Date of birth: 18th May 1868
Date of death: 17th July 1918 (aged 50)
Location of death: Yekaterinburg, Russia
Cause of death: Murder, by the Bolsheviks
Title: Tsar (1895-1917)
Father: Alexander III
Mother: Maria Fedorovna
Wife: Alexandra Fedorovna
Children: Tatiana, Olga, Maria, Anastasia, Alexei
Personality traits: charming but timid, introverted, faithful and devoted to wife and church, enjoyed physical activities, insecure, weak-willed, indecisive, naïve, light-hearted, stubborn,
Key events of his reign: Russo-Japanese War, World War One, October Revolution, violent death.
During the revolution: He was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks at Tobolsk in 1917 after his abdication of the throne. He became desperate to escape with his family to the UK. The British government - very reluctantly - offered asylum.
If this offer had gone smoothly, I wouldn't be writing today.
Unfortunately for the Romanovs, the long-term consequences of moving to the UK would have been the removal of Britain's own monarchy. The Romanovs were disliked globally, and the Soviet Army was needed to help defeat the Germans in World War One. The British people had no desire to anger the Soviets, having had so many of their own sons, fathers, and brothers die in the battlefield.
So when the Russian government approached the British government in the early summer of 1917, the agreement was withdrawn. Instead, the Russian government took the Romanovs to Tobolsk with the intention of evacuating the family to Japan. Unfortunately for the Royals, the Bolsheviks took control in October of that year and derailed that plan completely.
The war waged on, and the Royals were kept hostage. As Russia lost more and more territory to the Germans, Nicholas focused on the dream of escaping. He firmly believed that help was on the way and that he and his family would be rescued in no time at all.
Interestingly enough, a treaty was eventually signed between Germany and Russia, and the Bolsheviks became incredibly eager to keep the relationship with Germany positive.
Not eager enough to spare the Kaiser's family, though.
No one can quite pin down exactly what happened on the night of 17th July 1918, in a basement in the secretive city of Yekaterinburg. The Chief Executioner, Yurovsky, claimed that the family was woken up at 2:00 AM, taken down to the basement and told that they were going to be moved for their own safety. Seven gunmen were waiting in the adjoining room.
Nicholas entered the basement feeling hopeful, optimistic. The Bolsheviks had claimed to care for the safety of his family – maybe they were finally being moved onto Japan! Maybe their European cousins had finally sent for them! Maybe the Pope had finally intervened!
And so, he followed orders with his beautiful wife, Alexandra, alongside him, their ill son Alexei in his arms, their daughters close behind, and the loyal and dedicated servants trailing behind them all.
Chairs were brought into the room for Alexandra and Alexei to sit on, the soldiers maintaining the compassionate charade. Once the royals were all settled, and all of the soldiers had entered the room, Yurovsky announced the crimes of the Tsar and the only suitable punishment in the eyes of the Bolsheviks: death.
Nicholas only had a split second to react. He cried out "What? What?" Looking towards his family in his last few seconds, his eyes wide, stunned.
Nicholas was the first to die.
YOU ARE READING
The Suspicious Deaths of the Romanovs
No FicciónThis work is an investigation into the brutal murders of the Russian royal family, the Romanovs. Officially, the Tsar, Tsarina, and their five children were brutally murdered, executed in the basement of their prison in the city of Yekaterinburg. Un...
