The Decline of The Romanov Dynasty
Despite rumours, myths, and legends that a couple of the princesses survived and escaped it now appears that the entire Romanov family was summarily executed during the early stages of the Russian Civil War in the summer of 1918.
Before the February 1917 revolution the Russian Empire was ruled by its last emperor, Tsar Nicholas II, who had one son, four daughters, as well as his German born wife Alexandra. Tsar Nicholas II was totally unsuited to be the autocratic ruler of the vast yet backward Russian Empire. After the 1905 Revolution the position of the Romanov dynasty looked secure due to the economic reforms of Stolypin.
The First World War and The End of The Russian Empire
However in many respects the fate of the Romanov family was sealed by the Russian Empire's disastrous performance in fighting the First World War. The Russian armies were totally outclassed by the Germans, whilst Tsar Nicholas II was closely linked to each and every military defeat.
The February Revolution was caused by widespread food and fuel shortages, and the Romanov dynasty collapsed after a few days of strikes in Petrograd. Unfortunately for Tsar Nicholas II and his family the Provisional Government did not let them leave Russia. Perhaps if the Provisional Government had stayed in power the Romanovs would have survived. It was the Bolshevik seizure of power in the October Revolution, which sealed the fate of the Romanov family.
Lenin and The Death of The Romanovs
Under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin the Bolsheviks were determined to turn the Russian Empire into the world's first communist state. Although the Bolsheviks had seized power without any resistance the onset of the Russian Civil War put Nicholas II and the Romanov family in a dangerous position.
Despite having being disposed Nicholas II was still a figurehead for the anti-Communist forces, which meant that Lenin took the decision to have the former tsar and his family executed. Red Army units under the direct command of Leon Trotsky were given the task of eliminating the former royal family by Lenin. It was a task undertaken with relish by the executioners of the Romanovs.
When the anti-Communist forces moved nearer to Moscow the Red Army moved the Romanovs to the Siberian town of Ekaterinberg. It was there that they were shot on the 16th July 1918. The Bolshevik regime led by Lenin regarded the execution of the former tsar and the rest of the Romanov family as been fully justified in its efforts to win the Russian Civil War.
The bodies of the Romanovs were then left in a disused mine shaft until after the fall of communism and the demise of the Soviet Union itself.
Bibliography
Eatwell R & Wright A, (2003) Contemporary Political Ideologies 2nd Edition, Continuum, London
Hobsbawm, E (1994) Age of Extremes, the Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991, Michael Joseph, London
Roberts J.M, (1996) A History of Europe, Penguin, London & New York
Woodruff W, (2005) A concise history of the Modern World, Abacus, London
