This is what I'm reading now, Nicholas And Alexandra, the last Tsars of Russia and trust me when I tell you my ignorant ass should not be concerned with Russian history, but, I have to read while Lissy watches her kiddie movies or I'd lose my mind. And the shop had about 50,000 new romances (puke) and this one historical novel. So, I grabbed it and figured I could raise my IQ a few points. Damn. It broke my heart. They were such a nice family and not spoiled or mean or anything creepy...they were all hideously assassinated in a cellar. You'd think I'd know how it ended..again, I'll point out..me..ignorant ass..history..ick. Okay? *
They loved each other so much, to the end, as their many love letters show. They had four gorgeous daughters and finally, one son. But, the boy was a hemophiliac, and Alexandra was convinced the only person who could keep him alive was Rasputin. I'm not sure..I have to go read some more about that guy, but, he seemed like a creepy opportunist who caused their deaths. It's always a friggin' preacher man, isn't it? Yep. Those friggin' preachers.
*
Anyhow..there are tons of photos on the net of the family. And I keep staring into their faces, and I wonder if when dead people are remembered, that maybe it brings them back for a little while. Oh, and Anastasia..the most famous of their children, I learned that all the grand legends about her are just stories. In truth, she was just a little girl who died because of war. It all makes me sad and I wish I hadn't read it, though it was really interesting. And I don't even have a headache which proves education is not painful, but, sometimes it can really piss you off.
24 comments:
i saw a great documentary on rasputin on dvd, i think it's the 'biography' on him, i would recommend it highly...it goes into how alexandra felt that rasputin could keep her son's attacks at bay and it tells how rasputin was extremely difficult to kill!!!
how they were murdered in the ceiler was horrible...and you know what? the tsar's cousin, king george v could have easily had them rescued but he was fearful of repurcussions and the threat to his own throne---of course he didn't realize they'd all end up dead...but still....
if you see pix of nicholas and george v they could pass for brothers they look so alike!!
they finally found and identified nicholas' and anastasia's bones a few years ago--they were buried away from their family....
Riddled and mysterious, that.
I don't think anyone knows the entire story.
Politics and propaganda being what they are, in all probability, no one ever will.
Interesting nonetheless.
Very sad.
Sad commentary on humanity, also.
That's so sad to hear. They'd want to be with their children who meant so much more to them than all their money. Rasputin was a scoundrel. He died hard.
DD, thanks for posting this, you da bomb! Btw, I tried to send you an e-mail to let you know how much I love your site, and scrooged it all up....so what's your accurate e-mail? Thanky!
10G
if I remember right from my history lession the Tsar had A LOT of blood on his hands. Just because somebody is nice to his children does not make him a good man.
Have to agree with the poster above. The tsar WAS a family man but he was also a tyrant who did nothing to help his starving people who lived in conditions we can only imagine while the tsar and his family lived in unbelievable opulence. Im not denying that their death was horrible and sad but the tsar really did bring it upon himself.. he refused to listen to the russian people and seemed to truly believe that he was on the throne because of 'God's will' and therefore could do no wrong.
When he died it ended 1000 years of the Czars over the Russian People. the country was sothe most backwaters country in all of Europe.
Its good you are reading historical books
by the way the whole Royal familes of that time were incestious thats why the boy was a bleeder.
This story has always been a point of interest for our family because my brother is a hemophiliac. The last poster was correct in saying that royal families of that time were incestious causing hemophilia. Such a horrible way for a family to die in a cellar with no hope.
the tsar kept his son's hemophilia from the public so that they wouldn't think him 'weak'....that is one of the reasons why the public didn't understand why rasputin was at the palace all the time...he did seem to have a healing affect on the boy...
no, he didn't have a healing effect. Rasputin was a lying bastard. But one good thing he did: he banned aspirin. And that helped a lot of course. He didn't did it out of knowledge - it was just a lucky strike.
rasputin did indeed lie about things, but he did have an affect on the boy....
sometimes fraudulent prophets have a touch of genius and a slight gift of healing, but they're more concerned with power and themselves....
sounds interesting! I loved the movie Anastasia with Ingrid Bergman..
Rasputin was a nasty bugger indeed.
Thanks for this post DD I really liked reading it and I love characters in history.
Eliza
I think Nicholas II was more ignorant and unable to lead than he was a tyrant. He was an weak leader who had no ability to see the long-term effects of his poor decision making. I think he also took a lot of bad advice, not only from Rasputin, but others as well.
I love the story of the Romanov romance. The old films of the family at play are truly charming.
My grandmother, who lived a very very long time, used to wash her clothes in the river across from their summer palace when she was little. I got to see a very very old film of that exact view of that palace, once. It made me cry.
anon 5:33 the czar did have a lot of blood on his hands, including my own family's but that doesn't mean I don't feel sorry for innocent children who are imprisoned starved sexually molested then shot because they happen to be royals.
I just can't shut up tonight. I once read this huge biography called "Anastasia" (I think). It was thick as a dictionary. This was before all the Romanov remains were ID'ed and there was still some question about Anastasia having survived. This book was thick as a dictionary and I was rooting for the Anastasia hopeful the entire way. Then, when I was most of the way thru it, it talked about how she started hanging out with Hitler and ow they became good chums. So I stopped caring about Anastasia-wannabe and her life and I put the book down. Then when I read about all the Romanov remains being accounted for, I relaized she'd just been mentally ill the entire time. It figures. Ten days of my life, wasted.
Cool post, DD. I was a russian language and lit major in college and got obsessed with the last tsar of russia and his family.
miss tia, again, Rasputins only effect was the banning of aspirin. Nothing else.
And why that was important: ask wikipedia. Or look on your aspirin box. The stuff is a VERY potent blood thinner.
So yes, the boy was better. But not because of some magical healing powers. He just removed a bad medicine. A lucky strike.
i think rasputin had more effect than credited on the boy...i have read many books on this and watched docs....have not read wiki on it....
yes i know aspirin is a blood thinner....
OMG! Yes, the way Rasputin was thrown in the frozen river and kept popping back up alive! Pretty freaky story. He was controlling the family with his powers over the boy and the mother thinking he was helping her child. He was an evil person to the core. Had their minds controlled and it was all secretive too, so he got away with it for a long time. He was also filthy dirty from what I have read. How could a nasty filthy man be helpful to a sick child? How different the times were!
nmo, he was dead after they throw him in the river. He was a die hard, and survived some serious wounds - for a short while.
He was just a lying, psychotic bastard with a very good health and constitution. Nothing else.
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