July 30, 2014

Tsarevich Alexei and the Worst 10th Birthday Ever


Tsarevich Alexei and the Worst 10th Birthday Ever

July 30 (old style; August 12, new style) marks the birth of the last heir to the Russian throne, Alexei, son of Nicholas II. This year, Alexei would have been 110; in 1914, as he turned 10, a political assassination had just escalated into the First World War.

If it hadn’t been for the Russian Revolution, the Romanovs could have had one more tsar – Alexei Nikolaevich, most likely to be remembered as Alexei II (Peter the Great’s father, Alexei Mikhailovich, being the first). But as he was only 13 when the monarchy collapsed, Alexei never got to rule: ever the tsarevich, never the tsar.

Among Alexei’s most famous traits was having hemophilia, like so many of his distant royal relatives. As a result, Alexei was routinely on the brink of death, as even minor bruises could result in unstoppable blood loss and hemmoraging. Saving the only heir to the throne from fatal internal bleeding was an important task, but doctors at the time had little to offer.  Enter Grigori Rasputin, a religious figure who combined the traits of wise man, holy fool, and healer, all in one.

Did Rasputin actually alleviate Alexei’s suffering? It certainly appeared so. Even a letter sent from miles away saying “he will not die” somehow coincided with an improvement in the tsarevich’s health. But what was more important was that Alexei’s mother, Empress Alexandra, saw Rasputin as not just a successful healer, but as the child's only hope. As mothers do, she was open to almost anything when it came to saving her son (who also happened to be the future of the Romanov dynasty).

The Russian public, however, disagreed.

A contemporary caricature depicting Rasputin's influence on the royal family

Alexei’s disease was a state secret, so how were the discontents to know why Rasputin was so welcome in the imperial family? From the outside, it looked like an uneducated peasant was influencing imperial decisions through the empress, with rumors of an affair fueled by an unfriendly press. How much influence Rasputin actually had on the emperor is beside the point – just the perception of his importance significantly discredited an already wobbly Russian monarchy.

Meanwhile, trouble was brewing elsewhere. A month before Alexei’s tenth birthday, on June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo. The "July Crisis" ensued, and we all know what happened next. The end result was, one hundred years ago, a nasty sequence of events:

  • July 28 - Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
  • July 29 - Russia ordered partial mobilization in support of Serbia.
  • July 30 - Germany fully mobilized, and demanded Russia demobilize within 12 hours or face war. Russia said it was willing to negotiate terms of a demobilization. Germany refused to negotiate.
  • August 1 - Germany declared war on Russia.
  • August 2 - Germany attacked Luxemburg.
  • August 3 - Germany declared war on France.
  • August 4 - Belgium, vowing neutrality, refuses to allow German troops to pass through Belgium en route to France. Germany declares war on Belgium. Britain declares war on Germany. 

Not the best environment for a birthday party. And the icing on the birthday cake: August 12, on Alexei’s actual birthday, the world presented him with the start of the Serbian campaign, as Austria-Hungary crossed the Dvina into Serbia.

It was all downhill from there.

The last known photograph of Alexei and his sister Olga, en route to Yekaterinburg

 

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955