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

by Robert K. Massie

  12 The household routine unchanged: Gilliard, 29, 31.

  13 “I could see the Tsaritsa in the front row”: ibid., 29.

  14 Medical bulletins: ibid., 30. Prayers: ibid., 31.

  15 “All the servants, the Cossacks”: N to MF, 277.

  16 The end had come: Vyrubova, 93.

  17 “The Little One will not die”: ibid., 94.

  18 “The doctors notice no improvement yet”: Paléologue, I, 148.

  19 “We decided to give him Holy Communion”: N to MF, 276–8.

  20 “I do not agree with my colleagues”: Mosolov, 151–2. “The recovery was wholly inexplicable”: Vorres, 143.

  21 “It is impossible to predict”: M. Litten, Hemorrhagic Diseases (New York, W. B. Saunders and Co., 1905).

  22 Poinsard: Brinkhous, 249–53.

  23 Resumption of normal life: Vyrubova, 95–6.

  24 “Alexis’s recovery will be very slow”: N to MF, 277–8. The journey home: Mosolov, 152; Vyrubova, 97.

  25 Alexis’s leg: Gilliard, 32; Vyrubova, 93. Hot mudbaths: Gilliard, 37.

  CHAPTER 15 RASPUTIN

  1 Rasputin’s appearance: Fülöp-Miller, 3–4; Iliodor, 92; Pares, 135.

  2 Rasputin’s eyes: Vyrubova, 153; Iliodor, 209; Paléologue, I, 292.

  3 “The starets made me lie down on the sofa”: Yussoupov, 208.

  4 “Well, my dear”: Yussoupov, Rasputin, 103.

  5 Rasputin and the country girl: Fülöp-Miller, 6–7.

  6 “He ran his pale eyes over me”: Rodzianko, 24.

  7 “When Rasputin came into my study”: Kerensky, Murder, 46.

  8 “When you select your starets”: qtd. by Gilliard, 54.

  9 “Rasputin” means “dissolute”: Paléologue, I, 138; Pares, 134.

  10 The horsethief: Fülöp-Miller, 14–15. The rake: ibid., 16.

  11 Verkhoturye: ibid., 17–18; Pares, 134.

  12 The Khlysty: Paléologue, I, 139; Fülöp-Miller, 19, 30–2; Wilson, 38. Praskovie Rasputin: Rasputin, 45; Fülöp-Miller, 45. “He has enough for all”: Pares, 145.

  13 “Gregory has turned pilgrim”: Wilson, 33.

  14 John of Kronstadt, Theophan, Hermogen: Fülöp-Miller, 54–7.

  15 “We have got to know a man of God, Gregory”: Pares, 137; Fülöp-Miller, 145; Almedingen, 117.

  16 Philippe Vachot: Paléologue, I, 203–10; Pares, 131.

  17 Impeccable credentials: Gilliard, 62.

  18 Bedtime stories: Vyrubova, 161; Fülöp-Miller, 141.

  19 “Will you come and meet a Russian peasant?”: Vorres, 138.

  20 Rasputin’s behavior at the palace: ibid., 140.

  21 “A good, religious, simple-minded Russian”: Rodzianko, 11; Pares, 139; Paléologue, II, 93.

  22 “It was the boy’s illness: Pares, 138. “Call it what you will”: ibid., 138. “Rasputin’s presence in the palace”: Gilliard, 84.

  23 “Rasputin took the empire”: Haldane, 39.

  24 General Beletsky: Pares, 138.

  25 Dr. Lucas: Lucas, passim.

  26 Relationship between emotions and bleeding: Drs. Agle, Mattsson and Gross, Poinsard (in Brinkhous) and Lucas all describe this relationship.

  27 “The power, the nervous force … from my father’s eyes”: Rasputin, 39.

  28 “There is no doubt”: Vorres, 142.

  29 “The poor child lay in pain”: ibid., 142.

  CHAPTER 16 THE HOLY DEVIL

  1 Rasputin’s costume: Vorres, 141.

  2 “Curiosity, unbridled and embarrassing”: ibid., 139.

  3 “In Alicky’s boudoir”: ibid., 139.

  4 “Our eyes met”: Dehn, 100.

  5 “Come, my lovely mare”: Fülöp-Miller, 271. “Yes, yes, my dears”: ibid., 271.

  6 “Dirty hands into his favorite fish soup”: Pares, 140.

  7 “He had too many offers”: Pares, 142.

  8 “Women found in Gregory Efimovich”: Fülöp-Miller, 207.

  9 “Would you be ready?”: ibid., 206–7.

  10 “You think that I am polluting you”: ibid., 215.

  11 “Rasputin was there”: Vorres, 139.

  12 “Oh please, he wants to see you so much”: ibid., 140.

  13 The Tiutcheva episode: Fülöp-Miller, 146; Gilliard, 62–3; Mosolov, 163–4.

  14 Breach between the sisters: Paléologue, I, 161.

  15 St. Petersburg in an uproar: Rodzianko, 31.

  16 “I have shut his trap”: Iliodor, 202.

  17 “This is not a family affair”: Rodzianko, 27–8.

  18 “Let one man bring a plank”: Iliodor, 67; Fülöp-Miller, 60.

  19 Rasputin in Tsaritsyn: Iliodor, 108. “Gregory, you are Christ”: ibid., 111.

  20 “Take your choice”: ibid., 116.

  21 “My beloved, unforgettable teacher”: Moorehead, 72.

  22 Were they lovers?: Pares, 145; Kokovtsov, 299.

  23 “You are smashing our sacred vessels”: Pares, 146; Iliodor, 233–4.

  24 “Never and nowhere”: Pares, 146; Iliodor, 238. Rasputin’s revenge: Kokovtsov, 293.

  25 Iliodor produces the letters: Iliodor, 255.

  26 “You have bowed down to the Devil”: Pares, 150.

  27 “It was my intention to start a revolution”: Iliodor, 269.

  28 60,000 roubles: Vyrubova, 172, 399.

  29 Rasputin avoided the palace: ibid., 160.

  30 “Saints are always calumniated”: Botkin, 123. “He is hated because we love him”: Vyrubova, 162.

  31 “I went often to Rasputin’s lodgings”: ibid., 165. “Rasputin had no harem”: ibid., 166.

  32 “Rasputin was a Janus”: quoted by Almedingen, 127.

  CHAPTER 17 “WE WANT A GREAT RUSSIA”

  1 “We are not frightened.… We want a Great Russia”: Kokovtsov, 184; Pares, 112.

  2 “His capacity for work”: Izvolsky, 98. “His nobility, courage and devotion”: Kokovtsov, 165. “An ideal man to transact business with”: Buchanan, I, 160.

  3 “I cannot tell you”: Pares, 111.

  4 Stolypin in Saratov: Pares, 94.

  5 “An elderly man … with Picadilly whiskers”: Virginia Cowles, The Gay Monarch (New York, Harper, 1956), 340.

  6 “Stolypin told us”: Kokovtsov, 153.

  7 “Stolypin’s necktie”: Charques, 161; Kerensky, Crucifixion, 121.

  8 The attempt on Stolypin’s life: Kokovtsov, 163–4; Florinsky, 1195.

  9 Nicholas’s proposal to sell crown lands: Harcave, 251–2.

  10 “If this should continue”: Wolfe, II, 31. “One must be able to look truth in the face”: Fischer, 54.

  11 The opening of the First Duma: Kokovtsov, 129–31. “Let the executive power bow”: ibid., 140. “Retire! Retire!”: ibid., 143, 145.

  12 “The sessions of the Duma are hereby resumed”: ibid., 155.

  13 The ceiling caved in: ibid., 170.

  14 A madhouse: ibid., 171. Police plots: ibid., 182–3. “Hands up!… Not afraid!”: ibid., 172.

  15 “A grotesque deputation is coming from England”: N to MF, 219.

  16 “All would be well”: N to MF, 228. Zurabov: Kokovtsov, 179–80.

  17 The Third Duma: ibid., 197–8, 209; Florinsky, 1200; Pares, 109.

  18 “May an Englishman”: Pares, 117.

  19 “This Duma cannot be reproached”: Kokovtsov, 222. “The Duma started too fast”: Pares, 118.

  20 Stolypin and Witte: Pares, 110.

  21 Stolypin and Rasputin: Rodzianko, 24. Stolypin’s failing health: Kokovtsov, 249.

  22 “A Tsar’s heart is in God’s hands”: ibid., 167.

  23 Stolypin resigns: ibid., 263; Pares, 123. “This is not a question of confidence”: Kokovtsov, 223.

  24 “I cannot accept your resignation”: ibid., 264.

  25 “Unfortunately, my son is too kind”: ibid., 266.

  26 Stolypin expects dismissal: ibid., 268. Petty slights: ibid., 271.

  27 “We are superfluous”: Pares, 124. “Death is after him!”: ibid., 143.

 
; 28 Stolypin’s assassination: Kokovtsov, 272; Vorres, 126.

  29 “Olga and Tatiana were with me at the time”: N to MF, 264–5.

  30 Bogrov: Buchanan, I, 156–7; Florinsky, 1204.

  31 “I cannot say how distressed”: MF to N, 262.

  32 The Tsar urged to leave Kiev immediately: MF to N, 262. “I returned to Kiev in the evening”: N to MF, 265–6. “I went at once to the nursing home”: ibid., 266. The Tsar attended the service: Kokovtsov, 276.

  33 Kokovtsov averts a pogrom: ibid., 273–4.

  34 “I was accorded a most hearty welcome”: ibid., 281. “I notice you keep on making comparisons”: ibid., 283.

  35 “Strange as it may seem”: ibid., 291. “Although they were absolutely impeccable”: ibid., 290. “We believed that the letters were apocryphal”: ibid., 293.

  36 “That cunning conspirator”: Rodzianko, 33–4. Censorship fails: ibid., 8, 31. Unprintable stories: Almedingen, 124.

  37 ‘I am simply stifling”: Pares, 152. “This disgusting affair”: Kokovtsov, 294, 303–4. The Imperial couple fails to understand: Mosolov, 176–7.

  38 “She wept bitterly”: Kokovtsov, 295–6. “The Emperor is so pure of heart”: Rodzianko, 38.

  39 Rodzianko’s interview: ibid., 40–1. “Have you read Stolypin’s report?”: ibid., 46.

  40 “Who is it, Sabler?”: ibid., 53. Livadia: ibid., 59. “The Emperor is a saint”: Pares, 149.

  41 “Remember, Vladimir Nicolaievich”: Kokovtsov, 78.

  42 “God grant that the new Duma”: ibid., 192. “Tell us the truth”: ibid., 12.

  43 “At first I enjoyed Her Majesty’s favor”: ibid., 454.

  44 Nicholas’s letter to Kokovtsov: ibid., 418.

  45 “I am like an old fur coat”: ibid., 439.

  46 “I know you are an honorable man”: ibid., 470.

  47 General Beletsky: Pares, 151.

  CHAPTER 18 THE ROMANOV DYNASTY

  1 “A war with Austria would be a splendid little thing”: Wolfe, II, 306.

  2 “I was so happy then”: Vyrubova, 98.

  3 “Sure enough, it was Rasputin”: Rodzianko, 76–7.

  4 “The orchestra was a mass of uniforms”: Vyrubova, 99.

  5 Alexandra’s gowns and jewels: ibid., 99; Almedingen, 130.

  6 “She felt so ill”: Buxhoeveden, 175. The Maryinsky appearance: Meriel Buchanan, 35–7.

  7 Fabergé egg: Bainbridge, 72.

  8 Peasants waded into the water: Vyrubova, 100. “Wherever we went”: Vorres, 130.

  9 Moscow: Vyrubova, 101. “The Tsarevich was carried”: Kokovtsov, 361–2.

  10 “Nobody seeing those enthusiastic crowds”: Vorres, 130.

  11 “The Tsar’s journey”: Kokovtsov, 360.

  12 “And why did you separate me from my wife?”: Fennell, 193.

  13 “Ladies and gentlemen … sleeping with their boots on”: Vorres, 47.

  14 Idle arithmetic: Paléologue, I, 325.

  15 “It is certainly the last generation”: Vorres, 114–15.

  16 Divorce within the Imperial family: N to MF, 165; Vorres, 116.

  17 “I had a rather stern talk”: N to MF, 164–5,

  18 Michael and Alexander III: Witte, 40–1. “Floppy”: Vorres, 83.

  19 Automobile accident: ibid., 93.

  20 “Dina”: ibid., 80, 89.

  21 “Three weeks ago Misha wrote”: N to MF, 213.

  22 Michael’s mistress: Paléologue, II, 172.

  23 “I saw a slender young woman”: ibid., 171.

  24 Michael’s marriage: Vorres, 118.

  25 “He broke his word”: Vyrubova, 96.

  26 “A terrible blow”: N to MF, 253.

  27 “What revolts me more than anything else”: ibid., 284.

  28 Winter, 1913–1914: Meriel Buchanan, 71; Almedingen, 132. Nijinsky: Almedingen, 132.

  29 Olga and Tatiana: Meriel Buchanan, 71. The train to Tsarskoe Selo: Buxhoeveden, 181.

  30 Lena Goldfields: Kerensky, Crucifixion, 135–6.

  31 “No one could oust us from the courts”: ibid., 135. “The government commission sat in one house”: ibid., 137.

  32 “Strenuous political organizing”: ibid., 181. “In those days”: ibid., 193.

  33 “The Tsarist Cheka”: ibid., 194.

  CHAPTER 19 THE LONG SUMMER OF 1914

  1 Red Rock: Gilliard, 92.

  2 Visit to Rumania: Buxhoeveden, 181–3.

  3 “Tell me the truth, Monsieur”: Gilliard, 94.

  4 “I think with terror”: Sazonov, 110.

  5 Marie only a schoolgirl: Vyrubova, 89.

  6 “Never have I seen happier faces”: Buchanan, I, 188.

  7 Beatty: Bruce Lockhart, 88–90.

  8 Austria-Hungary: Mansergh, 116–20.

  9 “The Archduke was an energetic man”: ibid., 216.

  10 The Black Hand: Balfour, 344.

  11 “Serbia’s declaration of war”: Mansergh, 219. Crush “the Serbian viper”: ibid., 132. “The Monarchy with unflinching hand”: ibid., 219. “The bloody deed”: ibid., 219. “Serbia must be eliminated”: Pares, 182.

  12 Alexis hurt aboard the Standart: Gilliard, 97.

  13 Whispers that Rasputin was stabbed: ibid., 97.

  14 “I have killed the anti-Christ”: Rasputin, 21; Paléologue, I, 78–9.

  15 “In him Russia possesses a reliable and true friend”: Mansergh, 170.

  16 “M. Poincaré differs from many of his countrymen”: ibid., 170. “I like him very much”: Sazonov, 270.

  17 “Nicholas II in the uniform of an admiral”: Paléologue, I, 12–13.

  18 “I shall long remember the dazzling display of jewels”: ibid., 14.

  19 “A blazing sun lit up the vast plain”: ibid., 21–2.

  20 “It had indeed a kind of terrifying grandeur”: ibid., 24–5. “It was a splendid night”: ibid., 27–8.

  21 The Austrian ultimatum: Mansergh, 345.

  22 “The Austrian demands are such”: Pares, 181.

  23 “C’est la guerre Européenne”: Mansergh, 225; Florinsky, 1315.

  24 “As long as there remains the faintest hope”: Sazonov, 178.

  25 Izvolsky and the Strait: Kokovtsov, 215; Sazonov, 32. “Russia could speak as in the past”: Mansergh, 124. Izvolsky a dandy: ibid., 122.

  26 The Bosnian annexation: ibid., 122–37.

  27 “Brazen impudence”: N to MF, 234.

  28 “We expect a precise answer”: Mansergh, 133. “Of course we are not going to fight”: N to MF, 236. “German action … has simply been brutal”: ibid., 230–40.

  29 “In the recent history of Russia”: Mansergh, 134. The Kiev military district: Pares, History, 471.

  30 “This is my war! My war!”: Alexander, 259; Florinsky, 1299; Mansergh, 136.

  31 “Listen to me, Nekliudov”: Mansergh, 196.

  32 Sazonov plays for time: Sazonov, 153, 177.

  33 “If His Majesty, the Emperor Franz Joseph”: Mansergh, 205. “Now or never”: Sazonov, 160; Pares, 182. The Austrian Ambassador’s message: Sazonov, 156.

  34 “Good old Lichnowsky”: ibid., 165.

  35 “This phantasm of a state”: Mansergh, 204.

  36 “Austria is now going to come to a reckoning with Serbia”: ibid., 221.

  37 “Count Pourtalès, Russia means it”: Pares, 184.

  38 “Now that Serbia has given in”: Mansergh, 226.

  39 Willy-Nicky telegrams: Buchanan, I, 200–4. The telegram referring to The Hague was not included by Buchanan and is taken from Paléologue, I, 270.

  40 The Kaiser’s rage: Cowles, 356.

  41 “I don’t think Your Majesty can postpone”: Sazonov, 201.

  42 “Think of the responsibility”: Paléologue, I, 45.

  43 “The Tsar remained silent”: Sazonov, 204–5.

  44 Sazonov and Pourtalès: ibid., 212–13. “In that case, my government charges me”: Paléologue, I, 48.

  45 Alexandra and her daughters at Peterhof: Gilliard, 105–6.

  46 “He was never s
incere, not for a moment”: Paléologue, I, 196–7.

  CHAPTER 20 FOR THE DEFENSE OF HOLY RUSSIA

  1 The ceremony at the Winter Palace: Vyrubova, 106; Pares, 187; Almedingen, 133–4.

  2 The Tsarevich, weeping: Gilliard, 106.

  3 Salle de Nicholas: Paléologue, I, 50; Buchanan, I, 212; Vyrubova, 107.

  4 “I solemnly swear”: Paléologue, I, 51.

  5 The crowd knelt: Rodzianko, 109. “God Save the Tsar”: Gilliard, 112. “The absolute master of their bodies and souls”: Paléologue, I, 52.

  6 Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, etc.: ibid., 74; Botkin, 105.

  7 “Vive la France”: Paléologue, I, 57. “The flags of the three nations”: ibid., 59.

  8 Sack of the German Embassy: ibid., 58.

  9 “For the defense of Holy Russia”: Golovine, 205.

  10 “The war with Japan”: Kerensky, Crucifixion, 235.

  11 “Now all Russia is involved”: Rodzianko, 109.

  12 “This is not a political war”: Paléologue, I, 71. “If we are unlucky”: ibid., 135.

  13 “Not a trace was left”: Kerensky, Crucifixion, 195.

  14 “Six months”: Botkin, 111. “Sausages”: ibid., 68.

  15 Moscow: Gilliard, 113; Buchanan, 214–15.

  16 “Alexis is complaining of his leg”: Gilliard, 113. “When Alexis found he could not walk”: ibid., 113.

  17 “From this place”: Paléologue, I, 90.

  18 “As it is God himself”: ibid., 95.

  19 “The Heir! The Heir!”: Gilliard, 115.

  20 St. Petersburg becomes Petrograd: Paléologue, I, 108. Nicholas’s patriotism: Gilliard, 121.

  21 “Let Papa not plan war”: Pares, 188. Nicholas tore up the telegram: Vyrubova, 104, 173.

  22 “Dear Friend, I will say again”: The original of this letter is in the Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale, where I saw it. A version of the same letter is published by Maria Rasputin, My Father, page 23. She describes it as “the last letter my father wrote to Nicholas II before the declaration of war.”

  23 “This war is madness”: Paléologue, I, 122–3.

  24 Dress uniforms for the ceremonial parade: Botkin, 112.

  25 Russian army on the march: Paléologue, I, 63, 77.

  26 “William to St. Helena!”: ibid., 65–6.

  27 “One … was very young”: ibid., 64.

  28 “The troops grey with dust”: Bruce Lockhart, 95.

  29 “A wide road that leads to war”: Knox, 50.

  30 Numbers of soldiers: Golovine, 45, 50. “Russian steamroller”: ibid., 53. Railroads compared to France and Germany: ibid., 34.