Hot History - The Romanovs

Episode Date: August 2, 2024

We are BACK for Season 2 of the Hot History Podcast, so strap in because it's big! Today we break down the lives and lies of Russia's last Imperial Family - the Romanovs. With enough twists & turns to be a George R.R Martin sell-out, this is a story of deception, mystics, riches, genetic diseases and pretenders all wrapped up in an estimated $55 Billion package!

Hello, hello, everybody, we are back after a huge first 10 episodes of the Hot History podcast for season two, where we will continue to cover all the things in history that you probably should know, but don't. Now, for those of you who are new here, then hi, my name is Ainsley, and I think that history is super hot. It is the story of our real life heroes and legends. It has villains and a plagues, great victories, huge failures, immense riches and even more immensely rich characters from who, our world, has literally been shaped.

So, if you are perhaps a first-time listener or just starting on your journey of historical discovery, then welcome. And may I say how excited I am to have you listening along. Now, last season, we covered a whole host of different people from Caesar to Cleopatra and Marianne to Napolit to Napoleon. and Bonaparte and the breadth and depth of history will continue to be covered in this season with episodes on some of history's heavy hitters like King Louis XIV, Kaiser Wilhelm, Emperor Constantine, Joan of Arc and Budica.

But we will also cover some of history's more unknown characters including Madahari the Dutch exotic dancer who was convicted of being a German spy, Julie Diobigni the bisexual opera singer with a particular ponchant for sword fighting, Berenger-Sonnaire, the monk who may or may not have discovered the Holy Grail and inspired the Da Vinci Code, and many more. But today, we are getting down and dirty with the lives and lies of the last Russian imperial family. Class is in session.

Now, the Romanovs evoke a number of different things to different people. In fact, they are one of the most divisive families in history. Now, to some, we think of the martyrs. To others, we think of Anastasia, the cult classic animated film, and to some, there are thoughts of justice being served. But no matter where you sit, we will deep dive into exactly who the Romanov family were and how they met their tragic end. But to do that, we first have to go back some 300 years. So, the year here is 1547. And this totally woeful guy named Ivan the Terrible has become the very first Tsar or ruler of Russia. Now if you don't know much about Ivan the terrible

but want to then I've done the episode of it on him previously but he was basically as the name suggests horrible and had eight wives one of whom was a young woman named Anastasia Romanov. So Ivan dies and his son to Anastasia named Fidor reigns for four years before dying himself and his young first cousin, named Michael Romanov, is elected Tsar. Now, since that point, which was 1613, the Romanov family ruled Russia with a huge mix of characters gracing the seat of power, including Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and the one who we will be focusing on today, Tsar Nicholas II. So who the hell is he?

And at what point in history did he become Tsar? Both very good questions. So, Zah Nicholas II was the son of Tsar Alexander III and Empress Maria Fyodorovna, who was actually born Princess Dagmar of Denmark. Now Nicholas's father, Alexander III, ruled Russia from 1881 to 1894, and he was kind of a dick. So, when he dies in 1894 and his 26-year-old son Nicholas takes a throne, he was pretty poorly prepared and lacked any real example of what a good ruler was, which was something you really needed to be

to survive the 20th century, as we will soon discover. But there is one ruler who was an example to all and every monarch in Europe at this time, and I am, of course, talking about the Queen Victoria. You see, Victoria had placed her children amongst all the great powers, and their children married those that remained, which is where we meet,

the very beautiful 22-year-old, Princess Alexandra of Hess. Now, Alex, as she was called, was Queen Victoria's favourite granddaughter, so much so that Victoria was desperate for her to become the Queen consort of the United Kingdom, which she herself considered the greatest position there was for a woman in Europe. But Alex declined this and many other offers, longing for one man she had met in St Petersburg at the age of 12, her second cousin, an heir to the Russian throne, Nicholas II.

Now, the relationship between Nicholas and Alex are one of those few in royal history that was actually a true love match. But Nicholas's parents, who were both deeply anti-German, did not want Alex as the next Russians arena. But lucky for her, or in retrospect, not so much, Alexander's health began to fail him. and he granted Nicholas the permission to marry Alex in order to secure the succession. Now, this was obviously ecstatic news to Nicholas who immediately proposed to Alex, but she, despite her love, was somewhat hesitant on the count of something else.

You see, Alex was a deeply religious woman, and she would have to renounce her Lutheran faith in order to join the Russian Orthodox Church, as was tradition for all Romanov brides. But after March to liberation, she finally accepted Nicholas and converted, but the joy of their engagement was short-lived for on 1st of November, 1894, Sir Alexander III dies. Now, Alexander III was a rather brutish and inherently selfish man who spent his rule promoting a strict policy of autocracy.

Now, for those of us not well-versed, in the terminology, autocracy is a state or society which is governed by one person who has absolute power and control and the Romanov's ruled district system for nearly 300 years. But when the 49-year-old Tsar passed away in 1894, the world was a very different place, which the young, 26-year-old, Tsar Nicholas, would soon discover. Now, I'm not normally a superstitious person. And in many cases with this family, the writing was so clearly on the wall as to what their fate would be. But, but there are many a bad omen in the lead up to then. Firstly, the official timing of court mourning for a czar was an entire year. But a mere seven days after Alexander III's funeral,

Nicholas and Alex decide to get married. Now to some, this was seen as a necessity because the really should start his reign supported by a wife and to start work on the most important royal project of all baby making and in truth court morning could be relaxed on this particular day as it was nicholas's mother's birthday so it's not entirely uncouth but it's a strong choice and one that came with consequences because for many russians alexander's arrival so soon after the death of a Tsar was seen as a bad omen. She has come to us behind a coffin. She brings misfortune with her, was quoted at the time and Alexandra herself wrote to her sister. Our wedding seemed to me a mere continuation of the funeral liturgy for the dead Tsar with one difference. I wore a white

dress instead of a black one. But it wasn't all doom and gloom for Alex, for on November 15th, 1895, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Olga. Now, Nicholas and Alex were genuinely overjoyed. And despite the fact that the Russian law dictates a woman cannot be the heir, Olga's arrival was a great sign of their soon-to-be-expected son. And so with court mourning for the prizaa over and Zarina's pregnancy finished, the couple will crown Zah and Zarina in 1896. Now this was a grand affair, as can be imagined, and over 5,000 Russians gathered to celebrate their new leaders at a court-sponsored event in which each peasant would be given food, gifts and entertainment all on the Tsar's dime.

However, while the court dressed in their jewels and sipped on their tonics in the glittering banquet halls, tragedy strikes. And as the crowds rushed towards the gift table, a stampede occurs. and nearly 1,200 people are killed. Now, the tragedy of Condinka Field, as it became known, was horrifying. And once again, a very bad omen for a very bad start to the couple's reign. Now, it's key to note that both Alex and Nicholas were genuinely struck with intense grief and guilt, and as such decided not to attend a ball that was being thrown in their honour, and instead stay in, visit hospitals and wounded the next morning.

However, not for the last time, Nicholas's uncle named Sergei had other ideas and convinced the couple to attend this ball. Now, as you can imagine, this was seen as a great display of insensitivity and carelessness for those involved and despite the couple keeping to their word and visiting hospitals the next day. The tragedy was another omen of the German woman's heartlessness. And this contempt and suspicion was something that Alex never really shook. So let's talk about her for a minute. Alex of Hess was an incredibly shy and introverted young woman. After all, we have to remember here, she's a 22-year-old young woman when she marries Nicholas, 23, and she becomes a mother in 24,

she becomes empress. I'm 25 and like that's just so much work to me and so much pressure. She also didn't speak very good Russian. She dreaded social functions and had a deep religious upbringing which made her a far more modest and conservative woman the Russians were used to. But she was a little contrary because for her conservatism, Alex was also showy and grand and often mocked by Cortez for dressing in the heavy brocade of which she was so fond and with diamonds scattered all over her in defiance of good taste and common sense. It's scathing and her reputation as difficult grew even further when she took great offence at Wilhelm II for lending her an antique silver toilet service

declaring that only a gold service was suitable for an Empress. while on a European tour in 1896. But it is important to say here, I think, that a lot of this behaviour stems from a deep, deep insecurity about the fact that she herself was of very modest origins. You see, despite being Queen Victoria's favourite granddaughter and the daughter of a king, she was a minor German princess and went to great lengths to really overcompensate her significance within a centuries-old behemoth of an institution for which I don't think we can really blame her. But, but Alex is grateful, and indeed perhaps the secret to the undoing of so many royal dynasties,

is her emphatic belief in the divine right of kings. Now, if you've never heard of this before, don't worry, because we're going to explain. basically the divine right of kings is a political and religious doctrine which essentially legitimizes the monarch by saying that they are not accountable to anyone other than god who has given them the right to rule now Alex believed this so intensely that her own aunt wrote to Queen Victoria stating that Alex is very imperious and she always insists on having her own way she will never yield one iota of power she will imagine she wields now queen victoria worried about alex's unpopular so greatly that she advised her granddaughter saying every day i think about what i need to do

to retain and strengthen the love of my subjects it is your first duty to win their love and respect to which alexander replied you are mistaken my dear grandmamma russia is not england Here we do not need to earn the love of the people. The Russian people revere their czars as divine beings. I mean, it's so intense, and you can see why she wasn't quite beloved to the average Russian. But there were periods where she was loved, usually when she was pregnant, which for her was quite a lot. And on June 10, 1897, Alex gave birth to her second child, another girl named Tatiana. Now, Nicholas was overjoyed, but Alex was said to have burst into fits of hysterics,

crying, my God, it is again a daughter. What will the nation say? What will the nation say? And yeah, people were a little crabby that they still had no air, but remained hopeful. And when, two years later, on June 26, 1899, Alex gave birth again, they were certain their air would be delivered to them. but another daughter Maria came into the world. Now this is just proof. If by the end of this we didn't need more proof of how fucked up the succession laws were at the time. For if Olga,

as the firstborn child of Nicholas and Alex was able to be the heir and the immense pressures of having a son was not placed on their shoulders, then they may have had time to focus on other things, like actually running the country. But alas, only a son would do, and without one, Alex was forced into absolute scrutiny by the court and the people of Russia, who believed that the Empress was not beloved in heaven, or she would have born a son. Can you imagine the pressure?

And after the birth of the couple's fourth daughter, Anastasia in 1901, it was so intense that the couple turned to mystics, one of whom, was called Philippe Vashot, who claimed he could use magnetic power to change the sex of a baby. Now, many were alarmed by this and warned the couple not to seek his guidance, but they persisted, and in 1901 she seemed to be pregnant again. But after two miscarriages, an even further humiliated Alex replaced Philippe with another seraphim, who took the couple to bathe in sacred waters. And in 1904, she became pregnant. And finally, on August 2nd, 1904, Alex gave birth to the long-awaited Zaravich, Alex.

There was celebration and revelry throughout Russia, and Alex and Nicholas could finally breathe a deep sigh of relief. Or can they? Now, when I say, you can't make this shit up, I am being quite literally serious. Like all this story is missing is a dragon and it could be a George R.R. Martin sellout. For when, the long-awaited air finally arrives, something was not right. After the baby's umbilical cord was cut,

his stomach bled four days, revealing the worst possible news. Prince Alexei had hemophilia. Now, Alex felt immense guilt. that she had passed down the disease to her son, which Nicholas's family were quick to remind her of. Fucking assholes, claiming that she contaminated the Romanovs with the diseases of her own race.

It's so fucked up. Like, there is no other word. You cannot be human and not feel for this poor woman. And just for the record, as contentious as the Romanovs are, as human beings, we have to be able to empathise and at least try to understand. understand the wider context here because it is just so intense. But, but let's put a pin in Alex and the kids for a second and come back to Nicholas,

the real star of the show. Now, Nicholas was incredibly young when he came to the throne, but we can't really use that as an excuse for his woeful reign. Look at Queen Elizabeth II after all, who was 25 years old when she herself became queen, and no monarch in history has had a greater success. No, for me, the bigger thing and the key to look at when we criticise the disastrous rule of Nichols I second is a different kind of monarchy.

You see, Britain is a constitutional monarchy with a parliament and a prime minister. The Russian monarchy, on the other hand, was an autocratic monarchy. There was no parliament. There was no prime minister. and the Tsar had all the responsibility. I think it's also key to note here that Russia under Nicholas II

was an empire that covered one sixth of the earth's surface. And his role was massive. It included making decisions on big things like laws, wars, armies and foreign policy, as well as really simple things like name changes, marriages, divorces, and sewage systems. So Nicholas was alone, and his father's insistence on autocracy haunted him daily to the point that he essentially would not do anything his father would not have approved of,

including introducing a constitutional monarchy. So let's just put it aside. It was never going to happen. So Nicholas continued to grow detached from the plight of the Russian people under this belief of his. And one prime example of this was the 1903 ball, the Winter Palace to celebrate 290 years of Romanov rule. Now described as the last great royal ball in history, the Winter Palace played host to nearly 400 guests who dressed up as 17th century

boyars or nobles. Now the two-day ball included 38 original royal items from the Tsars collection with crowned jeweller Carl Faberjé choosing the jewelry for the royal couple including the Zarina's Emerald Broach with an estimated value of nearly 10 million euros today. FYI key to note, this family at the time of their demise was estimated at 55 billion euros today. So tone deaf doesn't even begin to cut it when we look at the state of their people and their nation. Nicholas's little knowledge of foreign policy also led him into war with Japan in 1904. And after suffering large defeats, he remained convinced that Russia could. and would still win the war, which led to even more disastrous naval battles,

all ending in Russia's surrender, which boiled down to the 1905 protest that ended with police firing upon demonstrators earning the title of Bloody Sunday. But still, Nicholas continued to enforce his strict beliefs in autocracy, and while the family did pull back their extravagant spending considerably in the years after Bloody Sunday, it was too little too late and discontent continued to spread which brings us back to Alex and kids for the final piece of the puzzle is about to drop into place and his name is Gregori Rasputon so Alexe the long-awaited air has hemophilia and Alex turns to God to save him but instead she finds the blue-eyed Siberian mystic Rasputin.

Now, Rasputin is a character as steeped in mystery and skepticism as any of the family members, to be honest more so. A Siberian peasant turned priest turned healer. He believed in the fundamental necessity of sin for us to be closer to God. After all, if we do not sin, God cannot save us. and as such he was basically an orgy-loving prolific drunk. And after being introduced to the imperial family, Rasputin became Alexei's healer

after standing at the foot of the boy's bed, praying over him in which he immediately stopped crying. Now that was enough proof for Alex, who began to pass the smallest of Rasputin's axe as entirely holy. A perfect example of this, I shouldn't laugh, it's not funny, was on the occasion that he simply wrote to Alex, that he had prayed for Alexe, and a few days later, one of his cuts stopped bleeding.

Now, I'm a lover of working from home. But I do think healing via a letter may be a little too much to believe. But to Alex, this was God's work, and it meant that Resputein was now the most important member of the imperial staff, which he took to, like a duck to water, influencing the Tsar and Zarin's arena in political and social matters. But members of the court did not like Rasputin and angrily denounced him as a fraud.

Now, what we do know for certain is that he was no real healer. He simply calmed Alexandra and in-term Alexei, who she clung to like a lifeline. and in the end there was no rumour or speculation that would remove Rasputin from the Empress's side which would prove faithful for two years later World War I would reach Russia's doorstep and its knock would rattle the very hinges of the nation now this led Nicholas to make perhaps the most stupid decision of his entire reign he decided with no experience to take personal commander

of the army, leaving Alexandra and therefore Rasputin in charge as regent in the capital. Now from here, as you can imagine, it's really a steep downhill, so I'm just going to summarise in dot point. First, the German-born Empress Alex is blamed for having sympathy for her home country, which is at war with Russia. Two, Rasputin's influence grows over the Empress and he insists they carry on the war. Three, the severe winter of 1916 to 1917 led to food shortages and the already weakened economy worsened as famine gripped the cities. Four, although the Empress Olga and Tatiana all took roles as nurses, the imperial family was still accused of grandeur. Five, the Russian army saw huge, huge monumental loss of life and as he made

himself commander, Nicholas II was held entirely responsible. And last, the Duma, a body of of elected legislature urged the Tsar to take action to combat the loss and famine, which he rejected and essentially reacted by dissolving the Duma altogether. The ultimate, no fuck off. In short, it is an absolute mess, which is why several schemes begin to hatch. Now the first one, most important, number one, was to take Rasputin out of. the picture. So a group of nobles decide to invite him to their home. And they feed him. He loves a sweet treat. A bunch of poison tea and cakes. That's how you'd get me. But he still didn't die. So they

fired three shots at him, wrapped his body in cloth and dropped him in the river where his body was later found frozen like an icicle. With Rasputin out of way, we have the second scheme, which I actually didn't know about until recently, but it was to launch an entire kudon, Dutardar, which was actually headed by Empress Dowager Maria Fyodrovna, so Nicholas's mother, who wanted to replace her son with his brother Paul, who would take power on her behalf, after which she would be sole empress. Now, if you're watching House of the Dragon, this is basically like the Allison, Aegon, Amon, Amund, Prince, Region, she just wants to be queen. It's this whole situation, but like 1913 Russia. But catching wind of this plan,

Alex demands that Nicholas throws his mother into exile, which she did, and she never again returned to the capital of Russia. So kind of exactly he's just like House of the Dragon. Anyway, the final scheme was the one we all know. And on March 12th, the Tsar sent soldiers to suppress the rioting crowds who all mutinied and joined the rebellion, thus providing the spark to ignite the Russian revolution. and on March 14th, Alexander II abdicated the throne and reunited with his newly deposed family at the Alexander Palace, where they were placed under immediate house arrest. Now, the provisional government which first took Russia in the February Revolution

did not wish to keep the family in Russia, particularly as both the family and the government were under threat from the Bolshevik party, and as such, they wrote to the Tsar's first cousin, British King George V, asking him to take the family and seek refuge in the United Kingdom. But he refused. And so, to the disappointment of the provisional government, the Romanov family had to be relocated within Russia. Now, I've done so many videos on the relationship between the Brits and the Romanovs and the whole Queen Maryness of it, so go watch them if you want to. Long story short, they've got to stay in Russia.

And they were first taken to Tbilsk in Siberia, where they remained until the Bolshevik revolution in October that year, after which they were moved to Yataranburg, where they were guarded by over 75 men at the House of Special Purpose, aka Empeteev House. Now, there were a couple of different family members that were separated off and a couple of other different stops along the way. This is already super, super long episode. So we're cutting it down and skipping ahead to Empettiev House. Now for the Romanovs, life here was a nightmare. It was full of uncertainty and fear, and rightfully so. For on July 16th, 1918, Yakov Urovsky, the commandant of Impatiathouse, summoned all of his men into his room, ordered them to collect all the revolvers and declared, Tonight we shoot the entire family, everybody.

And so at about 1am on July 17, 1918, Nicholas, Alex, their five children and their four remaining servants were awoken, told to dress and go downstairs to the basement before being moved to a safer location. Now gathered in the cellar, Alex asked for a chair for herself and her son, which were brought to them swiftly. Both of them were incredibly unwell at this point. Shortly after which, 12 heavily armed men entered the room declaring that the entire group was to be executed. and opening fire upon them. While Zah was shot first at point-blank range and died instantly,

the girls were forced to watch on as their mother and brother were next hit, they themselves miraculously surviving, wounded and crying as they were essentially wearing bulletproof vests from sewing their diamonds and jewels into their corsets. Now the group was eventually killed by bayonets before being carried into the back of a van and then buried in the nearby forests. The fate of the family was not actually confirmed to the Russian people for several years after their death, by which time the country was firmly in the grip of Vladimir Lenin,

but it did not stop the tales of the legendary survivor Anastasia. Ah yes, the reality behind the 1997 animated film in which the youngest Romanov daughter Anastasia survived the revolution and the murder of her family. Now there were several pretenders, most convincingly, was a young Polish girl named Anna Anderson who claimed to be the Grand Duchess, but the rumours were put to quiet when in 1990 the bodies of the last imperial family were discovered

and post-humus DNA evidence proved that they had all indeed been killed on that dreadful night in the cellar of Empatiev House. Now, we could literally go on for hours about the Romanovs. It is my Roman Empire, hence why this episode is so long, but there are a couple of things I do think we should chat about before we round it up. Firstly, who survived and is the House of Romanovs still around today? Well, unfortunately, as we've already covered, none of the immediate imperial family did survive.

However, Maria Fyodorovna, Nicholas's mother did survive, fleeing to her own native Denmark alongside her daughters, Zinia and Olga and her and sorry, their husbands. Nicholas's aunt Maria Pavlovna also survived the revolution with the help of British diplomat Albert Stopford who used a secret door in the palace that he essentially used to smuggle her jewels out in an old newspaper which she used to secure her own safety and fun fact. one of her favourite pieces was purchased by Queen Mary of Tech, Elizabeth II's grandmother, and became a favourite of both Mary and Elizabeth's. It is known as the Vladimir Tiara.

You can look it up after, but alas, I digress. In the end, of the 53-year Romanovs who were alive in 1917, it's estimated that only 35 of them remained so by the time that 1920 rolled around. Secondly, what the hell happened to all their riches? Now, as I said before, at the time of their end, the Romanov family was estimated at approximately $55 billion in today's euros. And this is perhaps the most intriguing question of all, so let's break it down how it all kind of wet tips up.

Starting with the Diamond Fund. Now, the Diamond Fund is the main bulk or crown jewels, if you will, of the Imperial Family's Collection. Now, it features the Russian Imperial Crown, scepter or been a handful of other keystones, crowned items and tiaras. Now, in the lead-up to the revolution, when it became apparent the Zaire would have to abdicate and to try and keep the jewels out of the hands of the approaching Germans. It's actually a rumor that the court jewelers had somewhat of a ceremony in which they clean,

polish and assemble the diamond funds collection and laid it out in the treasury of the Kremlin, ready for the revolutionary government to actually seize. a sort of farewell, if you will, from the jewelers who cared for the pieces for the majority of their lives. Now, the images here are just insane, and you really do get an idea of just how loaded these guys were, and I'll put the pictures on Instagram so you guys can see if you haven't already. But the majority of the Diamond Fund was actually kept together, at least the important bits anyway, but the rest of it was eventually broken up and sold at auction for cash. Now next is the Romanov gold, which was once again seized by the revolutionary government and later the Bolsheviks, although there are rumours still to this day, of a percentage of this gold store being sent to Switzerland by Nicholas II and held to this very day waiting for the air to present themselves.

But that sounds more like a Dan Brown conspiracy than reality to me. Nicholas would never have let a single cent be far away from him at this time. remember it's 121, people are poor. Now the imperial residences and palaces were turned back to the state as either government buildings or museums and the family's furnishings were either kept and repurposed in said facilities or burned and destroyed. A huge, huge shame for historians. Now, the family's records and documents were all, thankfully, kept and safeguarded in the Kremlin,

although not made available for historians until the late 20th century. one example of which we're just about to find out. So let's move on to our final question. What happened to the Romanov family's personal fortune? Now, when they were told that they would be placed under house arrest, the family stockpiled all of their personal jewels into bags, which almost never left their side. And this wasn't just your granny's pair of pearl earrings or a diamond tennis necklace.

We are talking about emerald brooches, tiaras, strings of ornate pearls and diamonds the size of your fist. So when the family are moved to their first location, the governor's house in Tabolsk, they take all of this with them. And when they're there, the gravity of the situation is made very clear. Here they have very few privileges, and even lesser contact with the outside world, save the soldiers who accompanying them, their small staff, and a monastery of local sisters who fed the family. Now, the Mother Superior of the Tobolsk Ivanovski Monastery was a deeply sympathetic woman who wished to aid. the family in securing safe passage out of Russia. And as such, Alexandra, her valet and the mother superior hatched a plan. Firstly, Alex would collect and provide her valet with the family's most precious

items, who would then smuggle them into the care of the mother superior, who then gave them to her assistant and nun called Marfa, who hid them in the convent until the family needed them to secure passage. Now, They would, of course, never get this chance dying in 1917, leaving Marfa, who, yes, FYI, it's M-A-R-F-A, so I'm not just not presenting my THs. I know I've got an annoying Australian accent if someone literally tells to me one more time. Listen or don't. Side rent done. Marfa is left with this huge stack of jewels, which she kept safeguarded from the Bolsheviks

until the mid-1920s when all of the nuns were actually evicts. So with no place to keep the jewels hidden, Marfa entrusts them to a friend of hers by the name of Vasili, who hid them on her behalf. Now, things here are fine. For nearly 10 years until 1933, when Marfa is captured and interrogated after rumours of secret Romanov jewels begin floating around to Bosque, now she, under duress, gives up Vasili, who is also interrogated and gives up the location of what was meant to be the family's final. Now what's crazy about this is it was a total secret until 1996 when some of the family's files were declassified in which the true extent of the fine was revealed. Now brace yourselves here. I am reading verbatim so if it sounds boring and literally read off a screen, it is. Amongst the hall, there was one diamond brooch, 100 carrots, estimated at 1.2 million rubles.

A diamond crescent with five big diamonds, 70 carats, estimated at 310,000 rubles. Two diamond hairpins, 36 carat each, 700,000 rubles. A diamond pin, 44 carrots, 700,000 rubles. A diamond necklace with pearl and ruby pendant, 50,000 rubles, and another 154 items, including four tiaras. In the end, the appraisers, in 1933, estimated the value of the hall at 3.3 million rubles, certainly enough to secure them safe passage if they had ever gotten the chance, which does bring us to our final anecdote, question, statement, thing to think about. How are the Romanov's remembered today? Well, the answer to this

one is tricky. There are so many moving parts to their story. Firstly, we have the supposed surviving Anastasia, the mythical monk Rasputin, the ill long-awaited air and the downfall of 300 years of wealth, which have all changed the narrative of who the Romanov family truly was. But we are historians, we are lovers of fact and the fact of the matter, is that Nichols II was unable to lead his empire. His wife, Alexandra, was unable to control the country on her own, all of which resulted. in the Russian Revolution and Nicholas abdicating the throne. Now, the death of the Romanovs was, in fact, brutal and arguably unnecessary.

And I don't think there is anyone listening, and from the general consensus of all of you in the comments on TikTok and Instagram, who would say that the children should have died, period. And it is so horrific and terrible, which is why it plays on the public. so greatly. However, it does not negate the fact that the Romanovs were incompetent and cold rulers who appeared on all accounts to show very little concern for their people. Again, appeared whether they did or didn't. They did not show it in any of their actions, which, again, coming back to the facts, whether deserved or not, the Romanovs fell from grace on

their own accord, or at least Nicholas and and Alex's accord. Now, there are, of course, other pretty huge negating factors. But at the end of the day, at the very, very end of the day, putting a full stop in it, it was the Romanov's who played the biggest role in the ceiling of their own fate. So while the story of the family has been romanticised over the years and the family are now considered saintly martyrs amongst the Russian Orthodox church, we still have to remember the hardships that the Russian people endured for decades before. Again, I personally don't believe that two bad deeds cancel each other out and in an ideal world, they wouldn't have been bad rulers, their people wouldn't have suffered and they

wouldn't have been killed. But this is not an ideal world. This is history. And whether right or wrong, it is our responsibility to report on the facts and try to do better. So with that in mind, we come to the end of the very first and rather long episode of Season 2 of Hot History. As always, it is a pleasure getting down and dirty in the past with you and make sure to tune in next week where we discuss the absolute enigma that is Jackie Kennedy's aunt and cousin, big and little 80, and the story of Great Gardens.