The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion and the Fall of Imperial Russia

Nicholas II’s wife, Alexandra, born Princess Alix Victoria Helena Louise Beatrice, grows up in Hesse-Darmstadt, which is now part of Germany. Alexandra’s mother dies when she is 6, and the young princess receives a strict upbringing from Queen Victoria of England, leading her to grow into a young woman with strong morals, but also an “iron-willed” and “controlling” person (23). Alexandra also develops a devotion to religion at a young age, which leads to her later obsession with the icons and symbols of the Russian Orthodox church, and her devotion to the supposed “holy man,” Rasputin.

From the beginning of her marriage to Nicholas and her reign as empress, Alexandra asserts her dominance in the relationship. Telling Nicholas she wears “‘invisible trousers,’” she urges him to “‘listen to [her]’” (29). Alexandra deeply loves Nicholas and their children, but while she is “warm and affectionate” in private (30), she is shy, uncomfortable, and “‘aloof’” in public (31).

Alexandra’s already-serious disposition takes a turn for the worse when her only son, Alexei, is born with hemophilia. Alexandra’s brother died of hemophilia, so she knows she has passed the disease on to Alexei, and she “blame[s] herself” (55). Desperately hoping God can heal her son, Alexandra seeks the advice of holy men, or starets, including the Siberian peasant Rasputin. When Rasputin’s healing appears to help Alexei, Alexandra becomes so devoted to Rasputin, whom she calls “‘Our Friend’” (148),that she does whatever he asks of her, even in matters that have nothing to do with her son, such as the firing and appointing of new ministers. Though Nicholas is the one who actually carries out the political changes, the empress drives all his actions, and by allowing Rasputin to hold such sway over her, she places her son’s health above the health of Russia as a whole.

Both before and after Rasputin’s death, Alexandra, weakened by the stress of a seriously-ill son, becomes nearly an invalid herself. Her daughters frequently write her letters with statements such as, “‘I hope you won’t be very tired and you can get up to dinner’” (99). Like Nicholas, the empress is briefly galvanized by the patriotic efforts of World War I: she “‘bec[omes] overnight a changed being’” (138), as she attends nursing classes with her eldest daughters, receives a nursing certificate, and works tirelessly to help injured soldiers. However, as the Great War and the Russian Revolution continue, and the Romanovs are increasingly criticized and eventually arrested, Alexandra returns to her former weakness. Remaining devoted to her children, she is overjoyed when Alexei is well enough to take a bath by himself just days before the family’s assassination, but she still looks “‘tired and sick,’” according to one witness (232). As The Family Romanov ends, Alexandra dies along with the husband and children she loved so dearly.

The Romanov children receive an upbringing that is a strange combination of severity, indulgence, and isolation. Because of a Romanov tradition “meant to teach self-discipline” (45), the children sleep on army cots and receive cold baths; yet at the same time, they enjoy summer-long trips on the imperial train and play on their own “Children’s Island” (47). Nicholas and Alexandra do not place particular value in education, and courtiers agree that the children’s education is “‘to some extent neglected,’” with “‘mediocre’” tutors and little pressure placed on the young Romanovs to learn (89). In addition, Alexandra treats her growing daughters like “‘little children’” and shelters them from the outside world, leaving them “isolated” and “immature” (114).

World War I changes the young Romanovs just as it does their parents, as the two eldest grand duchesses accompany their mother to nursing school, and the younger two become “patronesses” at their own small hospital (139), where they are moved by the suffering of wounded soldiers. Alexei, meanwhile, moves with his father to Stavka, where he enjoys spending time with Nicholas but sees little of the actual war.

The Romanov children spend their last days under house arrest, where their characters again display a strange contradiction: while clinging to the last vestiges of their wealth, the young Romanovs also show an enthusiasm for hard work. The girls sew the family jewels into their clothing, hoping they can smuggle them away when they escape Russia, and they “‘insist […] on changing their bed linen every day’” (223), despite the great expense. At the same time, they are willing to learn how to do their own laundry, they help the family maid with chores, and when cleaning women arrive to wash the floors, the grand duchesses are eager to help. According to one of the cleaning women, the girls are “spirited and breathed [a] love of life’” (232). However, only a few days later, the Romanov children meet the same dark fate as their parents.

Born in November 1895, Olga is the eldest of the Romanov children, and along with her sister, Tatiana, makes up the “Big Pair.” According to her tutor, Olga “‘possess[es] a remarkably quick brain’” (90) and as the eldest daughter is often the most serious. She is also the only duchess to receive a ball in her own honor, where the elegant young woman “‘floated […] like a butterfly’” (107).

The second-eldest Romanov, Tatiana is born in 1897 and completes the “Big Pair,” along with her sister, Olga. Tatiana is “‘not so gifted’” academically as her sister, but shows “‘perseverance’” and enjoys painting and playing piano (91). As she grows older, Tatiana develops “superior nursing skills” (213) that make her one of Alexei’s best caretakers.

Marie, the third Romanov daughter and the elder of the “Little Pair,” is born in 1899 and becomes part of the more mischievous Romanov duo. She likes playing outside and painting, but not studying; she is unusually strong physically, and can paint with her left hand while writing with her right. As a 19-year-old under house arrest with the rest of her family, Marie sneaks off with a guard on her birthday—an incident that prompts officials to appoint a new, stricter head guard. The Romanovs also consider Marie “‘an angel and the best of us’” (213), and she is the one to accompany and aid her mother when the family is separated while under arrest.

Anastasia, the youngest grand duchess and the other half of the “Little Pair,” is born in 1901 and quickly develops a reputation as “‘a true genius in naughtiness’” (91), bribing her teachers and even once “‘trying to strangle’” a tutor (92). Unlike her thinner, more elegant sisters, Anastasia grows into a “short and chubby” girl (113), leading her to acquire the nickname kubyshka, or “dumpling.”

Even after being placed under house arrest, Anastasia retains her mischievous and rebellious nature. Along with Marie, she flirts with the family’s guards, and according to her tutor “‘she ha[s] a commedienne’s talent,’” though she also remains “‘short and stout, the only ungraceful member of the family’” (199). Anastasia, in defiance of the guards’ commands, refuses to leave her dog and “constant companion,” Jemmy, behind when the Romanovs are led to the cellar where they’re murdered (237)—thus, Jemmy becomes the only animal killed and buried along with the Romanovs.

Alexei, the youngest Romanov and the family’s only son, grows up with the expectation he will become the next tsar of Russia, as well as the heavily-guarded secret that he is a hemophiliac—a dual legacy that will define his character. As the Romanovs have hoped for a son for so long, both the tsar and particularly his wife make Alexei “‘the focus of all [their] hopes and attentions’” (93) and give him everything he asks for, causing the boy to become quite spoiled. Yet at the same time, because even the slightest physical injury could cause his death, Alexei is constantly guarded and not allowed to play “like other boys” (94). As a result, Alexei becomes “defiant” (94), making the palace guards chase him, jumping on tables and sailing on rowboats, regardless of the consequences.

Once Alexei is old enough to begin academic studies, he proves as difficult as his youngest sister: at one point, he insists on cutting his tutor’s hair, leading to a harrowing fight over a pair of scissors. Yet at the same time, Alexei spends much of his time so ill he is close to death, dealing with incredible pain, and as a result becomes empathetic and “introspective” (120). As his tutor says, Alexei is “‘sensitive to the suffering in others because he suffered so much himself’” (120).

Alexei’s illness becomes more and more his defining characteristic. The family is briefly separated because a bedridden Alexei is too weak to be moved; just a few days before their deaths, the empress finds happiness simply in the fact that Alexei manages to bathe on his own. Finally, 13-year-old Alexei must be carried by his father into the cellar, where the entire family meet their demise.

Gregory Rasputin, a peasant farmer from Siberia, becomes a holy man, or starets, when he sees a vision from God, leaves his wife and four children, and walks 2,000 miles to a Greek monastery. Rasputin develops a “reputation as a healer and a prophet” (85), which allows him to prey on the Romanovs, who are desperate to heal their own son. Over the eleven years of their relationship, Rasputin gains complete control over the empress and thus the tsar as well; as a result, he causes the rulers to lose the respect of the Russian people.

Rasputin first visits the royal palace in November 1905, and according to some witnesses, he is “revolting,” with “long, unwashed hair” (85), while others describe him as “‘exceptionally clean’” (86). In either case, Rasputin has a powerful presence and “radiate[s] magnetism” (86), with “astonishing eyes” that entrance his audience (86). Whether from luck, good timing or the “spell” of his “piercing eyes” (87), Rasputin’s visit causes Alexei’s bleeding to slow, and Alexandra believes Rasputin possess “healing powers” granted to him by God (87).

Rasputin uses his royal favor to ingratiate himself among the nobility, and particularly among the women of St. Petersburg society. He also takes the chance to humiliate these women, once telling one to “‘humble [her]self’” by licking his jam-covered finger “‘clean’” (101). Rumors of Rasputin’s licentious behavior cause him to fall out of favor with everyone except the Romanovs, who refuse to believe any word of his wrongdoing. When Prime Minister Peter Stolypin orders an investigation of Rasputin, then tries to convince the tsar to dismiss the starets, Rasputin appears to put a spell on the minister. Rasputin “mumble[s] mysterious […] words […] and ma[kes] strange movements with his hands” (102), and later declares that “death is after” (104) Stolypin. Stolypin is soon assassinated while attending an opera, and the event cements Rasputin as a man with such mystical power that he can bring death to his enemies.

Once World War I begins, Rasputin’s influence over the royal family becomes even more disastrous. Rasputin convinces the Romanovs to play a “crazy game of ‘ministerial leapfrog’” (149), dismissing ministers that Rasputin feels threatened by and replacing them with Rasputin’s friends. Russia thus finds itself without strong leaders “at a time when they were most needed” (149). At the same time, reports surface that Rasputin often spends his nights “‘dead drunk’” (147). Thus, the public realizes the tsar and his wife have put their faith in a “fraud” (147) whose only concern is maintaining his own power. Rasputin is depicted as a puppet master holding the Romanovs by strings, and is widely considered the “actual ruler of Russia” (150).

Throughout The Family Romanov, Rasputin emerges alternately as a lecherous drunkard, a miraculous healer, and a vindictive, greedy man who contributes to the Romanovs’ downfall. But the circumstances of Rasputin’s death emphasize most of all the almost preternatural power he possesses. Rasputin appears to survive poisoning, gunshot wounds, and bludgeoning with a club, and still manages to struggle against the ropes that bind him while drowning. While an autopsy reveals Rasputin died before being thrown in the river, the legend of a man with an almost supernatural ability to survive lingers. Once Rasputin is truly dead, the royal family mourns, while the rest of Russia rejoices. 

Lenin, born Vladimir Ulyanov, is a communist revolutionary who is instrumental in overthrowing Tsar Nicholas II and later takes his place as the leader of Russia. For much of The Family Romanov, Lenin is in exile, writing and supporting the Russian revolutionaries from Switzerland and Finland. While Lenin himself comes from an upper-class family, his brother was executed after attempting to assassinate Tsar Alexander III, and Lenin undertakes his own decades-long quest to overthrow the Russian autocracy. As the leader of the Bolsheviks, revolutionaries who believe “a few strong leaders” (76), rather than workers, should take charge of the revolution, Lenin has a huge influence over the political philosophy that shapes communist Russia.

When Lenin first returns to Russia in 1917, he demands that the new Provisional Government be overthrown and is derided as a “raving […] lunatic” (186). However, Lenin uncovers deceit in the new government, and in November 2017, he leads the Bolsheviks to take control of Russia. With his “‘indomitable energy’” and ability to inspire “‘fanatical faith’” in the Bolshevik movement (188), Lenin leads Russia in a new direction.

Despite Lenin’s political ideals, the new communist government does not give power to the people, and most Russians remain as poor and voiceless as before the revolution. Lenin voices concern that the government he’s helped to establish “betrayed Marx’s vision of a classless utopia” (246), and when he dies in January 1924, Lenin leaves Russia in the clutches of a “totalitarian government” (246)—one that will last for decades to come.

Yurovsky, the final commandant to guard the Romanovs, is the man who decides to murder the Romanovs and executes the plan to do so. Outwardly courteous, and called “‘the dark gentleman’” by Nicholas (227), Yurovsky secretly “‘burn[s] with hatred’” (227) for the royals after growing up destitute in Siberia, where his father was exiled for stealing.

Fearing the White Army will free the Romanovs, Yurovsky, supported by Ekaterinburg officials, goes against Lenin’s wishes and decides to assassinate the Romanovs. He finds a place to bury the family and a cellar space to carry out the murders, and he reads the official decree to the Romanovs that they are “‘to be shot’” (239). Without Yurovsky’s personal vendetta against Russian royalty, the Romanovs—or at least Alexandra and her children—may have been allowed to escape and meet a very different fate.

Gibbes, the Romanov children’s English tutor, and Gilliard, their French tutor, are important because their written accounts of the Romanovs give ample insights into the family’s daily life. The tutors remain with the Romanovs while they’re under house arrest in Tobolsk, and offer details of their experience under guard; however, neither tutor is allowed to accompany the Romanovs to Ekaterinburg, and thus they escape being murdered. The tutors show loyalty to the Romanovs even after their deaths, with both agreeing to visit the family’s burial site and identify any objects they might uncover.