Tsar Nicholas II, the last Romanov emperor of Russia in March 1917, was forced off of the throne.

Authors Avatar

History coursework (sources)

Introduction

Tsar Nicholas II, the last Romanov emperor of Russia in March 1917, was forced off of the throne. In November 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution took place; this was followed by a bitter and bloody civil war. As prisoners of the Bolsheviks, they were moved from place to place until finally arriving in Ekaterinburg in May 1918. There they were kept under close guard in Ipatiev house, two months later they disappeared.

        Later in 1918, the whites captured Ekaterinburg they appointed Judge Sergeyev to investigate the deaths. Meanwhile the British government sent Sir Charles Eliot to find out what had happened. In January 1919, Sergeyev was sacked and replaced by judge Sokolov, however before his investigations were complete, the Bolsheviks recaptured Ekaterinburg.

        The Bolsheviks were not keen on the news of the murders becoming public because this might turn foreign governments and many Russians against them at a time when they were fighting a civil war.

Sources

Source A

Sergeyev took from his desk a large blue folder and said, “Here I have all the evidence in connection with the Nicholas Romanov case”. I examined the lower storey of the building where the royal family lived and the crime was supposed to have been committed. I do not believe that all the people, the Tsar, his family, and those with them, were shot there. It is my belief that the empress, the Tsar’s son and the four other children were not shot in that house. I believe, however, that the Tsar, the family doctor, two servants and the maid were shot in the Ipatiev house.

Join now!

From a report in an American newspaper, December 1918. Judge Sergeyev, a supporter of the provisional Government, was appointed to investigate what had happened. In January 1919, he was sacked. Sergeyev’s findings are known only from comments of people who spoke to him or read his report.

Source B

Judge Sergeyev showed me over the house where the Tsar is supposed to have been shot. On the wall opposite the door and on the floor were marks showing where Sergeyev had removed the bullets. The position of the bullets indicated that the victims had been shot while ...

This is a preview of the whole essay