The Revolution
A famous painting of "Bloody Sunday"
For years, the Czars of Russia had abused their power and ruled with a cruel fist. Eventually, the Russian people became fed up with the Czar. They cried for change. In 1905, Russians marched towards the Czar's palace to peacefully ask for change. Afraid of losing his power, the Czar ordered the guards to open fire. The following massacre became known as Bloody Sunday. Fearful of a total uprising, the Czar signed the October Manifesto, giving the lower classes more rights. However, this emancipation only brought more hardship. The Manifesto was enough to calm the peple enough to fight off a full-fletched civil war, but Bloody Sunday was not soon forgotten. In November of 1917, the Russians revolted again, and this time, the Czar did not fight. In February of 1918, he abdicated the throne.
Communism takes Rise
Vladimir Lenin in 1920
In college, Lenin became a Marxist. He was ejected for Anti-Czar protests. Years later, he was arrested for sedition and exiled to Siberia for three years. Afterwards, he married and fled to Western Europe. After the fall of Czar Nicholas II, the Russian public looked for a new leader, and Vladimir Lenin answered the call. The leader of the Bolshevik Party, Lenin established a Communist Party in Russia, and renamed it the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics, or the USSR. (Better known as the Soviet Union). A few people remained loyal to the Czar, known as "the Whites", who fought against Lenin's Bolsheviks, or "the Reds".
As for the Romanovs...
the Impatiev House.
After the Czar abdicated the throne, his family was placed under house arrest. They were later taken to Tobolsk before finally moving to Yekaterinburg. Here, they stayed at the Impatiev House. Though they were prisoners, the Imperial Family lived like they were on vacation. Anastasia would hold performances that would have the family and guards howling with laughter. While in the Impatiev House, Anastasia and her sisters learned to cook and do their own laundry.
At one point, Anastasia became so upset about the locked, painted windows that she opened one to look outside and get fresh air. A sentry reportedly saw her and fired, narrowly missing her. She did not try again.
At one point, Anastasia became so upset about the locked, painted windows that she opened one to look outside and get fresh air. A sentry reportedly saw her and fired, narrowly missing her. She did not try again.
The End of the Royal Line
The last known photograph of the Grand Duchess
Late at night on July 17, 1918, the Romanov family was woken up by the Bolshevik guards and told them to dress. Once dressed, they were taken into the sub-basement of the Impatiev House. They were told that fighting had broken out nearby and they were taken downstairs to keep them safe. They were then told that people in Moscow were afraid that the family was dead and suggested taking a family portrait to send as proof that the Romanovs were still alive. Alexei and Alexandra were provided with chairs at the Empress' request. The royal family waited in the sub-basement with the small cluster of servants that had remained with them. The executioners entered the room, led by Yurovsky, the head of the Bolshevik secret police. The Czar only had time to say "What?" before the guards opened fire. The Czar, Alexandra and two guards were killed in the first line of gunfire, while Maria, and the Czarina's maid were wounded. They kill the Czarevitch with two shots to the head. The guards were told to fire again, and again checked their work to find the girls still alive. Olga and Tatiana were each killed by a single bullet to the head. Maria, Anastasia, and the Czarina's maid were the last ones alive. A man by the name of Pyotr Ermakov is given credit for the murders of the Grand Duchesses Maria and Anastasia. He first struggled with Maria and attempted to stab her, but the jewels sewn into her coat protected her. He claimed to have shot her in the head, but her skull showed no signs of bullet wounds. Ermakov was drunk during the murders and it's most likely that the bullet only grazed the side of her head and she'd simply bled out. He supposedly also shot Anastasia in the head, but as the bodies were being carried out of the room, two of the Grand Duchesses showed signs of life, and since Olga and Tatiana had both been shot in the head, it was unlikely that it was the two of them. Though not in his reports, Ermakov told his wife that Anastasia had been finished off with bayonets. It was said however by Yurovsky that one of the girls had cried out as she was being carried out of the cellar and had been clubbed in the back of the head, but again, Maraia's skull showed no signs of this statement, and Anastasa's remains betray no truth to the cause of her death.
the Grand Duchess Found
A forensic facial reconstruction of Anastasia, 1994
In 1991, the presumed site of the royal grave was excavated, but only nine of the eleven bodies were found, those of the Czar and Czarina as well as three of the four Grand Duchesses (Olga, Tatiana, and Maria). In the royal grave was also the group of servants that were buried along with them. The bodies of Czarevitch Alexei and Grand Duchess Anastasia were missing among the others. The Russian scientists stated that it was Maria that was missing, and not Anastasia, but American scientists stated that none of the skeletons were short enough and did not show signs of immaturity that would have been found in a seventeen-year-old girl.
In 1998, a body was found buried under the name of Anastasia that measured 5'7, which was much shorter than the rest of the sisters.
However on August 23rd, 2007, two charred bodies were found at a site near Yekaterinburg that matched Yurovsky's memoirs. One of the bodies was a boys between the ages of ten and thirteen, the missing Czarevitch. Through DNA analysis, they stated that the young boy was indeed the young Alexei, however Maria and Anastasia's bodies could not be identified by DNA analysis alone. Most people however believe that it was Anastasia that was buried alongside Alexei.
On July 17, 1998, the family was properly buried eighty years after their murder.
In 1998, a body was found buried under the name of Anastasia that measured 5'7, which was much shorter than the rest of the sisters.
However on August 23rd, 2007, two charred bodies were found at a site near Yekaterinburg that matched Yurovsky's memoirs. One of the bodies was a boys between the ages of ten and thirteen, the missing Czarevitch. Through DNA analysis, they stated that the young boy was indeed the young Alexei, however Maria and Anastasia's bodies could not be identified by DNA analysis alone. Most people however believe that it was Anastasia that was buried alongside Alexei.
On July 17, 1998, the family was properly buried eighty years after their murder.
Sainthood
Imperial family as Saints
In 2000, the Romanovs were canonized as passion bearers by the Russian Orthadox Church. Previously, the family had been canonized by the Russian Orthadox Church Abroad as holy martyrs in 1981.