After the Romanovs: Russian exiles in Paris between the wars

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Death toll estimates vary widely but the number of people that died as a result of the Red Terror is estimated to be between 100,000 and 200,000. Robert Gellately. Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe Knopf, 2007 ISBN 1-4000-4005-1 p. 65.

As the Bolsheviks gathered strength, the government moved Nicholas, Alexandra, and their daughter Maria to Yekaterinburg under the direction of Vasily Yakovlev in April 1918. Alexei, who had severe haemophilia, was too ill to accompany his parents and remained with his sisters Olga, Tatiana, and Anastasia, not leaving Tobolsk until May. The family was imprisoned with a few remaining retainers in Yekaterinburg's Ipatiev House, which was designated The House of Special Purpose ( Russian: Дом Особого Назначения): In her husband’s absence, Czarina Alexandra—an unpopular woman of German ancestry—began firing elected officials. During this time, her controversial advisor, Grigory Rasputin, increased his influence over Russian politics and the royal Romanov family.The leaders of the provisional government, including young Russian lawyer Alexander Kerensky, established a liberal program of rights such as freedom of speech, equality before the law, and the right of unions to organize and strike. They opposed violent social revolution. Throughout his reign, Nicholas faced growing discontent from his subjects. He fought a war the people weren’t behind. His government massacred nearly 100 unarmed protesters during a peaceful assembly in 1905. And he struggled to maintain a civil relationship with the Duma, the representative branch of the Russian government. World War I catastrophes and Rasputin’s reputation erode Nicholas’ public support A British war correspondent, Francis McCullagh, who met Yurovsky in 1920 alleged that he was remorseful over his role in the execution of the Romanovs. [151] However, in a final letter that was written to his children shortly before his death in 1938, he only reminisced about his revolutionary career and how "the storm of October" had "turned its brightest side" towards him, making him "the happiest of mortals"; [152] there was no expression of regret or remorse over the murders. [138] Yurovsky and his assistant, Nikulin, who died in 1964, are buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. [153] His son, Alexander Yurovsky, voluntarily handed over his father's memoirs to amateur investigators Avdonin and Ryabov in 1978. [154] 1924 Photograph of Ural Bolsheviks from left to right: Top 1st row – A. I. Paramonov, N. N., M. M. Kharitonov, B.V. Didkovsky, I. P. Rumyantsev, N. N., A. L. Borchaninov; Bottom 2nd row – D. E. Sulimov, G.S. Frost, M.V. Vasilyev, V.M. Bykov, A.G. Kabanov, P. S. Ermakov. They stand and sit on a bridge of sleepers under which the royal family was buried, and next lies Ermakov's mauser, with which, in his own words, he "shot the Tsar". Czar Nicholas II was the last Romanov emperor, ruling from 1894 until his forced abdication in March of 1917. The duration of his rule was plagued by periods of political and social unrest. When he succeeded his father—Czar Alexander III—Nicholas II had little experience in government. He was widely seen as a politically weak, indecisive leader. The cellar of Ipatiev house in Yekaterinburg, after the Execution of the Imperial Family in the night in July 1918. The burial of the Romanov family is as gruesome as their execution

On Centenary, Russian State and Orthodox Church at Odds Over Romanovs, The Moscow Times, 18 July 2018 , retrieved 22 July 2018 Greg King; Penny Wilson (2003). The Fate of the Romanovs. John Wiley & Sons. p.127. ISBN 978-0-471-20768-9. As for Nicholas II, scientists used mtDNA heteroplasmy using samples from Princess Xenia Cheremeteff Sfiri and the Duke of Fife. In the early 1990s, considerable controversy surrounded the accuracy of mtDNA heteroplasmy for DNA testing particularly for distant relatives. In an attempt to refine the results of the investigation, Russian authorities exhumed the remains of Nicholas II’s brother, George Alexandrovich. George’s remains matched the heteroplasmy of the remains found in the grave indicating that they did in fact belong to Tsar Nicholas II. My next visit to Moscow took place after the fall of Yekaterinburg. Talking to Sverdlov I asked in passing, "Oh yes and where is the Tsar?" "It's all over," he answered. "He has been shot." "And where is his family?" "And the family with him." "All of them?" I asked, apparently with a touch of surprise. "All of them," replied Yakov Sverdlov. "What about it?" He was waiting to see my reaction. I made no reply. "And who made the decision?" I asked. "We decided it here. Ilyich [Lenin] believed that we shouldn't leave the Whites a live banner to rally around, especially under the present difficult circumstances." [24]Three days after the murders, Yurovsky personally reported to Lenin on the events of that night and was rewarded with an appointment to the Moscow City Cheka. He held a succession of key economic and party posts, dying in the Kremlin Hospital in 1938 aged 60. Prior to his death, he donated the guns he used in the murders to the Museum of the Revolution in Moscow, [66] and left behind three important, though contradictory, accounts of the event. However, while the two revolutionary events took place within a few short months of 1917, social unrest in Russia had been brewing for many years prior to the events of that year. Alexander II, son of Nicholas I, became the next Russian emperor in 1855, in the midst of the Crimean War. While Alexander considered it his charge to maintain peace in Europe and Russia, he believed only a strong Russian military could keep the peace. By developing the Imperial Russian Army, giving increased autonomy to Finland, and freeing the serfs in 1861 he gained much popular support for his reign. Catherine II was a sophisticated patron of the arts, and during her reign, Russia adopted Western European philosophies, fashions and culture.

Forensic investigation into the authenticity of the remains of Russia's Royal family members. These bones were dug up in a forest near Yekaterinburg, Russia in 1991. Remains of Romanov family members are not discovered for 61 years, but it takes until 2007 for Alexei and Maria’s bodies to be located The February Revolution of 1917 resulted in the abdication of Nicholas II in favor of his brother Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich. [1] The latter declined to accept imperial authority save to delegate it to the Provisional Government pending a future democratic referendum, effectively terminating the Romanov dynasty's rule over Russia.Russia entered into World War I in August 1914 in support of the Serbs and their French and British allies. Their involvement in the war would soon prove disastrous for the Russian Empire.