THE ROMANOVS

Today I felt like writing about my lastest addiction: The Romanov Family. So today I'll be doing a sort of Q&A of FAQs about them.

Q: Who were the Romanovs?

A: Tecnically speaking, the Romanovs were a 300 year royal dynasty, beginning in 1613 and ending with the Russian Revolution in 1917. But generaly, when referring to the Romanovs, it usually means Tsar Nicholas II and his family. He reined from 1894 to 1917, being the last Tsar Russia ever had.  

Q: Why did Tsar Nicholas abdicated for him and his son Alexei?

A: Russia at the time was in a bad condition, including hunger and poverty resulting from the Russo-Japanese war in 1905 and the goverment's failure to generate supplies for the people. And the fact that the Tsar refused the chance of a constitutional monarchy and the many blames he took, such as the Bloody Sunday, which he wasn't aware of as he didn't order any of that to happen. 

Unfortunately, Nicholas II was a weak man when it came to politics and power; all he wanted to do was be an orginary country man with his family. He wasn't ready for the task ahead of him and was, in my opinion, too gentle but also too proud. He refused to surrender in the Russo-Japanese war because he didn't want to be called weak and wanted his late father and his people to be proud. And he also abdicated for his son who had hemophilia, a deadly disease his mother, Empress Alexandra, carried. The disease affected only males. Females were the carriers. She inherited it from Queen Victoria of the UK, who passed the disease to many of her 9 children and it spread through the royal families of Spain, Germany , Russia and Prussia. The Empress, trusted blindly in Rasputin, a monk said to cure the young heir's pain, and he got so close to the Imperial family that the people stard thinking he was interfering in the Emperor's and Empress' decisions. Nicholas II feared his son's hemophilia would damage the 300 year dynasty and passed on to his brother Michael Alexandrovich.

Q: Why did the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna not like Empress Alexandra?

A: It was well known they didn't get along. To begin with, her wedding to Nicholas wasn't what his parents wanted. There was a anti-Germanic sentiment in the royal houses of Europe and she was a German princess through her father. Also, the fact that she was very shy and refused to appear at most public events and occasions, caused concern, as she only appeared when strictly necessary. The Dowager Empress also didn't like Rasputin and blamed Alexandra for many of the issues during her son's reign. 

Q: What happened to their immense collection of jewelry?

A: After the Revolution, and the family was taken to Tobolsk, the Bolsheviks confiscated most of the jewelry. Some items were sold, some were broken up and some went entirely missing. A few were bought, like the Russian Pearl Drop Kokoshnik Tiara, which is now owned privately. The Romanovs were under house arrest in Tobolsk, but before heading to their final fatal destiny, the Empress put the jewels they still had in a box and asked the nuns of a nearby monastery (Ivanovich) to hide them. They were found in 1933. The family then went to Ekaterinburg to Ipatiev house. They spent 78 days there until one night, they were awakened to move to a safer location. They got dressed and were asked to wait at the house's celler and then... they were shot. But something strange happened. The bullets ricocheted on the young Grand Duchesses bodies. That happened because they had jewels sewn into their corsets and the acted as a sort of safety vest. The rest, well, you probably know what happened. And then the jewels were stolen and God knows where they might be now.

Q: Did Anastasia survive?

A: Anastasia's ultimate escape from the murderers' hands was one of the 20th Century's biggest myths. Many girls claimed to be her and that inspired many movies and influenced the general culture. The myth started with the fact that her body wasn't found when they found their parents' and siblings' bodies. Many passionate followers though Anastasia survived if only for a bit of hope in their lives. 

Many people needed to believe she survived because it was too hard for them to think this beautiful young girl was killed. But the truth is, she didn't survive. Her body was found in 2007. Right after the end of the USSR, the Romanovs were canonized as neomartys (saints), and now rest peacefuly in the Saint Paul and Peter Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Anastasia's and Alexei's remains, as they weren't accepted by the Russian Orthodox Faith, aren't with the rest of the family, which is ridiculous. They are kept in a safe with special conditions to protect them from the adversities of the environment by the government.

I hope you enjoyed this information!