german: Alix Viktoria Helene Luise Beatrix
russian: Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova
, house =
Hesse-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...
, father =
Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
, mother =
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom
Princess Alice (Alice Maud Mary; 25 April 1843 – 14 December 1878) was Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from 13 June 1877 until her death in 1878 as the wife of Grand Duke Louis IV. She was the third child and second daughter of Queen ...
, birth_name = Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine
, birth_date = 1872
, birth_place =
New Palace,
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
,
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...
,
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
, death_date =
, death_place =
Ipatiev House
Ipatiev House (russian: Дом Ипатьева) was a merchant's house in Yekaterinburg (later renamed Sverdlovsk in 1924, renamed back to Yekaterinburg in 1991) where the former Emperor Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918, reigned 1894–1917), h ...
,
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
,
Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
, burial_date = 17 July 1998
, burial_place =
Peter and Paul Cathedral,
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
, signature = Alexandra Feodorovna Signature.svg
, religion =
Russian Orthodox
Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...
''prev.''
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
Alexandra Feodorovna ( – 17 July 1918), Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine at birth, was the last
Empress of Russia
The emperor or empress of all the Russias or All Russia, ''Imperator Vserossiyskiy'', ''Imperatritsa Vserossiyskaya'' (often titled Tsar or Tsarina/Tsaritsa) was the monarch of the Russian Empire.
The title originated in connection with Russia' ...
as the consort of
Emperor Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...
from
their marriage on until
his forced abdication on . A favourite granddaughter of
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
, she was, like her grandmother, one of the most famous
royal carriers of haemophilia and bore a haemophiliac heir,
Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia. Her reputation for encouraging her husband's resistance to the surrender of autocratic authority and her known faith in the Russian mystic
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus g ...
severely damaged her popularity and that of the
Romanov
The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to th ...
monarchy in its final years. She and her immediate family were all
killed while in Bolshevik captivity in 1918, during the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
. In 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church
canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...
her as Saint Alexandra the Passion Bearer.
Appearance and personality
![Alexandra Fyodorovna 1900](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Alexandra_Fyodorovna_1900.jpg)
Alexandra was a noted beauty. Her maternal grandmother
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
praised her as "a most lovely child." Her friend
Anna Vyrubova
Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova (''née'' Taneyeva; russian: А́нна Алекса́ндровна Вы́рубова (Тане́ева)); 16 July 1884 – 20 July 1964) was a Russian Empire lady-in-waiting, the best friend and confidante of Tsarin ...
described her as "tall... and delicately, beautifully shaped, with exquisitely white neck and shoulders. Her abundant hair, red gold, was so long that she could easily sit upon it when it was unbound. Her complexion was clear and as rosy as a little child's. The Empress had large eyes, deep gray and very lustrous." A lady-in-waiting, Baroness
Sophie Buxhoeveden
Sophie Freiin von Buxhoeveden (russian: София Карловна Буксгевден, tr. ; September 6, 1883 – November 26, 1956), also known as Baroness Sophie Buxdoeveden, was a Baltic German Lady-in-waiting, in service to Tsarina Alexa ...
, said that she was "a tall, slim girl" with "beautiful luminous eyes," "regular features," a "very good complexion," and "beautiful golden hair." An Imperial courtier commented favourably about "her wonderful hair which lay like a heavy crown on her head and large dark-blue eyes beneath long lashes."
[Iroshnikov, ''The Sunset of the Romanov Dynasty'', p. 123] In 1905, her daughters' tutor
Pierre Gilliard
Pierre Gilliard (16 May 1879 – 30 May 1962) was a Swiss academic and author, best known as the French language tutor to the five children of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia from 1905 to 1918. In 1921, after the Russian Revolution of 1917, he pu ...
wrote that "the Tsarina was still a beautiful woman at that time. She was tall and slender and carried herself superbly. But all this ceased the moment one looked into her eyes—those speaking, grey-blue eyes which mirrored the emotions of a sensitive soul."
Alexandra was shy. When her grandmother Queen Victoria insisted that she play the piano for others, she felt that her "clammy hands...
ereliterally glued to the keys" and later described the experience as "one of the worst ordeals" of her life. When she was Empress, a page in the Imperial household described her as "so obviously nervous of conversation" and claimed that "at moments when she needed to show some social graces or a charming smile, her face would become suffused with little red spots and she would look intensely serious."
Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia
Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia ( rus, Константи́н Константи́нович, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ, a=Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov.ru.vorb.oga; 22 August 1858 – 15 June 1915 ...
noted that she "is terribly shy... It's noticeable that she does not have her mother-in-law's charm, and still does not, therefore, inspire general adulation."
[Julia P. Gelardi, ''From Splendor to Revolution'', p. 170] Nadine Wonar-Larsky, her lady-in-waiting, noted that she was "extremely shy even at such an informal affair as receiving" Wonlar-Larsky and her mother to tea.
An Imperial courtier notes that "when she was conversing or grew tired, her face became covered in red blotches
ndher hands were red and fleshy."
She herself admitted that during social functions, she "long
dto disappear into the ground." She told her friend Marie Bariatinsky that "I am not made to shine before an assembly—I have not got the easy nor the witty talk one needs for that."
Alexandra's natural shyness was often mistaken as haughtiness. Her brother
Ernest Louis reflected that "she would unsmilingly tilt her head to one side if something displeased her, with the result that people often thought that she was unhappy, or bored, or simply capricious." Her daughters' tutor
Pierre Gilliard
Pierre Gilliard (16 May 1879 – 30 May 1962) was a Swiss academic and author, best known as the French language tutor to the five children of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia from 1905 to 1918. In 1921, after the Russian Revolution of 1917, he pu ...
reflected that "the reserve which so many people had taken as an affront and had made her so many enemies was rather the effect of a natural timidity, as it were—a mask covering her sensitiveness."
![Group Portrait of Royal Children 1885](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Group_Portrait_of_Royal_Children_1885.jpg)
Even from a young age, Alexandra was serious and melancholic. Her first cousin and childhood friend
Princess Marie Louise Marie Louise or Marie-Louise may refer to:
People
*Marie Louise of Orléans (1662–1689), daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, queen consort of Charles II of Spain
*Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel (1688–1765), daughter of Charles I, Landgrave ...
said that she had "a curious atmosphere of fatality."
[Edith von Almedingen, ''The Empress Alexandra'' (London, 1961), p. 13.] Princess Marie Louise allegedly asked her, "Alix, you always play at being sorrowful; one day the Almighty will send you some real crushing sorrows, and then what are you going to do?"
Sir
George William Buchanan, who was a diplomat for Alexandra's grandmother Queen Victoria, reflected that Alexandra had a "sad and pathetic expression."
Alexandra was extremely religious. Although she loved
Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...
, she initially refused his proposal because she refused to convert from
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
and join the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
, as was expected of all wives of Russian Emperors. She told Nicholas that even though "it grieves me terribly and makes me very unhappy" not to marry him, leaving the Lutheran church would be "a wrongful thing."
Alexandra was generous to her friends and often tried to help others. Her lady-in-waiting Sophie Buxhoeveden wrote that she was "ready to do literally anything for her friends" and that "she would take up things and people with violent enthusiasm." She admitted that "I am of the preacher type. I want to help others in life, to help them to fight their battles and bear their crosses."
Alexandra was intellectual and well-read. In her first years as Empress, she translated Russian writings and studied Russian music to improve her command of the language. She read
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
's novels and discussed them with her husband.
Alexandra enjoyed music. When she was young, she played the banjo and sang duets for hours with Queen Victoria's Lady in Waiting Minnie Cochrane. She enjoyed playing the piano with her daughter
Olga, who inherited her musical talent.
Early life
![Princess Alix of Hesse 1881](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Princess_Alix_of_Hesse_1881.jpg)
Alexandra was born on 6 June 1872 at the
New Palace in
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
as Princess ''Alix Viktoria Helene Luise Beatrix'' of
Hesse and by Rhine
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...
, a
Grand Duchy
A grand duchy is a sovereign state, country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess.
Relatively rare until the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the term was oft ...
then part of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. She was the sixth child and fourth daughter among the seven children of
Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse
English: Frederick William Louis Charles
, house = Hesse-Darmstadt
, father = Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine
, mother = Princess Elisabeth of Prussia
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Prinz-Carl-Palais, Darmstadt, Gra ...
, and his first wife,
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom
Princess Alice (Alice Maud Mary; 25 April 1843 – 14 December 1878) was Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from 13 June 1877 until her death in 1878 as the wife of Grand Duke Louis IV. She was the third child and second daughter of Queen ...
, the second daughter of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
and her husband
Albert, Prince Consort
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the consort of Queen Victoria from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his death in 1861.
Albert was born in the Saxon duch ...
.
Alix was baptized on 1 July 1872 (her parents' tenth wedding anniversary) in the Protestant
Lutheran Church
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
and given the names of her mother and each of her mother's four sisters, some of which were transliterated into German. Her mother wrote to Queen Victoria, "‘Alix’ we gave for ‘Alice’ as they murder my name here: ‘Ali-ice’ they pronounce it, so we thought ‘Alix’ could not so easily be spoilt.” Her mother gave her the nickname of "Sunny", due to her cheerful disposition, a name adopted later by her husband. Her British relatives nicknamed her as "Alicky", to distinguish her from her aunt-by-marriage,
Alexandra
Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...
, Princess of Wales, who was known within the family as Alix.
Alix's godparents were the
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
and
Princess of Wales
Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton).
The title was firs ...
(her maternal uncle and aunt),
Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom
Princess Beatrice (Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore; 14 April 1857 – 26 October 1944), later Princess Henry of Battenberg, was the fifth daughter and youngest child of Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort, Prince Albert. Beatrice ...
(her maternal aunt), the
Duchess of Cambridge
Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...
(her great-great-aunt), the
Tsesarevich
Tsesarevich (russian: Цесаревич, ) was the title of the heir apparent or presumptive in the Russian Empire. It either preceded or replaced the given name and patronymic.
Usage
It is often confused with "tsarevich", which is a dis ...
and
Tsesarevna
Tsesarevich (russian: Цесаревич, ) was the title of the heir apparent or presumptive in the Russian Empire. It either preceded or replaced the given name and patronymic.
Usage
It is often confused with "tsarevich", which is a dis ...
of Russia (her future parents-in-law), and
Princess Anna of Prussia
Princess Maria Anna Friederike of Prussia (; 17 May 1836 – 12 June 1918), usually called Anna, was a Prussian princess as the granddaughter of King Frederick William III of Prussia. She was the second wife of Prince Frederick William of Hesse-Kas ...
.
Alix's older brother
Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine
Prince Friedrich Wilhelm August Victor Leopold Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine (7 October 1870 – 29 May 1873) was the haemophiliac second son of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, one of the daughters of Quee ...
("Frittie") suffered from
hemophilia
Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...
and died in May 1873 after a fall, when Alix was about one year old. Of her siblings, Alix was closest to
Princess Marie ("May"), who was two years younger; they were noted as "inseparable".
In November 1878,
diphtheria
Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...
swept through the
House of Hesse
The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918. Burke's Royal Families of the World, ...
; Alix, her three sisters, her brother
Ernst
Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst"
* Anton Ernst (1975-) ...
("Ernie"), and their father fell ill. Elisabeth ("Ella"), Alix's older sister, was visiting their paternal grandmother, and escaped the outbreak. Alix's mother Alice tended to the children herself, rather than abandon them to nurses and doctors. Alice fell ill and died on 14 December 1878, when Alix was six years old. This was the 17th anniversary of
Alice's own father's death. Marie also died, but the rest of the siblings survived. She described her childhood before her mother and sister's deaths as "unclouded, happy babyhood, of perpetual sunshine, then of a great cloud".
![The Hessian children with their grandmother, Queen Victoria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/The_Hessian_children_with_their_grandmother%2C_Queen_Victoria.jpg)
Queen Victoria doted on the motherless Alix and became a surrogate mother to Alix. She felt highly protective of Alix and declared that "while I live Alicky, til she is married, will be more than ever my own child." She handpicked Alix's tutors and instructed them to send detailed reports back to Windsor every month. She invited Alix and her surviving siblings to England for their holidays, and they grew close to their
British cousins. Every birthday and Christmas, she sent Alix gifts of dresses, jewelry, lace, and dolls. Unlike her other siblings, Alix signed herself "your loving and grateful child," rather than grandchild, in her letters. Alix reflected that she saw Queen Victoria as "the best and dearest of grandmamas," "a very august person," "a Santa Clause," and "the dearest and kindest Woman alive." When she was betrothed to Nicholas, Alix assured Victoria that "my marrying will
otmake a difference to my love for You." When Queen Victoria died in 1901, Alix openly wept at her memorial service in St. Petersburg and shocked the Russian courtiers who considered her cold and unfeeling.
Along with her sister, Princess Irene, Alix was a bridesmaid at the 1885 wedding of her godmother and maternal aunt, Princess Beatrice, to
Prince Henry of Battenberg
Prince Henry of Battenberg (Henry Maurice; 5 October 1858 – 20 January 1896) was a morganatic descendant of the Grand Ducal House of Hesse. He became a member of the British royal family by marriage to Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom ...
. At the age of 15, she attended Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee celebrations in 1887.
![Hessen Family in mouring](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Hessen_Family_in_mouring.jpg)
In March 1892, when Alix was just nineteen years old, her father Grand Duke Louis IV, died of a heart attack. According to her biographer, Baroness Buxhoeveden, Alix regarded the death of her father as the greatest sorrow of her life.
Buxhoeveden recalled in her 1928 biography that "for years she could not speak of him, and long after when she was in Russia, anything that reminded her of him would bring her to the verge of tears".
This loss was probably so much greater for Alix because Grand Duke Louis IV had been Alix's only remaining parent since she was six.
Proposed matches
Queen Victoria greatly favored Alix and she wanted Alix to become the Queen Consort of the United Kingdom, which she considered "the greatest position there is."
[James Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary (New York, 1960), p. 183] On 2 March 1888, she wrote to Alix's oldest sister Victoria that "My heart and mind are bent on securing dear Alicky for either
Eddie
Eddie or Eddy may refer to:
Science and technology
*Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle
* Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...
or
Georgie." She pressured Alix to accept a proposal from her first cousin and the heir apparent to the British throne,
Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale
Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (Albert Victor Christian Edward; 8 January 1864 – 14 January 1892) was the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) and grandson of the re ...
. In 1889, Victoria invited Alix and Eddy to Balmoral in hopes that they would fall in love. Eddy grew infatuated with her and proposed, but Alix was not interested in him and rejected his proposal. However, Victoria still persisted and tried to convince Alix of the benefits of the match. Victoria wrote to
Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine
Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (Victoria Alberta Elizabeth Mathilde Marie; 5 April 1863 – 24 September 1950), later Victoria Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven, was the eldest daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by R ...
, Alix's older sister, that Alix "should be made to reflect seriously on the folly of throwing away the chance of a very good husband, kind, affectionate and steady, and of entering a united happy family and a very good position which is second to none in the world!" Alix's older sister Ella opposed the match because "he
ddydoes not look over strong and is too stupid." In May 1890, Alix wrote a letter to Eddy that although it "pained her to pain him,"
she only saw him as a cousin and could not marry him. She wrote to Victoria that she would marry Eddy if she were "forced" by the family but that both of them would be miserable. Victoria was disappointed, but she decided that Alix had shown "great strength of character" in refusing to acquiesce to such strong pressure.
In 1891, Queen Victoria tried to arrange a match between Alix and
Prince Maximilian of Baden
Maximilian, Margrave of Baden (''Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm''; 10 July 1867 – 6 November 1929),Almanach de Gotha. ''Haus Baden (Maison de Bade)''. Justus Perthes (publishing company), Justus Perthes, Gotha, 1944, p. 18, (French). a ...
. She asked Louis to invite Max to Darmstadt as soon as possible. When he arrived in Darmstadt, Max told Alix that he intended to propose to her. Alix was surprised and unhappy, and she later reflected that "I did not know him at all." She asked her older sister Victoria to intervene and help her reject Max politely.
Engagement
In 1884, Alix attended the wedding of her sister
Elisabeth to
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia (''Сергей Александрович''; 11 May 1857 – 17 February 1905) was the fifth son and seventh child of Emperor of All Russia, Emperor Alexander II of Russia. He was an influential figure ...
in St. Petersburg. At this wedding, the 12-year-old Alix met the 16-year-old
Grand Duke Nicholas, nephew of the groom and heir-apparent to the Imperial throne of Russia. In his diary Nicholas called Alix "sweet little Alix" and declared "we love each other." He gave her a brooch as a sign of his affection, and they scratched their names into a windowpane.
In January 1890, Alix visited her sister Ella in Russia. She and Nicholas skated together, met at tea parties, and played badminton. Nicholas wrote in his diary: "It is my dream to one day marry Alix H. I have loved her for a long time, but more deeply and strongly since 1889 when she spent six weeks in Petersburg. For a long time, I have resisted my feeling that my dearest dream will come true."
[Massie, R, ''Nicholas and Alexandra'', p.49]
Alix's sister Ella and her husband Sergei were enthusiastically in favor of the match between Nicholas and Alix. The future Edward VII told his mother Queen Victoria that "Ella will move heaven and earth to get
lixto marry a Grand Duke." Ella wrote to Ernest, “God grant this marriage will come true."
Nicholas and Alix were second cousins through a great-grandmother,
Princess Wilhelmina of Baden, and they were third cousins once removed through
Frederick William II of Prussia
Frederick William II (german: Friedrich Wilhelm II.; 25 September 1744 – 16 November 1797) was King of Prussia from 1786 until his death in 1797. He was in personal union the Prince-elector of Brandenburg and (via the Orange-Nassau inherita ...
, who was Alix's great-great-grandfather and Nicholas's great-great-great-grandfather. Nicholas's mother, Empress
Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)
Maria Feodorovna ( ru , Мария Фёдоровна , translit = Mariya Fyodorovna; 26 November 1847 – 13 October 1928), known before her marriage as Princess Dagmar of Denmark, was Empress of Russia from 1881 to 1894 as spouse of Emperor ...
, was Alix's godmother and the younger sister of
Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of King ...
, who married Alix's uncle
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
. Her sister Ella had married Nicholas's uncle Sergei. Her uncle
Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh
Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 184430 July 1900) was the sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1893 to 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Duke of Edinburgh from 1 ...
had married Nicholas's aunt
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (russian: Мария Александровна; – 24 October 1920) was the fifth child and only surviving daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine; she wa ...
.
Queen Victoria opposed the match to Nicholas. She personally liked Nicholas, but she disliked Russia and Nicholas's father and worried that Alix would not be safe in Russia. She wrote to Alix's older sister
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
of her suspicions that Sergei and Ella were encouraging the match. After the betrothal was announced, she reflected: “The more I think of sweet Alicky's marriage the more unhappy I am. Not as to the personality for I like
icholasvery much but on account of the country and the awful insecurity to which that poor child will be exposed.”
Alexander and Maria Feodorovna were both vehemently
anti-German and did not want Alix as a daughter-in-law. Maria Feodorovna told her sister
Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of King ...
that the youngest daughter of an undistinguished grand duke was not worthy to marry the heir to the Russian throne, and she believed that Alix was too tactless and unlikeable to be a successful Empress. Alexander favored
Princess Hélène, the tall, dark-haired daughter of
Philippe, Comte de Paris
Prince Philippe of Orléans, Count of Paris (Louis Philippe Albert; 24 August 1838 – 8 September 1894), was disputedly King of the French from 24 to 26 February 1848 as Louis Philippe II, although he was never officially proclaimed as such. ...
, pretender to the throne of France.
Nicholas was not attracted to Hélène, writing in his diary: "Mama made a few allusions to Hélène, daughter of the Comte de Paris. I myself want to go in one direction and it is evident that Mama wants me to choose the other one." Hélène also resisted this match, as she was
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
and her father refused to allow her to convert to
Russian Orthodoxy
Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most C ...
. Alexander sent emissaries to
Princess Margaret of Prussia English: Margaret Beatrice Feodora
, house = Hohenzollern
, father = Frederick III, German Emperor
, mother = Victoria, Princess Royal
, birth_date =
, birth_place = New Palace, Potsdam, Prussia, German Empire
, d ...
, sister of
German Emperor Wilhelm II, and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Nicholas declared that he would rather become a monk than marry Margaret; she in turn was unwilling to convert to the Russian Orthodox Church from being Protestant.
When his health failed in 1894, Alexander III decided to allow Nicholas to marry Alix so that he could secure the succession. Marie reluctantly permitted Nicholas to propose to Alix. Nicholas was ecstatic and immediately inquired about Alix.
Despite her love for Nicholas, Alix was initially reluctant to marry Nicholas because she did not want to renounce her Lutheran faith to join the Orthodox church. She wrote to Nicholas that “I cannot
onvert to Orthodoxyagainst my conscience" because “What happiness can come from a marriage which begins without the real blessing of God?” Nicholas was devastated, but he remained hopeful because Ella assured him that Alix was "utterly miserable" and had a "deep and pure" love for him.
[Lifelong Passion, p. 34] Nicholas begged her "not
osay 'no' directly" and declared, “Do you think there can exist any happiness in the whole world without you!”
In April 1894, Alix's brother
Ernest Louis married
Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , later Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia (25 November 1876 – 2 March 1936), was the third child and second daughter of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and of Grand Duchess M ...
. Princess Victoria was Alexander III's niece by his sister
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (russian: Мария Александровна; – 24 October 1920) was the fifth child and only surviving daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine; she wa ...
and Nicholas's first cousin, so several Russians attended the wedding, including Grand Dukes Vladimir, Sergei and Paul, Grand Duchesses Elisabeth Feodorovna and Maria Pavlovna, and Nicholas. Nicholas was determined to convince Alix to marry him. He was evidently confident in his future success: He brought Father Ioann Yanyshev, confessor to the Imperial family, to teach Alix about Russian Orthodoxy, and he brought Ekaterina Adolfovna Schneider, to teach Alix Russian.
The day after his arrival in Coburg, Nicholas proposed to Alix and tried for two hours to convince her to convert to Orthodoxy. She wept continuously but refused. Ella spoke to Alix afterwards, and she convinced Alix that she did not need to renounce Lutheranism to convert to Orthodoxy. Ella herself had not been required to abjure her Lutheran faith when she converted to Orthodoxy. The next day, Alix spoke to Wilhelm II (who hoped that a German Empress would lead to better German-Russian relations) and
Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, later Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna "Miechen" of Russia (Russian: Мари́я Па́вловна; 14 May Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._2_May.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"titl ...
(a German princess who had converted from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy to marry Nicholas's uncle
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (russian: Влади́мир Александрович; 22 April 1847 – 17 February 1909) was a son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia, a brother of Emperor Alexander III of Russia and the senior Gra ...
). She accepted Nicholas's second proposal.
![Engagement official picture of Alexandra and Nicholas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Engagement_official_picture_of_Alexandra_and_Nicholas.jpg)
Following the engagement, Alix returned to England and her grandmother. In June, Nicholas travelled to England to visit her and attend the christening of the eldest son of
Prince George, Duke of York
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
. Alix and Nicholas were both named as godparents of the boy, who reigned briefly as
Edward VIII
Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...
of Great Britain in 1936. Alix wrote to her old governess that "I am more happy than words can express. At last, after these five sad years!" Nicholas declared that "my soul was brimming with joy and life."
In September, as Alexander III's health declined, Nicholas obtained the permission of his dying father to summon Alix to the Romanovs'
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
n palace of
Livadia. Escorted by her sister Ella from
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
to the Crimea, she traveled by ordinary passenger train. The dying tsar insisted on receiving Alix in full dress uniform and gave her his blessing.
Empress of Russia
Wedding
On 1 November 1894,
Alexander III died at the age of forty-nine. Nicholas was confirmed as Tsar Nicholas II. The next day, Alix was received into the Russian Orthodox Church as "the truly believing Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna." However, she was not required to repudiate Lutheranism. Alix wanted to take the name ''Yekaterina'', but Nicholas wanted her to take the name Alexandra so that they could be a second Nicholas and Alexandra. He was inspired by his great-grandfather
Nicholas I and his great-grandmother
Alexandra Feodorovna.
Alexandra, the
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
and
Princess of Wales
Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton).
The title was firs ...
, and Nicholas's Greek relatives accompanied the coffin of Alexander III first through Moscow and St. Petersburg. The funeral of Alexander III occurred on 19 November.
On 26 November 1894, Alexandra and Nicholas married in the
Grand Church of the Winter Palace
The Grand Church of the Winter Palace (russian: Собор Спаса Нерукотворного Образа в Зимнем дворце) in Saint Petersburg, sometimes referred to as the Winter Palace's cathedral, was consecration, consecrat ...
of
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. Court mourning could be relaxed because it was the birthday of Nicholas's mother, now
Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Many Russians considered Alexandra a bad
omen
An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient times, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages fr ...
because she arrived so soon after the death of Emperor Alexander: "She has come to us behind a coffin. She brings misfortune with her." Alexandra herself wrote to her sister: "Our wedding seemed to me, a mere continuation of the funeral liturgy for the dead Tsar, with one difference; I wore a white dress instead of a black one."
Coronation
![Lesser CoA of the empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Lesser_CoA_of_the_empress_Alexandra_Feodorovna_of_Russia.svg)
On 14 May 1896, Alexandra and Nicholas were crowned at the
Dormition Cathedral in the
Kremlin
The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty, Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of th ...
.
Five hundred thousand Russians gathered in the capital to watch the entertainment, eat the court-sponsored food, and collect the gifts in honor of their new tsar. There were rumors that there was not enough food for everyone, so the crowd rushed towards the gift tables. The police failed to maintain order, and a thousand Russians were
trampled to death at the
Khodynka Field
Khodynka Field (russian: Ходынское поле, ''Khodynskoye pole'') is a large open space in the north-west of Moscow, at the beginning of the present day Leningradsky Prospect. It takes its name from the small Khodynka River which used t ...
.
Nicholas and Alexandra were horrified by the deaths, and they decided not to attend the ball that the French ambassador, the Marquis de Montebello, hosted in their honor. Nicholas's uncles urged him to attend so as not to offend the French and give credence to the rumors that the German Alexandra was prejudiced against the French.
Sergei Witte
Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte (; ), also known as Sergius Witte, was a Russian statesman who served as the first prime minister of the Russian Empire, replacing the tsar as head of the government. Neither a liberal nor a conservative, he attract ...
commented, "We expected the party would be called off. Instead it took place as if nothing had happened and the ball was opened by Their Majesties dancing a quadrille."
[Massie, R, ''Nicholas and Alexandra'', p. 80] The British ambassador informed Queen Victoria that "the Empress appeared in great distress, her eyes reddened by tears."
The next day, Alexandra and Nicholas visited the wounded and paid for the coffins of the dead. However, many Russians took the disaster at Khodynka Meadow as an omen that Nicholas's reign would be unhappy. Others used the circumstances of the tragedy and the behaviour of the royal establishment to underscore the heartlessness of the autocracy and the contemptible shallowness of the young tsar and his "German woman".
Rejection by the Russian people
![Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia (Alix of Hesse)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Empress_Alexandra_Feodorovna_of_Russia_%28Alix_of_Hesse%29.jpg)
Alexandra was extremely unpopular among her husband's Russian subjects. Her shy and introverted nature was interpreted as arrogance and coldness, and she struggled to win friends. The Russian court judged her as “devoid of charm, wooden, cold eyes, holds herself as if she'd swallowed a yardstick."
Alexandra struggled to communicate. She spoke English and German fluently, but she struggled to speak French, the official language of the court, and she did not start to learn Russian until she became Empress. She eventually learned Russian, but she spoke haltingly with a strong accent.
Alexandra failed to understand her public role at court as the Empress. Traditionally, the Empress led the social scene and hosted numerous balls. However, Alexandra was shocked by the love affairs and gossip that characterized parties. She declared that “the heads of the young ladies of St. Petersburg are filled with nothing but thoughts of young officers,” and she crossed off the names of noblemen and noblewomen whom she deemed scandalous from the invitation lists until no one was left. Many people in St. Petersburg society dismissed Alexandra as a prude. In one of her first balls, Alexandra sent a lady-in-waiting to reprimand a young woman in a low-cut gown: "Her Majesty wants me to tell you that in Hesse-Darmstadt we don't wear our dresses this way." The unnamed woman replied, "Pray tell Her Majesty that in Russia we do wear our dresses this way.” In 1896, she launched the "Help Through Handwork" project. She wanted to create a series of workshops in which noblewomen would teach poor peasants how to sew and raise funds for needy families.
Alexandra had a difficult relationship with her mother-in-law, Marie Feodorovna. Unlike other European courts of the day, Russian protocol gave the Dowager Empress seniority in rank to the Empress. At royal balls, Marie entered on her son's arm and Alexandra followed on the arm of one of the grand dukes. Marie was so accustomed to the tradition that she was surprised when Alexandra was bitter about her junior role at court. The crown jewels were the property of the current Empress, but Marie refused to relinquish them to Alexandra. Marie begrudgingly surrendered the magnificent collection when Alexandra threatened to not wear jewels to official court events.
Alexandra was unpopular in the Imperial family. She was a fervent advocate of the "
divine right of kings
In European Christianity, the divine right of kings, divine right, or God's mandation is a political and religious doctrine of political legitimacy of a monarchy. It stems from a specific metaphysical framework in which a monarch is, before b ...
" and believed that it was unnecessary to attempt to secure the approval of the people, according to her aunt,
German Empress Frederick, who wrote to Queen Victoria that "Alix is very imperious and will always insist on having her own way; she will never yield one iota of power she will imagine she wields..."
[King, G, ''The Last Empress'', p.93] She dreaded social functions and enjoyed being alone with Nicholas, so she did not host the balls and parties that a tsarina normally would. Members of the Imperial family resented that she closed off their access to the tsar and the inner court. She disliked Nicholas's uncle,
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (russian: Влади́мир Александрович; 22 April 1847 – 17 February 1909) was a son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia, a brother of Emperor Alexander III of Russia and the senior Gr ...
. She declared that Vladimir's sons
Kirill
Kirill is a male given name, deriving from the Greek name Κύριλλος (Kyrillos) which in turn derives from Greek κύριος (kyrios) "lord". There are many variant forms of the name: Cyril, Cyrill, Kyrill, Kiryl, Kirillos, Kyryl, Kiril, Ky ...
,
Boris and
Andrei
Andrei, Andrey or Andrej (in Cyrillic script: Андрэй , Андрей or Андреј) is a form of Andreas/Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include:
*Andrei of Polotsk (–1399), Lithuanian nobleman
*A ...
were irredeemably immoral. In 1913, she refused Boris's proposal for the hand of Grand Duchess Olga. During the war, Vladimir's wife,
Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna openly criticized Alexandra.
Insecure about her modest origins as a minor German princess, Alexandra insisted on being treated with the full honors due to an Empress. In 1896, Alexandra and Nicholas went on a European tour. When Wilhelm II lent her an antique silver toilette service that had once belonged to
Queen Louise of Prussia
Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Luise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie; 10 March 1776 – 19 July 1810) was Queen of Prussia as the wife of King Frederick William III. The couple's happy, though short-lived, marriage produced nine child ...
, she was insulted and declared that only a gold service was suitable for an empress. She dressed herself "with great magnificence". At the Russian court, courtiers mocked for her "dress
ngin the heavy brocade of which she was so fond, and with diamonds scattered all over her, in defiance of good taste and common sense."
Alexandra refused to court the public because she believed that the Russian people automatically loved and revered their Emperor and Empress. When she and Nicholas were traveling to Crimea by train, hundreds of peasants wore their best clothes and waited overnight to see the Imperial couple. Nicholas went to the window and waved, but Alexandra refused to open the curtains and acknowledge the crowd. Dowager Empress Marie was furious that "
lexandrathinks the Imperial family should be 'above that sort of thing.' What does she mean? Above winning the people's affection?...And yet, how often she complains of the public indifference toward her.” Queen Victoria worried about Alexandra's unpopularity in her new country, and she advised her granddaughter: "I’ve ruled more than 50 years ... and nevertheless every day I think about what I need to do to retain and strengthen the love of my subjects ... It is your first duty to win their love and respect." Alexandra replied, "You are mistaken, my dear grandmamma; Russia is not England. Here we do not need to earn the love of the people. The Russian people revere their Tsars as divine beings ... As far as Petersburg society is concerned, that is something which one may wholly disregard."
Struggle to bear an heir
On 15 November 1895, Alexandra gave birth to her eldest child and daughter,
Olga, at the Alexander Palace. Many Russians and members of the Imperial family were disappointed in the sex of the child, but Nicholas and Alexandra were delighted with their daughter and doted on her. The birth of Olga did not change Grand Duke George's position as Nicholas's heir presumptive. The Pauline Laws implemented by Tsar Paul I forbade women from taking the Romanov throne as long as any male Romanov was alive. If Alexandra did not bear a son, Nicholas's heirs would be his brothers and uncles. However, few worried because Alexandra was only 23, so she was expected to be able to bear a son soon.
A few months after giving birth to Olga, Alexandra was pregnant again. Due to the stress of the coronation, she had a
miscarriage
Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...
. No announcement was made, because she had not publicly confirmed her pregnancy yet. However, there were unfounded and malicious rumors in St. Petersburg that Alexandra had become pregnant by a lover and aborted the baby to hide her infidelity.
On 10 June 1897, Alexandra gave birth to her second child and daughter,
Tatiana
Tatiana (or Tatianna, also romanized as Tatyana, Tatjana, Tatijana, etc.) is a female name of Sabine-Roman origin that became widespread in Eastern Europe.
Variations
* be, Тацця́на, Tatsiana
* bg, Татяна, Tatyana
* germ ...
. Nicholas was overjoyed, but the members of his family were unhappy and worried. When she woke up from the chloroform, Alexandra saw the "anxious and troubled faces" around her and "burst into loud hysterics." She cried, "My God, it is again a daughter. What will the nation say, what will the nation say?" Alexandra's inability to have a son made her even more unpopular among the Russians. Nicholas's brother George said that he was disappointed not to have a nephew to relieve him of his duties as heir: "I was already preparing to go into retirement, but it was not to be.
On 26 June 1899, Alexandra gave birth to her third child and daughter,
Maria
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
* 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
* Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
. Queen Victoria sent Alexandra a telegram when Maria was born: “I am so thankful that dear Alicky has recovered so well, but I regret the third girl for the country.” Grand Duke Konstantin fretted: "And so there's no Heir. The whole of Russia will be disappointed by this news.” Russians saw the birth of a third daughter as proof that Alexandra was bad luck. Two weeks after Maria's birth, Nicholas's brother George died and Michael became the heir presumptive to the throne. Courtiers flocked to Michael and treated him as the heir apparent, which distressed Alexandra. In October 1900, Nicholas became ill with abdominal typhus and was confined to bedrest for five weeks. The cabinet were forced to discuss what would happen if Nicholas would die. Alexandra was pregnant with Anastasia, and she insisted that she be named regent in the hope that she would bear a son. However, Nicholas's ministers refused: If Nicholas died, Michael would become tsar. If Alexandra's baby was a boy, Michael would renounce the throne in his nephew's favor. Alexandra was not satisfied, and she grew to distrust Nicholas's ministers for trying to "steal" her future son's inheritance.
On 18 June 1901, Alexandra gave birth to
Anastasia
Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the most ...
. Nicholas's sister, Grand Duchess Xenia, exclaimed, "My God! What a disappointment!… a fourth girl!" The French diplomat Maurice Paléologue reported: “The German
lexandrahas the evil eye. Thanks to her nefarious influence our Emperor is doomed to catastrophe.” The Russian peasants decided that “the Empress was not beloved in heaven or she would have borne a son."
Alexandra and Nicholas turned to the faith in hopes of having a son. Shortly after Anastasia's birth,
Grand Duchess Militza Nikolaevna introduced Alexandra to a mystic named
Philippe Nizier-Vachot. He was an unlicensed quack who claimed that he could use his magnetic powers to change the sex of a baby inside the womb. Nicholas contrived a medical diploma from the Petersburg Military Medical Academy for Philippe and made him State Councilor and military doctor. Nicholas's mother (Marie), sister (Xenia), and sister-in-law (Ella) were alarmed and warned him and Alexandra to stay away from Philippe, but the Imperial couple did not heed their advice.
In the end of 1901, Alexandra seemed to have become pregnant again, and Philippe swore that she was carrying a boy. By the summer of 1902, it was clear that the Empress was not pregnant.
Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia
Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia ( rus, Константи́н Константи́нович, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ, a=Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov.ru.vorb.oga; 22 August 1858 – 15 June 1915 ...
wrote, "From 8 August we have been waiting every day for confirmation of the Empress's pregnancy. Now we have suddenly learned that she is not pregnant, indeed that there never was any pregnancy, and that the symptoms that led to suppose it were in fact only anaemia!".
Helen Rappaport
Helen F. Rappaport (née Ware; born June 1947), is a British author and former actress. She specialises in the Victorian era and revolutionary Russia.
Early life and education
Rappaport was born Helen Ware in Bromley, grew up near the River Med ...
, “The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas & Alexandra," p. 66 In reality, Alexandra had had a
molar pregnancy
A molar pregnancy also known as a hydatidiform mole, is an abnormal form of pregnancy in which a non-viable fertilized egg implants in the uterus. A molar pregnancy is a type of gestational trophoblastic disease that used to be known as a ''hyda ...
. On 19 August 1902, she had suffered a discharge of "a spherical, fleshy mass the size of a walnut",
which Dr. Ott confirmed was a dead fertilized egg in the fourth week of gestation. To save face, the court physicians published a bulletin on 21 August claiming that Alexandra had "a straightforward miscarriage, without any complications." Humiliated, Alexandra sent Philippe to France.
In 1903, Alexandra and Nicholas decided to support the canonisation of
Seraphim of Sarov
Seraphim of Sarov (russian: Серафим Саровский; – ), born Prókhor Isídorovich Moshnín (Mashnín) ро́хор Иси́дорович Мошни́н (Машни́н) is one of the most renowned Russian saints and is venerate ...
. Before he left Russia, Philippe told them that Seraphim would grant Alexandra a son. Seraphim was a monk in the Tambov region who had supposedly performed local miracles, he had been dead for seventy years. The Metropolitan of Moscow reluctantly agreed to canonize the saint. On 19 August, Alexandra and Nicholas bathed in the Sarov Spring in which Seraphim had once bathed and prayed that the
sacred waters
Sacred waters are sacred natural sites characterized by tangible topographical land formations such as rivers, lakes, springs, reservoirs, and oceans, as opposed to holy water which is water elevated with the sacramental blessing of a cleric. T ...
would bless them with a son.
In 1904, Alexandra became pregnant. There was high anticipation for a son. As her due date drew near, a newspaper noted that “a few days will decide whether the Czarina is to be the most popular woman in Russia, or regarded by the great bulk of the people as a castaway – under the special wrath of God.” On 12 August 1904, Alexandra gave birth to
Alexei Nikolaevich in
Peterhof. Alexei's birth affirmed Nicholas and Alexandra's faith in Philippe. In her diary, Nicholas's sister Olga wrote, "I am sure it was Seraphim who brought it about." Nicholas wrote to Militza to "pass on our gratitude and joy … to Philippe."
Relationship with her children
![Family Nicholas II of Russia ca](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Family_Nicholas_II_of_Russia_ca._1914.jpg)
Alexandra had a distant relationship with Olga.
[Massie, R. ''Nicholas and Alexandra'', p. 154] She relied on Olga to keep her younger siblings in order. Her letters to Olga include frequent reminders to mind her siblings: "Remember above all to always be a good example to the little ones" and "Try to have a serious word with Tatiana and Maria about how they should conduct themselves towards God." Olga was frustrated by trying to keep her boisterous siblings in order, and she complained that her mother had no time for her. Olga preferred her father.
Alexandra was closest to her second daughter, Tatiana. Tatiana resembled Alexandra the most in terms of appearance and personality. She was described by her paternal aunt Xenia: "
atianaand her mother are like as two peas in a pod!.... so pretty." She was cautious and reserved, and she was unquestioningly devoted to Alexandra. During the family's final months, she helped her mother by pushing her about the house in a wheelchair.
Maria felt insecure about her role in the family, and Alexandra frequently assured Maria that she was as loved as her siblings: “Sweet child you must promise me never again to think that nobody loves you. How did such an extraordinary idea get into your little head? Get it quickly out again.” Maria worried that Alexandra favored Anastasia over her, and Alexandra reassured her that "I have no secrets with Anastasia."
Anastasia physically resembled Alexandra, but her boisterous, mischievous personality was very different from her mother's. She was dubbed the ''shvibzik,'' Russian for "imp." During the family's last months, Anastasia was the only one who could make the melancholy Alexandra laugh.
Alexandra doted on Alexei because he was her only son and the heir to the Russian Empire. The children's tutor
Pierre Gilliard
Pierre Gilliard (16 May 1879 – 30 May 1962) was a Swiss academic and author, best known as the French language tutor to the five children of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia from 1905 to 1918. In 1921, after the Russian Revolution of 1917, he pu ...
wrote, "Alexei was the centre of a united family, the focus of all its hopes and affections. His sisters worshipped him. He was his parents' pride and joy. When he was well, the palace was transformed. Everyone and everything in it seemed bathed in sunshine."
[Massie, R, ''Nicholas and Alexandra'', p.158] Alexandra was obsessed with trying to protect him from his disease of hemophilia. According to Gilliard, she “press
dthe little boy to her with the convulsive movement of a mother who always seems in fear of her child's life." She sat at Alexei's bedside for days as he suffered through his fatal attacks. She feared that he would injure himself in tantrums, so she spoiled him and never punished him.
Despite her fears of never bearing a son, Alexandra loved her daughters and called them her "little four-leaved clover." She wrote that "our girlies are our joy and happiness" and "the apostles of God."
Health
Alexandra's health was never robust and her frequent pregnancies, with four daughters in six years and her son three years after, drew from her energy. Her biographers, including Robert Massie, Carrolly Erickson, Greg King, and Peter Kurth, attribute the semi-invalidism of her later years to nervous exhaustion from obsessive worry over the fragile tsarevich, who suffered from hemophilia. She spent most of her time in bed or reclining on a chaise in her boudoir or on a veranda. This immobility enabled her to avoid the social occasions that she found distasteful. Alexandra regularly took a herbal medicine known as
adonis vernalis
''Adonis vernalis'', known variously as pheasant's eye, spring pheasant's eye, yellow pheasant's eye and false hellebore, is a perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It is found in dry meadows and steppes in Eurasia. Mor ...
in order to regulate her pulse. She was constantly tired, slept badly, and complained of swollen feet. She ate little, but never lost weight (except for the last year of her life). She may have suffered from
Graves disease
Graves' disease (german: Morbus Basedow), also known as toxic diffuse goiter, is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid. It frequently results in and is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism. It also often results in an enlarged thyro ...
(
hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is the condition that occurs due to excessive production of thyroid hormones by the thyroid gland. Thyrotoxicosis is the condition that occurs due to excessive thyroid hormone of any cause and therefore includes hyperthyroidism ...
), a condition resulting in high levels of the thyroid hormone, which can also result in
atrial fibrillation, poor heartbeat and lack of energy.
Haemophilia and Rasputin
![Alexandra Feodorovna with Rasputin, her children and a governess](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Alexandra_Feodorovna_with_Rasputin%2C_her_children_and_a_governess.jpg)
Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia was
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
to the throne of Russia and the only son of Nicholas and Alexandra. Shortly after his birth, the court doctors realized that he had
haemophilia
Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...
. After his umbilical cord was cut, his stomach bled for days and his blood did not clot. Nicholas wrote that Alexei lost "1/8 to 1/9 of the total quantity" of his blood in 48 hours.
[The Romanovs, p. 519] Haemophilia had entered the royal houses of Europe via the daughters of Queen Victoria, including Alexandra's mother, Princess Alice. In the early 20th century, haemophilia was fatal and the average life expectancy of haemophiliacs was age 13. Alexandra's brother,
Friedrich Friedrich may refer to:
Names
* Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich''
* Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich''
Other
* Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Year ...
, and maternal uncle
Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, (Leopold George Duncan Albert; 7 April 185328 March 1884) was the eighth child and youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Leopold was later created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, and Baron Arklow. ...
, had died young of haemophilia. Alexandra's sister
Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine
Princess Irene Luise Marie Anne of Hesse and by Rhine (11 July 1866 – 11 November 1953) was the third child and third daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. Her maternal grandparents wer ...
and first cousin
Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg
Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena of Battenberg (24 October 1887 – 15 April 1969) was Queen of Spain as the wife of King Alfonso XIII from their marriage on 31 May 1906 until 14 April 1931, when the Spanish Second Republic was proclaimed. A Hessia ...
were also carriers of the haemophilia gene, and they had haemophiliac sons.
Alexandra felt immense guilt that she had passed down the disease to her son. Shortly after Alexei's diagnosis, she wept and told the nurse, “If only you knew how fervently I’ve prayed for God to protect my son from our inherited curse." Nicholas' sister Xenia called haemophilia "the terrible disease of the English family", and members of the Imperial family blamed Alexandra for "contaminating the
Romanovs
The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to t ...
with the diseases of her own race."
Since the incurable illness threatened the sole son and heir of the emperor, the imperial family decided to keep his condition secret from the Russian people. They wanted to limit social instability because of uncertainty. At first, Alexandra turned to Russian doctors to treat Alexei. Their treatments generally failed. Burdened with the threats to her son from any fall or cut, Alexandra turned toward faith for comfort. She studied the Orthodox faith and saints, and spent hours daily praying in her private chapel for deliverance.
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus g ...
, a peasant from Siberia, appeared to have a cure for her son by praying for him and became powerful in court as a result. Over time, Alexandra grew to believe that Rasputin was the only man who could save her son's life. Rasputin was straightforward with Alexandra and told her, “Neither the Emperor nor you can do without me. If I am not there to protect you, you will lose your son... within six months.” Alexandra blinded herself to evidence of Rasputin's debauchery and the harm his presence did to Imperial prestige. The director of the national police told Alexandra that a drunk Rasputin had exposed himself at a popular Moscow restaurant and bragged that Nicholas gave him sexual access to her, but she blamed the account on malicious gossip. "Saints are always calumniated," she once wrote. "He is hated because we love him."
[Denton, C.S, ''Absolute Power'', p.577] Nicholas recognized Rasputin's faults, but he felt powerless to do anything about the man who seemingly saved his only son's life.
Pierre Gilliard
Pierre Gilliard (16 May 1879 – 30 May 1962) was a Swiss academic and author, best known as the French language tutor to the five children of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia from 1905 to 1918. In 1921, after the Russian Revolution of 1917, he pu ...
wrote, "He did not like to send Rasputin away, for if Alexei died, in the eyes of the mother, he would have been the murderer of his own son."
From the start, members of the court exchanged gossip about Rasputin. Although some of St. Petersburg's top clergy accepted him as a living prophet, others angrily denounced him as a fraud and a heretic. Made up stories from his life in Siberia were heard in St. Petersburg. For instance, he was said to conduct weddings for villagers in exchange for sleeping on the first night with the bride. He lived in St. Petersburg with his two daughters and two housekeepers, and was often visited by persons seeking his blessing, a healing, or a favour with the tsarina. Women, enchanted by the healer, also came to Rasputin for advice and individual blessings and received a private audience in his apartment, jokingly called the "Holy of Holies". Rasputin liked to preach a unique theology that one must become familiar with sin before having a chance to overcome it. No one believed that Rasputin could heal Alexei, so court officials were confused as to why Alexandra was so dependent on him.
In 1912, Alexei suffered a life-threatening
haemorrhage
Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vagi ...
in the thigh while the family was at
Spała Spała is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Inowłódz, within Tomaszów Mazowiecki County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It lies on the Pilica River, approximately west of Inowłódz, east of Tomaszów Mazowiecki, and ...
in Poland. Alexandra sat for days at his bedside, and she rarely ate or slept.
[Denton, C.S, ''Absolute Power'', p. 575] She cried helplessly when Alexei begged for death and asked her to bury him in a forest instead of the mausoleum with his Romanov ancestors. The doctors expected Alexei to die, and a priest performed his last rites. The court officials prepared an official telegram to announce the death of the Tsarevich. In desperation, Alexandra sent a telegram to Rasputin, who replied: "God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much."
To the shock of his doctors, Alexei recovered his health and survived. From 1912, Alexandra came to rely increasingly on Rasputin and to believe in his ability to ease Alexei's suffering. It looked like this reliance enhanced Rasputin's political power, but it is hard to detach gossips from the truth. His role in the court seriously undermined Romanov rule during the First World War.
Rasputin was assassinated to end his perceived interference in political matters, on 30 December 1916. Amongst the conspirators were the nobleman
Prince Felix Yusupov
Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston (russian: Князь Фе́ликс Фе́ликсович Юсу́пов, Граф Сумаро́ков-Эльстон, Knyaz' Féliks Féliksovich Yusúpov, Graf Sumarókov-El'ston; – ...
, who was married to Nicholas II's niece,
Princess Irina of Russia
Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia (russian: Ирина Александровна; – 26 February 1970) was the only daughter and eldest child of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Rus ...
, and
Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, who was once close to Nicholas and Alexandra's family.
World War I
![Bodarevsky - Zarin Alexandra Fyodorovna](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Bodarevsky_-_Zarin_Alexandra_Fyodorovna.jpg)
The outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
was a pivotal moment for Russia and Alexandra. The war pitted the Russian Empire of the Romanov dynasty against the German Empire of the
Hohenzollern dynasty
The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenbu ...
. When Alexandra learned of the Russian mobilization, she stormed into her husband's study and said: "War! And I knew nothing of it! This is the end of everything."
Alexandra's ties to Germany made her more unpopular among some societies in Russia. Her brother
Ernest Louis ruled the
Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...
, so he fought with the Germans. The German Emperor,
Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...
, was Alexandra's first cousin. Alexandra's sister,
Irene
Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace".
Irene, and related names, may refer to:
* Irene (given name)
Places
* Irene, Gauteng, South Africa
* Irene, South Dakota, United States
* Irene, Texas, United Stat ...
, was married to Wilhelm's brother,
Heinrich Heinrich may refer to:
People
* Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
*Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...
. Ironically, Alexandra was an ardent Russian patriot and disliked the German Emperor. She privately wrote that Wilhelm II "is really nothing but a clown. He has no real worth. His only virtues are his strict morals and his conjugal fidelity."
St. Petersburg's society accused her of collaboration with the Germans. In St. Petersburg, there was a rumor that Alexandra was hiding her brother Ernie in Russia. In 1916, Alexandra's lady-in-waiting wrote that she was asked "in all seriousness whether the Grand Duke of Hesse was not hidden in the cellars of the palace." Alexandra worked as a nurse to wounded soldiers, but her efforts went unappreciated. In St. Petersburg, there were rumors that Alexandra and Rasputin were carrying on nightly conversations with Wilhelm II in Berlin to negotiate a dishonorable peace.
When Nicholas travelled to the front line in 1915 to take personal command of the Army, he left Alexandra in charge as Regent in the capital Saint Petersburg. Her brother-in-law,
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich recorded, "When the Emperor went to war of course his wife governed instead of him."
[King, G, ''The Last Empress'', p.244]
It looked like Alexandra fired and appointed ministers based on Rasputin's self-serving advice, but those close to the Imperial family circle have denied this. In only sixteen months, she appointed four prime ministers, five ministers of interior, and three ministers of war.
[Robert Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, p. 348] “After the middle of 1915,” wrote Florinsky, “the fairly honorable and efficient group who formed the top of the bureaucratic pyramid degenerated into a rapidly changing succession of the appointees of Rasputin."
Polivanov Polivanov () is a Russian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Alexei Polivanov (1855–1920) Russian military general
*Mikhail Polivanov (1930–1992) Russian theoretical physicist
*Yevgeny Polivanov (1891–1938) Russian linguist, O ...
was an excellent official who was credited with revitalizing the Russian army, but Alexandra declared, "I don't like the choice of Minister of War Polivanov. Is he not our Friend's
asputin'senemy?" The general
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich disliked Rasputin, because Rasputin saw and told Alexandra that the Grand Duke was deliberately currying favor in the army and overshadowing Nicholas II so that he could claim the throne. On 16 June, Alexandra wrote to Nicholas, "I have absolutely no faith in N....
e has
E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plura ...
gone against a Man of God (Rasputin), his work can't be blessed or his advice good... Russia will not be blessed if her sovereign lets a Man of God sent to help him be persecuted, I am sure." She insisted to Nicholas that "
asputinhas your interest and Russia's at heart. It is not for nothing God sent him to us, only we must pay more attention to what He says. His words are not lightly spoken and the importance of having not only his prayers but his advice is great."
Ever a believer in autocracy, Alexandra persuaded Nicholas that he must never relinquish his absolute power as Emperor. She wrote to him: "You are master and sovereign of Russia. Almighty God set you in place, and they should all bow down before your wisdom and steadfastness."
[Carolly Erickson, Alexandra: The Last Tsarina, p.247] She advised him to "Be Peter the Great, Ivan the Terrible, Emperor Paul-- crush them all."
She criticized the Duma and declared “they want to discuss things not concerning them and bring more discontent—they must be kept away.... We are not ready for constitutional government.”
During the war, there was great concern within the imperial house about the influence empress Alexandra had upon state affairs through the Tsar, and the influence
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus g ...
was believed to have upon her, as it was considered to provoke the public and endanger the safety of the imperial throne and the survival of the monarchy.
[King, Greg, The Last Empress, Citadel Press Book, 1994. . p. 299-300] On behalf of the Imperial relatives of the Tsar, both
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and co ...
and
Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna had been selected to mediate and ask Empress Alexandra to banish Rasputin from court to protect her and the throne's reputation, the former twice, but without success. In parallel, several of the Grand Dukes had tried to intervene with the Tsar, but with no more success.
![Nicholas II with his family in Yevpatoria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Nicholas_II_with_his_family_in_Yevpatoria.jpg)
During this conflict of 1916–1917,
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna reportedly planned a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
to depose the Tsar with the help of four regiments of the Imperial guard which were to invade the Alexander Palace, force the Tsar to abdicate and replace him with his underage son under the regency of her son
Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich.
There are documents which support the fact that, in this critical situation, the empress dowager Maria Feodorovna was involved in a planned coup d'état to depose her son from the throne in order to save the monarchy.
The plan was reportedly for Maria to make a final ultimatum to the Tsar to banish Rasputin unless he wished for her to leave the capital, which would be the signal to unleash the coup.
Exactly how she planned to replace her son is unconfirmed, but two versions are available: first, that
Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich
Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia (russian: Павел Александрович; 3 October 1860 – 28 January 1919) was the sixth son and youngest child of Emperor Alexander II of Russia by his first wife, Empress Maria Alexandrov ...
would take power in her name, and that she herself would thereafter become ruling empress; the other version claims that she and Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich would replace the Tsar with his son, the heir to the throne, Maria's grandson Alexei, upon which Maria and Paul Alexandrovich would share power as regents during his minority.
Reportedly, Empress Alexandra was informed about the planned coup, and when Maria Feodorovna made the ultimatum to the Tsar, the empress convinced him to order his mother to leave the capital.
Consequently, the Dowager Empress left St. Petersburg to live in the
Mariinskyi Palace
The Mariinskyi Palace ( uk, Маріїнський палац, ''Mariinskyi palats'') is the official ceremonial residence of the President of Ukraine. The Elizabethan baroque palace is sited on the right bank of the Dnipro River in Kyiv, Ukra ...
in
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
the same year. She never again returned to Russia's capital.
Revolution (1917)
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
put what proved to be an unbearable burden on Imperial Russia's government and economy, both of which were dangerously weak. Mass shortages and hunger became the daily situation for tens of millions of Russians due to the disruptions of the
war economy
A war economy or wartime economy is the set of contingencies undertaken by a modern state to mobilize its economy for war production. Philippe Le Billon describes a war economy as a "system of producing, mobilizing and allocating resources t ...
. Fifteen million men were diverted from agricultural production to fight in the war, and the transportation infrastructure (primarily railroads) was diverted towards war use, exacerbating food shortages in the cities as available agricultural products could not be brought to urban areas. Inflation was rampant. This, combined with the food shortages and the poor performance by the Russian military in the war, generated a great deal of anger and unrest among the people in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and other cities.
The decision of the tsar to take personal command of the military was disastrous, as he was directly blamed for all losses. His relocation to the front, leaving the Empress in charge of the government, helped undermine the Romanov dynasty. The poor performance of the military led to rumours believed by the people that the German-born Empress was part of a conspiracy to help Germany win the war. Moreover, within several months of taking personal command of the army, the tsar replaced several capable ministers with less able men at the Empress's and Rasputin's behest; most notable among these replacements was replacing
N. B. Shcherbatov with
Alexei Khvostov
Aleksey Nikolayevich Khvostov () (1 July 1872 – 23 August 1918) was a right-wing Russian politician and the leader of the Russian Assembly. He was a governor, a Privy Councillor (Russia), a chamberlain, a member of the Black Hundreds, and ant ...
as minister of the interior. The severe winter of 1916–17 essentially doomed Imperial Russia. Food shortages worsened and
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...
gripped the cities. The mismanagement and failures of the war turned the soldiers against the tsar. By 1917, the tsar realized that Russia could not fight the war much longer, and as railroads carried troops to the front there was little capacity left to bring food to the cities.
By March 1917, conditions had worsened even more. Steelworkers went out on strike on 7 March, and the following day, crowds hungry for bread began rioting on the streets of Saint Petersburg to protest food shortages and the war. After two days of rioting, the tsar ordered the Army to restore order and on 11 March they fired on the crowd. That very same day, the
Duma
A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions.
The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...
, the elected legislature, urged the tsar to take action to ameliorate the concerns of the people. The tsar responded by dissolving the Duma.
On 12 March soldiers sent to suppress the rioting crowds mutinied and joined the rebellion, thus providing the spark to ignite the February Revolution (like the later October Revolution of November 1917, the Russian Revolutions of 1917 get their names due to the Old Style calendar). Soldiers and workers set up the "
Petrograd Soviet
The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (russian: Петроградский совет рабочих и солдатских депутатов, ''Petrogradskiy soviet rabochikh i soldatskikh deputatov'') was a city council of P ...
" of 2,500 elected deputies while the Duma declared a Provisional Government on 13 March.
Alexander Kerensky
Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, ; Reforms of Russian orthography, original spelling: ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months ...
was a key player in the new regime. The Duma informed the tsar that day that he must abdicate.
In an effort to put an end to the uprising in the capital, Nicholas tried to get to Saint Petersburg by train from army headquarters at Mogiliev. The route was blocked so he tried another way. His train was stopped at Pskov where, after receiving advice from his generals, he first
abdicated the throne for himself and later, on seeking medical advice, for himself and his son the
Tsarevich Alexei
Grand Duke Alexei Petrovich of Russia (28 February 1690 – 26 June 1718) was a Russian Tsarevich. He was born in Moscow, the son of Tsar Peter I and his first wife, Eudoxia Lopukhina. Alexei despised his father and repeatedly thwarted Peter's p ...
.
Alexandra was now in a perilous position as the wife of the deposed tsar, hated by the Russian people. There were attempts made by the mutinous
Tsarskoe Selo
Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the c ...
garrison to storm the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo, but the palace was successfully defended by the palace guards.
[King, Greg, The Last Empress, Citadel Press Book, 1994. . p 330-335] The Palace guards and other troops gradually left for the capital after being informed about the abdication, and Alexandra asked the Duma to put in place security measures for her and her household in view of the riots and violence in the nearby capital.
[Buxhoeveden, Sophie (1928). The Life and Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of Russia. London: Longmans & Co. OCLC 557701559] On 18 March
Mikhail Rodzianko
Mikhail Vladimirovich Rodzianko (russian: Михаи́л Влади́мирович Родзя́нко; uk, Михайло Володимирович Родзянко; 21 February 1859, Yekaterinoslav Governorate – 24 January 1924, Beod ...
sent the newly appointed Minister of War,
Alexander Guchkov
Alexander Ivanovich Guchkov (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Гучко́в) (14 October 1862 – 14 February 1936) was a Russian politician, Chairman of the Third Duma and Minister of War in the Russian Provisional Government. ...
, and
General Kornilov to Alexandra to inspect the security of the Palace, which resulted in an officer being appointed to maintain the security of the Palace as well as a channel of communication between the Palace and the Duma.
After this, Alexandra noticed that the guards defending the palace gradually come to wear handkerchiefs around their wrists, signalling that they supported the
Duma
A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions.
The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...
, which also meant that she and her children, while being defended from immediate harm, were nevertheless under
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
house arrest from that moment on.
Alexandra and her children and household were not molested in any way, and the household was left to continue its everyday life as before, with the exception of occasional power cuts.
[King, Greg, The Last Empress, Citadel Press Book, 1994. .] On 21 March, Kornilov informed Alexandra that she was formally under house arrest, and the members of the household were informed that they were free to leave if they wished, but if they chose to stay, they would have to obey the same rules as pertained to the house arrest of Alexandra.
The following day, on 22 March, Nicholas finally was allowed to return to the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo where he was placed under arrest with his family. Alexandra told him that "the husband and father was of more value in her eyes than the Emperor whose throne she had shared."
Imprisonment (1917–1918)
![Empress Alexandra with Olga and Tatiana, last photo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Empress_Alexandra_with_Olga_and_Tatiana%2C_last_photo.jpg)
The
Provisional Government
A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...
formed after the revolution kept Nicholas, Alexandra, and their children confined under
house arrest
In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
in their home, the
Alexander Palace
The Alexander Palace (russian: Александровский дворец, ''Alexandrovskiy dvorets'') is a former imperial residence near the town of Tsarskoye Selo in Russia, on a plateau about south of Saint Petersburg. The Palace was c ...
at
Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the cen ...
. They were visited by
Kerensky from the government, who interviewed Alexandra regarding her involvement in state affairs and Rasputin's involvement in them through his influence over her.
[King, Greg, The Last Empress, Citadel Press Book, 1994. . p 344-345] She answered that as she and her spouse kept no secrets from each other, they often discussed politics and she naturally gave him advice to support him; as for Rasputin, he had been a true holy man of God, and his advice had been only in the interest of the good of Russia and the imperial family.
After the interview, Kerensky told the tsar that he believed that Alexandra had told him the truth and was not lying.
The Provisional Government did not wish to keep the family in Russia, particularly as both the family as well as the Provincial Government were under threat from the Bolsheviks; they trusted that the former tsar and his family would be received in Great Britain, and ensured that inquiries were being made.
Despite the fact he was a first cousin of both Nicholas and Alexandra,
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
Born duri ...
refused to allow them and their family permission to evacuate to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, as he was alarmed by their unpopularity in his country and the potential repercussions to his own throne. After this, it was suggested they be moved to France. However, although the French government was never asked, British diplomats in France reported that the family was not likely to be welcome there, as anti-German feelings were strong in France during the war and Alexandra was widely unpopular because she was believed to be a sympathizer of Germany.
The Provisional Government was reportedly very disappointed that no foreign state seemed to be willing to receive the family, and was forced to act and relocate them within Russia, as the security situation was becoming more and more difficult.
In August 1917, the family were moved to
Tobolsk
Tobolsk (russian: Тобо́льск) is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. Founded in 1590, Tobolsk is the second-oldest Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains in Asian Russia, and i ...
in
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
, a step by the
Kerensky government designed to remove them from the capital and possible harm.
Nicholas and Alexandra had themselves suggested to be moved to the
Livadia Palace
Livadia Palace (russian: Ливадийский дворец, uk, Лівадійський палац) is a former summer retreat of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, and his family in Livadiya, Crimea. The Yalta Conference was held there i ...
in the Crimea, but Kerensky deemed this to be too dangerous: to get to the Crimea, they would have to travel through Central Russia, an area which was at that time affected by widespread revolutionary violence and riots where the upper classes and aristocracy was attacked by the public and their mansions burned.
Tobolsk in Siberia was, in contrast to Central and Southern Russia, a calm and peaceful place with greater security and more sympathy for the former tsar.
There were indications that the Provisional Government were actually attempting to transport them out of Russia by the
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...
, thus fulfilling the government's wish to have them expelled, but now via a different route, after the first attempt to exile them to Europe had failed.
However, this plan was not revealed to the family, and if it had indeed been the intent of the government, it had to be cancelled because of a strong Bolshevik presence in Ekaterinburg and other cities along the Trans-Siberian Railway east of Tobolsk, and the family therefore continued to their official destination.
From Tobolsk, Alexandra managed to send a letter to her sister-in-law,
Xenia Alexandrovna, in
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
:
Alexandra and her family remained in Tobolsk until after the
Bolshevik Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was ...
in November 1917. The fall of the Provisional Government and the Bolshevik's accession to power greatly worsened their position.
In 1918, they were subsequently moved to Bolshevik controlled
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
. Nicholas, Alexandra and their daughter Maria arrived at the
Ipatiev House
Ipatiev House (russian: Дом Ипатьева) was a merchant's house in Yekaterinburg (later renamed Sverdlovsk in 1924, renamed back to Yekaterinburg in 1991) where the former Emperor Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918, reigned 1894–1917), h ...
on 30 April 1918. On entering their new prison, they were ordered to open all their luggage. Alexandra immediately objected. Nicholas tried to come to her defence saying, "So far we have had polite treatment and men who were gentlemen but now -"
[King, G, ''The Last Empress'', p.344] The former Tsar was quickly cut off. The guards informed him he was no longer at Tsarskoe Selo and that refusal to comply with their request would result in his removal from the rest of his family; a second offence would be rewarded with hard labour. Fearing for her husband's safety, Alexandra quickly gave in and allowed the search. On the window frame of what was to be her last bedroom in the Ipatiev House, Alexandra scrawled a
swastika
The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...
, her favourite good luck symbol, and pencilled the date 17/30 April 1918.
In May, the rest of the family arrived in Yekaterinburg. They had not been able to travel earlier due to the illness of Alexei. Alexandra was pleased to be reunited with her family once more.
Seventy-five men did guard duty at the Ipatiev House. Many of the men were factory workers from the local Zlokazovsky Factory and the Verkh-Isetsk Factory. The commandant of the Ipatiev House, Alexander Avadeyev was described as "a real Bolshevik". The majority of witnesses recall him as coarse, brutish and a heavy drinker. If a request for a favour on behalf of the family reached Avadeyev, he always gave the same response, "Let them go to hell!" The guards in the house often heard him refer to the deposed tsar as "Nicholas the Blood-Drinker" and to Alexandra as "The German Bitch".
For the Romanovs, life at the Ipatiev House was a nightmare of uncertainty and fear. The imperial family never knew if they would still be in the Ipatiev House from one day to the next or if they might be separated or killed. The privileges allowed to them were few. For an hour each afternoon they could exercise in the rear garden under the watchful eye of the guards. Alexei could still not walk, and his sailor Nagorny had to carry him. Alexandra rarely joined her family in these daily activities. Instead she spent most of her time sitting in a wheelchair, reading the Bible or the works of St. Seraphim. At night the Romanovs played cards or read; they received little mail from the outside world, and the only newspapers they were allowed were outdated editions.
Dmitri Volkogonov and other Soviet historians believe that indirect evidence indicates that
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
personally ordered the execution of the Imperial Family, although official Soviet accounts place the responsibility for the decision with the Ural Regional Soviet.
Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
, in his diary, makes it quite clear that the execution took place on the authority of Lenin. Trotsky wrote:
On 4 July 1918,
Yakov Yurovsky
Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky (; Unless otherwise noted, all dates used in this article are of the Gregorian Calendar, as opposed to the Julian Calendar which was used in Russia prior to . – 2 August 1938) was a Russian Old Bolshevik, re ...
, the chief of the Ekaterinburg Cheka, was appointed commandant of the Ipatiev House. Yurovsky was a loyal Bolshevik, a man Moscow could rely on to carry out its orders regarding the imperial family. Yurovsky quickly tightened security. From the imperial family he collected all of their jewellery and valuables. These he placed in a box which he sealed and left with the prisoners. Alexandra kept only two bracelets which her uncle
Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, (Leopold George Duncan Albert; 7 April 185328 March 1884) was the eighth child and youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Leopold was later created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, and Baron Arklow. ...
, had given her as a child and which she could not take off. He did not know that the former tsarina and her daughters wore concealed on their person diamonds, emeralds, rubies and ropes of pearls. These would be discovered only after the executions. Yurovsky had been given the order for the execution on 13 July.
On Sunday, 14 July 1918, two priests came to the Ipatiev House to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. One of the priests, Father Storozhev later recalled:
Execution
Tuesday, 16 July 1918 passed normally for the former imperial family. At four o'clock in the afternoon, Nicholas and his daughters took their usual walk in the small garden. Early in the evening Yurovsky sent away the fifteen-year-old kitchen boy Leonid Sedinev, saying that his uncle wished to see him. At 7 p.m., Yurovsky summoned all the Cheka men into his room and ordered them to collect all the revolvers from the outside guards. With twelve heavy military revolvers lying before him on the table he said, "Tonight, we shoot the entire family, everybody." Upstairs Nicholas and Alexandra passed the evening playing
bezique
Bezique () or Bésigue () is a 19th-century French melding and trick-taking card game for two players that came to Britain and is still played today. The game is derived from Piquet,''Transactions of the Philological Society'', Philological Socie ...
; at ten thirty, they went to bed.
The former tsar, tsarina, and all of their family, including the gravely ill Alexei, along with several family servants, were executed by firing squad and bayonets in the basement of the Ipatiev House, where they had been imprisoned, early in the morning of 17 July 1918, by a detachment of
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
s led by
Yakov Yurovsky
Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky (; Unless otherwise noted, all dates used in this article are of the Gregorian Calendar, as opposed to the Julian Calendar which was used in Russia prior to . – 2 August 1938) was a Russian Old Bolshevik, re ...
. In the basement room of the Ipatiev House, Alexandra complained that there were no chairs for them to sit on, whereupon Nicholas asked for and received three chairs from the guards. Minutes later, at about 2:15 a.m., a squad of soldiers, each armed with a revolver, entered the room. Their leader Yurovsky ordered the entire party to stand; Alexandra complied "with a flash of anger", and Yurovsky then casually pronounced, "Your relations have tried to save you. They have failed and we must now shoot you." Nicholas rose from his chair and only had time to utter "What...?" before he was shot several times, not (as is usually said) in the head, but in the chest; his skull bears no bullet wounds, but his ribs were shattered by at least three fatal bullet wounds. Standing about six feet from the gunmen and facing them, Alexandra watched the execution of her husband and two manservants before military commissar
Peter Ermakov
Pyotr Zakharovich Ermakov (; – 22 May 1952) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary, notable as one of several men responsible for the execution of the Romanov family, including the deposed Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, their children, and t ...
took aim at her. She instinctively turned away from him and began to make the sign of the cross, but before she could finish the gesture, Ermakov killed her with a single gunshot which, as she had partly turned away, entered her head just above the left ear and exited at the same spot above her right ear. After all the victims had been shot, Ermakov in a drunken haze stabbed Alexandra's body and that of her husband, shattering both their rib cages and chipping some of Alexandra's vertebrae.
Identification of remains
![Yekaterinburg cathedral on the blood 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Yekaterinburg_cathedral_on_the_blood_2007.jpg)
After the execution of the Romanov family in the Ipatiev House, Alexandra's body, along with those of Nicholas, their children and some faithful retainers who died with them, was stripped and the clothing burnt according to the Yurovsky Note, a secret report by Yurovsky, which came to light in the late 1970s, but did not become public knowledge until the 1990s. Initially, the bodies were thrown down a disused mine-shaft at
Ganina Yama
Ganina Yama (Russian: Га́нина Я́ма, "Ganya’s Pit") was a deep pit in the Four Brothers mine near the village of Koptyaki, 15 km (10 miles) north from Yekaterinburg. In the pre-dawn hours of 17 July 1918, after the execution of ...
,
12 miles (19 km) north of Yekaterinburg. A short time later, the bodies were retrieved. Their faces were smashed and the bodies, dismembered and disfigured with
sulphuric acid
Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...
, were hurriedly buried under railway sleepers with the exception of two of the children whose bodies were not discovered until 2007. The Yurovsky Note helped the authorities to locate the bodies. The missing bodies were those of a daughter—Maria or Anastasia—and Alexei. In the early 1990s, following the fall of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, the bodies of the majority of the Romanovs were located along with their loyal servants, exhumed and formally identified. Preliminary results of genetic analysis carried out on the remains of a boy and a young woman believed to belong to Nicholas II's son and heir Alexei, and daughter Anastasia or Maria were revealed on 22 January 2008.
[YEKATERINBURG, 22 January 2008 (RIA Novosti)] The Ekaterinburg region's chief forensic expert said, "Tests conducted in Yekaterinburg and Moscow allowed DNA to be extracted from the bones, which proved positive," Nikolai Nevolin said. "Once the genetic analysis has been completed in Russia, its results will be compared with test results from foreign experts."
Nevolin said the final results would be published in April or May 2008.
Certainty about the remains definitively put an end to the claim that
Anna Anderson
Anna Anderson (born Franziska Schanzkowska, 16 December 1896 – 12 February 1984) was an impostor who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia. Anastasia, the youngest daughter of the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia, Nicholas II an ...
could be connected with the Romanovs, as all remaining bodies would be accounted for.
DNA analysis represented a key means of identifying the bodies. A blood sample from
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...
(a grandson of Alexandra's oldest sister,
Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine
Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (Victoria Alberta Elizabeth Mathilde Marie; 5 April 1863 – 24 September 1950), later Victoria Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven, was the eldest daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by R ...
) was employed to identify Alexandra and her daughters through their
mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...
. They belonged to
Haplogroup H (mtDNA)
Haplogroup H is a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup. The clade is believed to have originated in Southwest Asia, near present day Syria, around 20,000 to 25,000 years ago. Mitochondrial haplogroup H is today predominantly found in Euro ...
. Nicholas was identified using DNA obtained from, among others, his late brother
Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia ( 1871 – 1899) was the third son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria of Russia.
Childhood
George was named after his uncle, King George I of Greece. He was brought up in a spartan fashion wi ...
. Grand Duke George had died of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
in the late 1890s and was buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St Petersburg.
Burial
Alexandra,
Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...
and three daughters plus the servants who were killed with them were reinterred in the St. Catherine Chapel of the
Peter and Paul Cathedral at the Fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in 1998, with much ceremony, on the eightieth anniversary of the execution.
Sainthood
In 1981, Alexandra and her immediate family were recognised as
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
s by the
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (russian: Ру́сская Правосла́вная Це́рковь Заграни́цей, lit=Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, translit=Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov' Zagranitsey), also called Ru ...
. In 2000, Alexandra was
canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...
as a
saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
and
passion bearer
In Eastern Christianity, a passion bearer ( rus, страстотéрпец, r=strastoterpets, p=strəstɐˈtʲɛrpʲɪts) is one of the various customary titles for saints used in commemoration at divine services when honouring their feast on ...
by the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
, together with her husband Nicholas II, their children and others including her sister
Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna and the Grand Duchess's fellow nun
Varvara.
In popular culture
* The best-selling 1895 American novel ''
The Princess Aline'' by
Richard Harding Davis
Richard Harding Davis (April 18, 1864 – April 11, 1916) was an American journalist and writer of fiction and drama, known foremost as the first American war correspondent to cover the Spanish–American War, the Second Boer War, and the First ...
was based on his infatuation with Alexandra.
[Downey, Fairfax]
Richard Harding Davis and His Day
pp. 1, 146-47 (1933)
* ''
Rasputin and the Empress
''Rasputin and the Empress'' is a 1932 American pre-Code film directed by Richard Boleslawski and written by Charles MacArthur. Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), the film is set in Imperial Russia and stars the Barrymore siblings (John, as ...
'' (1932), a fictionalized film less famous than the lawsuit it spawned. Alexandra was portrayed by
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...
.
* The highly fictionalized 1966 film ''
Rasputin, the Mad Monk
''Rasputin the Mad Monk'' is a 1966 Hammer horror film directed by Don Sharp and starring Christopher Lee as Grigori Rasputin, the Russian peasant- mystic who gained great influence with the Tsars prior to the Russian Revolution. It also ...
'', in which
Renée Asherson
Dorothy Renée Ascherson (19 May 1915 – 30 October 2014), known professionally as Renée Asherson, was an English actress. Much of her theatrical career was spent in Shakespearean plays, appearing at such venues as the Old Vic, the Liverpoo ...
portrayed the Empress.
* A rather romanticised version of Alexandra's life was dramatized in the 1971 movie ''
Nicholas and Alexandra
''Nicholas and Alexandra'' is a 1971 British epic film, epic historical drama film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, from a screenplay written by James Goldman and Edward Bond, based on Robert K. Massie's 1967 Nicholas and Alexandra (book), boo ...
'', based on the book by the same title written by
Robert Massie, in which the tsaritsa/Empress was played by
Janet Suzman
Dame Janet Suzman, (born 9 February 1939) is a South African-born British actress who enjoyed a successful early career in the Royal Shakespeare Company, later replaying many Shakespearean roles, among others, on TV. In her first film, ''Nicho ...
.
* The song "
Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus ga ...
" is a 1978 Euro-disco hit single by the Germany-based group
Boney M
Boney M. was a German- Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group' ...
. It tells of Alexandra's alleged affair with Rasputin.
* 1974's ''
Fall of Eagles
''Fall of Eagles'' is a 13-part British television drama aired by the BBC in 1974. The series was created by John Elliot and produced by Stuart Burge. The series portrays historical events from 1848 to 1918, dealing with the ruling dynasties of ...
'', a BBC series dramatizing the demise of the
ruling families of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Alexandra, portrayed by American actress
Gayle Hunnicutt
Gayle Jenkins, Lady Jenkins (''née'' Hunnicutt; born February 6, 1943) is an American retired film, television and stage actress. She has made more than 30 film appearances.
Early life and education
The daughter of Colonel Sam Lloyd Hunnicut ...
, is a prominent character in the series.
* ''
Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny'' is a 1996
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
TV film
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
for which
Greta Scacchi
Greta Scacchi, OMRI (; born 18 February 1960) is an Italian-Australian actress. She holds dual Italian and Australian citizenship. She is best known for her roles in the films '' White Mischief'' (1987), '' Presumed Innocent'' (1990), '' The Pl ...
won an
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for her portrayal of Empress Alexandra.
* ''Rasputin: The Mad Monk'' (1997), a biographical documentary.
* ''
Anastasia
Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the most ...
'' (1997), an American animated musical fantasy drama film produced by Fox Animation Studios, where Empress Alexandra appears in flashbacks.
* ''
The Romanovs: An Imperial Family'' (2000), a Russian film that explores the last year of the Imperial family after Nicholas's abdication, the house arrest of the family and eventual execution.
Lynda Bellingham
Lynda Bellingham, OBE ( ; 31 May 194819 October 2014) was an English actress, broadcaster and author. She acted in television series such as '' All Creatures Great and Small'', ''Doctor Who'', '' Second Thoughts'' and '' Faith in the Future''. Sh ...
plays Empress Alexandra.
* ''
The Lost Prince
''The Lost Prince'' is a British television drama about the life of Prince John – youngest child of Britain's King George V and Queen Mary – who died at the age of 13 in 1919.
A Talkback Thames production written and directed by Stephen ...
'', a BBC mini-series made in 2003 about
Prince John of the United Kingdom
Prince John (John Charles Francis; 12 July 1905 – 18 January 1919) was the fifth son and youngest of the six children of King George V and Queen Mary. At the time of his birth, his father was heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the Uni ...
, the youngest son of King George V, in which Alexandra is played by Lithuanian actress
Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė
Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė (russian: Ингеборга Дапкунайте; born 20 January 1963) is а Lithuanian theatre and cinema actress, who appears mostly in Russian films. She is a winner of the Nika Award in 1994 for Best Actress.
Early ...
.
* The episode ''Love and Revolution'' devoted to the fall of the Romanov dynasty is featured in the Danish television ''A Royal Family'', a series about the descendants of King Christian IX of Denmark.
* Alexandra Feodorovna is a main character in the stage play ''Ekaterinburg'' by David Logan.
* The 2019
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
docudrama
Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event".
Docudramas typic ...
''The Last Czars'' explores the reign, and eventual demise, of Tsar Nicholas II. Alexandra was portrayed by Susanna Herbert.
* The execution of the Romanov family is depicted in Season 5, Episode 6 of
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
docudrama
Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event".
Docudramas typic ...
''
The Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
'', which is titled "Ipatiev House."
Honours
National decorations
* : Dame of the
Order of the Golden Lion, ''28 March 1888''
* : Dame Grand Cross of the
Order of St. Catherine, ''April 1894''
Foreign decorations
* : Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion
[Justus Perthes, ''Almanach de Gotha'' (1913]
p. 80
/ref>
* : Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown
The is a Japanese order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. Since the Order of the Rising Sun at that time was an Order for men, it was established as an Order for women. Originally the order had five classes, but on Ap ...
, ''7 March 1896''
* : Dame of the Order of Queen Saint Isabel, ''9 April 1896''
* : Dame of the Order of Louise
The Order of Louise (German: ''Luisen-Orden'') was founded on 3 August 1814 by Frederick William III of Prussia to honor his late wife, the much beloved Queen Louise (''née Luise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie, Herzogin zu Mecklenburg-Strelitz''). T ...
, 1st Division, ''5 September 1896''
* : Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of Charity, ''1 July 1902''
* : Dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa
The Royal Order of Noble Ladies of Queen Maria Luisa is an Order created by King Charles IV of Spain by royal decree on April 21, 1792, at the request of his wife, Queen Maria Luisa, to reward noble women who distinguished themselves for their ...
, ''23 April 1896''
* :
** Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee Medal
The Golden Jubilee Medal was instituted in 1887 by Royal Warrant as a British decoration to be awarded to participants of Queen Victoria's golden jubilee celebrations.
Issue
The medal was struck to celebrate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee, the ...
, ''1887''
** Royal Order of Victoria and Albert
The Royal Order of Victoria and Albert is a British Royal Family Order instituted on 10 February 1862 by Queen Victoria, and enlarged on 10 October 1864, 15 November 1865, and 15 March 1880. No award has been made since the death of Queen V ...
, 1st Class, ''1896''
* Persian Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
: Order of the Sun, 1st Class, ''1900''
Archives
Alexandra Feodorovna's letters to Anna Vyrubova and Lili Dehn, written in the years 1916–1918, are preserved in the "Romanov collection" in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut, USA).
Ancestry
References
Citations
General sources
* Denton, C. S., ''Absolute Power'', London: Arcturus Publishing, 2006.
* Finestone, Jeffrey, ''The Last Courts of Europe'', London: J M Dent & Sons, 1981.
* Hall, Coryne, ''Little Mother of Russia'', Holmes & Meier Publishers, 2001.
* Hall, Coryne & Van Der Kiste, John, ''Once a Grand Duchess Xenia, Sister of Nicholas II'', Phoenix Mill: Sutton Publishing, 2002.
* King, Greg, ''The Last Empress'', Citadel Press Book, 1994. .
* King, Greg ''The Court of the Last Tsar'', John Wiley & Sons, 2006. .
* Kurth, Peter, ''Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra'', Allen & Unwin, 1995.
* Lyons, Marvin, ''Nicholas II: The Last Tsar'', London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1974.
* Massie, Robert, ''Nicholas and Alexandra'', London: Pan Books, 1967
online free to borrow
* Massie, Robert, ''The Romanovs: The Final Chapter'', New York: Ballantine Books, 1995.
* Tames, Richard, ''Last of the Tsars'', London: Pan Books, 1972.
* Vorres, Ian, ''The Last Grand Duchess'', London: Finedawn Publishers, 1985 (3rd edition)
External links
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* ttps://tsarnicholas.org/2020/07/20/judge-not-lest-ye-be-judged-in-defence-of-empress-alexandra-feodorovna/amp/ Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged' – in Defence of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna"by Paul Gilbert Paul Gilbert (Covers in part the tsarina's health)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexandra of Hesse
1872 births
1918 deaths
19th-century people from the Russian Empire
20th-century Russian people
19th-century women from the Russian Empire
20th-century Russian women
20th-century Christian saints
Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church
Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Lutheranism
Duchesses of Holstein-Gottorp
Russian grand duchesses by marriage
German princesses
House of Hesse-Darmstadt
House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
Ladies of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert
Russian empresses consorts
Russian people of German descent
Russian people of English descent
Executed royalty
Executed German women
Executed Russian women
20th-century executions by Russia
Eastern Orthodox people executed by the Soviet Union
Murdered Russian royalty
Passion bearers
Victims of Red Terror in Soviet Russia
Burials at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Saint Petersburg
Nicholas II of Russia
Nobility from Darmstadt
Executed people from Hesse
Dames of the Order of Saint Isabel
Christian female saints of the Late Modern era
Eastern Orthodox royal saints
Grand Cordons of the Order of the Precious Crown
Royal reburials
Nurses from the Russian Empire
People executed by Russia by firing squad