Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 323
323 and that the revolutionaries had taken possession of the State Secretariat and a popular government had been set up. On March 12, 1917, in a single day, the greatest and most powerful monarch in the world, designated the Czar (literally ‘one who rules over everyone, and is ruled by none’) was deposed from his mighty throne and reduced to being a subject of his people. On March 15, under duress, he signed a declaration that he and his family would never again lay claim to the Russian throne. Thus, in keeping with the Promised Messiah’s as prophecy, the rule of the Czars ended forever, but some parts of the prophecy remained to be fulfilled. The Czar, Nicholas II, imagined that by surrendering the throne he could save his own life and the lives of the Czarina and their children and they would be able to live as private citizens. This was not to be. He surrendered the throne on March 15. On March 21, he was taken prisoner and sent to Skosilo. On March 22, America recognized the revolutionary government, followed by England, France and Italy on March 24, thus extinguishing the Czar’s last hopes. He could now see that the powers on whose help he had relied and who were his allies in the war against Germany did not take more than a week to recognize a government set up by his disloyal subjects and did not raise even a feeble voice in his support. There were still other pains for him to endure. To fulfil the prophecy, his condition was to become truly pitiful. The Czar was a prisoner but the reins of government were still in the hands of a member of the royal family, Prince Dilvao. The good offices of this prince assured the Czar’s kind treatment in captivity so that the Czar and his family had more or less settled into gardening and other occupations appropriate to an ex-monarch. In July, this prince also had to surrender and the reins of government passed