Who really was Nicholas II

[Music] louis lumiere the inventor of the first motion picture camera sent a crew to russia on a special commission to shoot a solemn event in 1896 midday on may the 14th at the kremlin in moscow the coronation of the russian emperor nicholas ii during the soviet period he would have been described as a tyrant and an oppressor of the working class many people in russia have different opinions on the country's last emperor in certain quarters he's considered to be a model statesman and even a murder however it's also believed he was a faceless politician who ruined his country he's referred to as nicholas the slaughterer and the tsar martyr but who really was nicholas ii the last russian emperor [Music] [Music] is a realist painter he lives in moscow and studies the life and times of the last russian emperor nicholas ii is a constant source of inspiration for the artist during the soviet period when dmitry was at art school he read a book on nicholas ii and his family dmitry is a descendant of the dawn cossacks his ancestors served with the royal guard some of his close relatives were monarchists but they had to keep their silence during the soviet era dimitri is now happy to openly express his opinions his first large-scale painting was devoted to the royal family he then created a series of paintings entitled the life of nicholas ii he's now working on a new canvas it's dedicated to the history of the romanovs how could such bright pure and beautiful people have fallen victim to the blackguard possessed with a raving hatred it's totally illogical and senseless russian historian sergey samanov has been carrying out research on the rule of nicolas ii for many years he's got an extensive collection of memorabilia from that era it's evidence of the glory and the might of the russian monarchy but there's another object which is a reminder of a great tragedy that marks the rule of the last emperor right to get a special mug with nicholas's monogram people were given a mug gingerbread a drink or something else nine years later a similar incident happened in saint petersburg on january the 9th 1905 thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in the empire's capital incited by provocateurs they clashed with police soldiers opened fire killing hundreds of people it went down in history as bloody sunday nicholas ii didn't give a personal command to fire at the workers heading to the winter palace on january the 9th bloody sunday sparked a wave of violence across the country russian socialists tried to stage a revolution to avoid a national disaster nicholas ii started a program of reforms the tsar ushered in civil rights and freedoms and sanctioned the election of the first parliament known as the state duma this move helped to create political balance and economic growth industry developed at a fast pace as well as agriculture and trade today russian historians often criticize nicholas ii in his role as a statesman this monument was erected in the settlement in the moscow region in 1996 on the 100th anniversary of the last emperor's coronation hundreds of people from across russia gather here every year to pay their respect to the tsar monarchists are convinced that the nation made a serious mistake at the beginning of the 20th century by killing the tsar nicholas ii was the eldest son of the emperor alexander iii he was born in saint petersburg on may 18th 1868. children from the royal family were given a good education at home nicholas spoke three foreign languages english [Music] dynastic marriages are usually marriages of convenience it so happened this time nicholas ii's marriage was a happy one bull in keeping with the royal tradition nicholas ii was obliged to marry a woman with a royal background nicholas chose the princess of hessen dharmstadt who came from german nobility the princess whose first name was alisa converted to orthodox christianity and adopted the name of alexandra nicholas like his forefathers was not indigenous to russia the romano family was closer to the german danish and british royal families nicholas was queen victoria's great nephew and king george v was his cousin [Music] they were like two sides of the same coin yeah they sported similar beards and with the same height they swapped their clothes and no one could tell who was the russian emperor and who was the british king they joked a lot but mortal danger dogged the last russian emperor from an early age when nicholas was 12 revolutionaries from an underground socialist organization killed his grandfather emperor alexander ii [Music] an era of political terror evolved in russia under the rule of nicholas ii revolutionary socialists and terrorists hunted down the last emperor two russian interior ministers the chief prosecutor the chief of police and the governor of saint petersburg died at the hands of terrorists in 1905 an uncle of nicholas ii and another member of the royal family the moscow general governor grand prince sergey romanov were killed in 1905. a revolutionary assassinated the russian prime minister peter stollepin in 1911. the last russian emperor was an exemplary family man nicholas and alexandra had five children four daughters named olga tatyana maria anastasia and a son alexei the heir to the throne was a hemophiliac which meant his blood failed to clot it's a rare condition and a minor injury could have killed him he was under the constant supervision of tutors and doctors this hindered nicholas ii during the last 12 years of his reign the demonic figure of grigori rasputin emerged solely due to the heirs illness his role in the royal family still isn't clear to this day rasputin's influence on the crown prince was like a sedative he as many people at the time believed he could cast a spell on his blood besides rasputin possessed some of the same qualities as a psychotherapist if we speak in modern terms and this explains his influence many modern day admirers of nicholas ii visit this church at a remote cemetery in moscow its father superior mikhail ardov studied the history of the house of romanov judging from the monarch's memoirs the last emperor considered going into the church he was a profound believer in god his family was the church at home his attitude to the church was very serious he glorified many things nicholas ii and his family were canonized in the 20th century as martyrs who died for their faith has many icons depicting the royal family the russian japanese war of 1904 to 1905 was a trial for nicholas ii the russian empire was defeated it lost most of its navy and vast territory in the russian far [Music] east the first world war broke out in europe in 1914. russia was one of the first countries to join as part of the antonte a strategic alliance forged with britain and france but the first months of the war revealed that the russian army was considerably weaker than the enemies namely germany and austria-hungary their armed forces were superior in terms of weapons equipment and technical skills the tsar took personal control of the russian army and he often visited the front but there were a series of military failures on all of the fronts and the number of casualties continued to rise and seconds of history the fact he was a patriot a brave and loving man and in many ways a decent person turned out to be historically [Music] the first world war seriously affected the russian empire's economy the country faced chronic food shortages strikes and protests began on the home front a bourgeois revolution occurred in russia on february the 27th 1917 the monarchy was overthrown and the country was declared a republic nicholas ii abdicated in favor of his brother mikhail three days later on his way back from the front but mikhail also abdicated just hours after nicholas signed the manifesto nicholas ii and his family spent the last months of their lives under arrest a socialist revolution led by vladimir lenin brought the bolsheviks to power in russia in november of 1917. soviet rule was established in the country and from that moment on the russian emperor and his family became political prisoners they were incarcerated in a small private mansion in the town of yekaterinburg in the urals an armed convoy watched their every step this is how the russian film director karen shaknazarov the last russian emperor's final days he planned to screen the tragic story during the soviet era but decided to realize his project in 1991 a time of huge political change in russia the film didn't aim to restore nicholas ii or judge to bolsheviks because there is no right and wrong in a revolution but some political groups perceived [Music] which means the killing of a king the famous actor malcolm mcdowell played the lead role mcdowell plays bolshevik jakov yorowski who is believed to have killed nicholas ii and his son the crown prince alexei it was the first time that the story of the execution of the royal family had been adapted to the big screen it was the night of july 16th 1918 everything happened behind closed doors the tsar and his family were executed without a trial a decision made by soviet executive organizations the romanovs weren't actually put to death by official executioners instead they were shot by a selected group of people i believe it's one of the most dramatic episodes in world history but far from everything has been said and written about it this event is as important as the executions of mary stewart louis the 16th these teams will always stir artists in 1994 when the political climate in russia was undergoing dramatic changes nine skeletons were discovered in a mass grave close to yekaterinburg dna testing which was 99 accurate revealed that the bones belonged to members of the romano family in 1998 a state funeral was held for the last emperor nicholas ii at the cathedral of saint peter and paul in saint petersburg in the famous romanov crypt when the romanos were being held in yekaterinburg nuns from the monastery gave them food and they may have been the last people to see them alive the nuns who helped the romano family have all died by now the artists who produced the icons cast molds from sculptured busts of the tsar in his family it's the most effective way to achieve a true likeness and it's a joy for the nuns to carry out this work to them nicholas ii and his family are saints nicolas nicholas did not perform miracles he did not bring anybody back to life he was a man of his time he fought with dignity and he accepted his fate he abdicated his crown because the fate of his homeland was more important to him he never wanted to become the ruler of one-sixth of the planet but he had to become him nicholas ii never had a thirst for power he never believed that russia would lose its orthodox monarchy the last emperor never imagined that the state would collapse nor that his own subjects would become the executioners he has found a place in the history books he was the last representative of his dynasty the last tsar and autocratic ruler the last master of the russian empire [Music] is [Music] me [Music] is lord [Music] please [Music] oh

Channel: The Romanov Royal Martyrs

Views: 72,920

Keywords: romanovs, romanov, romanov royal martyrs, Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, Royal Family, Romanov execution, Romanov dynasty, Romanov trailer, Romanov family, Romanoffs, Helen Rappaport, Four sisters, Last Tsar, Ekaterinburg, Olga Shirnina, Anastasia Romanov, Alexandra Feodrovna, Grand Duchess Elizabeth, Royalty, British Royalty, romanov family today, romanov family death, romanov coronation, romanov sisters, romanov jewels, romanov saints, romanov book, National Geographic

Id: aF8n3LoDXl4

Length: 18min 12sec (1092 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 14 2020