- Source B explains in further detail about the murder: source B states more information about the murder. In this information it includes how they were lined up to be killed and how the execution had taken place. It also states that they found reasonable information about the bullets and to suggest how they were killed by the bullets marks on the wall. It suggests that the victims were kneeling whilst being shot. This is the crucial information which sources A lacks otherwise it could be more reliable coming from both the sources. Too the lack of assurance in the report designates its dependability.
- One was written shortly after the other: Source B was written in October 1918 and source A was written in December 1918. Therefore there is a month difference when they were written. In source A it was time when the whites had sacked Sergeyev. His replacement was Sokolov who is marked in source C, he stated that Sergeyev, on managing the case to me, had no hesitation about the fact that the intact Romanov family unit had been massacred (murdered) in the Ipatiev house. I in my viewpoint judge that Sokolov lied about this for the reason that Sergeyev’s information was too honest and not prejudiced sufficient, yet again presentation the consistency of the both sources.
In conclusion I think that both of the sources are similar in that they are both from the same person Sergeyev. However I think that source B is more Unprejudiced than source A. I also think that both of the sources were reliable in a sense that they both suggest that not the entire Romanov family was murdered.
B
Source Differs from sources A and B. This is because in source A Sergeyev states that no the whole Romanov family were killed. In source B Sergeyev states that there is no real evidence to how many of Tsars family were killed and who of those weren’t killed in the basement of the impative house.
The similarities between all three of the sources are they all have evidence
- That the Tsars family were killed
- All the sources were reported by people from the whites
- They all agree that all/some of the royal family were killed on the lower story of the building to a certain extent.
To a certain extent where source B states that the family were killed in a room which could have been any room. This is shown in a picture in source C, which states that they were killed in a room in the impative house.
The differences between all three of the sources are;
- Source A states that five of the family members were shot in the house. Source B states that no corpses were discovered and no traces of the bodies being burnt. However differently from both sources, Source C states that the lorry carried the corpses, and that they were then chopped and burnt with acid and petrol.
-
Also in source B it says that on the 17ht July a train left Ekaterinburg and some of the royal family members were meant to be on board. On the other hand in source C it states that on the 17th July the corpses were chopped and burnt. In source C it describes what happened to the bodies however to a certain extent. In detail it states that the bodies were destroyed, chopped and burnt with petrol and sulphuric acid. The detailed part which the source describes is “The fatty matter in the corpses ran out and mixed in with the soil”.
Sources C and A are both biased towards the whites. Sources A and B state that Tsar, family doctor; two servants and maid were shot in the impative house, however the rest of the family were not shot. On the other hand source C states that all the family members were killed. The facts in sources A and C are similar. When the people reviewing their reports see any changes they will be suspicious. This is why Sergeyevs and Sokolovs reports are very similar.
There are more differences than similarities between the three sources.
There are more differences than similarities between sources A, B and C. Source C is rather further prejudiced adjacent to the reds. Source C portrays the reds as atrocious and merciless. Source C talks about the corpses being disposed in an explicit aspect which I think are unnecessary. This is to the report and doubtful to be correct again showing the reds negatively.
I think that source C is more different than similar to source A and B as it has many exaggerations and pointless opinions from other people in it. Source A and B are uncertain reports whereas source C is confident of the result of the family in that is sure that they were killed. In source A Sergeyevs report was not biased enough for the whites and as a result he was sacked. However source B is unprejudiced whereas as source C is very inclined and gives the impression of the reds being extremely unpleasant.
C
No I don’t agree with the statement. Although source D is an eyewitness account it doesn’t mean that it is fully reliable. In the opening paragraph I do believe because Medvedev was the guard’s leader so as a result he must have known the position of the family and how they were going to be murdered, but this opening paragraph doesn’t give any evidence that some or all of the royal family were murdered. Although it does state in the second paragraph how the family were murdered and it also clearly states that all of Tsars family were shot and lying on the floor. Although where my point comes in Pavel Medvedev out of the room to see if anyone was there or if he could he gun shots. Once he had entered the room he saw Tsar and his family lying on the floor. So if he was not their this could mean that this is not possibly true that the family were killed, so some evidence could be biased on other peoples opinions or it could be censored.
This source also matches with source H as it shows the families positions of how they were going to be executed. Source H was Sokolovs diagram. He drew it according to a witness which he had interviewed for example a white. This could be biased because as a historian we don’t know who took the interview. Although Sokolovs diagram does show the right number of the Romanov family and their servants and the right number of guards.
Source E talks about Medvedev’s wife and her view points on how the family were murdered. She tells us a different story to her husbands. She says that they were led downstairs and read a letter. She says that they started firing as did Medvedev. He emptied 2 – 3 bullets into Tsar. This statement suggests an act of revenge. She also says in the closing paragraph that her husband was stupid what he told one of the guards. This stated that he was guilty party.
In conclusion I think that source D is reliable. This is because it was an eyewitness account so to a historian as me it is a primary source. Also the whites shot him; I think this is because he gave too much information so this could be reliable to the reds. However I do not think that Source D is more reliable than source E because source C is not biased in a sense it was from a red and white sided person. So this gives two viewpoints which more reliable than an interview.
D
Source F is a photograph of the basement room where the murder had claimed to have taken place. As a result of this the source is not certain that the murder had taken place in this room. The photographer was a white so the photograph is likely to be biased to put more blame on the reds. I think they took the photograph as a proof of evidence. However the room could have been any room and so the whites could have made the room look like the murder scene of the royal family. Due to this, this would not have been very reliable for the historian to look at.
A source which I could relate source F to is source B. This is because they both either state or show the bullet marks on the walls and floor of the room. It seems like source B is describing the photograph evidence in source F. As it states that the bullet marks show that the victims were kneeling when they were shot. Both of these sources were by the whites.
Source G is a painting showing the death of Tsar which was carried out by the whites. This states that this painting is biased similar to source F. I don’t think that this paining is reliable to a historian because it only shows that Tsar was shot and doesn’t give any evidence that any of the others were shot. The paining shows Tsar getting shot whilst his son holding on to him, the others are standing whilst watching in discus this must be purposely painted for the reds showing that they are evil. I can compare this source with two others. The first source is source B. This states that the victims were kneeling whilst they were shot. However it doesn’t know who or how many of the victims were shot. This is why I can relate this to source G and say that Tsar was shot in exactly the same position. Similarly they both stated that they/them were shot.
The second source is source D. similarly by looking at the position of each people including those in the background in source G is described exactly in source D. Source D was an interview carried out by the whites, similarly source G was an investigation carried out by the whites. So I think that clearly both sources are biased.
Source h is different from both Sources G and F because it is a diagram. However it is taken from Sokolov’s book so it is clearly from a white and as a result is biased. The source diagram shows the exact measurements of the room from a scaled view. Its main point is to show the main positioning of the Romanov family and the guards as it implies that the whole royal family and others were killed. It shows the exact number of people in the diagram which shows that it is reliable and precise in this way. I can compare this source to source c. This is because source C states that Sergeyev had no doubt that the whole Romanov family was massacred which source H implies as it shows all the victims in their correct places in the room. Again as the others both of these sources are by the whites which shows that it is biased and not that reliable.
In conclusion I think that source G is most useful to a historian because it has two sources to back it up, and shows a picture of the people, their position and some of the room which is sources F and G in one. Also because source H is a diagram and doesn’t show much detail and Source F just shows a picture of the room where they were murdered which could have been any room.
E
By looking at source I, I am not surprised by what the source states because we already know by referring to other sources that Tsar was murdered. Although this source is secondary it was written by the red to the Bolsheviks so as a result it must be biased. They must have censored some of the information and add things more blame on the whites because they didn’t want to loose contact with Germany. For example the source states that “Presidium of the district soviet of the Ural decided to execute Nikoli Romanov”.
I have not yet been convinced by the source because compared with other sources, for example source A they state similar views. The points with both sources which are similar are that they both state that Tsar was shot and the others were sent away. Although they both state this I can clearly see that source A gives more detail of whom were shot and who was sent away. Source I was written by the reds to the whites to make them look disgraceful. On the other hand as stated above, Sergeyev was a white and the report he wrote in source A was true but he was sacked because he didn’t favour the whites to put blame on the reds.
However I have noticed the surprising states in source I. I am surprised because by looking at parts of other sources/accounts, I can see they give different accounts. For example in source I it is stated that only Tsar was shot and his wife and son were sent away. However in source B they state that Sergeyev had seen the bullets marks but they didn’t know how many members of the family were certainly shot. Surprisingly source B was a report in October 1918 and source I was a massage in July 1918. Source I was written by the killers of Tsar as they admitted it in the statement below the source. However source B was based on Sergeyevs evidence.
In conclusion I think that source I is surprising to why Tsar was shot. This was because Ekaterinburg was under serious threat. This is not shown to us by other sources. The other sources state to us how he was murdered, for example source d was an eyewitness account to how they were killed which it says that the whole family were killed. Although the source does have relevance to others to who were killed. All sources state that the daughters were/were not shot. However source I doesn’t mention them at all. This means that the daughters are not necessarily dead.
F
Sources B and J
Source j confirms with source b that both of the sources have stated that Tsar was shot. However, both the sources take this incident to a certain extent. Source B states that Tsar was supposed to have been shot and there is no real evidence as to how many victims were their, whereas source J confirms that Tsar, his wife and there three daughters were shot. They also suggest that the bodies were transported; this is stated by a certain extent with both sources. Source j states that the lorry carried the bodies to the mind. On the other hand source B states that a train had left Ekaterinburg were it was said to have members of the royal family on board. Source B has stated that no corpses were discovered nor any traces were found, this was because they had no evidence who was murdered. However source J says that the bodies were blow up. Excluding, they found from the marks that the daughters were protected by the jewels on there underclothes. This suggests that the daughters may still be alive.
Sources C and J
Source c is very similar to source J as Sokolov is the closest match. They both agree that the bodies were transported by Lorries to the mines where future action had taken place. Source C gives that extra bit of information that the mines name was named “The four brothers mine”. The sources describe the murders to a certain extent, but then describing them in different ways. Source C says that the bodies were transported to the mines, however before they were murdered using revolvers and bayonets. When they were taken to the mine the bodies were chopped and burnt using petrol and sulphuric acid and as it states in the source, the fatty matter went into the soil. This is a detailed a detailed description of the murder.
Source J also confirms that they were transported to the mine then they were blown up by grenades. However the mine didn’t collapse and the bodies were put into the lorry and then the lorry was bogged down.
Sources D and J
Similarly sources D and J state that the shooting had occurred in the room. Source D says that all the members of the family were shot. The bodies were found lying on the floor of the room by Pavel Medvedev whom was the eyewitness guard. However source J states that only a few members of the family was shot. They also both sate that the corpses were transported by lorry. D doesn’t give enough detail to where the bodies were taken and what was done with them. However source J does state this information.
Sources E and J
The similarity with both of these sources is the murder of the entire Romanov family, who were eventually shot. It doesn’t state anything to where the bodies were taken and what was done to them.
Sources G and J
Both of these sources state that the shooting took place. These are two different types of sources. G is a photograph and J is a newspaper article. In the photo (source G) it shows that Tsar is being shot whilst his son is holding him. However the source doesn’t give evidence that others where shot with/without him.
Source J
Source J is recent evidence as it is from a British newspaper in December 1994. This is why that they could be sure that Tsar, his wife and daughters were killed due to DNA tests along with the dental records.
Conclusion
In conclusion I think that Tsar, his wife and daughters were shot as it was recommended by other sources which I have studied as a historian. Also due to DNA records which are the most recent evidence to date this would be very useful. So I agree with source J and source C. Another thing which I would like to add is that the bodies could not be entirely destroyed by fir because to destroy the bones of the victims a very high temperature is needed.