#nicholas ii
“It wasn’t a nightmare, <…> it was something more real. Lying in my bed, I saw myself sitting behind the desk. He was writing something really fast with a half smile. He never raised his head and I didn’t see my tears in his eyes”
From Andei Platonov’s letters
“Проснувшись ночью… я увидел за столом у печки, где обычно сижу я, самого себя. Это не ужас, <…> а нечто более серьезное. Лёжа в постели, я видел, как за столом сидел тоже я и, полуулыбаясь, быстро писал. Причем то, которое писало, ни разу не подняло головы и я не увидел у него своих слёз”.
Из писем Андрея Платонова
1920s Anti-Bolsheviste card depicting the family of Nicholas II
Royal cousins: Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , Grand Duchess Xenia and Emperor Nicholas II of Russia.
The Great-Grandchildren of Emperor Nicholas I
Emperor Nicholas I had 79 legitimate (incl. morganatic) great-grandchildren — 72 of whom survived to childhood. Two of whom became reigning monarchs [Emperor Nicholas II of Russia and King Constantine I of Greece]. Two became Queen consorts of Romania [Princess Marie of Edinburgh] and of Denmark [Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin], while another became Crown Princess of Prussia [Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]. One became the last Chancellor of the German Empire [Prince Maximilian of Baden, also known as Margrave of Baden], and another became a ruling Grand Duke of a German princely state [Mecklenburg-Schwerin].
Among the 72 great-grandchildren that survived to adulthood, 54 of them have living descendants today. Including King Felipe VI of Spain, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and the Prince of Wales.
Notes:
- Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark is the mother of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and Grand Duke Pavlovich.
- Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia is the mother of Princess Irina Alexandrovna, Prince Andrei, Feodor, Nikita, Dmitri, Rostislav, and Vasili Alexandrovich.
- Princess Maria of Greece and Denmark is the mother of Princess Nina Georgievna and Princess Xenia Georgievna.
- Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark is the father-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II, thus the grandfather of the Prince of Wales.
- Eight of Emperor Nicholas I’s great-grandchildren married each other: Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg & Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia; Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark & Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia; Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia & Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Prince Feodor Alexandrovich of Russia & Princess Irina Paley.
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Николай II с Княжнами в Ливадии, октябрь 1913 года
ГА РФ, ф. 673. оп. 1 д. 203 л. 6 об.https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/171919/98255750.2f2/0_1ab341_285130c5_orig
Nicholas II with Anastasia and Olga in Livadia, October 1913
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March 15, 1917 - Tsar Nicholas II Abdicates
Pictured - The war claims its first sovereign.
The Tsar was in his train on March 15, waiting to get back to his capital. Revolutionaries had halted it on his way back to military headquarters at Mogilev, which forced him to take a longer way home through Pskov. That morning, however, he received a telegram from Mogilev. It was from the army’s Commander-in-Chief, General Alexeyev.
Alexeyev had gotten in touch with the Russian army’s generals and urged them to join him in asking the Tsar to abdicate. None of them dissented. General Brusilov was emphatic that abdication was the only way to save the monarchy and keep Russia in the war, and even the staunchly monarchist General Sakharov in Romania agreed. They knew their soldiers would cease fighting otherwise. The Tsar’s cousin Grand Duke Nicholas, the former Commander-in-Chief, wrote the same thing. At half past two in the afternoon, Alexeyev telegraphed what they had said to Pskov.
General Russky at Pskov went to see the Tsar armed with the telegrams. The Tsar looked over the messages for over a few moments; his cousin’s signature made the most impact. Without any discussion, he telegraphed back to Alexeyev: “In the name of the welfare, tranquility and salvation of my warmly beloved Russia I am ready to abdicate from the throne in favour of my son. I request all to serve him faithfully.”
So ended the Romanov dynasty’s 300-year rule over Russia. The first Romanov, Tsar Michael, had come to the throne in 1613. In Petrograd, the Duma moved into the Tauride Palace and officially formed the Provisional Government, but the Petrograd Soviet remained in session outside in a blatant challenge. The Tsar had given up his power lightly. Few of the revolutionaries would do the same.
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Diary of Nicholas II:
March 15, 1917, Thursday
“In the morning Ruzski came and read his very long direct-wire talk with Rodzianko. According to this, the situation in Petrograd is such that a Ministry of the Duma would now be powerless to do anything, for it has to contend with the Social-Democratic Party, represented by the workers’ committee. My abdication is required. Ruzski transmitted this talk to Headquarters, and Alexeev sent it on to all the commanders-in-chief. By 2 o'clock replies were received from them. The gist of them is that in order to save Russia and keep the army at the front quiet, such a step must be taken. I have agreed. From Headquarters has been sent a draft of a manifesto. In the evening Guchkov and Shulgin arrived from Petrograd, with whom I discussed the matter, and I handed them the signed and altered manifesto. At 1 o'clock in the morning [16th] I left Pskov, with a heavy heart because of the things gone through. All around me there is treachery, cowardice, and deceit.”
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“Царская Ставка 5-е Мая 1916 г.”
ГА РФ, ф. 673. оп. 1 д. 206 л. 5 об.https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/95493/98255750.29a/0_1a484c_560005df_orig
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Photograph of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, addressed to his wife’s grandmother, Queen Victoria.
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Николай II, Ольга Александровна и Великие Княжны на Ливадийском пляже, август 1913 года
ГА РФ, ф. 673. оп. 1 д. 203 л. 3
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Августейшая Семья на Ливадийском корте, осень 1913 года
ГА РФ, ф. 673. оп. 1 д. 203 л. 8 об.https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/176331/98255750.2d2/0_1a931e_fc73d640_orig
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Играем с Княжнами в кустах☺
ГА РФ, ф. 673. оп. 1 д. 206 л. 20 об.https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/171919/98255750.280/0_1a349a_2eb0039c_orig
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Император и Великие Княжны в Бешуйской даче, 26 мая 1914 года
ГА РФ, ф. 673. оп. 1 д. 203 л. 23 об.https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/51134/98255750.2f4/0_1ac411_b3f01378_orig
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Not protected anymore, only guarded: Citizen Nicholas Romanov, once Emperor of all Russia, under house arrest in Tsarskoe Selo, summer 1917.
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Maria Feodorovna with son the future Nicholas II of Russia and brother Prince Valdemar of Denmark
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Днепр, 1916 год
ГА РФ, ф. 673. оп. 1 д. 206 л. 21 об.https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/25921/98255750.280/0_1a349e_2dc87fc2_orig
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Цесаревич Алексей, император Николай II и великий князь Дмитрий Павлович на берегу моря в Ливадии. 1909 г. Любительская фотография. ГА РФ. Ф. 601. Оп. 1. Д. 1521. Л. 10. № 105.
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The Tsesarevich Nicholas … was an open-hearted, sociable young man who enjoyed the life of his regiment and the company of his cousins and childhood friends, the “potatoes”. They gave themselves this nickname after a game of hare-and-hounds in the palace park at Gatchina. The “hounds” lost the tracks and asked a peasant which way their friends had gone. The answer, “They turned into potatoes” - meaning “they turned into the potato field” - caused endless amusement and gave them their name. (The joke really only works in Russian, which has no definite or indefinite article.)
Charlotte Zeepvat: The Camera and the Tsars
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Император Николай II на балконе Александровского дворца, весна 1916 года
ГА РФ, ф. 673. оп. 1 д. 206 л. 5
https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/52656/98255750.2a2/0_1a4abd_e3739158_orig
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Император Николай II на горе Роман-Кош, сентябрь-октябрь 1913 года
ГА РФ, ф. 673. оп. 1 д. 203 л. 5 об.
https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/198998/98255750.2b6/0_1a56f0_ba95722_orig
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