The History Book Club discussion
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THE ROMANOVS
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Mod
In 1613 The Zemsky Sobor (the National Assembly) adopted a decision to invite Michael Fyodorovich Romanov to become tsar of Russia. This decision was announced in Red Square in front of numerous crowds of people: “Michael Fyodorovich shall be tsar and lord of Muscovy and all the Russian state.” In order to prevent disturbances, Michael Romanov had to take a terrible sin upon his soul – to execute a 3 year-old boy…
The most vivid pages of Russian history and the establishment and consolidation of Russian state power are associated with the eighteen Russian Tsars of the House of Romanov which include such historic names as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas I and Alexanders I, II and III. The dynasty ended with the brutal assassination of the last Tsar, Nicholas II and his family by the Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg in 1917.
The Romanov dynasty played a hugely important role in world history, and the series highlights the life stories and characters of the tsars, recounting their rise to power and their contribution to the dynasty, their merits and their faults, their achievements and mistakes, their victories and defeats in war.
The series also examines the Russian form of 'Caesarism' as a system of state administration - its advantages and drawbacks and how the Russian state changed under the Romanov's rule.
Here is the link:
https://youtu.be/USUA_1WVM8I
Mod
He could have become a really enlightened monarch and brought Russia to the rails of the common European civilization. Fyodor Alekseyevich Romanov had everything to do that, except for health. When he ascended the throne, many people would say: “He will not live long.” And he himself realized perfectly well that he had few time left… The desertion of the throne caused great disturbance among the boyar clans. Tsarevna (Princess) Sophia Alekseyevna made her way to power by using armed guardsmen and became a regent representing two minor tsars, Ivan and Peter. This was a crude lawless act…
The most vivid pages of Russian history and the establishment and consolidation of Russian state power are associated with the eighteen Russian Tsars of the House of Romanov which include such historic names as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas I and Alexanders I, II and III. The dynasty ended with the brutal assassination of the last Tsar, Nicholas II and his family by the Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg in 1917.
The Romanov dynasty played a hugely important role in world history, and the series highlights the life stories and characters of the tsars, recounting their rise to power and their contribution to the dynasty, their merits and their faults, their achievements and mistakes, their victories and defeats in war.
The series also examines the Russian form of 'Caesarism' as a system of state administration - its advantages and drawbacks and how the Russian state changed under the Romanov's rule.
Here is the link:
https://youtu.be/4bMDQb_Z5YY
Mod
Peter I the Great, as a man of action with explosive temperament, disliked the ritualism connected with the rule of state. Neither in his clothes, nor in his behavior did he try to be a monarch. To reform Russia, he chose quite a difficult way. The army, the education, everyday life – all traditional foundations were reorganized according to European patterns. Peter always felt to be alone against the whole world. Secretly hating the reformer, all people from his surrounding accepted the changes in habitual ways of life. He had no support in his closest circles: his best friend and co-worker Alexander Menshikov was embezzling the state treasury and his wife Catherine was cheating on him. In his last years, Peter was seriously ill. After his death, the Russian throne passed to Catherine Alekseyevna.
The most vivid pages of Russian history and the establishment and consolidation of Russian state power are associated with the eighteen Russian Tsars of the House of Romanov which include such historic names as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas I and Alexanders I, II and III. The dynasty ended with the brutal assassination of the last Tsar, Nicholas II and his family by the Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg in 1917.
The Romanov dynasty played a hugely important role in world history, and the series highlights the life stories and characters of the tsars, recounting their rise to power and their contribution to the dynasty, their merits and their faults, their achievements and mistakes, their victories and defeats in war.
The series also examines the Russian form of 'Caesarism' as a system of state administration - its advantages and drawbacks and how the Russian state changed under the Romanov's rule.
Here is the link:
https://youtu.be/NGYLOYd9Pt8
Mod
Peter the Great did not leave any instructions about the heir to the Russian throne before his death. The era of palace reshuffles started – the time of overthrowing and ascending to the throne of rulers by forced seizure of power. Huge country was living inertially while its rulers were changing one another on its throne. A young man interested most of all in entertainment and carouse was the first. Then a widow, lover of clownish fights and other entertainments. Then a baby-emperor who would later become the Russian “Iron Mask”. And, at last, a beautiful Princess Elisabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great.
The most vivid pages of Russian history and the establishment and consolidation of Russian state power are associated with the eighteen Russian Tsars of the House of Romanov which include such historic names as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas I and Alexanders I, II and III. The dynasty ended with the brutal assassination of the last Tsar, Nicholas II and his family by the Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg in 1917.
The Romanov dynasty played a hugely important role in world history, and the series highlights the life stories and characters of the tsars, recounting their rise to power and their contribution to the dynasty, their merits and their faults, their achievements and mistakes, their victories and defeats in war.
The series also examines the Russian form of 'Caesarism' as a system of state administration - its advantages and drawbacks and how the Russian state changed under the Romanov's rule.
Here is the link:
https://youtu.be/UzmqzDDpzf4
Mod
On getting to snowy Russia, the fiancée of Peter Fyodorovich, the heir to the Russian throne, realized that she would be unhappy. Catherine Alekseyevna found herself locked in a foreign country. Nobody, and in the first place her husband, was going to love her. There was nothing in common with her and Peter. He was found of toy soldiers, she of books by philosophers. On becoming emperor, the grandson of Peter the Great decided to get rid of her lawfully wedded wife, but did not have enough time to. Peter died a week after the coup and Catherine II became Russian empress. She was reshaping the country to new patterns and… she could not live a single day without love. The most powerful woman of that epoch. A former German princess Fike. Russian Empress Catherine the Great.
The most vivid pages of Russian history and the establishment and consolidation of Russian state power are associated with the eighteen Russian Tsars of the House of Romanov which include such historic names as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas I and Alexanders I, II and III. The dynasty ended with the brutal assassination of the last Tsar, Nicholas II and his family by the Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg in 1917.
The Romanov dynasty played a hugely important role in world history, and the series highlights the life stories and characters of the tsars, recounting their rise to power and their contribution to the dynasty, their merits and their faults, their achievements and mistakes, their victories and defeats in war.
The series also examines the Russian form of 'Caesarism' as a system of state administration - its advantages and drawbacks and how the Russian state changed under the Romanov's rule.
Here is the link:
https://youtu.be/ii7HgNJpkMQ
Mod
Both of them, Paul Petrovich and his son Alexander, were prepared to embrace power bypassing the direct heirs to the throne. But Paul had to wait for 34 years for 4 years of his rule. Alexander Pavlovich who most of all strived to live as private person and did not see himself as monarch, ruled the country with a heavy hand for almost quarter of a century. Emperor Paul I viewed himself as perfect medieval knight on the throne. His subjects considered him to be madman, were afraid of and hated him. Opposite to his father, Alexander I was able to conquer minds and hearts of people. He was called “The Blessed”. However, in his heart the emperor and autocrat of all the Russia, carried hell. To the end of his days…
The most vivid pages of Russian history and the establishment and consolidation of Russian state power are associated with the eighteen Russian Tsars of the House of Romanov which include such historic names as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas I and Alexanders I, II and III. The dynasty ended with the brutal assassination of the last Tsar, Nicholas II and his family by the Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg in 1917.
The Romanov dynasty played a hugely important role in world history, and the series highlights the life stories and characters of the tsars, recounting their rise to power and their contribution to the dynasty, their merits and their faults, their achievements and mistakes, their victories and defeats in war.
The series also examines the Russian form of 'Caesarism' as a system of state administration - its advantages and drawbacks and how the Russian state changed under the Romanov's rule.
Here is the link:
https://youtu.be/HooDdn_cuZs
Mod
Emperor Nicholas I Pavlovich started his 30-year rule with suppressing the Decembrist Revolt. On 14 December, 1825, the day of taking oaths by the new tsar, over a thousand people, including women and children, died. The revolt’s ringleaders were executed, the participants were sent to exile. Later, when Nicholas asked his son what he would have done if he had been the tsar, the young Alexander answered: “I would forgive”. Alexander II Nikolayevich went down in history as liberator. He succeeded in doing the thing that none of his predecessor was able to: he abolished serfdom. However, together with the emancipation of peasants, a new power, unknown before, but unstoppable, unleashed…
The most vivid pages of Russian history and the establishment and consolidation of Russian state power are associated with the eighteen Russian Tsars of the House of Romanov which include such historic names as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas I and Alexanders I, II and III. The dynasty ended with the brutal assassination of the last Tsar, Nicholas II and his family by the Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg in 1917.
The Romanov dynasty played a hugely important role in world history, and the series highlights the life stories and characters of the tsars, recounting their rise to power and their contribution to the dynasty, their merits and their faults, their achievements and mistakes, their victories and defeats in war.
The series also examines the Russian form of 'Caesarism' as a system of state administration - its advantages and drawbacks and how the Russian state changed under the Romanov's rule.
Here is the link:
https://youtu.be/bYfXWlflaws
Mod
It was 20 years before the beginning of the XX century. The country was in fever. Never before tsar’s power had been as unstable as at that time. It was Alexander III Aleksandrovich who had to take on responsibility for the future of the empire. He was able to extricate the country from economic crisis and turn it into one of the world’s mightiest powers. It was in this condition – at the peak of its power – that the country was inherited by Nicholas Aleksandrovich Romanov. Nobody could even guess at that time that the Russian Empire would collapse soon and Nicholas would be its last ruler, the last monarch of the great dynasty, the House of Romanov.
The most vivid pages of Russian history and the establishment and consolidation of Russian state power are associated with the eighteen Russian Tsars of the House of Romanov which include such historic names as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas I and Alexanders I, II and III. The dynasty ended with the brutal assassination of the last Tsar, Nicholas II and his family by the Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg in 1917.
The Romanov dynasty played a hugely important role in world history, and the series highlights the life stories and characters of the tsars, recounting their rise to power and their contribution to the dynasty, their merits and their faults, their achievements and mistakes, their victories and defeats in war.
The series also examines the Russian form of 'Caesarism' as a system of state administration - its advantages and drawbacks and how the Russian state changed under the Romanov's rule.
Here is the link:
https://youtu.be/gSlVgtwAcRA
Mod
by
by Simon Sebag MontefioreSynopsis:
Taking a break from writing about Stalin, eminent historian Simon Sebag Montefiore turns his attention to writing about the nearly 300-year imperial dynasty that ruled Russia up until the period of the Bolshevik Revolution.
Weighing in at 744 pages — and including accounts of boyars being tossed into freezing rivers and political rivals in the Kremlin being beheaded — this is not light beach reading. But there’s something wonderful and enchanting about reading about a bygone Russian imperial era.
And did we mention that the book cover design is absolutely gorgeous? Even if you don’t actually plan on reading all 744 pages, it would be an absolutely stunning aesthetic complement to any beautiful summer dacha picnic table, especially next to a golden Faberge egg.
Bentley wrote: "The Romanovs: 1613-1918 by by Simon Sebag MontefioreSynopsis:
Taking a break from writin..."
I am in the middle of this book and it is great. It's not a history of Russia or even a biography of any individual, it's more like a family portrait. Montefiore uses "scenes" instead of chapters - although the difference isn't that great. He writes really well.
And, along with the patricides, matricides, filicides, alcoholism, nymphomania, torture, dwarf tossing etc. we shouldn't forget that, on average, Russia grew by 55 square miles a day for the 300 years that the Romanovs were in charge.
Mod
Mod
1613 - National Council elects Michael Romanov as tsar, ending a long period of instability and foreign intervention. Romanov dynasty rules Russia until 1917 revolution.
1689-1725 - Peter the Great introduces far-reaching reforms, including a regular conscript army and navy, subordinating the Orthodox Church to himself and reorganising government structures along European lines.
1721 - Russia acquires territory of modern Estonia and Latvia after decades of war with Sweden, establishing naval presence in Baltic Sea and 'window on Europe'.
1772-1814 - Russia conquers Crimea, Ukraine, Georgia, and what later became Belarus, Moldova, as well as parts of Poland.
1798-1815 - Russia takes part in the European coalitions against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, defeating Napoleon's invasion in 1812 and contributing to his overthrow.
Army officers return home bringing liberal ideas from Europe, spurring efforts to rein in Romanov autocracy.
1825 - Abortive attempt by liberal army officers to establish constitutional government crushed in Decembrist Revolt.
1834-59 - Russia faces determined resistance to their bid to annex North Caucasus.
1853-57 - Russia suffers setback in attempt to seize territory from declining Ottoman Empire through its defeat in Crimean War.
1861 - Emancipation Edict ends serfdom but keeps peasants tied to the land through continuing labour obligations; rapid industrialisation leads to growth of a small working class and the spread of revolutionary ideas.
1864-65 - Kazakh steppes and Central Asian Muslim states annexed.
1877-78 - Russian-Turkish War sees Russia seize land from Ottoman Empire in the Caucasus and establish client states in the Balkans.
1897 - Marxist Social Democratic Party founded, and in 1903 splits into Menshevik and more radical Bolshevik factions.
1904-05 - Russian expansion in Manchuria leads to war with Japan - and the 1905 revolution, which forced Tsar Nicholas II to grant a constitution and establish a parliament, the Duma.
1906-1911 - Constitutional rule in tempered by authoritarian government of Peter Stolypin, whose attempts to reform land ownership were only partly successful.
1914 - Russian-Austrian rivalry in Balkans contributes to outbreak of World War I, in which Russia fought alongside Britain and France.
Source: BBC
The Devastating True Story of the Romanov Family's Executionby SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE
At about 1 a.m. on July 17, 1918, in a fortified mansion in the town of Ekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains, the Romanovs—ex-tsar Nicholas II, ex-tsarina Alexandra, their five children, and their four remaining servants, including the loyal family doctor, Eugene Botkin—were awoken by their Bolshevik captors and told they must dress and gather their belongings for a swift nocturnal departure. The White armies, which supported the tsar, were approaching; the prisoners could already hear the boom of the big guns. They gathered in the cellar of the mansion, standing together almost as if they were posing for a family portrait. Alexandra, who was sick, asked for a chair, and Nicholas asked for another one for his only son, 13-year-old Alexei. Two were brought down. They waited there until, suddenly, 11 or 12 heavily armed men filed ominously into the room.
What happened next—the slaughter of the family and servants—was one of the seminal events of the 20th century, a wanton massacre that shocked the world and still inspires a terrible fascination today. A 300-year-old imperial dynasty, one marked by periods of glorious achievement as well as staggering hubris and ineptitude, was swiftly brought to an end. But while the Romanovs' political reign was over, the story of the line's last ruler and his family was most certainly not.
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia with Tsarina Alexandra and their children Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia, and Tsarevich Alexei
For the better part of the 20th century the bodies of the victims lay in two unmarked graves, the locations of which were kept secret by Soviet leaders. In 1979 amateur historians discovered the remains of Nicholas, Alexandra, and three daughters (Olga, Tatiana, and Anastasia). In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the graves were reopened and the identities of the interred confirmed by DNA testing. In a ceremony in 1998 attended by Russian president Boris Yeltsin and 50 or so Romanov relatives, the remains were reburied in the family crypt in St. Petersburg. When the partial remains of two skeletons believed to be the remaining Romanov children, Alexei and Maria, were found in 2007 and similarly tested, most people assumed they would be reburied there as well.
Instead, events took a strange turn. Even though both sets of remains were identified by teams of top international scientists, who compared recovered DNA to samples from living Romanov relatives, members of the Russian Orthodox Church questioned the validity of the findings. More research was needed, they claimed. Rather than rebury Alexei and Maria, the authorities stored them in a box in a state archive until 2015 and then turned them over to the church for further examination.
Last fall the official state investigation of the tsar's murder was reopened, and Nicholas and Alexandra were exhumed, as was Nicholas's father, Alexander III. Since then there have been conflicting reports from government and church officials on when, or if, the entire Romanov family will be reburied and reunited, even if only in death.
Had Nicholas II died after the first 10 years of his reign (he came to power in 1894), he would have been regarded as a moderately successful emperor. Ultimately, though, his well-intentioned but weak personality—which also comprised duplicity, obstinacy, and delusion—contributed to the disasters that befell the dynasty and Russia.
He was handsome and blue-eyed but diminutive and hardly majestic, and his looks and immaculate manners concealed an astonishing arrogance, contempt for the educated political classes, vicious anti-Semitism, and an unshakable belief in his right to rule as a sacred autocrat. He was jealous of his ministers, and he possessed the unfortunate ability to make himself utterly distrusted by his own government.
His marriage to Princess Alexandra of Hesse only exacerbated these qualities. Theirs was a love match, which was unusual for the times, but both Nicholas's father and Alexandra's grandmother, Queen Victoria of England, regarded her as too unstable to succeed as empress. She brought to the relationship paranoia, mystical fanaticism, and a vindictive and steely will. Also, through no fault of her own, she brought the "royal disease" (hemophilia) into the family and passed it to her son, the imperial heir, Tsarevich Alexei, undermining the power of the family and distorting their interests.
The personal inadequacies of Nicholas and Alexandra led them both to seek support and advice from Grigori Rasputin, a holy man whose notorious sexual promiscuity, hard drinking, and corrupt and inept political machinations in their name further isolated the couple from the government and people of Russia. The crisis of World War I placed the fragile regime under intolerable stress. In February 1917, Nicholas II lost control of protests in St. Petersburg (which had been renamed Petrograd during the war to sound less German) and was soon forced to abdicate, replaced by a republic under a provisional government.
The 1998 reburial of the Romanovs was a solemn state event meant to showcase the Russian nation's reconciliation with its past. In a televised procession, soldiers in dress uniform carried coffins down a red carpet, past Romanov descendants and assembled dignitaries, and into the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. President Yeltsin, a former Communist Party leader, told those gathered that the lesson of the 20th century was that political change must never again be enforced by violence.
Priests from the resurgent Russian Orthodox Church offered blessings, but, notably, the patriarch of the church was not in attendance. At that time the Orthodox Church, which had been an intrinsic part of the Romanov system of rule, was reestablishing itself as a national power. Many members of its hierarchy resented the fact that the burial ceremony had been directed almost entirely by Yeltsin's secular political agenda to promote a liberal democratic Russia.
The burial ceremony for the remains of Tsar Nicholas II and his family at St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg"
A decade later scientists announced that the two bodies found in the second grave were Alexei and Maria. This time the church publicly objected to the findings of the "foreign experts" (many members of the forensic teams were American) and even questioned the earlier identifications of Nicholas and the others. The church had canonized the family in 2000, which meant that any physical remains were now holy relics. It was essential, the church maintained, that it have a role in making sure the bodies were correctly identified.
Yeltsin had resigned the presidency of the Russian Federation in 1999 and handed over power to a little-known ex-KGB colonel named Vladimir Putin. The young leader regarded the fall of the USSR as "the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century," and as soon as he took office he started centralizing power, reining in foreign influences and promoting a combination of nationalism, Orthodox faith, and aggressive foreign policy. It was an effective approach that, ironically, could have been taken from any number of Romanov tsars' playbooks.
Putin was no closet royalist, but he was an admirer of the autocracy perfected by the Romanovs. Though born under Soviet communism, he had a pragmatist's understanding of history, in particular the fact that the most forceful leaders of Russia, from Peter the Great to Catherine the Great to Joseph Stalin, had managed to personify the essence of not just the state but the Russian soul, and Russia's uniqueness in world history. Like the first Romanov rulers, Putin came to power during a time of troubles, and like his forebears he set about restoring the power of the state and the persona of its ruler.
Read the remainder of the article: http://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/...
Discussion Topics
a) What are some comparisons between President Putin and the Romanov tsars?
b) Did anything surprise you about the execution of the Romanovs, such as the extraordinary violence or the role that jewels played in prolonging the event?
c) What are your thoughts about the Russian Orthodox church's objection to the DNA findings and its part in delaying a final burial of the Romanovs?
Source: Town and Country Magazine
Rasputin - the mystical advisor's rise and fall
Grigori Rasputin 1916; credit Wikimedia Commons
This BBC documentary examines the last days of Rasputin (44-minute video):
https://youtu.be/r1tNZ9iuA_g
More:
Discovery's episode on Rasputin (23 minutes):
https://youtu.be/TH260P4IwA8
Other:
Biography's short description of Rasputin's life
http://www.biography.com/people/raspu...
Rasputin is murdered: December 30, 1916
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-hi...
Rasputin's murder 100 years later
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history...
Books on Rasputin
by
Frances Welch
by
Douglas Smith
by Joseph T. Fuhrmann (no photo)Discussion Topics
1) Why do you think Rasputin continues to be a fascinating character more than 100 years after his death?
2) Since so much of Rasputin's life is shrouded by rumor, what do you think motivated him to gain access and strive for influence within the Romanov family?
Mod
Vicki wrote: "Love the picture of Rasputin, Mary."His eyes are definitely intense!
Crimea and Russia Over the centuries, control of Crimea has changed hands multiple times by entities including the ancient Greeks, the Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate, the Ottoman Empire, and the Russian Empire. In the 20th century, the Russian and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republics held their respective sway. More recently, the Russian Federation annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, an act contested by Ukraine and many other countries to no avail.
Crimea; Credit: Business Insider
Russian influence on the peninsula stems from the 18th century, when Catherine the Great annexed it and established Sevastopol as a Black Sea base for the navy. The Ottoman History podcast, "Crimea and the Russian Empire," is a lively discussion about Russia's annexation of Crimea in 1783 at a time when the empire was increasingly in competition with the Ottoman Empire, and the implications of this annexation for today.
Crimea was long the home of Tatars, a Turkic people who established a Muslim state that remained a powerful center of Islamic civilization until the Russian annexation. Over time, Russians and Ukrainians settled there, and the region became a popular tourist area for its beaches and sunny weather. Today, Russians comprise 65% of Crimea's population, a factor that led to the "yes" outcome of the contested 2014 referendum for annexation to the Russian Federation.
Sevastopol, Crimea; Credit: Al Jazeera
More:
Crimea and the Russian Empire
https://soundcloud.com/ottoman-histor...
Other:
Crimea Profile
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-...
Europe's Forgotten Wound
https://www.unian.info/politics/18771...
Discussion Topic:
1. In your opinion, was Russia's annexation of Crimea legal? Do the Russians have a case for reclaiming this territory?
2. Russia is moving its 2018 presidential election date to March 18 to commemorate Putin's signing the treaty that brought Crimea back to Russia. What is the significance of this action?
Mary
Admin (T) - Russia and Russian History
Mary wrote: "Rasputin - the mystical advisor's rise and fallGrigori Rasputin 1916; credit Wikimedia Commons
This BBC documentary examines the last days of Rasputin (44-minute video):
https://youtu.be/r1tNZ9i..."
I hate to admit this but I thought Rasputin was a fairy tale character....no, not Rumplestiltskin....now I will have to check him out.
Mod
Mod
Costa wrote - Hi,
I am really interested to read more about the Romanovs/especially the last Tsar and their story. I just finished 'Nicholas and Alexandra' by Robert K. Massie as its an 'overview' of their life from when they were born to when they died.
I have about 9 books that I have on the 'want to read' list These books I want to read, e.g 'The Romanovs: The Final Chapter', do they go over the same things that I have already read or is it new and interesting?
I presume they have not been written for new readers of this fascinating piece of history? And you read something, you already know about, but in more detail?Robert K. Massie
Thanks!
by
Robert K. Massie
by
The Romanovs did not come to power smoothly. The "Time of Troubles" that saw their dynasty ascend to the imperial throne is chronicled here a lot less politically distorted than in the Russian movie 1612: Russia’s First Civil War : The Time of Troubles and the Founding of the Romanov Dynasty
by Chester S. L. Dunning (no photo)Synopsis:
The Time of Troubles was a period of great upheaval in Russian history. It began when the ancient ruling dynasty died out in 1598 and Boris Godunov defeated rival boyars to become the tsar. For more than a decade thereafter, Russia was plagued by dynastic struggle, devastating famine, widespread uprisings, and invasion by Polish and Swedish armies. The Time of Troubles finally ended in 1613 with the establishment of the Romanovs as the ruling dynasty. Russia's state crisis had been so severe that it nearly destroyed the country and seriously delayed its emergence as a great power. Ever since then the Time of Troubles has occupied a unique place in Russia's collective memory.
Russia's First Civil War is the first major post-Marxist reassessment of the Time of Troubles and the first detailed study of that tragic era in English. Historians have long misinterpreted popular uprisings during the Time of Troubles as the first social revolution of the Russian masses against serfdom. Dunning overturns this view and demonstrates that at the heart of the "Troubles" was a long and extremely violent civil war that divided Russian society vertically instead of horizontally. He shows that serfs did not actively participate in the civil war and that the abolition of serfdom was never a rebel goal. Instead, most rebels were petty gentry, professional soldiers, townsmen, and cossacks who were united in fierce opposition to tsars they believed to be illegitimate usurpers.
Based upon exhaustive research, Russia's First Civil War is a masterly mix of social and military history, firmly placing the Time of Troubles in the context of the waves of wars and rebellions that swept through early modern Europeand Asia.
P.S. An abridged version was released in 2004:
A Short History of Russia's First Civil War: The Time of Troubles and the Founding of the Romanov Dynasty
by Chester S. L. Dunning (no photo)
Message 14:This is the first NF book that I’ve read on any Russian subject so if I seem ignorant, it’s probably because I am!
a. Both the early tsars and Putin came to power during a time of troubles. Both set out restoring Russia’s power by focusing on nationalism and Russia’s uniqueness in the World.
b. There has been so much violence in our World’s history and its present. So what surprised me was the author’s comment that the execution was so violent that he left part of that out of his book. We hear so much violence on the news that I can’t imagine what he thought he must leave out. Some people might be upset at the censorship; I am not.
Another thing that surprised me is that the jewels prolonged the execution. I cant picture that many jewels in my underwear (especially from that time period) that it would stop bullets, nor can I imagine being able to stand or walk in that underwear if it did hold that many jewels. Wouldn’t that be heavy?
c. I don't understand the Church’s objection. It has a ring of fraud or something of that nature to it, but I don't know enough about the Church to guess at motive. I’m interested in reading what others have to say.
Hi, is this where we talk about the book on the Romanovs by Simon Sebag Montefiore?
by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Hi! I started reading
The Romanovs: 1613-1918 by
Simon Sebag Montefiore this month too. Looking forward to this discussion on it!
Lucy
Me too! There are so many things happening with the Romanovs that maybe we don't know what to say........
Is there still going to be a discussion about this book this month? I just got it and was looking forward to adding to the narrative. Is anyone moderating it?
Just finished reading the introduction, the prologue and "Scene One" about Michael, the first Romanov to become Tsar.I'm really impressed with Sebag Montefiore's focus on the type of book he is writing (ie 'a study of character' and 'also a portrait of absolutism in Russia'), and his command of primary and secondary sources.
Instead of having to plough through tomes of Russian history volumes, this book succinctly and entertainingly (and accurately) guides the reader through this era (between Ivan the Terrible and The Russian Revolution)
Now I understand who the Cossacks are. I'm finding the author's footnotes helpful in filling out information mentioned in the text.
Really enjoying reading this book.
I started this book as well and look forward to discussing. I know scarily little about Russian history, and find this a great overview....well written and interesting. It’s a shame that many of the people in history who were major transitional figures - in this case Peter The Great “westernizing” Russia - were also what can only be described as power hungry, evil doers.
I just read through Peter The Great’s death and look forward to reading the rest of the book.
Did the way the Tsar picked his brides remind anyone else of The Bachelor?
Good point Mark, except I’m not sure anyone would want to go to Ivan the Terrible’s Brideshow.
I don't think Peter the Great would survive the "metoo" movement...Remind me not to wish travel back to that time and place.
I'm about 1/4 through. A good read. An example of truth being stranger than fiction. The butchery of that time and place is stupefying.
Yep, pretty horrific what they did to each other.
Peter wrote: "Bentley wrote: "The Romanovs: 1613-1918 by by Simon Sebag MontefioreSynopsis:
Taking a b..."
Peter, you've got this in a nutshell.
I'm like about half way, I noticed how the social context is kind of there in the background. So far, this book is more like reading a soap opera, yeah entertaining and at times v dramatic but I was also looking for a broader sense of Russia's history and how The Romanov's fit in with that.
Mind you, before I started reading this I knew very little about this family.
Inkspill wrote: "Peter wrote: "Bentley wrote: "The Romanovs: 1613-1918 by by Simon Sebag MontefioreSynopsi..."
This book provided a little more outside context:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
I love to read about the romanovs and I think this one put them into the context of their time, if you're looking for another romanov book.
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Amanda wrote: "Inkspill wrote: "Peter wrote: "Bentley wrote: "The Romanovs: 1613-1918 by by [author:Simon Sebag Montefiore..."Hi Amanda, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm almost 2/3 through and yeah it gives a sense of the family but I think it just kind of touches on the broader social context. However, I'm guessing covering 3 centuries of a family is enough to fit one book.
Thanks for the suggestion, I hope to read more about Russian history down the line and will keep it in mind.
Kind of going off topic, the TV show https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rom...it's enetertaining, quirky, different where each episode is a different story and has a link to the Romanov family, or rather their (I'm guessing, fictional) descendants.
I've finished reading this. I was aware of how this ends for the family but still it was a shock to read.And in reading this book there were loads of new bits of info that gave me a new insight to (example) how I thought WW1 started. I also did not realise that other members of the Romanov were murdered.
I also liked how Montifiore draws on the irony of Russian leaders follow the same model to rule as the Romanovs. After I climatised to the style, this was an interesting read.
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I will be setting up a buddy read for the book if you want to participate there.
Bentley wrote: "Glad you found a way to discuss the book. I will be setting up a buddy read for the book if you want to participate there."
Thanks Bentley, if I get a chance I'll chime in. It was interesting for me to compare the last part with Nicholas and Alexandra.
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We would love to hear your comments and comparisons.
When you get a chance - just add the full citation for Nicholas and Alexandra. Very much appreciated.
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Robert K. Massie
The History Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (other topics)Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (other topics)
The Romanovs, 1613-1918 (other topics)
The Romanovs, 1613-1918 (other topics)
The Romanovs, 1613-1918 (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Robert K. Massie (other topics)Simon Sebag Montefiore (other topics)
Simon Sebag Montefiore (other topics)
Simon Sebag Montefiore (other topics)
Simon Sebag Montefiore (other topics)
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Romanov dynasty, rulers of Russia from 1613 until the Russian Revolution of February 1917.
Peter I: Portrait
Descendants of Andrey Ivanovich Kobyla (Kambila), a Muscovite boyar who lived during the reign of the grand prince of Moscow Ivan I Kalita (reigned 1328–41), the Romanovs acquired their name from Roman Yurev (died 1543), whose daughter Anastasiya Romanovna Zakharina-Yureva was the first wife of Ivan IV the Terrible (reigned as tsar 1547–84).
Her brother Nikita’s children took the surname Romanov in honour of their grandfather, father of a tsarina. After Fyodor I (the last ruler of the Rurik dynasty) died in 1598, Russia endured 15 chaotic years known as the Time of Troubles (1598–1613), which ended when a zemsky sobor (“assembly of the land”) elected Nikita’s grandson, Michael Romanov, as the new tsar.
The Romanovs established no regular pattern of succession until 1797. During the first century of their rule they generally followed the custom (held over from the late Rurik rulers) of passing the throne to the tsar’s eldest son or, if he had no son, to his closest senior male relative. Thus Alexis (reigned 1645–76) succeeded his father, Michael (reigned 1613–45), and Fyodor III (reigned 1676–82) succeeded his father, Alexis. But after Fyodor’s death, both his brother Ivan and his half-brother Peter vied for the throne. Although a zemsky sobor chose Peter as the new tsar, Ivan’s family, supported by the streltsy, staged a palace revolution; and Ivan V and Peter I jointly assumed the throne (1682).
After Peter became sole ruler (1696), he formulated a law of succession (February 5 [February 16, New Style], 1722), which gave the monarch the right to choose his successor. Peter himself (who was the first tsar to be named emperor) was unable to take advantage of this decree, however, and throughout the 18th century the succession remained vexed. Peter left the throne to his wife, Catherine I, who was a Romanov only by right of marriage. On Catherine I’s death, however, in 1727, the throne reverted to Peter I’s grandson Peter II. When the latter died (1730), Ivan V’s second surviving daughter, Anna, became empress. On Anna’s death (1740), her elder sister’s daughter Anna Leopoldovna, whose father belonged to the house of Mecklenburg, assumed the regency for her son Ivan VI, of the house of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, but in 1741 this Ivan VI was deposed in favour of Elizabeth, daughter of Peter I and Catherine I. With Elizabeth, the Romanovs of the male line died out in 1762, but the name was conserved by the branch of the house of Holstein-Gottorp that then mounted the Russian throne in the person of Elizabeth’s nephew Peter III. From 1762 to 1796 Peter III’s widow, a German princess of the house of Anhalt-Zerbst, ruled as Catherine II. With Paul I, Peter III’s son, a Romanov of Holstein-Gottorp became emperor again.
On April 5, 1797 (Old Style), Paul I changed the succession law, establishing a definite order of succession for members of the Romanov family. He was murdered by conspirators supporting his son Alexander I (reigned 1801–25), and the succession following Alexander’s death was confused because the rightful heir, Alexander’s brother Constantine, secretly declined the throne in favour of another brother, Nicholas I, who ruled from 1825 to 1855. Thereafter the succession followed Paul’s rules: Alexander II, 1855–81; Alexander III, 1881–94; and Nicholas II, 1894–1917.
On March 2 (March 15, New Style), 1917, Nicholas II abdicated the throne in favour of his brother Michael, who refused it the following day. Nicholas and all his immediate family were executed in July 1918 at Yekaterinburg.
Source: Encyclopedia Britannica