The Romsnovs: The Final Chapter

In 1917 the Russian revolution had began, this was the biggest factor in the fall of the Romanov dynasty. The white Russians arrested the tsarist and abdicated him from his throne putting Nicholas and his family on house arrest and he was no longer known as the Tsar, replacing him with a Bolshevik government. The red Russians had captured Nicholas and his family causing a civil war between the white and red Russians. In July 1918 Lenin and his red Russian squad had won the civil war, and shot Nicholas and his family, leaving Russia a communist country until the 1990’s.

He was not a natural ruler, which makes sense that he made many mistakes, which could have been avoided, that helped spark the Russian Revolution. First it was the Russo Japanese War. The war was meant to boost Russia’s morale, but they lost badly, which resulted in the death of thousands of soldiers. The people had to blame this on someone, and that person was Nicholas. The next was Bloody Sunday.

The Romanovs were a dynasty that reigned Russia for three centuries between the years of 1613 to 1917. The Romanovs had a prominent role in Russia ruling as any other would following custom however, once the last tsar took over the empire things began to take a turn for the worst. There are several factors that could take responsibility for the fall of the Romanovs which include: resistance from the people, incompetent rulers, political and economic complications that began to arise.

Assess the long-term and immediate factors that led to the fall of the Romanov Dynasty.

In 1905, the social and economic tensions building up within Russia boiled over into Revolution. It was described by Lenin as the “Great Dress Rehearsal” for the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and may give us clues as to why the 1917 revolution started. The suggestion that Tsar Nicholas II and his actions were to blame for this revolution is debatable and there are many factors such as the repressive Tsarist system, the growth of opposition from the time of Alexander II and the defeat in the war with Japan to consider. These events can be separated into short and long term effects on the revolution. Bloody Sunday and defeat to Japan would be short term effects whereas the

The fall of the Romanov Dynasty in 1914 proved that the Tsar could not handle the problems of Russia. Ironically, he would have been ideal as a constitutional monarch, but was adamant against the idea. As the First World War started Russia’s problems arises, from short-term and long-term causes. The war brought back inflation which led to “demonstrations over food shortages combined with workers’ grievances,” (Hosking, 2012, p. 91) thus this destroyed Nicholas’s image as Father of Russia. Military became ineffective as the transport system was not adequate, thus leading to food supplies decreasing in key cities such as Petrograd. Historians believe the impacts of the First World War led to Russian society becoming unstable and was ultimately the main reason of the downfall of the Tsar. However other factors, such as the Tsarina placing large amounts of trust into Rasputin who was notorious for his reputation as an alcoholic and a womanizer (Westwood, 2002, p. 215) and the role of the revolutionaries due to Lenin promising peace, land and bread, eventually leading to the growth of the Bolsheviks Party. Although, it can most rightfully be deemed that the impact of the war was the main reason for the fall of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917.

The Russian Revolution began in 1917 and lasted until late 1930’s, the revolution was very brutal with total death of 3 million people and 7 million people were arrested (Document 12). The revolution broke out when Nicholas II comes to power because Bloody Sunday leads to Duma, then he steps down and the Duma sets up a provisional government thus sparking the want for domination and the revolution kicks off (Book). By the end of the revolution Russia was definitely weakened in some aspects but strengthened as a nation. Therefore, the Russian people were better off after the Russian Revolution because they benefited from a better economy, government, and living conditions.

The Romanov dynasty began in 1613, however 1917 saw an abrupt end to the Romanov’s with the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. Demonstrations and strikes gripped the Russian people and with anti-governmental soldiers taking control, the Tsar had no alternative but to abdicate. Historians such as Michael Lynch1 and John Daborn2 state that in Russia’s great need of strength and power came a Tsar of weakness and limited outlook. However historians such as Ray Pearson believe that in aggressive opposition groups and with the help of the working class aimed to bring down the Tsardom at all costs.

About 300 people were killed, and hundreds more were wounded. As the news of "Bloody Sunday" spread, the Russian people were horrified. They responded by striking, mutinying, and fighting in peasant uprisings. The Russian Revolution of 1905 had begun” (Passage 1). He took no action when all of this was happening, but he did “after several months of chaos” (Passage 1). Czar Nicholas came up with a policy that did in fact end the Russian Revolution. He came up with the “October Manifesto,” which said that they were granted “individual right and created a Duma, or Parliament” (Passage 1). This was convincing to the Russian people and it ended the 1905 Russian Revolution. Czar Nicholas was still the absolute leader of Russia. Many people were not excited to hear this news, because he was not a great leader. He listened to the advice of his German wife that no one trusted. He also had another close companion “the

One resource used for this investigation was Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie, which describes the reign of Nicholas II. This source was published in 1967 in the United States, thus the book is a secondary source. Massie is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian whose work focuses on the Russian Romanovs. Massie’s alma mater includes Yale and Oxford University. The source is highly valuable in its extremely detailed and comprehensive research of nearly 600 pages, providing the thoughts of those in positions of power and interesting, insightful perspectives to the situation at the time. An analysis on connecting causes and effects are thorough and

Throughout the 20th century many books have been written about the fall of the Romanov Empire in Russia. It was a dynasty that had been in power for over three hundred year and ends with the last Romanov family being murdered. Tsar Nicholas and his family have been made famous through the many movies and books that tell of their tragedy. Over the past 80 years the Romanov story has become legend, like a fairy tale; but in this fairy tale one man stands out. This man, Rasputin, although he was not royalty, was close to the family and had a hand in its downfall.

Assess the role of the Bolsheviks for the decline and fall of the Romanov dynasty.

In Yekaterinburg Russia, Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed on July 17 1918, bringing an end to the three-century-old Romanov dynasty. They were murdered by Bolshevik troops led by Yakov Yurovsky , the commandant of The House of Special Purpose.

The assassination of the Romanovs was a widely spread story that including the killing of Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra and their five children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei. Which lead to historical fiction books and movies such as The kitchen boy and Anastasia to come out. Discrepancies among historical fiction destroy the integrity of historical fact because it misleads the reader into believing events that never happened. There is not any educational value in reading and writing about historical fiction. Historical fiction can be incorrect, misleading, and include unnecessary details.

Reflections on The Romanovs Simon Sebag Montefiore purposely wrote The Romanovs in a way that matched the turmoil and complexity of Russia’s history. I enjoyed the dramatic elements that Montefiore employed in his book. The addition of the pictures in the middle of the book was are also a nice touch, allowing the reader to visualize who the subjects were. Despite a few difficulties keeping up with the pace of the book and some unexplained terms and sudden Russian inserts, reading the Romanovs was mostly a pleasurable experience.