Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna Romanov of Russia
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 20 май 2024
- Alexandra Feodorovna, Granddaughter of Queen Victoria and Tsarina of Russia whose guilt over passing hemophilia on to her son made her dependent on crude mystic Rasputin and contributed to the downfall of the Romanov dynasty and the murder of her family.
Please consider supporting me at / lindsayholiday
I make mini documentaries about women's history and royal history:
Queens of the World: • Queen Marie Antoinette...
A History of... • A History of Childbirt...
Royal History: • A History of Royal Inc...
LGBT Royals: • LGBTQ Royals of the World
Sources:
en.wikipedia.org
www.britannica.com
www.englishmonarchs.co.uk
Music: Butterflies In Love by Sir Cubworth
For business inquiries, please contact LindsayHoliday@ellifyagency.com
I like how the Russians were concerned the two were related, but England was like "Eh, he's your first cousin, but it's cool, be married."
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were FIRST COUSIN
So true 🥴
@@AlexS-oj8qf yup. 🥴
I really doubt that the Russians were that concerned. As long as they weren't first cousins, it would be fine. Especially when they had allowed Ella and Sergei's marriage, who were actually first cousins once removed.
Our queen and her husband are cousins
Victoria: Don't marry Nicholas, because you two are related.
Also Victoria: Marry your other cousin instead.
Victoria and Albert were first cousins.
@@lydonreference507 yep 😂😂😂
Queen Victoria liked Nicholas but was fearful of Russia and the people.
The Russian side was concerned that they were distant cousins( Orthodox Church).
The English( Anglican Church) side had no problem with it( Queen Victoria was concerned that Russia was unstable). Queen Victoria wanted Alix to marry a 1st cousin,& Victoria's grandson Prince Albert Victor was her maternal 1st cousin. In fact, Queen Victoria tried to match up many of her grandchildren with other of her grandchildren.
Lol, not to mention Nicholas and Alexandra were most likely half 2nd cousins (due to an affair). While Alexandra and Albert Victor were 1st cousins via.Queen Victoria.😂
They had so many flaws, and were incompetent rulers, but their children didn't deserve to die like that. All Alexandra wanted was for her boy to be healthy and Rasputin took advantage of it.
hmm I think the relationship with Rasputin was misunderstood as Alexis sickness was kept secret and this raised suspicions of infidelity also if the Tsar had taken Rasputin's advice on manys state issues the catastrophe could have been avoided, yes Rasputin was a letch but ....
I have to agree. Nicholas was an extremely weak and indecisive Tsar, and Alexandra just totally blinded herself to all of the predictable calamities that her association with Rasputin could bring. She loved her son yes, but with her blinding herself to Rasputin's devious ways and ambition (of which she was totally aware and warned about) there only could have been disaster waiting to happen.
@@solarson7363 they did, Rasputin interfered in important decisions, Alexandra ignored all the ministers advices to follow Rasputin's. It really was misunderstood, in no way she would had an affair with him, she kept him close because she found a relief to her son's disease
@@irerimtz5251 maybe, but big decisions err like going to war, the Tsar ignored his dire warnings, this alone destabilized the country allowing the reds with the little hats to get a foothold..
He did take advantage of it, but Alexandra should have been smart enough to know what kind of impact it could have on the monarchy. She was warned by multiple sources and should have known better, yet ignored all the warning signs. She was very religious, same for her husband, so I can see how Rasputin played into that part as well. When you're told from an early age that god put you on that throne then you're gonna believe it and think it's your right. Revolutionaries were smart to use Rasputin as a propaganda tool against the monarchy, especially in relation to Alexandra. Her being German and having a crazy monk at her disposal doesn't look good during a time of war. Most people who have studied the family know that Alexandra was very proper, somewhat uptight and very much in love with Nicholas, so the rumors that persist to this day that she and Rasputin were lovers are just outrageous and shows what propaganda can do. Just look at how propaganda against Marie Antoinette created books and movies about her supposed lesbianism, same for the notion that she was a spoilt brat who knew nothing about state affairs and told everyone to ''eat cake''.
Her and Nicholas’ story sounds like Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette: decent but naive people unprepared for the crown. And it sounds like that law forbidding girls from inheriting the crown is what ultimately caused their downfall
Olga would have made a great sovereign.
Yeah. The Russian Revolution was basically the French Revolution 100 years later
@@ladyagnes9430 true. Besides, genetic expertise showed that both Olga and Tatiana were free of hemophilia gene, and could produce healthy male monarchs in the future. Too bad they didn't change that succession rule. :(
@@helend7542 right, and her son changed this rule. But he had 10 kids and 4 sons, he could afford it. Not every royal generation was that lucky. :-/
@@ekaterinasmirnova6700 yes It makes me so sad that Romanov offspring didn't become a next monarch. It would be a blessing for my family to live in poverty with no rights for a few more generations. Hate communism for making my peasant great grandpa a lawyer and great grandma a pedeatris and giving their kids a life. Wouldn't it be cool if they stayed in their huts eating dirt with no access to medicine, education etc? Really excites me. Therefore Romanovs girl could build another castle and remain the richest person on the earth. Truly a shame. I so hate communism for it.
King George should have at least taken in the children, if not Alexandra as well.
Fun Fact: in the Southern Victory; Nicholas II actually Survive.
At least the princesses.
He did actually, but he was pressured by parliament to with withdraw it in fears of what was happening in Russia & Germany would happen in England. IMO, I don't think the English would of done it. But even during that time, there was heavy anti-german, and Alix was german born unlike the king who just had german ancestry. It's hard to say what what of happened to Alix or even if Prince Albert Victor would of survived to what he would of done. Many people think he would of not changed the family name unlike his brother, but made the people understand, he was English and loved England more than anything.
@@wuverrabbit It's A real tragic that the Monarchies around Europe and China fell.
@@savagedarksider5934 Southern victory!? Where the hell was Sherman!?
I’ve done so much research on their children, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei...I get chills whenever I read about how they were murdered. Researching them felt like getting to know a new friend and seeing how they died is like that friend being ripped away from you. RIP Olga,Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei, you deserved so much better.
RIP
It's always, always heartbreaking. 💔
Yes. And they are saints in the Orthodox Church
Unbridled brats have been murdered. There is really no one to lament here.
@@marcinbelka1868 Why do you keep commenting that no matter hope bratty you think they might have been no child deserves to be so brutally killed
I read in Helen Rappaport’s book about the four sisters that if Alexei died young from complications from his hemophilia, then Nicholas was seriously considering changing the laws to make it that girls can inherit the throne, so Olga could rule.
Imagine if that had happened instead...
The Revolution would have still happened, but I feel like it would have been less bloody.
If I know and remember correctly, they were so hopelessly devoted to the idea of making out alive of the confinement that when he saw how depressed and nostalgic was Olga, he then thought that instead of reforming the law for her to be empress, it would be Tatiana's right. They truly did thought they were going to make it out of it and it breaks my heart so much
What’s the title of that book, shelbypink1?
@@ChibiProwl It's called The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport
I get that Tsar Nicholas was bad and all. And Alexandra wasn’t much better (Kind of like a Marie Antoinette Situation,) but killing the children was just wrong. Utterly disgusting.
@Eleanor of Aquitane Heyyyyy.
I agree. They didn't ask to be born in the Romanov family and they didn't do anything wrong.
Edit: Wow, I've never got more than 1 or 3 likes, thanks you 💓🥰.
Agreed but they were royals and could have reclaimed the throne. They were also witnesses to the killings and could I.d. the shooter. Lennin wanted no witnesses left.
Lenin wanted revenge for his brother’s death and no witnesses.
They did the best the best they could. Nicholas was young and taken advantage of by his advisors. They never stood a chance.
It's a silly detail, but it has bothered me whenever I see a documentary with reenactments of the assassination scene in the cellar. It often depicts the girls with long hair down to their backs, as you often see them in portraits. But if they all had to shave their heads in 1917, by summer of 1918 they would only have like short bobs. I clearly read too many books on the subject that such small details really annoy me.
@@AbrahamLincoln4 I saw that one with subtitles once I believe. Good on them. Thanks Lincoln
@@DominiqueNoel0 You're welcome. unlike other documnetaries Ive seen, seeing them bond together like a normal family and then seeing them get shot only to see their lifeless corpses near the end with blood everywhere is really horrifying. First you just see them doing normal human reflexes yawning, looking at eachother in funny ways, then the next you see them lying in a pool of blood with lifeless expressions on their faces.
Not silly, thanks for sharing that actually
Yep that would be more realistic but i think the depictions just show the family according to how they look like from their family portraits and public appearances so that the public can instantly understand the visual.
it was only at the end there that i realized i read a book about it a long time ago. so sad what happened to them, they didn't ask for any of it, least of all the children
I just realized WWI was mostly a family feud 😂😂
It absolutely was a war of cousins in my opinion.
Now that you mention it 😂
WW1 wasn’t called that until much later. It was commonly called The Great War but iirc I’ve read sources which have said it was also called The Cousin’s War.
True! 😅
🤣
As much as I absolutely hate what was done to them, they were highly reckless and unprepared as the Tsar and Tsarina.
Seriously, especially given the ruling style of the Russian royal family.
I agree however the times were also very against them to start with, no matter what they could have done it would have turned out bad
I concur.
It would have been a tough job, obviously, and both were shy, reserved, and clearly ill-suited for the job. Other docs say that if not for the kids getting measles, and Alexandra being reluctant to make them travel while sick, they might have gotten out of Russia before things turned ugly.
Well, Nicholas’ father Alexander III never taught Nicholas how to be tsar. So it kinda falls upon Alexander’s shoulders, if Alexander had taught Nicholas what he should’ve been doing it is very likely Nicholas’ rule would have been so much better possibly not even end in the revolution
RIP Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei.These beautiful children were innocent and did not have to die. It is a pity that their parents did not agree to take them abroad when there was still time.
I know, these poor children had no relations to the situation and didn’t deserve to be killed brutally
@@KHowardishereandthefunsbegun I read that after the outbreak of World War I, many Royals took their children abroad to keep them safe. I think if Nicholas and Alexandra had also allowed their kids to leave, they might have live after the revolution. They might have tried to get them out of Russia even later, the children had nothing to do with their parents' policies and were innocent. It was not because of them that the war or the revolution broke out.
@@eugeniapapuc5842 i hope you know that the men that murdered the Romanovs - the Bolsheviks were some of the most evil men in history right? the Bolsheviks killed 200 000 innocent people in 5 years
this is the only way to eliminate royalty. duh. you have to kill the heirs.
@@soccergod9149 So what? During their 300 years of rule, the Romanovs killed millions of people and children. I hope you are not justifying the crimes of the dynasty through the prism of the Bolsheviks.
I'm a historian and the Romanov family was my focus. Yes, they were woefully unprepared to rule, but Nicholas frequently told his family he did not wish to be Tsar. But regardless, Nicholas and Alix loved each other so much. They loved their children.
Their problem was refusing to compromise and be a constitutional monarchy instead of stubbornly trying to keep it as autocratic, had Nicholas agreed to that and Alix encouraged him they may not have been overthrown. They didn't deserve to die the way they did but they also didn't help themselves either especially with Alix's reliance on Rasputin anyone could see he was a quack but she point blank refused to hear a bad word against him and look what happend
Nicholas did all the could to retain power.
He could've abdicated earlier, and he might've been spared.
Yes...parents love their children...that is a non comment.
He should have waited till his family was save.
What kind of propaganda have you been studying?
Nicholas was perfectly suited to be Emperor. Because he wanted only good things for Russians and other European peoples, instead of war. He wanted unity, and he knew international elements were deceiving European people's to fight each other.
He wasn't prepared for war because he never wanted it.
I know what I'm talking about because my whole family history is centered around fighting the red enemy and my family members defended the white government. I lost many members of my family to the communist monsters.
It’s sad how they not only infantilized their four daughters but basically didn’t let them have their own identity. They were looked upon as a group instead of individuals. That also led to serious codependency to both their parents and sisters to an unhealthy degree. Olga and Tatiana were both adults still dressed like their little sisters when they were killed.
Alexandra always looks so sad ,like she knew of impending doom
well she never smiled, thats why the russian people perceived her as cold.
she had lots of sufferings since she was just a young girl. That affected her adulthood and her life as a Tsarina. That's why she felt so uncomfortable being out in the public because she felt vulnerable. The only place she could be at peace was with her family and her home in Alexander Palace which most nobles at that time thought to be too basic for a palace.
She had sciatica
Up until her mother, Queen Victoria's daughter, died when Alix was quite young, she was nicknamed Sunny for her sunny personality. After her mother died she became much more subdued and melancholy. She also had a brother who died of bleeding after falling from a second story window. So she was aware of this family genetic illness -- hemophilia. She also became more religious. She turned inward, depending only on her family members -- Nicky and her children. And once Alexei was found to have the family "curse" her life became totally focused on keeping him safe and well. She felt very guilty for causing his condition (what mother would not?) and it ate into her over the years, leading to early aging and constant stress and psychosomatic illnesses; she also had sciatica. However, during WW1 she, Olga, Tatiana and her friend Anna Vyrubova became nurses and spent a great deal of time at the hospitals, assisting in the worst sort of operations on men's genitalia, etc. So she was seemingly able to set aside her aches and pains and work selflessly for others. That was commendable but I don't think by that time the press would have been able to put a good face on her efforts; by this time the press was printing the most scurrilous stuff about her and Rasputin, none of which was true.
You’re only as happy as your saddest child:
" Her brother had a hemophilia, BUT FELT from a window " Sounds like someone didn't want to see him on the throne at some point
Yes this is literally the first thing I said 😬
No because Friedrich was younger than Ernest Louis
“Oops”
He was a toddler and the windows probably had very low sills. We who have had babies know that all it takes is a split second for an accident like that to happen. And with hemophilia, any internal bleeding he suffered would have been quickly fatal.
@@virginiasoskin9082 he was probably surrounded by lots of caregivers, I doubt he would have been left alone enough time for him to fall by himself
I have always found the Romanovs interesting historical figures. I always feel like there is a lot of stuff you could do with them in terms of creative media. I have always wanted Doctor Who to feature a story based around them. like it is not too much of a stretch for them to make Rasputin be an alien. It's just fascinating learning about them I dunno why but i find Russian history really interesting.
I agree. I'd like to see a Doctor Who episode too.
I'm surprised there's no sort of sentimental drama about OTMA, a little like Little Women, with more deaths of course...
One of the early Dr. Who portrayals was by actor Tom Baker, who did an excellent turn as Rasputin in the 1971 film "Nicholas and Alexandra" with Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman and Laurence Olivier. Pretty good film based on Robert K. Massie's book.
They're like the real life fairytale royals .....but they didn't have a happy ever after. It is like a real life tragedy.
Ooh a new who episode on Rasputin wld be v cool
This makes me so sad, they seemed like such a strong family who truly loved each other and just happened to be born into a very stressful job. Nikolai was no great Tsar but his family didn't deserve to die that way
I didn't realize how in love she was with her husband. I had always assumed it was an arranged marriage.
Oh no, not an arranged marriage. Nicky had his eye on Alix when she was just 12 and in Russia for her sister Ella's wedding. They were terribly in love their entire lives right to the very end. Nicky's parents were NOT happy with his decision to marry Alix. They did not like her. She was so shy and did not take well to the social demands of being a tsaritsa. While the dowager empress was very sociable and talked to everyone, this was very difficult for Alix just because of her nature; she did not know much Russian at first, and if she made a small mistake in etiquette she felt ashamed, would blush furiously and retire at the first available moment. The dowager felt Alix was not carrying out her duties well, and for this she scorned her. The dowager empress always butted heads with her and didn't even want to give up the jewels that traditionally were given to any new tsaritsa. Nicky finally demanded them for Alix and his mother acquiesced. In any formal parade or carriage situation, the dowager empress rode in a carriage FIRST, then Alix in a second coach. Nicky usually rode on horseback beside the carriage. In processions, Nicky escorted his mother and Alix came behind. That was the strict precedence. If you ever see the painting of Nicholas and Alexandra's coronation, a spotlight effect is placed on Marie -- she is bright white and shining and Nicky and Alix under normal lighting. That shows where the painter's loyalties lay! heh-heh.....
Me too, I also thought this was an arranged marriage due to Alix being German and might be also be a tool for a future Russo-German alliance
So tragic.
I think they would have made a splendid ordinary family as private citizens. Alas, as tsar and tsaritsa, love is not the crucial ingredient, talent to rule is.
So tragic. They probably met their fate because they were beautifully in love. If they had married into better political alliances, history might have been different.
Alix and Nicholas were not bad people, they just did not have the capability to rule such a vast empire and with their continuous belief in the absolute power of the monarchy nothing could have prevented their downfall with or without Rasputin
Calling Nicholas a good person or just clueless is a stretch. I’m sorry but he had the power to help his people and did nothing. He stood by in luxury and idleness when it was his literal job to protect his people. I realize he was probably not a malignant person but doing nothing while innocent people are hurt is the definition of a bad person
@@phantomoftheoperatic1753 That’s because he was under the impression that nothing was wrong and the people were happy. You seem to forget that he was manipulated into doing what his advisers wanted because they played off the fact that his father never taught him how to be a ruler. Of course they weren’t going to tell him the truth of the Russian peoples feelings towards the monarchy or the political situation in Russia. You’re blaming the victim, not the guilty party.
werent they anti semitic?? at the very least they allowed pogroms
@Lupita Ortiz Nicholas may have been, but Alexandra wasn’t, she even warned Nicholas that God would punish them for the mistreatment of the Jews.
@@destinyclark4133 Alexandra was as anti-Semitic as he was. In addition, she hated democracy and believed that the Russians needed a hard-handed rule. It was family across Europe who warned them to stop pogroms and change their approach to government. Anti-Semitism was the official policy of the Romanovs. Due to their persecution, thousands of Jews had to leave the country or were murdered in brutal pogroms.
Alix's strong character may have contributed on her downfall. Her inability to listen to other who have advised her early on fell on deaf ears. In addition, I've read that she didn't encourage her husband to form a govt to rule on behalf of them. Ultimately their failure to move in with the times contributed to their downfall.
It seems to me its more about Nikolais inability to give up his "birthright". Ego goes a long way. Too bad, they were such a nice, loving family.
I don't think she had a strong character, just a resolutely stubborn one.
@@zzzbbbooo Exactly! Her stubborness and insisting on having her own way and refusing to compromise was her downfall and she badly advised her husband. Even Queen Victoria tried to explain and advise her to win the people and Alix dismissed it
I think it was Maria and Alexei’s bodies that were separated from their family. They await burial until today.
I was going to make a comment with this exact correction however I’m glad someone else pointed it out 🤔
Also iirc their bodies have been buried along side the rest of their family?
@@sofiekaterina No. The Bishop and government refuse.
@@blissinchains ahh thanks for the correction. I’ll have to do a bit of googling it seems. Odd that they would refuse.
@@sofiekaterina they refuse because the bishops believe they're still alive and that the bodies found isn't them.
@@themage1114 But DNA proved it was the two Romanov children. In fact, it was proved by several different specialists in different countries.
Interestingly, The Tsar almost died before in the 1890s. on his tour in Japan a Japanese policeman drawed his Katana and slashed the Tsar in the forehead. In Japan The Tsar also got a tattoo. It was a chinese dragon xD. Search up the Otsu incident. After his attack he underestimated the Japanese. he called them feminine and short and viewed them as racially inferior. This mindset costed him the Russo-Japanese war.
I guess the tsar needed to watch naruto lol . No offence though, just a passing weebo. :)
The Tsar was a very unlucky man he was called a girl by his dad and was told to go away to Japan by his father and of course he got hit in the head with a Katana
@@dacorn1777 oof 😣, that’s sad .
@@Aparajitha... Feel free to call him *Scar Nicholas.*
If you search online, you can find a couple of photos of the tattoo.
I think this is the only time one of Lindsay's videos have made me cry. I'm still wiping the tears
Hi my friend❤
@@catherineofaragonqueencons4505 Hello
The background music playing while you spoke was delightful.
Like a smooth Russian ballet piece
Wow, this is a full-blown, high-quality documentary apparently put together by a single person. Excellent work and I’m looking forward to catch up to the rest of this channel’s videos.
Me too. I love her videos. I’m glad I stumbled upon her channel.
Honestly, I understand a mother's love and determination to save her child but Rasputin really was a liability to the dynasty and caused an extremely avoidable and unnecessary downfall.
Unnecessary? Bruh. It was tragic but NECESSARY for the horrible monarchy to end.
@@phantomoftheoperatic1753 even killing the children was 'necessary'?
It was very necessary if you ever considered the lives of the millions of Russians suffering under Tsarist rule. Rasputin was a twit alright but you have to blame the Tsar and Alexandra for being so blind-sighted and ignorant as well.
@@justanothermortal1373 sure, because Lenin was so much better.
@@justanothermortal1373 He wasn't better, but it doesn't change anything. During the reign of Nicholas and Alexandra, almost all Russians were illiterate and had no access to education at all. There was terrible poverty and hunger. On top of that, they were terrible anti-Semites. They killed several thousand Jews in pogroms, and 2 million left Russia because of persecution. They had to end their rule, one way or another. It is a pity that the Bolsheviks came later.
That family is a rabbit hole. I'm still discovering new things about them.
Same!
I often wonder how events would have played out if Alexei didn't have hemophilia. there would have been no Rasputin, the boy would have been healthy and more visible, the tsar and his family likely moe popular, and the final sequence of events might have been avoided. the kids did not deserve to die.
Even if Alexis didn't have heamophilia, there still existing the myriad of problems faced by Russia, and Nicholas' bad judgement and intractability. Heamophilia did not cause Khodynka Field, the disastrous Russo-Japanese War, the 1905 Revolution...
what would ve happened if the firstborn rule had included women...alexei s hemophilia would ve been inconsequential because the spotlight would ve been away from him; plus they were good but incapable of ruling, Olga for how young she was seemed to be way more ready than her parents. If the firstborn rule hadnt been changed for the englishes there wouldnt be an english monarchy anymore.
It always blows my mind that the Romanov murders was relatively recent.
From the murder of the Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to the murder of the Romanovs was 125 years.
To us it seems so long but to them it was also relatively recent.
I agree that 103 years since the murder of the Romanovs seem not very long ago.
I think Nikolai's and Alexandra's story is so cute. They really did love eachother. Its just a sad thing that genes pass on randomly. Alexei had to suffer because of that.
Not randomly..they were related which made it more likely to pass on genetic defects
execution so cute innit?
I wouldn't say it's Random. Queen Victoria herself was a carrier of haemophilia, which passed down to two of her daughter's (Alice and Beatrice) . Alexandra was the daughter of Alice whom she inherited the haemophilia carrier gene from. And of course, marrying her cousin didn't improve the situation one bit.
To be honest, I feel awful for her. She didn't choose to be a carrier.
She only wanted her son to be healthy and continued blaming herself.
I wish them the best in heaven.
Not very good rulers 😬 but a sweet little family.
I feel like they were going to have a bad ending no matter what. the people of Russian were not happy with the government. the royal family could have been doing a lot of things for the people and changed a lot of laws but at the end of the day, the people just didn't want a monarchy anymore. and Alix and her family had to pay that price.
the problems for the Romanovs started with Nicholas' father. When Nicholas' grandfather was murdered he was going to change things in Russia but because he was murdered his son wanted nothing to do with the changes. And it seems he never taught Nicholas how to be Tsar. It's a tragedy all around for the family and the Russian people.
@@karenkratzer7036 It's the same for Louis XVI. both weren't ready to rule.
Totally agree with you! No matter what the Tsar did or did not do, they were going to fall. His decisions didn't help, their relationship with Rasputin, among others. But the Romanovs were going to fall by inside and outside interests. Maybe the way they died was very tragic, but that's the fascination about this family.
Google Alexander Kerenskiy and Provisional Government
the people are actually ok with the monarchy until Bloody Sunday happened
Rasputin's death was so crazy, if they filmed it for a TV show people would say it was bad writing
Tsar Nicholas II and King George V looked so alike as they were twins.When Tsar Nicholas II and his family were in Ekaterinburg George V tried to save them but were thwarted by the House of Commons.
I think except for eye color maybe?
But all were shot under the orders of Vladimir Lenin who had this deep hatred and resentment for the Romanovs because his brother was killed by Alexander III.Therefore when the Bolsheiviks seized power in the aftermath of the Revolution the fate if Tsar Nicholas II,his wife Alexandra Fedorovna,their four daughters,Olga Tatiana,Marie,Anastasia and the heir apparent Alexis were sealed.Lenin made it sure that the whole family was exterminated and that came in the early wee hours of 17 July 1918.
One of the most fascinating times in Russian history. The Romanov’s are so fascinating but at the same time, steeped in so much tragedy. Tragedy for their family, their country and their people.
One of the most fascinating time's in the Russian history ??? omg 🤦
@@vladspb1861 Dark times can be fascinating…🤷🏻♀️
If the Russian royalty would of survived, they would of been one of the prettiest monarchs ever.
True and spain comes in second
I wonder if it has anything to do with their avoidance of inbreeding? The English royal family is very unattractive historically, and they were all about inbreeding.
@@SarahLiz30 Inbreeding did indeed affect the looks, we learned it from the school. Tho England was not the only country whos royalty inbreed.
People need to also remember that neither Nicholas nor Alexandra (or anyone else for that matter) expected Alexander III to die so soon.
Nicholas also did not want to be Tsar. As a second son, he was not really prepared to be king.
@@BonnieDragonKat Same for Louis XVI.
@@BonnieDragonKat Nicholas was the eldest. You might be talking about his father Alexander III, who was a second son until the death of HIS brother also named Nicholas (who probably would've been Nicholas II had he succeeded their father). Other than that, You're definitely right about Nicholas II not wanting the job and knowing that he wasn't prepared.
Yes, they expected another 20 years out of Alexander III; which would have meant Nicky would have been about 46 when becoming tsar. Instead, he was just 26 or so. Nicholas was a true gentleman, was fit to be a country squire really. He didn't want to be a tsar at all. He was shy and did not like confrontation with his ministers. He worked hard all day long but evenings were usually reserved for family and relaxation. I often imagine what he would have had to do to avoid a revolution. For starters, institute a Duma that he would NOT dissolve when they did something he did not like, free and fair elections, universal K-12 type education, as much higher education as possible for all groups including Jews, foreign investment....there is a Singer Building on a corner of Nevsky Prospekt, that was of Singer sewing machines. There were foreign companies already coming to pre-revolutionary Russia but they needed much, much more. Massive infrastructure improvements -- better roads, dams, mines; even something as basic as putting their RR on the same gauge as European. Russian gauge was smaller so when trains from Russia wanted to enter Europe all the cargo had to be transferred to European train cars. Such needless hassle just because someone made an uninformed decision about train gauge!
@@BonnieDragonKat He was not a king, he was emperor because Russia was not a nation but an empire. Same with Queen Victoria, she was actually an empress. Once England gave up all their colonies and territories, that monarch became Queen, no longer empress of India, for example.
Nikolai was soooo attractive, like damn.
Bruhhh 😂 Now they need to find an actor that is just as good looking to play a better live action “The Romanovs”
Right?! And yet Alexandra cheated on him with that nasty looking Rasputin. Like 😳😳
right? if that rasputin rumor is true, what even was she thinking lol
@@fairsuns It is not true, it was just propaganda to discredit the empress. Communists also claimed Alexandra's lady in waiting Anna Demidova was Rasputin's lover and it turned out she was a virgin when they examined her during the revolution.
R Kaz She didn't those rumours were spread since they spend so much time together due to Alexeis hemophilia
Tbh I feel bad for her and her family. I mean Her husband was a bad king I get that, but why did they have to kill her and her kids? They didn't deserve it :/
They didn’t. But it’s understandable why they killed them
Jennie W I mean that's true. If they let the kids live they could have claimed the thrown, and another rebellion could break out. But still it's very sad
Marcin Belka bruh how could you say that? Say what you want about Alexandra and Nicholas but The kids did NOT deserve to get murdered
@@animelover7846 Children living in the luxury of other people's hard work cannot be called victims. Think of thousands of children like themselves murdered by their parents' selfishness and tyranny. Then consider who the children raised in such a family will be.
@@animelover7846 actually, they were hardly kids. The younger ones were 13 and 17. Majority of age in Russia at that time was 16. So just Alexei was "a kid".
There’s a show on Netflix about the Romanovs if anyone is interested! I think it’s called The Last Tsar (unsure about spelling)
Really good show
Last Czars. It is really good!
Seen it and I really like the recreations the actors are really good
I don't recommend it. It is an awful show 😓.
@@selensoycan8378 Agreed, it's so historically inaccurate, and I absolutely hate how they implied that the affectionate, but still deeply religious Maria was in a sexual relationship with one of the guards.
Julia Gelardi wrote a great book 'Born to Rule' about the granddaughters of Queen Victoria. A powerful and a comprehensive bio of 5 of Victoria's granddaughters, Alix (Alexandra) of Russia, Maria of Romania, Victoria Eugenie of Spain, Maud of Norway and Sophie of the Hellenes.
The story of the Romanov family is such a tragic and intriguing one, I really do enjoy any and all content about them, and this is just the video I was looking for, Alexandra is such fascinating character and her life was marred by so much tragedy in places, and it was so clear to see how much she loved her family.
Such a tragedy! It was a bad match from the beginning….Alix and Nicolas were both immature. If his father hadn’t died so young at 49, I believe history would have been so much different. Alix refused to take advice from her mother in law and it contributed to her downfall. The children were smothered by their parents….all the girls should have been married or sent to university….Alix was selfish….the children would have survived if their parents has any common sense.
truly one of the saddest stories of the 20th century
Not ww 1 or the Holocaust?
@@annacbrown1986 did you not read the “one of” part
And yes I saw one I agree
Tsarina Alexandra Feodrovna Romanov of Russia in a nutshell
Rasputin: Do this
Alexandra and Nicholas: Ok
When WW1 comes
Rasputin: Do not declare war the end will come
Alexandra and Nicholas: HELL NO
In the afterlife years later
Alexandra and Nicholas: I regretted
OTMA and Alexis: Yes yes you did it
Alex and Nicolai were so good looking! .... and Grandma Victoria was right to worry about the safety of her grand daughter :(
Also for the Queens of the world series you should do Carlota of Mexico, Maria Carolina of Austria or Maire Leszczynska
Nicholas and Alexandra loved each other so much, I want to have love like theirs. The kind where you still call each other cute nicknames even after decades of marriage, they were so lucky there. I love reading their letters to each other. Alexandra actually became fluent in Russian and sometimes used that language with her children, but other than that she rarely spoke or wrote in Russian except to people who didn’t know any other language. Her beautiful rooms in the Alexander Palace are being restored, as are those of Nicholas.
"A little conflict that would be known as World War One"
Am I the only one who find that despicable and disrespectful?
It is believed that the last two bodies are Alexi and Maria. These two bodies gave NOT been buried with the family yet.
tragic
what why!
taliab even though there is enough genetic evidence proving that the bodies are Alexei and Maria, the Russian Orthodox Church is veeeeeerrrry strict and has not yet recognized them as the actual bodies, so they have not yet been buried with the rest of their family
That's so sad!
@20180047 MARASIGAN CYRIL ANN PUERTOLLANO they don’t believe it’s actually them idk why tho maybe because they were found in 2007 when the rest of the family was founded in the 90s
Wow... Alexandra was an amazing caring loving mom. I wish her and her children didn't have to die like that. p.s. I love your videos.
She used to let that pervert Rasputin be in her daughters bedroom. I wouldn't tell he molested them
Yeah a “amazing” mom who literally let a RAPIST to “cure” Alexei, god knows if Alexei was sexually assaulted by Rasputin. Thus Rasputin had acces to HER KIDS BEDROOMS. Doesn’t this worry a person who has the parenting responsibility?
She was average at most. She didn’t care too much about her daughters compared to her son. Personally, I think it is a bit crappy that she alway made big deals out of the health issues and how she would make sure her kids know it and must give her certain treatments. The girls were always walking on eggshells around her in their later teen years.
the story of their family will forever break my heart...far from perfect but they were a loving family
Yes it is so disturbing and shocking. I have read the history of many countries and people but this one really broke 😭 my heart. For 2 days I've been watching the videos of Russian Revolution and the Tsarist Russia. Although I knew some of that history but when I discovered this story after watching this video and a 1996 movie Rasputin, then I came to know that saddest part of the history. Those were so beautiful, lovely and innocent children. The love of Tsar for his wife and children and the videos of those lovely children playing with each other really touched my heart. Till the end those ideal parents did everything for the comfort of their vulnerable children. How divine their relationship was!
Their story is so sad, and something to be studied by this generation. I didn't learn about them and the complexity of their situation until college. So amazing and heartbreaking all the bad moves they made, the manipulating others did to prey on them, etc. It was a perfect (read: terrible) storm that undid them. In another time, they would have been happy.
The Romanov's just didn't have a ghost of a chance from the very beginning. It seems like the dominos started falling in Alix & Nicky's teens - then again, you can't tell your heart who to love either. 😔 Not training Nicholas for Czardom from infancy was a huge mistake for his papa. 💔
His father saw Nicholas as a lost cause, that's why he probably didn't teach him anything. I wonder if he knew that Russia would go down with Nicholas.
@@joseeduardotschen9186 oh dear. That's sad
When Nicholas was an infant, his grandfather Alexander II was still on the throne. Alexander III did not come to the throne until Nicholas was almost 13, in 1881 when Alexander II was assassinated.
@@joseeduardotschen9186 He did try to teach his son; at his finance minister Witte's urging, he was made chairmen of a famine relief committee, as well as a member of the Council of Ministers; Nicholas never applied himself. One problem was at the time Alexander III was relatively young; no one expected him to die at 49 years of age.
Reading the history of the reign of Nicholas II, and seeing so many mistakes made, often at the last minute, and not just by Nicholas, I am sometimes led to believe their fate was predetermined.
I love the fashions of Victorian era.. the dresses the gowns.. the corsets.. ball gowns.. princesses and prince.. they look like a dolls wearing a Victorian dresses..
Right? Though the era is mostly associated with being sexually repressed, I find their fashion somewhat romantic and ethereal.
My favorite Fashion Victorian era are the 1860s (because of the bonnets and the puffy skirt) and the 1890s (because I love how the hats and the clothes are).
Sure if you were th top 1% you could have all these beautiful tight dresses
@@christinacatalano the victorian age was an age of hypocrisy. Everyone said one thing and was having sex behind closed doors
YAASSS I was waiting for this
me too !! :-)
Me as well
A correction. It was not Anastasia that was missing but Maria.
And they still have yet to be reunited with the family in burial.
It is controversial which girl was missing. DNA confirmed all were romanovs, but DNA itself cannot identify which is which. The Russians believe Maria to be the missing one. Americans believe Anastasia to be missing. Officially Maria is missing as the Russians have the last say. However the Americans do make a compelling case for why they think Anastasia was the missing one. Not that any of it really matters as all the sisters ultimately died. Perhaps they should bury both sisters together with their inscriptions together to avoid potentially burying each sister under the wrong name.
@@jamiemohan2049 l
According to this listing of burials in Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral, all five children are buried with their parents. I took photos when visiting the room where they are buried, and each family member, including Alexei and Maria, has a marble plaque noting their burial there: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Burials_at_Saints_Peter_and_Paul_Cathedral,_Saint_Petersburg
I’ve been reading quite a bit about the fall of the Tsar in Russia, so was happy to see this post. Everything I’ve seen so far points to this not being a horrible reigning monarch. Nicolai’s father seemed much harsher and cruel than he himself. Often wonder if the British king regretted his decision.
I guess Nicolai was very wrong king for that difficult time period. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't decisive enough, he wasn't smart enough, and he was pretty reckless. Maybe at different time, it would have been ok, but with two wars, potential revolution and overall situation in the country, he was doomed to fail.
I think he was deeply sorry.
@@kogotokLenok I sort of feel like he would have been good at literally any other station in life, just not being a king.
I once read it haunted him forever
Yes, the British king did regret the decision, which was made by a British courtier and presented to the king for his approval. It was couched in terms of, "we have been hearing that the British public is getting restive about royals and would like to chuck them out like other royal families were being done away with all over Europe." So in terms of preserving his own royal family, George denied the tsar asylum. Later though, I think he tried to make up for that by sending a British cruiser to Crimea where about 65 royals escaped including the dowager empress, Nicholas' sister Xenia and her children, Nicholasha and more. They had fled to their Crimean palaces to get as far away from the Reds as they could but as the Reds arrived they were more or less held under house arrest until they were finally able to depart along with box after box of personal effects from paintings to jewels. A very close call. Read the book, "The Russian Court at Sea" for how this came about. I think the author is Frances Welch....something like that.
Whenever I am reminded of the children's deaths, I can't help but try and think about what their last moments were like. They knew that the Empire was slowly falling apart, what were their feelings towards it? What did they feel when the Bolsheviks read out Nicholas's death sentence? Fear? Sadness? Anger? Uncertainty? Hysteria? Olga was the only one of the children that knew how much deep shit they were truly in, even stated in this video that she was closest to her father. Olga was in a way carrying the same weight on her shoulders as Nicholas was. I am a believer in spiritual/residual energy, I can't help but imagine the families' souls hovering over their lifeless corpses and watching with distain how their bodies were treated after death. Their souls must have had some sort of relief knowing that they were finally found after so many decades and finally put to rest and eulogized as Saints.
RIP to the romanovs, no matter how you feel about Nicholas, Alexandra or the dynasty as a whole, NO ONE deserves to die in that fashion.
From the many books I have read about them, Nicholas and Alexandra were simply overwhelmed by the needs of this nation becoming a modern one, with factories, public school education for all just starting up, and communications so slow, and the machinery of government moving so terribly slowly -- mind you there was only ONE set of RR rails from far east to west and the rails were a different gauge from the rest of Europe, which made for lots of unloading of cars and reloading -- change of any kind took FOREVER -- and also on a personal level, they were overwhelmed by Alexei's condition. Nicholas had a fatalistic streak and thought he was singled out to have a hard time in life. He had NO training --his father was responsible for NOT training Nicholas for governing (he figured he had a good 20 years to do so, but ended up dying of kidney disease at 49), and this kept Nicholas to some extent infantilized. His father also called him a girlie, insinuating that he was weak and vacillating. This did not build up Nicholas' confidence so he became tsar of this ponderous huge nation of many faiths, ethnicities and languages. What with ppl the world over wanting a voice in ruling their nations, with kingdoms falling, the Romanov dynasty was simply on a crash course to destruction. WW 2 made the process even faster. Nicholas had hoped the Reds would have let him retire to Livadia, their Crimean palace. He would have been quite happy as a country squire, but it was not to be. The Reds would have eventually come for him anyway, as they did for ALL the noble family members like the Trubetskoys and Sheremetevs. Stalin hounded them all, shot them, stole their property and killed them all off. Russia in the 1900s was just a horrible place to exist. And to some extent it still is. Your life is not your own there.
@@virginiasoskin9082 ww1 not 2 brother
hearing Nikolai's diary entry was so sweet for a few moments but then hit me like bricks knowing what happens to them later
Wow, I've never been interested in Russian history but this was fascinating
If this has captured your interest read Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert Massie. That book originally got me interested in the imperial family decades ago. Since then I have had an abiding interest in all things Romanov and Russian (I am American). Another good one is Former People by Douglas Smith, a look at three noble families and what happened to their members during and after the revolution and under Stalin. Pretty horrific. Also any books by Helen Rappaport or Charlotte Zeepvat are top notch.
This story makes me so sad 😥 they made that family trust them. Cowards. I can only imagine Nicholas II heartbreak when he realize what was about to happen to his wife and his children 😔
When I was little, I was obsessed with the family bc of the animated movie Anastasia. As I got older this obsession translated into numerous papers and research projects I did in high school and the first couple years at my first university. I was also even more obsessed with Titanic bc of the movie as well lol the same happened, many a project and paper abt the tragic event as I got older.
This similar to me except I had my Titanic phase first 😅 I’ve always loved learning about history but I have a strange fascination with the tragedies. I’m also currently doing a paper on the romanovs for school right now
@@sourfrog21 tbh my titanic obsession was first as well LOL I used to watch it every day sometimes multiple times in a day since I was 3 (I'm 28 now) when my mom brought home the double VHS 🤣 she ended up hating that movie, I can still quote it and watch it as much as humanly possible lmaoo I love history as well, I watch a lot of videos like this and listen to a lot of history podcasts (my fave is "you must remember this" abt old hollywood) I had a lot of interest in WWII as well. I have always been in love with history too! Took a lot of all kinds of history classes in college, it was super interesting! I sadly missed the classes for the Romanovs tho 😭
It’s kind of nuts how much Nikolai really did look like George V.
They could have passed for non-identical twins, or at the very least brothers.
Alexandra and Nicholas were terrible rulers but they made a great family. They loved and cared for their children and did everything they could to protect them from the consequences of their own mistakes it just wasn't enough in the end. Plus, unlike many other royal families throughout history, this was a marriage formed from love instead of a simple arrangement. I find their story fascinating and I don't think any of them deserve the death they got
If this isn't the best history channel on youtube I don't know what is. One of the few channels on youtube I get ridiculously excited when I see a new video 😍
I understand the tsar and tsarina made some bad choices during their rein, but killing those innocent, beautiful children was just horrible, and I get chills whenever I think about their death. RIP Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexi
Nicholas was a weak ruler and easily influenced and Alexandra did herself no favours either relying on Rasputin and his advice when he knew fuck all about ruling. Even Queen Victoria tried to persuade Alix to try and win the Russian people and she refused to listen.
Just when I was thinking "ugh, what am I going to watch?" You save the day! 🤣
7:11 Olga's face Is the One I do when My mom asks me What I want to eat
Lol maybe that's how they got her to stay still?
Maybe she's doing an impression of her great granny. 😁
xD
Omg🤣
As popular as this family is, I've had never heard their story with so much detail. Thank you Lindsay 🙌🏼💕
I'm really sorry but " queen" in Russian is " tsaritsa " , there is no such word as tsarina. But her status was higher, she was empress.
Same in serbian. Queen=краљица, empress=царица
I don't know what it is about pictures of Rasputin but it always feels like he SEES you. Like he can see your soul. It's hard to explain, & could be explained away by the contrast of the images or even the mysticism of his life's story... But it's so different than the other images of people looking at the camera. I mean, look at the pictures of Nikolai looking at the camera: his eyes feel dull, empty, unseeing, dead... but Rasputin's eyes are piercing, alive, seeing, knowing... it's crazy!
I've been obsessed with the Romanovs for most of my life. This was the episode I was waiting for.
I knew you were going to talk about this at some point and i'm so so so glad you did i love this channel because it shares my love for history especially royal history and this subject fascinates me the most and i know quite a lot about it but your channel explains it the best
I was sooo waiting for this. Thank you 🌸
OMG Lindsay!!! I was sooo waiting for you to do this one.. :)
Oooh hell yeah I have been requesting these for so long thank you 😭🧡🧡🧡🧡
This is the best version of the story I've seen. Thank you for this!
OMG yesterday I was thinking about how much I wanted a video about her! So happy! 😍
YESSS!!! OMG, I was looking forward for this video ! 🥰🥰🥰
Great Video! Very informative and an excellent summary of Alexandra and her family's life!
I love history and I enjoy your videos! Keep up the awesome work 👏
Yayy!! I've been waiting so long for this!
Such a beautiful and seemingly kind couple. So fascinating! I LOVE that she breastfed!! She did her thing despite Queen Victoria and that's quite remarkable
Yes she did what she wanted. Queen Victoria advised her to be more close to their people, but Alexandra responded that she didn't have to work for her people, that the people loved them no matter what. Lived in her bubble.
Was eagerly waiting for this!!
I exclaimed a YAY way too loud!!! 😀😀
That was so unexpected to see a bit of my country's history! Thanks for the video!
The colour restored photographs that you used are phenomenal! 💕
*I loved it!* 😊💜
*What a great job you have done!* 👍
So much of unheard information/facts I've learnt from your video!
You have my subscription for a lifetime♥️🙂👍
I was waiting for this amazing video. 💕❤️
Every video on world war 1 and the russian revolution always paints the people in charge in such a bad light, it's very refreshing to hear about the Tsarina and her family like this. Horrible things happend under Nikolai's and her reign, yes, but they were also people who loved their family, who were sad and happy, and made bad decisions, not because of bad intentions, but simply because they were human. It's a bittersweet story with an ending more tragic than any play
The image of Queen Victoria looking at and smiling at Alix is sooooo sweet. Adds personality charm
omg i’ve been waiting!!!
This video randomly came up in my feed, love it! Subscribed!
Also I thought that it was confirmed that Anastasia's remains were part of that first discovery, and that it was Maria and Alexei found in 2007. Also I thought that the remains of Maria and Alexei still being held in an archive. I looked it up and there's nothing about them being buried, but still being held.
Hm. Here is a complete list of who is buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral: ALL the kids (Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei) are listed and the photos I took of the room include a marble plaque for each child and their parents: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Burials_at_Saints_Peter_and_Paul_Cathedral,_Saint_Petersburg
The entire family has not been laid to rest. Alexei and Maria or Anastasia, depending on Russian and American scientists who can't agree which was found in the 2000s still remain in one of the Russian archives.
Thank you! I was searching for someone correcting this. As sad and horrible as it is, they have yet released the remains - it's so distasteful and I don't understand ONE BIT of why they don't release them.. even if there was doubt, it's been so immensely long, that there's a higher possibility that it IS them.. let them rest with their family :( this has always saddened me
I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Thanks for posting
Imagine getting crushed to death with 1,000+ other people over free coffee mugs and party food. :u
happens frequently on black friday in america
I find it funny like I saw a fat guy was getting squished like a elephant all because he tripped and and his last words was “Oohhh nooo” all because of a 25% off discount on a stupid switch. And some lady took it off of his corpse.
Imagine being so starved and desperate that you’d risk being crushed to death with 1,000+ others at the mere rumor the “party food” was running out.
those poor children, destroying their bodies was pure and absolute hate. That’s horrible.
Communism in a nutshell.
their story has always freaked me out. yes, they were catastrophically incompetent rulers and abolition of monarchy in russia was kind of inevitable by the time it happened but what was done to them is absolutely barbaric, even during the civil war.
Such a beautiful family. They really don't deserve this tragic ending. They really don't.
Beautiful and evil. At least the Tsar and Tsarina.