1. Russia Before Revolution

2. Russian Royalty
For 300 years – Russian Tzars ruled with absolute power
House of Romanov the last dynasty (1613- March 15, 1917)
1917 – House Romanov had 65 members – 47 went into exile … and the other 18?

3. Russian Royalty
1894 Nicholas II and his wife Alexandria came to the throne
Income of $12 million – incredible sum for then!!
15, 000 servants

4. Nicholas II – Last Tsar of Russia
Cousin to George V (England) and Kaiser Wilhelm II (Germany)
Grandmother Queen Victoria – more on that soon….

5. Nicholas II – Last Tsar of Russia
Nicholas and Alexandra lived in a rapidly changing time
Industry of the early 1900 was increasing rapidly
Factories growing and people moving into towns for work
Many factories owned by foreigners – Russians not happy

6. Nicholas II – Last Tsar of Russia
1905 Revolution – forced Nicholas to create a Parliament (Duma)
He wasn’t happy he didn’t have absolute control so shut it down
But peasants were now able to access ownership of land a little easier than before

7. Russia and WW1
Russia having internal issues before war broke out – strikes over wages and working conditions
1914 War breaks out – Russia backs Serbia
Initial success, then lots of casualties

8. Russia and WW1 Russian soldiers hungry and have a lack of equipment
Shortage of food led to inflation by 700%
Industry output fell by 50% as the workers went to war
Peasants brought in, but didn’t have the skills

9. Russia and WW1
Nicholas II made himself “Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces” in 1915
Now responsible for all the defeats
Becoming very unpopular … but also for another reason

10. Rasputin
a.k.a. Grigory Efimovich Rasputin

11. Rasputin and the Royal Family
Queen Victoria was a carrier of disease – Haemophilia
She passed this down to her children, grandchildren, etc
Does not present itself always – can lay dormant
Nicholas II ‘s son, Alexei was a haemophiliac

12. Rasputin and the Royal Family
Tzarina Alexandria would do ANYTHING for her son – he was the only male, and the next in line for the throne
After a series of treatments that were not working, she was desperate
Rasputin was a monk that claimed he could help Alexei

13. Rasputin and the Royal Family
Rasputin held considerable sway over Alexandria
People thought it was really he who was running the country
He was a sexual deviant, mystic healer, political saboteur and renegade monk

14. Rasputin and the Royal Family
After one treatment for her son’s haemophilia by Rasputin, the bleeding seems to have stopped for awhile
Alexandra convinced he was the answer
Bleeding probably stopped because Rasputin stopped allowing Royal doctors to give aspirin

15. Rasputin and the Royal Family
Sexual Deviant title
He may be a monk, but he frequented the brothels
Stories of him being Alexandria’s lover
Most likely over exaggerated

16. Rasputin and the Royal Family
Political Sabateur title
Nicholas II was off fighting in the war, Alexandra technically in charge
Rasputin did have some power as an advisor to Alexandria

17. Rasputin and the Royal Family
Death – Impossible to kill?
People were getting angry at his considerable influence
Beggar woman stabbed him in the stomach once – bled A LOT, no death

18. Rasputin and the Royal Family
December 30, 1916 – plot to assassinate:
Invited to dine – heavy meal with wine, laced with poison – no death
Barraded with bullets – no death
Thrown out a window – no death
Thrown into an icy-river – finally death
Autopsy showed no poison, death by single gunshot to head

19. End of the Romanovs March 15, 1917 Nicholas II abdicates
First of two revolutions forced the abdication (talk about that tomorrow)
Became Nikolai Alexandrovich – no more Romanov title

21. End of the Romanovs
1918 – family awoken from their beds – taken to basement
told they were being moved somewhere safe
Just have to take a photo to prove they didn’t escape – arranged in two rows for “photo”
Firing squad comes in – told condemned to death
Nicholas shot first several times - chaos

22. End of the Romanovs
Princesses survive initially – had diamonds and jewels sewn into clothing – bayonetted
Bodies taken to forest, stripped of clothing and valuables, acid and burn
Bodies moved later
Today – still unclear who ordered their deaths

23. Intrigues
1979 – Bodies discovered – though not publically admitted until 1991
Tsar, Tsarina and THREE daughters exhumed and confirmed DNA
What about Alexei and Anastasia?

24. Intrigues
For YEARS – people kept calling themselves the lost princess, heiress to the Russian throne
In 2007 the grave of Alexei and the final Romanov sister was found and Russian forensic scientists confirmed their identities in April 2008