The Tsar's Travels: Home and Abroad 1881-1903 The Romanov

318 Pages·2013·2.7 MB·English

by  Banks

The Tsar’s Travels
Copyright Notice
Published in 2013 by the author
using SilverWood Books Empowered Publishing®
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Copyright © ECS Banks 2013
The right of ECS Banks to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted by ECS Banks in accordance with
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All photos, postcards and images are from the author’s own collection.
ISBN 978-1-78132-140-9 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-78132-138-6 (Road to Revolution ebook)
ISBN 978-1-78132-139-3 (The Tsar’s Travels ebook)
Introduction
The third part of my work on the lives of the Grand Duchesses is mainly concerned with
their father, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. The girls all worshipped their father and in their
eyes he could do no wrong. His daughter Olga was particularly close to him. To
understand the characters of the four Grand Duchesses, it is important to understand their
father. Each generation is influenced by the previous generation and that is why my books
go backwards rather than forwards, profoundly influenced by Wagner’s Ring Cycle opera.
Nicholas was himself influenced profoundly by his late grandfather, Emperor Alexander II
of Russia, particularly by his actions shortly before his murder in 1881. Alexander’s
bravery in the face of danger was to influence Nicholas for the remainder of his life and
explains why he appeared to be unmoved no matter what fate threw at him.
Nicholas’s early introduction to assassination was swiftly followed by an attempt on
the lives of the entire Imperial family (whether by accident or design, the consequence
would have been the same) during the ill fated train journey through Borki in 1888. On a
tour of the Far East in 1891, Nicholas narrowly escaped death when an off duty Japanese
policeman attempted to kill him with a huge sword. The tour of the Far East came at a
time when Nicholas was pining for the beautiful Princess Alix of Hesse and as a result he
failed to appreciate the journey as he would have done in normal circumstances.
Nicholas spent his early years in the army, where he was at his happiest. The routine of
the army suited his submissive character perfectly and even when he became Tsar he
preferred to adhere to a strict routine. When Nicholas finally won the hand (in matrimony)
of Princess Alix, he no longer needed to make decisions. He had come to the throne
shortly before his marriage and as Tsar he was able to instruct others to make the decisions
on his behalf if he so wished and with Alix by his side, he was content to let her make any
necessary domestic changes. In later years, when asked his opinion he would simply state
that one should ask his wife, as her wishes were his. Unfortunately it meant that Nicholas
could never stand up to Alix when it came to Rasputin. Despite the fact that he disliked
the peasant (his sister Olga Alexandrovna claimed that Nicholas merely put up with
Rasputin for his wife’s sake) he did little to rid the court of the man who would ultimately
be a major cause of the rapid downfall of the House of Romanov.
Nicholas as Tsarevich travelled far more widely than most royals of the era and for the
first time I have attempted to provide an accurate account of his travels abroad and
throughout Russia. The book naturally includes the birth and early childhood of his four
daughters (his son was not born until 1904) and concludes shortly after the trip to Sarov in
1903. (The Tsar and Tsarina visited Sarov, where Saint Seraphim hailed from. Monsieur
Philippe, Rasputin’s predecessor, who had a similar though less catastrophic effect on the
Imperial couple had claimed that if the Tsarina prayed to St Seraphim she would have the
son that she craved. Seraphim had not yet achieved sainthood but the Tsar obligingly
rushed through his canonisation.) The story ends where the previous volume (the second)
began – with the wedding of Princess Alice of Battenberg, the Tsarina’s niece, where the
young Grand Duchesses and their cousin, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse, watched as the
ceremonies progressed. The Tsar’s second daughter, the young Grand Duchess Tatiana,
could not understand why anyone would ever want to leave their mother. She never did.
Chapter One
Spring 1881
On the evening of the first of March 1881 Nicholas noted his impressions of the day in his
journal. It had not been an ordinary day. The young Nicholas recounted how his
grandfather’s face had been deadly pale when he had seen him earlier that day. He
observed that his body had been covered in a profusion of small wounds and that his eyes
were quite tightly shut. Nicholas’s father, then Tsarevich Alexander, had led his son to his
dying grandfather’s bedside. Alexander spoke to his father, raising his voice as he did so.
He explained that his ‘sunshine’ was there. He was of course referring to his son Nicholas.
The terrified young boy saw his grandfather’s eyelid flicker and his blue eyes opened and
the Emperor attempted to smile.
These were the impressions that the twelve year-old Nicholas Alexandrovich made the
day his grandfather, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, died. Alexander had insisted on
being brought to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg in order to die with some semblance
of dignity. An assassin’s bomb had ripped apart his body and it was a miracle he had
survived even for a short time. Alexander was soon surrounded by his immediate family –
his son and heir Alexander Alexandrovich, soon to be Emperor, his son’s wife Marie and
their young son Nicholas were amongst those present at the horrific deathbed scene,
straight out of the nightmares of any child.
Another of those present was Nicholas’s cousin – and later brother-in-law (after his
marriage to Nicholas’s sister the Grand Duchess Xenia). Grand Duke Alexander
Mikhailovich, known as Sandro, was also a close life-long friend of the young Nicholas.
Later the Grand Duke recalled the sight that greeted the family that day. He observed that
the unconscious Emperor had been moved to a sofa close to the desk. Although three
doctors were fussing around Alexander, it was obvious that medical science could not do
anything for him. It was clearly only a matter of minutes before Alexander died. Sandro
would never forget the sight that confronted him. The Emperor’s right leg had been ripped
off in the explosion and his other leg shattered. He had a great profusion of wounds all
over his head, including his face. The Emperor had one eye shut and the other was simply
expressionless. The young sailor-suited Nicholas clung to Sandro’s arm. The Emperor’s
daughter-in-law Marie still clutched the pair of ice-skates she had been wearing.
Someone demanded silence and announced that the end was near. The family edged
nearer to the mangled corpse. The Chief Court Surgeon took Alexander’s pulse and after
nodding, simply let the arm dangle. The Emperor was dead. And so died the mighty
Russian Emperor Alexander II, who only hours before had approved the establishment of
a national representative body to advise on legislation. It was the eighth attempt on his life
which brought it to an end on 1/13 March 1881. It was a date forever to be etched on the
mind of the young Nicholas, who would henceforth link the two events closely: the
murderous attack on his family and the legislation to reform the huge Russian empire. The
date itself was one he never failed to note in his daily journal and one that would forever
remain in his memory and haunt his every movement. (By a remarkable coincidence the
doctor who was present when the Emperor died was Dr Serge Botkin, the father of Dr
Eugene Botkin who died along with his master Tsar Nicholas II in 1918.)
Many years later Nicholas recalled an incident that had happened shortly before his
grandfather’s murder. It had a profound effect on the young boy. Baroness Sophie
Buxhoeveden, one of Nicholas’s ladies-in-waiting, to whom the story was told, explained
what happened that day in church, in the words of Nicholas himself as far as she could
remember. Nicholas was attending a religious service alongside his beloved grandfather at
Peterhof when a gust of wind came in through the open doors, making the tapers before
the religious icon flicker. There was a huge clap of thunder and all of a sudden a fire ball
flew through the open window and across the church. It went over the Emperor’s head and
then flew across the floor and around a chandelier before flying off towards the nearby
park. The boy glanced up at his grandfather. To Nicholas’s surprise the man appeared
quite calm and unperturbed. He quietly made the sign of the cross and remained still as the
fire ball passed him. Later Nicholas looked up again at Alexander and observed a smile.
He gave Nicholas a nod and the boy’s terror vanished. Nicholas admitted that he set
himself the task of following his grandfather’s example of great calm. Throughout his life
Nicholas was to use his grandfather’s example and always appeared calm no matter what
was happening around him. As if to underline the danger everywhere, Nicholas would
soon be aware barely months later that in the United States of America President Garfield
was shot and died shortly after of his injuries. Even the aged Queen Victoria was not
immune to attacks and there would be at least seven attempts on her life, although luckily
none of them would prove successful.
*
The assassination of Alexander II had a profound impact on his son’s future decisions. He
became far more determined never to give in to the demands of not only terrorists but
anyone who wanted to alter the status quo. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich (a
younger cousin of the new Emperor) admitted later that Emperor Alexander III became
quite inflexible after his father’s brutal murder. He appeared to assume a quite different
personality. When the chief of police asked if he had any orders, the new Emperor replied
that he felt that the police appeared to have lost their heads and insisted that the army
should take charge of the situation. He would confer with his ministers at once at the
Anichkov Palace. Alexander immediately made his mark and sent a clear message of his
intentions. He blamed the majority of Russia’s ills on the irresponsible liberalism of his
late father. Within twenty-four hours of his father’s funeral he had announced a long series
of reforms. Everything had to be changed, including ministers, ambassadors, etc. He
distrusted his contemporary rulers, including Queen Victoria, the German Emperor and
Emperor Franz-Joseph of Austria. Alexander swiftly moved his family into the cold and
drafty Gatchina Palace (twenty-five miles from St Petersburg) which became the family
home, much to the disgust of the new Empress Marie, who much preferred the Anichkov
Palace in St Petersburg. It was out of town and much easier to guard than a palace on the
main Nevsky Prospect. Anyone who approached Gatchina was required to have a special
passport to enter the town – where the Blue Cuirassiers Regiment (the Emperor’s personal
bodyguard) had their barracks. The two youngest children joined their parents later as the
young Grand Duke Michael was unwell at the time. The family were joined by a team of
workmen who made alterations to the vast palace to suit the new residents. It was as
though Alexander lived his remaining life under a state of perpetual siege. The palace had
two pretty lakes alongside; one was forty-six feet deep and filled with clear water and the
other contained a yacht and a rotting frigate. There was an underground corridor at
Gatchina which was some 200 steps long under the deepest lake. It began near the lake
and led the cells under the palace.
The new Emperor’s family soon settled into the routine of Gatchina and it suited
Alexander, who much preferred living in the country to spending time in town. The
Emperor’s love of the countryside was shared by his children but not by his wife. Many
years later his youngest daughter, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, recalled her
childhood, which was spent largely within the confines of Gatchina. Her father and his
two youngest children (Michael and Olga) would set out for the deer park like the three
bears in the famous fairytale. He carried a large spade and the children each had one in
proportion to their size. Each also carried a hatchet, a lantern and an apple. During the
winter Alexander taught his children how to clear a path of snow and how to fell and dead
tree. He taught them how to build a fire. Later the group roasted the apples and damped
down the camp-fire. The lanterns lit their way home. In the summer Alexander taught his
children how to distinguish one type of animal spoor from another: he wished the children
to read from the book of nature as he had. Alexander III taught all his children how to
clear paths and build a fire to roast apples. He liked the simple life and encouraged his
children to do likewise. As a result his children all grew up simply and despite the obvious
opulent surroundings they were all at their happiest away from the formality of the
Imperial court.
Nicholas later attempted to recreate such outings with his own children. He was fond
of small birds and as a child had spent many an hour simply watching their movements
and in later years, when on rare occasions he travelled away from home, he urged his wife
to feed the birds. Quietly listening to the birds singing would be one of his few
consolations in Siberia. They were free, unlike him.
Meanwhile the new Emperor’s eldest son Nicholas Alexandrovich now became the
Tsarevich or heir to the throne of Russia but the shy young man craved a career in the
army above all else. At ten, two years before his grandfather’s death, he had been gazetted
as a lieutenant in His Imperial Majesty’s Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment and was
presented with his first regimental uniform by his grandfather. It was not until he was
nineteen years old that he would finally be permitted to embark on a full-time career in the
army. Nicholas was educated at home alongside his brother George and the list of subjects
was quite extensive. Nicholas was taught several languages – including: Russian, French,
German and English. He later also learnt Danish, the native language of his mother. The
Tsarevich also had lessons in mathematics, history, natural history and religion. Later
other subjects were added, including chemistry, physics, geography, biology and even the
fundamentals of mineralogy. He was also taught dancing, fencing and horse riding.
Nicholas, like his youngest sister Olga, loved history above all other academic subjects.
Russian history was a part of their lives and they learnt it without any effort. According to
Nicholas’s cousin Sandro, the Tsarevich’s younger brother George was more intelligent
than Nicholas. He was the most able of the three brothers but sadly he died before he
could develop his brilliant abilities.
Nicholas Alexandrovich and his siblings were brought up in Spartan simplicity and
slept on simple army cots with hard mats and pillows. Nicholas shared a small suite of
rooms with his younger brother George. It consisted of a sitting-room, dining-room,
playroom and bedroom, all of which were very simply furnished. They rose at six am and
took a cold bath and their meals were very much in the simple English style with no rich
sauces and few sweet foods. The Tsarevich’s younger sister Olga Alexandrovna recalled
the simplicity of family meals. They had a very plain diet at teatime, including jam with
bread and butter along with the plainest of English biscuits. They seldom had cake and
had oatmeal porridge for breakfast. Olga suspected that her nanny had taught the Russian
servants how to cook it. The children ate mutton (lamb) chops or roast beef with peas for
dinner along with roast potatoes. The children were all brought up simply and had to eat
what they were given. Unfortunately the children of Alexander III often went hungry,
despite a surplus of food on the table. Olga Alexandrovna explained the reason for this.
The custom was to serve the Emperor and Empress first, then any guests and by the time
the youngest children were fed it was often time to leave the table. They frequently left the
table hungry due to lack of time. Olga admitted that on one occasion Nicholas opened up
his baptismal cross and ate the contents. He claimed that it had tasted immorally good. In
later years they often described food as being immorally good and no-one else knew their
secret. He did regret the action later, however. Nicholas was to take the matter of religion
very seriously and to him his faith was not merely limited to remembering that one
crossed oneself from right to left and not the other way around in church.
Alexander III was an unsophisticated man who preferred to live life as simply as
possible and according to General Alexander. A. Mossolov, the new Emperor firmly
believed that he was a true Russian. He tried to be a Russian right down to the smallest
thing. He felt that a Russian should not be too polished in his manners and should have a
touch of brutality. Nicholas followed suit in that he preferred a simple existence, but he
had excellent manners and was an altogether more gentle character than his father. His
mother, the Empress Marie, however, enjoyed parties, dancing, card games, fashion, and
gossip rather than books or politics.
*
In 1882 Nicholas began his journal, in which he meticulously recorded the main events of
each day as he saw them. The entries were not detailed on the whole unless he was
describing something connected to the military, his greatest love. The very first entry on
Friday the first of January is typical of the style. He wrote the date as a double date: the
first/ thirteenth, as in Russia the calendar was some twelve days behind the West. It had
been altered throughout most of Europe in the eighteenth century but Russia had declined
to adhere to the new regime. As the years went by the difference increased, and by the
beginning of the twentieth century the dates were thirteen days apart. The calendar was
only brought into line with the rest of Europe in 1917. Nicholas’s first entry shows his
interests at the time: he drank hot chocolate in the morning. The mere mention of it
indicates that it was nothing common. He later tried on the dress uniform of the Life
Guards Reserve and afterwards went into the garden with his father, where the two made a
great bonfire together. Nicholas went to bed fairly early and was asleep by around nine
thirty.
As a young boy Nicholas spent much of his day outdoors working in the garden along
with his father and his younger brother George. Nicholas would always enjoy spending
the time as he had as a boy with his father – cleaning up old twigs and branches or
sweeping up the snow in winter. He enjoyed baking potatoes outside in hot cinders and
continued the practice later with his own son Alexei. Nicholas also skied, sledged and
rode downhill on a simple wooden board. In later years as Tsar he enjoyed playing in the
snow with his daughters, his son Alexei unfortunately being too frail for boisterous games.
According to his much younger sister Olga Alexandrovna, all the children of Alexander
III enjoyed horse-riding, unlike their father. The girls were naturally (for that era) taught to
ride side-saddle. The children were taught to ride by a suitably high-ranking officer from
the Imperial Guard. The children inherited their mother’s love of horses and took to riding
like fish to water, yet Alexander simply hated horses. The young Nicholas spent his days
much as any ordinary young boy of his age of that era. The children had been given a
variety of pets, including dogs, rabbits, birds and even a bear cub and were expected to
clean the animals out. The boy was always busy and had plenty of chores to attend to. The
journals of Nicholas talk of days when he cleaned out the parrots and canaries or worked
in the greenhouse. The evenings were spent reading together, when his father read aloud
and the others listened; Nicholas did much the same thing later with his own five children,
attempting to recreate for them his happy childhood.
Emperor Alexander III had instructed Nicholas’s first governess Alexandra Ollergrain
that the children were to be treated as ordinary children. She later recalled his instructions.
Alexander had insisted that he and his wife did not wish to make hot-house flowers out of
their children. They wished the children to work hard, but they felt that it was most
important to learn how to play and have fun but never for the pranks to get out of hand.
The children needed to pray to God and never become idle. Although Alexander was
unconcerned that the children might fight, he insisted that if any sneaked on the others,
they would get the first whipping. The children must grow up as ordinary healthy children,
not like porcelain. Many years later the palace official Alexander Mossolov recalled that
Nicholas and his siblings were extremely lively as children. General Vassilkovsky and the
Englishman Mr Charles Heath taught Nicholas and later told their friend Mossolov of the
children’s antics. According to the two men, the children were poorly disciplined and had
the manners of the children of petty provincial nobles. The children were prone to throw
pellets of bread at each other during meals, even if their parents were with them, assuming
they thought they would not get caught. The Emperor’s children all had good health, apart
from the Grand Duke George, and enjoyed sports. At this time, even Nicholas himself
admitted to having misbehaved. Mr Heath had problems with the young Tsarevich early
on, as a journal entry for 1882 by Nicholas clearly showed. He and his brother George