The End of the Romanov Family

Russia in late 1910s

• Russia was ruled by Romanov Family• Tzar was Nicholas II• Tzarina was Alexandra

• They had 5 children• Tatiana, Olga, Maria, and Anastasia• One son, Alexei

• Nicholas came from a wealthy family• Most Russians were extremely poor w/ no food

Russian feelings

• Most Russians were sick of fighting in war• Soldiers were fighting in

bare feet• There was not enough

weapons to supply the soldiers

• Most Russians felt the Tzar was overlooking them• In reality, he paid more

attention to his family• Son, Alexei was a

hemophiliac

Bad Decisions

• Nicholas made a few bad choices while he was tzar• 1904 he fought an

unsuccessful war w/ Japan• In WWI, he took personal

command of the Russian army; however, his people were starving. While he was fighting in the front , people were rioting in St. Petersburg for food

• He also allowed an outsider to enter the “royal” family--Rasputin

Rasputin• A mystic monk, he was

able to stop Alexei’s bleeding when no one else could• Probably used hypnosis

• Empress Alexandra depended on Rasputin for everything

• Rumored he had an affair with her

• Aristocracy was worried about his influence on the family and in gov’t. matters

• Other members of royal family tried to kill him

Rasputin’s death

• He was shot in the chest, but did not die• Then he was shot twice as he was trying to flee• His body was dumped in a nearby river

• Rasputin even predicted his own death:• If I am killed by common assassins and especially by my brothers

the Russian peasants, you, Tsar of Russia, have nothing to fear for your children, they will reign for hundreds of years in Russia.

• ...if it was your relations who have wrought my death, then no one in your family, that is to say, none of your children or relations will remain alive for two years. They will be killed by the Russian people...

• I shall be killed. I am no longer among the living. Pray, pray, be strong, think of your blessed family.

• Grigory

Nicholas overlooks the need

• Nicholas never talked to his subjects• May have understood plight of the poor or realized the

horrible conditions of the factories• He demanded authority b/c he believed he earned it b/c of

his blood line

• He left St. Petersburg to relieve himself of the stress of the city

• Most advisors told him to abdicate the throne; he listened• Intended for his younger brother, Michael to become tsar• He only was tsar one day, b/c the monarchy was declared

dead by the provisional government

Life in exile

• Nicholas and family were sent to live in exile in the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg in Siberia

• He was supposed to stand trial in Moscow, but never got there

Bolshevik Takeover• While Nicholas was in

exile, the Bolsheviks took over

• Led by Vladimir Illych Ulanov, aka Vladimir Lenin

• Referred to as the “Red Army” (communist)

• Military supporters of the tsar were called the “White Army”

• Worried about a white army victory in Ekaterinburg, extreme measures were taken to eliminate the royal family

Assassinations

• On July 16, 1918, Yakov Yurovsky awakened Eugene Botkin, the royal family’s doctor and told them that the family needed to be moved downstairs for their safety

• Unknown to Botkin, Yurovsky had been assigned head executioner of the Romanov family

• It took 30 mins for the family to dress and be led to a room in the cellar of the Ipatiev House

Murders

• Yurovsky told the family that since their relatives were continuing their aggression against Soviet Russia, the Executive Committee declared them to be eliminated

• Two of the men picked for the execution squad refused to kill the girls, so they were replaced

Refusal to die

• Intended to take 3-5 minutes, however lasted close to 20 minutes; gunfire produced a lot of smoke

• Anastasia and two of her sisters survived 1st wave of bullets• Bullets were ricocheting off walls; they tried using their

bayonets, but couldn’t pierce their corsets b/c of diamonds sewn within them

• After confirmation of death; the bodies were disposed of• Alexei and their maid were burnt, but since this took too

long, the rest were buried in a pit and sulfuric acid was poured over their bodies to prevent recognition/stinking

Bodies found

• Bodies remained unfound until 1979• Found by a Russian mystery writer, Geil Ryabov and a

geophysicist Dr. Alexander Avdonin• Kept it a secret for 10 years

• When deaths occurred, only Nicholas’s death was spoken of

• People speculated that some of the children survived• Anna Anderson claimed she was Anastasia, testing done

on her DNA although say she was not• In Canada, a man named Heino died of a blood disorder

in 1977 and his tombstone claimed he was Alexei

Pictures—You be the judge!

Missing bodies

• Remains were studied; proved to be that of the Romanov family• Alexei and Anastasia’s remains were missing

• In August of 2007, charred remains of a young boy and girl were found near Ekaterinburg

• Scientists confirmed in March 2009 that they were that of Alexei and one of his sisters

• Rest of the family was laid to rest in St. Petersburg in the 1990s.

In captivity, and before

References

• All photos were from public domain from Wikipedia.org

• Information was found on:• Wikipedia.org• Cayton, A.; Perry, E., and Reed, L. (2002). America:

pathways to the present. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.