| The
story begins in 1868. The year that Nicholas II, heir
to the Russian throne, is born. His parents were Tsarevich
Alexander and Grand Duchess Marie Feodorovna, (born
Princess Dagmar of Denmark). Nicholas Alexandrovich,
as it was the Russian custom to give the child the
middle name of the father, with vich, (for a boy) or
ovna or evna (for a girl), would always have to live
in the shadow of his huge, powerful father.
Nicholas
was not an only child, by any means! He had 3 brothers,
Alexander Alexandrovich (1869-1870), George Alexandrovich "Georgie" (1871-1899),
Michael Alexandrovich "Misha" (1878-1918);
and 2 sisters, Xenia Alexandrovna (1875-1960), and
the baby, Olga Alexandrovna (1882-1960).
In
the year 1881, Nicholas had the traumatic experience
of seeing his beloved grandfather, Alexander II asassinated
before his very eyes! His grandfather was killed
by revolutionaries. Alexander III became the Tsar.
Frightened by his father's murder, Alexander became
a hard, stern Tsar, the exact opposite of his liberal
father. The Romanov children led a simple life growing
up. They slept on hard camp beds, took cold baths
every morning, and ate simple meals. Nicholas was
a shy, gentle, yet kind and humorous child.
When
Nicholas was sixteen, he met the love of his life:
Princess Alix of Hesse-Dharmdst, who was 12. They
met at the wedding of her elder sister Ella to his
uncle Sergei. For the rest of their lives, Nicky
and Alix would love each other most passionately.
When Nicholas was 23, his father died. The very next
day, Alix converted to Russian Orthodox, taking the
name Alexandra Feodorovna. They were married soon
after.
Unlike
Nicholas, Alix led a very sad childhood. Her mother
died of diptheria when Alix was only seven years
old; soon after Alix's baby sister, May, age 4 died
of the same illness. Her older brother Freddie died
when Alix was only a baby. Freddie was only two,
and was a hemophilliac. He fell from a two story
window, and hemorhaged to death. Their mother, Princess
Alice, the daughter of Queen Victoria of England,
became very depressed. Alix grew up in a home of
funerals and morning..
continued
on page 2 |
