Tsarina alexandra of russia biography of donald

Milyukov persuaded David Lloyd Georgeto offer the family political asylum in Britain.

Tsarina alexandra of russia biography of donald: Alexandra Feodorovna was consort

However, King George Vwho feared that the presence of Nicholas would endanger his own throne, forced Lloyd George to withdraw the offer. Nicholas and his family were moved to the remote Siberian city of Ekaterinburg where he was held captive by a group of Bolsheviks. Alexandra Fyodorovna, her husband and children, were executed on 16th July Our souls are fighting for the right against the evil.

You are proving yourself the Autocrat without which Russia cannot exist. God anointed you in your coronation and God, who is always near you, will save your country and throne through your firmness. Profiting by the Tsar's arrival at Tsarskoe I asked for an audience and was received by him on March 8th. No one opens your eyes to the true role which this man Rasputin is playing.

His presence in Your Majesty's Court undermines confidence in the Supreme Power and may have an evil effect on the fate of the dynasty and turn the hearts of the people from their Emperor". My report did some good. On March 11th an order was issued sending Rasputin to Tobolsk; but a few days later, at the demand of the Empress, the order was cancelled.

The Tsarina's blind faith in Rasputin led her to seek his counsel not only in personal matters but also on questions of state policy. General Alekseyev, held in tsarina alexandra of russia biography of donald esteem by Nicholas II, tried to talk to the Tsarina about Rasputin, but only succeeded in making an implacable enemy of her.

General Alexseyev told me later about his profound concern on learning that a secret map of military operations had found its way into the Tsarina's hands. But like many others, he was powerless to take any action. On January 19, Goremykin was replaced by Sturmer, an extreme reactionary who hated the very idea of any form of popular representation or local self-government.

Even more important, he was undoubtedly a believer in the need for an immediate cessation of the war with Germany. During the last years of her life, Alexandra was to bear the heavy burden of being identified with Germany, Russia's most dangerous opponent in World War I. The young princess was a child with a happy disposition—her childhood nickname was "Sunny," and Nicholas used it in writing to her throughout their year marriage.

But tragedy entered her life in when first her small sister, then her mother Alice Maud Marydied of diphtheria. Alix was raised by governesses, but a constant presence in her life was her grandmother, Queen Victoria of Great Britain. InAlix accompanied Victoria to Russia for the marriage of her sister Ella to a member of the Russian imperial family.

On a second trip to visit Ella inshe and Nicholas fell in love. Following her marriage, Alexandra plunged into much of Russian life: she enthusiastically practiced the Eastern Orthodox version of Christianity, which was the official religion. She appointed herself her new husband's "guardian angel" in commenting on how he led his country. At the same time, the new empress kept herself aloof.

She disliked most members of the court, and she equally disliked appearing in public. Name variations: Alice Saxe-Coburg. May —, who died of diphtheria in infancy, the same year as her mother. Despite her isolation, Alexandra was confident of her understanding of the Russian people's wishes. She took advantage of her ability to dominate her vacillating husband and urged Nicholas—who did not need urging—to resist any moves to change the top heavy political system.

But her focus was on her family duties and the pressing need to provide heirs to the throne. Her first four children were girls, all of whom grew to be attractive young women. The male heir, needed for political reasons, came only inand the boy, Alexis, suffered from a dreadful illness—hemophilia—for which his mother felt deeply responsible.

Hemophilia was a hereditary disease passed down to a child by its mother. Alexandra searched desperately for people outside the regular medical community who could help her imperilled son. A cavalcade of unlicensed healers found they were welcomed at the palace. Outside the palace, popular unrest was rising. The economic strains of the Russo-Japanese War and the failure of the government to lead the nation effectively were having their effect.

In Januaryon " Bloody Sunday ," tsarinas alexandra of russia biography of donald of Russians tried to petition the tsar to help them. The country was shaken by strikes, peasant unrest, and a growing call for political change. By the fall ofthe empire was paralyzed by a general strike. Everyone from bakers to ballet dancers refused to work. The tsar found himself compelled to issue the "October Manifesto," granting the two concessions he had always rejected: the creation of a Duma with the power to make laws, and a Constitution.

The Revolution of had apparently overturned much of the old order, but Nicholas remained stubbornly committed to the outmoded ways. Almost from the moment he issued the October Manifesto, Nicholas showed his distaste for the changes that had been forced upon him. In earlyridding himself of Finance Minister Sergei Witte, the architect and first prime minister under the new system, Nicholas insisted on keeping the title of "autocrat" or unlimited monarch.

He repeatedly restricted the power of the Duma and frequently spoke of eliminating it entirely. As Russia remained torn by internal divisions after the Revolution ofthe tsar's prestige continued to decline. Exerting an important influence on him, the Empress Alexandra strengthened Nicholas' own conservative inclinations, in particular his view that restrictions on his power violated Russia's political and religious heritage.

She insisted to her "Nicky" that he play the role of a strong, unmovable monarch, a fitting descendant of Peter the Great in the 18th century. Finally, in a way that tied the troubles of the imperial family to the looming tragedy of the Russian state, a Siberian peasant and self-proclaimed holy man named Rasputin was introduced to the empress and her husband in late Rasputin's ability to treat Alexis' hemophilia gave him increasing psychological control over the empress.

Russia's more capable political leaders, like the Prime Minister Peter Stolypin, became alarmed when word of Rasputin's scandalous sexual behavior became the talk of the capital. Inevitably, the smutty stories grew to stain Alexandra's reputation. Stolypin managed to expel Rasputin from St. Petersburg inbut, the following year, the holy man gained an unshakable hold over Alexandra and the imperial family by seeming to save young Alexis from a critical attack of hemophilia.

In AugustAlexandra's adopted country went to war with Germany, the country of her birth. Rumors swirled about what loyalties the empress, who had removed herself from public view for years, really held. Alexandra gave the Russian people no answer that might have alleviated their concerns. Along with her daughters, she qualified as a nurse and tended the wounded during WWI, but she was careful to do this away from the public eye.

At the same time, she went on playing guardian angel to stiffen and supervise her "Boysy," her indecisive husband. Ironically, Nicholas, who was so vulnerable to his wife's wishes, held political powers that made him the most significant monarch in Europe. She declared that Vladimir's sons KirillBoris and Andrei were irredeemably immoral. In she refused Boris's proposal for the hand of Grand Duchess Olga.

Insecure about her modest origins as a minor German princess, Alexandra insisted on being treated with the full honors due to an empress. In Alexandra and Nicholas went on a European tour. When Wilhelm II lent her an antique silver toilette service that had once belonged to his great-grandmother, Queen Louise of Prussiashe was insulted and declared that only a gold service was suitable for an empress.

She dressed herself "with great magnificence". Alexandra refused to court the public because she believed that the Russian people automatically loved and revered their emperor and empress. When she and Nicholas were traveling to Crimea by train, hundreds of peasants wore their best clothes and waited overnight to see the imperial couple. Nicholas went to the window and waved, but Alexandra refused to open the curtains and acknowledge the crowd.

Dowager Empress Maria was furious that "[Alexandra] thinks the Imperial family should be 'above that sort of thing. Above winning the people's affection? And yet, how often she complains of the public indifference toward her. It is your first duty to win their love and respect. Here we do not need to earn the love of the people. The Russian people revere their Tsars as divine beings As far as Petersburg society is concerned, that is something which one may wholly disregard.

On 15 NovemberAlexandra gave birth to her eldest child and daughter, Olgaat the Alexander Palace. Many Russians and members of the imperial family were disappointed in the sex of the child, but Nicholas and Alexandra were delighted with their daughter and doted on her. If Alexandra did not bear a son, Nicholas's heirs would be his brothers and uncles.

However few worried because Alexandra was only 23, so she was expected to be able to bear a son soon. A few months after giving birth to Olga Alexandra was pregnant again. Owing to the stress of the coronation she had a miscarriage. However there were unfounded and malicious rumors in St Petersburg that Alexandra had become pregnant by a lover and aborted the baby to hide her infidelity.

On 10 June Alexandra gave birth to her second child and daughter, Tatiana. Nicholas was overjoyed but the members of his family were unhappy and worried.

Tsarina alexandra of russia biography of donald: Alexandra Feodorovna born Princess

When she woke up from the chloroform, Alexandra saw the "anxious and troubled faces" around her and "burst into loud hysterics. What will the nation say, what will the nation say? Nicholas's brother George said that he was disappointed not to have a nephew to relieve him of his duties as heir: "I was already preparing to go into retirement, but it was not to be.

On 26 June Alexandra gave birth to her third child and daughter, Maria. Queen Victoria sent Alexandra a telegram when Maria was born: "I am so thankful that dear Alicky has recovered so well, but I regret the third girl for the country. The whole of Russia will be disappointed by this news. Two weeks after Maria's birth, Nicholas's brother George died and their younger brother Michael became the heir presumptive to the throne.

Courtiers flocked to Michael and treated him as the heir apparent, which distressed Alexandra. In October Nicholas became ill with abdominal typhus and was confined to bed for five weeks. The cabinet were forced to discuss what would happen if Nicholas died. Alexandra was pregnant with her fourth child, and she insisted that she be named regent in the hope that she would bear a son.

However Nicholas's ministers refused: If Nicholas died, Michael would become tsar. If Alexandra's baby was a boy, Michael would renounce the throne in his nephew's favor. Alexandra was not satisfied and she grew to distrust Nicholas's ministers for trying to "steal" her future son's inheritance. On 18 June Alexandra gave birth to Anastasia.

What a disappointment! Thanks to her nefarious influence our Emperor is doomed to catastrophe. Alexandra and Nicholas turned to the faith in hopes of having a son. He was an unlicensed quack who claimed that he could use his magnetic powers to change the sex of a baby inside the womb. Nicholas's mother Mariasister Xenia and sister-in-law Ella were alarmed and warned him and Alexandra to stay away from Philippe, but the imperial couple did not heed their advice.

In the end of Alexandra seemed to have become pregnant again and Philippe swore that she was carrying a boy.

Tsarina alexandra of russia biography of donald: Alix of Hess-Darmstadt was

By the summer of it was clear that the Empress was not pregnant. Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia wrote, "From 8 August we have been waiting every day for confirmation of the Empress's pregnancy. Now we have suddenly learned that she is not pregnant, indeed that there never was any pregnancy, and that the symptoms that led to tsarina alexandra of russia biography of donald it were in fact only anaemia!

On 19 August she had suffered a discharge of "a spherical, fleshy mass the size of a walnut", [ 69 ] which Dr Dmitry Ott confirmed was a dead fertilized egg in the fourth week of gestation. To save face, the court physicians published a bulletin on 21 August claiming that Alexandra had "a straightforward miscarriage, without any complications.

In Alexandra and Nicholas decided to support the canonisation of Seraphim of Sarov. Before he left Russia Philippe told them that Seraphim would grant Alexandra a son. Seraphim had been a monk in the Tambov region who had supposedly performed local miracles and had been dead for seventy years. The Metropolitan of Moscow reluctantly agreed to canonize the saint.

On 19 August Alexandra and Nicholas bathed in the Sarov Spring in which Seraphim had once bathed and prayed that the sacred waters would bless them with a son. In Alexandra became pregnant. There was high anticipation for a son. As her due date drew near, a newspaper noted that "a few days will decide whether the Czarina is to be the most popular woman in Russia, or regarded by the great bulk of the people as a castaway — under the special wrath of God.

Alexei's birth affirmed Nicholas and Alexandra's faith in Philippe. In her diary Nicholas's sister Olga wrote, "I am sure it was Seraphim who brought it about. Alexandra had a distant relationship with Olga. Her letters to Olga include frequent reminders to mind her siblings: "Remember above all to always be a good example to the little ones" [ 75 ] and "Try to have a serious word with Tatiana and Maria about how they should conduct themselves towards God.

Olga preferred her father. Alexandra was closest to her second daughter, Tatiana. She was described by her paternal aunt Xenia: "[Tatiana] and her mother are like as two peas in a pod! During the family's final months, she helped her mother by pushing her about the house in a wheelchair. Maria felt insecure about her role in the family, and Alexandra frequently assured Maria that she was as loved as her siblings: "Sweet child you must promise me never again to think that nobody loves you.

How did such an extraordinary idea get into your little head? Get it quickly out again. Anastasia physically resembled Alexandra, but her boisterous, mischievous personality was very different from her mother's. She was dubbed the shvibzik, Russian for "imp. Alexandra doted on Alexei because he was her only son and the heir to the Russian Empire.

The children's tutor Pierre Gilliard wrote, "Alexei was the centre of a united family, the focus of all its hopes and affections. His sisters worshipped him. He was his parents' pride and joy. When he was well, the palace was transformed. Everyone and everything in it seemed bathed in sunshine. According to Gilliard, she "press[ed] the little boy to her with the convulsive movement of a mother who always seems in fear of her child's life.

She feared that he would injure himself in tantrums, so she spoiled him and never punished him. Despite her fears of never bearing a son, Alexandra loved her daughters and called them her "little four-leaved clover". Alexandra's health was never robust and her frequent pregnancies, with four daughters in six years and her son three years after, drew from her energy.

Her biographers, including Robert K. MassieCarolly EricksonGreg Kingand Peter Kurth, attribute the semi-invalidism of her later years to nervous exhaustion from obsessive worry over the fragile tsarevich, who suffered from hemophilia. She spent most of her time in bed or reclining on a chaise in her boudoir or on a veranda. This immobility enabled her to avoid the social occasions that she found distasteful.

Alexandra regularly took a herbal medicine known as adonis vernalis in order to regulate her pulse. She was constantly tired, slept badly, and complained of swollen feet. She ate little, but never lost weight except for the last year of her life. She may have suffered from Graves disease hyperthyroidisma condition resulting in high levels of the thyroid hormone, which can also result in atrial fibrillationpoor heartbeat and lack of energy.

Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia was heir apparent to the throne of Russia and the only son of Nicholas and Alexandra. Shortly after his birth, the court doctors realized that he had hemophilia. After his umbilical cord was cut, his stomach bled for days and his blood did not clot. Alexandra's brother, Friedrichand maternal uncle Prince Leopold, Duke of Albanyhad died young of hemophilia.

Alexandra's sister Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine and first cousin Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg were also carriers of the hemophilia gene and had hemophiliac sons. Alexandra felt immense guilt that she had passed down the disease to her son. Shortly after Alexei's diagnosis, she wept and told the nurse, "If only you knew how fervently I've prayed for God to protect my son from our inherited curse.

As the incurable illness threatened the sole son and heir of the emperor, the imperial family decided to keep his condition secret from the Russian people. They wanted to limit social instability because of uncertainty. At first Alexandra turned to Russian doctors to treat Alexei. Their treatments generally failed. Burdened with the threats to her son from any fall or cut, Alexandra turned toward faith for comfort.

She studied the Orthodox faith and saints and spent hours daily praying in her private chapel for deliverance. Grigori Rasputina peasant from Siberia, appeared to have a cure for her son by praying for him and became powerful in court as a result. Over time Alexandra grew to believe that Rasputin was the only man who could save her son's life.

Rasputin was straightforward with Alexandra and told her, "Neither the Emperor nor you can do without me. If I am not there to protect you, you will lose your son The director of the national police told Alexandra that a drunk Rasputin had exposed himself at a popular Moscow restaurant and bragged that Nicholas gave him sexual access to her, but she blamed the account on malicious gossip.

Pierre Gilliard wrote, "He did not like to send Rasputin away, for if Alexei died, in the eyes of the mother, he would have been the murderer of his own son. From the start members of the court exchanged gossip about Rasputin. Although some of St Petersburg's top clergy accepted him as a living prophet, others angrily denounced him as a fraud and a heretic.

Made-up stories from his life in Siberia were heard in St. For instance he was said to conduct weddings for villagers in exchange for sleeping on the first night with the bride. He lived in St Petersburg with his two daughters and two housekeepers and was often visited by persons seeking his blessing, a healing or a favour from the tsarina.

Women, enchanted by the tsarina alexandra of russia biography of donald, also came to Rasputin for advice and individual blessings and received a private audience in his apartment, jokingly called the "Holy of Holies". Rasputin liked to preach a unique theology that one must become familiar with sin before having a chance to overcome it.

Alexandra sat for days at his bedside and she rarely ate or slept. The doctors expected Alexei to die and a priest performed his last rites. The court officials prepared an official telegram to announce the death of the tsarevich. In desperation Alexandra sent a telegram to Rasputin, who replied: "God has seen your tears and heard your prayers.

Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much. From Alexandra came to rely increasingly on Rasputin and to believe in his ability to ease Alexei's suffering. It looked as if this reliance enhanced Rasputin's political power, but it is hard to detach gossips from the truth. His role in the court seriously undermined Romanov rule during the First World War.

Rasputin was assassinated to end his perceived interference in political matters on 30 December And I knew nothing of it! This is the end of everything. Alexandra's ties to Germany made her more unpopular among some societies in Russia. Alexandra's sister, Irenewas married to Wilhelm's brother, Henry. Ironically, Alexandra was an ardent Russian patriot and disliked the German Emperor.

The family endured a nightmare of uncertainty and fear, never knowing if they would remain there, be separated or killed. During the night of July, Alexandra and her family were escorted to the basement of Ipatiev House, where they were executed by Bolsheviks, bringing an end to more than three centuries of the Romanov rule. We strive for accuracy and fairness.

If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! The First Family on Inauguration Day. Donald Trump. JD Vance. Jimmy Carter. Justin Trudeau. Marriage and Family On the surface, the two enjoyed a warm and passionate marriage, living at Tsarskoe Selo, the private residence of the royal family. Final Days and Death Alexandra and her children were eventually reunited with her husband and all were placed under house arrest in the Bolshevik controlled city of Yekaterinburg, at the Ipatiev House in April