The rule of Tsarist Russia in fact had a strong flavor of the Middle Ages.
To judge whether a tsar was wise or not, people did not look at whether he was good at governing the country, they only looked at whether he could lead the nation to victorious wars.
How many died and were wounded, what price was paid, whether it was a Pyrrhic victory, how many people among the populace were sacrificed for it—none of this was taken seriously.
Ivan the Terrible was a notorious tyrant; he slaughtered commoners, great nobles, and even killed his own son. Yet this kind of tyrant, because he conquered vast territories, was still regarded as a sagacious and mighty His Majesty the Tsar.
Thus, when the news that the Russian army along the Polish front had been encircled reached the main headquarters at Mogilev, Nicholas II at once sensed something was very wrong.
