In what century did the Cro-Magnons live? Biology at the Lyceum

Nicholas II and his family

The man who was unlucky

The ruler should be not so much wise, fair, merciful, but lucky. Because it is impossible to take everything into account and many important decisions are made by guessing. And it’s hit or miss, fifty-fifty. Nicholas II on the throne was no worse and no better than his predecessors, but in matters of fateful importance for Russia, when choosing one or another path of its development, he was wrong, he simply did not guess. Not out of malice, not out of stupidity, or out of unprofessionalism, but solely according to the law of “heads and tails”

“This means dooming hundreds of thousands of Russian people to death,” the Emperor hesitated. “I sat opposite him, carefully watching the expression of his pale face, on which I could read the terrible internal struggle that was taking place in him at these moments. Finally, the sovereign, as if pronouncing the words with difficulty, said to me: “You are right. We have no choice but to wait for an attack. Tell your boss General Staff my order for mobilization" (Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov about the beginning of the First World War)

Could the king have chosen a different solution? Could. Russia was not ready for war. And, in the end, the war began with a local conflict between Austria and Serbia. The first declared war on the second on July 28. There was no need for Russia to intervene radically, but on July 29 Russia began partial mobilization in four western districts. On July 30, Germany presented Russia with an ultimatum demanding that all military preparations be stopped. Minister Sazonov convinced Nicholas II to continue. On July 30 at 5 p.m., Russia began general mobilization. At midnight from July 31 to August 1, the German ambassador informed Sazonov that if Russia did not demobilize at 12 noon on August 1, Germany would also announce mobilization. Sazonov asked if this meant war. No, the ambassador replied, but we are very close to her. Russia did not stop the mobilization. Germany began mobilization on August 1.

On August 1, in the evening, the German ambassador again came to Sazonov. He asked whether the Russian government intended to give a favorable response to yesterday's note about the cessation of mobilization. Sazonov answered negatively. Count Pourtales showed signs of increasing agitation. He took a folded paper out of his pocket and repeated his question again. Sazonov again refused. Pourtales asked the same question for the third time. “I cannot give you any other answer,” Sazonov repeated again. “In that case,” said Pourtales, choking with excitement, “I must give you this note.” With these words, he handed the paper to Sazonov. It was a note declaring war. The Russian-German war began (History of diplomacy, volume 2)

Brief biography of Nicholas II

• 1868, May 6 - in Tsarskoe Selo
• 1878, November 22 - Nikolai's brother was born, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich
• 1881, March 1 - death of Emperor Alexander II
• 1881, March 2 - Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich was declared heir to the throne with the title "Tsarevich"
• 1894, October 20 - death of the emperor Alexandra III, accession to the throne of Nicholas II
• 1895, January 17 - Nicholas II delivers a speech in the Nicholas Hall Winter Palace. Statement on Policy Continuity
• 1896, May 14 - coronation in Moscow.
• 1896, May 18 - Khodynka disaster. More than 1,300 people died in the stampede on Khodynka Field during the coronation festival.

The coronation festivities continued in the evening on Kremlin Palace, and then a ball at a reception with the French ambassador. Many expected that if the ball was not cancelled, then at least it would take place without the sovereign. According to Sergei Alexandrovich, although Nicholas II was advised not to come to the ball, the tsar said that although the Khodynka disaster was the greatest misfortune, it should not overshadow the coronation holiday. According to another version, his entourage persuaded the tsar to attend a ball at the French embassy due to foreign policy considerations(Wikipedia).

• 1898, August - Nicholas II’s proposal to convene a conference and discuss at it the possibilities of “putting a limit to the growth of armaments” and “protecting” world peace
• 1898, March 15 - Russian occupation of the Liaodong Peninsula.
• 1899, February 3 - Nicholas II signed the Manifesto on Finland and published the “Basic provisions on the preparation, consideration and promulgation of laws issued for the empire with the inclusion of the Grand Duchy of Finland.”
• 1899, May 18 - the start of the “peace” conference in The Hague, initiated by Nicholas II. The conference discussed issues of arms limitation and ensuring lasting peace; Representatives from 26 countries took part in its work
• 1900, June 12 - decree canceling exile to Siberia for settlement
• 1900, July - August - participation of Russian troops in the suppression of the “Boxer Rebellion” in China. Russian occupation of all of Manchuria - from the border of the empire to the Liaodong Peninsula
• 1904, January 27 - beginning
• 1905, January 9 - Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg. Start

Diary of Nicholas II

— January 6th. Thursday.
Until 9 o'clock let's go to the city. The day was gray and quiet at 8° below zero. We changed clothes at our place in the Winter Palace. AT 10 O'CLOCK? went into the halls to greet the troops. Until 11 o'clock we set off for the church. The service lasted an hour and a half. We went out to see Jordan wearing a coat. During the salute, one of the guns of my 1st cavalry battery fired grapeshot from Vasiliev [sky] island. and it doused the area closest to the Jordan and part of the palace. One policeman was wounded. Several bullets were found on the platform; the banner of the Marine Corps was pierced.
After breakfast, ambassadors and envoys were received in the Golden Drawing Room. At 4 o'clock we left for Tsarskoye. I took a walk. I was studying. We had dinner together and went to bed early.
— January 7th. Friday.
The weather was calm, sunny with wonderful frost on the trees. In the morning I had a meeting with D. Alexei and some ministers on the matter of the Argentine and Chilean courts (1). He had breakfast with us. Received nine people.
Let's go together and venerate the icon of the Sign. Mother of God. I read a lot. The two of us spent the evening together.
— January 8th. Saturday.
Clear frosty day. There was a lot of work and reports. Fredericks had breakfast. I walked for a long time. Since yesterday, all plants and factories have been on strike in St. Petersburg. Troops were called from the surrounding area to reinforce the garrison. The workers have been calm so far. Their number is determined at 120,000 hours. At the head of the workers' union is a priest - the socialist Gapon. Mirsky arrived in the evening to report on the measures taken.
— January 9th. Sunday.
Hard day! Serious riots occurred in St. Petersburg as a result of the workers’ desire to reach the Winter Palace. The troops had to shoot in different places in the city, there were many killed and wounded. Lord, how painful and difficult! Mom came to us from the city right in time for mass. We had breakfast with everyone. I was walking with Misha. Mom stayed with us for the night.
— January 10th. Monday.
There were no major incidents in the city today. There were reports. Uncle Alexey was having breakfast. Received a delegation of Ural Cossacks who arrived with caviar. I was walking. We drank tea at Mama's. To unite actions to stop the unrest in St. Petersburg, he decided to appoint General-M. Trepov as governor-general of the capital and province. In the evening I had a meeting on this matter with him, Mirsky and Hesse. Dabich (d.) dined.
— January 11th. Tuesday.
During the day there were no major disturbances in the city. Had the usual reports. After breakfast, Rear Adm. received. Nebogatov, appointed commander of the additional detachment of the squadron Pacific Ocean. I was walking. It was not a cold, gray day. I worked a lot. Everyone spent the evening reading aloud.

• 1905, January 11 - Nicholas II signed a decree establishing the St. Petersburg Governor-General. Petersburg and the province were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Governor General; all civilian institutions were subordinate to him and given the right to independently call up troops. On the same day, former Moscow Chief of Police D. F. Trepov was appointed to the post of Governor General
• 1905, January 19 - Nicholas II received a deputation of workers from St. Petersburg in Tsarskoe Selo. From own funds the tsar allocated 50 thousand rubles to help family members of those killed and wounded on January 9
• 1905, April 17 - signing of the Manifesto “On the approval of the principles of religious tolerance”
• 1905, August 23 - conclusion of the Portsmouth Peace, which ended the Russo-Japanese War
• 1905, October 17 - signing of the Manifesto on political freedoms, establishment of the State Duma
• 1914, August 1 - beginning of World War I
• 1915, August 23 - Nicholas II assumed the duties of Supreme Commander-in-Chief
• 1916, November 26 and 30 - The State Council and the Congress of the United Nobility joined the demand of State Duma deputies to eliminate the influence of “dark irresponsible forces” and create a government ready to rely on a majority in both chambers of the State Duma
• 1916, December 17 - assassination of Rasputin
• 1917, end of February - Nicholas II decided on Wednesday to go to Headquarters, located in Mogilev

The palace commandant, General Voeikov, asked why the emperor made such a decision when the front was relatively calm, while there was little calm in the capital and his presence in Petrograd would be very important. The Emperor replied that the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, General Alekseev, was waiting for him at Headquarters and wanted to discuss some issues.... Meanwhile, Chairman of the State Duma Mikhail Vladimirovich Rodzianko asked the Emperor for an audience: “In that terrible hour that the homeland is going through, I believe it is my most loyal duty as Chairman of the State Duma to report to you in full about the threatening To the Russian state danger." The Emperor accepted it, but rejected the advice not to dissolve the Duma and form a “Ministry of Trust” that would enjoy the support of the entire society. Rodzianko urged the emperor in vain: “The hour that decides the fate of you and your homeland has come. Tomorrow may be too late” (L. Mlechin “Krupskaya”)

• 1917, February 22 - the imperial train departed from Tsarskoye Selo to Headquarters
• 1917, February 23 - Started
• 1917, February 28 - the adoption by the Provisional Committee of the State Duma of the final decision on the need for the abdication of the Tsar in favor of the heir to the throne under the regency of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich; departure of Nicholas II from Headquarters to Petrograd.
• 1917, March 1 - arrival of the royal train in Pskov.
• 1917, March 2 - signing of the Manifesto abdicating the throne for himself and for Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich in favor of his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich.
• 1917, March 3 - refusal of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich to accept the throne

Family of Nicholas II. Briefly

• 1889, January - first meeting at a court ball in St. Petersburg with his future wife, Princess Alice of Hesse
• 1894, April 8 - engagement of Nikolai Alexandrovich and Alice of Hesse in Coburg (Germany)
• 1894, October 21 - anointing of the bride of Nicholas II and naming her “Blessed Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna”
• 1894, November 14 - wedding of Emperor Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna

stood in front of me tall a slender lady of about 50 in a simple gray sister's suit and a white headscarf. The Empress greeted me kindly and asked me where I was wounded, in what case and on what front. A little worried, I answered all Her questions without taking my eyes off Her face. Almost classically correct, this face in its youth was undoubtedly beautiful, very beautiful, but this beauty, obviously, was cold and impassive. And now, aged with time and with small wrinkles around the eyes and corners of the lips, this face was very interesting, but too stern and too thoughtful. That’s what I thought: what a correct, intelligent, stern and energetic face (memories of the Empress, ensign of the machine gun team of the 10th Kuban Plastun battalion S.P. Pavlov. Being wounded in January 1916, he ended up in Her Majesty’s Own infirmary in Tsarskoe Selo)

• 1895, November 3 - birth of a daughter, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna
• 1897, May 29 - birth of a daughter, Grand Duchess Tatyana Nikolaevna
• 1899, June 14 - birth of a daughter, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna
• 1901, June 5 - birth of a daughter, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna
• 1904, July 30 - birth of a son, heir to the throne, Tsarevich and Grand Duke Alexei Nikolaevich

Diary of Nicholas II: “An unforgettable great day for us, on which the mercy of God so clearly visited us,” Nicholas II wrote in his diary. “Alix gave birth to a son, who was named Alexei during prayer... There are no words to be able to thank God enough for the consolation He has sent in this time of difficult trials!”
German Kaiser Wilhelm II telegraphed Nicholas II: “Dear Nicky, how nice that you offered me to be godfather your boy! It’s good that they’ve been waiting for a long time,” he says German proverb, let it be so with this dear little one! May he grow up to be a brave soldier, wise and strong statesman, may God's blessing always protect his body and soul. Let him be the same all his life a ray of sunshine for both of you, like now, during trials!”

• 1904, August - on the fortieth day after birth, Alexei was diagnosed with hemophilia. Palace Commandant General Voeikov: “For the royal parents, life has lost its meaning. We were afraid to smile in their presence. We behaved in the palace as if in a house in which someone had died."
• 1905, November 1 - Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna met Grigory Rasputin. Rasputin somehow had a positive effect on the Tsarevich’s well-being, which is why Nicholas II and the Empress favored him

Execution of the royal family. Briefly

• 1917, March 3–8 - stay of Nicholas II at Headquarters (Mogilev)
• 1917, March 6 - decision of the Provisional Government to arrest Nicholas II
• 1917, March 9 - after wandering around Russia, Nicholas II returned to Tsarskoe Selo
• 1917, March 9-July 31 - Nicholas II and his family live under house arrest in Tsarskoe Selo
• 1917, July 16-18 - July Days - powerful spontaneous popular anti-government protests in Petrograd
• 1917, August 1 - Nicholas II and his family went into exile in Tobolsk, where the Provisional Government sent him after the July Days
• 1917, December 19 - formed after. The Soldiers' Committee of Tobolsk forbade Nicholas II to attend church
• 1917, December - The Soldiers' Committee decided to remove the Tsar's shoulder straps, which was perceived by him as humiliation
• 1918, February 13 - Commissar Karelin decided to pay from the treasury only soldiers' rations, heating and lighting, and everything else - at the expense of prisoners, and the use of personal capital was limited to 600 rubles per month
• 1918, February 19 - an ice slide built in the garden for the royal children to ride on was destroyed at night with pickaxes. The pretext for this was that from the slide it was possible to “look over the fence”
• 1918, March 7 - the ban on visiting church was lifted
• 1918, April 26 - Nicholas II and his family set off from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg

Sergei Osipov, AiF: Which of the Bolshevik leaders made the decision to execute royal family?

This question is still the subject of debate among historians. There is a version: Lenin And Sverdlov did not sanction the regicide, the initiative of which allegedly belonged only to members of the executive committee of the Ural Regional Council. Indeed, direct documents signed by Ulyanov are still unknown to us. However Leon Trotsky in exile, he recalled how he asked Yakov Sverdlov a question: “Who decided? - We decided here. Ilyich believed that we should not leave them a living banner, especially in the current difficult conditions.” Without any embarrassment, the role of Lenin was unequivocally pointed out by Nadezhda Krupskaya.

At the beginning of July, he urgently left for Moscow from Yekaterinburg party “master” of the Urals and military commissar of the Ural Military District Shaya Goloshchekin. On the 14th he returned, apparently with final instructions from Lenin, Dzerzhinsky and Sverdlov to exterminate the entire family Nicholas II.

- Why did the Bolsheviks need the death of not only the already abdicated Nicholas, but also women and children?

The extermination of members of the House of Romanov not only destroyed legal basis to restore legitimate power in Russia, but also bound the Leninists with mutual responsibility.

Could they have survived?

- What would have happened if the Czechs approaching the city had liberated Nicholas II?

The sovereign, members of his family and their faithful servants would have survived. I doubt that Nicholas II would have been able to disavow the act of renunciation of March 2, 1917 in the part that concerned him personally. However, it is obvious that no one could question the rights of the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. A living heir, despite his illness, would personify legitimate power in turmoil-ridden Russia. In addition, along with the accession to the rights of Alexei Nikolaevich, the order of succession to the throne, destroyed during the events of March 2-3, 1917, would automatically be restored. It was precisely this option that the Bolsheviks desperately feared.

Why were some of the royal remains buried (and the murdered themselves canonized) in the 90s of the last century, some - quite recently, and is there any confidence that this part is really the last?

Let's start with the fact that the absence of relics (remains) does not serve as a formal basis for refusal of canonization. The canonization of the royal family by the Church would have taken place even if the Bolsheviks had completely destroyed the bodies in the basement of the Ipatiev House. By the way, many in exile believed so. The fact that the remains were found in parts is not surprising. Both the murder itself and the concealment of traces took place in a terrible hurry, the killers were nervous, the preparation and organization turned out to be extremely poor. Therefore, they could not completely destroy the bodies. I have no doubt that the remains of two people found in the summer of 2007 in the town of Porosyonkov Log near Yekaterinburg belong to the children of the emperor. Therefore, the tragedy of the royal family has most likely come to an end. But, unfortunately, both she and the subsequent tragedies of millions of other Russian families left our modern society practically indifferent.

It would seem difficult to find new evidence of the terrible events that occurred on the night of July 16-17, 1918. Even people far from the ideas of monarchism remember that this night became fatal for the Romanov royal family. That night, Nicholas II, who abdicated the throne, the former Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and their children - 14-year-old Alexei, Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia - were shot.

Their fate was shared by the doctor E.S. Botkin, the maid A. Demidov, the cook Kharitonov and the footman. But from time to time there are witnesses who, after for long years silence reveals new details of the murder of the royal family.

Many books have been written about the execution of the Romanov royal family. To this day, discussions continue about whether the murder of the Romanovs was pre-planned and whether it was part of Lenin’s plans. And in our time there are people who believe that at least the children of Nicholas II were able to escape from the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg.

The accusation of murdering the Romanov royal family was an excellent trump card against the Bolsheviks, giving grounds to accuse them of inhumanity. Is this why most of the documents and evidence that tell about the last days of the Romanovs appeared and continue to appear precisely in Western countries? But some researchers believe that the crime for which Bolshevik Russia was accused was not committed at all...

From the very beginning, there were many secrets in the investigation into the circumstances of the execution of the Romanovs. Two investigators were working on it relatively quickly. The first investigation began a week after the alleged murder. The investigator came to the conclusion that the emperor was in fact executed on the night of July 16-17, but the lives of the former queen, her son and four daughters were spared. At the beginning of 1919, a new investigation was carried out. It was headed by Nikolai Sokolov. Was he able to find indisputable evidence that the entire Romanov family was killed in Yekaterinburg? Hard to say…

While inspecting the mine where the bodies of the royal family were dumped, he found several things that for some reason did not catch the eye of his predecessor: a miniature pin, which the prince used as a fishing hook, precious stones that were sewn into the belts of the Grand Duchesses, and the skeleton of a tiny dog, probably the favorite of Princess Tatiana. If we remember the circumstances of the death of the royal family, it is difficult to imagine that the corpse of the dog was also transported from place to place in order to hide... Sokolov did not find human remains, except for several fragments of bones and the severed finger of a middle-aged woman, presumably the empress.

1919 - Sokolov fled abroad, to Europe. But the results of his investigation were published only in 1924. Quite a long time, especially considering the many emigrants who were interested in the fate of the Romanovs. According to Sokolov, all the Romanovs were killed on that fateful night. True, he was not the first to suggest that the empress and her children could not escape. Back in 1921, this version was published by the Chairman of the Yekaterinburg Council Pavel Bykov. It would seem that one could forget about hopes that any of the Romanovs survived. But both in Europe and in Russia, numerous impostors and pretenders constantly appeared who declared themselves children of the emperor. So, there were still doubts?

The first argument of supporters of revising the version of the death of the entire Romanov family was the announcement of the Bolsheviks about the execution of Nicholas II, which was made on July 19. It said that only the tsar was executed, and Alexandra Fedorovna and her children were sent to safe place. The second is that at that time it was more profitable for the Bolsheviks to exchange Alexandra Feodorovna for political prisoners held in German captivity. There were rumors about negotiations on this topic. Sir Charles Eliot, the British consul in Siberia, visited Yekaterinburg shortly after the death of the emperor. He met with the first investigator in the Romanov case, after which he informed his superiors that, in his opinion, former queen and her children left Yekaterinburg by train on July 17.

Almost at the same time, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse, Alexandra's brother, allegedly informed his second sister, the Marchioness of Milford Haven, that Alexandra was safe. Of course, he could simply console his sister, who could not help but hear rumors about the reprisal against the Romanovs. If Alexandra and her children had actually been exchanged for political prisoners (Germany would have willingly taken this step to save its princess), all the newspapers of both the Old and New Worlds would have trumpeted about it. This would mean that the dynasty, linked by blood ties to many of the oldest monarchies in Europe, was not interrupted. But no articles followed, so the version that the entire royal family was killed was recognized as official.

In the early 1970s, English journalists Anthony Summers and Tom Menschld familiarized themselves with the official documents of the Sokolov investigation. And they found many inaccuracies and shortcomings in them that cast doubt on this version. Firstly, an encrypted telegram about the execution of the entire royal family, sent to Moscow on July 17, appeared in the case only in January 1919, after the dismissal of the first investigator. Secondly, the bodies have still not been found. And judging the death of the empress by a single fragment of her body - a severed finger - was not entirely correct.

1988 - seemingly irrefutable evidence of the death of the emperor, his wife and children appeared. Former investigator of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, screenwriter Geliy Ryabov, received a secret report from the son of Yakov Yurovsky (one of the main participants in the execution). It contained detailed information about where the remains of members of the royal family were hidden. Ryabov began searching. He was able to discover greenish-black bones with burn marks left by the acid. 1988 - He published a report on his discovery. 1991, July - Russian professional archaeologists arrived at the place where the remains, presumably belonging to the Romanovs, were found.

9 skeletons were recovered from the ground. 4 of them belonged to Nicholas's servants and their family doctor. Another 5 - to the king, his wife and children. It was not easy to determine the identity of the remains. First, the skulls were compared with surviving photographs of members of the imperial family. One of them was identified as the emperor's skull. Was later held comparative analysis DNA fingerprints. For this, the blood of a person who was related to the deceased was needed. The blood sample was provided by Britain's Prince Philip. His maternal grandmother was the sister of the empress’s grandmother.

The analysis result showed complete coincidence Four skeletons have DNA, which gave grounds to officially recognize them as the remains of Alexandra and her three daughters. The bodies of the crown prince and Anastasia were not found. Two hypotheses were put forward about this: either two descendants of the Romanov family still managed to survive, or their bodies were burned. It seems that Sokolov was right after all, and his report turned out to be not a provocation, but a real coverage of the facts...

1998 - the remains of the Romanov family were transported with honors to St. Petersburg and buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. True, there were immediately skeptics who were sure that the cathedral contained the remains of completely different people.

2006 – another DNA analysis was carried out. This time, samples of skeletons found in the Urals were compared with fragments of the relics of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. A series of studies was carried out by Doctor of Sciences, employee of the Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences L. Zhivotovsky. His American colleagues helped him. The results of this analysis were a complete surprise: the DNA of Elizabeth and the would-be empress did not match. The first thought that came to the researchers’ minds was that the relics stored in the cathedral actually did not belong to Elizabeth, but to someone else. However, this version had to be excluded: Elizabeth’s body was discovered in a mine near Alapaevsk in the fall of 1918, she was identified by people who were closely acquainted with her, including the confessor of the Grand Duchess, Father Seraphim.

This priest subsequently accompanied the coffin with the body of his spiritual daughter to Jerusalem and would not allow any substitution. This meant that, as a last resort, one body no longer belonged to members of the Romanov family. Later, doubts arose about the identity of the remaining remains. The skull, which had previously been identified as the emperor's skull, was missing callus, which could not disappear even so many years after death. This mark appeared on the skull of Nicholas II after the assassination attempt on him in Japan. Yurovsky's protocol stated that the tsar was killed at point-blank range, with the executioner shooting in the head. Even taking into account the imperfection of the weapon, there would certainly have been at least one bullet hole left in the skull. However, it does not have both inlet and outlet holes.

It is possible that the 1993 reports were fraudulent. Need to discover the remains of the royal family? Please, here they are. Carry out an examination to prove their authenticity? Here is the result of the examination! In the 1990s, there were all conditions for myth-making. It is not for nothing that the Russian Orthodox Church was so cautious, not wanting to recognize the discovered bones and count the emperor and his family among the martyrs...

Conversations began again that the Romanovs were not killed, but hidden in order to be used in some kind of political game in the future. Could Nikolai live in the Soviet Union under a false name with his family? On the one hand, this option cannot be excluded. The country is huge, there are many corners in it where no one would recognize Nicholas. The Romanov family could have been placed in some kind of shelter, where they would have been completely isolated from contact with the outside world, and therefore not dangerous.

On the other hand, even if the remains discovered near Yekaterinburg are the result of falsification, this does not mean at all that the execution did not take place. They have been able to destroy the bodies of dead enemies and scatter their ashes since time immemorial. To burn a human body, you need 300–400 kg of wood - in India every day thousands of dead are buried using the burning method. So, really, the killers, who had an unlimited supply of firewood and a fair amount of acid, could not hide all traces? Relatively not so long ago, in the fall of 2010, during work in the vicinity of the Old Koptyakovskaya road in the Sverdlovsk region. discovered places where the killers hid jugs of acid. If there was no execution, where did they come from in the Ural wilderness?

Attempts to reconstruct the events that preceded the execution were made repeatedly. As is known, after the renunciation royal family settled in the Alexander Palace, in August they were transported to Tobolsk, and later to Yekaterinburg, to the notorious Ipatiev House.

Aviation engineer Pyotr Duz was sent to Sverdlovsk in the fall of 1941. One of his duties in the rear was the publication of textbooks and manuals to supply the country's military universities. While getting acquainted with the property of the publishing house, Duz ended up in the Ipatiev House, in which several nuns and two elderly female archivists then lived. While inspecting the premises, Duz, accompanied by one of the women, went down to the basement and drew attention to strange grooves on the ceiling, which ended in deep recesses...

As part of his work, Peter often visited the Ipatiev House. Apparently, the elderly employees felt confidence in him, because one evening they showed him a small closet in which, right on the wall, hanging on rusty nails, was a white glove, a lady’s fan, a ring, and several buttons. different sizes... On the chair lay a small Bible on French and a couple of books in antique bindings. According to one of the women, all these things once belonged to members of the royal family.

She also spoke about the last days of the Romanovs’ life, which, according to her, were unbearable. The security officers who guarded the prisoners behaved incredibly rudely. All the windows in the house were boarded up. The security officers explained that these measures were taken for security purposes, but Duzya’s interlocutor was convinced that this was one of a thousand ways to humiliate the “former”. It should be noted that the security officers had reasons for concern. According to the recollections of the archivist, the Ipatiev House was besieged every morning (!) local residents and the monks, who tried to convey notes to the king and his relatives, offered to help with household chores.

Of course, this does not justify the behavior of security officers, but any intelligence officer entrusted with security VIP, is simply obliged to limit his contacts with the outside world. But the behavior of the guards was not limited to “not allowing sympathizers” to the members of the Romanov family. Many of their antics were simply outrageous. They took particular pleasure in shocking Nikolai's daughters. They wrote obscene words on the fence and the toilet located in the yard, they tried to watch for the girls in the dark corridors. No one has mentioned such details yet. That’s why Duz listened carefully to his interlocutor’s story. ABOUT last minutes She also told a lot about the life of the imperial family.

The Romanovs were ordered to go down to the basement. The emperor asked to bring a chair for his wife. Then one of the guards left the room, and Yurovsky took out a revolver and began to line everyone up in one line. Most versions say that the executioners fired in volleys. But the inhabitants of the Ipatiev house recalled that the shots were chaotic.

Nikolai was killed immediately. But his wife and the princesses were destined for a more difficult death. The fact is that diamonds were sewn into their corsets. In some places they were located in several layers. The bullets ricocheted off this layer and went into the ceiling. The execution dragged on. When the Grand Duchesses were already lying on the floor, they were considered dead. But when they began to lift one of them to load the body into the car, the princess groaned and moved. Therefore, the security officers began to finish off her and her sisters with bayonets.

After the execution, no one was allowed into the Ipatiev House for several days - apparently, attempts to destroy the bodies took a lot of time. A week later, the security officers allowed several nuns to enter the house - the premises needed to be restored to order. Among them was the interlocutor Duzya. According to him, she recalled with horror the picture that opened in the basement of the Ipatiev House. There were many bullet holes on the walls, and the floor and walls in the room where the execution took place were covered in blood.

Subsequently, experts from the Main state center Forensic and forensic examinations of the Russian Ministry of Defense restored the picture of the execution to the minute and to the millimeter. Using a computer, relying on witness's testimonies Grigory Nikulin and Anatoly Yakimov, they established where and at what moment the executioners and their victims were. Computer reconstruction showed that the Empress and the Grand Duchesses tried to shield Nicholas from the bullets.

Ballistic examination established many details: what weapons were used to kill the members of the imperial family, and approximately how many shots were fired. The security officers needed to pull the trigger at least 30 times...

Every year the chances of discovering the real remains of the Romanov royal family (if we recognize the Yekaterinburg skeletons as fakes) are dwindling. This means that the hope of ever finding an exact answer to the questions is fading: who died in the basement of the Ipatiev House, whether any of the Romanovs managed to escape, and what kind of life further fate heirs to the Russian throne...

The text of the resolution of the Presidium of the Ural Regional Council of Workers, Peasants and Red Army Deputies, published a week after the execution, said: “In view of the fact that Czechoslovak gangs threaten the capital of the Red Urals, Yekaterinburg; in view of the fact that the crowned executioner can avoid the trial of the people (a White Guard conspiracy aimed at kidnapping the entire Romanov family has just been discovered), the Presidium of the regional committee, in fulfillment of the will of the people, decided: to shoot former Tsar Nicholas Romanov, guilty before the people of countless bloody crimes.”

The civil war gained momentum, and Yekaterinburg soon truly came under the control of the whites. The resolution did not report the execution of the entire family, but the members of the Urals Council were guided by the formula “You cannot leave them the banner.” According to the revolutionaries, any of the Romanovs freed by the Whites could subsequently be used for the project of restoring the monarchy in Russia.

If we look at the question more broadly, then Nikolai and Alexandra Romanov were considered by the masses as the main culprits of the troubles that occurred in the country at the beginning of the 20th century - a lost one Russo-Japanese War, "Bloody Resurrection" and the subsequent first Russian revolution, "Rasputinism", the First World War, low level life, etc.

Contemporaries testify that among the workers of Yekaterinburg there were demands for reprisals against the Tsar, caused by rumors about attempts to escape by the Romanov family.

The execution of all the Romanovs, including children, is perceived as a terrible crime from a peacetime point of view. But in conditions Civil War both sides fought with increasing brutality, in which not only ideological opponents, but also members of their families were increasingly killed.

As for the execution of the entourage who accompanied the royal family, members of the Urals Council subsequently explained their actions as follows: they decided to share the fate of the Romanovs, so let them share it to the end.

Who made the decision to execute Nikolai Romanov and his family members?

The official decision to execute Nicholas II and his relatives was made on July 16, 1918 by the Presidium of the Ural Regional Council of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies.

This council was not exclusively Bolshevik and also consisted of anarchists and left Socialist Revolutionaries, who were even more radically disposed towards the family of the last emperor.

It is known that the top leadership of the Bolsheviks in Moscow was considering the issue of holding the trial of Nikolai Romanov in Moscow. However, the situation in the country sharply complicated, the Civil War began and the issue was postponed. The question of what to do with the rest of the family was not even discussed.

In the spring of 1918, rumors about the death of the Romanovs arose several times, but the Bolshevik government denied them. Lenin's directive, sent to Yekaterinburg, demanded the prevention of “any violence” against the royal family.

The highest Soviet leadership represented by Vladimir Lenin And Yakova Sverdlova The Ural comrades were confronted with a fact - the Romanovs were executed. During the Civil War, central control over the regions was often formal.

To date, there is no real evidence to suggest that the government of the RSFSR in Moscow gave the order for the execution of Nikolai Romanov and members of his family.

Why were the children of the last emperor executed?

In acute conditions political crisis During the Civil War, the four daughters and son of Nicholas Romanov were seen not as ordinary children, but as figures with the help of which the monarchy could be revived.

Based known facts, we can say that such a view was not close to the Bolshevik government in Moscow, but the revolutionaries on the ground thought exactly this way. Therefore, the Romanov children shared the fate of their parents.

However, it cannot be said that the execution of the royal children is a cruelty that has no analogues in history.

After his election to the Russian throne founder of the Romanov dynasty Mikhail Fedorovich, in Moscow, a 3-year-old was hanged at the Serpukhov Gate Ivashka Vorenok, aka Tsarevich Ivan Dmitrievich, son of Marina Mnishek and False Dmitry II. The whole fault of the unfortunate child was that the opponents of Mikhail Romanov considered Ivan Dmitrievich as a contender for the throne. Supporters of the new dynasty solved the problem radically by strangling the baby.

At the end of 1741, as a result of a coup, she ascended the Russian throne. Elizaveta Petrovna, daughter Peter the Great. At the same time, she overthrew John VI, the infant emperor, who was not even one and a half years old at the time of the overthrow. The child was subjected to strict isolation, his images and even the public speaking of his name were prohibited. After spending his childhood in exile in Kholmogory, at the age of 16 he was imprisoned in solitary confinement in the Shlisselburg fortress. After spending his entire life in captivity, the former emperor was stabbed to death by guards at the age of 23 during a failed attempt to free him.

Is it true that the murder of Nikolai Romanov’s family was ritual in nature?

All investigative teams that have ever worked on the case of the execution of the Romanov family came to the conclusion that it was not of a ritual nature. Information about certain signs and inscriptions at the execution site, bearing symbolic meaning, is a product of myth-making. This version became most widespread thanks to a book by a Nazi Helmut Schramm"Ritual murder among the Jews." Schramm himself included it in the book at the suggestion of Russian emigrants Mikhail Skaryatin And Grigory Schwartz-Bostunich. The latter not only collaborated with the Nazis, but did brilliant career in the Third Reich, rising to the rank of SS Standartenführer.

Is it true that some members of Nicholas II's family escaped execution?

Today we can confidently say that both Nikolai and Alexandra and all their five children died in Yekaterinburg. In general, the overwhelming majority of members of the Romanov clan either died during the revolution and the Civil War or left the country. The rarest exception can be considered the great-great-great-granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I, Natalya Androsova, who in the USSR became a circus performer and a master of sports in motorcycle racing.

To a certain extent, the members of the Urals Council achieved the goal they were striving for - the basis for the revival of the institution of monarchy in the country was completely and irrevocably destroyed.

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The family of the last Emperor of Russia, Nicholas Romanov, was killed in 1918. Due to the concealment of facts by the Bolsheviks, a number of alternative versions appear. For a long time there were rumors that turned the murder of the royal family into a legend. There were theories that one of his children escaped.

What really happened in the summer of 1918 near Yekaterinburg? You will find the answer to this question in our article.

Background

Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century was one of the most economically developed countries peace. Nikolai Alexandrovich, who came to power, turned out to be a meek and noble man. In spirit he was not an autocrat, but an officer. Therefore, with his views on life, it was difficult to manage the crumbling state.

The revolution of 1905 showed the insolvency of the government and its isolation from the people. In fact, there were two powers in the country. The official one is the emperor, and the real one is officials, nobles and landowners. It was the latter who, with their greed, licentiousness and short-sightedness, destroyed the once great power.

Strikes and rallies, demonstrations and bread riots, famine. All this indicated decline. The only way out could be the accession to the throne of an imperious and tough ruler who could take complete control of the country.

Nicholas II was not like that. It was focused on building railways, churches, improving the economy and culture in society. He managed to make progress in these areas. But positive changes affected mainly only the top of society, while the majority of ordinary residents remained at the level of the Middle Ages. Splinters, wells, carts and everyday life of peasants and craftsmen.

After the entry of the Russian Empire into the First world war The people's discontent only intensified. The execution of the royal family became the apotheosis of general madness. Next we will look at this crime in more detail.

Now it is important to note the following. After the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II and his brother from the throne, soldiers, workers and peasants began to take the leading roles in the state. People who have not previously dealt with management, who have a minimal level of culture and superficial judgments, gain power.

Small local commissars wanted to curry favor with senior officials. The rank and file and junior officers simply mindlessly followed orders. Time of Troubles, which came during these turbulent years, brought unfavorable elements to the surface.

Next you will see more photos of the Romanov royal family. If you look at them carefully, you will notice that the clothes of the emperor, his wife and children are by no means pompous. They are no different from the peasants and guards who surrounded them in exile.
Let's figure out what really happened in Yekaterinburg in July 1918.

Course of events

The execution of the royal family was planned and prepared for quite a long time. While power was still in the hands of the Provisional Government, they tried to protect them. Therefore, after the events in July 1917 in Petrograd, the emperor, his wife, children and retinue were transferred to Tobolsk.

The place was deliberately chosen to be calm. But in fact, they found one from which it was difficult to escape. By that time railways have not yet been extended to Tobolsk. The nearest station was two hundred and eighty kilometers away.

They sought to protect the emperor's family, so the exile to Tobolsk became for Nicholas II a respite before the subsequent nightmare. The king, queen, their children and retinue stayed there for more than six months.

But in April, after a fierce struggle for power, the Bolsheviks recalled “unfinished business.” A decision is made to transport the entire imperial family to Yekaterinburg, which at that time was a stronghold of the red movement.

The first to be transferred from Petrograd to Perm was Prince Mikhail, the Tsar’s brother. At the end of March, their son Mikhail and three children of Konstantin Konstantinovich were deported to Vyatka. Later, the last four are transferred to Yekaterinburg.

The main reason for the transfer to the east was Nikolai Alexandrovich’s family ties with the German Emperor Wilhelm, as well as the proximity of the Entente to Petrograd. The revolutionaries feared the release of the Tsar and the restoration of the monarchy.

The role of Yakovlev, who was tasked with transporting the emperor and his family from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg, is interesting. He knew about the assassination attempt on the Tsar that was being prepared by the Siberian Bolsheviks.

Judging by the archives, there are two opinions of experts. The first ones say that in reality this is Konstantin Myachin. And he received a directive from the Center to “deliver the Tsar and his family to Moscow.” The latter are inclined to believe that Yakovlev was a European spy who intended to save the emperor by taking him to Japan through Omsk and Vladivostok.

After arriving in Yekaterinburg, all prisoners were placed in Ipatiev’s mansion. A photo of the Romanov royal family was preserved when Yakovlev handed it over to the Urals Council. The place of detention among the revolutionaries was called a “house of special purpose.”

Here they were kept for seventy-eight days. The relationship of the convoy to the emperor and his family will be discussed in more detail below. For now, it is important to focus on the fact that it was rude and boorish. They were robbed, psychologically and morally oppressed, abused so that they were not noticeable outside the walls of the mansion.

Considering the results of the investigations, we will take a closer look at the night when the monarch with his family and retinue were shot. Now we note that the execution took place at approximately half past two in the morning. Life physician Botkin, on the orders of the revolutionaries, woke up all the prisoners and went down with them to the basement.

A terrible crime took place there. Yurovsky commanded. He blurted out a prepared phrase that “they are trying to save them, and the matter cannot be delayed.” None of the prisoners understood anything. Nicholas II only had time to ask that what was said be repeated, but the soldiers, frightened by the horror of the situation, began to shoot indiscriminately. Moreover, several punishers fired from another room through the doorway. According to eyewitnesses, not everyone was killed the first time. Some were finished off with a bayonet.

Thus, this indicates a hasty and unprepared operation. The execution became lynching, which the Bolsheviks, who had lost their heads, resorted to.

Government disinformation

The execution of the royal family still remains an unsolved mystery of Russian history. Responsibility for this atrocity may lie both with Lenin and Sverdlov, for whom the Urals Soviet simply provided an alibi, and directly with the Siberian revolutionaries, who succumbed to general panic and lost their heads in wartime conditions.

Nevertheless, immediately after the atrocity, the government began a campaign to whiten its reputation. Among researchers studying this period, the latest actions are called a “disinformation campaign.”

The death of the royal family was proclaimed the only necessary measure. Since, judging by the ordered Bolshevik articles, a counter-revolutionary conspiracy was uncovered. Some white officers planned to attack the Ipatiev mansion and free the emperor and his family.

The second point, which was furiously hidden for many years, was that eleven people were shot. The Emperor, his wife, five children and four servants.

The events of the crime were not disclosed for several years. Official recognition was given only in 1925. This decision was prompted by the publication of a book in Western Europe that outlined the results of Sokolov’s investigation. Then Bykov is instructed to write about “the current course of events.” This brochure was published in Sverdlovsk in 1926.

Nevertheless, the lies of the Bolsheviks international level, as well as hiding the truth from common people shook faith in power. and its consequences, according to Lykova, became the reason for people's distrust of the government, which did not change even in post-Soviet times.

The fate of the remaining Romanovs

The execution of the royal family had to be prepared. A similar “warm-up” was the liquidation of the Emperor’s brother Mikhail Alexandrovich and his personal secretary.
On the night from the twelfth to the thirteenth of June 1918, they were forcibly taken from the Perm hotel outside the city. They were shot in the forest, and their remains have not yet been discovered.

A statement was made to the international press that the Grand Duke had been kidnapped by attackers and went missing. For Russia, the official version was the escape of Mikhail Alexandrovich.

The main purpose of such a statement was to speed up the trial of the emperor and his family. They started a rumor that the escapee could contribute to the release of the “bloody tyrant” from “just punishment.”

It was not only the last royal family that suffered. In Vologda, eight people related to the Romanovs were also killed. The victims include the princes of the imperial blood Igor, Ivan and Konstantin Konstantinovich, Grand Duchess Elizabeth, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, Prince Paley, manager and cell attendant.

All of them were thrown into the Nizhnyaya Selimskaya mine, not far from the city of Alapaevsk. Only he resisted and was shot. The rest were stunned and thrown down alive. In 2009, they were all canonized as martyrs.

But the thirst for blood did not subside. In January 1919 in Peter and Paul Fortress four more Romanovs were also shot. Nikolai and Georgy Mikhailovich, Dmitry Konstantinovich and Pavel Alexandrovich. Official version The revolutionary committee was as follows: the liquidation of hostages in response to the murder of Liebknecht and Luxemburg in Germany.

Memoirs of contemporaries

Researchers have tried to reconstruct how members of the royal family were killed. The best way to cope with this is the testimony of the people who were present there.
The first such source is notes from personal diary Trotsky. He noted that the blame lies with the local authorities. He especially singled out the names of Stalin and Sverdlov as the people who made this decision. Lev Davidovich writes that as Czechoslovak troops approached, Stalin’s phrase that “the Tsar cannot be handed over to the White Guards” became a death sentence.

But scientists doubt the accurate reflection of events in the notes. They were made in the late thirties, when he was working on a biography of Stalin. A number of mistakes were made there, indicating that Trotsky forgot many of those events.

The second evidence is information from Milyutin’s diary, which mentions the murder of the royal family. He writes that Sverdlov came to the meeting and asked Lenin to speak. As soon as Yakov Mikhailovich said that the Tsar was gone, Vladimir Ilyich abruptly changed the topic and continued the meeting as if the previous phrase had not happened.

The most complete history of the royal family in last days life was restored based on the interrogation protocols of the participants in these events. People from the guard, punitive and funeral squads testified several times.

Although they are often confused, the main idea remains the same. All the Bolsheviks who were next to the Tsar in recent months, had complaints against him. Some were in prison themselves in the past, others had relatives. In general, they gathered a contingent of former prisoners.

In Yekaterinburg, anarchists and Socialist Revolutionaries put pressure on the Bolsheviks. In order not to lose authority, local council It was decided to quickly end this matter. Moreover, there was a rumor that Lenin wanted to exchange the royal family for a reduction in the amount of indemnity.

According to the participants, this was the only solution. In addition, many of them boasted during interrogations that they personally killed the emperor. Some with one, and some with three shots. Judging by the diaries of Nikolai and his wife, the workers guarding them were often drunk. That's why real events cannot be restored for certain.

What happened to the remains

The murder of the royal family took place secretly and was planned to be kept secret. But those responsible for the disposal of the remains failed to cope with their task.

A very large funeral team was assembled. Yurovsky had to send many back to the city “as unnecessary.”

According to the testimony of the participants in the process, they spent several days with the task. At first it was planned to burn the clothes, and naked bodies throw it into a mine and cover it with earth. But the collapse did not work out. We had to extract the remains of the royal family and come up with another method.

It was decided to burn them or bury them along the road that was just under construction. The preliminary plan was to disfigure the bodies with sulfuric acid beyond recognition. It is clear from the protocols that two corpses were burned and the rest were buried.

Presumably the body of Alexei and one of the servant girls burned.

The second difficulty was that the team was busy all night, and in the morning travelers began to appear. An order was given to cordon off the area and prohibit exit from neighboring village. But the secrecy of the operation was hopelessly failed.

The investigation showed that attempts to bury the bodies were near shaft No. 7 and the 184th crossing. In particular, they were discovered near the latter in 1991.

Kirsta's investigation

On July 26-27, 1918, peasants discovered a golden cross with precious stones. The find was immediately delivered to Lieutenant Sheremetyev, who was hiding from the Bolsheviks in the village of Koptyaki. It was carried out, but later the case was assigned to Kirsta.

He began to study the testimony of witnesses pointing to the murder of the Romanov royal family. The information confused and frightened him. The investigator did not expect that this was not the consequences of a military court, but a criminal case.

He began questioning witnesses who gave conflicting testimony. But based on them, Kirsta concluded that perhaps only the emperor and his heir were shot. The rest of the family was taken to Perm.

It seems that this investigator set himself the goal of proving that not the entire Romanov royal family was killed. Even after he clearly confirmed the crime, Kirsta continued to interrogate more people.

So, over time, he finds a certain doctor Utochkin, who proved that he treated Princess Anastasia. Then another witness spoke about the transfer of the emperor’s wife and some of the children to Perm, which she knew about from rumors.

After Kirsta completely confused the case, it was given to another investigator.

Sokolov's investigation

Kolchak, who came to power in 1919, ordered Dieterichs to understand how the Romanov royal family was killed. The latter entrusted this case to the investigator for particularly important cases of the Omsk District.

His last name was Sokolov. This man began to investigate the murder of the royal family from scratch. Although all the paperwork was handed over to him, he did not trust Kirsta’s confusing protocols.

Sokolov again visited the mine, as well as Ipatiev’s mansion. Inspection of the house was made difficult by the location of the Czech army headquarters there. However, a German inscription on the wall was discovered, a quote from Heine's verse about the monarch being killed by his subjects. The words were clearly scratched out after the city was lost to the Reds.

In addition to documents on Yekaterinburg, the investigator was sent cases on the Perm murder of Prince Mikhail and on the crime against the princes in Alapaevsk.

After the Bolsheviks recapture this region, Sokolov takes all office work to Harbin, and then to Western Europe. Photos of the royal family, diaries, evidence, etc. were evacuated.

He published the results of the investigation in 1924 in Paris. In 1997, Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein, transferred all paperwork to the Russian government. In exchange, he was given the archives of his family, taken away during the Second World War.

Modern investigation

In 1979, a group of enthusiasts led by Ryabov and Avdonin archival documents discovered a burial near the 184 km station. In 1991, the latter stated that he knew where the remains of the executed emperor were. An investigation was re-launched to finally shed light on the murder of the royal family.

The main work on this case was carried out in the archives of the two capitals and in the cities that appeared in the reports of the twenties. Protocols, letters, telegrams, photos of the royal family and their diaries were studied. In addition, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, research was carried out in the archives of most countries Western Europe and the USA.

The investigation of the burial was carried out by the senior prosecutor-criminologist Soloviev. In general, he confirmed all of Sokolov’s materials. His message to Patriarch Alexei II states that “under the conditions of that time, the complete destruction of the corpses was impossible.”

In addition, a consequence of the end of XX - beginning of the XXI century completely refuted alternative versions events that we will talk about later.
The canonization of the royal family was carried out in 1981 by the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, and in Russia - in 2000.

Since the Bolsheviks tried to keep this crime secret, rumors spread, contributing to the formation of alternative versions.

So, according to one of them, it was a ritual murder as a result of a conspiracy of Jewish Freemasons. One of the investigator's assistants testified that he saw "kabbalistic symbols" on the walls of the basement. When checked, these turned out to be traces of bullets and bayonets.

According to Dieterichs' theory, the emperor's head was cut off and preserved in alcohol. The finds of remains also refuted this crazy idea.

Rumors spread by the Bolsheviks and false testimonies of “eyewitnesses” gave rise to a series of versions about the people who escaped. But photographs of the royal family in the last days of their lives do not confirm them. And also the found and identified remains refute these versions.

Only after all the facts of this crime were proven, the canonization of the royal family took place in Russia. This explains why it was held 19 years later than abroad.

So, in this article we got acquainted with the circumstances and investigation of one of the most terrible atrocities in the history of Russia in the twentieth century.