Czars

Czars, also spelled tsars, is the title historically used by rulers of Russia before the revolution of 1917. The word comes from the Latin Caesar, via the Old Church Slavonic tsar’ and the Russian tsar. In English, czar and tsar are used interchangeably, though czar tends to be more common in American usage and tsar in some scholarly or traditional contexts. The title signified supreme autocratic authority and was closely linked to the concept of the divine right of kings.

The first Russian ruler to assume the title was Ivan IV, known as Ivan the Terrible, who in 1547 proclaimed himself Tsar of All Russia, signaling a consolidation of centralized power. The term continued to be used through the period known as the Tsardom of Russia, dominated by the Rurik and then the Romanov dynasties. In 1721, Peter the Great proclaimed the Russian state an empire and adopted the title of Emperor (imperator) for the ruler, though contemporaries and later historians often continue to refer to Peter and his successors as czars or tsars in English. The official imperial title remained Emperor, while the monarchs were still popularly described as czars.

The last czar was Nicholas II, who reigned until his abdication in 1917 and was later executed in 1918 after the Russian Revolution. The Romanov dynasty and the monarchy were abolished, and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic subsequently became part of the Soviet Union.

Modern usage of czar refers not to a royal ruler but to a government official appointed to coordinate policy in a specific area, such as a drug czar or a cyber security czar. This figurative usage evokes the broad authority once associated with the historic Russian rulers.