Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty

by Robert K. Massie

  Nevertheless, this kind of diary is not universally condemned. In certain circumstances, these terse, monotonous Edwardian diaries have been found admirable and praiseworthy: “On May 3, 1880 … [he] began to keep a diary,” begins one account of a royal diarist, “and from then onward he continued it without intermission until three days before his death. For fifty-six years, in his clear handwriting, he recorded daily the moment at which he got up, the times of his meals, and the hour when he went to bed. He acquired the nautical habit of registering the direction of the wind, the condition of the barometer and the state of the weather throughout the day. He would take careful notes of the places which he visited, the people whom he met, or the number of birds and other animals which he shot. Seldom did he indulge in any comment upon personal or public affairs; his diary is little more than a detailed catalogue of his engagements. He was not one of those to whom the physical act of writing comes easily and with pleasure; his pen would travel slowly across the page. Yet only when he was seriously ill would he allow his mother, his sisters or, later, his wife, to make the entries for him. His diaries swelled to twenty-four bound and locked volumes, each opening with a small golden key. They became for him part of the discipline of life.”

  This description, with only minor alterations, could have been written of Nicholas II. In fact, it was written by Harold Nicolson in his biography of Nicholas’s cousin, King George V, pp. 15–16.

  20 “Today I finished … my education: Radziwill, 37.

  21 “As always after a ball”: N’s Diary, 13. “I got up at 10:30”: ibid., 16. “I was not overwhelmed with sadness”: ibid., 21.

  22 “Ran like fools”: ibid., 14. His life in St. Petersburg: ibid., 12–31. 18–19 “All day I found myself in a state of gaiety”: ibid., 25. A direct telephone line: ibid., 43. Reviewing Cossacks: ibid., 23.

  23 Bungalow at Krasnoe Selo: Alexander, 166.

  24 “I am happier than I can say”: N to MF, 35.

  25 “Never forget that everyone’s eyes”: MF to N, 33. “I will always try”: N to MF, 36.

  26 “We got stewed,” etc.: Kaun, 133.

  27 “Where is Kschessinska?”: Kschessinska, 28. “Be the glory and adornment of our ballet”: ibid., 28. “In both our hearts, an attraction”: ibid., 29. “Supper with the pupils”: ibid., 29.

  28 “Ah, you must have been flirting”: ibid., 33. “I thought that, without being in love with me”: ibid., 33. “Gossiped at her window”: ibid., 34.

  29 “Villages and clusters of palm trees”: N’s Diary, 33. “Nothing worth talking about”: ibid., 33. “This time it was much better”: ibid., 34.

  30 “Red uniforms everywhere”: ibid., 36. “I’d like to think”: MF to N, 42.

  31 The assassination attempt: N’s Diary, 37–8; MF to N, 51; Alexander, 167; Kschessinska, 35. “I received the Swedish minister”: N’s Diary, 45.

  32 Vladivostock: Tupper, 83, 85.

  33 Kschessinska again: Kschessinska, 37–42.

  34 “Though he did not openly mention it”: ibid., 42. “We led a quiet, retiring life”: ibid., 44.

  35 “I have been nominated a member”: N’s Diary, 46. Exercise with the Hussars: ibid., 14. “What, but you know the Tsarevich?”: Quoted in an introductory passage in N’s Diary, 45.

  36 “Uncle Bertie, of course”: N to MF, 59. “May is delightful”: ibid., 59. Nicholas mistaken for George: Buxhoeveden, 37; Hanbury-Williams, 89.

  37 “She was very friendly”: N to MF, 60. Kschessinska’s career: Kschessinska, 47.

  38 The end of the affair: ibid., 50–1. “The terrible, boundless suffering”: ibid., 52.

  39 “I was not alone in my grief and trouble”: ibid., 53. Grand Duke Andrei: ibid., 78. A son: ibid., 89. Married in Cannes: ibid., 209.

  CHAPTER 3 PRINCESS ALIX

  1 “My dream is some day to marry Alix H.”: Pares, 33.

  2 “Mama made a few allusions”: Radziwill, 38.

  3 Princess Helene and Princess Margaret: N to MF, 61.

  4 “Oh, Lord, how I want to go to Ilinskoe”: Pares, 33.

  5 Nicholas insists on Alix: Buxhoeveden, 33.

  6 Alexander Ill’s health: Mosolov, 44.

  7 “They murder my name here”: Buxhoeveden, 4. “A sweet, merry little person”: ibid., 4. “Sunny in pink”: ibid., 4.

  8 Prussia and Hesse-Darmstadt: ibid., 3; Botkin, 24.

  9 Darmstadt: Buxhoeveden, 1; Almedingen, 7.

  10 English mementoes: Buxhoeveden, 2. Mrs. Orchard: ibid., 5. Pony cart: ibid., 6. Goldfish: Almedingen, 14. Crinoline: Buxhoeveden, 6. Christmas: ibid., 7. Visits to England: ibid., 7, 9. Diphtheria: ibid., 9–10.

  11 Alix withdraws: ibid., 12. Queen Victoria’s interest: ibid., 12.

  12 A student: ibid., 13–15. Ella’s marriage: ibid., 18–19. Nicholas presents a brooch: Vyrubova, 19.

  13 Alix’s visit to Russia, 1889: Buxhoeveden, 23–4. Ilinskoe: ibid., 26–7.

  14 Alix’s feeling about Nicholas: ibid., 21, 34. Prince Eddy: Pope-Hennessy, 183; Longford, 512.

  15 Banjo: Buxhoeveden, 22. Italy: ibid., 31.

  16 Nicholas’s arrival in Coburg: N’s Diary, 48. “What a day”: ibid., 49. “I tried to explain”: N to MF, 63.

  17 Two sittings at dinner: N’s Diary, 50. Queen Victoria’s Dragoons: ibid., 49. The Kaiser helps: N to MF, 64. “The depths of Alix’s soul”: N’s Diary, 51.

  18 “A marvelous, unforgettable day”: ibid., 52. “We were left alone”: N to MF, 64, “ ‘I’m going to marry Nicky’ “: Almedingen, 23.

  19 Military drill: N’s Diary, 52. “My superb Alix came to me”: ibid., 52. “Everything in my heart was bright”: ibid., 52. “We answered all day”: ibid., 53.

  20 “Your dear Alix”: MF to N, 65, 66.

  21 “She has changed so much”: N’s Diary, 54.

  22 “We were together a long time”: ibid., 59. “It is so strange”: ibid., 57. “What a sorrow”: ibid., 54. “What sadness”: ibid., 60. “A ring on my finger”: ibid., 57. Gatchina: ibid., 62–3.

  23 “Into the arms of my betrothed”: N to MF, 71. Walton-on-Thames: ibid., 71.

  24 Engagement gifts: Buxhoeveden, 38. Fabergé’s sautoir of pearls: Bainbridge, 56. “Alix, do not get too proud”: Buxhoeveden, 38; Dehn, 59.

  25 “Galloping like a fool”: N’s Diary, 63. “I can’t complain”: N to MF, 71.

  26 “I simply had to get up”: N to MF, 73.

  27 “I dreamed that I was loved”: N’s Diary, 76–7. “What is past is past”: ibid., 78.

  28 “Granny loves me so”: N to MF, 74. Aldershot: N’s Diary, 71.

  29 “A son was born to Georgie and May”: N’s Diary, quoted by Catherine Radziwill, The Intimate Life of the Last Tsarina (New York, L. MacVeagh, Dial Press, 1928), 26.

  30 “Instead of plunging the infant”: N’s Diary, 75. “What a nice, healthy child”: N to MF, 73. “Georgie came for lunch”: N’s Diary, 76.

  31 “Love is caught”: ibid., 81. “Sleep gently”: ibid., 83.

  32 German fleet: ibid., 83. “I am yours”: ibid., 86. “For the past is past”: ibid., 85.

  CHAPTER 4 MARRIAGE

  1 Nephritis: Witte, 46; Mosolov, 44; Vorres, 63.

  2 “My duty to remain here”: N’s Diary, 90.

  3 “There is some ice cream in the next room”: Vorres, 64.

  4 “My God, what a joy to meet her”: N’s Diary, 101. Welcome in the Crimea: ibid., 101. The Tsar in dress uniform: Vyrubova, 20.

  5 “Sweet child, pray to God”: N’s Diary, 103. “Be firm and make the doctors come to you”: ibid., 104.

  6 “The Lord has called to him … Papa”: ibid., 107.

  7 “I saw tears in his blue eyes”: Alexander, 168–9.

  8 The embalmers: N’s Diary, 111. At that time the Orthodox Church did not normally permit embalming of the dead. Exceptions were made, however, in the cases of sovereigns who were to lie in state for many days.

  9 “Even in our great grief”: ibid., no. “Alix read beautifully”: ibid., no. “The trul
y believing Grand Duchess Alexandra Fedorovna”: Buxhoeveden, 41.

  10 “Mama, many others and I”: N’s Diary, 110. The uncles’ view: Buxhoeveden, 41. “My dear Papa was transferred”: N’s Diary, 112.

  11 Across the Ukraine: ibid., 114. Moscow: ibid., 114; Almedingen, 37. St. Petersburg: N’s Diary, 115; Almedingen, 37–8. “Behind a coffin”: Gilliard, 48.

  12 “I have received so many delegations”: N’s Diary, 120. “I almost broke into sobs”: ibid., 122.

  13 “Every day, after lunch … another service”: Pope-Hennessy, 301–2. “One’s feelings”: Buxhoeveden, 44. “Such was my entry into Russia”: Fülöp-Miller, 80.

  14 The wedding: N’s Diary, 125; Buxhoeveden, 43; Vyrubova, 21.

  15 “Nicky is a very lucky man”: Pope-Hennessy, 300. “When they drove from the Winter Palace”: Nicolson, 57. “Alix had a headache”: N’s Diary, 125.

  16 “At last, united”: Buxhoeveden, 50. “Never did I believe”: N’s Diary, 125; Buxhoeveden, 50.

  17 Six rooms: Vorres, 71; Buxhoeveden, 45–6.

  18 “I am indescribably happy with Alix”: N’s Diary, 125. Reading at night: ibid., 131. Sleigh rides: Buxhoeveden, 47.

  19 “It is hard to think”: N’s Diary, 126.

  20 The mother-in-law: Vorres, 72, 93; Buxhoeveden, 49; Vyrubova, 87.

  21 The jewels: Almedingen, 43.

  22 “I cannot yet realize that I am married”: Buxhoeveden, 44. “I feel myself completely alone”: Vyrubova, 21–2.

  23 “How contented and happy I am”: Buxhoeveden, 51.

  24 “It has become very big and kicks about”: N to MF, 96. “Sad to leave Peterhof”: ibid., 93–4.

  25 “It is understood, isn’t it”: MF to N, 100.

  26 Birth of Olga: N’s Diary, 132; Buxhoeveden, 56.

  27 “You can imagine our intense happiness”: Buxhoeveden, 56.

  CHAPTER 5 THE CORONATION

  1 River ice beginning to crack: N to MF, 101.

  2 “I believe we should regard”: ibid., 107.

  3 Petrovsky Palace: Vorres, 74.

  4 Whitewash, evergreens, flags: Bovey, 10, 32. Cossacks, peasant women, Caucasians, Turks: ibid., 14–15, 22.

  5 Nicholas enters Moscow: Bovey, 13; Kschessinska, 58. “It was agonizing”: Kschessinska, 58.

  6 The procession: Bovey, 15–17; Kschessinska, 58.

  7 The Red Staircase: Bovey, 21.

  8 The hairdresser: Naryishkin-Kurakin, 148.

  9 Down the Red Staircase: Bovey, 23–4.

  10 Diamond Throne and Ivory Throne: Duncan, 165, 160.

  11 Coronation ceremony: Buxhoeveden, 64–5. Chain of St. Andrew: Izvolsky, 262.

  12 Nicholas’s tide: Almanach de Gotha, 79–80.

  13 Nicholas preferred Monomakh’s Cap: Buxhoeveden, 64. The Imperial Crown of Russia: Alexander, 157.

  14 Homage from the family: Vorres, 76.

  15 Leaving the cathedral: Bovey, 25.

  16 Susanin’s descendants: Buxhoeveden, 66. Scroll and menu: Bovey, 26. Nicholas and Alexandra dined alone: Vorres, 76.

  17 Crown over his eyes: Bovey, 27.

  18 Coronation ball: ibid., 28, 30, 40.

  19 Illuminations: ibid., 33: Vorres, 77; Kschessinska, 59; Buxhoeveden, 66.

  20 Khodynka Meadow: Alexander, 171–2; Bovey, 35, 36. Buxhoeveden, 67–9.

  21 French tapestries and roses: Vorres, 79. “Far from being insensible”: Izvolsky, 259.

  22 Balmoral in the rain: N to MF, 109–10.

  23 “She is marvelously kind”: ibid., 110.

  24 Poincaré, “Those of us who reached manhood”: quoted by Mansergh, 35.

  25 Artificial chestnuts: Buxhoeveden, 74. Police every twenty yards: N to MF, 112.

  26 The visit to France: N to MF, 112–17; Buxhoeveden, 74–6.

  27 “German helmets … dark and boring”: N to MF, 117.

  CHAPTER 6 THE NEW TSAR

  1 “The various affairs you left me”: N to MF, 82. “Just before the ministers go on leave”: ibid., 83.

  2 “I must talk to you, darling Mama”: ibid., 88–9.

  3 The uncles: Alexander, 137–40. “Fast women and slow ships”: ibid., 139. Anna Karenina: Paléologue, I, 152.

  4 “Bellowing of his towering uncles”: Alexander, 173.

  5 Imperial estates and income: ibid., 156–63; Vorres, 94–6.

  6 Nicholas preferred to be Russian: Mosolov, 19–21. Peter the Great: ibid., 16. Tsar Alexis his favorite: Izvolsky, 269. The 1903 Court Ball: Alexander, 210–11; Buxhoeveden, 98–9; Izvolsky, 264.

  7 Kept his own calendar: Vyrubova, 55.

  8 Nicholas ignores his aide-de-camp at Livadia: Mosolov, 14.

  9 Nicholas and his ministers: Pares, 52, 59; Mosolov, 8–10.

  10 A man of narrow conviction: Harcave, 50.

  11 “The young Emperor … seeds of the best”: Witte, 96.

  12 The Tver Zemstvo: Pares, 57; Florinsky, 1147.

  13 “I am delighted”: Kaun, 134.

  14 Nicholas’s unawareness of Franco-Russian alliance: Florinsky, 1141.

  15 The Disarmament Conference of 1898: Florinsky, 1260–1. Witte’s view: Witte, 96–7. Bliokh’s book: Billington, 758.

  16 “Nonsense and rubbish”: Tuchman, Proud Tower, 239. “Dissolving his regiments”: ibid., 241. Establishment of the Hague Court: Florinsky, 1261.

  17 “The Silver Age”: Billington, 446; Florinsky, 1241–51; Mazour, 236–94. Sholom Aleichem: The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, 516–18.

  18 Narodny Dom: Paléologue, II, 206–7.

  19 “Eating raw ham”: MF to N, 128.

  20 “A new happy event”: N to MF, 130. “We have finished War and Peace,” ibid., 132.

  21 Death of Grand Duke George: Buxhoeveden, 84.

  22 “Nicky was really an angel”: ibid., 87.

  23 “Alix looked after me”: N to MF, 140.

  24 “I long to see her dear old face”: Buxhoeveden, 90.

  25 “I cannot really believe she is gone”: ibid., 90. Alexandra destroyed Victoria’s letters: ibid., 91.

  26 Alexandra terrified at a ball: ibid., 58

  27 Silent and cold: ibid., 58–9.

  28 “The heads of the young ladies”: Vyrubova, 4; Botkin, 26.

  29 The décolleté dress: Botkin, 26.

  30 Ladies refuse to knit: Vyrubova, 5. The family antagonized: Buxhoeveden, 60.

  31 Alexandra and Marie compared: Alexander, 169. No way to make friends: Buxhoeveden, 59.

  32 To the real Russians, she was Matushka: Pares, 55.

  CHAPTER 7 TWO REVOLUTIONARIES

  1 Simbirsk: Kerensky, Crucifixion, 3; Fischer, 5; Payne, 47; Wolfe, I, 38.

  2 “From the summit”: Kerensky, Crucifixion, 3.

  3 Ilya Ulyanov: Wolfe, I, 45; Fischer, 6–8; Payne, 62. “Sadly buttoned on his official’s uniform”: Fischer, 8.

  4 Chess: Fischer, 8. “Excellent in everything”: ibid., 7; Payne, 53. Ilya’s death: Fischer, 9; Payne, 62; Wolfe, I, 52.

  5 Bomb inside a medical dictionary: Wolfe, I, 69; Payne, 68.

  6 “I tried to kill the Tsar”: Payne, 70. “Have courage. Have courage”: Fischer, 11.

  7 “The execution of such a brother”: Kerensky, Crucifixion, 6.

  8 “Undoubtedly a very gifted person”: Fischer, 12. “Go and do what Mama asks”: ibid., 12.

  9 Vladimir’s graduation: Wolfe, I, 60. Blue uniform: Kerensky, Crucifixion, 60.

  10 “Very gifted, always neat”: ibid., 10.

  11 Vladimir expelled from Kazan University: Fischer, 18. The farm: Payne, 83. “My relations with the moujiks”: Wolfe, I, 95.

  12 Reading law: Payne, 82; Wolfe, I, 96. Failure as a lawyer: Payne, 89; Wolfe, I, 96. Reading Marx: Wolfe, I, 108–9; Fischer, 20.

  13 To St. Petersburg: Wolfe, I, 111; Payne, 93. “Vladimir Ilyich laughed”: Fischer, 22. Vladimir abroad: Payne, 105–7.

  14 False-bottomed trunk: Payne, 108. “Of course, if you start right away talking against the Tsar”: Fischer, 31.

  15 Political exi
les: Payne 111–13. To Shushenskoe: Fischer, 31–2; Payne, 111; Wolfe, I, 159–62.

  16 Life in Shushenskoe: Fischer, 32–3; Payne, 127–8. “A tragicomic condition”: Fischer, 33.

  17 “It was like living in an enchanted kingdom”: Payne, 128.

  18 “The hereditary noble, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov”: Fischer, 34.

  19 “Lenin”: Wolfe, I, 183.

  20 “Nicholas the Bloody”: Fischer, 37.

  21 London: Payne, 155–67; Fischer, 22, 38.

  22 Lenin’s growing dominance: Fischer, 42–3; Payne, 170.

  23 The Brussels conference: Fischer, 39. “Rats and fleas”: Wolfe, I, 286.

  24 Crossed the channel: ibid., 296.

  25 The split, Bolsheviks and Mensheviks: Payne, 174; Fischer, 40–1; Wolfe, I, 301–2.

  26 “Of this dough, Robespierres are made”: Wolfe, I, 302.

  27 “Lenin … Asiatic ‘elemental force’ “: Kerensky, Crucifixion, 13.

  28 Fedor Kerensky: ibid., 58–9,

  29 “From my earliest glimpses”: ibid., 59. “I see myself in early childhood”: ibid., 58.

  30 “A church bell-ringer”: ibid., 61. “My youthful adoration of the Tsar”: ibid., 65. “I doubt whether higher education”: ibid., 84.

  31 Narodniks and Marxists: ibid., 112. “This highly respectable pastime”: ibid., 116.

  32 “It was Easter”: ibid., 162.

  CHAPTER 8 THE KAISER’S ADVICE

  1 The Kaiser’s encouragement of Russia’s advance in the Far East: Izvolsky, 24, 48; Pares, 67.

  2 William’s appearance: Balfour, 139. His mustache: ibid., 138. His left arm: ibid., 74; Cowles, 9. His powerful grip: Balfour, 139. 86 In love with Princess Elizabeth: Cowles, 47–8.

  3 “The Kaiser is like a balloon”: Balfour, 126.

  4 “Nonsense!” “Lies!”: ibid., 159. A friendly smack on the backside: Mosolov, 203. “Talking all the more rapidly”: Balfour, 145. “If the Kaiser laughs”: ibid., 138.

  5 “The All Highest”: Cowles, 77. African skulls: Balfour, 159.

  6 “You ask how Willy was”: ibid., 111. “Picklehaube German soldier”: Cowles, 124.