Absolutely incredible to think of what the eldest Russians born around 1900 lived through...Tsarist autocracy, the Russian Revolution, 70 years of Bolshevism and then glanost and perestroika and then the downfall of Communism...unbelievable!
As a lifelong documentary devotee I regard this as one of the finest historical documentaries ever made. The judicious and always pertinent use of images and films and witnesses combine with brilliant editing and a terrific narration delivered with wonderful restraint by Ms Kenyon to make this the best documentary account of the fall of the Romanov dynasty.
Dude they got 110 year old people telling their stories. I've never seen a documentary have this much storys told from in person dealings from the early 1900s. Very good doc series.
The thing, for me, about the fall of the Romanovs is that the story unfolds with such tragic inevitability. They were charming and brimming with life but at the same time naive and foolish. Alex and Nicky don't really have anyone to blame but themselves and yet you can't help but feel sorry for them. They didn't deserve to rule Russia, but they didn't deserve to die either.
Nicholas just DID NOT GET IT! His people were starving!!! His wife had him thinking only of their family and NO ONE ELSE! I feel so bad for what happened to that family in the end. But Nicholas should NEVER have been Czar. He had not a clue. So very sad. For everyone,
@@foxinhenhouse3156 The Romanov royal family of Russia: Tsar and Tsarina, three daughters and one younger son, the Tsarevitch (their to the throne). Alexei, the young son, suffered from hemophilia, a disease caused by inbreeding. Tsar Nicholas was cousin to the King of England. Queen Victoria was said to be the grandmother of European royal families. A staret, a Russian monk who was a mystic from the wilderness, was able to stop the child's bleeding, probably by hypnosis, and he became indespensible especially to the Tsarina. When the Tsar went off to fight the war, Alexandra and Rasputin were effectively in charge and were resented by the Russian people, who, suffering famine and joblessness, were marching toward revolution. Rasputin, showing a preternatural ability to perceive the future, claimed that if he, Rasputin, was killed by an aristocrat, a member of the royal family, the royal family and the Empire would fall. Sure enough, it was Prince Yousoupov, a member of the royal family and a cohort who eventually killed Rasputin. Although it took several methods of execution to finally take the life of what seemed almost a supernatural mystic figure, charged with life force that at first prevented them from killing him. After poisoning him, and I believe shooting him, he was still raging on with his mad eyes glowing. Only when they finally wrapped his body in a rug and dropped him in the River Neva,did he finally leave this earth.
I read both books. Excellent.. I am fascinated by this family and what happened to them. Whatever the tzar didn’t or didn’t do his children did not deserve this. To think the tzar’s first cousin the King of England refused to offer asylum is unforgivable.
Joanne Hardin I am pending to read the one of the Romanov Sisters. One question: Do you think that the Romanovs could actually been saved? I think it would have been impossible since all of the trains were controlled by the bolchevikes. Also, interesting thing, none of the Romanov family liked Alexandra.
Good decision that I clicked this documentary.. how many times these Romanov docs were just passing by my CZcams feeds and haven't paid any attention. Here I am now, I'm on my 3 days ,binge watching Romanovs
There are quite a few films of Tsar Nicholas and there is the actual movie itself, Nicholas and Alexandria. What they all have in common is that you never see him actually mingling with the people, talking to them, asking them how their live are and how he can help them. Instead you see him living in a disney like palace tucked away in a dreamworld totally oblivious to what was going on in the real world.
Also Fall of Eagles a 13 part series which shows Tsar Nicholas II assuming the throne as well as the story of Kaiser Wilhelm II and of the Hapsburg dynasty
I guess it had nothing to do with prior assassinations of his family.... You need to read up on those trouble makers the Bolsheviks.... BTW it wasn't Germany, it was England and NYC Banker's.... You'll Notice those pesky Revolutionaries literally eliminated European Royalty. Don't let authentic photos lead you astray.
They were not innocent. Their income depended on getting it at gun-point from the people. Every thing they ate, everything they wore, was taken from the people by force. Their deaths were not punishment enough.
@Michael Cristian In these things it's prudent to kill off the whole blood line lest any heirs claim in the future. This is the dynamic of monarchies throughout history. In this sense they were both innocent and not innocent.
19:00 "I'm not going to abdicate in favor of my son. He's ill. He'll go to Crimea and grow flowers..." I cried. That man only wanted to be a good father and husband but was trapped in a job he was not suited for.
Nicholas was betrayed by his cousins, the weak George V and the wicked Wilhelm II. Either one could have saved the family. The biggest losers were the Russians under the murderous reign of Lenin.
“Tender thanks for your severe scolding ... your weak-willed husband.” 😂 Disastrous rule aside, you can feel their bond echoing through across decades through their letters. Such a sad story, for everyone. Their people & family.
Really awful for the PEOPLE of Russia to have this man as their 'leader'. He wouldn't lead his own family. His wife was the was leader of the family. No wonder Russia imploded. I feel for the people.
Its so disturbing and shocking. I have read the history of many countries and people but this one really broke 😭 my heart. For 2 days I've been watching the videos of Russian Revolution and the Tsarist Russia. Although I knew some of that history but when I discovered this story after watching this video and a 1996 movie Rasputin, then I came to know that saddest part of the history. Those were so beautiful, lovely and innocent children. The love of Tsar for his wife and children and the videos of those lovely children playing with each other really touched my heart. Till the end those ideal parents did everything for the comfort of their vulnerable children. How divine their relationship with each other was! Though they were not the perfect rulers but each one of them had a heart also the Tsarina and her daughters took care of the wounded soldiers. That was the bloodiest century!
@@gurukirupa9840 Анастасия полумертвая похищена братьями Чайковскими увезена в Румынию...Глеб Боткин ..Было два суда в Европе по установлению личности и постановили что ЗА НЕДОСТАТОЧНОСТЬЮ ДОКАЗАТЕЛЬСТВ личность осталась НЕУСТАНОВЛЕНОЙ, Очень ИНТЕРЕСНАЯ ИСТОРИЯ, ЕСТЬ ГОЛЛИВУДСКОЕ КИНО 1959 ГОДА Анастасия...
@wakenbaker-uk lol it's relevant. You may have intended on describing the Tsars but you made an appt description of Lenin and Stalin too both who proved to be the same , if not much more terrible than Nicholas had been.
@wakenbaker-uk yeah I KNOW this video is about the tsar but I'm just saying what you said perfectly described Lenin and Stalin, the supposed "liberators" lol. Ease up, man. Jeez 😂😂✌️
You're breaking my heart by reminding me of how hearbreaking this biographical documentary is of Czar Nicholas and his family's struggles.. this is quite difficult for me.. *+* *May they R.I.P. +*
Thank you for sharing this wonderful documentary, really appreciated. Despite being an anti-monarchy, it still sadden me to this day to know that the whole family was cowardly murdered in a very cold, atrocious and immoral way ( I hate you Lenin !!!), especially that history tells us that despite being out touch with their subjects, Nicolas and his wife were not blood thirsty monarchs, neglectful and inexperienced but not cruel. What I never understood is the stubbornness of the Tsar, this man have had the chance in 1890’s to observe in London the House of Commons in debate and was apparently pleased or at least impressed by the mechanism of a constitutional monarchy, as well as during his visit to the USA where it is said he attended debates during one of the US Congress sessions. What was wrong with him ? And why he did not listen to his wise and intelligent uncle ? Sad indeed.
+brahim119 Yes it is very sad. One would think Nicholas would have considered what he had experienced in other countries, regarding constitutional monarchy. I don't know my history well enough....but wonder if there were perhaps factors which prevented him taking this option before it became too late?
Essentially he believed his own hype. Folx tend to lay all the blame on Alix, but the man was raised to believe he was ordained by God to rule. Growing up with that much entitlement will create someone too stubborn/willfully blind to see anything else.
The family did not deserve their suffering. I understand the revolution was necessary, and I understand that people were under great strain, but Maria, Olga, Tatiana, Anastasia, and Alexei did not deserve to suffer. Their lives were brutally and heartlessly torn from them in a battle they had no part in. I pray they are resting in heaven together, happy and liberated from life’s storm
@@Sybaris100 , I agree! The story is tragic, and I do not think the last Romanows were evil. They were a very loving and ordinary family, and they were born into circumstances they had not chosen and they could not cope with. They did not deserve to die! But there were many more victims and tragic stories amongst the people who were ruled by an unjust and antiquated system which definitely had run it´s course. There is a channel with the name "Romanov Royal Martyrs". This is absolutely ridiculous. As tragic as their fate is, the Romanows were no martyrs. They were no saints after all! They were neither better nor worse than their subjects. And in many ways their brutal demise was Nikolaus´ and Alexandra´s own fault. They had so many opportunities to leave Russia! Throughout his reign Nikolaus was inept and his judgement was unfortunately very poor. In the end it cost him his and his family´s life. I feel very sad about their children, though! They became collateral victims.
An immensely involving documentary, many thanks for posting it ! I never realized there was so much filmed material of the Romanovs. It is a sad and heartbreaking story, but moral judgement is too easy. Yes, they had it coming, it was inevitable, the dynasty was doomed, they brought it on to themselves. No, they did not deserve this gruesome and callous murder, especially not the children, these was no need for this barbarism. Russia could have deposed of their monarchy in a more civilized manner.
I agree with you on the murders, especially of innocent children. And the fact is that Nicholas was never charged, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced. But it is important to remember that there were TWO Revolutions, not one. Kerensky TRIED to implement a western-style democracy. What undermined his efforts was the ongoing war, and Germany allowing Lenin to return to Russia. The entire 20th Century history of Russia, Europe, and the World might have been very different had Kerensky's government lasted to the end of WWI. But it is not easy to develop immediate democracy in a nation that had only ever had autocratic government. It took centuries to develop in England, which had its own shares of revolts and civil wars along the way. It certainly did not happen overnight. An interesting parallel is the Irish struggle for Independence from Britain, and subsequent civil war. It happened at roughly the same time period as Russia, but because of the existence of a democratic and Enlightenment tradition in Britain, Ireland gained its independence as a democracy, with those western values.
In a way I can understand why hey killed the children. Typically most opposing groups would want children of their enemies murdered that way there will be no trouble from them down the line. I don't see the son posing much threat because with his hemophilia he would probably end up harming himself. If you look at the daughters one would assume they are harmless because they are just "women", but they are all beautiful and were charming and sweet. Imagine what would happen had they aged and found suitors/husbands with power. They could exact revenge on the people who annihilated their family. If you look back to the ancient Romans killing of the children was the norm. They didn't want the children to grow up to cause problems. This is only my take on things. It saddens me about what happened. Some of what happened could've probably been avoided. I wish they would've been allowed to live in exile or sent to another country.
@John Cronin- Yes, fascinating to speculate how history could have gone had Kerensky gotten his chance (which he might ot might not have seized, I don't think he was a particularly strong leader). Great topic for an "alternate history" novel a la Robert Harris' Fatherland. This is only one of the many ways WWI changed the face and history of Europe, more so than WWII.
@Kay Kvartek- Sure, it makes sense in a coldly logical way, and has many precedents in history. The Bolsheviks wanted to close the book forever and did not want to be seen lenient or sentimental. It was also part personal revenge from Lenin for the Tsarist regime hanging his brother.
Also, French revolutionaries killed the son of Louis XVI, and exiled the daughter, Madame Royal, after having them prisoners for years. The norm is you kill all those who can come again to reclaim the throne.
The killing of Nicholas and his family were truly 😥 tragic. They had such a barbaric ending and disposals of their bodies was horrible. Cut up, acid, and burned. So sad. The Russians also ceded lands that they had held for 300 yrs. back to Germany..Thank you for all the information about what happened to the Tsars family and the revolution. You did a great job.
@@Jimaybob It was nothing compared the the death and suffering inflicted by those who would come after. Nicholas II was a bad ruler yes, a flawed person but also easily led, unprepared and naive, very devoted to his family. Not a wholly irredeemable person, he nor his family deserved that barbaric fate. Maybe the people who murdered them did!
It's such a tragic story on so many layers. Autocracy is inhuman just like the very core of royalty. But Romanovs' fate was truly horrific. The meglomanical personalities that continued the govermance of Russia was equally terrifying and cruel.
+MrGp59 Blame the British Labour party at the time for causing anti -monarchy sentiment that made the king fearful of allowing Tsar Nicholas II and his family asylum.
What happened to the french royal family was clear on everyone mind. I don't know what george feared maybe he felt a violent uprising would come and they too will be blamed and killed. It shows you the ideology of game of thrones, power lies where men believe it is. Tsar or a king or a dictator is only as powerful as there are those that follow him.
George V helped them! The IF escaped in a covert operation the night before. They did not die, they were not killed! George V knew exactly where they were.
They weren’t that “good” either . You must look at the angle of the amounts of starving people who were dying because of the horrible policies and the money they pocketed for unnecessary splendor . You must look at this in a historical way. The Bolsheviks were not angels either , but In there time in history they won ... that’s just what happens . The brutal way which was done , was disgusting indeed .
It's so easy in hind-sight to see the future. But it's like a plane crashing. If the passengers knew it would crash, they never would have gotten on the plane in the first place. People back then thought Lenin was their salvation. No one sees the future until the future becomes the present.
Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized power in a coup in October, 1917. It was Not a popular revolution like in February, 1917, when the Russian people and the soldiers rose up and overthrew the Czar.
Ever since I read RK Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra, and later saw the epic motion picture of the same name in high school, I began a life-long fascination with everything Romanov. Been to many a Faberge exhibit, collected a whole library of pre and revolutionary Russia History books, but I am an amateur scholar not lettered. Nicholas II was an anti-Semitic child-like man who did not want to be czar, but was forced into the job by protocol and custom. He regularly persecuted the Jews of Russia with pogroms and other insults. Alexandra was a religious zealot and her dependence on Grigori Rasputin for comfort and guidance was pure ignorance and superstition. She wasn't a spy for the Germans and as it has been pointed out before, she was more English than German. She genetically doomed the Romanov dynasty to extinction. That being said, I cannot fault the children for his crimes. Rest in peace OTMA, Alexei and all the other Romanovs who were slaughtered in one big act of vengeance.
I also read that book, others and some of Helen Rappoport. Finished disliking Alexandra. The revolution was boiling since Alexander II or earlier. This outcome was inevitable. Maybe not expected their extermination and that way. On the positive side, we are so interested in the Russian history thanks to them and their tragic ending.
My own opinion is the same as yours. Nicholas had plenty of blood on his hands. I believe Alexandra was insane--ok considering the whole thing with Alexei's haemophilia, it might be understandable--but she was not a well woman mentally. The government should never have been left in her hands when Nicholas left for the front (not that he should have gone to the front as he didn't help things all). And Rasputin only made things worse. If anything, he made Alexandra's fanaticism worse. I've always maintained that the children should not have suffered for their parent's crimes. Even Alexandrta should have been allowed to leave the country.
@@harrietharlow9929you blame Him and Her for everything.... So you agree that they should've been killed, and disposed of the way they were done???.... So it's okay that they were done this way???... And the children were killed... By their own people..... That shows how awful the people were that did this and you are taking their side??... The mother was grasping at straws to save her son.... She wasn't crazy... Listen to her diary... I do not hear the words of insanity....I hear the words of LOVE
@@tammyloustorydickerson4447 Did you actually read and comprehend what I wrote. I said that at the very least, Alexandra and the children should have been exiled.
God keep the souls of those tens of millions of Russians and other peoples of the Soviet era who had to suffer the ruthless, murderous, abominable policies of the Bolsheviks. May they rest in peace.
And what about the tens of millions of Russians who died as a result of the Tsar's ineptitude, neglect and abominable policies? Who is keeping their souls?
It's true as you imply: the Russian upheavals of 1917 did not come from nowhere but from the sufferings of millions of Russians over hundreds of years. The deaths, deportations and destruction of the Communist era, however, far surpassed the Tsars in scale and systematic nature. Moreover, the communists had an ideology that rationalized mass murder and theft in a way that Christianity never did. Thank God for liberal democracy! I am so glad that the communist era in Russia is over. I never thought I'd live to see the day.
spazzy69 A lot of that was inherent to Russian living more than the Tsars themselves. The USSR is thankfully resigned to the dustbin of history and may it never arise again. The filthy, satanic Bolsheviks will be turning in their graves when they see the resurgence once again of the Russian Romanovs. You see they failed to kill all the royalty and even now they live on, ready for the day the people call for them again. :)
Great documentary.Joy,the pet dog of the imperial family who was in captivity with them survived the killings and was took to England where she lived on the royal estates until her death.
@@princesssarahpasatiempo7441 cuz the dog had a habit of going wandering around the place. It probably went wandering that night and it returned after everyone had died. The white army found the dog there.
The Czar didn't even get a kangaroo trial such as King Louis XVI or Marie Antoinette received during the French Revolution. And even the Jacobins didn't kill the children of the king and queen.
I often wonder how World history would have developed if the Czar had instituted wide sweeping and real reforms after the failed revolution of 1905.....and then reigned over the Russian Empire as a constitutional monarch and not as an absolute one....
+FMHammyJ Probably we wouldn't have nor Germany nor Israel now days, and the others from the other side of the Atlantic would not piss the world off every time the situation gets calm, practically a much better world, and probably Turkey would disappear or move to Asia, and Islam would not get such a big ground in Asia, this is my opinion
The killings of Romanoves is terrible but we have to think that for years people were suffering under their royalty and why the first chance people react terribly. Personally I feel sorry for the children die in such way
Mike Duncan makes a comment that i find interesting: Charles I lost his head because he was so unbelievably stubborn, inflexible and rigid. Louis XVI lost his head because he was so weak, had no spine whatsoever, agreed with the last person he spoke with and wanted to please everyone. Nicolas II managed to combine both traits and be at the same time disastrously weak and disastrously rigid. This is why monarchy is such a terrible idea. Some people are fine but don’t have the qualities to rule a hot dog stand, let alone a country.
I have just come upon this 3-part documentary and find it to be a very fine telling of this particular time in history. Very compelling and with the historical footage and comments from people from that era is very unique. I have always been a history buff and now with the discovery of the Romanov bodies and burials, it has sparked my interest to learn as much as possible, both good and bad, about this subject.
Germany's secret weapon, delivered in a sealed train..."the government fell like a ripe peach from a tree." Wow, can I quote that? Fantastic series, subscribed!!!!😍
How wonderful to hear about the History of the pass from reliable and respectful teachers - such as the one in this video, whom always ready to protect the integrity of all those characters who played role in all those events of the pass - some cheerful and others were dreadful. But no matter what the circumstances were - introducing all those people in a dignified manner must be considered the most important priority to inform us the events of the pass. My special thanks for the one who prepared this video for having an absolute respect toward the individuals of the pass in every position. Bravo!
I know! How could she say those things!... and she was so "spiritual", "pious" and "religious". This doesn't make her any different from the bolchevikes.
That was the problem, NONE of them had a clue. They were buffeted by so many nobles and family they lived in their own little bubble and knew nothing of the outside world, or life outside of oppulance and luxury. Combine that with the fact Nicholas was never taught how to rule and his weak-willed disposition, and there was no way things were ever going to end well.
I love this doc. It's probably the most accurate one I've ever seen. The ones that they make today do not express the complete brutallaity of Lenin and how evil and dangerous he really was. One can see the evil in his face.
It is now known from the discovery of secret papers that Lenin knew and approved of the murder of the Romanovs. He was an evil man, but fate caught up with him, he had a stroke in 1923 and died in 1924. They should take that fake wax effigy of him and melt it.
We are told constantly that Nicholas II was a bad Czar. If he was, compared to whom? Which Czar was a good Czar? Nicholas I? Alexander II? Or was it the father of Nicholas II, Alexander III, under whom autocracy seemed to work? In point of fact Nicholas II was much like the other monarchs of Europe at the time (and a much better family man than most). Nicholas II had the temperament to be a constitutional Monarch like his cousin, George V of England. His tragedy was to be born heir to an autocratic state, for which his father did little to prepare him. Russia, a land of mostly illiterate and uneducated peasants, simply could not go from autocracy to democracy in just a few years. Democracy requires liberty, and liberty is the deep, rich soil in which only a humane democracy can flourish, and that soil can take centuries to develop. The abolition of the Russian monarchy and the murder of the Czar did not bring Russia a better system, but a worse one.
I don't know if the Czar as an individual was worse than any other ruler. But the Czarist system was probably the most repressive in Europe before the rise of Hitler and Stalin.
@ But keep in mind that the Czarist regime was repressive by standards of its own time; it was probably the most repressive regime in Europe. Not only more repressive than democracies in France or England, but also more repressive than the monarchies in Germany and Austria. The Czar was aware of alternatives existing in other countries, but rejected those options and care little for the Duma.
Thomas Jefferson - The assessment of Nicholas II's reign is one that is based both on the results of reign and the actions taken. Personally, Nicholas was a good and personally just person, and for the most part he did have good intentions. However, personal goodness does not make a good leader. In this the measure of "good" and "bad" will often depend on what was achieved. For Peter and Catherine the Great, one could point to the building of St. Petersburg and the expansion of Russia, along with some degree of modernization, for Alexander I one could point to the defeat of Napoleon I, and for Alexander II one could point to the emancipation of the Serfs. For Alexander III, while he was a highly autocratic Tsar, Alexander III did manage to maintain some successful policy and stability through his life... And in this, Nicholas II never lived up to any of that. While personally kind and well intentioned, Nicholas was as ambitious as Catherine, nor as intellectual as Peter, nor as liberal as Alexander II. To a great extent, Nicholas had the potential to be a great Tsar if he began to liberalize the government on taking the throne and allow for reforms to come into being that would lessen his workload and allow for more equity to enter Russia... Essentially to follow in his grandfather's path. However, Nicholas, remembering the assassination of Alexander II and seeing the policy successes of his father, Alexander III, chose not to do that. On taking the throne, Nicholas said, "I remain just as dedicated to the principles of autocracy as my dead father." And that's where Nicholas's personal nature clashed with the system he dedicated himself to... If one is to be an autocrat... or a dictator (if one isn't a noble), a great deal of force is required. Alexander III retained power and policy successes as he was far more willing to send the army to curb such sentiment, and often did so with a great degree of force. And being a big man, there was the impression that Alexander III could and would dominate the room. Later Soviet dictators, particularly Lenin and Stalin, essentially copied this by being cruel and forceful... taking things to the point eradicating enemies. This was something that Nicholas II really couldn't and didn't do. There were revolutionaries executed, yes, but Nicholas too a far gentler approach than his father did in similar situations which essentially let many of the revolutionaries of 1917 live. Stalin, for example ran a criminal gang responsible for murder, robbery, and intimidation during the 1905 Revolution... Had he lived, Alexander III would have had Stalin hung. Nicholas only sent Stalin to Siberia in exile. In this, Nicholas dedicated himself to an autocratic style of rule and lacked the necessary cruelness to actually survive with such a policy to make sure the people would be too intimidated to even try revolution... and by taking an autocratic style, he couldn't win over the common man in a way that wouldn't leave them open to the measures taken by the Bolsheviks in 1917... And it's that that made Nicholas a bad Tsar. Lenin and Stalin weren't any better... and one could easily make the case that they were worse with regard to how they treated the Russian/Soviet people... but they were pretty much a result of Nicholas's failures.
Thinking that I have seen most all of the film clips of the Romanovs, this a lovely surprise. There is so in this doc that I haven't seen before. I am fascinated with this unfortunate time in history. Thanks for posting the three episodes.
Though they represented autocracy, At least people had individual freedoms, It's hard to think that the country fell into darkness with the soviet union being born... How terribly sad.
Gaming with Mikey! Freedoms? starvation, no education, illiteracy, sent to Siberia if you complained about working conditions. No representation. For those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable. President John. F. Kennedy 1961. China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua etc.etc.etc.
@@rimo926 You commies have been saying this since 1917 yet the Soviet Union collapsed, China and Vietnam are going free market economy and It's only a matter of time until Cuba follows suit. Do real research rather than spouting silly rhetoric!
Yes, thank you. I knew several (I did not know how many) of the Romanov family survived. Those who had successfully escaped to their houses in the Crimea were rescued by a British Warship including. Among those rescued were the Czar's Mother, and the two Grand duchess who were sisters to the Czar. One of whom came to Canada, the Grand Duchess Olga) but the fact that there were no survivors who had the right of succession. The Czar and Czarevich were brutally murdered and the next in line, the Grand Duke Michael was also murdered with his secretary. That was the end of the Dynasty. Yes, there were other Romanovs who survived but most were unimportant and very distant claimants to the Throne which no longer existed.
Also someone wondered why the Nicky-Alicky correspondence was in English: Alix may have been born in Germany but she was brought up in England by Queen Victoria. So English was Alix's first language. She learned to speak Russian well---but with a heavy English accent.
Thank you for uploading this documentary. It was amazing, informative, and highly depressing. I hope the members of the Romanov family who were killed, along with the millions that suffered during WWI are at peace
I feel for anyone who is shot and bayoneted to death surrounded by the horrified shrieks and deaths of those they love most. I’ve gotten to know a lot about the Romanovs these past couple of years, and it just sounds like one big tragedy. Nicholas couldn’t have the one thing he wanted, a life as a farmer with a loving family. Neither could Alexandra: A life of privacy away from the judgmental eyes of the court with completely healthy children. Nor could Olga, a romance with a foreign soldier. Nor could Alexei, a chance to actually grow up and do what other little boys could and prove himself as Czar. Nor could any of their sisters, with lives suited to their own talents and desires. It’s just sad. Except for the fact that they all had each other, right to the very end.
I do feel for the children. No children deserve that. But they were standing on the shoulders of their family heritage and past of living in the most obscence oppulence while the Russian people starved and died in the streets. Disgusting. So i don't want to hear about a royal familes woes. They had it coming for a long time.
@ sam kulik you nailed it. If the Czar had been able to break free of the mental gilded cage the aristocracy was trapped in he might have been able to head off the revolution... Or maybe just push it until his hemophiliac son died without producing an heir or some other sort of alternate history.
I remember learning that the Russian people were starving and Czar was buying fabrege (spelling?) jeweled eggs for his wife. Can see why the people protested and wanted him and his family out.
The Czar has a lot in common with Louis the 16th of France. Both were out of touch with the people and could not justify their reign. Both were weak. Both lacked cunning. Louis the 16th's head (and Marie Antoinette's) ended up in a basket. The Czar and family ended up at the bottom of a well. The Czar really showed his arse when he let his girls get butchered like that. He was still the Czar. He should have ruthlessly exterminated all his enemies from Day 1. Look at what Stain did.
pretty sure Lenin was not in prison in Germany. at the time of the "sealed train" (it wasn't sealed at all, if you research it), Lenin and his cadre were in Swtitzerland
49:00 a little bit incorrect they used Prince Michael of Kent DNA sample, adding to that he fluent in Russian and he's the spitting image of Czar Nicholas.
the only bad part about this documentary is that the narrator didnt have a pop filter so you can hear all the clicks and crackle in their speech when they talk.
This documentary is extremely interesting. Told in a manner which makes you feel as if you were actually a part of this sad time in the life's of the Russian people as well as the Tsar
thanks for uploading this. i think it is the best romanov documetary ive seen till now.this is an amazing real story. with esplendor,love,social revolution and drama. one of the most interesting chapters of modern european history. i think the tzar was just too kind to be a real emperor as his antecesors. i see him as a loving head of family. a man who cared more for his role of a father and husband as of an emperator. everyone is capable of making mistakes.and the fact of the heir being illed has took great part on this . and i personally cannot judge him. the ``EXECUTION`` its unaceptable. monarchy has been wrapped away from a country with the most GLORIOUS monarchy of the world.i mean. its something like CUBAN COMMUNISTS invade the UNITED STATES kill obama and all the members of government and took care of the most prominent country of our age. trying to change everything even their religion believes. this happened to the imperial russia. bolcheviks came and tried to turn everything. thats what they called it ``REVOLUTION`` the tzarist russia its extinted. all the greatness was thrown away. and the biggest empire of the modern world changed forever.
Nobody gives a shit about America. Stop stealing other people's history or trying to connect Americans to Europeans. You are American and Europeans are Europeans. I agreed with some of your sentiments until you started waffling about America, as you Yanks like to do. Get lost.
When you lose the will of the people you're finished, it was a horrific way to go, poor children murdered and in a terrifying way, but the Tzar and his wife where really to blame! Whilst they lived a life of luxury the people where starving! That's the truth.
Such a tragic story, and they certainly did not deserve what happened to them. I can't imagine anyone in their right mind ever wanting to be in any Monarchy...
@@helenwang9739 If mismanagement were the only criteria for being EXECUTED, then every leader in charge today would be executed. They were MURDERED, and it's WRONG!!!
So the Russian people did not like or trust the Empress Alix because she was German? Wasn't Catherine the Great German too and married into the Russian monarchy just as Alix did?
That analogy probably wouldn't have helped Alix. Though the Russians of Catherine's time revered her, her son blackened her record retroactively after her death. Alix had initially wanted to take "Catherine" as her Orthodox new baptismal name, but Nicholas and Empress Marie managed to dissuade her.
It's important to remember that during World War 1 anti-german sentiment was huge. Along the same lines as the anti-russian or anti-American sentiment during the Cold War. Germans were collectively known as warmongers who committed several atrocities during the early months of the war. And before hostilities broke out Germans cultivated that reputation of bloodthirsty Hawks I want you to show off their military force. It's the reason why the British royal family adopted the English surname Windsor. It's also why following Germany's surrender, the Victorious Powers enacted overzealous reparations to punish the German people. This in turn created a people even more desperate they allowed themselves to follow someone like Hitler.
I know thousands of incident people have been murdered over the years. Its always very sad but it just seems all the more shocking when you see their lives on film. Really sad what happened to them. The girls especially seem so innocent. I will never understand how anyone could kill them. Crazy mad men!
@@akshaygupta4606 Yes i agree! It makes me sad when i think about what happen to them. They were very sweet and innocent. Men are capable of such unbelievable evil.
@@rbharvesters7404 Yes brother I understand but its so disturbing and shocking. I have read the history of many countries and people but this one really broke 😭 my heart. For 2 days I've been watching the videos of Russian Revolution and the Tsarist Russia. Although I knew some of that history but when I discovered this story after watching this video and a 1996 movie Rasputin, then I came to know that saddest part of the history. Those were so beautiful, lovely and innocent children. The love of Tsar for his wife and children and the videos of those lovely children playing with each other really touched my heart. Till the end those ideal parents did everything for the comfort of their vulnerable children. How divine their relationship was!
Recently, I had a chance to re-read Robert K. Massie's book, "Nicholas and Alexandra." I hadn't read it since I was in college four decades before. Within the last 20 years, I had finally seen the Oscar-nominated film based on Massie's book and liked it. In re-reading Massie's book, I give Massie credit for the obectivity of recognizing the humanity of the Romanov family. No one deserved the bitter end they got and there is no doubt that Nicholas was a loving father and a good husband. Even Kerensky recognized that. However, one has to wonder what the revolutionaries thought when they entered the differing palaces and saw the splendor the Romanovs, as opposed to the squalor of their lives. In re-reading Massie's book, I have become disgusted with the richness of their lives, the elaborate dinners, the time and ability to get expensive tutoring, etc., while---a the 1971 film---children could only play in dirty factories while their parents worked, not to mention the mere availability of bread. Throw in the ludicrous management of the war as well as the terrible anti-Semitism of the Tsar (as well as his secret police, the Ohrana) and one concludes the Tsar deserved to be over-thrown. No doubt, Lenin was bad and Stalin was even worse. It would've been better had Kerensky survived, but the Tsar deserved to be removed.
Loved your comment! I have read this book and other of the Romanov as well and agree that he should have been removed. I don’t want to express my personal opinion about their death but thanks to that ending, the Romanovs are so popular.
This was a GREAT documentary. I would've loved it better if Lucy Worsley would've narrated this. I'm really obsessed with the romanov's. So tragic what happened to them.
The interviews with the 90 and 100 year old eye witnesses in an historical treasure.
Yup but I think when this was made some were still under 90 thankfully, your memory gets weird when you get 70+
x3@@Rawnervscope
usually for short term memory, not long term@@Rawnervscope
Absolutely incredible to think of what the eldest Russians born around 1900 lived through...Tsarist autocracy, the Russian Revolution, 70 years of Bolshevism and then glanost and perestroika and then the downfall of Communism...unbelievable!
As a lifelong documentary devotee I regard this as one of the finest historical documentaries ever made. The judicious and always pertinent use of images and films and witnesses combine with brilliant editing and a terrific narration delivered with wonderful restraint by Ms Kenyon to make this the best documentary account of the fall of the Romanov dynasty.
Yes, very good documentary, but TERRIBLE subtitles!
Mesmerizing!
The narration is superb the dramatization is mesmerizing held my interest to the very end
Dude they got 110 year old people telling their stories. I've never seen a documentary have this much storys told from in person dealings from the early 1900s. Very good doc series.
I concur
Da comrade.
This goes down as one of my favorite historical documentary series of all time. I’ve watched it 15 times over the years! Cheers!
The thing, for me, about the fall of the Romanovs is that the story unfolds with such tragic inevitability. They were charming and brimming with life but at the same time naive and foolish. Alex and Nicky don't really have anyone to blame but themselves and yet you can't help but feel sorry for them. They didn't deserve to rule Russia, but they didn't deserve to die either.
And the Russians got the Soviet Union and 75 years of living hell....
"Alex and Nicky don't really have anyone to blame but themselves" - really? The documentary says: Lenin. And other communists.
Nicholas just DID NOT GET IT! His people were starving!!! His wife had him thinking only of their family and NO ONE ELSE! I feel so bad for what happened to that family in the end. But Nicholas should NEVER have been Czar. He had not a clue. So very sad. For everyone,
Agree, she was his downfall! And her poor innocent children, OMG.
This documentary truly has felt like a journey through time. One of the best I’ve seen!
Female narrator. Can't do.
A classic fairytale marriage turned tragic
@@michaell10 Shut up weirdo.
i have hate beyond measure for this documentary i need to watch it for school and take notes
With a great attitude like that, I'm sure you're a straight A student.
One of the best documentaries I have seen on the Romanovs. Lot's of source material.
Which family was this?
@HBB LOL. What a loon.
Once apon a december ..paris.
@@foxinhenhouse3156 The Romanov royal family of Russia: Tsar and Tsarina, three daughters and one younger son, the Tsarevitch (their to the throne). Alexei, the young son, suffered from hemophilia, a disease caused by inbreeding. Tsar Nicholas was cousin to the King of England. Queen Victoria was said to be the grandmother of European royal families. A staret, a Russian monk who was a mystic from the wilderness, was able to stop the child's bleeding, probably by hypnosis, and he became indespensible especially to the Tsarina. When the Tsar went off to fight the war, Alexandra and Rasputin were effectively in charge and were resented by the Russian people, who, suffering famine and joblessness, were marching toward revolution.
Rasputin, showing a preternatural ability to perceive the future, claimed that if he, Rasputin, was killed by an aristocrat, a member of the royal family, the royal family and the Empire would fall. Sure enough, it was Prince Yousoupov, a member of the royal family and a cohort who eventually killed Rasputin. Although it took several methods of execution to finally take the life of what seemed almost a supernatural mystic figure, charged with life force that at first prevented them from killing him. After poisoning him, and I believe shooting him, he was still raging on with his mad eyes glowing. Only when they finally wrapped his body in a rug and dropped him in the River Neva,did he finally leave this earth.
Helen Rappaport has two excellent books on the Romanov's: "The Last Days of the Romanov's" and "The Romanov Sisters". I highly recommend both.
Thank you, Mr. Alexander. I will attempt to find these and add them to my library.
And a third that came out last year called "The Race to Save the Romanovs"
I read both books. Excellent.. I am fascinated by this family and what happened to them. Whatever the tzar didn’t or didn’t do his children did not deserve this. To think the tzar’s first cousin the King of England refused to offer asylum is unforgivable.
@@joannehardin4868 BC
Joanne Hardin I am pending to read the one of the Romanov Sisters. One question: Do you think that the Romanovs could actually been saved? I think it would have been impossible since all of the trains were controlled by the bolchevikes. Also, interesting thing, none of the Romanov family liked Alexandra.
By far and away, the best documentary I've seen on the subject. Many thanks for posting.
Female narrator nah
Good decision that I clicked this documentary.. how many times these Romanov docs were just passing by my CZcams feeds and haven't paid any attention. Here I am now, I'm on my 3 days ,binge watching Romanovs
I feel you
There are quite a few films of Tsar Nicholas and there is the actual movie itself, Nicholas and Alexandria. What they all have in common is that you never see him actually mingling with the people, talking to them, asking them how their live are and how he can help them. Instead you see him living in a disney like palace tucked away in a dreamworld totally oblivious to what was going on in the real world.
Thanks for sharing this great historical video tribute . God bless this family .
Also Fall of Eagles a 13 part series which shows Tsar Nicholas II assuming the throne as well as the story of Kaiser Wilhelm II and of the Hapsburg dynasty
I guess it had nothing to do with prior assassinations of his family....
You need to read up on those trouble makers the Bolsheviks....
BTW it wasn't Germany, it was England and NYC Banker's....
You'll Notice those pesky Revolutionaries literally eliminated European Royalty.
Don't let authentic photos lead you astray.
How tragic, what cruel disillusionment and pain the Czar and his family suffered.
rest in peace Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei.
They were not innocent. Their income depended on getting it at gun-point from the people. Every thing they ate, everything they wore, was taken from the people by force. Their deaths were not punishment enough.
God bless the King Tsar Nicholas
Joe Schmoe what a vile thing to say!
teako north each time I read or watch about the Romanovs I cry cry..my granny was the first cousin of the czar😳😳😙
@Michael Cristian In these things it's prudent to kill off the whole blood line lest any heirs claim in the future. This is the dynamic of monarchies throughout history. In this sense they were both innocent and not innocent.
19:00 "I'm not going to abdicate in favor of my son. He's ill. He'll go to Crimea and grow flowers..."
I cried. That man only wanted to be a good father and husband but was trapped in a job he was not suited for.
Nicholas was betrayed by his cousins, the weak George V and the wicked Wilhelm II. Either one could have saved the family. The biggest losers were the Russians under the murderous reign of Lenin.
@@annagagliardi2046 From where Lenin -from London
@@NataliaVostrikovaSINTEZ You are right, Lenin lived in exile in London for a while.
And with a wife that was addicted to controlling those around her. Poor man.
He should’ve been a gardener instead of Tsar.
their letters to each other r beautiful x
“Tender thanks for your severe scolding ... your weak-willed husband.” 😂 Disastrous rule aside, you can feel their bond echoing through across decades through their letters. Such a sad story, for everyone. Their people & family.
I know, !😂 poor Nicky, if only he’d realised size doesn’t matter 😂
Tara G. ❤️
The shouldn't have hing Lenin's brother. It was payback time.
Really awful for the PEOPLE of Russia to have this man as their 'leader'. He wouldn't lead his own family. His wife was the was leader of the family. No wonder Russia imploded. I feel for the people.
Great comment!! And many people say that he wasn’t weak! He himself confesses it!
Its so disturbing and shocking. I have read the history of many countries and people but this one really broke 😭 my heart. For 2 days I've been watching the videos of Russian Revolution and the Tsarist Russia. Although I knew some of that history but when I discovered this story after watching this video and a 1996 movie Rasputin, then I came to know that saddest part of the history. Those were so beautiful, lovely and innocent children. The love of Tsar for his wife and children and the videos of those lovely children playing with each other really touched my heart. Till the end those ideal parents did everything for the comfort of their vulnerable children. How divine their relationship with each other was! Though they were not the perfect rulers but each one of them had a heart also the Tsarina and her daughters took care of the wounded soldiers. That was the bloodiest century!
Subsequent to the making of this documentary, the remains of Alexei and Maria were found in 2004, not far from where the others had found.
Jim Alexander Yeah about 60 meters away. DNA was matched to both the mother and the father.
Fake
@@NataliaVostrikovaSINTEZ so you think they're still alive? There seems no evidence that they're still alive.
@@gurukirupa9840 Look Anastasia Gleb Botkin book
@@gurukirupa9840 Анастасия полумертвая похищена братьями Чайковскими увезена в Румынию...Глеб Боткин ..Было два суда в Европе по установлению личности и постановили что ЗА НЕДОСТАТОЧНОСТЬЮ ДОКАЗАТЕЛЬСТВ личность осталась НЕУСТАНОВЛЕНОЙ, Очень ИНТЕРЕСНАЯ ИСТОРИЯ, ЕСТЬ ГОЛЛИВУДСКОЕ КИНО 1959 ГОДА Анастасия...
A happy and carefree family with many of their subjects starving.PLEASE!
i can't finish watching this. it's breaking my heart.
@wakenbaker-uk oh u mean Lenin and Stalin? Yeah totally agree. 😂😂😂
@wakenbaker-uk lol it's relevant. You may have intended on describing the Tsars but you made an appt description of Lenin and Stalin too both who proved to be the same , if not much more terrible than Nicholas had been.
@wakenbaker-uk yeah I KNOW this video is about the tsar but I'm just saying what you said perfectly described Lenin and Stalin, the supposed "liberators" lol.
Ease up, man. Jeez 😂😂✌️
It is very good that these degenerates and their spoiled brats have been murdered, there really is no one to cry for here.
You're breaking my heart by reminding me of how hearbreaking this biographical documentary is of Czar Nicholas and his family's struggles.. this is quite difficult for me.. *+* *May they R.I.P. +*
There is a lot to be learned from hearing and researching this awful stretch of history.......Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful documentary, really appreciated.
Despite being an anti-monarchy, it still sadden me to this day to know that the whole family was cowardly murdered in a very cold, atrocious and immoral way ( I hate you Lenin !!!), especially that history tells us that despite being out touch with their subjects, Nicolas and his wife were not blood thirsty monarchs, neglectful and inexperienced but not cruel. What I never understood is the stubbornness of the Tsar, this man have had the chance in 1890’s to observe in London the House of Commons in debate and was apparently pleased or at least impressed by the mechanism of a constitutional monarchy, as well as during his visit to the USA where it is said he attended debates during one of the US Congress sessions. What was wrong with him ? And why he did not listen to his wise and intelligent uncle ? Sad indeed.
+brahim119 Yes it is very sad. One would think Nicholas would have considered what he had experienced in other countries, regarding constitutional monarchy. I don't know my history well enough....but wonder if there were perhaps factors which prevented him taking this option before it became too late?
+brahim119. He should even have listened to Rasputin, who advised against going to war with Germany (see Episode 2 in this series).
Essentially he believed his own hype.
Folx tend to lay all the blame on Alix, but the man was raised to believe he was ordained by God to rule.
Growing up with that much entitlement will create someone too stubborn/willfully blind to see anything else.
living in luxury while people died of starvation and privation,parasites and killers not even russian but incestuous royalty german english etc
Without a doubt, the best documentary on the Romanovs to date. The next best is, unfortunately for me, in Russian. Thank you!
Sol Mamita Yes i agree and the Narrator presents it so well spoken
look at the faces, the expressions, the type and quality of people, whatever side they're on.
Quality of kindness!
My heart aches that the family suffered such a sad and tragic end
Not as tragic as his subjects.
@@Sybaris100 true
The family did not deserve their suffering. I understand the revolution was necessary, and I understand that people were under great strain, but Maria, Olga, Tatiana, Anastasia, and Alexei did not deserve to suffer. Their lives were brutally and heartlessly torn from them in a battle they had no part in. I pray they are resting in heaven together, happy and liberated from life’s storm
@@Sybaris100 Your comment is awfully mean.
@@Sybaris100 , I agree! The story is tragic, and I do not think the last Romanows were evil. They were a very loving and ordinary family, and they were born into circumstances they had not chosen and they could not cope with. They did not deserve to die! But there were many more victims and tragic stories amongst the people who were ruled by an unjust and antiquated system which definitely had run it´s course. There is a channel with the name "Romanov Royal Martyrs". This is absolutely ridiculous. As tragic as their fate is, the Romanows were no martyrs. They were no saints after all! They were neither better nor worse than their subjects. And in many ways their brutal demise was Nikolaus´ and Alexandra´s own fault. They had so many opportunities to leave Russia! Throughout his reign Nikolaus was inept and his judgement was unfortunately very poor. In the end it cost him his and his family´s life.
I feel very sad about their children, though! They became collateral victims.
An immensely involving documentary, many thanks for posting it ! I never realized there was so much filmed material of the Romanovs. It is a sad and heartbreaking story, but moral judgement is too easy. Yes, they had it coming, it was inevitable, the dynasty was doomed, they brought it on to themselves. No, they did not deserve this gruesome and callous murder, especially not the children, these was no need for this barbarism. Russia could have deposed of their monarchy in a more civilized manner.
I agree with you on the murders, especially of innocent children. And the fact is that Nicholas was never charged, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced.
But it is important to remember that there were TWO Revolutions, not one. Kerensky TRIED to implement a western-style democracy. What undermined his efforts was the ongoing war, and Germany allowing Lenin to return to Russia. The entire 20th Century history of Russia, Europe, and the World might have been very different had Kerensky's government lasted to the end of WWI.
But it is not easy to develop immediate democracy in a nation that had only ever had autocratic government. It took centuries to develop in England, which had its own shares of revolts and civil wars along the way. It certainly did not happen overnight.
An interesting parallel is the Irish struggle for Independence from Britain, and subsequent civil war. It happened at roughly the same time period as Russia, but because of the existence of a democratic and Enlightenment tradition in Britain, Ireland gained its independence as a democracy, with those western values.
In a way I can understand why hey killed the children. Typically most opposing groups would want children of their enemies murdered that way there will be no trouble from them down the line. I don't see the son posing much threat because with his hemophilia he would probably end up harming himself. If you look at the daughters one would assume they are harmless because they are just "women", but they are all beautiful and were charming and sweet. Imagine what would happen had they aged and found suitors/husbands with power. They could exact revenge on the people who annihilated their family. If you look back to the ancient Romans killing of the children was the norm. They didn't want the children to grow up to cause problems.
This is only my take on things. It saddens me about what happened. Some of what happened could've probably been avoided. I wish they would've been allowed to live in exile or sent to another country.
@John Cronin- Yes, fascinating to speculate how history could have gone had Kerensky gotten his chance (which he might ot might not have seized, I don't think he was a particularly strong leader). Great topic for an "alternate history" novel a la Robert Harris' Fatherland. This is only one of the many ways WWI changed the face and history of Europe, more so than WWII.
@Kay Kvartek- Sure, it makes sense in a coldly logical way, and has many precedents in history. The Bolsheviks wanted to close the book forever and did not want to be seen lenient or sentimental. It was also part personal revenge from Lenin for the Tsarist regime hanging his brother.
Also, French revolutionaries killed the son of Louis XVI, and exiled the daughter, Madame Royal, after having them prisoners for years. The norm is you kill all those who can come again to reclaim the throne.
Love the use of primary sources. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving family. What a grim faced woman that Alexandra was!
TF?
Whatever pysco path, you are probably a liberal, and think Black Lives Matter is a really good group of people. 🤦🏼♀️
You can take a man out of peasantry but you can't take the peasantry out of the man.
Nick Doe how true, how true!
Just like.....You can take the sweaty socks off the feet but the feet will still stink!
The Czar and fam living like lords and people going hungry, always a recipe for revolution
It breaks my heart, can't stop thinking about this miserable royal family, sobbing through the nights
This needs to be updated with the fact that the remains of Akexai and Marie were located and that all of the bodies were consecrated.
I consecrated the princesses before they died
@@justinwillingale2086 Disgusting.
The killing of Nicholas and his family were truly 😥 tragic. They had such a barbaric ending and disposals of their bodies was horrible. Cut up, acid, and burned. So sad. The Russians also ceded lands that they had held for 300 yrs. back to Germany..Thank you for all the information about what happened to the Tsars family and the revolution. You did a great job.
I think it was rather justified given the death and suffering the royal family had inflicted on its own people
@@Jimaybob It was nothing compared the the death and suffering inflicted by those who would come after. Nicholas II was a bad ruler yes, a flawed person but also easily led, unprepared and naive, very devoted to his family. Not a wholly irredeemable person, he nor his family deserved that barbaric fate. Maybe the people who murdered them did!
two wrongs make a right?@@Jimaybob
It's such a tragic story on so many layers. Autocracy is inhuman just like the very core of royalty. But Romanovs' fate was truly horrific. The meglomanical personalities that continued the govermance of Russia was equally terrifying and cruel.
It was the ultimate betrayal of family not to allow the Nicholas & his family asylum in England. Shame on you George!
Completely agree!!
+MrGp59 Blame the British Labour party at the time for causing anti -monarchy sentiment that made the king fearful of allowing Tsar Nicholas II and his family asylum.
+Steve Paxton okie doke.
What happened to the french royal family was clear on everyone mind. I don't know what george feared maybe he felt a violent uprising would come and they too will be blamed and killed. It shows you the ideology of game of thrones, power lies where men believe it is. Tsar or a king or a dictator is only as powerful as there are those that follow him.
George V helped them! The IF escaped in a covert operation the night before. They did not die, they were not killed! George V knew exactly where they were.
RIP King Tsar Nickholas and family.God still with you and family.
I love this documentary. I felt so sorry for the children. They were innocent victims & killed because of their parents. Terribly sad!
They shouldn’t have been killed.
Sins of our fathers
that and the idea of lineage ...if one of the kids grew up they might become leader/s and seek revenge@@maxanderson9293
None of them should have been killed, the children and the parents.
Lmao people thought the Tsar was bad ?
They basically jumped out of the Frying pan and into the fire with the monsters that were Lenin and Stalin
Stalin the butcher was a counter revolutionry who gained gained powerr due to western invasion 1n 1918
They weren’t that “good” either . You must look at the angle of the amounts of starving people who were dying because of the horrible policies and the money they pocketed for unnecessary splendor . You must look at this in a historical way. The Bolsheviks were not angels either , but In there time in history they won ... that’s just what happens . The brutal way which was done , was disgusting indeed .
It's so easy in hind-sight to see the future. But it's like a plane crashing. If the passengers knew it would crash, they never would have gotten on the plane in the first place. People back then thought Lenin was their salvation. No one sees the future until the future becomes the present.
Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized power in a coup in October, 1917. It was Not a popular revolution like in February, 1917, when the Russian people and the soldiers rose up and overthrew the Czar.
@josefina bananos LOL!
Ever since I read RK Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra, and later saw the epic motion picture of the same name in high school, I began a life-long fascination with everything Romanov. Been to many a Faberge exhibit, collected a whole library of pre and revolutionary Russia History books, but I am an amateur scholar not lettered. Nicholas II was an anti-Semitic child-like man who did not want to be czar, but was forced into the job by protocol and custom. He regularly persecuted the Jews of Russia with pogroms and other insults. Alexandra was a religious zealot and her dependence on Grigori Rasputin for comfort and guidance was pure ignorance and superstition. She wasn't a spy for the Germans and as it has been pointed out before, she was more English than German. She genetically doomed the Romanov dynasty to extinction. That being said, I cannot fault the children for his crimes. Rest in peace OTMA, Alexei and all the other Romanovs who were slaughtered in one big act of vengeance.
I also read that book, others and some of Helen Rappoport. Finished disliking Alexandra. The revolution was boiling since Alexander II or earlier. This outcome was inevitable. Maybe not expected their extermination and that way. On the positive side, we are so interested in the Russian history thanks to them and their tragic ending.
It sounds a bit like you are blaming Alexandra for passing on hemophilia, you know she didn't do that on purpose,
My own opinion is the same as yours. Nicholas had plenty of blood on his hands. I believe Alexandra was insane--ok considering the whole thing with Alexei's haemophilia, it might be understandable--but she was not a well woman mentally. The government should never have been left in her hands when Nicholas left for the front (not that he should have gone to the front as he didn't help things all). And Rasputin only made things worse. If anything, he made Alexandra's fanaticism worse.
I've always maintained that the children should not have suffered for their parent's crimes. Even Alexandrta should have been allowed to leave the country.
@@harrietharlow9929you blame Him and Her for everything.... So you agree that they should've been killed, and disposed of the way they were done???.... So it's okay that they were done this way???... And the children were killed... By their own people..... That shows how awful the people were that did this and you are taking their side??... The mother was grasping at straws to save her son.... She wasn't crazy... Listen to her diary... I do not hear the words of insanity....I hear the words of LOVE
@@tammyloustorydickerson4447 Did you actually read and comprehend what I wrote. I said that at the very least, Alexandra and the children should have been exiled.
The photos and period films are fascinating; also great script, narration told with compassion.
God keep the souls of those tens of millions of Russians and other peoples of the Soviet era who had to suffer the ruthless, murderous, abominable policies of the Bolsheviks. May they rest in peace.
And what about the tens of millions of Russians who died as a result of the Tsar's ineptitude, neglect and abominable policies? Who is keeping their souls?
It's true as you imply: the Russian upheavals of 1917 did not come from nowhere but from the sufferings of millions of Russians over hundreds of years. The deaths, deportations and destruction of the Communist era, however, far surpassed the Tsars in scale and systematic nature. Moreover, the communists had an ideology that rationalized mass murder and theft in a way that Christianity never did. Thank God for liberal democracy! I am so glad that the communist era in Russia is over. I never thought I'd live to see the day.
spazzy69
A lot of that was inherent to Russian living more than the Tsars themselves. The USSR is thankfully resigned to the dustbin of history and may it never arise again. The filthy, satanic Bolsheviks will be turning in their graves when they see the resurgence once again of the Russian Romanovs. You see they failed to kill all the royalty and even now they live on, ready for the day the people call for them again. :)
hope u are still alive and enjoy the new rise of mother russia.
Watch Ryder Still waiting for that Romanov resurgence 😂😂😂😂
Great documentary.Joy,the pet dog of the imperial family who was in captivity with them survived the killings and was took to England where she lived on the royal estates until her death.
how come the dog survived? they keep on firing at the whole family why the dog is still alive?
Across Ipatiev house was English Consulat of Sibiria.Snaipers sitting on roof
That's nice for pet. But it's horrible Romanov's would be butchered like cattle. No human beings deserve that kind of death.
@@princesssarahpasatiempo7441 cuz the dog had a habit of going wandering around the place. It probably went wandering that night and it returned after everyone had died. The white army found the dog there.
@@paulhunter1525 Then the Holocaust came and made the Romanov murders seem pale in comparison.
This narration is so beautiful....one has a much better understanding of what did happen...so very, very sad
Irrespective of politics, social inequality, war etc the story of the fall of the Romanovs is a sad one.
Not if you're a Russian peasant in the 1910s.
@@josecipriano3048 The peasants loved the Tsar. It was the Bolsheviks who hated him.
The Czar didn't even get a kangaroo trial such as King Louis XVI or Marie Antoinette received during the French Revolution. And even the Jacobins didn't kill the children of the king and queen.
That's because the French Revolution was French and not a Zionist Manipulation
The Russian Revolution was Russian. There was no Zionist plot.
The French did kinda killed Marie Antoinette’s son and took out his heart.
They killed the little boy through neglect and rough treatment
The Jacobins did take and neglect/abuse the young Dauphin to death...so not quite.
Very good documentary. I don't think I've seen better. Thank you for uploading.
BEAUTIFUL NARRATION ! ENJOYED THIS VERY MUCH....
I often wonder how World history would have developed if the Czar had instituted wide sweeping and real reforms after the failed revolution of 1905.....and then reigned over the Russian Empire as a constitutional monarch and not as an absolute one....
+FMHammyJ Probably we wouldn't have nor Germany nor Israel now days, and the others from the other side of the Atlantic would not piss the world off every time the situation gets calm, practically a much better world, and probably Turkey would disappear or move to Asia, and Islam would not get such a big ground in Asia, this is my opinion
History is not 'if'
@@Jurgen_Ibro less Islam and no Nazis? Sounds perfect
Whether it’s all historical fact or biased to whatever degree, it’s still absolutely tragic and just leaves you completely distraught.
Wow!! This documentary is 👏👏👏 I learned so much and feel like I was watching history in real time thank you!!
This is a brilliant series of documentaries, fantastic film footage and photographs and the interviews with eye witnesses are awesome. Thank you!
The killings of Romanoves is terrible but we have to think that for years people were suffering under their royalty and why the first chance people react terribly.
Personally I feel sorry for the children die in such way
Men my father watches this video every freaking day.
From the frying pan to the fire Lenin and Stalin
This period in Russia's history is so sad it's heartwrenching
The tsar was a bad ruler but the Bolsheviks were much worse.
Mike Duncan makes a comment that i find interesting: Charles I lost his head because he was so unbelievably stubborn, inflexible and rigid. Louis XVI lost his head because he was so weak, had no spine whatsoever, agreed with the last person he spoke with and wanted to please everyone. Nicolas II managed to combine both traits and be at the same time disastrously weak and disastrously rigid.
This is why monarchy is such a terrible idea. Some people are fine but don’t have the qualities to rule a hot dog stand, let alone a country.
The amazing thing about these programs "last of the Czars" is that they 're pretty intertaining,and I'm not the "morbite type, thanx for posting...
I have just come upon this 3-part documentary and find it to be a very fine telling of this particular time in history. Very compelling and with the historical footage and comments from people from that era is very unique. I have always been a history buff and now with the discovery of the Romanov bodies and burials, it has sparked my interest to learn as much as possible, both good and bad, about this subject.
Germany's secret weapon, delivered in a sealed train..."the government fell like a ripe peach from a tree."
Wow, can I quote that?
Fantastic series, subscribed!!!!😍
wanda H that phrase was concise and incredibly descriptive. Sadly, said everything.
The Germans took one fourth of Russian resources by the Brest treaty which was signed by Lenin.
And the kaiser lost his throne even after the betrayal of the Russians.
How wonderful to hear about the History of the pass from reliable and respectful teachers - such as the one in this video, whom always ready to protect the integrity of all those characters who played role in all those events of the pass - some cheerful and others were dreadful. But no matter what the circumstances were - introducing all those people in a dignified manner must be considered the most important priority to inform us the events of the pass. My special thanks for the one who prepared this video for having an absolute respect toward the individuals of the pass in every position. Bravo!
"Russia loves to feel the whip"..... Bloody hell, she had no clue
I know! How could she say those things!... and she was so "spiritual", "pious" and "religious". This doesn't make her any different from the bolchevikes.
That was the problem, NONE of them had a clue. They were buffeted by so many nobles and family they lived in their own little bubble and knew nothing of the outside world, or life outside of oppulance and luxury. Combine that with the fact Nicholas was never taught how to rule and his weak-willed disposition, and there was no way things were ever going to end well.
Fascinating archival footage !! Thanks for uploading this !
This was a fantastic documentary. The best one I have seen to date. I hope I can find more of the same by these creators and directors.
The Netflix series brought me here......Fascinating
Which series
@@Meds1000MD You mean "The Last Czars"?
I love this doc. It's probably the most accurate one I've ever seen. The ones that they make today do not express the complete brutallaity of Lenin and how evil and dangerous he really was. One can see the evil in his face.
It is now known from the discovery of secret papers that Lenin knew and approved of the murder of the Romanovs. He was an evil man, but fate caught up with him, he had a stroke in 1923 and died in 1924. They should take that fake wax effigy of him and melt it.
We are told constantly that Nicholas II was a bad Czar. If he was, compared to whom? Which Czar was a good Czar? Nicholas I? Alexander II? Or was it the father of Nicholas II, Alexander III, under whom autocracy seemed to work? In point of fact Nicholas II was much like the other monarchs of Europe at the time (and a much better family man than most). Nicholas II had the temperament to be a constitutional Monarch like his cousin, George V of England. His tragedy was to be born heir to an autocratic state, for which his father did little to prepare him. Russia, a land of mostly illiterate and uneducated peasants, simply could not go from autocracy to democracy in just a few years. Democracy requires liberty, and liberty is the deep, rich soil in which only a humane democracy can flourish, and that soil can take centuries to develop. The abolition of the Russian monarchy and the murder of the Czar did not bring Russia a better system, but a worse one.
He was weak, and did not deserve to rule.
I don't know if the Czar as an individual was worse than any other ruler. But the Czarist system was probably the most repressive in Europe before the rise of Hitler and Stalin.
Long live the King of Russia, the King Tsar Nicholas was really great King, god bless the King Tsar Nicholas and his family
@ But keep in mind that the Czarist regime was repressive by standards of its own time; it was probably the most repressive regime in Europe. Not only more repressive than democracies in France or England, but also more repressive than the monarchies in Germany and Austria. The Czar was aware of alternatives existing in other countries, but rejected those options and care little for the Duma.
Thomas Jefferson - The assessment of Nicholas II's reign is one that is based both on the results of reign and the actions taken. Personally, Nicholas was a good and personally just person, and for the most part he did have good intentions. However, personal goodness does not make a good leader. In this the measure of "good" and "bad" will often depend on what was achieved. For Peter and Catherine the Great, one could point to the building of St. Petersburg and the expansion of Russia, along with some degree of modernization, for Alexander I one could point to the defeat of Napoleon I, and for Alexander II one could point to the emancipation of the Serfs. For Alexander III, while he was a highly autocratic Tsar, Alexander III did manage to maintain some successful policy and stability through his life...
And in this, Nicholas II never lived up to any of that. While personally kind and well intentioned, Nicholas was as ambitious as Catherine, nor as intellectual as Peter, nor as liberal as Alexander II. To a great extent, Nicholas had the potential to be a great Tsar if he began to liberalize the government on taking the throne and allow for reforms to come into being that would lessen his workload and allow for more equity to enter Russia... Essentially to follow in his grandfather's path. However, Nicholas, remembering the assassination of Alexander II and seeing the policy successes of his father, Alexander III, chose not to do that. On taking the throne, Nicholas said, "I remain just as dedicated to the principles of autocracy as my dead father." And that's where Nicholas's personal nature clashed with the system he dedicated himself to...
If one is to be an autocrat... or a dictator (if one isn't a noble), a great deal of force is required. Alexander III retained power and policy successes as he was far more willing to send the army to curb such sentiment, and often did so with a great degree of force. And being a big man, there was the impression that Alexander III could and would dominate the room. Later Soviet dictators, particularly Lenin and Stalin, essentially copied this by being cruel and forceful... taking things to the point eradicating enemies. This was something that Nicholas II really couldn't and didn't do. There were revolutionaries executed, yes, but Nicholas too a far gentler approach than his father did in similar situations which essentially let many of the revolutionaries of 1917 live. Stalin, for example ran a criminal gang responsible for murder, robbery, and intimidation during the 1905 Revolution... Had he lived, Alexander III would have had Stalin hung. Nicholas only sent Stalin to Siberia in exile.
In this, Nicholas dedicated himself to an autocratic style of rule and lacked the necessary cruelness to actually survive with such a policy to make sure the people would be too intimidated to even try revolution... and by taking an autocratic style, he couldn't win over the common man in a way that wouldn't leave them open to the measures taken by the Bolsheviks in 1917...
And it's that that made Nicholas a bad Tsar. Lenin and Stalin weren't any better... and one could easily make the case that they were worse with regard to how they treated the Russian/Soviet people... but they were pretty much a result of Nicholas's failures.
this 3 part series is the best I've seen Thanks
Excellent documentary - thank you for sharing.
Thank you for uploading, best documentary I have seen of the last Tsar of Russia and his family 👍
Charles, thank you for these insightful videos.
absolutely loved this 3 part documentary. thank you
Thank you. I am always interested in learning more about history that I know little about.
appreciate your posting this !
Thinking that I have seen most all of the film clips of the Romanovs, this a lovely surprise. There is so in this doc that I haven't seen before. I am fascinated with this unfortunate time in history. Thanks for posting the three episodes.
thanks for posting and subtitles
Thank You for uploading this.
A great documentary. Thank you.
Wonderful. I learned much watching. Crucial world history. Thanks for posting
I like this very much, the musical theme is very impressivible
one of the best docs. about the tsar's family
Though they represented autocracy, At least people had individual freedoms, It's hard to think that the country fell into darkness with the soviet union being born... How terribly sad.
Yes, people really learned true evil when that happened. Not just Russia, but look at where communism spread to afterwards!
Communism will destroy this capitalist disease, all power to the workers!
Gaming with Mikey! Freedoms? starvation, no education, illiteracy, sent to Siberia if you complained about working conditions. No representation. For those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable. President John. F. Kennedy 1961. China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua etc.etc.etc.
@@rimo926 You commies have been saying this since 1917 yet the Soviet Union collapsed, China and Vietnam are going free market economy and It's only a matter of time until Cuba follows suit. Do real research rather than spouting silly rhetoric!
@@toddmiller5656 Socialism! Power to the people. Socialism forever!
Thank you. Great documentary. How sad.
Yes, thank you. I knew several (I did not know how many) of the Romanov family survived. Those who had successfully escaped to their houses in the Crimea were rescued by a British Warship including. Among those rescued were the Czar's Mother, and the two Grand duchess who were sisters to the Czar. One of whom came to Canada, the Grand Duchess Olga) but the fact that there were no survivors who had the right of succession. The Czar and Czarevich were brutally murdered and the next in line, the Grand Duke Michael was also murdered with his secretary.
That was the end of the Dynasty. Yes, there were other Romanovs who survived but most were unimportant and very distant claimants to the Throne which no longer existed.
Also someone wondered why the Nicky-Alicky correspondence was in English: Alix may have been born in Germany but she was brought up in England by Queen Victoria. So English was Alix's first language. She learned to speak Russian well---but with a heavy English accent.
Thank you for uploading this documentary. It was amazing, informative, and highly depressing. I hope the members of the Romanov family who were killed, along with the millions that suffered during WWI are at peace
I feel for anyone who is shot and bayoneted to death surrounded by the horrified shrieks and deaths of those they love most. I’ve gotten to know a lot about the Romanovs these past couple of years, and it just sounds like one big tragedy. Nicholas couldn’t have the one thing he wanted, a life as a farmer with a loving family. Neither could Alexandra: A life of privacy away from the judgmental eyes of the court with completely healthy children. Nor could Olga, a romance with a foreign soldier. Nor could Alexei, a chance to actually grow up and do what other little boys could and prove himself as Czar. Nor could any of their sisters, with lives suited to their own talents and desires. It’s just sad. Except for the fact that they all had each other, right to the very end.
Alexei wouldn't have lived very long with hemophilia. Most hemophiliacs died in their twenties during that era.
Why to they revere Lenin’s corpse? Should be burned and the ashes scattered.
I do feel for the children. No children deserve that. But they were standing on the shoulders of their family heritage and past of living
in the most obscence oppulence while the Russian people starved and died in the streets. Disgusting. So i don't want to hear about
a royal familes woes. They had it coming for a long time.
@ sam kulik you nailed it. If the Czar had been able to break free of the mental gilded cage the aristocracy was trapped in he might have been able to head off the revolution... Or maybe just push it until his hemophiliac son died without producing an heir or some other sort of alternate history.
I remember learning that the Russian people were starving and Czar was buying fabrege (spelling?) jeweled eggs for his wife. Can see why the people protested and wanted him and his family out.
I feel for this last family. Captivating
truly heartbreaking. RIP ROMANOVS
A Happy New Year and thank you for this third brilliant upload!
The Czar has a lot in common with Louis the 16th of France. Both were out of touch with the people and could not justify their reign. Both were weak. Both lacked cunning. Louis the 16th's head (and Marie Antoinette's) ended up in a basket. The Czar and family ended up at the bottom of a well. The Czar really showed his arse when he let his girls get butchered like that. He was still the Czar. He should have ruthlessly exterminated all his enemies from Day 1. Look at what Stain did.
He should have killed Lenin instead of shipping him off to Siberia.
Chris Devins I agree, his mercy was not returned.
pretty sure Lenin was not in prison in Germany. at the time of the "sealed train" (it wasn't sealed at all, if you research it), Lenin and his cadre were in Swtitzerland
Chris Devins wrong place... wrong time!!
@HBB this is lie! Stop spreading this lie! Imperial family WERE murdered! Brutally and cruelly. They didn't deserve it.
49:00 a little bit incorrect they used Prince Michael of Kent DNA sample, adding to that he fluent in Russian and he's the spitting image of Czar Nicholas.
They used DNA from Prince Philip. His family is closely related to the Romanovs.
The documentary never addresses the fate of the last Czar’s second cousin, an amateur chef who earned the sobriquet “Noodles Romanov.”
Sounds cheesy 🧀
the only bad part about this documentary is that the narrator didnt have a pop filter so you can hear all the clicks and crackle in their speech when they talk.
This documentary is extremely interesting. Told in a manner which makes you feel as if you were actually a part of this sad time in the life's of the Russian people as well as the Tsar
Yeah 75 years of communism for their troubles....
thanks for uploading this. i think it is the best romanov documetary ive seen till now.this is an amazing real story. with esplendor,love,social revolution and drama. one of the most interesting chapters of modern european history. i think the tzar was just too kind to be a real emperor as his antecesors. i see him as a loving head of family. a man who cared more for his role of a father and husband as of an emperator. everyone is capable of making mistakes.and the fact of the heir being illed has took great part on this . and i personally cannot judge him. the ``EXECUTION`` its unaceptable. monarchy has been wrapped away from a country with the most GLORIOUS monarchy of the world.i mean. its something like CUBAN COMMUNISTS invade the UNITED STATES kill obama and all the members of government and took care of the most prominent country of our age. trying to change everything even their religion believes. this happened to the imperial russia. bolcheviks came and tried to turn everything. thats what they called it ``REVOLUTION`` the tzarist russia its extinted. all the greatness was thrown away. and the biggest empire of the modern world changed forever.
Nobody gives a shit about America. Stop stealing other people's history or trying to connect Americans to Europeans. You are American and Europeans are Europeans. I agreed with some of your sentiments until you started waffling about America, as you Yanks like to do. Get lost.
Max K You are not Europeans. You are Americans. Stop stealing other people's history. Concentrate on your recent history or lack of.
When you lose the will of the people you're finished, it was a horrific way to go, poor children murdered and in a terrifying way, but the Tzar and his wife where really to blame! Whilst they lived a life of luxury the people where starving! That's the truth.
Such a tragic story, and they certainly did not deserve what happened to them. I can't imagine anyone in their right mind ever wanting to be in any Monarchy...
@@helenwang9739 If mismanagement were the only criteria for being EXECUTED, then every leader in charge today would be executed. They were MURDERED, and it's WRONG!!!
So the Russian people did not like or trust the Empress Alix because she was German? Wasn't Catherine the Great German too and married into the Russian monarchy just as Alix did?
That analogy probably wouldn't have helped Alix. Though the Russians of Catherine's time revered her, her son blackened her record retroactively after her death. Alix had initially wanted to take "Catherine" as her Orthodox new baptismal name, but Nicholas and Empress Marie managed to dissuade her.
It's important to remember that during World War 1 anti-german sentiment was huge. Along the same lines as the anti-russian or anti-American sentiment during the Cold War. Germans were collectively known as warmongers who committed several atrocities during the early months of the war. And before hostilities broke out Germans cultivated that reputation of bloodthirsty Hawks I want you to show off their military force. It's the reason why the British royal family adopted the English surname Windsor. It's also why following Germany's surrender, the Victorious Powers enacted overzealous reparations to punish the German people. This in turn created a people even more desperate they allowed themselves to follow someone like Hitler.
@@broganmckoko Exactly.
The Empress didn’t work as hard as Catherine the Great. Didn’t even know well The Russian language.
@@joseeduardotschen9186 She spoke Russian but with an English accent.
I know thousands of incident people have been murdered over the years. Its always very sad but it just seems all the more shocking when you see their lives on film. Really sad what happened to them. The girls especially seem so innocent. I will never understand how anyone could kill them. Crazy mad men!
It's really a tragic end. I am sad for those innocent children.
@@akshaygupta4606 Yes i agree! It makes me sad when i think about what happen to them. They were very sweet and innocent. Men are capable of such unbelievable evil.
@@rbharvesters7404 Yes brother I understand but its so disturbing and shocking. I have read the history of many countries and people but this one really broke 😭 my heart. For 2 days I've been watching the videos of Russian Revolution and the Tsarist Russia. Although I knew some of that history but when I discovered this story after watching this video and a 1996 movie Rasputin, then I came to know that saddest part of the history. Those were so beautiful, lovely and innocent children. The love of Tsar for his wife and children and the videos of those lovely children playing with each other really touched my heart. Till the end those ideal parents did everything for the comfort of their vulnerable children. How divine their relationship was!
Excellent documentary, thanks
Recently, I had a chance to re-read Robert K. Massie's book, "Nicholas and Alexandra." I hadn't read it since I was in college four decades before. Within the last 20 years, I had finally seen the Oscar-nominated film based on Massie's book and liked it. In re-reading Massie's book, I give Massie credit for the obectivity of recognizing the humanity of the Romanov family. No one deserved the bitter end they got and there is no doubt that Nicholas was a loving father and a good husband. Even Kerensky recognized that. However, one has to wonder what the revolutionaries thought when they entered the differing palaces and saw the splendor the Romanovs, as opposed to the squalor of their lives. In re-reading Massie's book, I have become disgusted with the richness of their lives, the elaborate dinners, the time and ability to get expensive tutoring, etc., while---a the 1971 film---children could only play in dirty factories while their parents worked, not to mention the mere availability of bread. Throw in the ludicrous management of the war as well as the terrible anti-Semitism of the Tsar (as well as his secret police, the Ohrana) and one concludes the Tsar deserved to be over-thrown. No doubt, Lenin was bad and Stalin was even worse. It would've been better had Kerensky survived, but the Tsar deserved to be removed.
William Snyder what is the film called??
Loved your comment! I have read this book and other of the Romanov as well and agree that he should have been removed. I don’t want to express my personal opinion about their death but thanks to that ending, the Romanovs are so popular.
@@hazelwalsh3269 "Nicholas and Alexandra."
This was a GREAT documentary. I would've loved it better if Lucy Worsley would've narrated this. I'm really obsessed with the romanov's. So tragic what happened to them.