The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion and the Fall of Imperial Russia

After the tsar’s declaration, hundreds of thousands of peasant soldiers head off to war. Fleming explains that, similarly to other Russian wars, “It was the peasants who did most of the fighting and dying” (134). The Russians and their enemies soon reach a “stalemate” that marks the beginning of a “long, drawn-out war” (134), one that Russia isn’t prepared for. Shortages of weapons and clothing are so dire that soldiers go into battle without weapons and barefoot. Meanwhile, the tsar receives reports that “‘morale and equipment are in splendid order’” (135), as army commanders hide the true severity of the situation.

Fleming includes an excerpt from the diary of one peasant soldier, Vasily Mishnin, illustrating the army’s lack of preparation and organization. As Vasily’s commander “‘run[s] off into the forest’” (137) amid heavy fire, Vasily imagines that “‘perhaps no one will be able to gather the scattered pieces of [his] body for burial’” (138).

The war also transforms the life of Empress Alexandra herself, as, according to one friend, the empress “‘became overnight a changed being’” (138). Alexandra converts palaces into hospitals and takes nursing classes along with her two eldest daughters, where she steadfastly “‘endur[es] all the sights and smells and agonies of […] a military hospital in the midst of work’” (139). The three royals earn nursing certificates, while the two younger duchesses become “‘patronesses’” (139), helping out at what comes to be called “the Hospital of Grand Duchesses Marie and Anastasia” (139).

From May to September 1915, the Great Retreat pushes back the Russian forces and causes countless casualties; many blame the tsar, who “‘surrounds himself with incompetents’” (140). According to one historian, this retreat marks the moment the soldiers’ “‘loyalty to the monarchy finally snapped’” (141). Outside of the army, morale fades as well, and the Russians’ hatred for Germany leads to the renaming of “German-sounding” St. Petersburg as Petrograd (141). This resentment extends to the German-born Alexandra, and as the people demand the empress’s imprisonment, the tsar knows he must take drastic measures to “quell the nation’s anger” (141).

The tsar takes such action by relieving military commander Grand Duke Nicholas, or Nikolasha, of his duties. Encouraged by Rasputin, who was insulted by Nikolasha and still holds a grudge, the tsar decides to lead the Russian forces himself, while leaving Alexandra to manage state affairs. The tsar then moves to Stavka, where he’s still removed from the actual fighting, and allows his chief of staff to make the “important […] decisions” (143). Nicholas “beg[s]” (144) Alexandra to allow Alexei, now 11, to come to Stavka, and Alexei soon arrives and “adore[s]” (144) his new life of playing pranks and spending time with his father. However, Nicholas’s new position doesn’t change the sequence of “more military disasters […] more dead and wounded men” (145), even as the tsar insists that God’s “‘plan’” will prevail (145). 

In 1915, Rasputin receives countless visitors in his Petrograd apartment, from nobles to peasants, all asking for help because of Rasputin’s “influence” (146) over the empress. Rasputin needs only to write a note to government officials, and “‘all doors in Petrograd’” will open (146); further, Rasputin always receives compensation for granting favors. Meanwhile, the policemen ordered by the tsar to guard Rasputin report on his frequent drunkenness, and when their “Staircase Notes” become public (147), Russians decry both the charlatan and the “narrow-minded” empress (147).

Still, Alexandra continues to call Rasputin to her, and he always “manag[es] to sober up” and take on “the role of a holy man” (147). Alexandra is convinced Rasputin can see “‘far ahead,’” with a “‘wisdom endowed by God’” (147-48), and thus she relies on his counsel throughout the war. Rasputin uses this opportunity to speak out against ministers whom he sees as threats, since most of them hate him. Rasputin suggests replacements for these ministers, unqualified men he chooses “‘because they liked him’” (149), and so from 1915 to 1917, ministers are constantly fired and then replaced in a sort of “leapfrog” (149). Russians quickly lose even more faith in a government now run by “incompetent, mediocre men” (150).

By fall 1916, many Russians see Rasputin as “the actual ruler of Russia” (150), leading the tsar and his wife like a puppet master. During a meeting of the Duma, one member, Prince Felix Yusupoz, realizes the only solution is to kill Rasputin, and he asks four men to help him: Duma deputy Vladimir Purishkevich; the tsar’s cousin, Dmitri Pavlovick; army doctor Stanislaw Lazovert; and officer Sergei Sukhotin.

On December 29, 1916, Rasputin arrives at Prince Yusupov’s palace, where he believes he will be introduced to Yusopov’s beautiful wife, Irina. Yusopov feeds Rasputin delicacies “laced with cyanide,” but the poison has “no effect at all” (152). After two hours, Yusopov finally shoots Rasputin in the back, and he’s pronounced dead—until the supposed corpse rises and lunges at Yusupov, then runs out of the palace. Purishkevich pursues and fires repeatedly at Rasputin, who still lives, until Yusupov joins in by battering Rasputin with a club. Finally, the assassins roll the body in a curtain, tie it up, and throw it into the Neva River through a hole in the river’s frozen surface. Three days later, policemen exhume the body and discover Rasputin’s right arm had been freed from the ropes; apparently, he was still alive and struggling when he entered the water.

However, an official autopsy tells a different story. First, there’s no trace of cyanide in Rasputin’s stomach, and secondly, the gunshot wound to Rasputin’s head would have “killed him instantly” (154)—meaning he was already dead when he was thrown in the water. Whatever the cause of Rasputin’s death, it causes rejoicing all over Russia, with people “‘kiss[ing] in the streets’” and calling the murderers “heroes” (154). The royal family receives the news of the Rasputin’s death with a very different reaction; as one courtier says, they sense that “‘something terrible’” has been set into motion, and is “‘moving relentlessly toward them’” (155).

By January 1917, the war has caused dire shortages across Russia, even as the nobles continue their extravagant lifestyles and “gossip” about Rasputin’s small, private funeral (156). The tsar remains at the palace, rather than returning to Stavka, but he’s trapped in “‘a state of helplessness’” (157) and Alexandra still runs the government. At the same time, the commoners, convinced the government doesn’t care about them, appear on the verge of another rebellion, and Duma member Alexander Kerensky calls for the tsar to be “‘removed’” (159). The tsar’s friend, Sandro, makes a “last-ditch effort” (159) to convince Nicholas to appoint more qualified ministers, but the royals display “‘total blindness and deafness’” (161), refusing to act and instead choosing full “‘submission to God’” (160).

In March 1917, Nicholas returns to Stavka while workers in Petrograd begin to strike and protest in the streets. The tsar orders his military commander to stop the mobs, effectively “unleashing soldiers with rifles and machine guns on his own people” (162). Two-hundred protestors are killed on March 11 as the crowd only grows larger and more furious, while the soldiers, most of them peasants themselves, are reluctant to fire; meanwhile, Nicholas passes the evening “playing dominoes” (163).

On March 12, protestors reassemble, ready to fight the tsar’s army, but the army has actually “joined the revolution” 164). Commoners and soldiers arm themselves with the royal arsenal, set prisoners free, and burn government buildings. Members of the government attempt to contact Nicholas, but when the tsar “still [does] not understand” the severity of the situation (165), the ministers leave their posts.

The protestors arrive at Tauride Palace, where the Duma is meeting, demanding a government that will listen to its people. Kerensky, who had called for Nicholas to be removed, encourages Duma President Rodzianko to take power. The Duma creates a temporary Provisional Government, which will maintain order until a national assembly meets to create a new government. On the same day, the Petrograd Soviet is resurrected as “a union of workers and soldiers” (166) and also meets in the Tauride Palace.

This soviet has a very different agenda from the Provisional Government: the union wants to place power firmly in the hands of workers, and Kerensky knows the new government needs the soviet’s backing. Kerensky goes to the soviet meeting just “down the hall” (167), and the two groups agree the Provisional Government will lead for the moment while the soviet becomes “a watchdog of the revolution” (167). However, the soviet demands the new government abolish the tsar’s entire “bureaucracy” (167), which leaves the government with no way to lead the people and will bring “even greater chaos” (168). Meanwhile Nicholas, with no idea of what has happened, prepares to return to the palace at Tsarkoe Selo.

The chapter ends with an account from farmer Juvenale Tarasov, who witnesses the rebellion firsthand. The farmer gives an impassioned speech urging the crowd not to burn the palace, as the nearby Hermitage museum would burn as well. The farmer knows his speech alone does not save the Hermitage, but both the museum and palace survive. Tarasov sees himself as “‘simply a molecule in a storm’” (169).