The Fall of the Romanovs: Political Dreams and Personal Struggles in a Time of Revolution

497 Pages·1997·24.854 MB·English

by  Mark D. Steinberg, Vladimir M. Khrustalev

ANNALS OF COMMUNISM
Each volume in the series Annals of Communism will publish selected and previ-
ously inaccessible documents from former Soviet state and party archives in the
framework of a narrative text that focuses on a particular topic in the history of
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Jonathan Brent, Yale University Press
AMERICAN EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Ivo Banac, Yale University Czeslaw Milosz, University of California
Jeffrey Burds, University of Rochester at Berkeley
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Fridrikh I. Firsov, Yale University Institute
Sheila Fitzpatrick, University of Chicago Daniel Orlovsky, Southern Methodist
Gregory Freeze, Brandeis University University
J, Arch Getty, University of California at Mark D. Steinberg, Yale University
Riverside Mark von Hagen, Columbia University
Robert L. Jackson, Yale University Piotr Wandycz, Yale University
L,eon Lipson, Yale University
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Preservation and Study of Documents Russian Federation (GARF)
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N. N. Bolkhovitinov, Russian Academy Preservation and Study of Documents
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A,. 0. Chubarian, Russian Academy of R. G. Pikhoia, State Archival Service of
Sciences the Russian Federation
V. P. Danilov, Russian Academy of A. N. Sakharov, Russian Academy of
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the Russian Federation Sciences
N. S. Lebedeva, Russian Academy of Ye. A. Tiurina, Russian State Archive of
Sciences the Economy (RGAE)
V. S. Leichuk, Russian Academy of General D. A. Volkogonov, adviser to
Sciences the president of the Russian
Federation
SERIES COORDINATOR, MOSCOW
N. P. Yakovlev
,fd
The of'the
.
Political Dreams and Personal Struggles
in a Time of Revolution
Mark D. Steinberg and
Vladimir M. Khrustalev
Russian documents translated by
Elizabeth Tucker
Yale University Press
New Haven and London
Published with the cooperation of the
State Archive of the Russian Federation.
Copyright 0 1995 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
Documents that are held by the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the Beinecke Rare
Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University, and the Houghton Library of Harvard
University are used with their permission.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and
except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.
Designed by James J. Johnson and set in Sabon Roman type by The Composing Room of
Michigan, Inc., Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America by Vail-Ballou Press, Binghamton, New York.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Steinberg, Mark D., 1953-
The fall of the Romanovs : political dreams and personal struggles
in a time of revolution / Mark D. Steinberg and Vladimir M.
Khrustalev ; Russian documents translated by Elizabeth Tucker.
p. cm. - (Annals of communism)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-?00-06557-4 (cloth: alk. paper)
o-~oo-o~o(p~bk~.:- a~lk . paper)
I. Nicholas 11, Emperor of Russia, 1868-1918-Last years-Sources.
2. Alexandra, Empress, consort of Nicholas 11, Emperor of Russia,
I 872.- 19I 8-Last years-Sources. 3. Russia-History-Nicholas 11,
1894-1917-Sources. 4. Russia-Kings and rulers-Biography-
Sources. 5. Soviet Union-History-Revolution, 19 17-192.1-Sources.
I. Khrustalev, Vladimir M. 11. Title. 111. Series.
DK2.58.S74 1995
947.08'3'092.2.-dczo
[Bl 95-477
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee
on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
Yale University Press gratefully acknowledges the financial
support given for this publication by the
William T. Morris Foundation
and by the
International Cultural Initiative Foundation 1
Open Society Institute, Moscow.

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments XV
Note on the Documents xvii
INTRODUCTION Nicholas and Alexandra,
an Intellectual Portrait
CHAPTER ONE Revolution
CHAPTER TWO Under Arrest at Tsarskoe Selo
CHAPTER THREE Siberian Captivity
CHAPTER FOUR Death in Yekaterinburg
Chronology 367
Glossary of Personal and Institutional Names 3 79
Genealogy of the Imperial Family 396
Notes 3 99
Select Bibliography 419
Document and Illustration Credits 42-3
Index 433
vii

Illustrations
-
Photographs
following page 124
I. Nicholas I1 in seventeenth-centuryd ress for a masked ball, St. Peters-
burg, 1903.
2. Nicholas I1 posing by a tennis court near the coast of Finland, 19 I 2.
3. Alexandra writing a letter in bed, Tsarskoe Selo, 191 0 or I 9 I I.
4. Nicholas I1 in cossack uniform at Spala, 1912.
5. Nicholas I1 blessing troops leaving for the front in the Russo-
Japanese War, Peterhof, 1905.
6. Nicholas I1 receiving bread and salt from representatives of the
people during celebrations for the tercentenary of the House of Romanov,
Kostroma, 19I 3.
7. Nicholas and Alexandra on board the yacht Shtandart, 1914.
8. Alexandra as war nurse with recovering soldiers, Tsarskoe Selo,
1914 Or 191s.
9. Alexandra and Nicholas under arrest in the palace at Tsarskoe Selo,
1917-
10. Alexandra in bed amid her icons, Tsarskoe Selo, 1917.
11. Nicholas clearing snow from a pathway, Tsarskoe Selo, March
1917.
12. Aleksei and Nicholas breaking ice in front of the palace at
Tsarskoe Selo, March 1917.