The Russians are hungry and they are at war. They work hard for little remuneration and Czar Nicolas II doesn’t make a lot of effort to improve their situation. Protests are suppressed and strikes are aborted.
Twenty-six year old Nicolas II from the house of Romanov ascends the throne unexpectedly in 1894. His father Alexander III dies suddenly and this aristocrat pur sang had little faith in his son’s intellectual capacity. Nicolas doesn’t really know what else to do but continue the repressive politics of the former czar and listen to his advisors. Who weren’t always the best of advisors and Nicolas and his family in the end would have to pay a high price for that.
Fight for your rights!
A wave of rebellion runs through Europe at the start of the twentieth century. In Russia, the czar is not easily overtaken by the uprisings because of his enormous and loyal army. When Nicolas decides to participate in World War I though, he suffers many losses and his soldiers ally with the complaining and hungry people. The Russian Revolution breaks out on the 23rd of February 1917 and the czar loses his protection. Nicolas is forced to abdicate and is held in captivity together with his wife and their five children. The whole family is put away in Yekaterinburg, in a villa with running water, electricity and a phone though. Very modern living for those days.
After the chaotic first days of the revolution, the communist Bolsheviks seize power. They want to prosecute the czar, but when rumors start going around about how the family will be liberated by an antirevolutionary army, the Bolsheviks make a horrible decision. In the night of the 17th of July 1918 a firing-squad executes the entire family, together with some of their staff. The bodies are partially burnt and then buried.
Retrieval of the corpses
For a long time it is unknown where the family was buried. For years there are rumors about how heir to the throne Alexej had escaped. The mass grave of the family is discovered in 1991 and the myth about Alexej cannot immediately be refuted since two of the children’s bodies are missing. It isn’t until 2007 when a couple of amateur archaeologists find the remains of human bones, not far from where the rest of the family is buried. The Russians have these remains investigated by two different, independent research centers, in the USA and Austria. DNA analysis shows that the two bodies are without a doubt the missing czar children. No member of Czar Nicolas II’s family survived the gruesome night of the execution. For years after the 1917 revolution, the czar family is considered an oppressor of the working class but after the fall of the Soviet Union this image changes. The bodies are reburied in Saint Petersburg, on the site where the bodies were found a monastery is built and the czar and his whole family are proclaimed martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Chess playing czars
In the times of the czars chess was already a popular game: in 1895 a big international chess tournament is organized in Saint Petersburg. At that time though, it is the Germans who are the best chess players of Europe, not the Russians. During the communist age this changes due to the importance chess is given. Communist leader Stalin has special schools for chess set up and funds them generously. So, during the Cold War, Russian chess players win every tournament there is to be won. This great love for the game not only makes for a lot of trophies but also beautiful chess games. The Chessmen Museum has various Russian chess sets on display, including the colorful wooden Babushka chess pieces in traditional Russian dress.
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