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A while ago, I wrote a fictional story about a fictional trip along the Trans-Siberian route. When researching the path to the heart of Russia along which this train passes, and about a series of events of great interest that had occurred in some of these places, I could not help but search for information about the Romanovs and, especially , of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II.
This dynasty held the reins of one of the largest empires in the world for three centuries. At the end of the 19th century it already needed profound reforms of all kinds, especially political.
Russia, in contrast to the rest of Europe, which had adopted diverse forms of democracy, remained anchored in the Old Regime as reflected by the sovereign's own title, "Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias."
Tsar Nicholas II, ignoring the time in which he had lived, this inflexibility for changes, in addition to his lack of experience and an insecure character, dragged an entire empire to perdition.
When at the age of 25, upon the death of his father, he had to access the throne, he himself confessed: "I am not prepared to be tsar, I never wanted to be one. I don't know anything about the art of governing, I don't even know how to speak to the people." ministers".
In 1905, a great revolt broke out among the population, since Nicholas II, manipulated by the German Kaiser William II, went to war with Japan and that was a great failure for Russia. One of the people who had a very negative influence on him and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra, was Rasputin, who was eventually assassinated by nobles and ministers in 1916.
Nicholas II believed in his innate right to reign and did not see the coming crisis. He wanted to save the dynasty, first abdicating to his son Alexei, but the heir's poor health and discontent with his family prevented him from doing so. In March 1917 he renounced all his rights.
The English King George V, the tsar's cousin, offered hospitality to his family, but both the Petrograd Soviet and political pressures in Europe caused his allies to ignore all requests for asylum.
At first, they were held about 30 km from Saint Petersburg and later, for security reasons, they were sent to Tobolsk, the capital of Western Siberia. There the imperial family enjoyed a certain freedom, until in October of that year the Bolsheviks took power and the provisional government fled abroad.
Leon Trotsky wanted to transfer them to Moscow to subject them to a public trial, but other more radical sectors were not satisfied with that.
His last residence was Yekaterinburg, the most radicalized city in Russia. They settled in a large building known as the Ipatiev house, after the surname of its previous owner. They became familiar with the guardians around them, and even became friends.
However, the Romanovs were going to be killed because they were the symbol of autocracy. On the night of July 16 to 17, 1918, they tricked them, getting them to go down to the basement of the house. They still didn't seem to be aware of their destination.
Before being executed, a statement was read to them: "The General Directorate of the Regional Soviet, satisfying the will of the revolution, has decreed that the former Tsar Nicholas Romanov, guilty of countless bloody crimes against the people, must be shot." After 20 minutes of horror, of gunshots, stabbings and beatings, the family and their servants were dead.
Finally, after a great controversy about the discovery of their bodies, it seems that their remains were buried in Saint Petersburg, in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Saints Paul.
During my visit to Russia, I was not able to see the tombs of the imperial family, because they were not yet laid to rest here. In 2003, the Church on Spilled Blood was consecrated in Yekaterinburg, on the site once occupied by the Ipatiev House, where they were murdered.
