On May 18, 1896, a massive crowd descended upon Khodynka Field for festivities marking the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II. The field had been chosen as the venue specifically because it was spacious enough to hold the enormous number of attendees expected. By dawn on May 18, 1896, an estimated half a million people had already packed the area — and that's when a rumor began circulating that there wouldn't be enough food and gifts for everyone present.
The formal coronation had actually taken place a few days prior, on May 14, 1896, when Nicholas officially received the title of Tsar Nicolas II. Though he had inherited the throne 18 months before, the coronation ceremony and its accompanying celebrations were deliberately scheduled for a later date. A Coronation Commission operating under the Ministry of the Imperial Court had been tasked with overseeing all the preparations for crowning the new Tsar.
What followed was catastrophic. As panic rippled through the assembled masses, a desperate surge forward shattered the flimsy barricades that had been erected. Authorities dispatched a police force to restore order, but their intervention only triggered a chaotic flight from the scene. The resulting stampede claimed the lives of 1,389 people, with over a thousand more sustaining injuries.
Rather than halt the day's events, Tsar Nicholas received counsel that canceling would risk offending France, its only European ally — so everything proceeded as scheduled. Evidence of the stampede was swiftly removed from the grounds. An orchestra played, and at 2:00 PM, Tsar Nikolai II and his wife made their appearance at the central pavilion, where they watched the parade and greeted the public.