandra and was said to collapse and weep.
Visit my Facebook page to read more about the Abdication.