The Last Tsar (25 page)

I am leafing through the first diary of the heir to the Russian throne. An heir who never did become tsar. It is “The Book of Souvenirs for 1916”—a yellow silk cover, gold edging, and on the back an inscription by the empress: “The first diary of my little Alexei.”

Alexei’s first entries are written in large, comical letters, almost scribbles. He was already eleven. Because he was always sick, he had gotten a late start on his studies.

“January 1. Got up late today. Tea at 10. Then went to see Mama. Mama doesn’t feel good and so she lied all day. Stayed home with a cold. Had lunch with Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia. In the afternoon was at Kolya’s [Dr. Derevenko’s son, Alexei’s best friend] and played there. It was a lot of fun. Had dinner at 6, then played. With Mama at dinner at 8. In bed at 10.”

And so on—faceless narration, a precise reflection of his father’s diary: most important, brevity and no reflection.

“July 8. Bath in the morning. Then a walk and play, before lunch Mama and sister arrived. In the afternoon a ride in the motor. Ran over a dog. Tea with Mama. After dinner in the city garden. Children playing there.”

He did not play with them. He could only watch. Any movement was dangerous for him. The days passed steadily. As usual. Everything for him was “as usual.”

“February 27. Got up as usual. Was at Nizhnyaya Church. We took Communian [
sic
], then—as usual….

“February 15. Everything as usual. Papa left at 12. Saw him off….

“March 3. Everything as usual….

“April 7. The same. Confession in bed….

“April 8. The same. Communion in bed.”

“The same”—bed, walks, food, prayer, and bed again. The trip to Headquarters was his dream, a fantastic event in his monotonous life, in his “as usual.”

She: “Jan. 28th 1916.… Once more the train is carrying my Treasure away, but I hope not for long—I know I ought not to say this, & for an old married woman it may seem ridiculous—but cannot help it.—With the years love increases.… It was so nice you read to us & I hear your dear voice now always!… Oh, could but our children be equally blessed in their married lives.… Oh, the lonely night!…

“March 5th 1916.… I had a collection of English [books] brought me to-day, but I fear there is nothing very interesting amongst them. No great authors already since a long time & in no other country either, nor celebrated artist, or composer—a strange lack. One lives too quickly, impressions follow in rapid succession—machinery & money rule the world & crush all art; & those who think themselves gifted have ill minds.—I do wonder what will be after this great war is over. Will there be a reawakening and new birth in all—shall once more ideals exist, will people be more pure & poetic, or will they continue being dry materialists? So many things one longs to know! I had a vile anon. letter yesterday—happily only read 4 first lines & at once tore it up….

“April 6th 1916.… Baby was awfully cheery and gay all day and till he went to bed—in the night he woke up from pain in his left arm and from 2 on scarcely got a moment’s sleep, the girls sat with him a good while. Its too despairing for words and he is already worrying about Easter—standing with candles tomorrow in Church.… It seems he worked with a dirk and must have done too much—he is so strong that its difficult for him always to remember and think that he must not do strong movements.”

In this same letter the tsaritsa wrote about a wounded Jew who was in her hospital. “Tho’ in America, he never forgot Russia & suffered much from homesickness & the moment war broke out he flew here to enlist as soldier to defend his country. Now that he has lost his arm serving in our army, got the St. George’s medal, he longs to remain here & have the right to live wherever he pleases in Russia, a right the Jews don’t possess.… One sees the bitterness, & I grasp it … one ought not to let him become more bitter & feel the cruelty of his old country.”

Thus she complained of her husband’s laws.

He: “7 April, 1916.… I have made a note on the petition of the
wounded Jew from America: ‘to be granted universal domicile in Russia.’”

She: “April 8th 1916. Christ has risen! My own sweet Nicky love, On this our engagement day, all my tenderest thoughts are with you.… That dear brooch will be worn today.”

In July 1916 she traveled to see him at Headquarters, where Alexei was staying with him. For the first time she traveled with the entire family—for a few days.

They “relished their vacation,” and again the train carried them back to their beloved Tsarskoe Selo. Once again father and son remained at Headquarters.

He: “13 July.… It is I who ought to thank you, dear, for your coming here with the girls, and for bringing me life and sun in spite of the rainy weather.… Of course I did not succeed in telling you half of what I had intended, because, when I meet you, having been parted for long, I become stupidly shy, and only sit and gaze at you, which is by itself a great joy to me.”

At that time Alix fell into a trap. The case of the spies was dragging on. Along with Sukhomlinov they had already implicated Manusevich-Manuilov, the former agent of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the stockbroker Rubinstein, both of whom were close to Rasputin. But this was not the full extent of the situation. Through Rubinstein, Alix had transferred money to her impoverished relatives in Germany unbeknownst to Nicky. How her enemies could twist things! Now she needed a loyal minister of internal affairs who could free them all and finally put an end to this affair, which was so awful for her Friend as well as for her.

“Sept. 7th 1916. My own Sweetheart,… Gregory begs you earnestly to name Protopopov [minister of internal affairs]. You know him & had such a good impression of him—happens to be of the Duma (is not left) & so will know how to be with them.… He likes our Friend since at least 4 years & that says much for a man.”

So a new ruinous name appeared: Protopopov.

She: “Sept. 9th 1916.… Went … to town … to see poor Countess Hendrikov [Gendrikova], who is quite dying—utterly unconscious, but I remembered she had asked me to come when she wld. die.… Nastinka [the countess’s daughter] very brave only cried when I went away.”

A charming lady-in-waiting, Nastenka Gendrikova was devoted to
the empress. Only a few months later, when they were deciding who was to accompany the family into exile, Nastenka would be among the first to answer the call.

He: “9 September, 1916. Headquarters.… It seems to me that this Protopopov is a good man.… Rodzianko has for a long time suggested him for the post of Minister of Trade.… I must consider the question, as it has taken me completely by surprise. Our Friend’s opinions of people are sometimes very strange, as you know yourself—therefore one must be careful, especially with appointments to high offices.… This must be thought out very carefully.… All these changes make my head go round. In my opinion, they are too frequent. In any case, they are not good for the internal situation of the country, as each new man brings with him alterations in the administration. I am very sorry that my letter has turned out to be so dull.”

This ministerial leapfrog continued throughout 1916—until the empire’s collapse. Goremykin, Sturmer, Trepov, and Golitsyn succeeded one another at the head of the government.

He was looking for a figure who could reconcile him and the Duma. He did not want to admit that finding such a figure was impossible. What he actually needed was not a new figure but a new principle: a ministry responsible to the Duma. That was what the Duma demanded, but he could not accede. It seemed like a return to the terrible year 1905. Alix was fervently opposed, as was their Friend (who ably echoed his mistress’s opinion, as always).

The figure of Alexander Protopopov seemed felicitous to Nicholas. Only recently Protopopov had emerged at the head of the Duma delegation and had enjoyed great success abroad, and Mikhail Rodzianko, Duma chairman, approved of him. It seemed a name had been found that would reconcile him and the Duma. But once the Duma found out that the tsaritsa and Rasputin approved of him, Protopopov’s fate was decided. He became detested by all.

Nicholas’s fury knew no bounds: he even banged his fist on the table: “Until I appointed him he was fine for them; now he is not because I appointed him.”

She: “Sept. 22nd 1916.… I scarcely slept at all this night—saw every hour, ½ hour … on the watch (don’t know why, as had spent a lovely, soothing evening).… We spoke [with Protopopov] for 1½ hour … very clever, coaxing, beautiful manners, speaks
also very good French & English.… I spoke very frankly to him, how yr. orders are constantly not fulfilled, put aside, how difficult to believe people.… I am no longer the slightest bit shy or afraid of the ministers and speak like a waterfall in Russia!!! And they kindly don’t laugh at my faults. They see I am energetic & tell all to you I hear & see & that I am yr. wall in the rear … eyes & ears….

“Sept. 26th.… There—you will say—a big sheet, means she is going to chatter a lot again!—Well, Protopopov dined with A[nya]—she knows him already a year or two.… Protopopov has asked to see—wont you tell him to let Sukhomlinov out.… Protopopov quite agrees with the way our Fr[iend] looks upon this question. He will tell of Justice, write this down to remember when you see him and also speak to him about Rubinstein to have him quietly sent to Siberia.… Prot[opopov] thinks it was Guchkov, who must have egged on the military to catch the man, hoping to find evidences against our Friend. Certainly he had ugly money affairs—but not he alone.”

In October 1916, Protopopov was called before a meeting of influential Duma members. A stenographic record was made of the meeting:

“ ‘We do not want to talk with you, a man who received his appointment through Rasputin and freed the traitor Sukhomlinov.’

“ ‘I am the personal candidate of the sovereign, whom I now have come to know better and to love,’ Protopopov responded, exaltedly. ‘All of you have titles, good positions, connections, but I began my career as a modest student giving lessons for fifty kopeks, I have nothing besides the personal support of the sovereign.’”

But this time all of society had united in their hatred for the new minister. The Duma and Russia had been shaken by the speeches of the great Duma orators. Pavel Milyukov, for instance, the leader of the Cadets (Constitutional Democrats), spoke from the Duma rostrum:

“From one end of the country to the other, dark rumors have been spreading about betrayal and treason. These rumors have reached high and spared no one. The name of the empress comes up more and more often along with the names of the adventurists that surround her. What is this—stupidity or treason?”

Milyukov wanted to prove that all this was the government’s stupidity, but the country kept repeating: “Treason!”

“The rumors of treason played a fateful role in the army’s attitude toward the dynasty,” wrote General A. Denikin, the tsarist general who took command of the White forces in the south of Russia after General Kornilov’s death.

“More than once I had a horrible thought about the empress plotting with Wilhelm,” Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich would say after the revolution in an interview for a Petrograd newspaper.

She: “Sept. 28th 1916.… What a joy to meet soon—in 5 days!!! Seems incredible. Eating in the fresh air is very healthful for Baby & shall bring 2 camp chairs and folding table for him—then I can sit outside too. We plan to leave Sunday at 3 to be in Mogilev for tea—at 5 on Monday. Alright? After your walk, then I can lie down a while longer,”

She: “Oct. 12th 1916.… Its with a very heavy heart I leave you again—I hate these goodbies.… You are so lonely amongst this crowd—so little warmth around. How I wish you cld. have come for 2 days only, just to have got our Friend’s blessing, it would have given you new strength—I know you are brave & patient—but human—& a touch of His on your chest would have soothed much pain & given you new wisdom & energy from Above—these are no idle words—but my firm conviction.… I too well know & believe in the peace our Friend can give & you are tired, morally, you cannot deceive old wify!”

She was right. He was exhausted.

She: “Nov. 1st 1916. My own beloved treasure.… So Olga will marry on Saturday—& where will that be?”

This was yet another scandal in the family: after her divorce from Peter of Oldenburg, the tsar’s sister Olga married Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky, a cavalry captain in the Cuirassier Regiment, whose colonel-in-chief was the empress dowager.

Converging on Kiev for the wedding, the large Romanov family closed ranks—the situation in the country was disastrous. The family saw one way out: Nicholas must yield to the Duma’s demands and give it the right to appoint ministers. Such an action would free the government from the pernicious influence of Alix and Rasputin and good Nicky from responsibility at this critical moment. And of course, it would mean the immediate removal of the Holy Devil. A family council decided to send Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, the historian Nicholas Romanov, to see Nicky.

He: “2 November.… My precious. Nicolai M. has come for one day; we had a long talk together last night, of which I will tell
you in my next letter.—I am too busy to-day. God preserve you, my dearly beloved Sunny, and children.… Eternally your old Nicky.”

He was being cunning. He simply did not know how to tell her about this conversation. So he decided to send her the letter the family’s emissary had given him:

“You have told me many times that you can trust no one, that you are being deceived. If this is so, the same phenomenon must also hold true for your spouse, who loves you ardently but has been led astray thanks to the malicious and utter deception of the people who surround her. You trust Alexandra Feodorovna, which is understandable, but what comes out of her mouth is the result of clever juggling and not the actual truth. If you are not competent to remove this influence from her, then at least guard against those constant interferences and whisperings through your beloved spouse.… I have long hesitated to reveal the whole truth, but after your mother and sisters convinced me to do this, I made my decision. You are on the eve of an era of new upheavals—even more, I would say an era of assassination attempts. Believe me: if I urge you thus to free yourself from the chains that have been forged … then it is only out of my hope and desire to save you, your throne, and our dear homeland from the most difficult and irreparable consequences.”