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

“Nicholas’s family, the Romanovs, had sat on the Russian throne for almost three hundred years, ruling their subjects under a form of government called autocracy. In an autocracy, one person—in this instance, the tsar—holds all the power. The Romanovs claimed God had given them this power, had chosen them to rule the Russian people. As God’s representative on earth, they maintained, the tsar should be left to run the country according to his own ideas of duty and right.” 

The fact that Tsar Nicholas, like his ancestors before him, holds absolute, unchecked power over Russia is extremely important throughout The Family Romanov. When Nicholas chooses to deny basic rights to his people and leaves the governing of his country to ill-qualified ministers, citizens are expected to accept all his decisions. Moreover, Nicholas’s belief that God has given him the throne allows him to remain passive. Nicholas is willing to sit back and allow “God’s will” (43) to determine Russia’s fate, while he also justifies his people’s suffering as a fair punishment from God. As a result, Nicholas ignores the plight of his people and is eventually overthrown.

“On the afternoon of November 1, 1894, Tsar Alexander died. The grief-stricken Nicholas suddenly found himself ruler of all Russia. Terrified, he pulled his cousin Sandro into his study. ‘What am I going to do?’ he cried once he’d shut the door behind them. ‘What is going to happen to me…to all of Russia? I am not prepared to be tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling. I have no idea of how to even talk to the ministers.’” 

This quote shows how Nicholas’s weak-willed character hurts both him and Russian society as a whole. With Nicholas’s ascension to tsar, Russia finds itself ruled by someone who is not only ill-prepared to be tsar, but who doesn’t even want the job. By refusing to teach his son how to rule, or even how to “talk to the ministers,” Alexander has compounded the problem of Nicholas’s already submissive personality. Even Nicholas himself realizes his reign will damage his country, as he wonders what will happen “to all of Russia.”

“‘My poor Nicky’s cross is heavy,’ [Empress Alexandra] later wrote, ‘all the more so as he has nobody on whom he can thoroughly rely and who can be a real help to him.’ For now, Alix would become both wife and adviser. Reminding her future husband that beneath her long skirts she wore a pair of ‘invisible trousers,’ she vowed to ‘be all, know all and share all’ with him. ‘Beloved,’ she would repeatedly say over the coming years, ‘listen to me.’” 

Here, Fleming establishes the power dynamic between the tsar and his wife, Alexandra, that will continue throughout their relationship. Alexandra, who has such strength of will she sees herself as wearing “invisible trousers,” provides the perfect support for unsure, timid Nicholas to lean on. As Alexandra continually convinces Nicholas to “listen to” her, she leads him to take actions that become more and more damaging to their country.

“And so, on the night of the tragedy, the imperial couple appeared at the glittering ball. They danced ‘on top of the corpses,’ noted one reporter.

“The couple did try to comfort their subjects. They spent the next day visiting hospitals. They paid for all the funerals. And they gave a thousand rubles—an enormous sum equal to years of a peasant’s income—to each of the victims’ families. But it was too late. The people’s first impression was the lasting one. And they took it as a bad omen. The reign of Nicholas II, many peasants predicted, would be beset with troubles from God.” 

The ”tragedy” referred to in this quote is a deadly stampede that occurs the day of Nicholas’s coronation. Though Nicholas wants to cancel the celebration, he acquiesces to his uncle’s advice and attends the ball. Now that he is officially tsar, Nicholas sets a lifelong pattern of allowing others to make decisions for him, even when doing so tarnishes the tsar’s own image. This incident sets another pattern as well, as Nicholas and Alexandra will continually appear to value their own luxurious lifestyles above the suffering of their subjects.

“These literate workers were now able to picture a government more responsive to their needs; they had ‘caught sight of a new life,’ recalled factory worker Semën Balashov, ‘one very different from our life of servitude.’ In January 1905, he joined ten thousand other men, women, and children who had abandoned their jobs. Taking to the streets, they refused to return to work until their demands were met. What did they want? A living wage, an eight-hour workday, affordable housing, and public education.”

This quote marks a sea change in the viewpoint of the Russian people, as by learning to read and think critically, they’ve determined they deserve basic rights and are willing to fight for them. These early protests will lead to years of revolution as the book continues, culminating in the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty.

“Despite the chaos in the city, Nicholas continued on as if nothing had happened. ‘The tragic aspect of the situation,’ one courtier wrote in his diary on October 14, ‘is that the tsar is living in an utter fool’s paradise, thinking that He is as strong and all-powerful as before.’”

This excerpt emphasizes the theme of Nicholas’s blindness, as he literally refuses to see any truth that disrupts his own comfortable lifestyle. Along with such blindness comes a refusal to act, to take steps to ward off future disaster; in this case, the tsar refuses to meet or even acknowledge his people’s demands, and thus opens the door to further violence and rebellion. Nicholas’s inability to confront his own vulnerability leads to his downfall as the book continues.

“Heads bowed, workers returned to their factories, peasants to their villages. By the saber and whip, order had been restored. The lower classes no longer acted out, recalled one noble, but their ‘courtesy, friendliness, bows [were replaced by] animosity [and] rudeness.’ Fear alone now kept the people in their place.” 

This quote marks the end of one traditional aspect of the tsar’s royal image: the kind, benevolent father tsar. Nicholas’s cruel, violent crushing of the lower-class rebellion has left the people certain the tsar cares nothing for their well-being. Now, only fear keeps the people in line, and fear will prove less powerful than loyalty, as ultimately, the Russians rebel again and again.

“Rasputin, [Alexandra] believed, had interceded with God on her behalf, wrought a miracle through his power of prayer, vanquished death. Any lingering doubts she may have had about the starets were now completely swept away. Convinced that he spoke with God’s voice, she vowed to always listen…no matter what.” 

Here, Alexandra’s reliance on religious mysticism and her desperation to heal her son have combined to create a situation that will threaten Russia as a whole. Having spent years searching out and placing hope in religious healers, Alexandra is quick to believe that a “holy man” like Rasputin might possess a miraculous healing ability granted to him by God. Alexandra’s faith in Rasputin becomes so complete that she “listen[s]” not only to his counsel about her son, but to his advice about important matters of state; as a result, Russia’s government becomes increasingly incompetent.

“Back at Tsarkoe Selo, Nicholas knew very little about his soldiers’ plight. Daily reports from Sukhomlinov reassured him that both ‘morale and equipment [were] in splendid order.’ […] It was obvious that Russia’s war effort was on the verge of collapse, and everyone in the tsar’s government knew it…everyone, that is, except Nicholas himself.” 

Here, Nicholas again demonstrates the willful blindness that has characterized his reign. The tsar is content to accept reports from his officers, rather than inspecting his army for himself. The fact that “everyone” else in the government knows how serious the army’s troubles are suggests that Nicholas is purposefully keeping himself in the dark, as doing so keeps him from having to do something about the situation.

“With the war, Alexandra ‘became overnight a changed being,’ recalled her friend Anna Vyrubova. Under her patronage, the Catherine Palace at Tsarkoe Selo was converted into a hospital, as were eighty-five other mansions and palaces in the St. Petersburg area. Still, Alexandra wanted to do more. So she enrolled in nursing courses, and she took nineteen-year-old Olga and seventeen-year-old Tatiana with her. ‘To some it may seem unnecessary my doing this,’ she told Nicholas, ‘but much is needed and every hand is useful.’” 

While Fleming’s portrayal of the empress is largely a negative one, here the author acknowledges a moment where Alexandra cares sincerely for Russian citizens. Alexandra’s characteristic traits—her passion and devotion to whatever she believes in—allow her to help her country. The reader has to wonder if Alexandra could have had a more lasting positive influence on Russia, had she not been most devoted of all to the deceitful Rasputin.

“For many, [the Great Retreat] was the last straw, wrote one historian, ‘the vital psychological moment…when [soldiers’] loyalty to the monarchy finally snapped. A government which had dragged them into a war which they could not hope to win, had failed to provide them adequate weapons and supplies…was not worthy of further sacrifices.’” 

Here, Fleming pinpoints a great retreat—and defeat—in a war beset by defeats as the moment Russian citizens finally lose all faith in the tsar. Significantly, it is not the suffering of the war itself, but the idea that the government—specifically, the tsar—callously throws the people into this suffering that causes their loyalty to “snap.” The Russian people have been willing to fight and sacrifice for previous tsars, but with no sign that Nicholas actually cares for their welfare, they have lost their motivation. 

“Still the tsar clung stubbornly to his belief that God would set things right. ‘It is His plan,’ he said. ‘You will see…everything [is] for the best.’ And so Nicholas remained at Stavka.” 

As he does throughout the book, Nicholas justifies his inaction through his religious faith. By “remain[ing] at Stavka,” the tsar remains symbolically in charge of his army, even though he fails to take actions that will aid the war effort. Here, he relies on his certainty that the tsar’s power is granted by God, and thus God will help the Russian army simply through his presence. Nicholas’s stubborn refusal to see the truly dire situation will lead his troops—and all of Russia—to rebel against him.

“Not only was the citizenry convinced that Rasputin was a fake, but they saw the empress as a narrow-minded, reactionary, hysterical woman because she remained under the fraud’s spell. Such gossip could only further degrade the monarchy, making them appear less near to God than ever before. For the good of the country, many now believed the starets’ power had to end.”

Ironically, while Empress Alexandra is bewitched by Rasputin because she believes he’s close to God, her reliance on the supposed holy man moves her further from God in the eyes of her people. While in previous generations, most Russians remained loyal to an autocracy they believed had been granted power by God, the people will no longer follow monarchs who are themselves blindly led. Rasputin’s influence has forever tainted the royals’ public image, and even his death can’t undo the damage he’s caused.

“And so it went—a crazy game of ‘ministerial leapfrog’—as ministers were appointed and fired by Nicholas at the behest of the empress and her starets […] This complicated leapfrogging deprived Russia of its most able statesmen at a time when they were most needed. Instead, a group of incompetent, mediocre men now held the most important positions in government.” 

This quote details exactly how Rasputin—and the Romanovs, who bow to the starets’ whims—harm Russia during World War I. Nicholas and Alexandra continually replace capable ministers with Rasputin’s “incompetent” friends. Not only are the royals unable to guide the country themselves, but they remove any proficient leadership that did exist in a time of brutal, punishing war. The price for their actions is not only the loss of Russian morale, but also of countless lives.  

“‘It is a terrible thing,’ one Duma member remarked glumly. ‘The tsar offends the nation by what he allows to go on in the palace…while the country offends the tsar by its terrible suspicions. The result is the destruction of those centuries-old ties which have sustained Russia. And the cause of all this? The weakness of one man and one woman…Oh, how terrible an autocracy without an autocrat!’” 

Here, the Duma member’s comments emphasize that the imperial couple’s “weak” reliance on Rasputin not only harms present-day Russia, but demolishes “centuries-old ties” as well. Russia’s traditional form of government relies on a strong central figure who inspires the people’s loyalty. As Nicholas and Alexandra cannot provide this leadership, and instead appear like puppets on Rasputin’s strings, Russians’ faith in the tsar is replaced with “terrible suspicions.” In the past, questioning the tsar would have been unthinkable; with such “weak” rulers on the throne, it has become commonplace. 

“Sandro realized there was nothing more to say. ‘It’s enough to drive you mad,’ he later wrote his brother. ‘Up here at [Tsarkoe Selo] it’s like water off a duck’s back, all is submission to God. How else can I explain…such total blindness and deafness? The tsar has ceased to rule Russia.’”

Here the tsar’s cousin, Sandro, attempts to warn the royals that only appointing strong leaders who are “acceptable to the people” (160) will stave off a violent rebellion. However, Nicholas and Alexandra absolutely refuse to listen; the couple’s inability to see the truth or to take action, and their choice to hide passively behind their religious faith, means that they are no longer capable of ruling their country.

“Desperate, Duma president Rodzianko sent Nicholas a frantic telegram: ‘The hungry, unemployed throng is starting down the path of elemental and uncontrollable anarchy […] Your Majesty, save Russia […] Urgently summon a person in whom the whole country can have faith and entrust him with the formation of a government that all the people trust…In this terrible hour…there is no other way out and to delay is impossible.’

“But when the telegram arrived, Nicholas didn’t even bother to read it. Setting it aside, he said, ‘That fat Rodzianko has written all sorts of nonsense to me, to which I shall not even reply.’ And he spent the rest of the evening playing dominoes.” 

The telegraph from Rodzianko represents Nicholas’s absolute last chance to create a fair government for Russia and prevent violent revolution. However, Nicholas is still so sure of his own power—despite all the evidence that he’s lost control of Russia—that he doesn’t even read the telegraph. Just as the tsar has spent most of his reign enjoying his private family life while ignoring his citizens’ plight, he now plays dominoes as a revolution begins. As his cousin observed previously, Nicholas has “ceased to rule Russia” (161). 

“There was, [Nicholas] concluded, no other choice. He would have to give in and appoint a government acceptable to the people. He immediately telegraphed Rodzianko with his offer. Minutes later, Rodzianko answered: ‘His Majesty…[is] apparently…unable to realize what is happening in the capital. A terrible revolution has broken out…The measures you propose are too late. The time for them is gone. There is no return.’” 

Continuing a pattern he’s followed throughout his life, Nicholas waits to take action until it’s too late. Because Nicholas has refused to listen to his advisors while change is still possible, he is now powerless to stop the revolution, or regain his own authority. Nicholas, still “unable to realize” the extent of this disaster, remains willfully blind as he loses his throne.

“Alexandra, her face ashy white, took Nicholas’s arm and walked out the door. Behind them came the children, all five of them in tears. Overhead, the sky was a rosy pink, the first rays of sunlight bathing the palace and the park in a golden haze. As the cars pulled away, the family turned and watched until their beloved Tsarkoe Selo faded into the distance.

“They would never see it again.”

Here, Fleming describes the Romanovs leaving the palace at Tsarkoe Selo where they have spent most of their lives, including their happiest days. Now “in tears,” the family leaves their home for the last time while under arrest, headed to Siberia. As Tsarkoe Selo “fade[s] into the distance,” so, symbolically, does the Romanov family, who move farther and farther away from their former life of privilege.

“The March Revolution had happened spontaneously, without any planning whatsoever. But the October Revolution was a well-organized and quiet coup. In later years, the Soviet Union would mythologize the October Revolution, inventing stories of fierce battles and daring exploits. But in truth, there was little drama. That night, the Provisional Government vanished with barely a whimper. All power had indeed passed to the soviets.” 

This quote describes the moment communism becomes Russia’s new political system. As the soviets intimidate the Provisional Government into surrender, they also destroy Russia’s last hope for democracy. Unlike the earlier rebellions that swept through Russia, the October Revolution is a “quiet coup”—an easy victory for the soviets, who will soon exercise their power not only over the Provisional Government, but over the Russian people as a whole.

“Lenin had promised workers and peasants that, under Bolshevik rule, he would replace the unjust social order with a system of equality. So almost immediately after assuming power, he declared ‘a war to the death against the rich, the idlers and the parasites.’ Between November 1917 and March 1918, he decreed dozens of new policies that transferred much of the country’s public and private wealth into the government’s hands.” 

This quote addresses Russia’s unequal distribution of wealth—a major theme of the book. By seizing property from the wealthy, Lenin corrects the power imbalance that led to a tiny percentage of Russia’s population owning most of its resources. However, these resources don’t go to the people directly; rather, they go to the soviet government. As the soviets become the owners of all property and resources, the gulf between rich and poor continues.

“‘How much longer will our unfortunate motherland be torn and ripped apart? Sometimes it seems as if [I] have no more strength to stand it. I don’t even know what to hope for, what to desire.’ [Nicholas] tried to comfort himself. ‘Everything is in the hands of God! He is our only recourse,’ he repeated over and over.” 

After Russia surrenders to Germany and exits World War I, Nicholas laments the fate of his “unfortunate motherland” in a rare display of concern for his country. Rather than acknowledging his part in this disaster, Nicholas again uses religion to assuage his own sense of responsibility, as he convinces himself only God can save Russia.

“After overthrowing their tsar, smashing two systems of government, and launching the country into what would be three years of civil war, had Russians improved their lives? Hardly. By 1920, the Bolsheviks—who had recently changed their official name to the Communist Party—were beginning to establish policies that would eventually oversee every aspect of a citizen’s daily life.” 

In this culmination of the book’s theme of rebellion and revolution, Fleming concludes that the Russians have not succeeded in their fight for an equal voice. Instead, the Communist Party, which intended to return power directly to the people, is actually controlling Russians’ lives just as much as the tsar did. Once again, the people lack freedom of speech or a voice in their government, and Russia continues to suffer amidst political oppression.