All language subtitles for The Romanovs. The Real History of the Russian Dynasty. Episodes 5-8. - CINE_HUB (720p, h264, youtube)

January 1744

A carriage hurried through the Russian
winter, carrying a 14 -year -old German

princess to St. Petersburg.

Christened Sophie Friederike Augusta.

In Russia, she would take a new name.

Catherine.

She was to marry the heir to the Russian
throne, and must have imagined her

future in this frozen land, and dreamt
of a loving husband.

But her hopes were in vain.

The marriage would be loveless.

This young princess would instead fall
in love with Russia.

18 years later, year 1762.

At the Russian court, The age of
elaborate wigs and lavish balls was

an end.

They held no interest for Empress
Elizabeth's successor, the 34 -year -old

Fyodorovich.

Not even those close to the new emperor
knew quite what to expect from him.

He fidgeted constantly through
ceremonies, liked to play with toy

often said out loud that he'd rather
rule a civilized country like Sweden

wild one like Russia.

Chapter 1.

Peter III Fyodorovich.

Peter was born Karl Peter Ulrich, son of
the German Duke of Holstein, a nephew

of King Karl XII of Sweden.

His mother was Anna Petrovna, daughter
of Peter the Great, making him heir to

both the Russian and Swedish thrones.

Peter, orphaned at the age of 11, was
brought to Russia by his aunt, Empress

Elizabeth.

He had him convert to Russian Orthodoxy
and renounce his claim to the Swedish

throne.

At the age of 17, he married the 16
-year -old German princess of

who converted to Orthodoxy and took the
name Catherine.

Peter quickly discovered he had nothing
in common with his young wife.

Although she was beautiful, he found her
dull.

He played his violin for her and tried
to include her in his own hobbies.

But she was interested neither in his
music nor his toy soldiers.

Catherine was intelligent and well
-educated.

But in Russia, she felt isolated.

Catherine confided her innermost
feelings to her diary.

I see very clearly that the Grand Duke
doesn't love me at all, she wrote.

I will be very unhappy with this man.

Peter's antics, meanwhile, exasperated
those around him.

His courtiers painted an unflattering
portrait, suggesting he'd inherited

the Great's love of drinking.

as well as his wild, unpredictable
behaviour, which baffled and infuriated

advisers.

They reported that he talked such
nonsense in front of foreign ambassadors

it made our hearts bleed with shame.

Peter behaved erratically throughout his
adult life.

Some thought he had a form of mental
impairment.

Others thought his development had been
affected by a serious bout of smallpox

as a teenager.

Nevertheless, Peter received a brilliant
education and excelled in the natural

sciences, mathematics, geography and
fortification.

He spoke German, French and even some
Latin.

Although his Russian remained poor, the
prospect of becoming Emperor of Russia

appealed to him not at all.

In contrast, his wife Catherine was
determined to be accepted in her new

homeland.

She practiced her Russian lessons late
into the night and read books about

Russian history and the lives of the
saints.

She even studied the old Slavonic
language of the church.

She got up early to help the servants
stoke the palace fireplaces and practice

her Russian with them.

Soon, she spoke the language fluently,
though she never completely lost her

German accent.

When Peter III became emperor in 1762,
He began a period of frantic

In 186 days, he signed 192 decrees.

He abolished the hated secret
chancellery and the use of torture and

,000 people to return from exile in
Siberia. He ended the persecution of the

-called old believers and took land from
the monasteries and gave it to the

state. He ordered that babies should be
baptized in warm water.

He approved the formation of Russia's
first state bank.

and the introduction of the first
banknotes.

He declared forests to be a national
resource, and granted new civil

to the nobility, exempting them from
compulsory military service, and

them to travel abroad for the first
time.

There were rumours that Peter intended
further sweeping reforms of the church.

He certainly showed little respect,
laughing, joking, and talking loudly

services.

In contrast, his wife Catherine remained
standing through long services,

observed all the fasts, confessed her
sins, and received communion regularly.

Her calm and pious demeanour made the
Emperor look like an oaf.

Catherine never had any illusions about
her husband, even in the early days of

their marriage.

She recalled one incident in her diary.

When I entered the chamber's office,
Imperial Highness, she wrote, I was

to see that he had hanged a huge rat.

I asked him what it meant.

He explained that the rat had committed
a criminal offence.

It had climbed over the wall of his
cardboard fortress and eaten two guards

were on duty.

So he ordered the criminal to be tried
according to military law.

The rat was hanged at once and was to
remain there for three days.

as an example to others.

Catherine and Peter were completely
unalike.

They shared no interests and had nothing
to say to each other.

And there was another problem.

Everyone at court knew that Peter and
Catherine did not sleep together.

After a few years, it was less an item
of court gossip than a looming dynastic

crisis.

Russia and the Romanovs needed an heir.

After nine years of marriage, Catherine
finally became pregnant.

According to one account, Peter had
surgery to correct a condition that had

prevented him consummating the marriage.

According to another account, Catherine
was seduced by her chamberlain, Sergei

Soltikov.

In any event, in 1754, at the Winter
Palace in St. Petersburg, Catherine gave

birth to a son, Paul Petrovich.

As far as Empress Elizabeth was
concerned, Catherine had fulfilled her

duty. To provide the Romanov line with
an heir, she now intended to raise the

precious child herself.

Catherine's infant son was taken away
from her.

For several years, she lived virtually
alone.

It gave her plenty of time for her
favorite pastime, reading.

For a Russian Grand Duchess, Catherine
had unusual taste.

Her favourite writers were all French
philosophers, men such as Diderot,

Voltaire and Montesquieu.

Her other great passion was for handsome
men.

Her first lover, Sergei Saltykov, was
soon sent on a diplomatic mission to

Sweden, but Catherine soon found a new
favourite, Stanislaw August Poniatowski.

a young Polish noble attached to the
British embassy.

They had a daughter named Anna, and in
time, Catherine would help Poniatowski

become the last Polish king in history.

When Catherine turned 30, she took a new
lover, a handsome, boisterous guards

officer named Grigory Orlov.

He and his four brothers, all officers
in the guards, wielded enormous

influence. and effectively controlled
the loyalty of their regiments.

Catherine was cultivating powerful
allies in St. Petersburg.

By the time Peter became emperor,
husband and wife were barely speaking to

other. Peter didn't even know that
Catherine was pregnant again, this time

Grigory Orlov's child.

The birth of an illegitimate child could
be the excuse Peter was waiting for to

get rid of his unloved wife.

It had to be kept secret.

On the date the baby was due,
Catherine's Chamberlain, knowing Peter

watching huge fires, went to an
extraordinary length to lure him away

palace. He ran to the city and set fire
to his own house.

Peter set off to see the Great Blaze,
while Catherine gave birth to a son in a

far wing of the Winter Palace.

In time, the Emperor discovered the
existence of both his wife's

children.

He remarked casually, God knows where my
wife gets her pregnancies from.

I don't know.

Peter was not a faithful husband either.

His mistress was Elizabeth Valantsova, a
lady -in -waiting, and he wanted to

marry her.

But first they would have to remove one
major obstacle, Catherine.

Peter planned to imprison his wife and
their son Paul in the Schlisselberg

Fortress near St. Petersburg.

Grooms had already been prepared for
them.

Catherine knew she had to make her move
first.

He also knew that the emperor had made
himself many powerful enemies close to

home.

The king of Prussia, Frederick the
Great, was Peter III's idol.

It didn't matter to Peter that Russia
and Prussia had been at war for several

years.

When Peter became emperor, he
immediately made peace with Prussia,

Russian conquests.

Then he made his own guard regiments
adopt Prussian uniform and brought in

strict new codes of discipline, also
based on the Prussian system.

The guard regiments, pampered for years,
were outraged.

The guards were the elite troops of the
Russian army, based on the toy regiments

created by Peter the Great for his war
games.

The Preobrazhensky, Semenovsky and
Izmailovsky regiments retained a close

relationship with the sovereign.

The Liebguards guarded the Imperial
Palace and were a political force to be

reckoned with.

In a span of 37 years, the guards were
involved in no fewer than six palace

revolutions.

June 28th, 1762.

The Montplaisir Palace, 6 a .m.

Catherine was woken by Alexei Orlov,
Grigory's brother.

It's time to get up, he told her.

Everything is ready for your
proclamation.

She dressed quickly and got into a
carriage.

A few miles outside St. Petersburg, they
met Grigory Orlov and went on to the

barracks of the guard regiments, where
they were welcomed with cheers.

Catherine had been preparing the ground
for this move for months.

10 a .m.

Peter was still asleep at Oranienbaum,
20 miles outside the city.

At noon, a huge crowd followed
Catherine's carriage as it drew up

Winter Palace.

It was met by a welcoming committee of
senior state officials.

At the Peterhof Palace, Peter was told
that the Empress had vanished.

He searched her chambers in person.

looking inside her wardrobes and under
her bed.

When it was discovered that Catherine
was in the city gathering support, he

messengers to find out what was going
on.

None of them returned.

Instead, they joined Catherine.

Peter took a boat to the naval base at
Kronstadt, hoping that the fleet

loyal to him.

A galley carrying all the ladies of
court followed him.

The emperor intended to use them as
hostages, since their husbands had all

with Catherine.

But the fortress at Kronstadt opened
fire on Peter's boat.

The commandant announced that he
recognized no emperor.

Russia was ruled by Empress Catherine.

In St. Petersburg, the people gathered
on the shore with sticks and stones to

prevent the emperor returning to the
capital.

24 hours later, after learning that the
Senate, Army and Fleet had all sworn

allegiance to Catherine, Peter agreed to
sign an act of abdication.

Guards arrived to escort him to the
Royal Hunting Lodge at Ropsha, a few

outside the city.

Peter went out to the carriage, handed
his sword to an officer and fainted.

Catherine had no legitimate claim to the
throne.

By precedent, she could claim no more
than to be acting as regent on behalf of

her infant son, Paul.

Catherine, however, chose to present her
palace revolution as a fulfillment of

the people's will.

Her ascension to the throne was, she
declared, by the will of all our

The immediate question, was what to do
with her husband, Peter.

He'd written to her in French,
addressing her as Her Majesty, and

to conspire against her or her
government.

He'd added a postscript, in bad Russian,
I also beg you, honouring your will in

everything, to be allowed to go to
faraway lands.

It was too risky to let Peter go abroad.

Perhaps she should send him to the
Schlisselberg Fortress, where he could

another former emperor deposed more than
20 years before by the Empress

Elizabeth, Ivan VI.

But two legitimate ex -emperors posed
too great a threat to an illegitimate

German -born emperor.

A week after the coup, Catherine
received a letter from Alexei Orlov.

who was keeping Peter under house arrest
at Robsha.

It contained the news that Peter was
dead.

Circumstances of his death remain
unclear.

The official cause was hemorrhoidal
colic, but he was almost certainly

Two years later, the second problem also
resolved itself.

During a rescue attempt at the
Schlisselberg Fortress, Ivan VI was

guards.

In September 1762, two months after the
coup, Empress Catherine was

crowned in Moscow.

Chapter 2 Catherine II Alexeyevna

At Catherine's coronation, 1 ,200 foods
of silver, more than 19 tons, were given

out to the people.

Crowds were then treated to a masquerade
involving thousands of musicians,

giants, dwarfs and jesters. They ate
fried beef and drank from fountains of

Rhenish wine.

The festivities lasted three months.

The main attraction was the Great
Imperial Crown.

containing 4 ,936 diamonds, weighing 2
,858 carats in total.

On top, a red spinel, weighing 398
carats, and 72 Indian pearls.

Its value, 2 million rubles, about $200
million today.

Catherine was the first Russian empress
to dedicate most of her time to work,

not her own pleasure.

Compared to her predecessors, she led an
orderly life.

She preferred plain food.

Her favorite dish was boiled beef with
salted cucumbers, and she hardly ever

drank.

Even during state banquets, she drank
blackcurrant juice instead of wine.

She also kept to a strict daily routine.

Catherine rose at 6 a .m., read until 8
.30,

Then worked on papers with her
secretaries from 9 to 11.

From 11 to 1, she met with courtiers.

And from 1 to 2, she had lunch.

Courtiers read aloud to her between 2
and 4.

Then she received visitors until 6 p .m.

Then she might play cards for a few
hours before dining at 9 and going to

later than 10.

The philosophical treatises that
Catherine had read in her youth now

bear fruit.

The Empress decided to establish a new
style of government in Russia,

Enlightened Absolutism.

Its main principles were to be freedom
of thought and speech, and equality for

all classes before the law.

Russia still used a legal code that
dated back to 1649, known as the

Ulogenia.

Catherine ordered the summoning of a
legislative commission to debate new

for Russia.

Its delegates were to be drawn from all
the classes and regions of the Empire

and were to come to Moscow bearing
written instructions from their

Before the commission met, the Empress
wrote down her own ideas about the law

a document that became known as the
Nakaz, or Instruction.

It took two years to write and contained
more than 600 clauses.

It discussed the rule of law.

The abolition of the death penalty, the
presumption of innocence, the concept of

liberty, the different classes, and
serfdom.

The Nakaz provoked extreme responses in
Russia and abroad.

In France, the birthplace of the
Enlightenment, it was banned as

liberal.

Now, as her legislative commission was
convened, the eyes of Europe were on

Catherine. and her daring experiment in
legal reform.

The legislative commission that was to
draft the new legal code was made up of

all classes except the serfs and clergy.

564 deputies were selected.

30 % were nobles, 39 % were townsmen, 14
% were peasants, 5

% bureaucrats, and 12 % were
representatives of other estates.

such as Cossacks and frontier tribesmen.

They met in no fewer than 203 sessions.

The Commission met inside the Kremlin.

Catherine secretly watched proceedings
from a hidden gallery, used a hundred

years before by the Tsaritsa and royal
princesses, in an age when women weren't

allowed to join men at banquets.

The more the commission talked, the
clearer it was there was little common

ground between the different estates.

Sometimes it seemed the soldiers were
the only thing that stopped them from

attacking each other.

One issue bridged the gap between the
estates.

Merchants, Cossacks and industrialists
wanted the right to own serfs, like the

nobles did.

While Catherine was striving to nurture
liberty, The delegates wanted the

opposite, and weren't afraid to say so.

The only thing on which the deputies
were unanimous was their desire to

Catherine with the titles The Great, The
Wise, and The Mother of the Nation.

Catherine wasn't impressed.

She wrote irritably, I told them to work
on the laws.

and they do an anatomy of my qualities.

Only God is wise.

Great. History will judge.

But she welcomed one title, Mother of
the Nation.

With the commission deadlocked,
Catherine took matters into her own

She ruled by decree, prohibiting the
export of grain, imposing price controls

salt, and creating new laws against
corruption.

But trouble was brewing for Russia
abroad.

The growing might of the Russian Empire
was a source of growing unease for

France.

When Catherine put her former lover
Stanislaw Poniatowski on the Polish

she antagonized France yet further.

She had also broken a promise to Turkey
not to interfere in Polish affairs.

In October 1768, Under pressure from
French agents, the Turkish sultan

war on Russia.

Catherine sent her best troops and
generals against the enemy.

The empress had a flair for recognizing
talent and promoting those with ability.

One beneficiary was Count Peter
Rumyantsev, former favorite of Peter

He'd expected to be dismissed after
Peter's overthrow, but instead...

Catherine gave him command of an army.

Count Alexei Orlov was considered by
many to be debauched and dishonest, yet

Catherine gave him command of a naval
squadron.

Alexander Suvorov was an unassuming 30
-year -old major when he first met the

Empress. She gave him her portrait as a
gift, a moment he later described as

paving his way to glory.

According to some estimates, he went on
to win 93 battles for Russia.

and was one of the few generals in
history never to be defeated.

In July 1770, the two armies met at the
river Laga in modern Moldova.

Rumyantsev smashed an Ottoman army that
outnumbered him more than two to one, 38

,000 Russians defeating 80 ,000 Turks.

That same day at Chesma in the Aegean
Sea, Alexei Orlov led his naval squadron

into action.

He too won a stunning victory against a
much larger force, 32 ,000 Russians

defeating 73 ,000 Turks.

On August 1, 1770, near the river Kagul,
Count Rumyantsev attacked and defeated

a Turkish army that outnumbered him 5 to
1.

His 32 ,000 men routing 150 ,000 Turks.

Four years later, at the village of
Kozluja in modern Bulgaria,

Suvorov won the last great land battle
of the war, once more attacking and

defeating a larger Ottoman force, his 25
,000 men putting to flight 40 ,000

Turks.

The string of victories against the
Ottoman Empire caught everyone's

Soon, ambitious young officers were
traveling from across Europe to seek

with the Russian army.

Among them was a Spaniard, Jose de
Ribas, future founder of the city of

He was nearly joined by a young Corsican
officer named Napoleon Bonaparte, who

changed his mind because foreigners were
hired with a demotion in rank.

Meanwhile, at home, Catherine was waging
another war with her lover, Grigori

Orlov.

Her favorite had a furious temper, while
she could be jealous and resentful.

They would often quarrel furiously, make
up, and quarrel again.

They had had a son together and lived
like husband and wife.

Grigori wanted their relationship to be
recognized as such and made official

through marriage.

But Catherine was worried it would
undermine her position as Empress.

She asked her closest advisor, Count
Panin, for guidance.

He told her, The Russian Empress can do
anything she wants, but Mrs. Oliver

can't be the Empress of Russia.

Where Panin leant against the wall, his
powdered wig left a mark.

From that moment, it became a ritual for
courtiers to press their foreheads

against the mark, hoping for Panin's
courage when they had to give bad news

the Empress.

After twelve years, Catherine finally
tired of Grigori Orlov.

That year, 1774, plague struck Moscow.

Every day, a thousand people perished.

Officials fled the city and riots broke
out.

Orlov volunteered to go into the plague
-ridden city.

With the guard regiments, he restored
order, organized the burial of the dead,

and opened hospitals with his own money.

In one month, the epidemic subsided.

Orlov returned to St. Petersburg in
triumph.

The Empress's love was briefly
rekindled.

But two years later, while Orlov was
away negotiating with the Turks, she

a new favorite, a young officer named
Alexander Vasilichkov.

When Orlov found out, he was furious.

He broke off negotiations and rushed
home to see Catherine.

But her courier met him en route and
handed him strict instructions to go to

palace at Cacina and not to come to
court.

Rigori eventually calmed down and a few
months later was allowed to return to

court.

He and the Empress remained friends for
the rest of their lives.

Catherine and Peter's son, Paul, was now
nearly grown up.

Many expected Catherine to hand over
power to him soon, or make him her co

-ruler. It was a time when Catherine
needed people around her whose loyalty

beyond question.

So the Empress turned to a 35 -year -old
Major General, a devoted and trusted

friend,

Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin.

Catherine and Potemkin soon became
lovers.

She later wrote of her need to him.

My heart cannot be content even for an
hour without love.

If you want me to be yours forever, show
me friendship as well as affection, but

love me and always speak truthfully.

She called him my student, my friend.

my idol.

Soon she couldn't bear to be apart from
him, and when he left the capital she

wrote tender letters addressing him as
my dear husband.

Their affair began in the spring of
1774.

It's widely suspected, though it has
never been proven.

that they were secretly married just a
few months later in the Cathedral of St.

Samson in St. Petersburg.

It was also rumoured Catherine later
bore him a daughter, Elizabeth, who took

the surname Temkina.

But even this affair brought Catherine
only fleeting happiness.

Catherine and Potemkin were both
headstrong.

and always tried to impose their will on
the other.

Eventually, Catherine had had enough.

While Potemkin was away in the
provinces, Catherine took a new lover,

Zavodovsky.

Potemkin wrote to Catherine threatening
to kill the man who'd taken his place.

But she had made her decision, and told
Potemkin, the first sign of loyalty is

obedience.

Zavadovsky was her favorite for just a
year, before he was replaced by Semyon

Zorich, a cavalry officer 14 years
Catherine's junior.

The next lover was even younger, 25
years her junior.

Catherine chose her own lovers, but for
counsel and company, she always returned

to Potemkin.

Many years later, Catherine's last
favourite, Platon Zubov, 38 years her

wrote, The Empress always gave in to
Potemkin's wishes and feared him just

a demanding husband.

She often pointed to him as the example
I should follow.

It was the tireless Potemkin who oversaw
the colonisation of Russia's new lands

in the south, known as Novorossiya, New
Russia.

For centuries, this territory had been
ruled by the Muslim Tatars of the

Khanate. But in 1774, as part of the
peace treaty of Kuchuk Kanaji, it became

part of the Russian Empire.

A few years later, taking advantage of
Tatar weakness,

Catherine annexed Crimea itself.

In just four years, Potemkin brought 400
,000 settlers to these new lands.

and founded the cities of
Yekaterinoslav, Nikolayev, Mariupol,

Sevastopol, the new home of Russia's
Black Sea Fleet.

Its warships built in the shipyards in
Taganrog and Kherson.

Potemkin invited Catherine to inspect
her new lands in person.

He organized every aspect of the trip,
down to the tiniest detail.

It was like nothing else in history.

The imperial party consisted of 3 ,000
people, travelling in 14 carriages and

164 sleighs, including 40 spares.

Catherine herself travelled in a
specially constructed giant sleigh,

office, a parlour with room for eight, a
card table and a library.

It was pulled by 40 horses.

The trip lasted six months and covered 6
,034 kilometres.

At every one of the 375 relay stations,
550 fresh horses were waiting, as well

as fresh provisions.

Six cows and calves, 30 hens and geese,
500 eggs, 80 kilos

of flour, sugar and butter, six hams,
eight kilos of coffee, a barrel of

herrings, 50 lemons and three buckets of
wine.

The Empress visited 35 cities, each of
which welcomed her with great fanfare

celebration. At Balaclava, she was
greeted by an all -female regiment of

Amazons, while at Poltava, 50 ,000
extras re -enacted Russia's great

over the Swedes.

Catherine's great tour of the South
became legendary and gave rise to myths

its own.

Amongst them was the story that Potemkin
tried to trick Catherine about the

number of new settlements by lining
their route with fake villages built

plywood, with actors playing the role of
peasants.

The story gave birth to the phrase
Potemkin Village, a fake construction or

façade that creates the illusion of
prosperity.

But the towns and villages of New Russia
were real.

A myth was created by foreign observers,
reluctant to believe that Russia could

so quickly consolidate its hold on such
a vast region.

Welcomed and acclaimed across New
Russia, Catherine was made to truly feel

the mother of the nation.

The Austrian Emperor Joseph II and other
foreigners traveling with her were full

of admiration.

This, of course, was Catherine's desire
to make a powerful international

impression.

The Ottoman Empire, however, was
incensed by this triumphal procession

declared war in a bid to win back its
lost lands.

The result was a series of brilliant
Russian victories on land and sea.

The bright stars of Rumyantsev and
Suvorov were joined by a new Russian

hero, Fyodor Ushakov.

In the course of two years, he fought
four battles against the Ottoman fleet,

all of them won or drawn, despite always
facing superior numbers.

His bold tactics rewrote Russian
textbooks on naval warfare and would be

by Russian naval officers for
generations to come.

When peace was made, the Russian
frontier advanced to the river Dniester.

taking in the fortresses of Achakov and
Khadjibi, future city of Odessa.

Russia's status as a great European
power was now assured.

No European state now dared to act
without first considering the reaction

Empress Catherine.

The Empire's internal situation,
however, was cause for serious concern.

The most influential woman of her age
faced constant challenges to her rule.

During the first ten years of her reign,
seven pretenders to the throne emerged,

all claiming to be Tsar Peter III,
having miraculously escaped death.

In the eleventh year of her reign, an
eighth pretender emerged and declared

on the Empress.

His name was Yemelyan Pugachev.

Until recently, he'd been a common
Cossack from the Don region, a veteran

Seven Years' War.

Returning home, he helped some friends
desert, and as a consequence, became a

fugitive himself.

He wrote to the Urals and told the
Cossacks that he was the true Emperor

III, back from the dead.

Then he stirred up a peasants' revolt.

Ugachev's manifesto promised all things
to all men.

Land for the peasants.

Freedom for the Cossacks.

Justice for the Tatars, Kazakhs,
Bashkirs and Kalmyks.

He promised to protect the people from
corrupt government officials.

Live free like the beasts of the steppe,
he told them.

Ugachev's people lived free indeed.

taking whatever they wanted by force,
robbing from the poor as well as the

A month after Pugachev's manifesto, the
empress responded with one of her own.

She informed her subjects that a
fugitive Cossack named Yemelyan Pugachev

gathered a band of thieves and vagabonds
around him and dared to style himself

emperor. She called on his followers to
give up their ways or face severe

penalties, including death.

But it was too late.

In just a month, Pugachev's 80 followers
became 8 ,000.

In three months, he had an army of 24
,000 men, made up of peasants, Cossacks,

Bashkirs and Kalmuks from the steppe.

The rebellion had plunged the whole
region into anarchy.

Catherine would have to do more than
write a manifesto to regain control.

Of the Euro region's 89 factories, 23
were completely destroyed and 33 more

were looted.

The violence cost the factory owners
around 1 million rubles.

worth about 5 billion rubles today, or
140 million US dollars.

The losses to factory workers and
peasants, whose houses were looted or

down, and whose cattle and property was
stolen, amounted to about another 1

million rubles.

Many people were killed or went missing
amid the violence.

The official death toll was 2 ,716.

Catherine sent government troops to
crush the rebels.

but they stumbled into disaster after
disaster.

Three provinces, Kazan, Nizhigurad, and
Voronezh, were soon in flames.

Because of the war against the Turks to
the south, Catherine had no more troops

to send.

But as soon as peace was made with the
Turks, regular troops flooded the

and the revolt was suppressed.

the defeated Cossacks handed over their
renegade leader to the government.

Bugachev was brought to Moscow in a
cage, like a wild steppe beast.

His treatment and interrogation were
authorized by the Empress herself.

Bugachev, along with six other
ringleaders, was sentenced to death.

On January 10th, 1775,

In front of a huge crowd in Moscow's
Balatnaya Square, one of the most

and charismatic rebels in Russian
history was executed by quartering.

By law, Pugachev's legs should have been
cut off first, then his arms, and only

then his head.

But by personal order of the Empress,
Pugachev and his comrades were granted a

small mercy.

They were beheaded first.

The Empress later declared Pugachev's
rebellion to be a national tragedy and

ordered its events to pass into eternal
oblivion and deep silence.

Catherine believed that the rebellion
had been caused by the state of Russia's

provincial government, archaic,
incompetent, and corrupt.

The entire administration of the empire
needed overhauling.

It was to this great task that Catherine
turned next.

My quick quill will be the death of me,
she wrote to the French philosopher

Voltaire. I've never written so much in
my life.

The result was 216 pages on reform of
the provincial administration of the

Russian Empire.

Catherine's reforms began with a
complete reorganization of the empire,

the number of provinces from 23 to 50.

Each province was subdivided into
between 10 and 20 districts, all of

equal size.

These new provinces and districts would
be the new basis for local government.

216 towns received city status.

Each city, from the capital downwards,
became a separate administrative unit,

divided into its own districts and
quarters.

This system was in use with few changes
until the Russian Revolution.

Some of its measures even remain in use
today.

Then, shocking news arrived from France
that would hold Catherine's reforms in

their tracks.

Louis XVI, King of France, had been
guillotined.

Catherine had never been a friend of the
King, but the news made her physically

ill.

French Revolution was the largest
political and social upheaval of the

France's monarchy was overthrown in
1792, and a republic based on freedom

equality was proclaimed.

Ground had been laid by Enlightenment
philosophers such as Voltaire,

Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Diderot.

Now revolutionaries like Robespierre,
Marat, and Danton sought to fashion a

state from their ideas.

The empress was thrown into panic.

The French Revolution had been inspired
by the same ideals that drove her.

Was she paving the way for a Russian
Robespierre or Marat?

Would she be the next monarch to lose
her head?

She offered to send Subarov and an army
of 60 ,000 men to crush the revolution.

It did not happen.

But from henceforth Catherine looked on
her old Enlightenment ideals with deep

mistrust.

Catherine kept the title Mother of the
Nation close to her heart.

There was hardly any area of Russian
life she didn't look at to see how it

be improved, from provincial
administration to the duties of Russian

Her reign saw the birth of Russian
journalism and satire. She even

to such magazines herself.

In 1795, she joined forces with
Frederick William of Prussia and Emperor

of Austria to carve up Poland, annexing
territory in Belarus, Western Ukraine,

Lithuania, and Latvia.

She wrote no fewer than three dozen
literary works, including 11 comedies

seven operas.

Her reign saw the construction of great
buildings and monuments in Moscow and

St. Petersburg, designed by men of
genius such as Bazhanov and Kazakov.

She initiated smallpox vaccination in
Russia, vaccinating herself and her son

Paul. She amassed an unrivaled
collection of artwork that became the

the world -famous Hermitage Museum.

She was a patron of Russian artists who
themselves became masters.

and Vladimir Baravakovsky.

The scale and breadth of her
achievements were awe -inspiring.

No one could doubt her right to be
called Catherine the Great.

For Russia, Catherine's 34 -year reign
was a period of dramatic growth.

The population of the empire soared from
19 to 36 million.

The conquests of her reign surpassed
even those of Peter the Great.

29 new provinces were created and 144
new towns founded.

The army doubled in size from 162 ,000
to 312 ,000. The navy grew from

6 frigates and 21 ships of the line to
40 frigates and 67 ships of the line.

The generals and admirals won an
incredible 78 military victories.

Meanwhile, industrial output boomed. The
output of cast iron tripled.

Russia became the greatest producer of
cast iron in the world, overtaking the

former world leader, Great Britain.

The value of Russia's external trade
rose from more than 9 million rubles per

year to nearly 46 million rubles per
year.

State revenue quadrupled from 16 million
to 69 million rubles.

Catherine built on the foundations laid
by Peter the Great 80 years before to

create a giant and powerful new Russian
empire.

Many later generations would look back
to her reign as the zenith of Russian

imperial glory.

But forever mindful of the limitations
of power, She compared her own work to a

drop of water falling in the ocean.

In 1796, in her 67th year, Catherine
prepared to draft a decree on her

succession.

She intended to pass over her unloved
son, Paul, to make her 19 -year -old

favourite grandson, Alexander, her heir.

She did not live to see it completed.

On November 6th, 1796,

Catherine the Great died of a stroke.

Her 42 -year -old son Paul became
emperor.

In just one month, it was plain to see
why the empress had tried to remove him

from the succession.

Catherine the Great was never wrong.

November 1796.

Grand Duke Paul Petrovich strode through
the corridors of the Winter Palace.

As his mother, Catherine the Great, lay
dying.

He was looking for Catherine's secret
will.

One piece of paper that stood between
him and the throne.

Unless it was destroyed, the throne
would pass directly to his son,

as Catherine had wished.

Unlike his father, Alexander seemed born
to rule.

He had every natural gift, charm,
intellect, and wit.

The only thing he lacked was the desire
to rule.

Catherine's will never saw the light of
day.

The moment Paul had been waiting for for
34 years had arrived.

At last, he was emperor.

But in little more than four years,
Alexander would stand over his father's

bloody body, and Catherine would at last
have her way.

Paul's birth had been a joyous event.

As the great -grandson of Peter the
Great, His destiny had always been to

continue the Romanov line and one day
rule Russia.

But all his early years had been lived
in the shadow of his mother, Catherine

the Great.

The eternal prince became lonely and
secretive, retreating into an imaginary

world of his own creation.

Many thought he was mad and christened
him the Russian Hamlet.

Immediately after Paul's birth, he was
taken from his mother by Empress

Elizabeth, who raised him at her own.

His mother, Catherine, was granted
almost no access to her son.

His father, the future Peter III, also
saw little of the boy.

There were rumours at court that Paul's
real father was not Peter, but a

courtier, Sergei Sotikov.

Catherine herself encouraged these
rumours, which undermined the husband

later deposed.

Stories about Paul's uncertain parentage
delighted Cortes, but as the prince

grew up, the resemblance to Peter III
was plain to see, both physically and in

his strange mannerisms.

Like his father, Paul liked to march
around his palaces as though on military

parade. He frequently baffled Cortes and
ambassadors with his inane remarks,

leaving his wife, the German princess
Maria Fedorovna, to cover up his strange

behavior as best she could, just as
Catherine had to do for Emperor Peter.

Nevertheless, Empress Elizabeth adored
her great -nephew, Paul.

She began to consider making him her
successor and bypassing his father,

who she and many others believed was
insane.

To prepare Paul for rule, she found him
the best tutors in Russia.

Paul studied five languages, history,
literature, mathematics, science,

draftsmanship, and architecture, as well
as writing, fencing, dance, carpentry,

and chess.

Paul himself insisted on studying the
military sciences.

To help with navigation lessons, his
entire table was painted blue and marked

to look like a huge naval chart.

The Empress Elizabeth died when Paul was
seven, followed six months later by his

father, Peter III, most likely murdered
by his mother's supporters.

His mother, Catherine, became Empress.

Some believed she'd hand over power to
her son when he came of age in 14 years'

time.

Instead, he'd have to wait 34 years.

As a teenager, Paul was prone to
depression.

He was deeply ashamed of his mother's
licentious behavior and terrified of her

lovers.

But his tutors noted his intelligence
and interest in science, art, and

philosophy.

From his reading, he developed a
particular obsession with the Knights of

and dreamed of one day joining their
ranks.

Becoming emperor was a daunting prospect
for Paul.

His only happiness came from his
friendship with a young count, Andrei

Razumovsky.

Paul wrote to him, Your friendship has
worked a miracle.

I'm no longer plagued by all my old
fears.

No more chimeras.

Away, black thoughts.

When Paul turned 19, His mother found
him a bride, the eighteen -year -old

Vilhelmina Luisa, princess of Hesse
-Darmstadt.

Paul fell in love almost immediately.

After converting to Russian orthodoxy,
Vilhelmina took the name Natalia

Alexeyevna.

But after four years of marriage,
Natalia died, giving birth to a

Paul went almost mad with grief.

His mother chose to console him by
revealing letters between Natalia and

Razumovsky, proving his wife had been
having an affair with his best friend.

Paul never recovered from this blow.

The lesson he drew was never to trust
anyone again.

His mother quickly found Paul another
German princess to marry.

Six months later, he was engaged to
Sofia Dorotea of Württemberg, who took

Russian name Maria Fyodorovna.

Paul's second marriage was a happy one,
and in the course of 25 years, she gave

birth to 10 royal children.

These children would carry on the
Romanov dynasty for the next 150 years.

The sons included the emperors Alexander
I and Nicholas I.

Her grandson was Alexander II, her great
-grandson Alexander III, and her great

-great -grandson Nicholas II.

All surviving representatives of the
House of Romanov are also her

The couple honeymooned in Europe,
travelling incognito under the names

Countess Thevenik, Russian for Of the
North.

Few of their hosts were fooled, and
across Europe Paul was welcomed with a

degree of respect.

He'd never received at home.

In Vienna, the couple went to the Court
Theatre to see a performance of Hamlet.

But when the lead found out who was in
the audience, it was said he refused to

go on stage, declaring, I cannot play
the part of a prince who seeks revenge

his murdered father with the real thing
watching from the royal box.

Empress Catherine never let Paul
interfere in affairs of state.

She didn't even trust him to raise his
own sons, Alexander and Constantine.

To keep him out of the way, she bought
him the Palace of Gacina, 25 miles

outside St. Petersburg.

For 20 years, Paul devoted himself to
creating his own miniature kingdom at

Gacina.

He had the buildings renovated to
imitate the latest European styles and

his guards wear Prussian -style uniforms
and powdered wigs.

Catherine's courtiers ridiculed Paul.

One wrote, You can't observe the Grand
Duke's behaviour without disgust. He

thinks himself the King of Prussia.

Every Wednesday he conducts manoeuvres.

The 2 ,000 guardsmen of the Gachina
garrison never saw action, but instead

became the plaything of Grand Duke Paul.

Like his father, he was obsessed with
soldiering and was determined to make

troops the best drilled in Russia.

They rehearsed volley fire, bayonet
drill, amphibious landings and assaults,

trained with artillery.

By 1796, They were the most disciplined
and polished troops in the Russian army.

The china drill went down in Russian
military folklore.

Before appearing on duty, each soldier
was screwed into a special contraption

straighten his head and his back and
keep them perfectly still.

Their tight white breeches were pulled
on wet and dried on the body, so there

wasn't a single crease.

Officers made the men practice marching
with a glass of water on their head.

If they spilled any water, they weren't
keeping their head still enough.

Even minor misdemeanors were punished
with beatings.

Changing the guard became an elaborate
drill that lasted hours, and all

marched with the famous high -stepping
parade march still used by Russian guard

regiments.

Catherine ridiculed her son's military
pretensions.

She didn't like to have her son around
court, but she lavished the tension on

her grandson, Alexander.

In fact, she behaved exactly as her
predecessor, Elizabeth, had done towards

own husband, Peter, which she'd so
resented at the time.

As soon as Alexander turned 16,
Catherine arranged for him to marry a

princess and began to talk openly of
bypassing her son.

and leaving the throne to her grandson
instead.

This was when Paul began to fear for his
life.

On the night of November 6th, 1796, Paul
and his wife had the same dream.

An unseen force raised them up and
carried them through the darkness.

They woke up in terror just as a
messenger arrived from St. Petersburg.

He announced that Catherine the Great
was dying.

Within hours, Paul was Emperor of
Russia, and he was soon passing laws at

dizzying rate, as though he didn't
believe he had much time.

In the course of his four -and -a -half
-year reign, Paul passed 7 ,865 acts of

legislation, twice as many as Peter the
Great had passed in his 43 -year reign,

and one -and -a -half times as many as
Catherine the Great in her 34 -year

reign.

He also found time to issue 14 ,207
orders concerning the army.

The emperor rose at 4 a .m. and worked
in his office until 9, where he received

visitors and reports.

Then he rode out, usually accompanied by
Grand Duke Alexander, to visit some

state establishment.

The changing of the guard was held at
11.

Then, after an hour's walking through
St. Petersburg streets, The emperor

returned to the parade ground to inspect
the guard.

He even measured the length of the
soldiers' pigtails and checked the

powder in their hair.

Officers were punished severely for the
smallest faults.

In just the first three days of Paul's
reign, the emperor dismissed 16

lieutenant generals, 57 major generals,
and three full generals.

But before years, 2 ,594 officers
resigned, including 333 generals.

The emperor's behavior created an
atmosphere of permanent anxiety.

The wife of his military adjutant
remembered, his victims formed an

procession to the fortress.

Often their only fault was hair that was
too long, or a jacket that was too

short.

The wearing of vests was strictly
forbidden.

If the emperor spotted anyone wearing a
vest, the unfortunate owner was sent

straight to the guardhouse.

Even ladies sometimes ended up there if
they saw the emperor and didn't jump out

of their carriage quickly enough to make
the proper curtsy.

This is why the streets he used to walk
along in St. Petersburg quickly became

deserted.

Everyone trembled before the emperor.

Paul imagined himself as a perfect
chivalric knight become emperor, and he

not forgotten his childhood dream of
joining the Knights of Malta.

When Napoleon conquered their home
island in 1798, Paul offered the knights

new home in Russia and became their
Grand Master, even though he was

and it was a Catholic order.

Paul became the first Russian emperor to
meet the Pope, Pius VI.

even inviting him to move to Russia when
Rome was also occupied by Napoleon.

In Paul's eyes, Napoleon represented a
world evil that had to be defeated.

He allied Russia with the coalition of
powers fighting against him, and sent an

army under the brilliant Field Marshal
Subarov to Europe.

In 1799, in northern Italy, Subarov won
three battles in just four months.

It was then forced to execute a dramatic
but brilliant strategic retreat across

the Swiss Alps in winter.

The Emperor resented Suvorov for
opposing his military reforms, but even

confessed his admiration for this latest
achievement, telling Suvorov, the only

victory you had yet to win was over
nature itself.

Even there, you now have the upper hand.

Paul set out to undo all his mother's
reforms, which meant his next target was

Russia's own nobility, who had thrived
under Catherine's rule.

He ended their exemption from taxes and
corporal punishment, turning them into

powerful enemies.

Paul tried to watch everything and
everyone.

Stacks of unread reports began to pile
up on his desk.

Because of a mass purging of the civil
service, There weren't enough staff left

to run the offices of state.

The British ambassador, Sir Charles
Whitworth, who was watching the emperor

carefully, wrote troubling reports to
London.

The emperor has gone mad.

Since the moment he ascended the throne,
his physical state has worsened.

The emperor's behavior became more and
more strange.

He no longer went for walks along the
embankment.

because he feared the strong wind might
blow his head away like a soap bubble.

He suffered from insomnia, so his loyal
wife Maria walked with him all night, so

he wouldn't pester the guards with
nonsensical questions.

A conspiracy against him was now formed.
It included Count Pallon, Governor of

St. Petersburg, Vice -Chancellor Nikita
Panin, Catherine's favourite Platon

Zuboff, General Bennigsen.

General Uvarov and many others, perhaps
as many as 300 people.

Grand Duke Alexander didn't join the
conspirators, but nor did he stop them.

He only insisted they did not harm a
hair on his father's head.

The conspirators swore to it.

They wanted Paul to abdicate and retire
to Mikulovsky Castle, where as a last

resort, they would lock him up.

Mikhailovsky Castle was Paul's newest
palace, his fantasy made real.

The designs had taken years, but their
realization had had to wait until

Catherine the Great's death.

As soon as Paul was emperor,
construction began, and was finished in

and a half years.

Paul ordered the court to move here
while the interiors were still

Its dark stairways and eerie corridors
created a strange, unsettling

but Paul felt at home.

The emperor's behavior was becoming even
more unpredictable.

He sat for hours in deep thought.

He began to suspect his wife and sons of
plotting against him.

He wrote a secret letter and hid it in a
chest, with a note reading, to be

opened by our descendant 100 years after
my death.

It was known that it concerned the fate
of the dynasty, and that Paul had

written it after speaking with a
prisoner from the Peter and Paul

named Abel.

Abel was a monk, born Vasily Vasilyev in
1757, who took his monastic vows at the

island monastery of Valam.

He was later said to have gained the
gift of prophecy and wrote many of his

visions down in a book.

It's claimed he accurately predicted
many events, some of which took place

during his lifetime, such as the death
of Catherine the Great, the death of

Paul, Napoleon's invasion of Russia, the
Decembrist Revolt, as well as more

distant events, including the First
World War, the Russian Revolution, the

murder of the last Tsar, civil war,
repression, and war with Hitler.

Abel had been locked up for prophesying
the death of the last empress, but he

was summoned from his prison cell to
speak with Paul.

When asked what future he saw for the
emperor, Abel replied, Your reign will

short. You will be strangled in your
bedchamber by scoundrels who even now

hold in your warm embrace.

He even named the day March 11th.

On the evening of the 11th, Paul dined
with his family.

At one point, he looked into a mirror
and joked, What a funny mirror.

I can see myself in it with a broken
neck.

At that moment, the conspirators were
holding their final meeting at Camp

Allen's house.

When someone asked what they should do
if the emperor resisted, Alan answered,

Omelets are not made without breaking
eggs.

After dinner, the emperor suddenly said,
What will be, will be, and went to his

bedchamber.

He checked the doors and windows, and
wondered why the crows in the summer

garden were making such a fuss.

His assassins were passing through the
summer garden on their way to the

When they arrived, the guards let them
in.

Paul heard heavy footsteps in the
corridor and knew they'd come for him.

The conspirators included ex -army
officers, many of whom were drunk.

They burst into the emperor's bedroom
and found him hiding behind a screen.

They tried to make him sign his
abdication, but he refused.

Then Platon Zuboff struck him on the
temple with a golden snuffbox, like a

of brass knuckledufters.

The emperor fell to the ground.

All fought bravely, one against a dozen.

They beat him senseless, and then
throttled

him with his own scarf.

The Russian people were told Emperor
Paul I had died from an apoplectic

Indeed, insiders joked, a stroke of a
snuffbox to the head.

French artist Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun
witnessed the reaction to the emperor's

death.

The city went wild with delight.

People were singing, dancing and kissing
in the streets.

The people I knew would run up to my
carriage, shake my hand and exclaim, Now

are free.

Many households even hung out lights.

The death of this unhappy emperor caused
universal joy.

Within hours of Paul's death, his son,
the new emperor Alexander, issued a

declaration promising to rule in the
spirit of his grandmother, Catherine the

Great. But he did not share in the
general sense of jubilation.

He was sickened by the events of the
previous night.

He had only wanted what was best for
Russia.

But his good intentions had paved the
way to hell, his own personal hell, that

would remain with him for the rest of
his life.

Chapter 2 Alexander I Pavlovich It was

Catherine the Great who chose the name
Alexander for Paul's first son.

Officially, he was named in honor of the
Russian hero Alexander Nevsky.

In reality, after the great conqueror
Alexander the Great.

The Empress showered all the motherly
affection she had denied to her son Paul

on this boy, her first grandson.

Catherine wrote about the little prince
with pride.

She described a boy who was courteous,
cheerful and obedient, and who made an

effort to be liked.

Everyone expected great things from
Alexander.

He was watched all the time. It was like
being always on stage, and in time, he

developed a mask for every occasion.

Politician Baron Korf noted, the emperor
could penetrate minds and feet of the

bottom of people's souls without ever
revealing his own thoughts and feelings.

Alexander knew his grandmother wanted to
leave the throne to him instead of his

father, but he did not relish the
prospect.

The only person he trusted was his Swiss
tutor, Frederick Le Harp.

A republican and an idealist, Le Harp
was appointed by Catherine to instill

own enlightened, humanist values in the
young prince.

Alexander was not yet fifteen when the
Empress arranged for him to meet two

sisters. Princesses of Baden, 13 -year
-old Louise and 11 -year -old Dorothea.

Alexander was to choose one of them to
marry.

He chose the elder, Louise, who
converted to Orthodoxy and took the name

Elizabeth. They were married the
following year.

Courtiers nicknamed the newlyweds Cupid
and Psyche.

Alexander's charming, beautiful bride
inspired many artists and poets.

Fyodor Glinka wrote of her, Gentle
Queen, glory of the Tsars!

Your divine face is worthy of altars.

Elizabeth would go on to become renowned
as a Russian patriot.

During the Napoleonic Wars, she founded
a society to support the sick and

wounded and pay for their hospital
treatment.

She founded orphanages and schools for
the children of officers killed in the

war, as well as other charitable
institutions.

Elizabeth was considered the great
beauty of her age.

Guards officers formed clubs inspired by
their love for her.

For all of Russian society, she became
an emblem of love, beauty and virtue.

But when Elizabeth first arrived at the
Russian court, during the reign of

Alexander's father, Paul, she found it a
place of anxiety and gloominess.

The emperor constantly found fault with
everyone, even Elizabeth.

And as the young couple grew up, their
different temperaments became more

obvious.

Alexander was passionate, Elizabeth
cool.

They drifted apart.

and in time, took other lovers.

In the sixth year of marriage, Elizabeth
gave birth to a daughter, Maria.

But she died within the year.

With each passing year, Alexander
realized he didn't want to become

He dreamt of leaving everything behind
and going to live with Elizabeth by the

River Rhine.

in romantic seclusion.

In a letter to a trusted friend, he
confessed, I realize that I wasn't born

the title I bear now, and even less for
the one destined for me.

I've sworn to myself to refuse it in one
way or another.

The certainties of the Gacina parade
ground became almost a place of

psychological relief.

During training, a cannon went off next
to Alexander, leaving him deaf in his

left ear.

His deafness led to a paranoid fear that
people were always laughing at him

behind his back.

On one occasion, he passed three
officers sharing a joke and laughing

themselves.

He ordered one of them to his office.

As the officer arrived, Alexander was
examining himself in the mirror.

What's funny about me? he asked.

Why did you laugh at me?

It was impossible to persuade the Grand
Duke that they'd been laughing at

something else.

When Alexander became emperor, his first
acts were to revoke all the unpopular

decrees of his father, Paul.

He closed the secret chancelry, allowed
nobles to travel abroad once more, and

restored their other rights and
privileges.

Everyone had their own plan to reform
the empire in the name of progress and

enlightenment.

So Alexander assembled a group of
friends and advisors, all young liberals

himself, educated in the European style,
to decide the way forward.

Within two years, Alexander's Privy
Committee had created new government

ministries to replace the old collegia
and put in place progressive education

reforms.

Universities were open to everyone,
censorship laws were relaxed, and five

universities were founded.

A first step was taken towards reforming
Russia's serf laws.

A new decree allowed serfs to buy their
freedom if their owners agreed.

They were to form a new class of free
ploughmen.

The reforms moved slowly and faced
significant opposition.

Alexander was dismayed.

Everyone seemed to think only about
their own interests.

No one seemed to share his concern for
the common good.

Then he found a man who seemed to
understand and share his dream for

perfectly.

Extraordinarily intelligent and hard
-working, his name was Mikhail

He became first the secretary to the
Privy Committee, and later the emperor's

right -hand man.

The emperor himself took on
responsibility for foreign policy.

The great threat remained Napoleon
Bonaparte.

who had now crowned himself Emperor of
the French.

He threatened to overthrow the
established order of Europe, and war

more.

In 1805, at Austerlitz, in today's Czech
Republic, they met in the Battle of the

Three Emperors, Alexander of Russia and
Francis II of Austria, against Napoleon.

The old veteran General Kutuzov
commanded the Russian army.

But Alexander, jealous of Napoleon's
martial glory, took charge himself.

Alexander saw his army crushed and
routed and was forced to flee to save

life. Those close to him saw the emperor
trembling and weeping.

A Cossack brought him some wine.

He eventually calmed down and fell
asleep on a bed of straw inside a shed.

After the disaster at Austerlitz,
Alexander never again interfered in

strategy. He kept to his own forte,
diplomacy.

Even his great adversary Napoleon
recognized his charm.

The Russian emperor is intelligent,
pleasant, and well -educated, but he

be trusted.

He is insincere.

He is a subtle deceiver, a devious
fellow.

Two more years of war followed.

Then, in 1807, the two emperors agreed
to meet to negotiate peace.

Their armies were separated by the river
Neman.

So they met on a specially constructed
raft in the middle of the river, near

town of Tilted.

Alexander and Napoleon sat under a grand
canopy, one -on -one, without generals

or attendants, and talked for two hours.

At Tilted they signed a peace treaty,
which committed Russia to join

continental blockade against Britain.

It caused Russian exports to fall by
20%. With serious consequences for the

economy, French exports fell by a
similar amount.

But soon Russia was preparing for
another war against France.

Alexander was in no doubt that further
conflict was unavoidable.

In anticipation, Alexander almost
doubled spending on the army, from 63 .4

million rubles to 118 .5 million.

On June 12, 1812, Napoleon's grande
armée of 450 ,000 men began to cross the

River Neman.

Alexander had no more than 200 ,000 men
with which to face him.

On the first day of the war, Alexander
went to Moscow to address his people

the ancient capital.

During an open -air service, he was
profoundly moved when a peasant shouted

to him, Lead us, dear father.

We will die, all of us.

But we will win.

Next day, Alexander issued an imperial
decree, stating, I will not lay down my

arms while a single enemy soldier
remains in my realm.

Hot -headed generals like Bagration
wanted to meet Napoleon in one great

decisive battle.

But Alexander instead approved a policy
of strategic retreat, put forward by

Barclay de Tolly.

Napoleon was forced to advance further
and further into Russia, hoping to trap

the Russian army and inflict a crushing
defeat that would force Alexander to

give in.

As the people of St. Petersburg prepared
to flee, fearing Napoleon would soon

reach the capital, Alexander was haunted
by visions of his murdered father.

He was certain he was to blame for his
father's death, and the invasion was

God's punishment for his unforgivable
sin.

He shared his fears with his close
friend, Prince Galitzin.

Galitzin turned to the Bible for
guidance.

He let a page fall open at random.

It was a verse from Psalm 91.

My refuge and my fortress, my God in
whom I trust.

Alexander, who'd never shown much
interest in religion before, was greatly

affected.

He wrote to a friend, describing his
revelation.

I devoured the Bible, finding its words
poured into me anew, bringing a peace to

my heart.

that I'd never known before.

The emperor stepped aside from military
affairs and handed supreme command to

the 67 -year -old Kutuzov.

Kutuzov, a veteran of four wars, decided
it was time to fight the great battle

everyone had been waiting for near a
village called Borodino, 70 miles from

Moscow.

When news arrived of the outcome, it was
clear that both sides had suffered

heavy losses, but that Napoleon had not
been stopped.

Alexander then received news that
Kutuzov intended to abandon Moscow.

The Emperor's nerves were close to
breaking.

He paced around his office for an entire
night.

When he emerged in the morning, he was
berated by his brother Constantine,

his mother, the Dowager Empress, became
hysterical.

Only his wife noticed the emperor had
turned half grey overnight.

On September 2nd, Napoleon entered the
Kremlin and settled in Alexander's State

Apartments. The very same day, Moscow
began to burn from fires lit across the

city.

Four days later, Napoleon sent his first
letter to Alexander, offering to

negotiate a peace.

There was no answer.

Napoleon sent two more letters, but
Alexander remained silent.

The Emperor shared his thoughts in
letters to his beloved sister Catherine.

I'd rather cease to exist than make
peace with that monster who brings

all.

I trust in God for the incredible spirit
of my people and for the resoluteness

with which I decided not to bow down
beneath the yoke.

In October, Napoleon's army began its
long retreat from Moscow.

Harassed by Cossacks and decimated by
the cold, it became one of the great

catastrophes of military history.

In November, just a few thousand frozen,
hungry, and demoralized soldiers

recrossed the Neman River,

pitiful remnants of Napoleon's army.

Russia's first patriotic war was over.

Russian dead totaled 200 ,000 soldiers.

The civilian death toll was even higher.

Alexander had no intention of ending the
war.

The Russian army went on the offensive,
determined to defeat Napoleon once and

for all.

Alexander I and his allies fought their
way across Europe, dethroning the

upstart monarchs created by Napoleon and
restoring the old order.

On March 19, 1814, Alexander entered
Paris at the head of the Allied troops.

All Europe stood in awe of him.

In London, he was made godparent to a
future Queen of Great Britain, named

him, Alexandrina Victoria.

In Berlin, the main square was named
Alexanderplatz, in his honour.

In Paris, the Russian Emperor made a
great impression with his talk of

constitutions and liberty.

He was adored by the public, who treated
him like a modern celebrity, struggling

to get a glimpse of him.

This was his favorite role, the bel roi,
the great sovereign.

From Paris, he went to Vienna, where a
congress was held to decide the future

Europe.

The Russian emperor entered an arena
populated by the shrewdest minds and

cunning diplomats of the age.

But he played his part masterfully,
never revealing his true feelings or

intentions.

People came to call him the mysterious
Russian Sphinx.

Congress of Vienna awarded Alexander yet
more titles and more land.

He was now ruler of all the Russias,
king of Poland, grand duke of Finland,

55 titles in total.

And for his victory over Napoleon, he
was solemnly named the Blessed.

When Alexander returned to Russia, he
was not the same hot -headed, handsome

that had dreamt of liberty and the
common good.

Not yet 40, he had already been hailed
as the saviour of Europe.

Appearances were always important to
Alexander.

Everything had to be symmetrical,
faultless, precise.

His uniforms were always immaculate and
fitted him exactly.

No one had ever seen the emperor dressed
casually, even at home.

But now he became a true pedant.

Documents had to be the exact same size
and placed on his desk in neat piles.

The furniture was arranged according to
a plan, and nobody was permitted to move

a chair or vase.

If only it were possible to impose the
same order on Russia.

It was not the enlightened reformer
Sparansky who was now Alexander's

companion, but the old soldier, Count
Alexei Aracheyev.

an artillery expert who had served the
Emperor's father, Acacina.

His closeness to the Emperor aroused
considerable resentment amongst other

courtiers, who, behind his back, called
him a brute and a guerrilla.

Incredible stories were told about the
Count. It was said he got so furious

he tore soldiers' moustaches off, and
once even bit a soldier's ear off.

But he was honest, able, and devoted to
the Emperor.

He had Alexanders.

absolute trust.

Alexander put Arekcheyev in charge of
his new project.

Inspired by the ideas of a Welsh utopian
socialist, Robert Owen, Alexander

wanted to create military settlements
where soldiers lived with their families

and combined their military service with
farming.

Arekcheyev tried to talk Alexander out
of the idea.

He even begged him on bended knee, but
he had received an order and would carry

it out with all his ability.

The emperor believed everyone would
benefit from the settlements.

Soldiers could live with their families.
The army would feed itself.

There would be good order everywhere.

But conditions in the settlements
instead quickly led to rioting.

Life in the settlements was strictly
regulated, down to the tiniest detail.

Everything was identical, from houses to
pots and pans.

Every day was ordered around a strict
timetable.

Children were enlisted in the army at
the age of seven, and from then on came

under the authority of their officers,
not their parents.

Opposition and plots against him now
caused Alexander to radically change his

views. He turned his back on his former
ideals of tolerance and liberalism.

Instead, censorship was tightened.

So -called free thinkers were placed
under surveillance or sent into exile.

In reports on secret societies, he kept
seeing the same familiar names.

Trubetskoy, Muravyov brothers,
Volkonsky, Pestel.

But he stayed his hand.

I cannot judge them too severely, he
said. I once shared their ideals.

Alexander began to increasingly question
his own purpose.

In a letter to the French diplomat
Auguste de Choiseul -Gouffier, he wrote,

needs to stand in my shoes to know what
I feel when I reflect that I will have

to answer to God for the life of each
one of my soldiers.

No, the throne is not my calling.

If I could with honor change the
circumstances of my life, I'd do it with

pleasure.

I confess that sometimes I feel like
beating my head against the wall.

His father's murder, which had brought
him to power, the deaths of thousands of

Russian soldiers, the pursuit of glory
that now seemed worthless.

In his Bible, he underlined the words, I
have seen everything that is done under

the sun, and behold.

All is vanity.

The love of his youth, Empress
Elizabeth, came to his rescue.

For many years, they'd lived separately,
as strangers.

But now... He recognised in her a loyal
friend with whom he could talk about

anything.

When Elizabeth was diagnosed with
tuberculosis, Alexander decided they

leave St Petersburg and its damp climate
as soon as possible.

He wrote to his old friend, Prince
Varkonsky, soon we'll move to Crimea and

as private subjects.

I've served 25 years.

After that, soldiers are entitled to
retire.

They did not go to Crimea, but to the
southern city of Taganrog instead.

The emperor had visited it once and
liked it.

Hurried preparations were made for the
arrival of the royal couple.

Alexander left first to prepare
everything for his wife's arrival.

He moved into a single -storied stone
mansion on Grachevkia Street.

He swept the garden paths himself.

He helped to hang engravings on the wall
and moved the furniture into place.

And when Elizabeth arrived, they enjoyed
a quiet, peaceful life.

They went for walks, greeting those they
knew.

They read their favorite books to each
other.

They prayed together.

Alexander seemed rejuvenated, as if he
had been given a second chance at life.

But all the while, he remained emperor.

Alexander's strange, carefree behavior
would come at a price.

It was soon to become the pretext for a
tragic and bloody revolt.

But Alexander did not live to see it.

His southern idyll lasted only two
months.

On November the 19th, after a short
illness, he died.

The Empress Elizabeth died six months
later.

The emperor's sudden death threw many
into confusion.

There were rumors that Alexander had
faked his death and gone into hiding

somewhere.

Ten years later, reports emerged of a
mysterious old man named Fyodor Kuzmich,

who lived in a village near Tomsk in
Siberia.

He was well -educated, spoke several
foreign languages, and was extremely

He refused ever to discuss his earlier
life.

The old man was tall, broad -shouldered,
and like Alexander, deaf in one ear.

Kuzmich died in 1864 and was buried in
the grounds of the Tomsk Monastery.

His headstone reads, This is the grave
of the great blessed elder, Fyodor

Kuzmich.

The rumours that Kuzmich was in fact
Alexander remain to this day.

neither proved nor disproved.

Two years before his death, Alexander
had talked to his younger brother, Grand

Duke Nicholas, of his intention to
abdicate in his favor.

Nicholas's wife wrote in her diary,
speaking to us about his abdication, the

emperor said, how I will rejoice when I
see you driving past me.

I'll mingle in the crowd, and with the
rest of them, shout, Hurrah!

December 14th, 1825.

The revolt was over, but the emperor's
eldest son, Grand Duke Alexander, was

still trembling with fear.

The boy knew his father had gone out to
do his duty and might have been killed

for it.

Then he heard his father's voice calling
him to come outside.

Loyal troops were formed up in the
courtyard.

Just an hour earlier, They had refused
the rebels' entry to the palace.

The emperor took his son in his arms and
addressed the men.

I don't need protection, but I entrust
him to you.

And handed Alexander over to them.

The soldiers cheered with tears in their
eyes.

The young prince was carried aloft in
their arms.

Nobody suspected that one day, this
future emperor would face far greater

dangers of his own.

Nicholas was a huge baby.

The size of a three -month -old, it was
said.

His grandmother, Catherine the Great,
wrote in admiration, I've never seen

a cavalier.

If he continues to grow, this colossus
will dwarf his brothers.

When Nicholas

was five, his father, the Emperor Paul,
was brutally murdered by conspirators.

The children remembered it well.

The youngest brother, Michael, was
playing on his own.

He built a train of tiny carriages and
used it to carry a toy soldier to a

potted plant, then buried him in the
earth.

When asked what he was doing, he
answered, I'm burying my father.

After Paul's death in 1801, His eldest
son, the 24 -year -old Alexander, became

emperor. The second brother,
Constantine, became the new heir to the

As the third brother, Nicholas wasn't
expected to inherit the throne.

He grew up under the strict care of his
mother, Maria, the Dowager Empress.

At the age of 17, Nicholas and his
younger brother, Michael, were allowed

travel abroad.

Years later, he recalled, that's when we
started to live, stepping from

childhood into the light of life.

It was in Berlin that I saw, for the
first time, the girl I wanted to spend

rest of my life with.

The 16 -year -old Princess Charlotte of
Prussia, daughter of the king, was an

ideal match for the Grand Duke.

They were married two years later, and
Charlotte took the Russian name

Fedorovna.

Grand Duke Nicholas was later appointed
Chief Inspector of the Corps of

Engineers and Commander of the Guards
Engineer Battalion.

Every day he rose early for prayer and
morning exercise, performing complex

bayonet drill with a musket.

The rest of the day was spent writing
orders and reports, and carrying out

inspections.

Nicholas's elder brother, Emperor
Alexander I, often hinted that he

leave the throne to Nicholas, since
their middle brother, Constantine, had

interest in becoming emperor.

And so, in 1823, Alexander signed a
secret will, making Nicholas his heir.

Only four people knew of its existence.

Nicholas was not one of them.

On November 19th, 1825, Alexander died
suddenly in the southern city of

Taganrog.

Eight days later, the news reached St.
Petersburg.

Nicholas swore allegiance to his older
brother, Constantine, the presumed heir,

who was in Warsaw.

Then Alexander's secret will was
proclaimed.

And two weeks later, Constantine's
renunciation of the throne arrived from

Poland.

It was a unique case in world history.

Instead of quarreling for the throne,
two Romanov brothers were insisting it

belonged to the other.

Cad Langeron later paid them a subtle
French compliment.

The Romanovs are so noble, they do not
ascend, but descend to the throne.

But the resulting confusion was
dangerous and encouraged a secret

society, the Decembrists, to make their
move.

The Decembrists were made up of liberal
-minded guards officers and nobles who

wished to reform the monarchy and free
Russia's serfs.

Its members included many high -ranking
aristocrats.

Members of its northern society, led by
Nikita Muravyev, favoured a

constitutional monarchy.

while members of the Southern Society,
under Pavel Pestel, wanted to abolish

monarch and redistribute the land.

They planned to carry out a military
coup d 'etat.

The more radical conspirators, Ryeliev
and Pestel, talked of killing the entire

Romanov family, including the princesses
living abroad and their children, so no

one could ever lay claim to the Russian
throne again.

The troops were due to swear their oaths
of loyalty to the new emperor on

December 14th. The evening before,
Nicholas visited Mikulovsky Castle,

father had been murdered.

When he returned, he asked his wife to
die with honor, if need be.

At 11 .20, Nicholas was told the Moscow
Guards Regiment had refused to swear the

oath and had marched to Senate Square.

At 11 .30, the Emperor went to the
square with the loyal palace guards.

At 12 .20, General Miloradovich tried to
talk to the rebel troops, but was shot

dead by a Decembrist.

At 1 .00 p .m., 900 rebel guardsmen
approached the Winter Palace.

1 .20 p .m., Nicholas sent a bishop to
reason with the soldiers, but nobody

listened to him.

By 2 p .m., there were 3 ,000 rebel
troops in the square.

Loyal troops were arriving all the time,
but Nicholas continued to delay.

At ten past four, cannon opened fire on
the rebels.

The young Empress Alexandra could see
the Senate Square filled with people.

At the sound of the first volley, she
wrote, I fell to my knees in a small

and prayed like never before.

The strain of that day affected
Alexandra for the rest of her life.

Her health suffered.

Already thin, she lost more weight and
became frequently ill.

The Emperor ordered the first blast of
grapeshot to be fired over the heads of

the rebel soldiers, but the next volley
was fired straight into the crowd.

When the smoke cleared, the death toll
stood at one general, 18 officers,

282 soldiers, and 1 ,170 civilians,
including 79 women and

150 children.

A total of 1 ,271 dead.

679 people were investigated following
the Decembrist revolt.

but most turned out to have no
connection to the secret societies that

organized the coup.

Of those finally put on trial, 112 lost
their titles and all of their property

rights.

99 were exiled to Siberia, 36 of those
to labor camps, 9 officers were demoted

to the ranks, 36 were sentenced to
death, 31 by beheading, and 5 by

quartering.

Emperor Nicholas himself mitigated many
of the sentences, and in the end only

five Decembrists were executed.

They included ringleaders such as Pestel
and the poet Rielief, and the man who'd

shot General Mir Loradovich.

Quartering was commuted to hanging.

The emperor himself paid an allowance to
the widows of the executed men.

Their families continued to receive
payments from the office of the general

staff, for 20 years, while the children
were put through school at public

expense.

Nicholas ordered the Decembrists'
grievances to be looked at by a special

committee. He invited Count Kiselyov, a
Decembrist sympathizer and opponent of

Serfdom, to look into its abolition.

While receiving a delegation of nobles
from Smolensk, the Emperor told them

plainly, I cannot understand how a
person became a thing.

I cannot explain it other than through
guile and deceit on one side and

ignorance on the other.

During Nicholas's reign, new
restrictions were imposed on the owners

Landowners could no longer sentence
serfs to hard labor or sell them off

land.

Serfs were granted more freedom of
movement.

and the right to conduct their own
business.

The percentage of Russians living as
privately owned serfs fell from 57 % to

35%. The number of schools for peasants
rose from 60 to 2

,550.

Nicholas was trained as an engineer and
fascinated by new inventions.

In 1835, he was seduced by a project
many thought was crazy.

At that time, there were only three
railroads in the world, two in England

one in America.

Nicholas studied the schemes on offer
carefully and authorized construction of

an experimental railroad between St.
Petersburg and his palace at Tsarskoye

Selo.

Four years later, ignoring the
objections of ministers, he ordered

built, connecting St. Petersburg and
Moscow.

At the time, it was the longest railroad
in the world, at 649 .7 kilometers.

Its construction cost 67 million rubles,
one -third of the empire's annual

budget. All 34 stations and both
terminals were designed by one

Konstantin Ton, who was also responsible
for the Grand Kremlin Palace.

The rails were 1 ,524 millimeters apart.

89 millimeters wider than in Europe.

It was believed the emperor insisted on
this difference, so an invading army

couldn't use its own rolling stock on
Russian railways.

100 years later, during World War II,
those 89 millimeters would prove crucial

in slowing down the advance and resupply
of German troops during the battle for

Moscow.

During Nicholas's reign, 700 miles of
rail track were laid across Russia.

It was not much, but Russia's first
railways did help to stimulate Russian

industrial output, which grew 30 -fold
in just three decades.

Russia's first hardened roads were
built, connecting Moscow and St.

Moscow and Irkutsk, and Moscow and
Warsaw.

These developments, overseen by Russia's
engineer emperor, began a much -needed

modernization of the country's transport
network.

The emperor began his working day at 7 a
.m.

Around 11, he'd take a walk along the
palace embankment, without guards,

greeting those he knew.

He then returned to work until around 8
p .m., when he would go out to the

theater, or perhaps a ball.

He returned home at midnight and worked
until 3 a .m.

By today's standards, his personal
security was non -existent.

No one saw the need.

The emperor didn't eat much, and when he
did, preferred simple food.

He loved veal cutlets with mashed
potato.

but often had just a slice of black
bread or a salted cucumber for dinner.

On the road his meals were even simpler,
porridge and some cabbage soup, which

he'd eat from the same bowl.

He drank mineral water from Salzburg,
and very rarely wines from Bordeaux.

He never smoked.

They said that those of a nervous
disposition found it difficult to meet

emperor's gaze, while ladies were known
to faint in his presence.

Not from fear, but from adoration.

Nicholas, six foot two, broad
-shouldered and well -built, was

the most handsome men in Europe.

It was rumoured at court that Nicholas
wore padding underneath his uniform to

look more imposing, but his private
doctor said this was not true.

The Emperor simply had a very broad
chest.

In public, he did not relax for an
instant.

His appearance was immaculate at all
times.

It's no surprise that Nicholas I became
the role model for all future Romanovs.

The emperor brought a sense of calm and
stability to Russia in an uncertain age.

Contemporary newspapers depicted France
as an exploding bottle of champagne,

while Russia was a bottle of vodka
without a bubble in sight.

It was a reference to the explosive
revolutions sweeping across Europe in

1840s. Only Britain, the Netherlands and
Russia escaped unrest.

Nicholas's 30 -year reign was the most
stable period in the history of Tsarist

Russia.

Nicholas devoted himself to matters of
state.

No important document crossed his desk
without some comment from him.

His own office, The Imperial Chancellery
became the hub of government.

The first section of the Chancellery was
responsible for preparing imperial

decrees and monitoring their
implementation.

The second section worked on the
codification of Russia's laws into a

text. The third section was in charge of
police surveillance, censorship,

tracing counterfeiters and investigating
serf complaints against landowners.

The fourth section, or the Office of the
Empress Maria, worked on charitable

projects, including shelters, hospitals
and women's education.

The fifth section worked on reforms of
the serf system.

The notorious third section of the
Imperial Chancellery effectively served

the Tsar's secret police.

Its mission was to gauge the political
mood for him and to expose any

conspiracies against the regime.

It had a permanent staff, however, of
just 36.

It was led by a hero of the Napoleonic
Wars and close friend of the Emperor,

Count Alexander von Benckendorf.

He also headed the Special Corps of
Gendarme, who served as a uniformed

police with a strength of 4 ,000.

The prestige and authority of the Corps
was very high.

It's no coincidence that a gendarme
appears in the famous final scene of

play, The Government Inspector.

Gogol's satire only avoided being banned
thanks to the Emperor's personal

intervention. Though remembered as a
great reactionary, Nicholas saw no harm

such an amusing play.

One of Nicholas's first acts after his
coronation was to end the exile of the

great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.

The emperor even exempted Pushkin from
the normal channels of censorship,

promising to vet his works personally.

Pushkin dedicated nine poems to
Nicholas, while the emperor intervened

number of occasions to get Pushkin out
of trouble, even paying off his debts.

worth the equivalent of several million
dollars.

In 1837, another great Russian poet,
Mikhail Lyomantov, was transferred from

Guard Hussars regiment to a unit
fighting in the far south in Russia's

Caucasian War.

The conflict had begun 20 years earlier,
in 1817.

when the Russian army invaded the
northern Caucasus during the reign of

Alexander I.

The war ebbed and flowed until reaching
a new crescendo in the 1830s, when Imam

Shamil led Chechen and Dagestani
warriors in a jihad against the Russian

invader. The fighting dragged on for
another 30 years until Russia was

able to impose its rule on the northern
Caucasus.

By the 1850s, a European coalition was
forming against Russia, alarmed by the

expansionist foreign policy of the
Russian Empire.

Under Nicholas, Russia had won wars
against both the Persian and Ottoman

Empires, and its growing influence in
the Eastern Mediterranean and Central

was seen as a threat to British and
French imperial interests.

In 1853, fighting broke out around the
Black Sea.

leading to what became known as the
Crimean War.

Russian troops clashed with Turkish
troops in the Balkans and Caucasus,

the Black Sea Fleet annihilated a
Turkish squadron at the Battle of

Days later, British and French warships
appeared in the Black Sea.

By 1854, Russia was at war with Britain,
France, Turkey and Sardinia.

Austria and Prussia remained neutral.

Nicholas was profoundly depressed that
Russia was not only isolated, but at war

with its former allies.

The fighting raged on many fronts, from
Crimea and the Caucasus in the south to

the White Sea in the north.

Here, a British naval expedition was
repulsed, but in the Baltic, the British

naval blockade crippled Russian trade.

In the Caucasus, Russian troops were
victorious, but in Crimea, the main

of war, A disaster unfolded.

Russian forces besieged at Sevastopol
faced a powerful enemy.

Steam -driven warships made up 30 % of
the Russian fleet, but 70 % of the

fleet.

Admiral Nakimov was forced to sink his
own ships in the entrance to Sevastopol

harbour. It was the only way to keep out
the more powerful British and French

warships.

More than 127 ,000 Russians were killed
in the siege of Sevastopol.

The total death toll of the Russian army
was about 143 ,000.

The Crimean War was a catastrophe for
Russia.

Russian soldiers and sailors fought with
incredible bravery.

But in the end, the industrialized might
of France and Britain proved too

strong.

In September 1855, Sevastopol fell and
the Black Sea Fleet was no more.

Nicholas was crushed.

He couldn't sleep and wore himself out
with work.

Doctors told him he needed rest, but he
didn't listen.

In a private conversation, the emperor
said, if it was up to me, I would never

have chosen this position for myself.

But it's my watch.

I have my orders and must fulfill them
as best I can.

At the end of January, the emperor
caught a chill.

His doctor forbade him from going out in
the cold, but Nicholas insisted on

attending a parade for troops leaving
for the front.

He told his doctor, You've done your
duty. Now let me do mine.

It was soon evident the emperor had
contracted pneumonia.

On February 17th, his lungs began to
give up.

The emperor was fully conscious and knew
he had hours to live.

He said his prayers and then bid
farewell to his family.

When told a courier had arrived from
Crimea with urgent news, he pointed to

son and said, This is not for me. This
is for him.

Then he said to Prince Alexander, I hand
over command, though I do not leave

things in the state I would have wished.

On February 18, 1855,

A banner of mourning rose above the
Winter Palace.

Nicholas I was dead.

This successor was his 37 -year -old
son, Alexander, a man destined to

what his great -grandmother, Catherine
the Great, his uncle, Alexander I, and

his father, Nicholas, could not.

Alexander II would go down in history as
the Liberator.

Chapter 2. Alexander II Nikolaevich.

His father used to say, I want to bring
my son up as a man first, and then an

emperor.

The prince's tutors, such as the
romantic poet Vasily Zhukovsky, were all

with liberal views.

When Alexander was 13, his father
interrupted a lesson to speak to him

Decembrist revolt.

What would you do if you were me?

the emperor asked.

I'd forgive them, Alexander said.

After finishing his studies, the prince
traveled across Russia, covering 30 ,000

kilometers and visiting 30 provinces.

He was the first Romanov to cross the
border of Europe and Asia.

and to visit Siberia.

In Tobolsk, the prince met the exiled
Decembrists and did what he could to

their life easier.

In Vyatka, he met another exile,
Alexander Herzl.

The two young men became friends, and
Alexander helped hasten the young

eventual return to Moscow.

Herzl later praised the reforming
emperor.

Alexander II did many things.

A great many things.

His name stands above that of all his
predecessors.

He fought for the rights of man.

Neither the Russian people nor history
will forget that.

In 1852, Herzen moved to London, from
where he agitated for sweeping social

change in his homeland.

First and foremost, he demanded the
abolition of serfdom.

When he was still a young prince,
Alexander's father had often accused him

listening more to his heart than to his
mind.

He certainly had many unregal qualities.

He was carefree, gentle, and sensitive.

What's more, the gallant, handsome young
prince, heir to the Russian throne, was

constantly falling in love with palace
chambermaids.

the 20 -year -old Alexander was sent to
Europe by his parents to find an

eligible young princess to marry.

In Darmstadt, he became devoted to a shy
and pretty 14 -year -old, Princess

Maximiliena Wilhelmina Maria of Hesse.

Later, in London, Alexander was
presented to the newly crowned Queen

ruler of the British Empire.

They met at Windsor Castle on her 20th
birthday.

In her diary, Victoria described
Alexander as a dear, delightful man,

sweet smile and a manly figure.

They danced together until the small
hours of the morning.

He is so very strong, she wrote, that in
running around you must follow quickly,

and after that you are whisked around,
which is very pleasant.

I have never enjoyed myself more.

Alexander was infatuated and prepared to
renounce the Russian throne to become

the British Prince Consort.

His courtiers were forced to intervene,
talking sense into the young prince and

reminding him of his duty to Russia, not
to mention the young Princess of Hesse.

That union was approved by all, so the
couple were married in St. Petersburg in

1841. His new wife took the Russian name
Maria Alexandrovna.

For the first few years, Alexander was
wildly in love with his young wife, and

spoiled her continuously.

He even had an apple tree brought into
the dining room, so Maria could pick its

fruit herself as she liked.

But it did not last long.

They spent less and less time together,
and when they met, they discussed only

their health, their children, and the
weather.

They appeared together in public for
official functions and visits, then went

separate bedrooms in the evening.

The Empress's health suffered from St.

Petersburg's cold, wet climate, as well
as from frequent childbirth.

By 36, she'd had six children, and was a
shadow of her former self.

The Emperor had many short -lived
affairs.

with ladies -in -waiting, chambermaids,
even older students from the nearby

Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens.

But Alexander was forgiven everything,
because everyone loved him.

The country was alive with expectation.

He was Russia's great hope.

When Alexander became emperor, he
already had many years' experience of

workings of state and got to work
immediately.

His first success was to end the Crimean
War, signing a peace treaty in Paris

which kept Russian losses to a minimum.

Then he turned his attention to what
was, for Russia, the great issue of the

age, the serfs.

In one of his first addresses to the
Russian nobility, the emperor announced,

the existing system of owning souls
cannot remain unchanged.

It is better to abolish serfdom from
above than to wait for it to abolish

from below.

Until now, Russia's rulers hadn't dared
to interfere with serfdom for fear of a

revolt by the nobles.

But for Alexander, there was no longer
any alternative.

Case for reform, moral, economic and
political, was irresistible.

After seven years of negotiation, on
February 19, 1861, the Emperor issued a

manifesto freeing Russia's serfs.

The Act of Emancipation freed all serfs
in private ownership.

and gave them the right to buy the land
they worked on from the landowner.

The state helped peasants pay for the
land with subsidies and long -term

Peasants were to pay 20 % of its value
and the state 80%. However, in some

cases, only 30 % of the land they
previously worked was eligible for

and it was sold at inflated prices.

State loans also trapped many peasants
in debt for decades.

Following the emancipation of the serfs,
the 100 million peasants in Russia, who

made up 71 % of the population, owned
half as much land as the 1 .7 million

nobles, who made up just 1 .5 % of the
population.

A wave of liberal reforms followed.

In 1864, each district and province was
granted its own elected assembly, known

as Zemstvo.

with authority over local education,
roads, medical services, and social

welfare.

Education reform increased the number of
state secondary schools and

universities, with more schools for the
poor, the first general education

courses for women, and the granting of
special status and greater autonomy for

universities.

Reform of the courts introduced greater
equality for all classes before the law,

as well as public trials, counsel for
defense and prosecution, and juries.

In the army, universal conscription
replaced the old quota system, and

weapons such as rifles were introduced.

They were the most progressive and
liberal reforms in Russia's history.

When an old courtier warned that now the
serfs were free, the people would

demand a constitution,

Alexander replied, Well, if Russia
clearly desires it and is ready for it,

am ready.

Alexander set strict deadlines for his
ministers and advisors, which he kept to

himself. despite the huge piles of
documents that arrived on his desk every

His goal was to finish all the work
begun by his father, which meant turning

next to the war in the Caucasus.

The long Caucasian War finally came to
an end in 1864,

following the Russian conquest of
Chechnya, Dagestan, Circassia, and

In the next decade, Russia also took
control of the Emirate of Bukhara and

Khanate of Kiva, pushing south as far as
the town of Kuzhka, which remained the

empire's most southerly point until the
collapse of the Soviet Union.

The only territory lost in this period
was Alaska, 1 .5 million square

kilometers of barren, almost uninhabited
land.

which in 1867 was sold to the United
States for $7 .2 million, worth around

million today.

At the time, the deal was considered
very profitable.

Typically, Alexander worked with short
breaks from 9 a .m. until 6 in the

evening, when he had dinner.

He spent his evenings with his family or
at official functions.

His favourite sport was hunting.

He loved long hunting expeditions for
bear, elk and bison.

But soon it was Alexander who was being
hunted through the very streets of the

Russian capital.

Alexander was the last ruler in Russian
history who would be allowed to simply

walk the city streets without guards.

Almost every day in St. Petersburg's
summer garden, the regulars pretended

to recognize the tall gentleman in
military uniform, whose portrait hung in

every government office in the empire.

Alexander was now 48, and had lost count
of the number of affairs he'd had.

At first, his relationship with 19 -year
-old Catherine Dolgorukova, a student

from the Smolny Institute for Young
Maidens, seemed like many of the others.

But after just a few meetings, the
Emperor was in love.

Many years later, Catherine remembered
how Alexander always behaved so tenderly

towards her, treating her as though she
were a sacred object.

We saw each other every day, she wrote,
crazy with the joy of loving and

understanding each other so completely.

He swore to me that he would always be
faithful to me, and that his only

dream... was to marry me if he ever
became free.

On April 4th, 1866, after meeting with
Catherine, Alexander was leaving the

summer garden when an assassin stepped
out.

The emperor, of course, knew his enemies
might try to overthrow or even murder

him.

An old fortune teller had once told him
that there would be seven attempts on

his life.

Alexander always remembered it.

The first attempt was made by a 26 -year
-old lone assassin named Dmitry

Karakosov, an impoverished nobleman and
former student.

He believed the emperor's death would
inspire the people to rise up in

revolution.

He was thwarted by a farmer standing
next to him named Komissarov, who

his hand at the last moment and forced
him to fire high.

Karakozov was arrested.

He said he tried to kill the Tsar
because his reforms had cheated the

giving them too little land.

The entire country was shocked.

In 1863, the great historian Sergei
Solovyov described the situation Russia

faced.

Extremes are easy.

It was easy to tighten the screws in
Nicholas's time.

It was easy to unscrew them in
Alexander's time.

But it's exceptionally difficult to slow
down the carriage on a steep hill.

A reformer like Peter the Great held the
reins in an iron grip and the carriage

was safe.

A reformer like Alexander II lets the
horses run full speed down the hill

without the strength to restrain them.

So the whole carriage is threatened with
destruction.

Alexander's private life, meanwhile, was
a growing distraction.

His affair with Catherine, nearly 30
years his junior, was alienating close

friends and family.

Catherine was forced to go abroad for a
while.

But Alexander soon travelled to France
under the pretext of visiting the World

Fair to be with her.

They walked the grand boulevards of
Paris hand in hand.

Alexander wrote to Catherine, I am madly
in love with you.

These wonderful days we spend together
make me infinitely happy.

The lovers did not know they were being
constantly watched by agents of the

French secret police.

But they couldn't keep him safe.

A Polish nationalist, Anton Berezovsky,
made the second attempt on Alexander's

life. He shot at Alexander as he was
riding in an open carriage with the

emperor Napoleon III.

But the bullet hit the horse.

Alexander became accustomed to constant
danger.

When Russia went to war once more with
Turkey, he went to visit troops at the

front and came under fire several times.

The war was triggered by the Muslim
Turks' brutal treatment of Orthodox

Bulgarians. Russia now intended to
liberate Bulgaria from the Turkish yoke.

The war ended in complete victory for
Russia.

Bulgaria became an independent state.

And the name Alexander II, Tsar
Liberator, is still commemorated during

service in every Bulgarian church.

On April 2nd, 1879, as the emperor was
returning from his morning walk, he was

greeted by a passerby.

Alexander replied absentmindedly, then
noticed the passerby was holding a gun.

60 -year -old Alexander, Emperor of
Russia, King of Poland, Grand Duke of

Finland, made a zigzag run for his life.

This third attempt was made by a 33
-year -old ex -student, Alexander

member of the secret revolutionary
society Land and Freedom.

He was also working alone.

After giving chase to the emperor, he
fired several times from a range of ten

yards and missed.

A new left -wing terrorist group, the
People's Will, soon emerged.

Its leaders, Sofia Perovskia and Andrei
Zhelyabov, began planning a less

amateurish attempt on the Tsar's life.

The fourth attempt was made in November
1879.

Zhelyabov's group planted a mine with an
electric detonator under the railway

track as the Emperor travelled to the
town of Alexandrovsk. But the mine

to explode.

The fifth attempt was made by
Perovskia's group.

They planted another mine under the
railway tracks outside Moscow.

But the Tsar's train left early.

And the terrorists blew up the wrong
train.

On May 22nd, 1880, Empress Maria died.

After just 40 days mourning, Alexander
married Catherine Dalkorukova, who took

the title Princess Yurievskia.

The wedding took place in secret.

in a small room at the palace of Tsarsky
Selo, because both the Tsar's family

and public opinion opposed the marriage.

The emperor was now guarded more closely
than ever, but still was not safe.

The sixth attempt was made by Stepan
Kalturin, a member of the People's Will.

who'd been hired as a carpenter at the
Winter Palace.

Over six months, he smuggled 30 kilos of
dynamite into a cellar under the Tsar's

dining room.

The resulting explosion killed 11 people
and wounded 56, all of them staff.

The emperor had left the dining room to
meet a late guest.

The emperor wrote to his son, asking
that if the worst should happen, He must

care for his wife and young children.

On his windowsill, Alexander began to
find dead pigeons torn to shreds.

It turned out a kite had made its home
on the palace roof.

It was caught.

The bird was so incredibly large, it was
sent to the cabinet of curiosities.

The hunted emperor, exhausted and sick,
dreamt of only one thing.

To abdicate in favor of his eldest son
and leave for Nice with his wife and

children.

But one important task remained.

He had ordered work to begin on the
introduction of an elected assembly.

It was to be Russia's first step towards
a parliament and constitution.

Alexander had already approved it.

On March 4, 1881, It was to be put
before the ministerial cabinet and then

announced to the public.

On March 1st, the emperor travelled to
the Mikulovsky Manege to see the

of the Colour.

On his way back, he visited his sister,
Grand Duchess Catherine, at Mikulovsky

Castle. They drank tea and talked about
his plans to leave for Nice.

At 2 .10pm, the emperor left in his
carriage.

He had to be at the Winter Palace by
three o 'clock, as he'd promised to take

walk with his wife.

The Emperor's carriage turned onto the
embankment along the Catherine Canal.

Six Cossacks accompanied the carriage,
three on either side.

Officers of the Guard, including the
Chief of Police, followed in two

A boy carrying a breadbasket was running
along the pavement.

Alexander saw a woman make a signal with
a white handkerchief.

When a man with a packet in his hands
appeared before the carriage, he

it would be an explosion.

The seventh attempt on Alexander's life
was made by Nicholas Roussikoff, a 20

-year -old student and member of the
People's Will.

It was Sofia Perovskia who had given the
signal.

Ruzakov threw a handmade bomb at the
carriage.

The blast killed two Cossacks and a
passing boy, injured three horses, and

shattered the emperor's bulletproof
coach.

But the emperor was unharmed.

Ruzakov was quickly apprehended.

Chief of police rushed up to Alexander.

The emperor remained calm.

I offered him my sledge to go back to
the palace.

All right, he said, but show me the
criminal first.

Everyone begged the emperor to leave,
but he insisted on seeing Rusakov.

Alexander looked his would -be assassin
in the eyes.

He had survived the seventh attempt.

Everything was behind him now.

But innocent people had been hurt
because of him.

Alexander wanted to see the wounded.

The chief of police followed.

After he'd taken no more than three
steps,

I was deafened by a second explosion.

Amid the smoke and fog, I heard His
Highness's weak voice cry, Help!

I tried to lift him and saw that His
Highness's legs were completely

The second bomber was 25 -year -old
Ignaty Grinovitsky, who blew himself up

along with the Emperor.

Alexander's last words...

We'll hurry home.

I want to die in the palace.

Alexander died an hour later in his
study at the Winter Palace.

Grand Duke Alexander, the Emperor's
nephew, wrote, A huge crowd gathered

the Winter Palace.

Nobody spoke.

Wide, dark bloodstains left a trail up
the marble steps and along the corridor

to the Emperor's study.

We realized our idealized vision of
Russia, with its Tsar, father, and loyal

people, no longer existed.

The future of not only the Russian
Empire, but the entire world now

the outcome of the imminent battle
between the new Russian Tsar and the

of negation and destruction.

Alexander II had given his country
freedoms it had been demanding for

But it turned out he had also unleashed
a dangerous new force.

Revolution.

October 28th, 1888.

20 miles south of Kharkiv, in eastern
Ukraine.

The Imperial train was en route from
Crimea to St. Petersburg.

Emperor Alexander III and his family
were gathered in the train's elegant

carriage.

Those in the forward carriages were
killed instantly.

Children could be heard crying.

It was unclear who was alive and who was
dead.

The Emperor struggled to his feet,
taking the full weight of the carriage

on his shoulders.

He had one thought.

Save his family.

But how long would his strength hold?

By 1881, the Russian Empire was one of
the largest states in the world and

occupied one -sixth of the world's land
surface.

But despite the liberal reforms of
Alexander II, Russia's economy was in

During Alexander II's reign, production
of cast iron rose 67%, while in Germany

it rose 319%. Russia's foreign debt grew
from 2

billion to 6 billion rubles.

Corruption flourished like never before.

Senior officials were being offered
bribes of up to 200 ,000 rubles, about 5

million dollars today.

Russia was in a fever.

Decades of discontent and repression had
created the empire's first terrorists.

The radical group The People's Will had
declared open season on the emperor and

killed him at the eighth attempt.

His successor inherited an empire in
crisis.

He was not expected to become emperor.

As the second son of Alexander II, it
was assumed Grand Duke Alexander would

follow a military career.

It was his elder brother, Nicholas, who
was Tsarevich and heir to the imperial

throne.

But during a tour of Europe, Nicholas
fell seriously ill.

He was diagnosed with meningitis and
died a few months later, aged just 21.

Alexander spent a lot of time at his
brother's bedside, alongside Nicholas's

fiancée, Princess Dagmar of Denmark.

They were united by grief.

Little by little, Alexander fell in love
with gentle Minnie, as her family

called her.

When they were alone, looking at some
photo albums one day, Alexander finally

found the courage to speak to her of
marriage.

The marriage was a happy one.

After converting to orthodoxy, Minnie
took the name Maria Fyodorovna.

They had four sons and two daughters and
lived together happily for 28 years.

Only Alexander's death would separate
them.

During the Russian Revolution, Maria
left for Denmark, where she lived to an

age, always refusing to believe the
Bolsheviks had shot her sons.

When Alexander III was crowned emperor
in 1881, he was 36 years old and clear

his purpose.

It was obvious to him that his father's
liberal reforms had weakened the

economy. and fractured society.

He intended to reassert Russian
autocracy.

Magistrates' courts and village
assemblies were abolished.

Merchants and shopkeepers were deprived
of the vote.

Strict censorship was reintroduced.

Fifteen publications were closed down
for their liberal views, while 300 book

titles were withdrawn from libraries.

including anything considered critical
of the Tsar or his government.

A new university charter abolished the
independence of universities, introduced

compulsory student uniforms, and
increased tuition fees fivefold.

The children of servants were henceforth
to be excluded from the top secondary

schools.

Despite such reactionary policies, This
was an age of dramatic progress.

Russia got its first oil wells and steel
rolling mills.

There were electric lights and paved
streets, clean running water and

toilets, bustle dresses, bowler hats,
steamships, the telegraph, electric

trams, and Ericsson telephones.

On Alexander's personal initiative,
Russia's first telephone line was laid

between St. Petersburg and the Imperial
Palace at Kachina.

Cacina also became the first palace to
get electricity, one of comparatively

extravagances allowed by Alexander III.

In

most respects,

the emperor was very frugal.

He halved the number of courtiers,
reduced the number of balls, and cut

on food and wine.

Hunting, however, remained a favourite
royal pastime.

Alexander was a keen sportsman and
excellent shot.

But most of all, he loved fishing.

He would return from his fishing trips
with perch for the Empress to fry with

potatoes. And then, they were perfectly
content.

His other great passion was Picard.

Alexander was a loving and playful
father.

One day in the garden, he crept up
behind his youngest son Michael and

with a hose.

A few days later, while his father was
smoking a cigar out of his study window,

Michael hauled a bucket of water up the
stairs and poured it on him from the

floor above.

The emperor was six foot four, barrel
-chested and massively strong.

He could bend an iron poker into a knot
and roll a five -kopeck coin into a

tube.

His personal habits were plain and
unpretentious.

He got up at seven, made himself coffee
and drank it without sugar or cream.

Then he took his favorite dog Kamchatka
for a walk, before listening to

ministers' reports for a few hours.

He saved breakfast till 1 p .m. Tea,
hard -boiled eggs and rye bread.

Between 3 and 5, he went for a walk with
the empress and their children,

whatever the weather.

At 8 p .m., dinner was served.

The emperor loved good food,

crayfish soup or fish pie, a side of
mutton with kasha and pickled cucumbers.

He then returned to work, often until
late at night.

The emperor made frequent tours of
Russia.

Sergei Vita, a railway manager who often
accompanied him, witnessed scenes that

were impossible to imagine about the
emperor's daily life.

After everyone else had gone to bed, I
often saw the emperor's valet, Kortov.

mending the emperor's trousers.

One night, when passing by and seeing
him at work, I asked, can't you take a

pairs with you so that if there's a hole
in one pair, you can give another pair

to the emperor?

He replied, just try.

If he started wearing a pair of trousers
or a jacket, he'll wear them until they

fall apart at the seams.

Alexander's reign saw the Alarousse
style come into fashion.

dresses, decorations, interiors, and the
emergence of a distinct style of

architecture known as Russian revival, a
reinvention of traditional Russian

styles, culminating in the upper trading
rows that face onto Moscow's Red Square

and the city's State Historical Museum.

Alexander supported artists who dealt
with themes from Russian history and

like the painters Vaznetsov and Surikov.

But the other side to this flourishing
of Russian national culture was the

oppression of minorities seen as non
-Russian, especially Russia's Jews.

After 1791, Jews were forced to live in
the empire's western provinces, an area

known as the Pale of Settlement.

Alexander II had relaxed controls on
Jewish settlement for those engaged in

certain useful professions.

Jews had begun to play a greater role in
Russian business, cultural and

intellectual life.

But now, Alexander III imposed stricter
controls.

In 1891, 20 ,000 Jews were evicted from
Moscow and sent to live in the Pale of

Settlement.

While a cap was imposed on the
proportion of Jewish students at any

university. 10 % within the Pale, 5 %
outside it, and 3 % in St. Petersburg.

This persecution encouraged many young
Jews to join illegal revolutionary

groups.

Alexander III intended to unify his vast
empire through strong autocratic

government, and his reign saw the
construction of one great physical

of his vision,

Trans -Siberian Railway.

The Trans -Siberian is more than 9 ,000
kilometres long, the longest railway

line in the world.

Its longest and most complex sections
were built during Alexander's reign,

the Urals to Vladivostok, 7 ,000
kilometres across mountains, taiga and

rivers. It was a spectacular
achievement.

Between 2 ,500 and 5 ,000 kilometres of
rails were laid each year.

The cost was approximately 1 million
roubles.

worth around 20 billion U .S. dollars
today.

Alexander's reign witnessed Russia's
great railroad boom.

Travel by rail was certainly
prestigious, fashionable, and for some,

On October 17, 1888, the emperor and his
family were returning from Crimea to

St. Petersburg.

The train was running slightly late, so
the driver picked up speed as they

approached Kharkiv, reaching 70 km per
hour.

The train, pulled by twin locomotives,
included a luggage van, workshop, a

carriage for the Minister of Railways,
two kitchen carriages, a dining

and several carriages for the Imperial
family, the servants and guards.

The 15 -carriage train was 300 meters
long and weighed 480 tons.

Safety regulations stipulated a top
speed of just 37 kilometers per hour.

It was doing almost twice that speed.

At 2 .14 p .m., the train derailed.

Ten out of fifteen carriages were
completely destroyed.

The dining carriage, containing the
imperial family, was flung down the

embankment and had its roof torn off.

Ten -year -old Grand Duke Michael was
buried beneath the wreckage and only

with difficulty.

20 people were killed and 37 injured.

The emperor helped to search the
wreckage while the empress tended the

They left for Kharkiv only when darkness
fell.

On the way, the emperor remembered a
discussion he'd overheard on the train a

month before.

Sergei Vita, manager of the local
railway.

had been arguing that such a heavy train
shouldn't travel at such speeds.

Witte himself later recalled the
discussion.

The Minister of Railways started arguing
with me.

He said, we travel at the same speed on
the other railways.

No one has ever dared demand the
Emperor's train reduce speed.

I broke down and said to the Minister,
let others do what they want.

As for me, I don't want to break the
emperor's neck.

Because if you go on like this, that's
what you'll do.

Alexander III summoned Witter to St.
Petersburg and persuaded him to become

director of state railways.

It was not a profitable move for Witter.

His previous salary of 40 ,000 rubles at
a privately owned rail firm fell to

just 8 ,000.

So the emperor personally paid him an
extra 8 ,000 rubles a year as

compensation.

Within two years, Vita was made Minister
of Railways and Minister of Finance.

Thanks in large part to his efforts,
Russia began to emerge from its economic

crisis.

Over the next decade, coal output rose
by 110%, oil by 1

,468%, steel by 159%,

and cart iron by 487%. Russian
agriculture

accounted for 15 % of the world's wheat
production and 55 % of its rye.

The growth rate of Russian industry
doubled to around 9%.

thanks largely to an influx of foreign
investment, particularly from France.

Russia's gold reserves more than
doubled, and by 1893 the Russian state

running an annual surplus of almost 100
million rubles.

The Russian ruble became a safe haven
currency, while Russia's economic boom

gave the empire new authority on the
world stage.

Alexander began to modernize Russia's
armed forces.

The army was equipped with the new .30
caliber Mosin -Nagant bolt -action

which remained in service until the mid
-20th century.

A new, more comfortable uniform was
introduced, including a soldier's tunic

remains in use today.

Standards in military education were
raised.

The navy received 114 new warships.

including 17 battleships and 10 armoured
cruisers.

Russia's navy was now the third largest
in the world, lagging only behind Great

Britain and France.

Russia, however, fought no major wars
during Alexander's 13 -year reign.

On the contrary, Alexander's efforts to
diffuse tension between the great powers

earned him the nickname.

the peacemaker.

But the changing alliances of his reign
would have far -reaching repercussions.

Russia's traditional alliance with
Germany came to an end.

Alexander made a new alliance with
France instead, the country that had

the bulk of the loans that enabled
Russia's economic miracle.

The new Franco -Russian alliance led
Germany to fear encirclement.

a major factor in the outbreak of World
War I.

That war was a catastrophe Alexander III
may have been able to prevent.

But after the train crash, his health
began to fail.

The emperor had been ignoring chronic
back pain for many years.

In September 1894,

He was diagnosed with nephritis, an
acute inflammation of the kidneys.

His doctors prescribed a strict diet and
sent him to recuperate at the Imperial

Palace of Lavadia, in the warmer climes
of Crimea.

On October 19th, the government courier
left Lavadia with papers signed by

Alexander for the last time.

The emperor received the last rites.

and bid farewell to his wife and
children.

He died at 2 .15 p .m.

Alexander III was only 49.

The emperor's coffin was taken by train
from Crimea to Kharkiv, Orel,

Moscow, and finally St. Petersburg.

It was met along the route by huge
crowds.

who came to say goodbye to the emperor.

There had never been such a lengthy and
solemn funeral.

No one could have imagined it would be
the last funeral of a Tsar that Russia

would ever see.

The Russian Empire was at the peak of
its economic and political power when

Alexander's eldest son, 26 -year -old
Nicholas, ascended the throne.

Chapter 2 Nicholas II Alexandrovich

Nicholas, or Nicky as his family called
him,

received an excellent education, and had
all the skills required to thrive at

court. He was clever, refined, and
extremely charming.

In 1886, Princess Victoria Alex Helena
Louise Beatrice of Hesse -Darmstadt,

or Alex as she was known, came to Russia
to visit her sister, Grand Duchess

Elizabeth, who had married Nicholas's
uncle.

Nicholas and Alex soon fell in love.

Nicky's parents did not approve of the
match. They found her cold and aloof and

too tall.

But their son's devotion to her was soon
apparent.

The young couple used to play a game.

using the precious stones in their rings
to cut each other's names into the

glass of the palace windows.

It became a tradition, and their
messages of love remained etched into

windows of the Winter Palace for years
to come.

Young Nicholas gave a brooch with a
twelve -carat diamond to his beloved.

The gift became a symbol of their love.

It was later found amongst her burnt
clothes.

Alex did not part with it until the last
minute of her life.

When Nicholas's father, Alexander III,
realized he was dying, he agreed to his

son's marriage.

In 1894, after eight years of waiting,
Nicholas and Alex became engaged.

She converted to orthodoxy.

and took the name Alexander Fyodorovna.

A month after Alexander III's death,
they were married.

On May 14th, 1896, the new emperor and
empress were crowned in Moscow's

Cathedral of the Assumption.

Festivities were to last 20 days.

For the nobility, there were receptions,
balls, and full -dress dinners.

On May 18th, a traditional festival was
to be held for commoners at Kodinka

Field, where there would be
entertainment, meals and gifts for all.

Each gift included smoked sausage, 200
grams, a bread roll with raisins, 400

grams, a Vyazma treacle cake, 130 grams,
sweets and nuts, 300 grams, and a

commemorative mug bearing the new Zaz
monogram.

All wrapped up in a handkerchief.

30 ,000 buckets of beer and 10 ,000
buckets of mead were laid on.

The cost to the state was 339 ,536
roubles.

The organisers expected an attendance of
400 ,000, but more than a million

turned up.

There were wild rumours about the gifts.

Some said that if you got one wrapped in
a handkerchief with houses printed on

it, you would get a new house.

Others claimed every mug contained a
gold ruble.

When word went round that there wouldn't
be enough gifts for everyone, there was

a stampede.

There were barely 2 ,000 police to hand.

Powerless in the face of such numbers.

The crowd became a huge, struggling
mass.

Some were crushed, others trampled
underfoot.

1 ,389 people were killed.

At 10 .30, the emperor was told about
the unfolding disaster at Kodinka Field.

Everyone expected him to go there
immediately, but he did not arrive until

.m.

Only the royal household knew that he
and his wife had spent the intervening

hours praying in private.

Four days later, the imperial couple
attended a long -standing engagement, a

ball at the French embassy.

They were there for barely ten minutes,
but even so, news quickly spread that

the emperor was going to parties while
the rest of the city mourned.

Far fewer people were aware that
Nicholas had given 90 ,000 rubles of his

money to help the victims' families.

Instead, people got the impression the
Emperor cared very little about ordinary

Russians. Some said the Kudinka Field
disaster was a bad omen for the reign,

noted the Tsar was born on May 6th, the
day of Job the Long -Suffering.

And soon there were more dire
predictions.

In 1801, shortly before his murder,
Emperor Paul I had written a letter to

descendants to be opened a hundred years
after his death.

Now it was time to open the letter.

Only a few trusted servants knew of its
existence.

One of them was Maria Geringer, the
Empress's close friend and senior lady

-waiting.

She later recalled how, on the morning
of March 12th, 1901, both the Emperor

Empress began the day excited and
cheerful.

They were going to Gatchina Palace to
uncover a century -old mystery.

They prepared for the trip as if for a
merry excursion that promised great

entertainment.

They departed in high spirits, Maria
remembered, but returned thoughtful and

gloomy.

They told no one what they had read in
the letter.

But after the trip, the emperor began to
refer to 1918 as a fateful year for

himself and for the dynasty.

According to legend, the letter
contained Paul's account of his

with a monk named Abel, the Russian
Nostradamus.

Abel was said to have foretold the death
of Catherine the Great.

Paul's own murder.

The war against Napoleon.

The burning of Moscow.

The revolt of the Decembrists in the
reign of Nicholas I.

Alexander II's abolition of serfdom.

The assassination of Alexander II.

And the order and peace of the reign of
Alexander III.

Of Nicholas II he said, The holy Tsar
who is like Job the long -suffering.

He will have the mind of Christ, the
patience and purity of a dove.

A crown of thorns will replace his
Tsar's crown.

He shall be betrayed by his people, as
was the Son of God.

A great war will be fought.

People will fly in the air like birds
and swim underwater like fish.

They shall destroy each other with
stinking sulfur.

Treason shall grow and multiply.

On the eve of victory, the Tsar's
throne, will fall.

Blood and tears will water the earth.

A peasant with an axe will take power.

And the plagues of Egypt will begin.

Romanov. Nicholas Alexandrovich.

Age 29.

Religion, Russian Orthodox.

Married, children.

One daughter, Olga, one year old.

Military rank, Colonel of the Liebgard
Hussar Regiment.

Occupation, ruler of Russia.

In 1897, a census was carried out of the
Russian Empire.

Its results were published in 89 volumes
and included information on nearly 129

million people.

In the year of the census, the Empress
was pregnant for a second time.

Everybody hoped it would be a boy, an
heir.

Instead, they had another daughter,
Tatiana.

Then a third, Maria.

And a fourth, Anastasia.

Many relatives didn't even try to hide
their disappointment.

The emperor never worried about it.

But the need for a son obsessed the
empress.

In 1903, the couple prayed for a son
over the relics of St. Seraphim at Sarov

Monastery. And on August 12, 1904,
Zarovich Alexei was born.

But the proud parents were soon filled
with dread.

One doctor after another visited the
palace.

By the third day, it was confirmed.

Their son had haemophilia and could die
at any moment.

Haemophilia is a hereditary genetic
disease that prevents blood clots

meaning even a small cut can lead to
death from blood loss.

The disease, which is incurable,
normally only appears in males, though

is also carried by females.

Alexei's mother, Empress Alexandra,
received the gene from her grandmother,

Queen Victoria.

Victoria passed the gene on to many of
her children and grandchildren.

who married into ruling families across
Europe.

Hence, haemophilia also became known as
the royal disease.

A minor cut or bruise could be life
-threatening for Alexei.

At such moments, reports on his recovery
became front -page news, alongside

latest reports from the Russo -Japanese
War.

By 1900, the Far East had become the
latest focus of great power rivalry.

China, weak and undeveloped, was
considered ripe for exploitation.

Japan, the emerging power in the region,
had its sights set on expansion into

Korea and Manchuria, the northeastern
province of China.

Russia had its own designs on Manchuria
and stood in Japan's way.

Many months of negotiations proved
fruitless.

The two nations seemed locked on a
collision course.

There were also those in Russia who
thought war might be a good thing to

the people and calm unrest at home.

In February 1904, Japan launched a pre
-emptive strike on the Russian Pacific

Fleet at its base in Port Arthur.

A year -long siege followed, leading to
the port's surrender.

The next year, in February 1905, the
Russian army was decisively beaten at

Battle of Mukden.

Then in May, Russia suffered a
devastating naval defeat at the Battle

Tsushima.

Nicholas had had enough.

His advisors argued that Japan's
military strength was ebbing, while

would only increase with time.

They only needed one more year, a
million rubles.

and 20 ,000 more lives.

But the emperor was adamant.

They must make peace.

The Treaty of Portsmouth was not a harsh
settlement, but the damage to Russian

prestige had already been done, and the
consequences at home were disastrous.

It would lead to revolution.

In January 1905, Workers went on strike
in St. Petersburg, Riga, and Warsaw.

In May, Ivanova textile workers followed
suit, and in June, the crew of the

battleship Potemkin mutinied.

In October, a general strike was
supported by two million workers.

All major factories and railways were
shut down.

Nicholas turned to his father's old
advisor, Sergei Vita.

who persuaded him that political
concessions could no longer be avoided.

The October Manifesto, drafted by Witter
and signed by Nicholas, promised new

civil liberties, including freedom of
speech, assembly and association, and

creation of a new national assembly, the
Duma.

But the unrest only grew.

There was only one province where order
was maintained.

Saratov. So Nicholas summoned its
governor, 44 -year -old Pyotr Stolypin,

Petersburg.

After a long conversation with him, the
emperor realized it was Stolypin, not

Vita, who was the man to pull Russia out
of its current crisis.

Stolypin was appointed Minister of the
Interior, and two months later became

Prime Minister.

He clamped down on protests by
introducing martial law.

Then he began a major reform of Russian
agriculture.

Peasants were to be helped to buy land
and set up new farms with the help of

cheap government loans.

Over six years, the government issued
more than one billion rubles in loans.

Six million farmers, 44%.

applied to buy land with government
help.

Of those, 10 % succeeded in becoming new
landowners.

Crop yields rose by a third.

The Russian Empire reached its economic
peak in 1913.

Annual growth in Russian agricultural
output was 2%, ranked first in the

Growth in industrial output was 5%.

ranked first in the world.

Population growth was 1 .5%, ranked
first in Europe.

The Russian Empire's national income was
16 .4 billion rubles, ranked fourth in

the world.

Russia's total industrial output was
worth more than 6 .5 billion rubles,

fifth in the world.

Stolypin's reforms were expected to take
20 years to bear fruit.

But it was time that Russia, and
Stolypin, did not have.

In 1911, at the Kiev Opera House, Prime
Minister Stolypin was assassinated by

a socialist revolutionary.

Three years later, World War I broke
out.

It would claim the lives of 37 million
people and destroy four empires.

The Austro -Hungarian, Ottoman, German,
and Russian.

Two alliances dominated Europe.

Germany, Austro -Hungary, and Italy
formed the Triple Alliance.

Russia, Britain, and France formed the
Triple Entente.

When war broke out, Turkey and Bulgaria
joined the Triple Alliance.

Italy, Romania and America sided with
the Entente.

Each country had its own war aims.

Germany sought to dominate its European
neighbours and claim new overseas

colonies.

France wanted to recover Alsace and
Lorraine, lost to Germany in 1871.

Austro -Hungary looked to defeat Slav
nationalism within the Empire.

and on its borders.

Britain wanted to eliminate Germany as a
colonial rival, and also had ambitions

in the Middle East.

Italy wanted to expand its influence in
the Balkans, while Russia, fighting

alongside Britain and France, was
determined to assert its role as

the Slavs.

The pretext for war came in June 1914.

when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
was shot dead in Sarajevo by a Slav

nationalist, Gavrilo Princip.

Many Russians welcomed the declaration
of war against Germany and Austro

-Hungary that summer.

But when the Russian army advanced
through Poland, it suffered a string of

catastrophic defeats.

The following year, the Russian
commander -in -chief, the Emperor's

Grand Duke Nicholas, was dismissed from
his post.

The emperor himself became the army's
commander, though it was only a symbolic

role, and he did not interfere with
strategy.

The German army, meanwhile, proved a
formidable enemy.

In the summer of 1915, the Russian army
conducted a giant strategic withdrawal

in the face of the German onslaught.

It was hoped that by sacrificing
territory, Russia could buy enough time

mobilize its vast resources.

Following year, 1916, the Russian army
launched the Brusilov Offensive,

a hammer blow against Austro -Hungarian
forces.

Another major offensive was prepared for
1917, but at home, events were

spiraling out of control.

While Nicholas was away at army
headquarters, his wife's influence on

grew considerably.

It was a cause of growing resentment,
not least because the Empress was German

by birth.

Now, her close relationship with a
wandering holy man from Siberia, Grigori

Rasputin, caused further unease.

To some, he was a visionary and healer.

To others, fraud.

There were many rumors about the
relationship between the Empress and

She had complete faith in him because he
seemed the only person able to relieve

the suffering of her sickly son, Alexei.

Empress Alexandra was certain.

With Rasputin by his side, Alexei would
live.

I believe in our friend's wisdom, she
wrote to the Emperor.

God sent him to be your help and your
guide.

Alexandra's regular letters to the
emperor contained advice from Rasputin

many matters, even the conduct of the
war.

To many, Rasputin's hold over the
imperial family was shameful and

It came to an end in December 1916, when
Rasputin was murdered by a group of

nobles determined to protect the Tsar's
reputation.

On February 22nd, 1917, Nicholas II left
the capital for army headquarters.

The same day, Tsarevich Alexei fell ill
with measles.

His sisters soon caught it too.

All their heads were shaved.

The Empress was supervising the care of
her sick children when news arrived of

strikes in the capital.

The Russian Revolution had begun.

On February 28th, the Emperor rushed
back from the front to be with his

at Zaskia Selo.

The next night, the Emperor's train was
halted near Novgorod.

The line ahead was blocked by
revolutionary troops.

A great shame.

I failed to reach Zaskia Selo.

All my thoughts and feelings are there.

God help us.

The Emperor traveled instead to Pskov,
headquarters of the Northern Front.

He planned to redeploy troops from the
front to crush the revolt in the

But behind his back, General Alexeyev,
acting Commander -in -Chief.

were sending telegrams to the front
commanders, asking if it was desirable

the Emperor to abdicate.

All of them answered, Yes.

On the night of March 2nd, Nicholas
signed his abdication in the saloon

of the Imperial train, as it stood at
the platform in Pskov station.

From that moment on, He was Colonel
Nicholas Romanov.

Witnesses were struck by his calmness.

One general remembered, he abdicated the
throne as if relinquishing command of a

division.

Nicholas wrote in his diary, the bottom
line is that to save Russia and keep the

army at the front, I need to take this
step.

The Emperor's abdication had been
demanded by a wide range of political

military figures.

They were responding to the crisis
unfolding within Russia.

The war had led to huge casualties at
the front, as well as bread queues,

shortages and inflation at home.

Soldiers and civilians wanted political
change.

Nicholas' abdication was demanded by the
state Duma as the only way to achieve

political progress.

It was also demanded by the army, whose
generals reported that many of their men

sympathized with the revolutionaries and
could no longer be relied upon to fight

for the Tsar.

Amongst the Romanovs, there was no
agreement on the monarchy's future.

Some disliked or blamed the emperor and
his wife.

Others believed the monarchy did need to
make changes, though none of the Grand

Dukes were prepared to take
responsibility for making them.

Once it was clear that he himself was
the obstacle, Nicholas abdicated in

of his younger brother, Michael.

Michael, the favorite youngest son of
Alexander III,

who had tipped the bucket of water on
his father's head, refused to take the

throne, and issued his renunciation the
next day, March 3rd.

He would later be shot by the Bolsheviks
near Perm in Siberia.

His manifesto of March 3rd, 1917, stated
that he, Michael Romanov, would not

accept the throne until a constituent
assembly made up of the people's

representatives had voted on a new form
of government for Russia.

Only then, with the people's consent,
would he accept the throne.

His grand gesture, however, was quickly
overtaken by events.

The throne would never be offered to
him.

The monarchy was finished.

300 years of Romanov rule in Russia were
at an end.

Power now lay with Russia's provisional
government.

Nicholas, his wife and five children
were put under house arrest in the

Alexander Palace on the outskirts of St.
Petersburg.

Six months later, the provisional
government sent the former Tsar and his

to the remote Siberian town of Tobolsk,
more than a thousand miles from Moscow,

for their own safety.

Palace staff who wished to join them
were allowed to do so.

Family were joined in exile by 45 of
their former servants.

By now, Nicholas must have realized he
would not be allowed to leave the

country, and that Russia was sliding
into chaos.

The most frightening of Abel's
predictions was coming true before his

In October 1917, the Bolsheviks seized
power in the capital.

The Romanovs were moved from Tobolsk to
Yekaterinburg and settled in a so

-called House of Special Purpose.

Only five people were allowed to stay
with the family, their doctor, a valet,

maid, a cook and kitchen boy.

Nicholas and Alexandra tried to ignore
the rudeness of the guards.

Theft was what bothered them most.

The couple feared that two boxes of
papers containing Nicholas's diaries and

their personal correspondence would
disappear.

I could never have imagined that there
was such perfect happiness in the world,

Alex had once written to Nicholas.

I love you.

These three words are my whole life.

In the middle of the night, the
Emperor's family and their servants were

to get up and gather in one of the
rooms.

They were told that because of the
threat of local unrest, they were to be

to a new location.

for their own safety.

Alexei was sick, so his father carried
him in his arms.

Family were ordered down into the cellar
and told to arrange themselves for a

photo, which would be used to quash
rumors of their death.

Then Yakov Yurovsky, the house
commandant, entered the room.

He announced that they had been
sentenced to death by the Presidium of

Soviet.

In the early hours of July 17th, 1918,
the following people were executed in

cellar of the house.

Maria Romanova, aged 19.

Anastasia Romanova, aged 17.

Alexei Romanov, aged 14.

And four servants.

In 2000, the Tsar's murdered family were
canonised as saints by the Russian

Orthodox Church.

In spring 1918, a few months before her
death,

Grand Duchess Olga wrote...

My father asked me to tell those who
remained loyal to him that they should

avenge him, as he has forgiven all and
prayed for all.

He asks them to remember that the evil
which is now in the world will become

even stronger.

But evil will not triumph over evil.

Only love.