WIFE OF NICHOLAS II

ALEXANDRA Feodorovna (wife of Nicholas II)
ALEXA;NDRA Feodorovna (May 25 (June 6), 1872 - July 16 (29), 1918, Yekaterinburg), Russian empress, wife of Nicholas II Alexandrovich (see NICHOLAY II Alexandrovich) (from November 14, 1894); daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt Louis IV, granddaughter of the English Queen Victoria (see VICTORIA (queen)).
Before her marriage she was named Alice Victoria Elena Louise Beatrice. The imperious and hysterical Alexandra Feodorovna had great influence on Nicholas II, was an ardent supporter of unlimited autocracy, and the head of the Germanophile group at court. She was extremely superstitious and had unlimited faith in G.E. Rasputin (see RASPUTIN Grigory Efimovich), who used the queen’s location in deciding political issues. During the First World War, Alexandra Feodorovna was a supporter of concluding a separate peace with Germany. After the February Revolution, in March 1917 she was arrested along with the entire royal family, exiled to Tobolsk, and then to Yekaterinburg, where, by order of the Ural Regional Council, she was shot along with her family in July 1918.

Biography

Relations with society

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In culture

Maria Fedorovna
Children
Alexander I
Konstantin Pavlovich
Alexandra Pavlovna
Ekaterina Pavlovna
Elena Pavlovna
Maria Pavlovna
Olga Pavlovna
Anna Pavlovna
Nicholas I
Mikhail Pavlovich
Alexander I
Elizaveta Alekseevna
Nicholas I
Alexandra Fedorovna
Children
Alexander II
Maria Nikolaevna
Olga Nikolaevna
Alexandra Nikolaevna
Konstantin Nikolaevich
Nikolai Nikolaevich
Mikhail Nikolaevich
Alexander II
Maria Alexandrovna
Children
Alexandra Alexandrovna
Nikolai Alexandrovich
Alexander III
Maria Alexandrovna (Grand Duchess)
Vladimir Alexandrovich
Aleksey Aleksandrovich
Sergey Aleksandrovich
Pavel Alexandrovich
Alexander III
Maria Fedorovna
Children
Nicholas II
Alexander Alexandrovich
Georgy Alexandrovich
Ksenia Alexandrovna
Mikhail Alexandrovich
Olga Alexandrovna
Nicholas II
Alexandra Fedorovna
Children
Olga Nikolaevna
Tatyana Nikolaevna
Maria Nikolaevna
Anastasia Nikolaevna
Alexey Nikolaevich

Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna with her family, Livadia, Crimea, 1913
Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna with her sister Tsarina Alexandra and son-in-law Tsar Nicholas II

Interesting Facts

According to diplomat M.V. Mayorov, Alexandra Fedorovna not only did not seek, out of pro-German sympathies, to persuade her husband to a separate peace with Germany, as is usually attributed to her, but, on the contrary, played “a detrimental role in Nicholas II’s intention to wage a “war to a victorious end” “, while even “not paying attention to the colossal human losses of the Russian army.”

Biography

The fourth daughter (and sixth child) of the Grand Duke of Hesse and Rhine Ludwig IV and Duchess Alice, granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England.

She was born in Darmstadt (Hesse), on the day of the third discovery of the head of the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John.

In 1884, she came to visit her sister, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. Here she met the heir to the Russian throne, Nikolai Alexandrovich.

On November 2, 1894 (the day after the death of Emperor Alexander III) she converted from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy, accepting Russian name, and already on November 26 she married the new Emperor of Russia Nicholas II.

She considered the Siberian peasant G. E. Rasputin-Novy an elder and friend of her family.

She was killed along with her entire family in 1918 in Yekaterinburg. In 1981 she was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and in 2000 by the Moscow Patriarchate.

When she was canonized, she became Queen Alexandra the New, since Queen Alexandra was already among the saints.
Relations with society

During her lifetime, Alexandra Feodorovna failed to become popular in her new homeland, especially in high society. Empress-mother Maria Feodorovna was fundamentally against her son’s marriage to a German princess, and this, along with a number of other external circumstances, coupled with the young empress’s painful shyness, immediately affected the attitude of the entire Russian court towards her.

As A. A. Mosolov, who was the head of the office of the Minister of the Court in 1916, believed, Maria Feodorovna, being a devout Dane, hated the Germans, not forgiving them for the annexation of Schleswig and Holstein in 1864.

The French ambassador M. Paleologue, however, noted in 1915:

Several times now I have heard the empress reproached for maintaining sympathy, preference, and deep tenderness for Germany on the throne. The unfortunate woman in no way deserves this accusation, which she knows and which drives her into despair.

Alexandra Feodorovna, born a German, was never her in mind or heart.<…>Her upbringing, her training, her mental and moral education were also entirely English. And now she is also English in her appearance, in her posture, in some inflexibility and puritanism, in the irreconcilable and militant severity of her conscience, and finally, in many of her intimate habits. This, however, is the extent of everything that stems from its Western origin.

The basis of her nature became completely Russian. Above all, and despite the hostile legend that I see springing up around her, I have no doubt about her patriotism. She loves Russia with a passionate love. And how can she not be tied to this adopted homeland, which for her summarizes and personifies all her interests as a woman, wife, empress, mother?

When she ascended the throne in 1894, it was already known that she did not like Germany and especially Prussia.

According to the testimony of the daughter of life physician E. S. Botkin, after the emperor read out the manifesto on the war with Germany, Alexandra Feodorovna cried with joy. And during the second Anglo-Boer War, Empress Alexandra, like Russian society, was on the side of the Boers (although she was horrified by the losses among the British officers).

In addition to the Empress-Mother, other relatives of Nicholas II did not like the young Empress. If you believe the testimony of her maid of honor A.A. Vyrubova, then the reason for this was, in particular, the following:

...In recent years, little cadets have come to play with the Heir. They were all told to handle Alexei Nikolaevich carefully. The Empress was afraid for him and rarely invited his cousins, frisky and rude boys, to see him. Of course, my family was angry about this.

In a difficult time for Russia, when the world war was going on, high society amused itself with a new and very interesting activity - spreading all kinds of gossip about Alexandra Fedorovna. If you believe A.A. Vyrubova, then around the winter of 1915/1916, the excited Mrs. Marianne von Derfelden (her sister-in-law) somehow ran to her sister Alexandra Pistolkors, the wife of a chamber cadet of the Highest Court, with the words:

Today we are spreading rumors in factories that the Empress is getting the Tsar drunk, and everyone believes it.

Other enemies of Alexandra Fedorovna did not hesitate to express their innermost thoughts on paper. Thus, her “namesake” A.F. Kerensky wrote in his memoirs:

...who could have predicted that the sparkling joy of the princess, the “Windsor ray of sunshine,” as Nicholas II affectionately called her, was destined to become a gloomy Russian queen, a fanatical adherent of the Orthodox Church.

The reason for the enmity towards the empress was not a mystery to N. N. Tikhanovich-Savitsky (leader of the Astrakhan People's Monarchist Party), who wrote to Nicholas II:

Sovereign! The plan of the intrigue is clear: by defaming the Tsarina and pointing out that everything bad comes from her, they inspire the population that You are weak, which means that it is necessary to take control of the country from You and transfer it to the Duma.

“If we allow our Friend to be persecuted, then we and our country will suffer for it” (about G. Rasputin and Russia, from a letter to my husband dated June 22, 1915)
“I want to beat off almost all the ministers...” (from a letter to my husband dated August 29, 1915)
“Big brutes, I cannot call them anything else” (about the Holy Synod, from a letter to my husband dated September 12, 1915)
“...a country where a man of God helps the sovereign will never perish. This is true" (about G. Rasputin and Russia, from a letter to my husband dated December 5, 1915)
“Yes, I am more Russian than many others, and I will not sit quietly” (from a letter to my husband dated September 20, 1916)
“Why do they hate me? Because they know what I have strong will and that when I am convinced of the rightness of something (and if Gregory blessed me), then I do not change my opinion, and this is unbearable for them” (about his enemies and about G. Rasputin, from a letter to my husband dated December 4 1916)
“Why don’t the generals allow you to send R. to the army? Banner" (small patriotic newspaper)? Dubrovin thinks that this is a shame (I agree) - but can they read all sorts of proclamations? Our bosses, really, are idiots” (about the newspaper “Russian Banner” and its Black Hundred publisher, from a letter to my husband dated December 15, 1916)
“I can’t understand people who are afraid to die. I have always looked at death as a deliverance from earthly suffering” (from a conversation with friend Julia Den on December 18, 1916)
“I prefer to die in Russia than to be saved by the Germans” (from a conversation in prison, March 1918)

In culture

The singer Zhanna Bichevskaya has a song “Queen Alexandra” on the album “We are Russians” (2002):

She lived by love simply, prayerfully and modestly -
I'm not afraid to say in front of the whole world -
Queen Alexandra is like the archangels,
That Rus' is begging for the last times...

The last Russian empress... is the closest to us in time, but perhaps also the least known in her authentic appearance, untouched by the pen of interpreters. Even during her lifetime, not to mention the decades that followed the tragic 1918, speculation and slander, and often outright slander, began to cling to her name. No one will know the truth now.
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (nee Princess Alice Victoria Elena Louise Beatrice of Hesse-Darmstadt; May 25 (June 6), 1872 - July 17, 1918) - wife of Nicholas II (since 1894). The fourth daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse and Rhine, Ludwig IV, and Duchess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria of England. She was born in Germany, in Darmstadt. The fourth daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse and Rhine, Ludwig IV, and Duchess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria of England.

When little Alex was six years old, a diphtheria epidemic spread in Hesse in 1878. Alice’s mother and her mother died from it. younger sister May.
father Alex (280x403, 32Kb)mother Alex (280x401, 26Kb)
Ludwig IV of Hesse and Duchess Alice (second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert) are Alex's parents

And then the girl is taken in by her English grandmother. Alice was considered the favorite granddaughter of Queen Victoria, who called her Sunny. So Alix spent most of her childhood and adolescence in England, where she was raised. Queen Victoria, by the way, did not like the Germans and had a special dislike for Emperor William II, which was passed on to her granddaughter. All her life, Alexandra Fedorovna felt more drawn to her homeland on her mother’s side, to her relatives and friends there. Maurice Paleologue, the French ambassador to Russia, wrote about her: “Alexandra Fedorovna is not German either in mind or in heart and never has been. Of course, she is one by birth. Her upbringing, education, formation of consciousness and morality have become completely English. And now she is still English in her appearance, demeanor, a certain tension and puritanical character, intransigence and militant severity of conscience. Finally, in many of her habits."
2Alexandra Fedorovna (374x600, 102Kb)

In June 1884, at the age of 12, Alice visited Russia for the first time, when her older sister Ella (in Orthodoxy - Elizaveta Fedorovna) married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. In 1886, she came to visit her sister, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna (Ella), the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. Then she met the heir, Nikolai Alexandrovich. The young people, who were also quite closely related (they were second cousins ​​through the princess’s father), immediately fell in love with each other.
Sergey Alexander., brother Nick 11 (200x263, 52Kb) Eliz. Fedor.-sister (200x261, 43Kb)
Sergei Alexandrovich and Elizaveta Fedorovna (Ella)

While visiting her sister Ella in St. Petersburg, Alix was invited to social events. The verdict handed down by high society was cruel: “Uncharming. It holds on as if it had swallowed an arshin.” What does high society care about the problems of little Princess Alix? Who cares that she grows up without a mother, suffers greatly from loneliness, shyness, and terrible pain in the facial nerve? And only the blue-eyed heir was completely absorbed and delighted with the guest - he fell in love! Not knowing what to do in such cases, Nikolai asked his mother for an elegant brooch with diamonds and quietly placed it in the hand of his twelve-year-old lover. Out of confusion, she did not answer. The next day, the guests were leaving, a farewell ball was given, and Alix, taking a moment, quickly approached the Heir and just as silently returned the brooch to his hand. Nobody noticed anything. Only now there was a secret between them: why did she return her?

The childish naive flirtation of the heir to the throne and Princess Alice on the girl’s next visit to Russia three years later began to acquire the serious nature of a strong feeling.

However, the visiting princess did not please the parents of the crown prince: Empress Maria Feodorovna, like a true Dane, hated the Germans and was against the marriage with the daughter of Ludwig of Hesse of Darmstadt. His parents hoped until the very end for his marriage to Elena Louise Henrietta, daughter of Louis Philippe, Count of Paris.

Alice herself had reason to believe that the beginning of an affair with the heir to the Russian throne could have favorable consequences for her. Returning to England, the princess begins to study the Russian language, gets acquainted with Russian literature, and even has long conversations with the priest of the Russian embassy church in London. Queen Victoria, who loves her dearly, of course, wants to help her granddaughter and writes a letter to Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. The grandmother asks to find out in more detail about the intentions of the Russian imperial house in order to decide whether Alice should be confirmed according to the rules of the Anglican Church, because according to tradition, members of the royal family in Russia had the right to marry only women of the Orthodox faith.

Another four years passed, and blind chance helped decide the fates of the two lovers. As if an evil fate hovering over Russia, unfortunately, young people of royal blood united. Truly this union turned out to be tragic for the fatherland. But who thought about it then...

In 1893, Alexander III became seriously ill. Here a dangerous question for the succession to the throne arose - the future sovereign is not married. Nikolai Alexandrovich categorically stated that he would choose a bride only for love, and not for dynastic reasons. Through the mediation of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, the emperor's consent to his son's marriage to Princess Alice was obtained. However, Maria Feodorovna poorly concealed her dissatisfaction with the unsuccessful, in her opinion, choice of an heir. The fact that the Princess of Hesse joined the Russian imperial family during the mournful days of the suffering of the dying Alexander III probably set Maria Feodorovna even more against the new empress.
April 3, 1894, Coburg-Alex agreed to become Nicholas's wife (486x581, 92Kb)
April 1894, Coburg, Alex agreed to become Nikolai's wife

(in the center is Queen Victoria, Alex's grandmother)

And why, having received the long-awaited parental blessing, Nikolai could not persuade Alix to become his wife? After all, she loved him - he saw it, felt it. What it took for him to persuade his powerful and authoritarian parents to agree to this marriage! He fought for his love and now, the long-awaited permission has been received!

Nicholas goes to the wedding of Alix's brother at Coburg Castle, where everything is already prepared for the Heir to the Russian Throne to propose to Alix of Hesse. The wedding went on as usual, only Alix... was crying.

“We were left alone, and then that conversation began between us, which I had long and strongly desired and, at the same time, was very afraid of. They talked until 12 o'clock, but to no avail, she still resists the change of religion. She, poor thing, cried a lot.” But is it just one religion? In general, if you look at portraits of Alix from any period of her life, it is impossible not to notice the stamp of tragic pain that this face carries. It seems like she always KNEW... She had a presentiment. Cruel fate, the basement of the Ipatiev House, terrible death... She was afraid and tossed about. But the love was too strong! And she agreed.

In April 1894, Nikolai Alexandrovich, accompanied by a brilliant retinue, went to Germany. Having gotten engaged in Darmstadt, the newlyweds spend some time at the English court. From that moment on, the Tsarevich’s diary, which he kept throughout his life, became available to Alex.

Already at that time, even before her accession to the throne, Alex had a special influence on Nicholas. Her entry appears in his diary: “Be persistent... don’t let others be first and bypass you... Reveal your personal will and don’t let others forget who you are.”

Subsequently, Alexandra Feodorovna’s influence on the emperor often took increasingly decisive, sometimes excessive, forms. This can be judged from the published letters from the Empress Nicholas to the front. It was not without her pressure that Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, popular among the troops, resigned. Alexandra Fedorovna was always worried about her husband’s reputation. And she more than once pointed out to him the need for firmness in relations with the courtiers.

Alix the bride was present during the agony of the groom's father, Alexander III. She accompanied his coffin from Livadia across the country with her family. On a sad November day, the body of the emperor was transferred from the Nikolaevsky station to the Peter and Paul Cathedral. A huge crowd crowded along the path of the funeral procession, moving along the pavements dirty with wet snow. The commoners whispered, pointing to the young princess: “She came to us behind the coffin, she brings misfortune with her.”

Tsarevich Alexander and Princess Alice of Hesse

On November 14 (26), 1894 (on the birthday of Empress Maria Feodorovna, which allowed for a retreat from mourning), the wedding of Alexandra and Nicholas II took place in the Great Church of the Winter Palace. After the wedding, a thanksgiving prayer service was served by the members Holy Synod led by Metropolitan of St. Petersburg Palladius (Raev); While singing “We praise You, God,” a cannon salute of 301 shots was fired. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich wrote in his emigrant memoirs about their first days of marriage: “The wedding of the young Tsar took place less than a week after the funeral of Alexander III. Their Honeymoon took place in an atmosphere of funeral services and mourning visits. The most deliberate dramatization could not have invented a more suitable prologue for the historical tragedy of the last Russian Tsar.”
5coronation (528x700, 73Kb)

Usually the wives of Russian heirs to the throne for a long time were on the sidelines. Thus, they had time to carefully study the mores of the society they would have to manage, had time to navigate their likes and dislikes, and most importantly, had time to acquire the necessary friends and helpers. Alexandra Fedorovna was unlucky in this sense. She ascended the throne, as they say, having fallen from a ship to a ball: not understanding the life that was alien to her, not being able to understand the complex intrigues of the imperial court.
9-Wedding of Nick 11 and Grand Duchess Alex.Fedor. (700x554, 142Kb)

In truth, her very inner nature was not adapted for the vain royal craft. Painfully withdrawn, Alexandra Feodorovna seemed to be the opposite example of a friendly dowager empress - our heroine, on the contrary, gave the impression of an arrogant, cold German woman who treated her subjects with disdain. The embarrassment that invariably gripped the queen when communicating with strangers prevented her from establishing simple, relaxed relationships with representatives of high society, which she vitally needed.
19-alex.fedor-tsarina (320x461, 74Kb)

Alexandra Fedorovna did not know how to win the hearts of her subjects, even those who were ready to bow to their members imperial family, did not receive food for this. So, for example, in women's institutes, Alexandra Fedorovna could not squeeze out a single friendly word. This was all the more striking, since the former Empress Maria Fedorovna knew how to evoke in college students a relaxed attitude toward herself, which turned into enthusiastic love for the bearers of royal power. The consequences of the mutual alienation that grew over the years between society and the queen, sometimes taking on the character of antipathy, were very diverse and even tragic. Alexandra Fedorovna’s excessive pride played a fatal role in this.
6tsaritsa-al.fed. (525x700, 83Kb)

The first years of married life turned out to be tense: the unexpected death of Alexander III made Niki emperor, although he was completely unprepared for this. He was bombarded with advice from his mother and five respectable uncles, who taught him to rule the state. Being a very delicate, self-possessed and well-mannered young man, Nikolai at first obeyed everyone. Nothing good came of this: on the advice of their uncles, after the tragedy on Khodynka Field, Niki and Alix attended a ball at the French ambassador - the world called them insensitive and cruel. Uncle Vladimir decided to pacify the crowd in front of the Winter Palace on his own, while the Tsar’s family lived in Tsarskoe - Bloody Sunday ensued... Only over time will Niki learn to say a firm “no” to both uncles and brothers, but... never to HER.
7nikolai 11 with his wife photo (560x700, 63Kb)

Immediately after the wedding, he returned her diamond brooch - a gift from an inexperienced sixteen-year-old boy. And the Empress will not part with her throughout her entire life together - after all, this is a symbol of their love. They always celebrated the day of their engagement - April 8th. In 1915, the forty-two-year-old empress wrote a short letter to her beloved at the front: “For the first time in 21 years we are not spending this day together, but how vividly I remember everything! My dear boy, what happiness and what love you have given me over all these years... How time flies - 21 years have already passed! You know, I saved that “princess dress” I was wearing that morning, and I’ll wear your favorite brooch...”

The queen's intervention in the affairs of government did not appear immediately after her wedding. Alexandra Feodorovna was quite happy with the traditional role of guardian hearth and home, the role of a woman next to a man engaged in difficult, serious business. She is, first of all, a mother, busy with her four daughters: taking care of their upbringing, checking their assignments, protecting them. She is the center, as always subsequently, of her closely knit family, and for the emperor, she is the only beloved wife for life.

Her daughters adored her. From the initial letters of their names they made up a common name: “OTMA” (Olga, Tatyana, Maria, Anastasia) - and under this signature they sometimes gave gifts to their mother and sent letters. There was an unspoken rule among the Grand Duchesses: every day one of them seemed to be on duty with her mother, without leaving her a single step. It is curious that Alexandra Fedorovna spoke English to the children, and Nicholas II spoke only Russian. The empress communicated with those around her mostly in French. She also mastered Russian quite well, but spoke it only to those who did not know other languages. And only German speech was not present in their everyday life. By the way, the Tsarevich was not taught this.
8 al.fed. with daughters (700x432, 171Kb)
Alexandra Fedorovna with her daughters

Nicholas II, a domestic man by nature, for whom power seemed more like a burden than a way of self-realization, rejoiced at any opportunity to forget about his state concerns in a family setting and gladly indulged in those petty domestic interests for which he generally had a natural inclination. Perhaps, if this couple had not been so highly elevated by fate above mere mortals, she would have calmly and blissfully lived until her death hour, raising beautiful children and resting in God, surrounded by numerous grandchildren. But the mission of monarchs is too restless, the lot is too difficult to allow them to hide behind the walls of their own well-being.

Anxiety and confusion gripped the reigning couple even when the empress, with some fatal sequence, began to give birth to girls. Nothing could be done against this obsession, but Alexandra Feodorovna, who had learned with her mother’s milk her destiny as a queen of a woman, perceived the absence of an heir as a kind of heavenly punishment. On this basis, she, an extremely impressionable and nervous person, developed pathological mysticism. Gradually, the entire rhythm of the palace obeyed the tossing of the unfortunate woman. Now every step of Nikolai Alexandrovich himself was checked against one or another heavenly sign, and state policy was imperceptibly intertwined with childbirth. The queen's influence on her husband intensified, and the more significant it became, the further the date for the appearance of the heir moved forward.
10Alex.Fedoroo (361x700, 95Kb)

The French charlatan Philip was invited to the court, who managed to convince Alexandra Feodorovna that he was able to provide her, through suggestion, with male offspring, and she imagined herself to be pregnant and felt all the physical symptoms of this condition. Only after several months of the so-called false pregnancy, which was very rarely observed, the empress agreed to be examined by a doctor, who established the truth. But the most important misfortune was not in the false pregnancy or in the hysterical nature of Alexandra Fedorovna, but in the fact that the charlatan received, through the queen, the opportunity to influence state affairs. One of Nicholas II’s closest assistants wrote in his diary in 1902: “Philip inspires the sovereign that he does not need any other advisers except representatives of the highest spiritual, heavenly powers, with whom he, Philip, puts him in contact. Hence the intolerance of any contradiction and complete absolutism, sometimes expressed as absurdity. If at the report the minister defends his opinion and does not agree with the opinion of the sovereign, then a few days later he receives a note with a categorical order to carry out what he was told.”

Philip was still able to be expelled from the palace, because the Police Department, through its agent in Paris, found indisputable evidence of the French subject’s fraud.
Alex.fedor (527x700, 63Kb)

With the outbreak of the war, the couple were forced to separate. And then they wrote letters to each other... “Oh, my love! It’s so hard to say goodbye to you and see your lonely pale face with big sad eyes in the train window - my heart is breaking, take me with you... I kiss your pillow at night and passionately wish you were next to me... We have been through so much over these 20 years, we understand each other without words...” “I must thank you for your arrival with the girls, for bringing me life and sunshine, despite the rainy weather. Of course, as always, I didn’t have time to tell you even half of what I was going to, because when I meet you after a long separation, I always become shy. I just sit and look at you - this in itself is a great joy for me...”

And soon the long-awaited miracle followed - the heir Alexey was born.

The four daughters of Nikolai and Alexandra were born beautiful, healthy, real princesses: father's favorite romantic Olga, serious beyond her years Tatyana, generous Maria and funny little Anastasia. It seemed that their love could conquer everything. But love cannot defeat Fate. Their only son turned out to be sick with hemophilia, in which the walls of blood vessels burst from weakness and lead to difficult-to-stop bleeding.

12-Tsar and Family (237x300, 18Kb)The illness of the heir played a fatal role - they had to keep it secret, they painfully searched for a way out and could not find it. At the beginning of the last century, hemophilia remained incurable and patients could only hope for 20-25 years of life. Alexey, who was born a surprisingly handsome and intelligent boy, was ill almost all his life. And his parents suffered with him. Sometimes, when the pain was very severe, the boy asked for death. “When I die, will it hurt me anymore?” - he asked his mother during indescribable attacks of pain. Only morphine could save him from them, but the Tsar did not dare to have as heir to the throne not just a sick young man, but also a morphine addict. Alexei's salvation was loss of consciousness. From pain. He went through several serious crises, when no one believed in his recovery, when he rushed about in delirium, repeating one single word: “Mom.”
Alexey Nikol.-Tsesarevich (379x600, 145Kb)
Tsarevich Alexey

Having turned gray and aged several decades at once, my mother was nearby. She stroked his head, kissed his forehead, as if this could help the unfortunate boy... The only, inexplicable thing that saved Alexei was Rasputin’s prayers. But Rasputin brought an end to their power.
13-Rasputin and the Emperor (299x300, 22Kb)

Thousands of pages have been written about this major adventurer of the 20th century, so it is difficult to add anything to the multi-volume research in a small essay. Let's just say: of course, possessing the secrets of unconventional methods of treatment, being an extraordinary person, Rasputin was able to inspire the empress with the idea that he, a person sent by God to the family, had a special mission - to save and preserve the heir to the Russian throne. And Alexandra Feodorovna’s friend, Anna Vyrubova, brought the elder into the palace. This gray, unremarkable woman had such a huge influence on the queen that it is worth special mention about her.

14-Taneeva-Vyrubova (225x500, 70Kb) She was the daughter of the outstanding musician Alexander Sergeevich Taneyev, an intelligent and dexterous man who held the position of chief manager of His Majesty’s office at court. It was he who recommended Anna to the queen as a partner for playing the piano four hands. Taneyeva pretended to be an extraordinary simpleton to such an extent that she was initially declared unfit for court service. But this prompted the queen to intensively promote her wedding with naval officer Vyrubov. But Anna’s marriage turned out to be very unsuccessful, and Alexandra Fedorovna, as an extremely decent woman, considered herself to some extent guilty. In view of this, Vyrubova was often invited to the court, and the empress tried to console her. Apparently, nothing strengthens female friendship, as confidential compassion in amorous affairs.

Soon, Alexandra Fedorovna already called Vyrubova her “personal friend,” especially emphasizing that the latter did not have an official position at court, which means that her loyalty and devotion to the royal family were completely selfless. The empress was far from thinking that the position of a friend of the queen was more enviable than the position of a person belonging by position to her entourage. In general, it is difficult to fully appreciate the enormous role played by A. Vyrubova in the last period of the reign of Nicholas II. Without her active participation, Rasputin, despite all the power of his personality, would not have been able to achieve anything, since direct relations between the notorious old man and the queen were extremely rare.

Apparently, he did not strive to see her often, realizing that this could only weaken his authority. On the contrary, Vyrubova entered the queen’s chambers every day and did not part with her on trips. Having fallen entirely under the influence of Rasputin, Anna became the best conductor of the elder’s ideas in the imperial palace. In essence, in the stunning drama that the country experienced two years before the collapse of the monarchy, the roles of Rasputin and Vyrubova were so closely intertwined that there is no way to find out the degree of significance of each of them separately.

Anna Vyrubova on a walk in a wheelchair with Grand Duke Olga Nikolaevna, 1915-1916.

The last years of Alexandra Feodorovna's reign were full of bitterness and despair. The public at first transparently hinted at the pro-German interests of the empress, and soon began to openly vilify the “hated German woman.” Meanwhile, Alexandra Fedorovna sincerely tried to help her husband, she was sincerely devoted to the country, which had become her only home, the home of her closest people. She turned out to be an exemplary mother and raised her four daughters with modesty and decency. The girls, despite their high origins, were distinguished by their hard work, many skills, did not know luxury and even assisted during operations in military hospitals. This, oddly enough, was also blamed on the empress, they say, she allows her young ladies too much.

Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia. Livadia, 1914

When a rioting revolutionary crowd overran Petrograd, and the Tsar's train was stopped at Dno station for the abdication to be drafted, Alix was left alone. The children had measles and lay with a high fever. The courtiers fled, leaving only a handful of loyal people. The electricity was turned off, there was no water - we had to go to the pond, break off the ice and heat it on the stove. The palace with defenseless children remained under the protection of the Empress.

18-alex (280x385, 23Kb) She alone did not lose heart and did not believe in renunciation until the last. Alix supported the handful of loyal soldiers who remained to stand guard around the palace - now this was her entire Army. On the day when the ex-Sovereign, who had abdicated the Throne, returned to the palace, her friend, Anna Vyrubova, wrote in her diary: “Like a fifteen-year-old girl, she ran along the endless stairs and corridors of the palace towards him. Having met, they hugged, and when left alone, they burst into tears...” While in exile, anticipating an imminent execution, in a letter to Anna Vyrubova, the Empress summed up her life: “Dear, my dear... Yes, the past is over. I thank God for everything that happened, that I received - and I will live with memories that no one will take away from me... How old I have become, but I feel like the mother of the country, and I suffer as if for my child and I love my Motherland, despite all the horrors now ... You know that it is IMPOSSIBLE to tear LOVE OUT OF MY HEART, and Russia too... Despite the black ingratitude to the Emperor, which tears my heart... Lord, have mercy and save Russia.”

The abdication of Nicholas II from the throne led royal family to Tobolsk, where she, along with the remnants of her former servants, lived under house arrest. With his selfless act, the former king wanted only one thing - to save his beloved wife and children. However, the miracle did not happen; life turned out to be worse: in July 1918, the couple went down to the basement of the Ipatiev mansion. Nikolai carried his sick son in his arms... Following, walking heavily and holding her head high, was Alexandra Feodorovna...

On that last day of their lives, which is now celebrated by the church as the Day of Remembrance of the Holy Royal Martyrs, Alix did not forget to wear “his favorite brooch.” Having become material evidence No. 52 for the investigation, for us this brooch remains one of the many evidence of that Great Love. The shooting in Yekaterinburg ended the 300-year reign of the House of Romanov in Russia.

On the night of July 16-17, 1918, after the execution, the remains of Emperor Nicholas II, his family and associates were taken to this place and thrown into the mine. Nowadays on Ganina Yama there is a monastery in honor of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers.
male monastery (700x365, 115Kb)

In the marriage of Nikolai Alexandrovich with Alexandra Fedorovna, five children were born:

Olga (1895-1918);

Tatiana (1897-1918);

Maria (1899-1918);

Anastasia (1901-1918);

Alexey (1904-1918).

From archival sources it was possible to compile a reliable portrait of the last Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna

In honor of its 25th anniversary State Archives The Russian Federation decided to give us an “unknown” empress. A unique exhibition dedicated to the last Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Emperor Nicholas II, opened in the Exhibition Hall of the State Archives.

She was a vegetarian loving wife, a tender mother, whom, however, the children did not obey, suffered because of her son’s illness and became more and more withdrawn into herself.

"The Last Empress. Documents and photographs” - the main content of the just opened exhibition was photographs. There are several hundred of them on display - the camera lenses captured the “hero of the occasion” herself - from infancy to the revolutionary tragedy, as well as her monarch husband, their children, relatives, and associates. In a palace setting, on a horseback ride, on a yacht and while hunting...

Numerous written documents are presented at the exhibition in in electronic format. There are several panels with touch screens in the hall, with the help of which you can see the letters and notes of the Tsar and Tsarina, their telegrams, diary entries - a lot of what is included in Alexandra Feodorovna’s personal fund, stored in the State Archive of Russian Federation, and which was only recently available only to a small circle of specialists.

You can view these unique evidence of the past not only in the exhibition hall. Everyone has the opportunity to get acquainted with the exhibited archival relics via the Internet by going to a special section of the GARF electronic reading room - “Archive of the 21st Century”. This is a new format for demonstrating archival documents to a wide user audience, developed by the largest Russian corporation for digitization and creation of information resources.

However, it’s still worth visiting the new exhibition “in real life”. After all, some memorial items related to the family of Emperor Nicholas II are also exhibited here. The display case displays, for example, the diaries of not only the emperor himself, but also his heir, Tsarevich Alexei, the empress’s notebooks, letters to her from her young son (it is interesting that in one of them Alexei used the not entirely euphonious address “my dear mother”). , drawings of the heir to the throne, a table croquet set that the boy played.

“She was persistent and very sensual”

Here, for example, are the earliest “written portraits” of Princess Alice of Hesse, the future Russian Empress:

“The baby looks like Ella (elder sister - “MK”), only smaller features and even darker eyes with very black eyelashes and reddish brown hair. She is a lovely little creature, always laughing, and has a dimple on one cheek...” (From a letter from Princess Alice to Queen Victoria, August 14, 1872)

“She was generous and even early age was incapable of childish lies. She had a soft and loving heart, and she was persistent and very sensitive." (From the memoirs of Baroness S. K. Buxhoeveden.)

Written evidence relating to the “start” of relations between the future royal spouses is presented

“My dear Alix! Let me thank you for the frankness and sincerity with which you wrote to me. There is nothing worse in this world than misunderstandings and omissions... I rely on the mercy of God. Maybe after He brings us through all the hardships and trials, He will direct my beloved to the path that I pray for every day! (From a letter from Tsarevich Nicholas to Princess Alice on December 17, 1893)

“Now I’m quite happy and calm. Alix is ​​lovely and has completely turned around after her constant sad state. She is so sweet and touching to me that I am more than delighted." (From a letter from Tsarevich Nicholas to his mother on April 18, 1894, a few days after the engagement.)

“My beloved and beloved! I miss you so much that words cannot describe. I really want to spend two hours alone with you, if only to bless and kiss... I feel very lonely without you. God bless you, my only and beloved. ...I can not live without you. I can't be alone. I have neither the strength, nor prudence, nor wisdom, nor prudence for this.” (From a letter from Princess Alice to Tsarevich Nicholas on May 2, 1894)

“I decided not to eat anything animal anymore.”

Much of the relationship that existed between the last Russian Tsar and his wife is revealed by his appeals to her in letters dating back even to a very late period of their marriage.

“My beloved darling Sunshine! ...The closer the moment of our meeting gets, the more peace reigns in my soul.” (25 August 1915)

And here is Alexandra Fedorovna’s confession:

“From the bottom of my heart, I thank the Lord for giving me you. He gave me happiness and made my life easy and happy. Now work and overcoming disasters are nothing for me, since you are next to me; I may not be able to express it, but I feel it deeply.” (From a letter from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna to Nicholas II on July 10, 1899)

Some of the letters and diary entries of the last Russian empress and those who knew her speak of sometimes unexpected things.

“I am not made to shine in front of meetings; I have neither the ease nor the wit of conversation necessary for this. I like inner existence, and it is this that attracts me with great force... I want to help others in life, help them win the fight and bear their cross...” (From a letter from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna to Princess M. Baryatinskaya November 23, 1905 )

“The Empress spoke to me kindly and friendly. It turns out that she does not eat meat and fish out of conviction: “10-11 years ago I was in Sarov and decided not to eat any more animals, and then the doctors found that this was necessary due to the state of my health...” (From B’s diary I. Chebotareva, 1915)

“Her appearance is very remarkable: being no longer in her first youth, depending on the moment and mood, she is either very good-looking, or, on the contrary, antipathetic and old-looking. I saw her in both cases. Maybe it depended on the toilet." (From the memoirs of N. N. Pokrovsky, 1916)

“I spoiled my children too much”

A separate topic is children. This is both a great joy for the august spouses and a subject of concern.

“July 30, 1904 Friday. An unforgettable, great day for us, on which the mercy of God so clearly visited us. At 1.15 pm Alix gave birth to a son, who was named Alexei during prayer. Everything happened remarkably quickly - for me, at least. In the morning... I went to Alix's to have breakfast. She was already upstairs and half an hour later this happened happy event... Dear Alix felt very well. Mom (Empress Maria Feodorovna - ed.) arrived at 2 o’clock and sat with me for a long time, until the first date with the new grandson.” (From the diary of Emperor Nicholas.)

“I'm sure you miss your beloved Baby. He is so cute. You can really understand why God sent him to us this year, and he came like a real ray of sunshine. God never forgets us, that's true. Now you have a son, and you can raise him, instill in him your ideas so that he can help you when he grows up. Would you believe it, it grows every day.” (From a letter from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna to Nicholas II on August 15, 1904)

“Many Russians had an idea of ​​the empress as a stern woman, with a strong stubborn character, with enormous willpower, unkind, dry, who greatly influenced her august husband and guided his decisions at her own discretion. This view is completely wrong. Her Majesty not only treated everyone around her cordially, but rather spoiled everyone, constantly worried about others, took care of them, and spoiled her children excessively and she constantly had to turn to her husband for help, since the heir, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, recognized only his father and sailor uncle Derevenko. He didn’t listen to his mother at all. The young grand duchesses also listened little to their mother.” (From the memoirs of the adjutant wing S. Fabritsky.)

“You can’t imagine how terribly I miss you! Complete loneliness - children, with all their love, look at things completely differently and rarely understand me, even in small things - they are always right, and when I tell them how I was raised and how to behave, they cannot tell me understand. They find it boring. Only Tatyana understands. When you talk to her calmly. Olga is always very unsympathetic to every instruction, although she often ends up doing according to my wishes. And when I'm strict, she sulks at me. I'm so tired and miss you." (From a letter from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna to Nicholas II on March 11, 1916)

“I became more and more withdrawn into myself”

According to some contemporaries, it was precisely the problems with children, especially with her terminally ill son Alexei, that seriously affected the well-being and behavior of Alexandra Feodorovna herself.

“The Empress’s health was already shaken by anxiety due to the threat hanging over the life of the Tsarevich. This increasingly prevented her from following the teaching of her daughters...” (From the memoirs of Pierre Gilliard.)

“Fatigue from festivities and receptions took its toll on the Empress, who was often unwell; she spent days in bed, getting up only to put on ceremonial dresses with long trains and heavy jewelry, appearing before the crowd for several hours with a face marked by sadness.

Long before the war, she isolated herself from the outside world, and after the birth of the heir to the throne, she devoted herself entirely to caring for him... looking at her seriously ill son, the unfortunate mother became more and more withdrawn into herself, and - I think one can say so - her psyche was out of balance . Now only official ceremonies took place at court, which could not be avoided; and only ceremonies connected the imperial couple with the outside world. They lived in such solitude that they had to communicate with them through often ignorant people. And sometimes - unworthy..." (From the memoirs of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna the Younger.)

“In her mature age, already on the Russian throne, she knew only this one passion - for her husband, just as she knew boundless love only for her children, to whom she gave all her tenderness and all her concerns. It was in in the best sense words, an impeccable wife and mother, who showed a rare example of the highest family virtue in our time.” (From the memoirs of Prime Minister V.N. Kokovtsev.)

“We had to bandage the unfortunate people with terrible wounds”

The life of this woman was not easy even after the outbreak of World War I.

“After the outbreak of hostilities, the empress immediately began to create her own infirmaries and, together with her daughters, enrolled in courses for nurses. (From the memoirs of Lily Den.)

“This morning we were present (I, as usual, help serve the instruments, Olga threaded the needles) at our first major amputation (the arm was taken away from the shoulder). Then we all did bandages... I had to bandage the unfortunate people with terrible wounds... I washed everything, cleaned it, anointed it with iodine, covered it with Vaseline, tied it up - it all turned out quite successfully - I find it more pleasant to do such things myself under the guidance of a doctor. » (From a letter from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna to Nicholas II on November 22, 1914)

“Standing in front of me was a tall, slender lady of about 50, wearing a simple gray nurse’s costume and a white headscarf. The Empress greeted me kindly and asked me where I was wounded, in what case and on what front. A little worried, I answered all her questions without taking my eyes off her face. Almost classically correct, this face in his youth was undoubtedly beautiful, very beautiful. But this beauty, obviously, was cold and dispassionate. And now. Still aged with time and with small wrinkles around the eyes and corners of the lips, this face was very interesting, but too stern and too thoughtful. That’s what I thought: what a correct, intelligent, stern and energetic face.” (From the memoirs of S.P. Pavlov.)

“It is hardly possible to think of any crime for which she would not be accused... The true queen, firm in her convictions, a faithful, devoted wife, mother and friend, is not known to anyone. Selfish motives were attributed to her charitable work, her deep religiosity became the subject of ridicule... She knew and read everything that was said and written about her. I saw how she turned pale, how her eyes filled with tears, when something especially vile attracted her attention. However, Her Majesty knew how to see the shining of the stars above the mud of the streets.” (From the memoirs of Lily Den.)

Exhibition “The Last Empress. Documents and Photographs" will be open in the Exhibition Hall of the Federal Archives (Bolshaya Pirogovskaya St., 17) from April 27 to May 28. The exhibition is open from 12 to 18 hours. daily except Monday and Tuesday. The entrance is free.

- Dearly beloved darling Sunny... God willing, our separation will not be long. I'm always in my thoughts with you, never doubt it... Sleep peacefully and sweetly. Your forever old hubby Nicky.

The last Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II, sent this letter to his wife Alexandra Feodorovna on a frosty December morning in 1916. In his diary, he wrote that in the evening of that day he “read a lot and was very sad.”

Love at second sight

The future empress, originally Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, was born in 1872 and was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England. Her mother died when the girl was only six years old, so all the care of raising her fell on her grandmother and teachers. Historians note that already in adolescence the girl was well versed in politics, knew history, geography, English and German literature. A little later she received a doctorate in philosophy.

When the girl was 12 years old, her older sister Ella married the younger brother of Russian Emperor Alexander III, Prince Sergei Alexandrovich. And the future empress, together with numerous relatives, went on a visit to St. Petersburg.

The girl watched with curiosity as her sister was met by a gilded carriage drawn by white horses at the Nikolaevsky station in St. Petersburg. During the wedding ceremony, held in the palace church in the Winter Palace, Alix stood to the side, with roses in her hair, dressed in a white dress. Listening to the long service, incomprehensible to her, and inhaling the fragrance of incense, she glanced sideways at the sixteen-year-old Tsarevich (Nicholas).R. Massey "Nicholas and Alexandra".

Nikolai wrote in his diary that the girl, whose piercing gaze was impossible not to notice, made an indelible impression on him.

It is difficult to call this mutual love at first sight, since no records have been preserved about the relationship between Alice and Nikolai from the moment of the first visit until 1889, when Alix came to St. Petersburg again.

This time she stayed with her sister for six weeks. And she saw Nikolai every day. The young people did not hide their feelings.

“I dream of someday marrying Alix G. I have loved her for a long time, but especially deeply and strongly - since 1889... All this time I did not believe my feelings, did not believe that my cherished dream could come true,” the Tsarevich wrote then Nikolai Alexandrovich in his diary after six weeks spent with Alice.

“Here’s your mistress, just don’t get married!”

The parents of the “groom” suddenly became an obstacle to the bright feeling of Nikolai and Alix. The fact is that the Darmstadt princess was not the most successful acquisition for the imperial house. With the help of marriages, foreign policy, economic and other state affairs were resolved, and a bride was already “prepared” for Nicholas. Alexander III planned that Elena Louise Henrietta, daughter of Louis Philippe, Count of Paris, would become the crown prince's wife.

To begin with, Nicholas was sent on a trip around the world in 1890 in the hope that he would be distracted and forget about his love. The Tsarevich went to Japan on the cruiser "Memory of Azov", visited Athens, visited Egypt, India, and Ceylon. But this did not help heal the wounds of the heart: the 21-year-old young man was firm in his decision.

Then Alexander III takes a desperate step. As historians say, it was he who initiated the acquaintance of the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya with the Tsarevich - in the hope that the new hobby would distract his son.

On March 23, 1890, Kshesinskaya took the final exam at the Imperial Theater School. The entire royal family was present at the premiere.

The Emperor, entering the hall where we had gathered, asked in a loud voice: “Where is Kshesinskaya? Be the decoration and glory of our ballet,” said Alexander III after the girl’s performance.

After this there was a gala dinner, before which the emperor ordered one of the students to sit further away from him, and, on the contrary, sat Matilda in her place. Nikolai was ordered to sit next to him.

“I fell in love with the heir from our first meeting,” she later recalled. The dinner, as Kshesinskaya herself recalled, passed on a “cheerful note.” And it seemed that she even attracted the attention of the Tsarevich, but...

- We went to a performance at the theater school. There was a short play and ballet. Very good. “We had dinner with the students,” Nikolai wrote about his first meeting with Kshesinskaya, without mentioning her in a single word.

"My grief knew no bounds"

“I positively really like Kshesinskaya,” Nicholas II wrote in his diary on July 17, 1890, after several meetings with the girl in St. Petersburg, and later in Krasnoye Selo.

The ballerina received the nickname “little Kshesinskaya” from Nikolai. The romance developed quite rapidly, but there was no talk of marriage. The heir’s mistress herself later recalled a conversation with her father, Mariinsky dancer Felix Kshesinsky. When the girl talked about what was happening, he asked if she understood that this relationship would not develop naturally. She firmly replied that she agreed, just to “drink the cup of love to the bottom.”

The romance ended shortly before the death of Alexander III and the subsequent coronation of Nicholas.

- On April 7, 1894, the engagement of the heir-tsarevich to Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt was announced. Although I knew for a long time that it was inevitable that sooner or later the heir would have to marry some foreign princess, my grief knew no bounds, Matilda herself wrote in her Memoirs.

Nikolai and “little Kshesinskaya” sent farewell letters to each other in 1894. She asked to reserve the right to call him “you.” He happily agreed, calling the ballerina the brightest memory of his youth.

Just a funeral and a wedding

Emperor Alexander III was very ill and could no longer influence his son’s wishes. Taking advantage of his father’s poor health, Nikolai goes with the ring to Coburg, where Alice then lived. The girl, who, of course, had heard rumors about the attitude of her potential “father-in-law”, the opinions of Russians about foreign queens (not too positive), seriously doubted whether she should throw in her lot with Nikolai, despite all her sympathy for him. For three days the princess did not give her consent, and only, as historians recall, pressure from her relatives helped her make up her mind.

By the way, Alix’s future wife reacted as wisely as possible to her affair with Kshesinskaya.

- My dear, dear boy, never changing, always faithful. Trust and believe in your dear girl, who loves you more deeply and devotedly than she can express, she wrote in his diary.

Nikolai left, hoping to return before the fall for the girl. But the health of his father, Emperor Alexander III, was deteriorating, so he could not personally pick up the bride. As a result, Nikolai summons Alix to Russia by telegram, explaining the situation.

The lovers met in Crimea, where by that time the sovereign himself was undergoing treatment.

The road to Livadia (a city in Crimea where Alexander III was located) took about four hours. Driving past Tatar villages, they stopped to accept flowers and traditional bread and salt. Alexander III put on his ceremonial uniform for the last time to meet his bride and bless his son’s marriage.

The Emperor died in Livadia on October 20, 1894. His body was sent on the cruiser "Memory of Mercury" to St. Petersburg, where it arrived on November 1.

Alice was baptized the next day under the name of Alexandra Fedorovna. The lovers wanted to get married on the day when Nicholas II ascended the throne. The fact is that this date was the next day after the death of his father. As a result, relatives and courtiers dissuaded the young people from “getting married when there is a coffin nearby”, postponing the wedding for three weeks.

Sang. And she danced

When this life ends, we will meet again in another world and will remain together forever,” Alice-Alexandra wrote in her diary.

The wedding was scheduled for the birthday of Nicholas II's mother, Maria Fedorovna - November 14, 1894.

Alexandra was wearing a 475-carat diamond necklace. Heavy diamond earrings had to be secured with gold wire and “tied” to the hair. A wreath of traditional orange blossom was placed on top of the crown. Over the shoulder is the ribbon of the Order of St. Catherine.

She later wrote in her diary that she was terribly nervous before the wedding, not because of the marriage process itself or the responsibility, but because “I would have to wear a lot of unfamiliar things.”

On the afternoon of November 14, Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova officially became the Russian Empress. This happened immediately after the young people were declared husband and wife.

The Lord rewarded me with happiness that I could not even dream of by giving me Alix,” Nikolai wrote in his diary at the end of 1894.

Exemplary family man

Historians have called the family of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna nothing less than amazing. He wrote sweet notes for her, she left her messages in his diary, calling him sunshine, sweetheart and beloved.

The couple had five children - four daughters and younger son Alexei, who was expected to take the Russian throne.

The family, as historians write, loved to spend evenings together (if the sovereign was in St. Petersburg). So, after dinner they read, solved puzzles, wrote letters, and sometimes the empress or daughters played music.

A wife is still not only love and joint upbringing, but also, especially if you are an empress, also a reliable rear. At least one case speaks about how Alexandra provided for him.

In October 1900, Nikolai fell ill while the Romanovs were vacationing in Crimea. Life physician G.I. Hirsch diagnosed him with influenza ( viral disease). As contemporaries note, Nikolai was so ill that he could not take care of business.

Then the wife, who was interested in politics, studied the Bible and had a doctorate in philosophy, began to personally read and highlight the main points in the documents that were delivered to him.

Why did Alexandra nag Nikolai?

Any family cannot do without quarrels. Thus, the main theme of the lectures that Alexandra Feodorovna read to Nicholas II was the emperor’s excessive gentleness.

“You must simply order that this or that be done, without asking whether it can be done or not,” she wrote to him in 1915, when Nicholas II became commander-in-chief of the Russian troops during the First World War.

Historians note that Alexandra repeatedly demanded that her husband show his authority. It is possible that this was the reason for the cooling in their relationship.

“One Rasputin is better than ten hysterics a day,” Nikolai allegedly once threw out such a phrase in his heart.

But at the same time, he only wrote to his wife that he was already quite an adult and should not be treated like a child. In turn, the Empress, as they said in Petrograd, declared that “the men’s pants” in their family were on her.

In joy and in sorrow

I completely understand your action, my hero! “I know that you could not sign anything contrary to what you swore at your coronation,” Alexandra Feodorovna wrote to Nikolai after his abdication.

At midnight on March 2, 1917, in the carriage of the imperial train near Pskov, Nicholas II signed an act of abdication. The emperor's family was placed under arrest in Tsarskoye Selo.

Having received the news that her husband was no longer the emperor, the woman rushed with tears in her eyes to burn and tear all the letters to shreds so that they would not fall into the hands of the Provisional Government.

I heard muffled moans and sobs. Many of the letters were received by her even before she became a wife and mother, wrote Alexandra Fedorovna’s friend Lily Den in her memoirs.

Despite this, in April 1917, Nicholas wrote in his diary that the family celebrated the traditional engagement anniversary. They celebrated, as the Emperor emphasized, quietly.

Together until death

The family of the now former emperor, with him at their head, was sent to Tobolsk on July 31, 1917, by decree of the Council of Ministers. The journey took six days. At this time, Nikolai wrote every day in his diary not so much about himself as about his wife and children, worrying mainly about the fact that his wife slept poorly, his son’s arm hurt, and his daughters suffered from headaches from constant worry.

We had dinner, joked about the amazing inability of people to even arrange a room, and went to bed early,” Nikolai wrote after he saw where they would live in Tobolsk.

In general, Nikolai and Alexandra do not describe in their diaries the hardships that they had to endure while living in Tobolsk, in conditions of complete misunderstanding of what would happen to them next. In almost every entry of the former emperor it is mentioned that he spoke with Alix, but the topics are not revealed.

- After breakfast, Yakovlev came and announced that he had received orders to take me away, without saying where. Alix decided to go with me. There was no point in protesting, Nicholas II wrote in his diary on April 14, 1918.

Later it turned out that the royal family, by order of the Provisional Government, was transported to Yekaterinburg, to Ipatiev’s house, where they arrived on April 17.

Before last day Nikolai writes only warm words in his diary about his wife and their children.

Later, historians will more than once recall Alexandra’s words on her wedding day: “When this life ends, we will meet again in another world and will remain together forever.”

Historians, archivists and numerous researchers of the life of the last empress of the Russian state seem to have studied and explained not only her actions, but every word and even every turn of her head. But here’s what’s interesting: after reading every historical monograph or new study, an unfamiliar woman appears in front of us.

Such is the magic of the beloved British granddaughter, daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse, goddaughter of the Russian sovereign and wife, the last heir to the Russian throne. Alix, as her husband called her, or Alexandra Fedorovna Romanova remained a mystery to everyone.

Probably, everything is to blame for her coldish isolation and alienation from everything earthly, mistaken by her retinue and the Russian nobility for arrogance. The explanation for this inescapable sadness in her gaze, as if turned inward, is found when you find out the details of childhood and teenage years Princess Alice Victoria Helena Louise Beatrice of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Childhood and youth

She was born in the summer of 1872 in Darmstadt, Germany. The fourth daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt Ludwig and the daughter of the Queen of Great Britain, Duchess Alice, turned out to be a real ray of sunshine. However, Grandma Victoria called her that – Sunny – Sunshine. Blonde, with dimples on her cheeks, with blue eyes, fidgety and laughing, Aliki instantly charged good mood their prim relatives, making even the formidable grandmother smile.

The baby adored her sisters and brothers. It seems that she had especially fun with her brother Frederick and her younger sister Mary, whom she called May due to difficulty pronouncing the letter “r”. Fryderyk died when Alika was 5 years old. A beloved brother died of a hemorrhage resulting from an accident. Mom Alice, already melancholic and cheerless, plunged into severe depression.

But just as the sharpness of the painful loss began to fade, a new grief occurred. And more than one. The diphtheria epidemic that occurred in Hesse in 1878 took away first her sister May from sunny Alika, and three weeks later her mother.

Thus, at the age of 6, Alika-Sunny’s childhood ended. She “went out” like a ray of sunshine. Almost everything she loved so much disappeared: her mother, her sister and brother, her usual toys and books, which were burned and replaced with new ones. It seems that then the open and funny Aliki herself disappeared.

To distract two granddaughters, Alice-Aliki, Ella (in Orthodoxy - Elizaveta Fedorovna), and grandson Ernie from sad thoughts, the imperious grandmother transported them, with the permission of her son-in-law, to England, to Osborne House Castle on the Isle of Wight. Here Alice, under the supervision of her grandmother, received an excellent education. Carefully selected teachers taught her, her sister and brother geography, mathematics, history and languages. And also drawing, music, horse riding and gardening.

The subjects were easy for the girl. Alice played the piano brilliantly. Music lessons were given to her not by anyone, but by the director of the Darmstadt Opera. Therefore, the girl easily performed the most complex works and... And without much difficulty she mastered the wisdom of court etiquette. The only thing that upset the grandmother was that her beloved Sunny was unsociable, withdrawn and could not stand noisy social society.

The Princess of Hesse graduated from the University of Heidelberg and received a bachelor's degree in philosophy.

In March 1892, Alice suffered a new blow. Her father died of a heart attack in her arms. Now the girl felt even more alone. Only the grandmother and brother Ernie, who inherited the crown, remained nearby. The only sister Ella has recently lived in distant Russia. She married a Russian prince and was called Elizaveta Feodorovna.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna

Alice first saw Nicky at her sister's wedding. She was only 12 years old then. The young princess really liked this well-mannered and subtle young man, the mysterious Russian prince, so different from her British and German cousins.

She met Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov for the second time in 1889. Alice went to Russia at the invitation of her sister’s husband, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, Nikolai’s uncle. A month and a half spent in the St. Petersburg Sergius Palace and meetings with Nikolai turned out to be enough time to understand: she had met her soul mate.

Only their sister Ella-Elizaveta Fedorovna and her husband were happy with their desire to unite their destinies. They became a kind of communicators between lovers, facilitating their communication and secret correspondence.

Grandmother Victoria, who did not know about her secretive granddaughter’s personal life, planned her marriage to her cousin Edward, Prince of Wales. The elderly woman dreamed of seeing her beloved “Sunny” become the Queen of Britain, to whom she would transfer her powers.

But Aliki, in love with a distant Russian prince, calling the Prince of Wales “Eddie-cuffs” for excessive attention to his manner of dressing and narcissism, confronted Queen Victoria with a fact: she would only marry Nicholas. The letters shown to the grandmother finally convinced the disgruntled woman that she could not keep her granddaughter.

The parents of Tsarevich Nicholas were not delighted with their son’s desire to marry a German princess. They hoped for their son's marriage to Princess Helena Louise Henrietta, daughter of Louis Philippe. But the son, like his bride in distant England, showed persistence.

Alexander III and his wife surrendered. The reason was not only Nicholas’s persistence, but also the rapid deterioration of the sovereign’s health. He was dying and wanted to hand over the reins to his son, who would have his personal life organized. Alisa was urgently called to Russia, to Crimea.

The dying emperor, in order to meet his future daughter-in-law as best as possible, with the last of his strength got out of bed and put on his uniform. The princess, who knew about the state of health of her future father-in-law, was moved to tears. They began to urgently prepare Alix for marriage. She studied Russian and the basics of Orthodoxy. Soon she accepted Christianity, and with it the name Alexandra Feodorovna (Feodorovna).

Emperor Alexander III died on October 20, 1894. And on October 26, the wedding of Alexandra Fedorovna and Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov took place. The bride's heart sank from such haste and a bad feeling. But the Grand Dukes insisted on the urgency of the wedding.

To preserve decency, the wedding ceremony was scheduled for the empress's birthday. According to existing canons, deviation from mourning on such a day was allowed. Of course, there were no receptions or big celebrations. The wedding turned out to have a mournful tint. As Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich later wrote in his memoirs:

“The couple’s honeymoon proceeded in an atmosphere of funeral services and mourning visits. The most deliberate dramatization could not have invented a more suitable prologue for the historical tragedy of the last Russian Tsar.”

The second gloomy omen, from which the heart of the young empress again sank in anguish, happened in May 1896, during the coronation of the royal family. A famous bloody tragedy occurred on the Khodynka field. But the celebrations were not cancelled.

The young couple spent most of their time in Tsarskoe Selo. Alexandra Fedorovna felt good only in the company of her husband and her sister’s family. Society received the new empress coldly and with hostility. The unsmiling and reserved empress seemed arrogant and prim to them.

To escape from unpleasant thoughts, Alexandra Fedorovna Romanova eagerly took up public affairs and became involved in charity work. Soon she had several close friends. In fact, there were very few of them. These are Princess Maria Baryatinskaya, Countess Anastasia Gendrikova and Baroness Sofia Buxhoeveden. But my closest friend was the maid of honor.

The happy smile returned to the empress when her daughters Olga, Tatyana, Maria and Anastasia appeared one after another. But the long-awaited birth of an heir, the son of Alexei, returned Alexandra Feodorovna to her usual state of anxiety and melancholy. My son was diagnosed with a terrible hereditary disease - hemophilia. It was inherited through the empress's line from her grandmother Victoria.

The bleeding son, who could die from any scratch, became a constant pain for Alexandra Feodorovna and Nicholas II. At this time, an elder appeared in the life of the royal family. This mysterious Siberian man really helped the Tsarevich: he alone could stop the bleeding, which the doctors were not able to do.

The approach of the elder gave rise to a lot of rumors and gossip. Alexandra Fedorovna did not know how to get rid of them and protect herself. Word spread. Behind the empress's back they whispered about her supposedly undivided influence on the emperor and public policy. About Rasputin's witchcraft and his connection with Romanova.

The outbreak of the First World War briefly plunged society into other concerns. Alexandra Fedorovna threw all her resources and strength into helping the wounded, widows of dead soldiers and orphaned children. The Tsarskoye Selo hospital was rebuilt as an infirmary for the wounded. The Empress herself, together with her eldest daughters Olga and Tatiana, were trained in nursing. They assisted in operations and cared for the wounded.

And in December 1916, Grigory Rasputin was killed. How Alexandra Feodorovna was “loved” at court can be judged from a surviving letter from Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich to the empress’s mother-in-law, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. He wrote:

“All of Russia knows that the late Rasputin and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna are one and the same. The first one is killed, now the other one must disappear too.”

As Anna Vyrubova, a close friend of the Empress, later wrote in her memoirs, the Grand Dukes and nobles, in their hatred of Rasputin and the Empress, themselves sawed off the branch on which they sat. Nikolai Mikhailovich, who believed that Alexandra Feodorovna “must disappear” after the elder, was shot in 1919 along with three other Grand Dukes.

Personal life

There are still many rumors about the royal family and the joint life of Alexandra Feodorovna and Nicholas II, which go back to the distant past. Gossip arose in the immediate circle of the monarchs. Ladies-in-waiting, princes and their gossip-loving wives happily came up with various “defamatory connections” in which the Tsar and Tsarina were allegedly caught. It seems that Princess Zinaida Yusupova “tried” the most to spread rumors.

After the revolution, a fake came out, passed off as the memoirs of a close friend of the empress, Anna Vyrubova. The authors of this dirty libel were very respected people: Soviet writer and history professor P.E. Shchegolev. These “memoirs” talked about the empress’s vicious connections with Count A.N. Orlov, with Grigory Rasputin and Vyrubova herself.

There was a similar plot in the play “The Empress’s Conspiracy,” written by these two authors. The goal was clear: to discredit the royal family as much as possible, remembering which the people should not regret, but be indignant.

But the personal life of Alexandra Feodorovna and her lover Nika, nevertheless, turned out great. The couple managed to maintain tremulous feelings until their death. They adored their children and treated each other with tenderness. The memories of this were preserved by their closest friends, who knew firsthand about the relations in the royal family.

Death

In the spring of 1917, after the Tsar abdicated the throne, the entire family was arrested. Alexandra Fedorovna with her husband and children was sent to Tobolsk. Soon they were transported to Yekaterinburg.

The Ipatiev House turned out to be the last place of the family’s earthly existence. Alexandra Fedorovna guessed about the terrible fate in store for new government to her and her family. Grigory Rasputin, whom she believed, said this shortly before his death.

The queen, her husband and children were shot on the night of July 17, 1918. Their remains were transported to St. Petersburg and reburied in the summer of 1998 in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, in the Romanov family tomb.

In 1981, Alexandra Feodorovna, like her entire family, was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and in 2000 by the Russian Orthodox Church. Romanova was recognized as a victim of political repression and rehabilitated in 2008.

Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova - the last Russian empress, wife of Nicholas II. Today we will get acquainted with the life and work of this undoubtedly important historical person.

Childhood and youth

The future empress was born on May 25, 1872, in the German city of Darmstadt. Her father was Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and her mother was Grand Duchess Alice, second daughter of Queen Victoria of England. The girl was baptized Lutheran and received the name Alice Victoria Elena Brigitte Louise Beatrice, in honor of her mother and aunts. The family began to call the girl simply Alice. The mother was raising the child. But when Alice was only six years old, her mother died. She cared for patients with diphtheria and became infected herself. At that time, the woman was only 35 years old.

After losing her mother, Alice began to live with her grandmother Queen Victoria. In the English court, the girl received a good upbringing and education. She was fluent in several languages. In her youth, the princess received a philosophical education at the University of Heidelberg.

In the summer of 1884, Alexandra visited Russia for the first time. She came there for the wedding of her sister, Princess Ella, with Prince Sergei Alexandrovich. At the beginning of 1889, she visited Russia again with her brother and father. Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, who was the heir to the throne, fell in love with the young princess. However, the imperial family did not attach any importance to this, in the hope that he would connect his life with royal family France.

Wedding

In 1894, when the condition of Emperor Alexander III sharply deteriorated, it was necessary to suddenly resolve the issue of the prince’s marriage and succession to the throne. On April 8, 1894, Princess Alice was engaged to Tsarevich Nicholas. On October 5 of the same year, she received a telegram asking her to urgently come to Russia. Five days later, Princess Alice was in Livadia. Here she stayed with the royal family until October 20, the day when Alexander III died. The next day, the princess was accepted into the fold Orthodox Church and named Alexandra Fedorovna, in honor of Queen Alexandra.

On the birthday of Empress Maria, November 14, when it was possible to retreat from strict mourning, Alexandra Romanova married Nicholas II. The wedding took place in the Church of the Winter Palace. And on May 14, 1896, the royal couple was crowned in the Assumption Cathedral.

Children

Tsarina Romanova Alexandra Fedorovna tried to be an assistant for her husband in all his endeavors. By joint forces their union became a true example of a truly Christian family. The couple gave birth to four daughters: Olga (in 1895), Tatyana (in 1897), Maria (in 1899), Anastasia (in 1901). And in 1904, a long-awaited event for the whole family took place - the birth of the heir to the throne, Alexei. He was given the disease that Queen Victoria's ancestors suffered from - hemophilia. Hemophilia is a chronic disease associated with poor blood clotting.

Upbringing

Empress Alexandra Romanova tried to take care of the whole family, but she paid special attention to her son. Initially, she taught him on her own, later she called teachers and supervised the progress of his training. Being very tactful, the empress kept her son’s illness a secret from outsiders. Due to constant concern for Alexy’s life, Alexandra invited G.E. Rasputin, who knew how to stop bleeding using hypnosis, to the courtyard. In dangerous moments, he was the family's only hope.

Religion

As contemporaries testified, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova, the wife of Nicholas 2, was very religious. In the days when the heir’s illness worsened, the church was her only salvation. Thanks to the imperial family, several temples were built, including in Alexandra’s homeland. So, in memory of Maria Alexandrovna - the first Russian Empress From the Hessian house, the Church of Mary Magdalene was erected in the city of Darmstadt. And in memory of the coronation of the Emperor and Empress, in 1896, a temple in the name of All Saints was founded in the city of Hamburg.

Charity

According to the rescript of her husband, dated February 26, 1896, the Empress took up the patronage of the imperial women's Patriotic Community. Being unusually hardworking, she devoted a lot of time to needlework. Alexandra Romanova organized charity bazaars and fairs where homemade souvenirs were sold. Over time, she took many charities under her patronage.

During the war with the Japanese, the Empress was personally involved in the preparation of ambulance trains and warehouses of medicines to be sent to the battlefields. But Alexandra Fedorovna Romanova carried out the greatest labors during the First World War. From the very beginning of the confrontations, in the Tsarskoye Selo community, together with her eldest daughters, the empress took courses in caring for the wounded. Later, they more than once saved the military from painful death. In the period from 1914 to 1917, the Empress's Warehouse Committee worked in the Winter Palace.

Smear campaign

During the First World War, and in general, in last years reign, the Empress became the victim of a baseless and ruthless slander campaign. Its instigators were revolutionaries and their accomplices in Russia and Germany. They tried to spread rumors as widely as possible that the empress was cheating on her husband with Rasputin and was giving Russia over to please Germany. None of the rumors were confirmed by facts.

Abdication

On March 2, 1917, Nicholas II abdicated the throne personally for himself and for his heir, Tsarevich Alexei. Six days later, in Tsarskoe Selo, Alexandra Romanova was arrested along with her children. On the same day, the emperor was arrested in Mogilev. The next day, a convoy took him to Tsarskoye Selo. That same year, on August 1, the whole family left for exile in Tobolsk. There, imprisoned in the governor's house, she lived for the next eight months.

On April 26 of the following year, Alexandra, Nikolai and their daughter Maria were sent to Yekaterinburg, leaving Alexei's three sisters in the care. Four days later, they were settled in a house that previously belonged to engineer N. Ipatiev. The Bolsheviks called it “a special purpose house.” And they called the prisoners “tenants.” The house was surrounded by a high fence. It was guarded by 30 people. On May 23, the remaining children of the imperial family were brought here. The former sovereigns began to live like prisoners: complete isolation from the outside environment, meager food, daily hour-long walks, searches, and a biased hostile attitude from the guards.

Murder of the royal family

On July 12, 1918, the Bolshevik Uralsovet, under the pretext of the approach of the Czechoslovak and Siberian armies, adopted a resolution on the murder of the imperial family. There is an opinion that the Ural military commissar F. Goloshchekin at the beginning of the same month, having visited the capital, enlisted the support of V. Lenin for the execution of the royal family. On June 16, Lenin received a telegram from the Uralsovet, which reported that the execution of the Tsar’s family could no longer be delayed. The telegram also asked Lenin to immediately communicate his opinion on this matter. Vladimir Ilyich did not answer, and it is obvious that the Urals Council considered this as agreement. The execution of the decree was led by Y. Yurovsky, who on July 4 was appointed commandant of the house in which the Romanovs were imprisoned.

On the night of July 16-17, 1918, the murder of the royal family followed. The prisoners were woken up at 2 a.m. and ordered to go down to the basement of the house. There the entire family was shot by armed security officers. According to the testimony of the executioners, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova, together with her daughters, managed to cross herself before her death. The Tsar and Tsarina were the first to fall at the hands of the Chekists. They did not see how the children were finished off with bayonets after the execution. The bodies of those killed were destroyed using gasoline and sulfuric acid.

Investigation

The circumstances of the murder and destruction of the body became known after Sokolov’s investigation. Individual remains of the imperial family, which Sokolov also found, were transferred to the Temple of Job the Long-Suffering, built in Brussels in 1936. In 1950, it was consecrated in memory of Nicholas II, his relatives and all the new martyrs of Russia. The temple also contains the found rings of the imperial family, icons and the Bible, which Alexandra Feodorovna gave to her son Alexei. In 1977, due to the influx of ladles, the Soviet authorities decided to destroy Ipatiev's house. In 1981, the royal family was canonized by the foreign Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1991, in the Sverdlovsk region, a burial was officially opened, which was discovered by G. Ryabov in 1979 and mistook for the grave of the royal family. In August 1993, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office opened an investigation into the murder of the Romanov family. At the same time, a commission was created to identify and subsequently rebury the found remains.

In February 1998, at a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate, it was decided to bury the found remains in a symbolic grave-monument as soon as any grounds for doubt regarding their origin disappeared. Ultimately, the secular authorities of Russia decided to rebury the remains on July 17, 1998 in the St. Petersburg Peter and Paul Cathedral. The funeral service was led personally by the rector of the cathedral.

At the Council of Bishops in 2000, Alexandra Fedorovna Romanova, whose biography became the subject of our conversation, and the rest royal passion-bearers, were canonized at the Cathedral of Russian New Martyrs. And on the site of the house in which the royal family was executed, a Monument Temple was built.

Conclusion

Today we learned how our rich, but short life Romanova Alexandra Fedorovna lived. The historical significance of this woman, as well as her entire family, is difficult to overestimate, because they were the last representatives of tsarist power on the territory of Russia. Despite the fact that the heroine of our story was always a busy woman, she found time to describe her life and worldview in her memoirs. The memoirs of Alexandra Fedorovna Romanova were published almost a century after her death. They were included in a series of books called “The Romanovs. The Fall of a Dynasty."