The Romanovs. The History of the Russian Dynasty - Episode 8. Documentary Film. Babich-Design

october 28 1888 20 miles south of kharkiv in eastern ukraine the imperial train was on route from crimea to saint petersburg emperor alexander iii and his family were gathered in the train's elegant dining carriage those in the forward carriages were killed instantly children could be heard crying it was unclear who was alive and who was dead the emperor struggled to his feet taking the full weight of the carriage roof on his shoulders he had one thought to save his family but how long would his strength hold by 1881 the russian empire was one of the largest states in the world and occupied one-sixth of the world's land service but despite the liberal reforms of alexander ii russia's economy was in crisis during alexander ii's reign production of cast iron rose 67 while in germany it rose 319 percent russia's foreign debt grew from 2 billion to 6 billion rubles corruption flourished like never before senior officials were being offered bribes of up to 200 000 rubles about five million dollars today russia was in a fever decades of discontent and repression had created the empire's first terrorists the radical group the people's will had declared open season on the emperor and killed him at the eighth attempt his successor inherited an empire in crisis chapter one alexander iii alexandrovich he was not expected to become emperor as the second son of alexander ii it was assumed grand duke alexander would follow a military career it was his elder brother nicholas who was zarovic and heir to the imperial throne but during a tour of europe nicholas fell seriously ill he was diagnosed with meningitis and died a few months later aged just 21. alexander spent a lot of time at his brother's bedside alongside nicholas's fiance princess dagmar of denmark they were united by grief little by little alexander fell in love with gentle minnie as her family called her when they were alone looking at some photo albums one day alexander finally found the courage to speak to her of marriage the marriage was a happy one after converting to orthodoxy minnie took the name maria fiordarovna they had four sons and two daughters and lived together happily for 28 years only alexander's death would separate them during the russian revolution maria left for denmark where she lived to an old age always refusing to believe the bolsheviks had shot her sons when alexander iii was crowned emperor in 1881 he was 36 years old and clear in his purpose it was obvious to him that his father's liberal reforms had weakened the economy and fractured society he intended to reassert russian autocracy magistrates courts and village assemblies were abolished merchants and shopkeepers were deprived of the vote strict censorship was reintroduced 15 publications were closed down for their liberal views while 300 book titles were withdrawn from libraries including anything considered critical of the tsar or his government a new university charter abolished the independence of universities introduced compulsory student uniforms and increased tuition fees five-fold the children of servants were henceforth to be excluded from the top secondary schools despite such reactionary policies this was an age of dramatic progress russia got its first oil wells and steel rolling mills there were electric lights and paved streets clean running water and flushing toilets bustle dresses bowler hats steamships the telegraph electric trams and ericsson telephones on alexander's personal initiative russia's first telephone line was laid between saint petersburg and the imperial palace at kachina ichina also became the first palace to get electricity one of comparatively few extravagances allowed by alexander iii in most respects the emperor was very frugal he halved the number of courtiers reduced the number of balls and cut spending on food and wine hunting however remained a favorite royal pastime alexander was a keen sportsman and excellent shot but most of all he loved fishing he would return from his fishing trips with perch for the empress to fry with potatoes and then they were perfectly content his other great fashion was cigars alexander was a loving and playful father one day in the garden he crept up behind his youngest son michael and soaked him with a hose a few days later while his father was smoking a cigar out of his study window michael hauled a bucket of water up the stairs and poured it on him from the floor above the emperor was six foot four barrel chested and massively strong he could bend an iron poker into a knot and roll a five kopek coin into a tube his personal habits were plain and unpretentious he got up at seven made himself coffee and drank it without sugar or cream then he took his favorite dog kamchatka for a walk for listening to ministers reports for a few hours he saved breakfast till 1pm tea hard boiled eggs and rye bread between three and five he went for a walk with the empress and their children whatever the weather at eight pm dinner was served the emperor loved good food crayfish soup or fish pie a side of mutton with kasha and pickled cucumbers he then returned to work often until late at night the emperor made frequent tours of russia sergey vitter a railway manager who often accompanied him witnessed scenes that were impossible to imagine about the emperor's daily life after everyone else had gone to bed i often saw the emperor's valet caught off mending the emperor's trousers one night when passing by and seeing him at work i asked can't you take a few pairs with you so that if there's a hole in one pair you can give another pair to the emperor he replied just try if he started wearing a pair of trousers or a jacket he'll wear them until they fall apart at the seams alexander's reign saw the alarus style come into fashion dresses decorations interiors and the emergence of a distinct style of architecture known as russian revival a reinvention of traditional russian styles culminating in the upper trading rows that face onto moscow's red square and the city's state historical museum alexander supported artists who dealt with themes from russian history and myth like the painters basnetsof and surikov but the other side to this flourishing of russian national culture was the oppression of minorities seen as non-russian especially russia's jews after 1791 jews were forced to live in the empire's western provinces an area known as the pale of settlement alexander ii had relaxed controls on jewish settlement for those engaged in certain useful professions jews had begun to play a greater role in russian business cultural and intellectual life but now alexander iii imposed stricter controls in 1891 20 000 jews were evicted from moscow and sent to live in the pale of settlement while a cap was imposed on the proportion of jewish students at any school or university 10 within the pale 5 outside it and 3 in some petersburg this persecution encouraged many young jews to join illegal revolutionary groups alexander iii intended to unify his vast empire through strong autocratic government and his reign saw the construction of one great physical embodiment of his vision the trans-siberian railway the trans-siberian is more than 9 000 kilometers long the longest railway line in the world its longest and most complex sections were built during alexander's reign from the urals to vladivostok seven thousand kilometers across mountains tiger and siberian rivers it was a spectacular achievement between two and a half thousand and five thousand kilometers of rails were laid each year the cost was approximately one million rubles worth around 20 billion us dollars today alexander's reign witnessed russia's great railroad boom travel by rail was certainly prestigious fashionable and for some luxurious on october 17 1888 the emperor and his family were returning from crimea to saint petersburg the train was running slightly late so the driver picked up speed as they approached kharkiv reaching 70 kilometers per hour the train hauled by twin locomotives included a luggage van workshop a carriage for the minister of railways two kitchen carriages a dining carriage and several carriages for the imperial family the servants and guards the 15 carriage train was 300 meters long and weighed 480 tons safety regulations stipulated a top speed of just 37 kilometers per hour it was doing almost twice that speed at 2 14 pm the train derailed 10 out of 15 carriages were completely destroyed the dining carriage containing the imperial family was flung down the embankment and had its roof torn off ten-year-old grand duke michael was buried beneath the wreckage and only freed with difficulty 20 people were killed and 37 injured the emperor helped to search the wreckage while the empress tended the wounded they left for kharkiv only when darkness fell on the way the emperor remembered a discussion he'd overheard on the train a month before sergey vitter manager of the local railway had been arguing that such a heavy train shouldn't travel at such speeds vitter himself later recalled the discussion the minister of railways started arguing with me he said we travel at the same speed on the other railways no one has ever dared demand the emperor's train reduce speed i broke down and said to the minister let others do what they want as for me i don't want to break the emperor's neck because if you go on like this that's what you'll do alexander iii summoned vitter to saint petersburg and persuaded him to become director of state railways it was not a profitable move for vitter his previous salary of forty thousand rubles at a privately owned rail firm fell to just eight thousand so the emperor personally paid him an extra eight 000 rubles a year as compensation within two years bitter was made minister of railways and minister of finance thanks in large part to his efforts russia began to emerge from its economic crisis over the next decade coal output rose by 110 oil by 1468 steel by 159 percent and cast iron by 487 percent russian agriculture accounted for 15 of the world's wheat production and 55 percent of its rye the growth rate of russian industry doubled to around nine percent thanks largely to an influx of foreign investment particularly from france russia's gold reserves more than doubled and by 1893 the russian state was running an annual surplus of almost 100 million rubles russian ruble became a safe haven currency while russia's economic boom gave the empire new authority on the world stage alexander began to modernize russia's armed forces the army was equipped with the new 30 caliber mosin nagom bolt action rifle which remained in service until the mid 20th century a new more comfortable uniform was introduced including a soldier's tunic that remains in use today standards in military education were raised the navy received 114 new warships including 17 battleships and 10 armored cruisers russia's navy was now the third largest in the world lagging only behind great britain and france russia however fought no major wars during alexander's 13-year reign on the contrary alexander's efforts to defuse tension between the great powers earned him the nickname the peacemaker but the changing alliances of his reign would have far far-reaching repercussions russia's traditional alliance with germany came to an end alexander made a new alliance with france instead the country that had provided the bulk of the loans that enabled russia's economic miracle the new franco-russian alliance led germany to fear encirclement a major factor in the outbreak of world war one that war was a catastrophe alexander iii may have been able to prevent but after the train crash his health began to fail emperor had been ignoring chronic back pain for many years in september 1894 he was diagnosed with nephritis an acute inflammation of the kidneys his doctors prescribed a strict diet and sent him to recuperate at the imperial palace of la vagia in the warmer climes of crimea on october 19th the government courier left levadia with papers signed by alexander for the last time the emperor received the last rights and bid farewell to his wife and children he died at 2 15 pm alexander iii was only 49. the emperor's coffin was taken by train from crimea to kharkiv oriel moscow and finally saint petersburg it was met along the route by huge crowds who came to say goodbye to the emperor there had never been such a lengthy and solemn funeral no one could have imagined it would be the last funeral of azar that russia would ever see the russian empire was at the peak of its economic and political power when alexander's eldest son 26 year old nicholas ascended the throne chapter 2 nicholas ii alexandrovich nicholas or nikki as his family called him received an excellent education and had all the skills required to thrive at court he was clever refined and extremely charming in 1886 princess victoria alex helena louise beatrice of hesse darmstadt or alex as she was known came to russia to visit her sister grand duchess elizabeth who had married nicholas uncle nicholas and alex soon fell in love nicki's parents did not approve of the match they found her cold and aloof and too tall but their son's devotion to her was soon apparent the young couple used to play a game using the precious stones in their rings to cut each other's names into the glass of the palace windows it became a tradition and their messages of love remained etched into the windows of the winter palace for years to come young nicholas gave a brooch with a 12-carat diamond to his beloved the gift became a symbol of their love it was later found amongst her burnt clothes alex did not part with it until the last minute of her life when nicholas's father alexander iii realized he was dying he agreed to his son's marriage in 1894 after eight years of waiting nicholas and alex became engaged she converted to orthodoxy and took the name alexandra fjodarovna a month after alexander iii death they were married on may 14 1896 the new emperor and empress were crowned in moscow's cathedral of the assumption festivities were to last 20 days for the nobility there were receptions balls and full dress dinners on may 18th a traditional festival was to be held for commoners at kodinker field where there would be entertainment meals and gifts for all each gift included smoked sausage 200 grams a bread roll with raisins 400 grams a viasma treacle cake 130 grams sweets and nuts 300 grams and a commemorative mug bearing the new zarz monogram all wrapped up in a handkerchief thirty thousand buckets of beer and ten thousand buckets of mead were laid on cost to the state was 339 536 rubles the organizers expected an attendance of 400 000 but more than a million turned up there were wild rumors about the gifts some said that if you got one wrapped in a handkerchief with houses printed on it you would get a new house others claimed every mug contained a gold ruble when word went round that there wouldn't be enough gifts for everyone there was a stampede there were barely two thousand police to hand powerless in the face of such numbers the crowd became a huge struggling mass some were crushed others trampled underfoot one 1389 people were killed at 10 30 the emperor was told about the unfolding disaster at godinka field everyone expected him to go there immediately but he did not arrive until 2pm only the royal household knew that he and his wife had spent the intervening hours praying in private four days later the imperial couple attended a long-standing engagement a ball at the french embassy they were there for barely 10 minutes but even so news quickly spread that the emperor was going to parties while the rest of the city mourned far fewer people were aware that nicholas had given 90 000 rubles of his own money to help the victims families instead people got the impression the emperor cared very little about ordinary russians some said the kodinka field disaster was a bad omen for the rain and noted the tsar was born on may 6th the day of job the long suffering and soon there were more dire predictions in 1801 shortly before his murder emperor paul the first had written a letter to his descendants to be opened a hundred years after his death now it was time to open the letter only a few trusted servants knew of its existence one of them was maria geringa the empress's close friend and senior lady in waiting she later recalled how on the morning of march 12 1901 both the emperor and empress began the day excited and cheerful they were going to gatchina palace to uncover a century-old mystery they prepared for the trip as if for a merry excursion that promised great entertainment they departed in high spirits maria remembered but returned thoughtful and gloomy they told no one what they had read in the letter but after the trip the emperor began to refer to 1918 as a fateful year for himself and for the dynasty according to legend the letter contained paul's account of his conversation with a monk named abel the russian nostradamus abel was said to have foretold the death of catherine the great paul's own murder the war against napoleon burning of moscow the revolt of the decembrists in the reign of nicholas the first alexander ii's abolition of serfdom the assassination of alexander ii and the order and peace of the reign of alexander the third of nicholas ii he said the holy tsar who is like job the long-suffering he will have the mind of christ the patience and purity of a dove a crown of thorns will replace his tsar's crown he shall be betrayed by his people as was the son of god a great war will be fought people will fly in the air like birds and swim underwater like fish they shall destroy each other with stinking sulfur treason shall grow and multiply on the eve of victory the tsar's throne will fall blood and tears will water the earth a peasant with an axe will take power and the plagues of egypt will begin romanov nicolas alexandrovich age 29 religion russian orthodox married children one daughter olga one year old military rank colonel of the libguard hussar regiment occupation ruler of russia in 1897 a census was carried out of the russian empire its results were published in 89 volumes and included information on nearly 129 million people in the year of the census the empress was pregnant for a second time everybody hoped it would be a boy an heir instead they had another daughter tatiana then a third maria and a fourth anastasia many relatives didn't even try to hide their disappointment the emperor never worried about it but the need for a son obsessed the empress in 1903 the couple prayed for a son over the relics of saint seraphim at sarov monastery and on august 12th 1904 zarovich alexi was born but the proud parents were soon filled with dread one doctor after another visited the palace by the third day it was confirmed their son had hemophilia and could die at any moment hemophilia is a hereditary genetic disease that prevents blood clots forming meaning even a small cut can lead to death from blood loss the disease which is incurable normally only appears in males though the gene is also carried by females alexi's mother empress alexandra received the gene from her grandmother queen victoria victoria passed the gene on to many of her children and grandchildren who married into ruling families across europe hence hemophilia also became known as the royal disease a minor cut or bruise could be life-threatening for alexi at such moments reports on his recovery became front-page news alongside latest reports from the russo-japanese war by 1900 the far east had become the latest focus of great power rivalry china weak and undeveloped was considered ripe for exploitation japan the emerging power in the region had its sights set on expansion into korea and manchuria the northeastern province of china russia had its own designs on manchuria and stood in japan's way many months of negotiations proved fruitless the two nations seemed locked on a collision course there were also those in russia who thought war might be a good thing to unite the people and calm unrest at home in february 1904 japan launched a preemptive strike on the russian pacific fleet at its base in port arthur a year-long siege followed leading to the port surrender the next year in february 1905 the russian army was decisively beaten at the battle of mukden then in may russia suffered a devastating naval defeat at the battle of tsushima nicholas had had enough his advisers argued that japan's military strength was ebbing while russia's would only increase with time they only needed one more year a million rubles and 20 000 more lives but the emperor was adamant they must make peace the treaty of portsmouth was not a harsh settlement but the damage to russian prestige had already been done and the consequences at home were disastrous it would lead to revolution in january 1905 workers went on strike in saint petersburg riga and warsaw in may ivanova textile workers followed suit and in june the crew of the battleship potemkin mutinied in october a general strike was supported by two million workers all major factories and railways were shut down nicholas turned to his father's old advisor sergey vitter who persuaded him that political concessions could no longer be avoided the october manifesto drafted by vitter and signed by nicholas promised new civil liberties including freedom of speech assembly and association and the creation of a new national assembly the duma but the unrest only grew there was only one province where order was maintained saratov so nicholas summoned its governor 44 year old piotr stolipin to saint petersburg after a long conversation with him the emperor realized it was stulipin not vitter who was the man to pull russia out of its current crisis stolepin was appointed minister of the interior and two months later became prime minister he clamped down on protests by introducing martial law then he began a major reform of russian agriculture peasants were to be helped to buy land and set up new farms with the help of cheap government loans over six years the government issued more than 1 billion rules in loans six million farmers 44 applied to buy land with government health of those 10 percent succeeded in becoming new landowners crop yields rose by a third the russian empire reached its economic peak in 1913 and your growth in russian agricultural output was two percent ranked first in the world growth in industrial output was five percent ranked first in the world population growth was 1.5 ranked first in europe the russian empire's national income was 16.4 billion rubles ranked fourth in the world russia's total industrial output was worth more than six and a half billion rubles ranked fifth in the world stolipin's reforms were expected to take 20 years to bear fruit but it was time that russia and stulipin did not have in 1911 at the kiev opera house prime minister stolin was assassinated by a socialist revolutionary three years later world war one broke out it would claim the lives of 37 million people and destroy four empires the austro-hungarian ottoman german and russian two alliances dominated europe germany austro-hungary and italy formed the triple alliance russia britain and france formed the triple on top when war broke out turkey and bulgaria joined the triple alliance italy romania and america sided with yontant each country had its own war aims germany sought to dominate its european neighbours and claim new overseas colonies france wanted to recover alsace and lorraine lost to germany in 1871 austro-hungary looked to defeat slav nationalism within the empire and on its borders britain wanted to eliminate germany as a colonial rival and also had ambitions in the middle east italy wanted to expand its influence in the balkans while russia fighting alongside britain and france was determined to assert its role as defender of the slavs the pretext for war came in june 1914 when archduke franz ferdinand of austria was shot dead in sarajevo by a slav nationalist gavrilo princip many russians welcomed the declaration of war against germany and austro-hungary that summer but when the russian army advanced through poland it suffered a string of catastrophic defeats the following year the russian commander-in-chief the emperor's cousin grand duke nicholas was dismissed from his post the emperor himself became the army's commander though it was only a symbolic role and he did not interfere with strategy the german army meanwhile proved a formidable enemy in the summer of 1915 the russian army conducted a giant strategic withdrawal in the face of the german onslaught it was hoped that by sacrificing territory russia could buy enough time to mobilize its vast resources following year 1916 the russian army launched the brusilov offensive striking a hammer blow against austro-hungarian forces another major offensive was prepared for 1917 but at home events were spiraling out of control while nicholas was away at army headquarters his wife's influence on policy grew considerably it was a cause of growing resentment not least because the empress was german by birth now her close relationship with a wandering holy man from siberia grigori rasputin caused further unease to some he was a visionary and healer to others fraud there were many rumors about the relationship between the empress and rasputin she had complete faith in him because he seemed the only person able to relieve the suffering of her sickly son alexi empress alexandra was certain with rasputin by his side alexi would live i believe in our friend's wisdom she wrote to the emperor god sent him to be your help and your guide alexandra's regular letters to the emperor contained advice from rasputin on many matters even the conduct of the war to many rasputin's hold of the imperial family was shameful and intolerable it came to an end in december 1916 when rasputin was murdered by a group of nobles determined to protect the tsar's reputation on february 22 1917 nicholas ii left the capital for army headquarters same day zaravich alexey fell ill with measles his sisters soon caught it too all their heads were shaved the empress was supervising the care of her sick children when news arrived of strikes in the capital the russian revolution had begun on february 28th the emperor rushed back from the front to be with his family at saskia cello the next night the emperor's train was halted near novgorod a line ahead was blocked by revolutionary troops a great shame i failed to reach saskia cello all my thoughts and feelings are there god help us the emperor traveled instead to piskov headquarters of the northern front he planned to redeploy troops from the front to crush the revolt in the capital but behind his back general alexeyev acting commander-in-chief was sending telegrams to the front commanders asking if it was desirable for the emperor to abdicate all of them answered yes on the night of march 2nd nicholas signed his abdication in the saloon carriage of the imperial train as it stood at the platform in piskov station from that moment on he was colonel nicholas romanov witnesses were struck by his calmness one general remembered he abdicated the throne as if relinquishing command of a division nicholas wrote in his diary the bottom line is that to save russia and keep the army at the front i need to take this step the emperor's abdication had been demanded by a wide range of political and military figures they were responding to the crisis unfolding within russia the war had led to huge casualties at the front as well as bread cues shortages and inflation at home soldiers and civilians wanted political change nicholas's abdication was demanded by the state duma as the only way to achieve political progress it was also demanded by the army whose generals reported that many of their men sympathized with the revolutionaries and could no longer be relied upon to fight for the tsar amongst the romanovs there was no agreement on the monarchy's future some disliked or blamed the emperor and his wife others believed the monarchy did need to make changes though none of the grand dukes were prepared to take responsibility for making them once it was clear that he himself was the obstacle nicholas abdicated in favor of his younger brother michael michael the favorite youngest son of alexander iii who had tipped the bucket of water on his father's head refused to take the throne and issued his renunciation the next day march 3rd he would later be shot by the bolsheviks near perm in siberia his manifesto of march 3rd 1917 stated that he michael romanov would not accept the throne until a constituent assembly made up of the people's representatives had voted on a new form of government for russia only then would the people's consent would he accept the throne his grand gesture however was quickly overtaken by events the throne would never be offered to him the monarchy was finished 300 years of romanov rule in russia were at an end power now lay with russia's provisional government nicholas his wife and five children were put under house arrest in the alexander palace on the outskirts of saint petersburg six months later the provisional government sent the former tsar and his family to the remote siberian town of tobolsk more than a thousand miles from moscow for their own safety ali's staff who wish to join them were allowed to do so family were joined in exile by 45 of their former servants by now nicholas must have realized he would not be allowed to leave the country and that russia was sliding into chaos the most frightening of abel's predictions was coming true before his eyes in october 1917 the bolsheviks seized power in the capital the romanovs were moved from tobolsk to yekaterinburg and settled in a so-called house of special purpose only five people were allowed to stay with the family a doctor a valid a maid a cook and kitchen boy nicholas and alexandra tried to ignore the rudeness of the guards theft was what bothered the most the couple feared that two boxes of papers containing nicholas's diaries and their personal correspondence would disappear i could never have imagined that there was such perfect happiness in the world alex had once written to nicholas i love you these three words are my whole life in the middle of the night the emperor's family and their servants were ordered to get up and gather in one of the rooms they were told that because of the threat of local unrest they were to be moved to a new location for their own safety alexi was sick so his father carried him in his arms family were ordered down into the cellar and told to arrange themselves for a photo which would be used to quash rumors of their death then jakov yourofsky the house commandant entered the room he announced that they had been sentenced to death by the presidium of the euro soviet in the early hours of july 17 1918 the following people were executed in the cellar of the house nicholas romanov aged 50. alexandra romanova age 46 olga romanova aged 23 tatiana romanova aged 21 maria romanova aged 19 anastasia romanova aged 17 alexey romanov aged 14 and four servants in 2000 tsar's murdered family were canonized as saints by the russian orthodox church in spring 1918 a few months before her death grand duchess olga wrote my father asked me to tell those who remained loyal to him that they should not avenge him as he has forgiven all and prayed for all he asks them to remember that the evil which is now in the world will become even stronger but evil will not triumph over evil only love foreign you

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Id: gSlVgtwAcRA

Length: 52min 9sec (3129 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 19 2014