Hot History - Romanovs Part 1: The Rise

Episode Date: September 10, 2026

Strap in for the next 6 episodes, divas, because we are FINALLY unpacking the rise and fall of the last imperial family of Russia: The Romanovs.In this first episode, we're exploring how the Romanov family came into power, from the early Viking days to Ivan the Terrible and one Anastasia Romanova, we're going to look at the big emperors/empresses who shaped russian history, ending with the last Tsar's grandfather! Shout-out to our incredible researcher Gracie McCamish and editor Jamie Rose for pulling this together.If you like this series, make sure to subscribe and follow along so you don't miss the episodes as they drop, starting with part 2 next Tuesday and if you're wanting more Hot History you can follow along on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ !'Til next week, Ainslie x

If you love mad monks, missing princesses, revolutionary fervor, and the changing of history forever, then chances are, you know about the Romanovs. The last imperial family to rule Russia before revolution and communism took the nation by halt. But if you don't know about them and it sounds like something that you would like to, then I want to invite you to watch or listen to our upcoming series on The Hot History Podcast. Over five different episodes, we are tracking everything from the rise of the very first Tsar and how the family gained such wealth and power, to the quest for a male heir,

the role of Rasputin, the mad monk, the relationship with the British royal family, the rise of Lenin and communism, and what exactly happened while the Romanovs were under house arrest? That and so much more is dropping on the Hot History podcast across five episodes every Friday and every Tuesday until the end of September. Hi guys, and welcome back to Hot History.

Your Garner of the internet where we cover all the things in history that you probably should know, but don't. I'm Manesley Harvey, your Hot Historian here, ready to dive into what is, guys, other than my book, the biggest project I've undertaken here at Hot History, because we are starting our series on the Rappanovs. Now, you guys and I as well, okay, love diving back into the fall of Imperial Russia, which feels like this almost foreign and kind of like, almost fantasy-like. Maybe that's not right to say, but that's kind of how it feels. It reminds me,

in many ways of kind of old Valeria for my Game of Thrones fans, because it is this time of such opulence and grandeur and old kind of traditionalism within Palace Gates, like genuinely unimaginable guys. Meanwhile, absolute horrors were raging on the streets as the modern world is bashing down the doors of history. So this series is going to be broken down into five parts. And like genuinely, guys, it's going to be over six hours long. So strap the fuck in, okay? And because I am a benevolent, hot historian, we are going to be releasing every Friday, like our normal episode. And then a second episode every week on Tuesday until the end of the

month, starting with today's episode on the rise of the Romanovs, which is going to give us all the important context we need to know to understand how the Romanov family came to rule Russia, what an autocratic monarchy actually is and why did they manage to rule for almost 300 years and who the hell are all the people involved here? Because there's more relatives and cross-marriage and like share DNA involved than a Habsburg ball. Okay? So let's get into it today, guys, by rewinding all the way back to the 9th century AD around the year 832, starting with what we know about Russia as a country. First and foremost, guys, the thing most most, people know is that Russia is one, very cold, and two, absolutely huge, making up about 11% of the

world's landmass today. So massive, massive kind of global footprint, which is nestled between Europe and Asia, meaning there are no natural boundaries like seas or mountains to kind of define its border, which is partly how Russia, the state, right, became the shape and size that it is, pushing and pulling on neighboring state borders throughout time, which, FYI, guys, I do want to say at the top of this series and this episode, just because we are talking about Russian history and Russian culture and kind of how Russia came to be now doesn't mean that I in any way, shape or form support the current actions of Russia, especially in Ukraine. Just want to put that on the record. Now, the earliest recorded settlers in Kiev and Rus, i.e. Russia, before I was actually called

Russia, were the Slavs, though they were also Funnel Greek tribes from the first millennian, but Russian historian Dr. Orlando Fiesz, who are going to quote a lot here, says early Keevan rules shouldn't be defined by ethnic groups, but by a trading union of diverse peoples like the Slavs, the Finns, the Vikings and the Khazars. So that's kind of the formation days, right, the original pre-9th century AD, which is important because it gives us the context of how power in Russia was eventually centralized in the city of Novgorod. Now, for those of you who haven't heard of Novgorod before, because like, why would we?

The key thing to note is that in the 9th century, it was a thriving Viking settlement, facilitating trade between Scandinavia and Greece, which made it essential for the economy. But given its Viking origins, it was a bit of a mess, with no proper laws governing the different communities. So to kind of combat this, to kind of, you know, lay some proper foundations, Prince Rurik, a Viking chieftain, came over from Scandinavia at the Novgorod People's request, or at least that's what we think, to kind of institute some rules, you know, bring some law and order over here. So he took control of the city in 862 AD, remaining until his death in 879, after which his kinsman named Oleg took over and decided that he really wanted to do something different build

upon the law and order that Rurik established by expanding the territory. And he did this by uniting local tribes to seize lands north and south, including Kiev, the current capital of Ukraine, into Rus, which became its capital. Again, guys, hence the beef still today between Russia and Ukraine over its status. By the many evil times, though, small Viking towns and ports were no longer, with Kiev and Rus becoming the largest territory kingdom in Europe, stretching from the Gulf of Finland to Patulsk, and when Christianity was introduced to the region by Prince Vladimir in 98 AD, it was drawn into Western civilization.

Now, at this point, Fierz says that Kiven Rus was doing well. Novgorod was wealthy, widely literate, and both culture and the economies seem to be thriving all the way through to the 12th century. But some scholars say that while this may be the case for Novgorod as a city, many towns in the surrounding regions were actually in decline, which is categorically not good news here, guys, because come the early 13th century, a very, very big baddie comes onto the scene, the Mongols. Now, I am absolutely going to do more episodes on the Mongols for you guys because they're so fascinating and like really essential to understanding history. But the key thing most people

associate with the Mongols is Genghis Khan. But don't want to worry, guys, he's not showing up here because he's dead by this point. But his grandson Batu isn't. And when I say he absolutely fucked up Kiev and Rus guys, I am not exaggerating. Not only did he and the Mongol army sack overrun and take control of the majority of Kievan Rus by 1240, but they also invaded Poland, Hungary and the Balkans as well. So a lot of Mongol influence comes into Kiev and Rus at this period, something which Fierz actually warns against us exaggerating, stating that the Mongols play a role in what he considers to be Russia's ancient history. But I don't know I necessarily agree straight down the line here, guys. Sorry to like go against you, Fiesz,

because I think the Mongols brought many, many things to the region. You know, they kind of strengthened military tactics, they brought things like the postal system. But most importantly, from my point of view, here, divas. The idea of autocracy really originated with the Mongol invasion here. So what the hell does autocracy even mean? We're going to use it a lot in these episodes. I've used it a lot in the past. So according to Merion Webster, autocracy is defined as a government in which one person possesses unlimited power. And this is significant here, guys, because this would ultimately be the thing that brought the Romanovs crashing down. But we are getting ahead of ourselves here because this system,

as much as I fundamentally disagree with it, guys, it is what allowed them to keep complete and total control of Russia's vast empire and peoples. So how then did the Mongols bring this about? Well, as we said prior to the 13th century, Kiev and Rus was doing well, but it was divided with a number of princes and regional rulers competing with one another, alongside kind of other boyars who were basically like aristocrats, that exercised influence and some city assemblies as well, who kind of known as Vichy. So you have this kind of of interacting power dynamic, which really meant that the power structure was fragmented. But when Batu Khan enters the picture, he consolidates this, turning the rulers of the various

provinces into tributaries, who were forced to recognize his supremacy as sole ruler, something which laid the foundations for the princes of Moscow, which was a really small province at this time, to kind of schmuse their way up to the Khans and effectively weasel into the Mongol political system by collecting tributes from the other Rus territories. This gave them increased power within Mongol-ruled Rus, which eventually became Russia, guys, so I'm just going to call it Russia from here on out, all right? Elevating one man in particular, Ivan Ibn the first of Moscow, aka Ivan Moneybags, which, FYI, guys, was his actual nickname. That is not a hot historianism, okay? So, this went on until the 14th century, when Moscow basically stopped being politically

subordinate to the Mongols, adapting a lot of the principles of centralized power that they used, with the word Tsar also being used interchangeably with Khan and Caesar in the earliest years of Romanov rule, which brings us up to 1530, where we meet another Ivan, although this one's nickname was not money bags, but the terrible. Son of Vasily the 3rd, the Grand Prince of Moscow, who died when he was only three. Ivan was raised by representatives of Boyafet, families, who again are basically this kind of feudal nobility, that tried to use him for their own agendas, something that would ultimately not work out, because Ivan, as the nickname suggests, is a fucking dick. He has a passion for gore and violence, which developed as early as 13,

when he allegedly ordered a fellow prince to be eaten alive by docks. Pleasant, right? It's no wonder he got the terrible. This escalated the older that he got with his favorite method of torture by his early adulthood being the removal of people's tongues. So, not a good guy here, okay, who the envoy of the Holy Roman Emperor described as, quote, constantly running and carefully watching everything. He's very prone to anger, and when he is caught up in it, he gets mad like a horse and seems to fall into madness, which again, guys, like you may think this is kind of prejudice and exaggeration, but it is not. For Ivan had a temper so vast that he caused, firstly, he's, firstly, he's his daughter-in-law to have a miscarriage. Second, constantly beat his servants, likely killed at least

one of his wives, and definitely, guys, and most importantly, if we're going to lump them all, this is the third, killed his own son after whacking him in the head with a staff. So, terrible, makes sense, right? And definitely not someone you want ruling as an absolute autocrat, which is exactly what happens in 1547 when Ivan is. is only 16 years old, making him the very first of the grand princes to be crowned as Tsar. His grand mission, what he wants to achieve, right, besides kind of cutting people's tongues off, is to expand Russian territory, which he did by capturing Siberia, after which he turned to state organisation, implementing reforms in law, land, tax and church, which was, to be fair,

far more than any of his princely predecessors had ever done. However, this again was all with the same goal of amassing territory, amassing power, which Fierz says is exactly what made the Russian autocracy so fierce, as it's not so much, and this is relevant throughout really the whole of kind of Russian history, guys, it's not so much about the strength of the state at this point, but the weakness of society, with few public institutions able to actually resist or stand up to this power, which again is important and as we kind of get into each of the Romanov's guys we're going to see this because the lack of checks and balances is partly what allowed them to hang on for so long

and also to ultimately be doomed. But back to Ivan, we are really getting ahead of ourselves, guys. We're going to kind of be jumping around a bit. I will try and keep it chronological, but like some things we need to call out. So Ivan's got Siberia at this point, right? Again, he's an empire builder. He wants to expand this territory. But he is not happy. with only having Siberia. So he fought endless wars throughout his rule, some with success, others, not so much. For example, the Livonian War, which lost him access to the Baltic regions after 20-something years of fighting, leaving Russia kind of poor and embarrassed, and Ivan particularly paranoid and brutal, which is actually what sent him into the rage where he killed his son,

along with like thousands of other people in North Rugg guys. And while he tried to make alliances in marriages, which would improve his standing, everyone fucking hated him. So his death in 1884 was a reason genuinely to celebrate. Everyone's like, fuck this guy, he's terrible, literally like, thank goodness. But what wasn't a course for joy was the succession crisis which followed. Lasting about 15 years from 1598 to 1613, the time of troubles, as it was known, was marked by famine, foreign invasion and insane political instability, which some sources say wiped out a third of the population. Like, fuck, a third, that's crazy.

So really devastating and partly happened because the Russian throne was so unstable in this time, with Ivan's remaining son, Fyodor, taking the throne and dying weak and childless, after which a senior boycott named Boris ruled, but he was not without competition, guys. You see, Ivan the Terrible had many, many wives, eight, in fact, to be precise. He kind of puts Henry to shame. The first of whom was the daughter of a mid-level boyar clan named Anastasia Romanova,

who is our very first Romanov, guys, which we love that she's a diva. This 300-year-old dynasty started with her, obsessed. So Anastasia is the first wife of Ivan and his Zarina, which is also sometimes pronounced Zaritsa, but basically like his empress, okay? We're just going to use Sarina moving forward. And she had six children by Ivan, four who died young and two who lived to adulthood, named Fiedor, the guy who became Tsar after Ivan, then died childless, and Ivan Ivanovich, the son who was bashed to death in the head by his father. Hence the whole succession crisis, guys. But even without direct children, there are always other pesky relatives, namely

Anastasia's brother Nikita, whose own son was a another guy called Fidor, whose own son after that was named Michael. And the reason, guys, we bring up this complex family tree isn't just for fun. It is because it is essential to understanding how the Romanovs actually came to power and just how bigger threat they were to Boris, right, that guy that's kind of the boyer, who had the entire family exiled to northern Russia, leaving him totally unchallenged for the throne. This, as we said, led to the time of troubles, which ended when Boris died and was succeeded in 1605 by some kind of random guy who claimed to be another murdered son of Ivan, who the people didn't like and then killed

in 1606. After that, there's kind of these couple of other people. It's all very like wishy-washy. It's kind of one boyar. It then turns into a collection of seven who rule. And eventually, it all just led to one big giant power vacuum, which really left both the people, the church, and the nobility asking the same question here. If Ivan the Terrible was the last proposer, who the hell is next in his actual bloodline? And we're not talking about some advantageous Machiavellian boyar or fake former prince,

but the next in the imperial line of succession, which was known back then as the old Rurikid royal family descending from Anastasia Romanova. Now, as we said, she has no children surviving, so technically there is no next in the bloodline, And as such, it really becomes a search for kind of who has enough legitimacy and palatable qualities to be czar, right? Who's the best fit so that everyone will stop killing each other? And the answer to that question was Anastasia's 16-year-old great-nephew Michael.

So the kid who was five when he was exiled is now grownish and kind of finds himself elected in 1613 by the National Assembly to be the new Tsar of Russia. And this is a good pick, guys, not in the least because he's Anastasia's blood and linked to kind of these old dynasties, blah, blah, blah, but because Michael and his mother lived in a monastery, cut off from a lot of the world the majority of their life, which meant he's a pretty neutral pick here. But that didn't mean he wanted the job. In fact, according to the traditional Russian folk stories on this, when representatives arrived to tell Michael he'd been elected as Tsar, his mother burst into tears, fearing that this would simply get him. him killed. Growing up, as we said, almost solely by her side in exile, thanks to Boris, Michael freaked out at her reaction and rejected the offer, but later did come to his senses and accepted, being crowned Tsar Michael I on July 21st, 1613, thus beginning, the Romanov dynasty. Now, as we already said, guys, Michael was the son of Fyodor Romanov, a man who was not only

elected patriarch of the church, which carried real influential. and weight, but he was actually an advisor to Ivan the Terrible himself, so he's a bit of a political animal here, who went on to help Michael rule, including dealing with invaders, for while Russia was imploding during the times of trouble, the Poles and the Swedes who claimed they were the right for rules of Russia were kind of pushing in. They're taking advantage of this weakness. Wanting to get this sorted, absolutely ASAP, Michael decides, or like let's be so for real here, guys, his advisors decide, right? should not use brute force, but instead use cold, hard cash, negotiating with King James I of

England to pay the Swedes a large sum of cash in exchange for land along the Baltic coast that was taken by Ivan the Terrible. Eventually, all parties agree to this, and as such, off go the Swedes, leaving only the Poles to manage, which Michael does in 1619 by obtaining a ceasefire, after which he's kind of gotten Russia back on track, and he hands everything over to his father, while he focuses on the most important role of all. Airmaking. Yes, you see, my divas, this is a struggle as old as time. Plaging the first and the last SARS for having lived through the time of troubles,

Michael and the Romanovs knew they had to produce an air to avoid further succession crisis. So Michael starts pretty soon after he sort all of these issues out because he was 16 when he became Zah. He starts looking for wives. And while his father tried to find him a bride from the European nobility to forge good international relationships, Russia's lack of clout at this stage made the task difficult. So he eventually married a Russian woman named Ivdokia Stresneva in 1626, who gave birth to three daughters and three sons, including Alexis, who had become the second

Röhmanov, Zah. FYI, guys, I am trying my hardest for you on the pronunciations. I've done the, like, phonetic spelling, so please bear with me. If they're not like 100% perfect, just no, I am trying, okay? So all in all, Michael's reign is pretty successful, right? And while nowhere near as impactful as the next few Romanov rulers were going to discuss, it did lay the foundations for the next 300 years of dynastic power, removing enemy threats, securing existing territory, and ensuring the imperial line of succession, which carried on after his death in six. Now, I do have to say, while I would love to go through each and every single Robinov ruler kind of across these 300 years and talk about them, we'd basically need to have five parts

before we even get to Nicholas II. So for the sake of brevity, guys, I'm going to chat about the big ones, okay, the ones who changed Russia, the world and history, making vital contributions both positive and not so positive to the empire that Nicholas would inherit. the first of whom has to be Peter the Great. Honestly, we cannot talk about Russia without talking about him. And for most of us, we may have heard of Peter the Great from the TV series The Great, starring Elf Fanning and Nicholas Holt, which, FYI, guys, what an absolute banger. Like, I love me, a traditional, historically accurate, real period drama, drama.

Okay, BBC Pride and Prejudice kind of cinematic experience. but I also just love some sugar sometimes. You know, a ridiculous, stylized, very occasionally accurate period drama, and The Great Easily has to be one of my favourite comfort shows. So if you guys have not seen it, this is your sign to go and watch it. Honestly, like I can't think about Catherine the Great, who we're going to talk about in a minute, and not picture L Fanning. But anyway, Peter, we're talking about Peter.

Arguably, like I said, the most important Russian Tsar. He was born on the 9th of June 1672 as the child of Zara Alexis's second wife. So he's Michael, the first son's grandson, who was really only elected because Alexis's first son died really early. And there's this kind of massive beef between the families of the first wife and the second wife, after which they kind of agree to a Kozar system where Peter, the son of the second wife, would co-rule with his older half-brother Ivan from the first wife. Now, this all goes down in 1682 and leaves what can only be described as an intensely sour

taste in Peter's mouth, who is kind of looking around at these people who are squabbling and killing each other like savages and can't believe that this really represents Russian politics and people. And I think in many ways, he's looking and being like, is this really Russian culture? You know, this archaic thing, a belief, which was. confirmed when he was nearly murdered by his own sister-in-law, Sophie. So he's not having like the best start as Tsar. Now Sophie was acting as regent for the other ruling brother and she wanted Peter Gonsky and went to length to try and make this happen, sending hitmen out to kill 17-year-old Peter who narrowly escaped with his life, leading to Sophie's imprisonment in

1689. At this point, Ivan was 22, but Peter was still only 17 and considered not old enough to rule. So his mom took over as region, while Peter continued with his education, something he absolutely threw himself into. Again, I think it's like he was really disturbed by the actions of the Russian aristocracy and political animals in his childhood. So he made it his mission to be smarter than anyone in the room. From military business to Western technology, Peter absorbed the finest teachings, determined to bring new and exciting things like science and shipbuilding to Russia. And after his mother's death in 1694 and his co-regent Ivan's death two years later, 23-year-old Peter became Tsar and sought to make this new vision a reality.

Setting out on a big old journey west known as the Grand Embassy, Peter spent roughly 18 months travelling through Europe, where he absorbed Western ideas like a sponge. From the Dutch Republic to England and the Holy Roman Empire, Peter was obsessed with moving Russia away from what he called medieval Moscow, bringing Western shipbuilding, like we said, military technology, industry and administration to his new empire. He also in this time became enamoured by art and culture, apparently learning to catch butterflies and paint seascapes while collecting art to bring back to Russia for his new Grand City, St Petersburg. These travels, and largely his lean into the Western world, also allowed him to establish important trade links with Beijing,

and obtained territory on the Caspian Sea, but most importantly, DeVis, it helped modernise Russia. Developing industry, increasing education, simplifying the language and having state officials and military men shave their beards all made Russia and its people look and act and feel like one of the great powers of the time, which Peter really facilitates. But that's not the only reason he was dubbed the Great, because let me tell you guys, he has some serious military prowess, expanding Russia's Navy and territory on the Black and Baltic Seas, while winning the Azov campaign against the Ottoman Empire, the Persian campaign, and most importantly, guys, the big one here, okay?

The Great Northern War Against Sweden. The land of IKEA, right? one of Europe's great powers and really the biggest threat in the region to Peter and Russia more broadly, Sweden was defeated in the Great Northern War, limiting its power, territory and impact, largely forever, never obtaining prominence or power again, despite IKEA and despite Abba. Okay? Peter really drove the point home to the kind of Swedes and really to everybody that, you know, he'd won and Russia was this great power now, by building St.

Petersburg, a city he named after himself, on former Swedish territory, making it the new and improved capital of Russia, while creating access to the sea and opening trade ties with Europe, all in one fell swoop. He was also a progressive, or as much as an autocratic czar kind of can be progressive, establishing a Senate to supervise judicial and administrative tasks while he was way fighting on campaigns, something rather unimaginable for an absolute monarch at the time, and something we should definitely keep in mind, Lock away, but when we talk about Nicholas II and World War I in the upcoming episodes, okay? Memory marker planted. So Peter has a huge, like we said, impact on Russian history,

really defining what it meant to be a czar, an emperor, a true and proper ruler, right? Who set the empire up for the future, which his ministers commented on at his funeral in 1725, saying he made Russia's, quote, power, strong like a rock and diamond. And they're not wrong. In fact, still to this day, guys, and I didn't know this, you guys DM'd me and told me this. Many Russians see Peter the Great as the last real Tsar. However, all reform and change meets opposition. And Peter had a large contingent of haters who called him, quote, the Antichrist.

In apparent typical Tsar tradition, he also was indelibly cruel to his own son. I don't know why so many of them have, like, killed and tortured their son. But Peter's son Alexei was tortured and killed by his father after he became convinced that he was conspiring against him, which in Peter's defence, he actually was conspiring against him. So, you know, he did. He was bang on, but still, don't kill your sons, Jesus. It also left Russia, yet again, guys, without a male heir. But to avoid a succession crisis, Peter handpicked who would rule after him, naming his second wife, Catherine I, as his heir. Which you guys are going to fucking love this. Okay, for all of but three of the 71 years

after Peter, women solely ruled Russia. So let's jump forward now to 1729, only four years after the death of Peter the Great, where we will meet the most famous of these female rulers by far. But this story, unlike all to date, doesn't begin in Russia, but actually in Germany, where Princess Sophie of Anheurzurst is born. Now in 1744, when Sophie is just 15 years old, she is shipped off to Russia under the pretense that she would marry Peter III, who is the grandson of Peter the Great, heir to the Russian Empire. This would then, one day, make her Empress of Russia, which she's kind of keen for guys, as despite her title, Sophie's family was not particularly wealthy, powerful by royal standards. She herself, however, was highly intelligent and intensely curious

with a desire to please the people around her while also getting the most out of situations for herself. So she kind of sets off for Russia here, keen to obviously please her family and make a good match, but also keen to explore this post-Peter the great world, which is full of learning and art and technology and culture, an expectation which kind of falls flat. For when she arrives, she finds a backwards court and a pretty cold and callous reception from Peter III, who kind of, you know, he's like, whatever, I'll marry you, which he does on August 21st, 1745, with Princess Sophie taking the name of a Catarina Alexievna, aka Catherine. And she gets to work right away, guys, on playing the powers that be. Charming Empress Elizabeth, the current

Zarina, working the ballrooms of the Russian court, and eventually becoming beloved by the Russian public. And none of this is by mistake, guys, okay? Catherine is a political animal. She is wickedly smart. She is highly motivated and had a will of iron, really taking the job of Futures Zarina seriously, wearing traditional court dresses, including kakoshnik headdresses, eating local foods, mastering the Russian language, and devouring every history and philosophy book available to her in the palace library. She also enjoyed firsthand education, speaking with some of the greatest minds in Europe, including Voltaire, you'll know him from the great, who helped spearhead the Enlightenment. So Catherine's really getting the most juice for her squeeze

in her role as Empress to be, okay? But this was not the case for her marriage. In fact, journalist Suzanne Jacques says the couple, quote, couldn't have been more different in terms of their intellect and interests. With Peter being boring, immature and lazy, and Catherine, a curious and cultured queen, which meant they only produced one living son, a boy called Paul, and side by side, Catherine made Peter look like an incompetent loser.

something he became incredibly insecure about, growing openly more hostile towards Catherine who he tried to get rid of. But he wouldn't have the chance for that, Divas, for Catherine launched a coup d'etat, arresting Peter, forcing him to sign an abdication and declaring herself as Russia's sole empress. Eight days later, in a series of events, I am sure, in no way shape or form are linked to the aforementioned, Peter died of hemorrhoidal colic, with Catherine announcing her son Paul, would be her heir with Peter now gone. But Paul wouldn't rule for quite some time, because Catherine intended on not only a long life, but a massive rule, getting to work immediately

by positioning herself as the political successor of Peter the Great. So she's really aiming high to carry on his legacy of modernity and strength by outlining her vision for a progressive Russia, which sought to improve governmental administration, revised judiciary processes, and introduce greater tolerance within her empire. She also wanted to, very controversially, guys, abandoned serfdom and advocated for women's education by founding the first girls' school in Russia, which obsessed with all of that. She's like really living up to the great moniker.

But, just like Peter, she wasn't great all the time, with her diplomatic skills slightly more pointed, perhaps, eventually clashing with pretty much all the nations that Michael I, first and Peter the Great tried to appease, turning Russia into a more aggressive nation among the European powers. Still, it was a power though, and arguably more so under Catherine than it ever was under Peter. I am definitely, my divas, do not worry, going to do an episode on Catherine because we can't cover all of her greatness and not so greatness in five to ten minutes, but she is an incredible woman, a real leader who helped prove that women were actually capable

of holding and amassing more power, with her championing of the arts and liberal sexuality, leading her to pave her own way. Of course, still featuring a lot of misogynistic and outwardly kind of racist backlash for her German heritage and affairs, with her detractors making all sorts of lewd comments about her hypersexuality, including that she fucked a horse. This is, obviously, incorrect, and merely a symptom of the double standards of the time, with all the Tsars before, having legendary scores of lovers, which was allowed, meanwhile she, as a woman, and an empress at that, her sexuality wasn't deemed acceptable. She didn't care, though, once admitting, quote,

the trouble is that my heart is loath to remain even one hour without love. So that's Catherine, guys. She loves sex, she loves Russia, she loves art, and she loves power, which she held onto until her death in 1769, after her son Paul took over the the reins and did an altogether shit job, which resulted in his own murder by a bunch of statesmen who didn't like his policies. Next after him came the first Alexander in 1801, who was a big believer in Catherine's reforms, and as it turns out, guys, randomly, mohawks, which he sported in this picture. For you guys listening, I'll post it to the pod. It's fucking hilarious.

Trying to really drag Russia into the 19th century at this point, Alexander, the first was liberal with a capital L. Not only did he introduce new judicial powers of the Senate, codes against censorship, and several counterbalances to offset the power of the Tsar, aka himself, but he even admitted that while the French revolution was brutal, he hoped that its ideas would come to Russia, again, effectively bringing his own rule to an end. So very, very different from the next SARS we're going to meet. And while similar in some ideas to Catherine and Peter, not a huge lover of autocracy.

So what else do we know about this apparent perceived diva? Well, firstly, he apparently was super handsome, with some Russian women even calling him the Sphinx, which was basically apparently like the 19th century's version of Hot, which we should use more like you're such a Sphinx. Someone called me a Sphinx. I'd probably be like, what the fuck are you talking about? But it just means hot guys. So add it to the vocab.

We also know that despite all his liberal aspirations, Russia was overwhelmed by civil unrest and foreign tension with France. For one, not so little man called Napoleon decided he'd like a bit of Russia for himself. Recognising the French emperor as a threat against peace, Alexander believed that the only way he could achieve his agenda was if Napoleon was gone, which, guys, in case you haven't picked up, like throughout all of human history, pretty difficult thing to do, okay? One, yes, because of his military prowess, but two, the size of his army, which Alexander soon discovered firsthand in June of 1812, when 600,000 men, aka the largest army ever assembled in history at that point,

crossed into Russia's Polish territories. Knowing he couldn't face Napoleon, and win, Alexander decided that the best thing to do was to draw the French into Russian territory, where their forces would have the upper hand. They first fought the French at Borodino in September of that same year, but were eventually overrun and directed to abandon their blockade and protection of Moscow. As such, the French arrived at the Great City of the Tsars and found it empty and on fire, which was pretty much Alexander's whole kind of strategy with Napoleon, block him where possible, destroy supplies, sacrifice where needed, and basically apply the scorched earth method to rob Napoleon of the thing he wanted most.

A big, great, decisive victory. Thanks to this strategy and Napoleon's ego preventing the French from pulling back during the bitter Russian winter, thousands of French soldiers died from cold, starvation and disease. With barely, this is crazy guys, 10%? of the French force that entered Russia, making it back alive. Determined to squash this threat once and for all, Alexander followed the French, committing a large force to the Battle of Lepsig in 1813, which did win Alexander some serious bragging rights, and while Napoleon's real last stand guys was Waterloo, we've all listened to

Abba, right? We know that as a fact. The Battle of Lebsig was essential to beating the French forces down. And so Alexander took his winning ego into the boardroom with the other Napoleon. olionic allies, making all sorts of demands of them, including the expansion of Poland, which the British and Austrians, let out rejected, fearing Russian expansionism, which, guys, is actually fair. I mean, let us not forget, Russia occupies about 11% of the global footprint, and just for some context here, which I actually found this really fascinating, between 1500 and 1917, the Russian Empire grew by 130 square kilometres on average every single day, which is about the size of the US city of Boston, making it the world's largest territorial empire.

So this is not an unjust fear from the Brits and the Austrians by any means. Still though, Alexander I was a part of this major moment in history. And again, in his mind, he'd made a real step towards eliminating dictatorial power. The irony, of course, being that he was an autocratic sir. To celebrate this victory, the Russians held a big parade in Paris, which really marked the height of Russian prestige and influence in 19th century Europe. So what happened next? Well, having his fill of blood and death after this campaign, Alexander became progressively more preoccupied with his spirituality, with many of his later policies guided by religion, something that all but silenced any talk of constitutional reform,

Which, boo, what a fucking L. But to be fair, he did have a good reason to turn to religion because all his daughters died in infancy, leaving him airless, which also coincided with hundreds of people being killed by one of the most serious floods in St. Petersburg history, which many people chalked up to Alexander being punished by the wrath of God. So, of course, you're going to turn to spirituality when, like, your people are like, God hates you, you know? Something which was not uncommon for Russian society and kind of the court.

to say at the time, because they are a deeply superstitious people, which you'll remember from our Rasputin episode if you watched that a few months ago. Now, the death of Alexander I is a bit of a mystery to us, but on December 1st 1825, death bells were heard in St Petersburg with words spreading that Alexander had died of typhus. However, this wasn't necessarily correct, with the Tsar actually dying in a remote Crimean town. But still, the fact remained, Alexander the first was dead. And again, the throne was without an air, which there's actually a real irony. And when I was researching this, I didn't realize how many of these earlier czars were airless. And you compare them with St. Nicholas II and the kind of anxiety and almost,

I guess, curse is maybe the right word. I don't think it's too strong a word for kind of certain associated with the birth of Alexei, because a sunless czar was not unheard of. It's actually pretty typical as we kind of trace this history. Anyway, as we said, Alexander is dead, which brings us to the Decembrists. Now, these guys were a large group of nobles, officers and professionals who were sick of autocratic rule and heavily inspired by the Enlightenment to push for a modern and moral Russia, which involved no more czars, ban them, sick of them, throwing tomatoes, we're done. And they were motivated, and they were skilled, and they

communicated with extensive correspondence on how they would actually make this happen. And perhaps it actually may have worked, if not for this very sudden death of Alexander. For while it gave them a window and a total power vacuum to try and make this happen, it didn't. Because Catherine the Great's grandson, Nicholas I, sweeps in, receiving the oath of Allegiant from figures in the government and taking power. But not everyone agreed on his right to rule. I mean, like I said, we've got the Decemberists, with 3,000 soldiers gathering in Senate Square to refuse the quote would be Tsar, which gave genuine hope for their movement and traction here. But it all ended up dying out

because their leader kind of lost his nerve and never showed up, which how embarrassing for them. Like they probably could have done something here. Anyway, by evening, Nicholas takes full control of the square. He's like, fuck all of you. And he seems to have crushed this rebellion. But he couldn't crush their ideas, which we are going to chat more on later. Again, mental note the Decemberus, this first kind of uprising. For now, though, let's look at Nicholas I. So as the grandson of Catherine the Great, who reportedly called him the Colossus at birth, which like, fucking hectic, Nicholas I strongly believed in both autocracy as his divine right to rule and in his own esteemed opinion of himself, ruling with a touch.

and imposing fierceness by introducing the Nicholas system, based on the principle of one Tsar, one faith, and one nation. This led to a strict program of Russification, built on the belief of patriotism, nationalism, and reinforcing autocracy, which for some was bolstering. But for other non-Russians in the region, like Poles and the Jewish peoples, this was isolating and dangerous, leading to multiple revolts and uprisings which Nicholas to squash by really strengthening the bureaucracy around himself, where your rank was decided upon your service to the nation and the Tsar, which in theory sounds better than aristocracy where your rank is given based on how rich you are. But honestly, it's not too dissimilar

to privy councilmen or oligarchs today, which meant that even more fierceness emerged in Nicholas, who historians today believed acted to try and conceal his own internal panic about the state of his empire in the 19th century. So he's projecting, okay? Which really checks out here, because at this point, revolutions are well and truly on the mind. From Paris to Belgium to Warsaw, people all over Europe were rising up against the ruling authorities, and Nicholas saw the real potential for this sentiment to spread into Russia. So to really combat this, which was definitely just a big old band-aid. He ordered a modernization program, building steam train lines and kick-starting industrialization, which worked for a while, guys. But ultimately, this wasn't something that could be

done overnight. And with growing peasant frustration and a country being left behind, Nicholas died, passing Russia to his son, Alexander II, who arguably inherited a more insecure and dangerous throne than perhaps ever before. Kind of minus the Kans and Ivan the terrible, of course, like objectively horrific people, this throne was so unstable at this point. So now we start to get into the territory of the last SARS, right? Nicholas II, Alexandra, Alexandra, Anastasia, Rasputin, revolution, all of that jazz. Because Alexander II was the granddaddy of the last Tsar. So what do we know about him?

Well, as we said, he inherited a country in a pretty bad state, guys, having experienced the genuine anti-monarchy movement against his dad, which meant that Alexander II had a big decision to make. He's kind of at this crossroads. Does he reform or does he double down? Well, according to Fiesz, he says that Alexander was no less committed to the ideas of autocracy than his father, but new reforms were needed to actually save Russia, to continue this dynasty. And so through him, the great Russian bear would try and drag itself into the 19th century. But how does he do it where others before failed? Well, the key thing to know about Alexander II is that he was raised during the Crimean War,

which caused him to worry from a very early age about Russia's backwardness and brutality. So he is from the get-go guys, concerned for the future, something which wasn't helped by his overbearing father, who was brutish and preached rule through an iron fist. His mother, however, the former Prussian princess Charlotte, who became Tsarina Alexandra, was determined her son would be raised with a different point of view, entrusting his education to poet Vasili Zuvowski, who was a romantic man of humanitarian principles that gave the future Tsar a liberal education.

After this, it was pretty stock standard. We're talking marriage, we're talking military, we're talking making male, heirs. with him marrying a Hessian princess named Maria Alexandrovna against his mother's will in 1841, resulting in eight children, including Nicholas, the heir and Alexander the spare. Eventually, though, the imperial marriage flamed out, with Alexander taking on a mistress by the name of Princess Akaterina Dol Gurukova, who was almost 30 years his junior. Now, if you're thinking, big deal, guys, Zaz do this all the time,

then you would be right, but also wrong. But the affair with a Catarina, whose family had deep ties to Russian power brokers dating back to kind of Peter the Great St. Peter the Great St. Fours, really, within Palace Walls, and really within St Petersburg society at large, with many of the most prominent families kind of turning against Alexander in this process. But let's actually lock into the timeline here, guys, enough royalty about mistresses. Let's get back into the actual chronology. Now, Alexander II became Tsar on the 19th February 1855 at 36 years old and had a very clear

idea on what he wanted to do now that the crown was on his head. Firstly, he ended the Crimean War by signing the Treaty of Paris, putting a halt on the massive drain on Russia's military, and secondly, he wanted to do something that Catherine the Great and even Peter the Great sought to do but never could. Free the Serfs. Now again, it is 1860-ish by this point, so society is far more progressive than it was back in their day, but still, guys, this is Russia. And the land-owning nobility relied on serfdom to prop up their estates. So there was major backlash from within the ruling elite about this proposal. But Alexander II fundamentally believed that the surf-based economy was not strong enough to compete with bigger, more successful nations like Britain and France,

who were rapidly industrialising at this point. And most importantly here, guys, you know, of course, he recognised the injustice of this mass class divide. Not so much necessarily as a humanitarian, because if he really cared about the class divide, he would just kind of dissolve the whole monarchy. But more so from a political standpoint, guys, and this is really, really important here, okay?

Alexander II addressed a group of Moscow nobles who were kind of saying, you know, this is fucked, we don't want to free our serve. saying to them, it is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for the time when it will begin to abolish itself from below. Something which we will see come into fruition in the coming episodes, guys, but Alexander II at this point in time, he's really ahead of the curve and as such issued the Emancipation Manifesto in 1861, a collection of 17 legislative acts that would once and for all abolish serfdom in the Russian Empire, which sleigh guys, we love, like a reform we can get behind.

However, there's always a however isn't there. It's such a letdown and such a Debbie Downer always. This was not a quick fix. For in some parts of Russia, it took peasants over 20 years to obtain land from landowners to farm, and even then many were overcharged rent and tied legally to a larger working commune, which caused further problems. To combat, this, Alexander set up another reform in 1864, which allowed Russian districts to form local councils who could kind of, you know, provide schools and medical care and private roads themselves without the wealthy noble landowners say so, which again sounds amazing, rock on. However, only those wealthy noble landowners could actually vote in these kind of things.

So like, we're really seeing a pattern here, guys, okay? of intent to reform, but at the most basic level, like no one's willing to really like just get the job done. Followed then by another reform, which again looks more liberal, but the authority and power of that system is still the same as it had been for almost 250 years. And this really is the key reason. Okay, the number one reason the Russian imperial throne fell. It was too little, too late, and too similar to what had always been. With Fierz, saying Alexander II granted freedoms within the frameworks of autocracy, which is bang on. And again, guys, we are going to track this trend from here on out with exactly what was done policy-wise,

exactly what went down within the royal marriages and kind of the military at large, in the way of progress and reform, because that takes us from where we are now to the end. But Alexander did do some genuinely innovative and effective things, not saying that freeing the serfs isn't effective because, obviously, but, you know, again, did it really work? Kind of, not really, you know, maybe. He did, however, kickstart Russia's economy into high gear, making the country more productive and less reliant on the central government

by fostering industry, modernity and cold, hard cash, by selling parts of the empire back to other nations, using the funds to build cathedrals and public buildings. He was also genuinely passionate about helping orphans and children, trying to improve education and literacy in particular by opening new schools and investing heavily in teachers. Another of his reforms, which at face value, seems really terrible but actually helped other lower classes,

was introducing universal military conscription, which previously was universal amongst the peasants who faced up to 25 years in service. Under Alexander II, everyone and anyone could be conscripted, which dramatically reduced the standard length of active military service for the lower classes. So it's through these acts that Alexander II gets his title of the Tsar Liberator. And they were genuinely net positive reforms for the Russian people, with the empire looking far healthier than it had when Alexander inherited it. But just as things are kind of on the up, a horrific blow comes hurling down

when 22-year-old Nicholas, the heir suddenly died in Nice in 1865. This was a massive blow for Alexander and the Russian people. For the next in line to the throne was the straightforward, physically imposing, very conservative and guys just like pretty intellectually unremarkable, second son, Alexander. Now, this is a man who never expected to rule and had all but set out for a life of military command. So this is a massive shock to him, who we're going to speak more on next week, and to all of Europe, really, which is probably a good time to do a general check-in with what else is going on in Europe at this time and how they view the Romanovs.

So, thanks to a little old diva called Queen Victoria, most of the European monarchies are related at this point, including the British and the Romanovs, because her son, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, married the daughter of Tsar Alexander II. and it's all very complicated, but they're all kind of, you know, married and related and doing whatever it is that they do in these aristocratic circles. So there's lots of family ties here, with Queen Victoria being the big one that everyone's trying to impress and kind of schmooze up to. Although, guys, let's be real, this is likely because of the size of the British empire versus a kind of matriarchal family system. Still, the Romanovs were constantly

heading west to England and despite making a real effort to mingle with their extended family, Queen Victoria never quite trusted them. And this is again another thread that we're going to follow through from here on out in next week's episode, because the interconnectedness between what would be the Windsors, right now they're the Saxe, Berk and Gothers, and the Romanovs only get stronger from here on out. As for now, though, Victoria wasn't impressed, referring to, quote, horrid Russia in her letters as a nation that, again, quote, I could not wish for any of you when speaking with her granddaughters. As for the death of Nicholas, though, she did express sympathy for.

And while not particularly liking Alexander II very much, she expressed her condolences for this loss, which again was really devastating for both the Romanov's and, as we'll soon find out, for the future of the Russian people. But not everyone is sympathetic to the Tsar Liberator. And much like his father, Alexander II experienced plenty of political dissent from both sides of the political spectrum, with some thinking he did too much too quickly, and others thinking he did too little too late, including the Narodnix, aka the populists, who believe Russian peasants could become the foundation of a revolutionary society. Sounds familiar. As such, thousands of

idealistic young activists participated in what they called the going of the people in 1874, by traveling into rural communities hoping to essentially politically awaken the peasantry, which was a real and present threat, guys, with a former school teacher by the name of Alexander Solovee trying to assassinate the Tsar in April of 1879. And although he failed, it triggered a massive panic in the palace, with six military governor-generals being appointed to impose a system of censorship and repression to fight off any of these threats. This, as you can imagine, just added fuel to the fire here, with November of that same year, seeing a second attempt on the Tsar's life by terrorists who tried to blow up his train. This was then followed, guys, by Kameni Bridge in St Petersburg also being blown up as the Tsar was meant to pass under. And if you're thinking, my God, this is what? Is it all these

attempts? Like, this can't get any worse. You would be wrong. For by 1880, tensions was so high that a mine was constructed in the Winter Palace's basement underneath the dining room. So, literally like underneath the Tsar's home and offices, with the mine exploding when the Tsar was meant to be eating, which would have killed him guys, but the dinner was delayed because a guest was running late. So again, insane levels of tension here, which could not go unchecked. And so Alexander finally agreed to consider the people's desire for a constitution, taking immediate steps to release political prisoners and appointing the Minister of the Interior to start drafting up a constitution. Now, I want to be clear here, all right, this was not a constitution which made the

Russian throne a constitutional monarchy like Britain, versus an autocracy like it had been to date. It was a sweeping set of reforms which implemented far greater protections and powers for the people, with the minister proposing that the Tsar allow representatives from local institutions to participate in commissions advising the government directly. So not just, necessarily like democracy via elected officials or a genuine parliament of such, but a chance for a small group of people in these local institutions to contribute to the broader political decisions, which the Tsar signed off on in early March of 1881. And while this was incredible progress, again, we're in an autocracy here, there were still factions who felt this was all too

little and too late, including the Narodnaya Volaya, aka the people's will, who unlike the populists, believed that targeted political assassination could destabilise the autocratic state just enough to trigger revolutionary change. And their ultimate target guys was Alexander himself. Now, as we've said, as we've kind of covered and, you know, had a bit of a ironic lollat. This man is no stranger to assassination attempts. But no one was expecting the day of March 13, 1881, to unfold as it did. So what happened exactly? Well, this cold and nippy Sunday in St Petersburg was like any other.

But with a fresh dump of snow, glistening in the street, the city looked extra bright and shiny from the 63-year-old Tsar's bulletproofed ironclad carriage, a gift from Napoleon III. traveling from Mikhailovsky Palace to the Winter Palace, surrounded by police forces for his protection, all seemed well and truly in hand. But this was not the case, for on a nearby street corner, two members of the people's will were given the signal to attack. Rising to their feet, the scene before them erupted in chaos as bombs exploded under the Tsar's carriage. Windows were blown out, the floor was shattered, but still the Tsar himself.

survived. I mean, Jesus Christ, guys, nothing will kill this man. He is so alive, in fact, at this point, that he gets out of the carriage and starts helping the injured people caught up in the blast, much to the chagrin of the protection officers who arrested the men involved, but not one of their conspirators. A man named Ignati Grinovitsky, who's spotting the Tsar hauling the injured off the pavement, threw another bomb, this time with lethal precision. Considered to this day as the world's first modern suicide bomber, Grinovetsky died from injuries sustained by his own bomb, with the smoke clearing to reveal the Tsar of all of Russia had finally met the end. According to the chief of police on site, quote, His Majesty was half-lying, half-sitting,

leaning on his right arm. I tried to lift him, but the Tsar's legs was shattered and the blood pouring out of them. There, in this moment, with the smoke cleared, the silence deafening, and the white snow now a shade of red crimson, the Tsar Liberator, died, a moment which Fiesz says, quote, it is hard to think of a more momentous turning point in Russian history. And he isn't wrong, guys. But this was the very first domino to fall. The first in a line of terrible events, decisions, people, and destinies, which would bring the entirety of the Romanov dynasty crashing down upon itself. For the throne had a new occupant. The spare who became the heir, who now is known as Tsar Alexander III, who we are going to unpack in our next episode,

guys, titled the Romanovs the family, looking at Alexander and his wife Maria, their children, including Nicholas II, and most importantly, guys, his marriage to German princess Alex of Hess, whose quest for a son would lead them to none other than Gregori Rasputin. Which does bring us to the end of another episode of Hot History, guys. Thank you so much for listening along. I know sometimes it's like context setting can be a bit boring. It's like, get to Rasputin already. I know we're going to get to him in the coming episodes and so much more, guys,

including Anastasia Pretenders and how like Putin even came to power. We're going to link it all up for you. If you are looking for some more Hot History before then, though, then you can follow us on Instagram and substack at Hot History Club. We are going to be having so much Romanov content available for you there and on YouTube and TikTok at hot.com. It has been a pleasure, guys, getting down and dirty in time with you and I will speak to you all next Tuesday. Mark your calendars. Make sure to come back. Thanks guys. Love you. Bye.

This episode of Hot History was recorded on Darragland. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.