page_title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia
section_title: Stavka
hierarchical_section_title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia / Biography / Stavka
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of last Tsarevich dressed in the soldier's coat, cap and shoulder-boards of a corporal. On his chests are four medals (from left to right): medal of St. George 4th class worn on St. George ribbon; medal commemorating the Centenary of the Patriotic War of 1812 (inaugurated 26 August 1912) worn on St. Vladimir ribbon; medal commemorating the Tercentenary of the Reign of the House of Romanov (inaugurated 12 March 1913) worn on Romanov ribbon; medal commemorating the Bicentenary of the battle of Gangut (inaugurated 12 June 1914) worn on St. Andrew ribbon, the addition of the chain indicates that it was given to the naval officers. Portrait is half length and the Tsarevich stands against a background of trees.
context_page_description: Alexei Nikolaevich of the House of Romanov, was the last Tsesarevich and heir apparent to the throne of the Russian Empire. He was the youngest child and only son of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. He was born with haemophilia, which his parents tried treating with the methods of faith healer Grigori Rasputin.
  After the February Revolution of 1917, he and his family were sent into internal exile in Tobolsk, Siberia. Soon after the Bolsheviks took power, he and his entire family were murdered, together with three retainers. This was ordered during the Russian Civil War by the Bolshevik government. Rumors persisted that he and a sister had survived until the 2007 discovery of his and one of his sisters' remains. On 17 July 1998, the eightieth anniversary of the execution, his parents and three sisters, along with their faithful retainers, were formally interred in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul. Alexei and his sister Maria are still not buried. The family was canonized as passion bearers by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000.
context_section_description: During World War I, Alexei joined his father at Stavka, when his father became the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army in 1915. Alexei seemed to like military life very much and became very playful and energetic. In one of his father's notes to his mother, he said "…Have come in from the garden with wet sleeves and boots as Alexei sprayed us at the fountain. It is his favorite game…peals of laughter ring out. I keep an eye, in order to see that things do not go too far." Alexei even ate the soldiers' black bread, and refused when he was offered a meal that he would eat in his palace, saying "It's not what soldiers eat". In December 1915, Rasputin was invited to see Alexei when the 11-year-old boy was accidentally thrown against the window of a train and his nose began to bleed.
  In 1916, he was given the title of Lance Corporal, of which he was very proud. Alexei's favorites were the foreigners of Belgium, Britain, France, Japan, Italy, and Serbia, and in favor, adopted him as their mascot. Hanbury-Williams, whom Alexei liked, wrote: "As time went on and his shyness wore off he treated us like old friends and… had always some bit fun with us. With me it was to make sure that each button on my coat was properly fastened, a habit which naturally made me take great care to have one or two unbuttoned, in which case he used to at once to stop and tell me that I was 'untidy again,' give a sigh at my lack of attention to these details and stop and carefully button me up again."
caption: Portrait of Alexei, dressed in the soldier's coat, cap and shoulder-boards of a corporal
exif: {}