This is true story True Story, How Czar Nicholas II and
Czarina Alexandra of Russia Met Their End By A Revolution:- Ending a 300-year
Imperial Dynasty.
Revolution came to
Russia in February 1917, and a month later Nicholas II, emperor and autocrat of
all the Russia’s, abdicated his throne to become plain Nicholas Romanov. The Russian Royal
Family was executed and buried in July 1918. Ending a 300-year Imperial Dynasty
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| Czar Nicholas II ,Czarina Alexandra with four daughters and Son Alexi |
On a July 1918 night 100 years ago, the family’s rule of
Russia came to a decisive, bloody end. The imperial family fell out of favor
with the Russian public long before their execution by Bolsheviks in July 1918.
Bolshevik forces held
the Romanov family as prisoners, moving from place to place until one bloody
night in July 1918. The entire family was wiped out, victims to a fate that
they refused to see coming.
At about 1 a.m. on July 17, 1918, in a
fortified mansion in the town of Ekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains, the
Romanovs—ex-Czar Nicholas II, ex-tsarina Alexandra, their five children, and
their four remaining servants, including the loyal family doctor, Eugene
Botkin—were awoken by their Bolshevik captors and told, they must dress and
gather their belongings for a swift nocturnal departure.
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| Czar Nicholas II |
Alexandra, who was
sick, asked for a chair, and Nicholas asked for another one for his only son,
13-year-old Alexei. Two were brought down. They waited there until, suddenly,
11 or 12 heavily armed men filed ominously into the room.
What happened next—the slaughter of the
family and servants—was one of the seminal events of the 20th century, a wanton
massacre that shocked the world and still inspires a terrible fascination
today.
A 300-year-old
imperial dynasty, one marked by periods of glorious achievement as well as
staggering hubris and ineptitude, was swiftly brought to an end.
Who Was Nicholas II?
Young Nicholas, known
as the “tsesarevich,” or heir apparent to the throne of Great Russia,
was born on May 18, 1868, the first child of Czar Alexander III and Empress
Marie Feodorovna.
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| Czar Nicholas II |
As a young man,
Nicholas enjoyed several years of relative ease, during which he embarked upon
world tours and attended countless parties and balls. After seeking a suitable
wife, he became engaged to Princess Alix of Germany in the summer of 1894.
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| The coronation of Tsar Nicholas II |
But the carefree lifestyle that Nicholas had enjoyed came
to an abrupt end on November 1, 1894, when Czar Alexander III died of
nephritis. Virtually overnight, Nicholas II—inexperienced and became the new
czar of Russia.
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| Wedding of Czar Nicholas with Czarina Alexandra |
The period of
mourning was briefly suspended on November 26, 1894, when Nicholas and Alix were
married in a private ceremony.
Who was Czarina Alexandra?
Czarina Alexandra
(1872-1918) was German by birth. Grand daughter of Britain’s Queen Victoria
and the
daughter of Louis IV, the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt . Alexandra possessed a
more powerful and imposing character than her husband. An introverted and distant
manner isolated her from the Russian people, who saw her as an outsider.
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| Czarina Alexandra |
suffered a tragic life that ended with the murder of both her and her family at
the hands of the Bolsheviks in July 1918.
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| Czarina Alexandra |
three more daughters—Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia—over
a period of five years. (The long-awaited male heir, Alexei, would be born in
1904.)
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| Czarina Alexandra |
Resentment of The Czar
In a series of
further mis steps, Nicholas proved himself unskilled in both foreign and
domestic affairs. In a 1903 dispute with the Japanese over territory in
Manchuria, Nicholas resisted any opportunity for diplomacy.
Frustrated by
Nicholas’ refusal to negotiate, the Japanese took action in February 1904,
bombing Russian ships in the harbor at Port Arthur in southern Manchuria.
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| Czarina Alexandra at the age of 15 year |
The Russo-Japanese
War continued for another year and a half and ended with the czar’s forced
surrender in September 1905. Given a large number of Russian casualties and the
humiliating defeat, the war failed to draw the support of the Russian people.
In protest of their abysmal living
conditions, tens of thousands of protestors marched peacefully upon the Winter
Palace in St. Petersburg on January 22, 1905. Without any provocation from the
crowd, the czar’s soldiers opened fire on the protestors, killing and wounding
hundreds.
The massacre enraged the Russian people,
leading to strikes and protests throughout the country, and culminating in the
1905 Russian Revolution. No longer able to ignore his people’s discontent,
Nicholas II was forced to act.
October Manifesto
On
October 30, 1905, he signed the October Manifesto, which created a
constitutional monarchy as well as an elected legislature, known as the Duma.
Yet the czar maintained control by limiting the powers of the Duma and
maintaining veto power.
Birth of Alexei- Male Heir
During that time of
great turmoil, the royal couple welcomed the birth of a male heir, Alexei
Nikolaevich, on August 12, 1904.
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| Alexi-1913 |
Apparently healthy at birth, young Alexei was soon found to
be suffering from hemophilia, an inherited condition that causes severe,
sometimes fatal hemorrhaging.
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| Mother Czarina Alexandra with Son Alexi |
The royal couple
chose to keep their son’s diagnosis a secret, fearing it would create
uncertainty about the future of the monarchy.
Distraught about her
son’s illness, Empress Alexandra doted upon him and isolated herself and her
son from the public. She desperately searched for a cure or any kind of
treatment that would keep her son out of danger.
Entry of Mystic Mad Monk Grigory Rasputin in
Royal family
When Rasputin first
met the Romanovs in 1905, the Czarina Alexandra was desperate. The 1905
revolution had almost seen the monarchy overthrown.
The birth of Alexei the previous year gave them the heir
she had been hoping for, but his hemophilia was not only a personal tragedy but
also a threat to the dynasty.
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| Rasputin |
This situation of
political crisis and maternal agony enabled Rasputin to insinuate himself into
the family. In 1908 Alexei suffered a severe bleeding episode and Rasputin was
able to ease the boy’s pain.
The mystic allegedly warned Nicholas and
Alexandra that the child’s health would be linked to the strength of the
dynasty. Rasputin’s ability to keep the child healthy would secure him a place
in the palace and the power to influence the tsar.
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| Rasputin |
Although he almost certainly was not
her lover, he did have affairs with untold numbers of women at the Romanov
court. Nicholas ignored the calls to remove Rasputin from court, further
angering the Russian people. Keeping his wife happy and his child happy kept
Nicholas from removing the threat.
In September 1915,
during World War I, Nicholas II traveled to the front to take personal command
of Russian forces.
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| Rasputin with his fans and admirers |
The Czarina Alexandra
saw to domestic affairs, and Rasputin’s influence on her became evident in her
choice of incompetent ministers. Losses on the front and Rasputin’s conduct at
home turned the Russian people against their Czar Nicholas and his family. The
time was ripe for revolution.
Unaware of Alexei’s medical condition, the Russian people
were suspicious of the relationship between the empress and Rasputin. Beyond
his role of providing comfort to Alexei, Rasputin had also become an adviser to
Alexandra and even influenced her opinions on affairs of state.
Murder of Rasputin
Following the
assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914, Russia became
embroiled in the First World War, as Austria declared war on Serbia.
Stepping in to
support Serbia, a fellow Slavic nation, Nicholas mobilized the Russian army in
August 1914. The Germans soon joined the conflict, in support of
Austria-Hungary.
Although he had
initially received the support of the Russian people in waging a war, Nicholas
found that support dwindling as the war dragged on. The poorly-managed and
ill-equipped Russian Army—led by Nicholas himself—suffered considerable
casualties. Nearly two million were killed over the duration of the war.
Adding to the
discontent, Nicholas had left his wife in charge of affairs while he was away
at war. Yet because Alexandra was German-born, many Russians distrusted her;
they also remained suspicious about her alliance with Rasputin.
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| Dead body of Rasputin |
plot by several members of the aristocracy to murder him. They did so, with
great difficulty, in December 1916. Rasputin was poisoned, shot, then bound and
thrown into the river.
Russian Revolution and the Czar’s Abdication
the situation grew increasingly desperate for the working class, which struggled
with low wages and rising inflation.
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The four daughters |
As they had done before, the people
took to the streets in protest of the government’s failure to provide for its
citizens. On February 23, 1917, a group of nearly 90,000 women marched through
the streets of Petrograd (formerly St. Petersburg) to protest their plight.
These
women, many of whose husbands had left to fight in the war, struggled to make
enough money to feed their families.
The following day, several thousand
more protesters joined them. People walked away from their jobs, bringing the
city to a standstill. The czar’s army did little to stop them; in fact, some
soldiers even joined the protest.
Other soldiers, loyal
to the czar, did fire into the crowd, but they were clearly outnumbered. The
protestors soon gained control of the city during the February/March 1917
Russian Revolution.
End to the 304-year-Old Romanov Dynasty
With the capital city in the
hands of revolutionaries, Nicholas finally had to concede that his reign was
over. He signed his abdication statement on March 15, 1917, bringing an end to
the 304-year-old Romanov Dynasty.
The royal family was
allowed to stay on at the Tsarskoye Selo palace while officials decided their
fate. They learned to subsist on soldiers’ rations and to make do with fewer
servants.
Romanovs Exiled to Siberia
For a
brief time, the Romanovs had hoped they would be granted asylum in England,
where the czar’s cousin, King George V, was reigning monarch. But the
plan—unpopular with British politicians who deemed Nicholas a tyrant—was
quickly abandoned.
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Nicholas II with his
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1917, the situation in St. Petersburg had become increasingly unstable, with
Bolsheviks threatening to overrun the provisional government. The czar and his
family were quietly moved to western Siberia for their own protection, first to
Tobolsk, then finally to Ekaterinburg.
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|
Nicholas II and |
The home where they
spent their final days was a far cry from the extravagant palaces they had been
accustomed to, but they were grateful to be together.
In October 1917, the Bolsheviks, under the
leadership of Vladimir Lenin, finally gained control of the government
following the second Russian Revolution.
For the Bolsheviks,
once they took power in November 1917, the Romanovs simultaneously became a
bargaining chip and a headache. Russia needed to negotiate its exit from World
War I while also avoiding a foreign invasion.
The country’s enemies
would be watching what happened to the former rulers, but if the Romanovs
remained alive they would forever be a symbol for the monarchist movement. Some
wanted them sent into exile, some wanted them put on trial for their perceived
crimes, and some wanted them to disappear, for good.
Thus the royal family
also came under the control of the Bolsheviks, with fifty men assigned to guard
the house and its occupants.
The Romanovs adapted
as best they could to their new living quarters, as they awaited what they
prayed would be their liberation.
Nicholas faithfully
made entries in his diary, the empress worked on her embroidery, and the children
read books and put on plays for their parents. The four girls learned from the
family cook how to bake bread.
The last days of the Romanovs
On the night of July
16, a telegram was sent to Moscow informing Lenin of the decision to carry out
the murders. Rousing the family and the four servants from bed at 1:30 a.m.
While the royal
family waited for a rescue that would never take place, civil war raged
throughout Russia between the Communists and the White Army, which opposed
Communism.
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| Confinement at Tsarskoye Selo |
As the White Army
gained ground and headed for Ekaterinburg, the Bolsheviks decided they must act
swiftly. The Romanovs must not be rescued.
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|
Nicholas II in |
At 2:00 a.m. in the morning on July 17, 1918, Nicholas,
his wife, and their five children, along with four servants, were awakened and
told to prepare for departure.
The group, led by Nicholas, who carried his son, was
escorted to a small room downstairs. Eleven men (later reported to have been
drunk) came into the room and began firing shots. The czar and his wife were
first to die.
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From |
None of the children
died outright, probably because all wore hidden jewels sewn inside their
clothing, which deflected the bullets. The soldiers finished the job with
bayonets and more gunfire. The grisly massacre had taken 20 minutes.
At the time of death, the czar was 50 years old and the
empress 46. Daughter Olga was 22 years old, Tatiana was 21, Maria was 19,
Anastasia was 17, and Alexei was 13 years old.
The Last Night-The Brutal Murders of Romanovs- July 17, 1918,
No evidence survives
to suggest the Romanovs reacted with anything but docility. Carrying the
tsarevitch in his arms, Nicholas led the family and the four servants—family
doctor Eugene Botkin, maid Anna Demidova, chef Ivan Kharitonov, and footman
Alexei Trupp—down to the cellar.
Gathered together in
a small, bare room, they still appeared oblivious to their fate. Chairs were
fetched for Alexandra and Alexei while the others stood.
Yurovsky approached them, with the
executioners behind him in the doorway, and read from a prepared statement to
the astonished prisoners: “The presidium of the Regional Soviet, fulfilling the
will of the Revolution, has decreed that the former Tsar Nicholas Romanov,
guilty of countless bloody crimes against the people, should be shot.”
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Interior of the room |
When, he finished, they
began firing on the family. Accounts are conflicting, but most say that the
Czar Nicholas was the main target, and that he died from several gunshots. The
Czarina Alexandra died from a bullet to the head.
As the room filled
with gun smoke, discipline among the killers vanished. The grand duchesses
seemed unharmed by the bullets, which had ricocheted off their bodies (it was
later discovered that diamond jewelry sewn into their clothing had acted like
armor during the initial assault).
Finally, after a horror-filled 20 minutes, the entire
family and their servants were all dead: shot, stabbed, and beaten.
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The |
The 11 bodies were
hauled out of the house and loaded onto a truck. The disposal of the remains
was chaotic. Scholars believe the bodies were first dumped in a shallow mine
called Ganina Yama, which the Bolsheviks tried to collapse with grenades.
The corpses were then unceremoniously thrown into a Fiat
truck and taken out to the Koptyaki Forest. But the supposed mine shaft that
Yurovsky had selected for them to be dumped in turned out to be too shallow;
local peasants would easily find the bodies and seek to preserve them as holy
relics.
And so, within hours,
the mutilated corpses of the Romanov family stripped of their clothes and the Czarina’s jewels, which had been secreted in them, were hastily dug up.
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The |
There was no trial for any of the family, no
due process of law, no possibility of a defense or appeal. What happened in the
basement of the House of Special Purpose on Voznesenski Prospekt, Ekaterinburg,
in the early hours of July 17, 1918, was nothing less than ugly, crazed and
botched murder?
However, the
“soldiers of the revolution” considered feelings of compassion and pity to be a
relic of the past. On the night of July 17, none of the executioners had a hand
that shook.
The End
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