What happened to the last Czar of Russia?

Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II who was shot dead by the Bolsheviks together with his family, could have escaped this grim fate and left Russia after the abdication in March 1917. His cousin King George V offered Nicholas II refuge, but then unexpectedly withdrew the offer - and later tried to cover up the fact.

“The murder [of the Russian royal family] shook my father’s confidence in the innate decency of mankind….. My father had personally planned to rescue him [Nicholas II] with a British cruiser but in some way the plan was blocked.” That’s what Duke of Windsor wrote about his father George V in his book A King’s Story. However, there are grounds to believe that it was George V himself who blocked the plan.

‘England does not extend its hospitality’

The fate of the dethroned tsar and his family was a peculiar subject after the February Revolution in 1917. Socialist politicians that came to power were afraid that a counter-revolution could be fomented around the tsar, while liberals did not want to give the radical cause a boost by allowing reprisals against Nicholas II.

The former tsar was well aware of the danger that the radicalization of public sentiment could have meant for his family. Therefore, “he asked the Provisional Government to allow him to stay at his residence close to Petrograd (Tsarskoe Selo) until his children recuperated from measles and then go to Port Romanoff (now Murmansk) to leave for England by sea” (link in Russian).

The government placed the royal couple under house arrest at Tsarskoe Selo and, as the then Russian minister of foreign affairs Pavel Milyukov contended, supported the idea of sending the tsar to the UK. Milyukov addressed the British ambassador to Russia Sir George Buchanan who later reported that London was ready to accept the Romanovs and “for those purposes a cruiser would be sent”. Later when there was “no cruiser, nor [royal] departure,” Milyukov asked the ambassador about the reasons for the delay. He was told that “the government no longer insists on the tsar’s family coming to England.”

The story was confirmed by the Provisional Government’s justice minister and its future leader Alexander Kerensky. He was told that “the government of England does not consider it possible while the war continues to extend its hospitality to the former tsar” (link in Russian).

Russian side accused

The ambassador’s version of the story published in his memoirs in 1923, My Mission to Russia was strikingly different. “Our offer remained open and was never withdrawn,” wrote Buchanan. He blamed the Russian side, arguing that the Provisional Government having encountered opposition from socialist politicians “did not venture to assume responsibility for the Emperor’s departure, and receded from their original position.” In 1927, when Kerensky in his memoirs stated the opposite, the Foreign Office repeated Buchanan’s account and accused the former Russian premier of lying.

However, five years later the truth emerged from Buchanan’s daughter Meriel when she published her own book, The Dissolution of an Empire. She wrote that her father wanted to include in his memoir the fact that the offer of asylum was withdrawn, but was forced not to. “He was told at the Foreign Office, where he had gone to examine some of the documents, that if he did so, he would not only be charged with breach of the Official Secrets Act, but would have his pension stopped... The account he gives of the promise of the British Government to receive the Emperor in England ... is therefore a deliberate attempt to suppress the true facts,” she wrote.

The “true facts” were apparently this: “He [George V] must beg you to represent to the Prime Minister that from all he hears and reads in the press, the residence in this country of the ex-Emperor and Empress would be strongly resented by the public, and would undoubtedly compromise the position of the King and Queen from whom it would generally be assumed the invitation had emanated…”  That’s what Lord Stamfordham, George V’s Private Secretary wrote to the British Foreign Secretary in early April 1917.

‘Blame must be shared’

“Growing labour unrest and the rise of socialism in Britain, were causing George V serious concerns. The King feared the presence of “Bloody Nicholas” on British soil would compromise his position and subsequently bring down the monarchy,” British historian Paul Gilbert states, referring to the nickname given Nicholas II after he ordered the shooting of peaceful demonstrators in St. Petersburg in 1905.  

The researcher argues that though “King George V was a moral coward, for losing his nerve and worrying about the political consequences of granting asylum to the former tsar and his family … they were failed by their royal relatives, other governments, and Russian monarchists. Therefore, all the royal houses of Europe, and Russia’s WWI allies must share the blame.”

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The tumultuous reign of Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia, was tarnished by his ineptitude in both foreign and domestic affairs that helped to bring about the Russian Revolution. The Romanov Dynasty, which had ruled Russia for three centuries, came to an abrupt and bloody end in July 1918, when Nicholas and his family, who had been held under house arrest for more than a year, were brutally executed by Bolshevik soldiers.

Young Nicholas, known as the "tsesarevich," or heir apparent to the throne, was born on May 18, 1868, the first child of Czar Alexander III and Empress Marie Feodorovna. He and his siblings grew up in Tsarskoye Selo, one of the residences of the imperial family located outside of St. Petersburg. Nicholas was schooled not only in academics, but also in gentlemanly pursuits such as shooting, horsemanship, and even dancing. Unfortunately, his father, Czar Alexander III, did not devote a great deal of time to preparing his son to one day become the leader of the massive Russian Empire.

As a young man, Nicholas enjoyed several years of relative ease, during which he embarked upon world tours and attended countless parties and balls. After seeking a suitable wife, he became engaged to Princess Alix of Germany in the summer of 1894. But the carefree lifestyle that Nicholas had enjoyed came to an abrupt end on November 1, 1894, when Czar Alexander III died of nephritis (a kidney disease). Virtually overnight, Nicholas II—inexperienced and ill-equipped for the task—became the new czar of Russia.

The period of mourning was briefly suspended on November 26, 1894, when Nicholas and Alix were married in a private ceremony. The following year, daughter Olga was born, followed by three more daughters—Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia—over a period of five years. (The long-awaited male heir, Alexei, would be born in 1904.)

Delayed during the long period of formal mourning, Czar Nicholas' coronation was held in May 1896. But the joyous celebration was marred by a horrible incident when 1,400 revelers were killed during a stampede at Khodynka Field in Moscow. The new czar, however, refused to cancel any of the ensuing celebrations, giving the impression to his people that he was indifferent to the loss of so many lives.

In a series of further missteps, Nicholas proved himself unskilled in both foreign and domestic affairs. In a 1903 dispute with the Japanese over territory in Manchuria, Nicholas resisted any opportunity for diplomacy. Frustrated by Nicholas' refusal to negotiate, the Japanese took action in February 1904, bombing Russian ships in the harbor at Port Arthur in southern Manchuria.

The Russo-Japanese War continued for another year and a half and ended with the czar's forced surrender in September 1905. Given a large number of Russian casualties and the humiliating defeat, the war failed to draw the support of the Russian people.

Russians were dissatisfied about more than just the Russo-Japanese War. Inadequate housing, poor wages, and widespread hunger among the working class created hostility toward the government. In protest of their abysmal living conditions, tens of thousands of protestors marched peacefully upon the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg on January 22, 1905. Without any provocation from the crowd, the czar's soldiers opened fire on the protestors, killing and wounding hundreds. The event came to be known as "Bloody Sunday," and further stirred up anti-czarist sentiment among the Russian people. Although the czar was not at the palace at the time of the incident, his people held him responsible.

The massacre enraged the Russian people, leading to strikes and protests throughout the country, and culminating in the 1905 Russian Revolution. No longer able to ignore his people's discontent, Nicholas II was forced to act. On October 30, 1905, he signed the October Manifesto, which created a constitutional monarchy as well as an elected legislature, known as the Duma. Yet the czar maintained control by limiting the powers of the Duma and maintaining veto power.

During that time of great turmoil, the royal couple welcomed the birth of a male heir, Alexei Nikolaevich, on August 12, 1904. Apparently healthy at birth, young Alexei was soon found to be suffering from hemophilia, an inherited condition that causes severe, sometimes fatal hemorrhaging. The royal couple chose to keep their son's diagnosis a secret, fearing it would create uncertainty about the future of the monarchy.

Distraught about her son's illness, Empress Alexandra doted upon him and isolated herself and her son from the public. She desperately searched for a cure or any kind of treatment that would keep her son out of danger. In 1905, Alexandra found an unlikely source of help—the crude, unkempt, self-proclaimed "healer," Grigori Rasputin. Rasputin became a trusted confidante of the empress because he could do what no one else had been capable of—he kept young Alexei calm during his bleeding episodes, thereby reducing their severity.

Unaware of Alexei's medical condition, the Russian people were suspicious of the relationship between the empress and Rasputin. Beyond his role of providing comfort to Alexei, Rasputin had also become an adviser to Alexandra and even influenced her opinions on affairs of state.

Following the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914, Russia became embroiled in the First World War, as Austria declared war on Serbia. Stepping in to support Serbia, a fellow Slavic nation, Nicholas mobilized the Russian army in August 1914. The Germans soon joined the conflict, in support of Austria-Hungary.

Although he had initially received the support of the Russian people in waging a war, Nicholas found that support dwindling as the war dragged on. The poorly-managed and ill-equipped Russian Army—led by Nicholas himself—suffered considerable casualties. Nearly two million were killed over the duration of the war.

Adding to the discontent, Nicholas had left his wife in charge of affairs while he was away at war. Yet because Alexandra was German-born, many Russians distrusted her; they also remained suspicious about her alliance with Rasputin.

General loathing and mistrust of Rasputin culminated in a plot by several members of the aristocracy to murder him. They did so, with great difficulty, in December 1916. Rasputin was poisoned, shot, then bound and thrown into the river.

All across Russia, the situation grew increasingly desperate for the working class, which struggled with low wages and rising inflation. As they had done before, the people took to the streets in protest of the government's failure to provide for its citizens. On February 23, 1917, a group of nearly 90,000 women marched through the streets of Petrograd (formerly St. Petersburg) to protest their plight. These women, many of whose husbands had left to fight in the war, struggled to make enough money to feed their families.

The following day, several thousand more protesters joined them. People walked away from their jobs, bringing the city to a standstill. The czar's army did little to stop them; in fact, some soldiers even joined the protest. Other soldiers, loyal to the czar, did fire into the crowd, but they were clearly outnumbered. The protestors soon gained control of the city during the February/March 1917 Russian Revolution.

With the capital city in the hands of revolutionaries, Nicholas finally had to concede that his reign was over. He signed his abdication statement on March 15, 1917, bringing an end to the 304-year-old Romanov Dynasty.

The royal family was allowed to stay on at the Tsarskoye Selo palace while officials decided their fate. They learned to subsist on soldiers' rations and to make do with fewer servants. The four girls had all recently had their heads shaved during a bout of measles; oddly, their baldness gave them the appearance of prisoners.

For a brief time, the Romanovs had hoped they would be granted asylum in England, where the czar's cousin, King George V, was reigning monarch. But the plan—unpopular with British politicians who deemed Nicholas a tyrant—was quickly abandoned.

By the summer of 1917, the situation in St. Petersburg had become increasingly unstable, with Bolsheviks threatening to overrun the provisional government. The czar and his family were quietly moved to western Siberia for their own protection, first to Tobolsk, then finally to Ekaterinburg. The home where they spent their final days was a far cry from the extravagant palaces they had been accustomed to, but they were grateful to be together.

In October 1917, the Bolsheviks, under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin, finally gained control of the government following the second Russian Revolution. Thus the royal family also came under the control of the Bolsheviks, with fifty men assigned to guard the house and its occupants.

The Romanovs adapted as best they could to their new living quarters, as they awaited what they prayed would be their liberation. Nicholas faithfully made entries in his diary, the empress worked on her embroidery, and the children read books and put on plays for their parents. The four girls learned from the family cook how to bake bread.

During June 1918, their captors repeatedly told the royal family that they would soon be moved to Moscow and should be prepared to leave at any time. Each time, however, the trip was delayed and rescheduled for a few days later.

While the royal family waited for a rescue that would never take place, civil war raged throughout Russia between the Communists and the White Army, which opposed Communism. As the White Army gained ground and headed for Ekaterinburg, the Bolsheviks decided they must act swiftly. The Romanovs must not be rescued.

At 2:00 a.m. in the morning on July 17, 1918, Nicholas, his wife, and their five children, along with four servants, were awakened and told to prepare for departure. The group, led by Nicholas, who carried his son, was escorted to a small room downstairs. Eleven men (later reported to have been drunk) came into the room and began firing shots. The czar and his wife were first to die. None of the children died outright, probably because all wore hidden jewels sewn inside their clothing, which deflected the bullets. The soldiers finished the job with bayonets and more gunfire. The grisly massacre had taken 20 minutes.

At the time of death, the czar was 50 years old and the empress 46. Daughter Olga was 22 years old, Tatiana was 21, Maria was 19, Anastasia was 17, and Alexei was 13 years old.

The bodies were removed, and taken to the site of an old mine, where the executioners did their best to hide the identities of the corpses. They chopped them up with axes, and doused them with acid and gasoline, setting them afire. The remains were buried at two separate sites. An investigation soon after the murders failed to turn up the bodies of the Romanovs and their servants.

(For many years afterward, it was rumored that Anastasia, the czar's youngest daughter, had survived the execution and was living somewhere in Europe. Several women over the years claimed to be Anastasia, most notably Anna Anderson, a German woman with a history of mental illness. Anderson died in 1984; DNA testing later proved she was not related to the Romanovs.)

Another 73 years would pass before the bodies were found. In 1991, the remains of nine people were excavated at Ekaterinburg. DNA testing confirmed they were the bodies of the czar and his wife, three of their daughters, and four servants. A second grave, containing the remains of Alexei and one of his sisters (either Maria or Anastasia), was discovered in 2007.

Sentiment toward the royal family—once demonized in Communist society—had changed in post-Soviet Russia. The Romanovs, canonized as saints by the Russian Orthodox church, were remembered at a religious ceremony on July 17, 1998 (eighty years to the date of their murders), and reburied in the imperial family vault at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Nearly 50 descendants of the Romanov dynasty attended the service, as did Russian President Boris Yeltsin.