The Marriage and Ruling Years of Alexandra and Nicholas Romanov

Alexandra and Nicholas Romanov were the last royal rulers of Russia. They were generally hated, most would say because of Alexandra's behavior with Rasputin and her meddling in her husband's political business. However, they had an idyllic home life. They loved each other a great deal and they had five beautiful children, whom they obviously loved dearly. They had their problems, namely Alexei's (their only son) illness, but they seemed content in the cocoon of wealth and regal privilege that they had made for themselves. All of this was destroyed during the October Revolution in Russia.

Alexandra (then known as Alix H.) agreed to marry Nicholas Romanov on April 20, 1894. They were very much in love and had waited a long time for their families' acceptance of their romance. They must have been elated. However, sad events burst their bubble before they could marry. Nicholas Romanov's father died on November 1, 1894. Just twenty-five days later, the doomed couple said their vows and Alix H. took her first step toward becoming the tsarina of Russia.

Alexandra was ill at ease with her subjects from the start. It took her years to learn Russian and she suffered extreme nervousness at public appearances even after she learned the language. She came from a wealthy family and was a princess in Germany by birth. However, nothing had prepared her to be the center of a gossipy court. According to letters penned by the tsarina, she loved her husband and considered herself Russian, but she would never be accepted by the Russian people.

Nicholas was about as prepared as his wife was to rule. His only political influence was his somewhat tyrannical father, who believed in a monarchy that had full control of Russia. He was arguably better suited than Nicholas for such sentiments, but Nicholas made the choice to follow his example. He declared that he would uphold the "principle of autocracy" that his father had enforced during his reign. The people of Russia had been hoping for a government that gave the people more say. They were disappointed. Some people believe that the end of the Romanovs could have been avoided if Nicholas acquiesced to his people even a little, but alas, he did not.

Nicholas Romanov was crowned tsar of "all the Russias" on May 26, 1896. He and Alexandra were the center of a massive celebration that day, but it was marred by a horrible tragedy. Countless people arrived to celebrate the crowning of a new tsar. Common people celebrated outdoors at the expense of the royal family. Well into the festivities, a drunken human stampede broke out outside of the Kremlin Palace. An estimated 1,300 people were crushed to death by their fellow Russians. This tragedy set the tone for the last years of Romanov rule in Russia.

Nicholas and Alexandra set to work producing an heir to the Russian throne immediately after their wedding. It seems their bad luck extended to conceiving boys as well. The first four Romanov children were girls - Olga, Tatiana, Marie and the famous Anastasia Romanov. It was this string of female children that led Alexandra to seek the help of questionable characters, which eventually led to Grigori Rasputin, but not until later. Alexandra's mixing with mystic society did nothing to boost her popularity with the Russian court. Nonetheless, Alexandra seems to have attributed the birth of her first and only son to her connection with these spiritual people.

Alexei was born in 1904. While still an infant, Alexei showed signs of being a hemophiliac. This very condition killed Alexandra's brother when she and he were still children. Of course, the Romanovs were terrified. Not only did they love their son and want him to live, but also he was the only child heir they had. If he died, Nicholas' brother would be next in line for the throne.

Several doctors tended to Alexei's hemophilia-related ailments, but they could only treat the symptoms with the medical technology they had then. Without treatment, hemophilia is unbearably painful. The Romanov family dealt with Alexei's cries of anguish in the hope that he would survive to adulthood. Even when he begged them to let his life end, they did everything they could to save him. This is how Grigori Rasputin, the noted mystic and supposed holy man, entered their lives.

The story goes that Alexei was having a terrible time with his hemophilia when the Romanovs asked Rasputin to come help him. The scraggly-bearded man simply stood there, said a few empty words, and told the boy's parents that he would not die. The next day, Alexei was much better. After that, Alexandra became very close to Rasputin. The cruel Russian rumor mill produced stories of orgies with the tsarina and Rasputin involved. They even went so far as to include the Romanov girls, who were beautiful, but quite innocent, judging by their surviving correspondence.

For the most part, the Romanov family remained secluded in their palaces and royal hideaways. They spent much time together enjoying the outdoors and taking photos of each other. Many of these photos survive today, giving us a haunting glimpse of a happy, but doomed, family. While they were enjoying each other's company, Russia was falling apart. The people called for a revolution and they would have one. Alexandra and Nicholas stuck to their outdated idea of government and refused to give in. It appears that Alexandra often coaxed her husband into being a tyrant. One must wonder if it was out of naiveté or a simple hope that things would go back to "normal." They did not.

During the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, Russia warred with Japan, unsuccessfully. The tsar also decided to join WWI, which would prove disastrous. During the first three years of the war, Russia lost more than three million soldiers. During the war, Alexandra spoke more to Rasputin about political and military affairs than can be deemed proper, even now. Much of their correspondence survives, some of which was laced with endearments. In 1917, a group of men close to the Romanov royal family decided that Rasputin was too much of a liability. According to their extraordinary story, they poisoned, shot and drowned him. The fact that her friends and relations had to go so far only fuels the idea that Alexandra's meddling in political affairs and seers caused the downfall of the Romanovs.

The October Revolution began shortly after the death of Rasputin. Riots threatened to descend on the palace home of the Romanovs and Tsar Nicholas was forced to abdicate. He initially abdicated in favor of his son, but that changed to his brother Michael soon after. It hardly mattered; no Romanov would ever rule Russia again. In fact, most of the Romanovs mentioned here, if not all of them, would not even live to see the end of the revolution.

*Note: For purposes of simplicity, Alexandra and Nicholas Romanov are referred to this way throughout the article because they are best known as the last of the Romanovs. Both of their full names were much longer and varied.

Source

Kurth, Peter, Tsar, Little, Brown and Company, 1995