The Last Romanov
By: Calin Aneculaesei
Tags: War, Russia, Communism, History, World War I

The Last Romanov

The Romanov family in 1913

Russia experienced three major regime changes throughout the 20th century. The root of this unstable political climate could be traced back to the early 1900s. After the death of Царь Алексaндр III Алексaндрович (Anglicised: Tsar Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich), the largest empire on the planet fell under the control of inexperienced Цесаревич Николай II Александрович (Anglicised: Tsarevich Nikolai II Alexandrovich). This is the story of his downfall.

Tsarevich

Цесаревич (Anglicised: Tsarevich) was the Russian equivalent of a prince during the time of the monarchy. Before the death of his father Tsar Aleksandr III, Nikolai II (also known as Nicholas II) was the Tsarevich of Russia.

Tsar Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich. Courtesy of Wikicommons.

Tsar Aleksandr failed to bring his son up in the fashion a future Tsar should be brought up. During his youth, Nikolai was shielded from official duties. His father thought that it would be long until his son would have to ascend to the throne and as such chose to not place the burden of learning how to govern on the young Tsarevich.

This backfired massively. Tsar Aleksandr died much sooner than expected, on 1 November 1894 at age 49, due to terminal kidney disease. There wasn’t much to be done with the technology at the time. As such the Tsar died leaving 26-year-old, now Tsar, Nikolai II to govern one of the biggest empires in the world.

Pretzels, beer and a golden coin

The new Tsar's problems started as early as his coronation. Before the ceremony, he promised the people of Russia that they will celebrate with him. He set up a festivity for the peasantry at Khodynka Field in Moscow. There the people would get gingerbread, a bread roll, a piece of sausage, pretzels, beer and a commemorative cup.

For the hungry peasantry, this was a godsent, as such the masses flocked to Moscow. By the time the ceremony was meant to start on 30 May 1896, an estimated half a million people gathered on the fields. 1800 policemen were meant to keep the massive crowd in check. Something which failed when misinformation was spread among the masses.

The masses at the Khodynka Field in Moscow. Courtesy of Wikicommons.

The rumour that the pretzels and the beer were running out as those distributing it was giving the food and drink away to their friends rather than distributing it to the masses. This got the crowd riled up. Another rumour spread after that. This time people were saying that inside the commemorative cup they were meant to receive was a gold coin, something very valuable for the relatively poor peasantry. A stamped began as people raced to collect their gifts.

The police tried to keep the masses under control but it was too late. By the end of the day, 2,600 people were injured of which 1,300 died. Not a good way to start off your reign of an already unruly population.

An easy war?

Nikolai’s reign started on a low and continued on a low. As he saw the masses not supporting him he devised a way to get them back on his side. A war. Surely if he won a decisive war against another nation the nationalism created by this event would boost people’s view of him. He chose Japan as his target thinking that the relatively newly industrialized nation was an easy target. He was wrong.

During the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) Russia experienced heavy losses against the supposed inferior Japanese. A multitude of defeats both on sea and on land led to Russia seeking peace with the Japanese. The Treaty of Portsmouth which saw Russia recognize the Japanese sphere of influence over Korea and the Russian withdrawal out of Manchuria.

Japanese infantry during the occupation of Seoul, Korea in 1904 as part of the Russo-Japanese war. Courtesy of Wikicommons.

Needless to say, this made the Tsar even more unpopular. Those who saw him as a ruler who made unfaltering choices started to lose confidence in him. Even his most ardent supporters started to be doubtful of the Tsar’s God-given right to rule over the Russian people.

Bloody Sunday

During the war, another event which destroyed the Tsar’s reputation occurred. Кровaвое воскресeнье (Translated: Bloody Sunday) is the name attributed to the events of 9 January 1905. On that day priest Геoргий Аполлoнович Гапoн (Anglicised: Georgy Apollonovich Gapon) led a group of between 3,000 to 50,000 people towards the Winter Palace while singing “God Save the Tsar!”.

Georgy Apollonovich Gapon

Their purpose was to deliver a petition to the royal family, who at the time unbeknownst to them were not present at the Winter Palace, a petition calling for better working conditions across the empire. To suppress this march the Tsar called on 10,000 military troops to block the group on their way to the Winter Palace.

It is not known if the Tsar ordered the men to fire upon the protestors but around the hours of 10–11 am the soldiers began firing upon the peaceful crowd.

By the end of the day between 300 to 3,000 innocent protestors were killed. This created dissent across the entire empire and was the event that sparked the 1905 revolution.

This revolution ended in 1907 with the creation of the Russia

Дума (Anglicised: Duma). A governing body which was meant to share the power to rule over the empire with the Tsar. In reality, the Duma would have minimal impact on the power of the Tsar until the Tsar’s abdication in 1917.

World War I and abdication

There are other intermediary events between the start of the First World War and the end of the first Russian revolution but these events have minimal importance to the Tsar’s reign. All except the rise of Rasputin which is talked about more in another History of Yesterday article here.

Russia was dragged into WW1 by their alliance to Serbia. The self-proclaimed “Protector of Orthodoxy” had to jump to the nation's help once Austria-Hungary declared war on it. This put Russia on the ‘Allies’ side of the war. Due to multiple aspects such as being completely outgunned by Germany industry and leadership wise, especially after Nikolai decided to make himself the commander-in-chief in 1905, Russia fell into a large retreat against the superior Germany army.

Russian prisoners after the Battle of Tannenberg, where the Russian Second Army was annihilated by the German Eighth Army. Courtesy of Wikicommons.

The show of weakness created instability within the country and by 1917 this instability reached a tipping point. While on his way back from the front his train was stopped by a contingent of generals and soldiers who informed him of the chaos in the capital. With both the people and his army against him, Nikolai was forced to abdicate, ending the Romanov rule over Russia.

The Reds

On 20 March 1917, the Romanovs were placed under house arrest in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo. They would remain under house arrest in different locations for the rest of their lives. They were later moved to Тобoльск (Anglicised: Tobolsk) in Western Siberia due to fears of a revolution. Finally, they were moved to Екатеринбyрг (Anglicised: Yekaterinburg) after the Soviet takeover of the government to protect them from the fighting of the Civil War.

In Yekaterinburg, the family would reside in the Ipatiev House. This house would be protected by Ural Soviet troops throughout the family’s stay. As the Civil War raged on outside of the city, the Czech Legion, a contingent of Czech troops which fought on the side of the ‘Whites’, the Tsar sympathisers, approached Yekaterinburg.

Ipatiev House, with the palisade erected just before Nicholas, Alexandra and Maria arrived on 30 April 1918. On the top left of the house is an attic window where a Maxim gun was positioned. Courtesy of Wikicommons.

Due to the threat of the Tsar being captured, the Ural Regional Soviet, on 29 June 1918 agreed in a meeting that the Romanov family should be executed. During the early hours of the 17 July 1918, the family was awoken and told to dress up with the promise of being moved to a more secure location due to the fear that the ‘Whites’ would shell the town and injure the family.

After getting dressed the family was taken to the cellar of the house after which a firing squad entered the room and massacred the entire family. Putting an end to the Romanov dynasty. The Presidium of the Ural Regional Soviet of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Government announced the following day:

In view of the enemy’s proximity to Yekaterinburg and the exposure by the Cheka of a serious White Guard plot with the goal of abducting the former Tsar and his family… In light of the approach of counterrevolutionary bands toward the Red capital of the Urals and the possibility of the crowned executioner escaping trial by the people (a plot among the White Guards to try to abduct him and his family was exposed and the compromising documents will be published), the Presidium of the Ural Regional Soviet, fulfilling the will of the Revolution, resolved to shoot the former Tsar, Nikolai Romanov, who is guilty of countless, bloody, violent acts against the Russian people.

The bodies of the family would only be discovered in 1979 with them being excavated in January 1998. With this event ended the Romanov saga, starting with Michael I in 1613 and ending with the death of Nikolai II in 1918, the dynasty which once ruled the most expansive empire on the planet found its resting place like the rest, in the mud, showing that no matter the circumstances one could go from king to begar in a matter of years.