Perhaps the most notorious abdication in modern history is that of the United Kingdom’s King Edward VIII. In 1936, Edward surrendered the throne to his reluctant younger brother, the future King George VI, in order to marry the unpopular American divorcee Wallis Simpson. It sparked a constitutional crisis and widespread outrage.

But history has witnessed many other abdications besides – not all of which were as turbulent as Edward’s – from Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to Nicholas II of Russia.

Here are 6 of the most significant abdications in history.

1. Lucius Cornelius Sulla – 79 BC

Lucius Cornelius Sulla was a Roman general and dictator who rose to power in the 1st century BC. Sulla held near-absolute power as dictator of Rome, hence his eventual resignation can be considered an abdication comparable to that of a monarch.

After emerging victorious from the first large civil war of the Roman Republic, Sulla set about instigating sweeping constitutional reforms across the Republic, primarily aimed at reaffirming the power of the Senate.

In early 79 BC, Sulla abdicated from his role as dictator of the Roman Republic, reverting back to public life and moving to Pozzuoli, Campania. The reason for Sulla’s resignation has been the subject of much speculation, but the most favoured stance is that he had fulfilled his promise of reforming Rome: when the constitutional changes were in effect, his work was done and he stepped down.

2. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V – 1556

In 16th-century Europe, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ruled Spain – and by extension Spanish America – as well as the Netherlands, Hungary and portions of modern Italy. He was also Archduke of Austria and Duke of Burgundy, and ultimately the most powerful ruler in Europe at the time.

In the mid-1550s, Charles V surrendered his imperial titles as Holy Roman Empire to his brother Ferdinand I. He also abdicated all of his other possessions – bar the county of Charolais – to his son, Philip II.

Charles’ health had been worsening for years, and it’s thought he had been contemplated abdicating for some time. In particular, he suffered from severe bouts of gout, which impinged on his ability to rule. Moreover, the fierce conflicts which had characterised his rule had taken their toll on Charles.

3. John II Casimir Vasa – 1668

Portrait of John II Casimir Vasa, c. 1667

Image Credit: Daniel Schultz, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

John II Casimir Vasa (1609-1672) abdicated as the King of Poland in 1668. His reign was characterised by substantial territorial losses, fierce conflict and external defeats.

In 1660, for example, John II Casimir was forced to renounce his claim to the Swedish throne. Then, in 1667, John was forced to cede various eastern territories to Russia after another military defeat. The tragedies didn’t end there.

John’s wife, Marie Louise Gonzaga, died suddenly in 1667. Overcome by grief and fending off rebellions and foreign conflicts, John II Casimir abdicated his rule over the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on 16 September 1668.

4. Tsar Nicholas II – 1917

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the last of the Romanov rulers, faced ever-growing discontent during the final years of his reign. The cost – both human and financial – of Russia’s role in World War One had sparked anger across Russia and incited widespread criticism of Nicholas’ rule.

In 1917, with swathes of Russia enduring food shortages, mass strikes and widespread calls for socialist revolution, unrest erupted. Petrograd workers took to the streets demanding change, and as riots broke out and the government lost control, Nicholas was forced to abdicate on 15 March 1917.

Nicholas and his family were later detained and sent to live in exile. In the wake of the Russian Revolution, fearing the Romanovs could be reemployed as counter-revolutionary figureheads, the Bolsheviks had Nicholas and his family executed.

5. King Edward VIII – 1936

Edward VIII – King of the United Kingdom and its dominions in 1936

Image Credit: National Portrait Gallery, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Possibly the most infamous abdication in history is that of Edward VIII, King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India, in 1936. As monarch of the UK, Edward by extension was the head of the Church of England, a distinction that would ultimately force him into abdication.

Edward was adamant that he wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, a two-time divorcee to whom marriage, under the rules of the Church of England, was forbidden. Rather than retain his position and sacrifice his relationship, Edward VIII abdicated on 11 December 1936.

He announced, live on the radio, “I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.”

His abdication triggered a constitutional crisis in Britain, severely wounding public confidence in the monarchy. It forced Edward’s younger brother Albert into the role of king, under the title King George VI.

6. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands – 2013

The 21st century has witnessed a number of high-profile abdications. In 2013, for example, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands relinquished the throne to her 46-year-old son, Willem-Alexander.

A popular queen, Beatrix had ruled for some 33 years before announcing her retirement in front of hordes of fans in Amsterdam’s Dam Square. She said, “the reason for me to step back now is not because the office is too much of a strain. It is not. I am abdicating because I am convinced that the responsibility for our country should now move to the next generation.”

The abdication was generally amiable, in that it didn’t greatly undermine opinions of the monarchy

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in Vries

Image Credit: Emiel Ketelaar, FrozenImage, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

During her long reign, Victoria met all of the tsars whose sovereignty coincided with her own: Nicholas I, Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II. What she did not envisage was that some of the Romanovs would marry into her own close family and that one of her granddaughters would occupy what she called “this thorny throne”.

Yet her empire and country would always come before family connections. Here’s the history of Queen Victoria’s strained relationship with the Romanov tsars of Russia.

Queen Victoria’s unfortunate aunt Julie

In 1795, Russia’s Catherine the Great chose the attractive Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to make an arranged marriage with her grandson, Grand Duke Constantine.

Juliane was 14 years old, Constantine 16. Constantine was sadistic, coarse and brutal, and by 1802 Juliane had fled Russia. Stories about Julie’s treatment soured Victoria’s relations with the Romanovs.

Bowled over by a grand duke

Victoria became Queen in 1837. Two years later, Tsar Nicholas I sent his heir Tsarevich Alexander to England. Despite reservations about meeting him, Victoria was bowled over by the handsome Alexander during balls at Buckingham Palace.

“I really am quite in love with the Grand Duke,” the twenty-year-old Queen wrote. But the Tsar quickly summoned his heir home: there could be no question of a marriage between the Queen of England and the heir to the Russian throne.

Nicholas I

In 1844, Tsar Nicholas I arrived in Britain uninvited. Victoria, now married to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, was not amused. To her surprise they got on splendidly, but Nicholas’ political discussions with the Queen’s ministers did not go so well and the good personal relations did not last.

Trouble was brewing between Russia and the Ottoman Empire at the time, and in 1854 the Crimean War broke out. Britain fought against Russia and Tsar Nicholas I became known as “an ogre”. In 1855, in the middle of the conflict, Nicholas died.

Alexander II

Russia’s new ruler was Alexander II, the man who once whirled Victoria giddily around the ballroom. The Crimean War ended with punitive terms for Russia. In an effort to mend fences, the Queen’s second son Alfred visited Russia, and the Tsar’s heir Tsarevich Alexander and his wife Marie Feodorovna were invited to Windsor and Osborne.

The Russian daughter-in-law

In 1873, Queen Victoria was stunned when Prince Alfred announced he wanted to marry Alexander’s only daughter, Grand Duchess Marie. The Tsar refused to give in to any of the Queen’s demands about the wedding and more disagreeable wrangling took place over the marriage contract, which made Marie independently wealthy. The spectacular wedding in St Petersburg in January 1874 was the only one of her children’s weddings the Queen did not attend.

Prince Alfred with Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, c. 1875.

Image Credit: Chris Hellier / Alamy Stock Photo

The autocratic Marie did not like living in England. She demanded to be known as ‘Imperial and Royal Highness’ and take precedence over the Queen’s daughters. This did not go down well. When war broke out between Russia and Turkey in 1878, the Russian marriage became a problem. England tried to avoid being dragged into the conflict.

In 1881, Victoria was shocked to hear that the liberal Tsar Alexander II had been assassinated by a terrorist bomb just as he was about to grant concessions to his people.

Alexander III

The reactionary Alexander III lived under the constant threat of terrorism. This state of affairs alarmed Victoria, especially when her granddaughter Princess Elisabeth (Ella) of Hesse wanted to marry Alexander III’s brother, Grand Duke Sergei.

“Russia I could not wish for any of you,” wrote Victoria, but failed to prevent the marriage. Despite Ella’s frequent protests, Victoria did not quite believe her granddaughter was happy.

The Great Game

By 1885, Russia and Britain were almost at war over Afghanistan and in 1892 there was more trouble on the border with India. Diplomatic relations remained frosty. Alexander III was the only Russian monarch who did not visit the Queen during his actual reign. He called Victoria “a pampered, sentimental, selfish old woman”, while to her he was a sovereign whom she could not regard as a gentleman.

In April 1894, Alexander III’s heir Tsarevich Nicholas became betrothed to Princess Alix of Hesse, Ella’s sister. Queen Victoria was appalled. For several years Alix had refused to convert to Orthodoxy and marry him. Victoria had mobilised all her forces but failed to prevent another granddaughter going to “horrid Russia”.

Nicholas II

By the autumn of 1894, Alexander III was seriously ill. When Alexander died, the Queen’s 26-year-old future grandson became Tsar Nicholas II. The family connection would now have to be balanced alongside the political relationship between their countries. Queen Victoria was upset that her granddaughter would soon be placed on an unsafe throne.

The marriage of the new Tsar Nicholas II and Princess Alix took place soon after Alexander III’s funeral. Yet it took a long time for the Queen to accustom herself to the fact that her granddaughter was now Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia.

Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in Russian dress.

Image Credit: Alexandra Palace via Wikimedia Commons / {{PD-Russia-expired}}

Last meeting

In September 1896, Queen Victoria welcomed Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra and their baby daughter Olga to Balmoral. The weather was terrible, Nicholas did not enjoy himself and his political discussions with the Prime Minister were a failure. Victoria liked Nicholas as a person but she distrusted his country and his politics.

Distrust of Kaiser William II of Germany brought Queen and Tsar closer together but her health was now failing. She died on 22 January 1901. Luckily, she did not live to see her fears fulfilled when her granddaughters Ella and Alix were killed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.

Legacy

Queen Victoria left a deadly legacy to the Romanovs: haemophilia, inherited by Nicholas’ only son Alexei through Alexandra and responsible for the rise of Rasputin. So in her own way, Queen Victoria was partly responsible for the downfall of the dynasty she always distrusted.

Coryne Hall is a historian, broadcaster and consultant specialising in the Romanovs and British and European royalty. The author of many books, she is a regular contributor to Majesty, The European Royal History Journal and Royalty Digest Quarterly and has lectured in England (including the Victoria & Albert Museum), America, Denmark, The Netherlands and Russia. Her media appearances include Woman’s Hour, BBC South Today and ‘Moore in the Morning’ for Newstalk 1010, Toronto. Her latest book, Queen Victoria and The Romanovs: Sixty Years of Mutual Distrust, is published by Amberley Publishing.

But what happened to those they swept away? The Russian aristocracy, headed up by the Romanov tsars, had ruled the country for nearly 500 years, but now they found themselves classified as ‘former people’. Their lives were wrenched from under them and their futures became deeply uncertain. On 17 July 1918, former tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed in the basement of a Yekaterinburg house.

But why did the Bolsheviks execute the exiled, imprisoned imperial family? And what exactly happened on that fateful day in 1918? Here’s the story of the Romanov family’s demise.

After the Russian Revolution

The Romanovs were one of the primary targets of the revolution as the blame for much of Russia’s suffering could be laid at their feet, directly or indirectly. After Tsar Nicholas II abdicated, the first plan was to send him and his family into exile: Britain was the original choice, but the idea of the exiled Russian royal family arriving on British shores was met with outrage by many politicians of the day, and even the King, George V, who was Nicholas’ cousin, was uneasy about the arrangement.

Instead, the former royal family were kept under house arrest, initially at their palace in Tsarskoye Selo, on the outskirts of St Petersburg. They were permitted servants, luxurious foods and daily walks in the grounds, and in many respects, the lifestyles of the tsar, tsarina and their children remained largely unchanged.

However, this could not last forever. Russia’s political situation was still turbulent, and the Provisional Government was far from secure. When rioting erupted in the newly renamed Petrograd, it became apparent that the comfortable arrangements of the royal family were not secure enough for the liking of the Bolsheviks.

Alexander Kerensky, the new Prime Minister, decided to send the Romanovs further away from the major cities, deep into Siberia. After over a week of travelling by railway and boat, Nicholas and his family reached Tobolsk on 19 August 1917, where they would remain for 9 months.

The Russian Civil War

By the autumn of 1917, Russia was engulfed in civil war. Bolshevik rule was far from universally accepted and as factions and rivalries developed, civil war broke out. It was loosely divided along the lines of the Bolshevik Red Army and its opponents, the White Army, who were made up of a variety of factions. Foreign powers quickly found themselves involved, in part out of a desire to stem the revolutionary fervour, with many backing the Whites, who advocated for the return of the monarchy.

The Whites launched significant offensives and proved themselves to have the potential to be of great danger to the revolution. Many of these offensives were initially aimed at reinstalling the Romanovs, meaning they became figureheads for the Whites. Nicholas and Alexandra certainly believed that help was at hand and that they would be rescued by their royal relatives or loyal Russian people in the not-too-distant future. Little did they know that this was looking less and less likely.

Instead, the Bolsheviks had loose plans to bring the Romanovs back to Moscow for a show trial. By the spring of 1918, conditions were growing steadily worse for the family as they endured captivity in exile. In April 1918, plans changed once more, and the family was moved to Yekaterinburg.

Tsar Nicholas II and his daughters Olga, Anastasia and Tatiana in the winter of 1917 on the roof of their house in Tobolsk.

Image Credit: Romanov Collection, General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University / Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

The House of Special Purpose

Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg – often referred to as the ‘House of Special Purpose’ – was the Romanov family’s final home. There, they were subject to stricter conditions than ever before, with guards specifically instructed to be indifferent towards their charges.

Back in Moscow and Petrograd, Lenin and the Bolsheviks feared their situation might be deteriorating: the last thing they needed was unrest, or to lose their prized prisoners. With a trial looking less and less likely (and it becoming increasingly difficult to transport the family across such large distances), and Czech forces encroaching on Yekaterinburg, orders were sent that the family should be executed.

In the early hours of the morning of 17 July 1918, the family and their servants were woken and told they were going to be moved for their own safety as forces were approaching the city. They were hustled into the basement: a firing squad entered shortly after, and the family were told that they were to be executed on the orders of the Ural Soviet of Workers’ Deputies.

There is little doubt that the entire family was murdered in the room: some of the Grand Duchesses survived the first hail of bullets as they had kilos of diamonds and precious stones sewn into their dresses which deflected some of the first bullets. They were killed with bayonets, before their bodies were taken to nearby woodland and burned, drenched in acid and buried in a disused mine shaft.

The cellar of Ipatiev House, where the family was murdered. The damage to the walls was done by investigators looking for bullets.

Image Credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

A haunting decision

The Bolsheviks were quick to announce that the family had been executed, stating Tsar Nicholas was “guilty of countless, bloody, violent acts against the Russian people” and that he needed to be removed prior to the arrival of encroaching counter-revolutionary forces who wanted to release him.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the news dominated the media across Europe. Instead of getting rid of a potential threat or distraction, the Bolsheviks’ announcement diverted attention away from military campaigns and successes and towards the execution of the former royal family.

The precise circumstances of the deaths and the burial site of the bodies was a source of contention, and the newly-formed Soviet government began to change their statement, covering up the murders and even going as far as to announce in 1922 that the family were not dead. These oscillating statements helped fuel the belief that the family may have still been alive, although these rumours were later widely dispelled.

It wasn’t just Nicholas and his direct family who were murdered in this period. Assorted Romanov cousins and relatives were rounded up and executed by the Bolsheviks in their anti-monarchy drive. It took years for their remains to be uncovered, and many have since been rehabilitated by the Russian government and church.

In 1903, Peter Carl Fabergé chose to open his only foreign branch in London – a testament to the close relationship between the British and Russian royal families at the time.

Just over 10 years later, in 1914, war broke out across Europe, bringing an end to the glamour and excess of the early 20th century. Revolution in Russia proved to mark the end of the House of Fabergé. Its stock was confiscated and the business was nationalised by the Bolsheviks. Fabergé himself fled on the last diplomatic train to Riga, ultimately dying in exile.

Here is the story of the rise and fall of one of the most iconic jewellers in history, the House of Fabergé.

The first Fabergé

The Fabergé family were originally French Huguenots: they travelled across Europe as refugees initially, eventually ending up in the Baltic. Gustav Fabergé (1814-1894) was the first member of the family to train as a goldsmith, studying under a leading St Petersburg craftsman, and earning the title Master Goldsmith in 1841.

The following year, Gustav opened his own jewellery shop, Fabergé. Before that point, the family had spelled their name as ‘Faberge’, without the accented second ‘e’. It’s likely that Gustav adopted the accent to add an extra touch of sophistication to the new firm.

It was Gustav’s son, Peter Carl Fabergé (1846-1920), who really saw the firm boom. He travelled around Europe on a ‘Grand Tour’, studying with respected goldsmiths in Germany, France, England and Russia. He returned to St Petersburg in 1872 to work at his father’s shop, mentored by existing jewellers and craftsmen there. In 1882, Carl took over the running of the House of Fabergé, aided by his brother Agathon.

‘Goldsmith by special appointment to the Imperial Crown’

The talent and craftsmanship displayed by the House of Fabergé did not take long to be noticed. Fabergé’s work was displayed at an exhibition in 1882, where it won a gold medal. The piece was a copy of a 4th-century Scythian gold bangle, and the Tsar, Alexander III, declared it indistinguishable from the original. Alexander III subsequently ordered Fabergé artefacts to be displayed in the Hermitage Museum as examples of the pinnacle of contemporary Russian craftsmanship.

In 1885, the Tsar then commissioned the first of what would become a series of 52 Imperial Easter eggs. Originally, it was simply a gift for his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna. The Tsar was so impressed by Fabergé’s creativity and workmanship, and his wife was so delighted, that he began commissioning them every year, awarding Fabergé the title ‘Goldsmith by special appointment to the Imperial Crown’.

The Alexander Palace Egg (1908), created by Fabergé’s Chief Workmaster Henrik Wigstrom.

Image Credit: Courtesy of the Moscow Kremlin Museums.

Unsurprisingly, royal patronage further bolstered the firm’s success and cemented its reputation at home in Russia, as well as across Europe. Fabergé opened branches in Moscow, Odessa and Kiev by 1906.

Russian and British ties

In the early 20th century, the royal houses of Europe were all closely linked by blood and marriage. Queen Victoria’s children had married heirs to many of Europe’s royal houses: Tsar Nicholas II was the nephew of King Edward VII, and his wife, Empress Alexandra, was also a blood niece of Edward VII.

King Edward VII and Tsar Nicholas II onboard the Russian imperial yacht, the Standart, in 1908.

Image Credit: Public Domain

As Fabergé’s reputation grew abroad, London increasingly became the obvious choice for the firm’s international outpost. King Edward VII and his wife Queen Alexandra were already keen collectors of Fabergé pieces and London’s position as the world’s financial capital meant there was a wealthy clientele and plenty of money around to be splashed on luxury retail.

As well as the fabled Imperial Easter eggs, Fabergé also created luxury jewellery, ornamental and decorative objects and more useful items including photograph frames, boxes, tea sets, clocks and walking sticks. Cigarette cases were also a specialty of the firm: usually enamelled, they often featured bespoke gemstone designs imbued with meaning, making them excellent gifts.

The end of an era

The glittering start of the 20th century did not last. When war broke out in 1914, extravagances and indulgences largely fell by the wayside: patronage dried up and raw materials, including gemstones and precious metals, became hard to come by or in demand elsewhere. Many of Fabergé’s workshops were conscripted to make munitions.

In 1917, tensions which had been simmering for years in Russia finally spilled over into revolution: the Romanovs were ousted and imprisoned, and a new Bolshevik government took control of Russia. The excesses of the imperial family, one of the things which had hardened popular opinion against them, were seized and taken into state ownership.

Fabergé’s London branch closed in 1917, having struggled to stay afloat in wartime, and in 1918, the Russian House of Fabergé was taken into state ownership by the Bolsheviks. Any remaining works were either sold to finance the revolution or melted down and used for munitions, coins or other practical things.

Carl Fabergé himself died in exile in Switzerland in 1920, with many citing his cause of death as shock and horror at the revolution in Russia. Two of his sons carried on the family business, setting up as Fabergé & Cie in Paris and trading and restoring original Fabergé pieces. An imprint of Fabergé continues to exist to this day, still specialising in luxury jewellery.

The Tsarina was beyond delighted by the gift, and 6 weeks later, Fabergé was appointed ‘goldsmith by special appointment to the Imperial Crown’ by Alexander. This marked the start of one of the most legendary series of objets d’art in history: Fabergé’s Imperial Easter Eggs. Intricate, elaborate and ostentatious, they were innovatively themed each year, opening to reveal a precious ‘surprise’.

Whilst there are detailed records of the 52 Fabergé eggs which were gifted by the royal family during this time, the whereabouts of only 46 of them are accounted for. The mystery of the remaining 6 has enthralled treasure hunters for over a century. Here is what we know about the missing Fabergé Imperial Easter eggs.

1. Hen with Sapphire Pendant (1886)

The second Fabergé Easter egg given by Alexander III to Maria Feodorovna, the ‘Hen with Sapphire Pendant’ egg, is something of a mystery given no photographs or illustrations exist, and descriptions are vague or unclear. However, it was certainly a hen, covered in gold and rose diamonds, taking a sapphire egg out of a nest or basket, which was also covered in diamonds.

An 1881 portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna.

Image Credit: Public Domain

The egg made it to the Kremlin, where it was included in a 1922 inventory, but its subsequent movements are unclear. Some believe it was sold to raise funds for the new provisional government, whilst others think it might have been lost in the chaos following the Russian Revolution. Its whereabouts today are unknown and the lack of definitive details about the egg means it is unlikely to be rediscovered.

2. Cherub with Chariot (1888)

Crafted and delivered in 1888, only a singular blurry black and white photograph of the ‘Cherub with Chariot’ egg exists. Brief descriptions from Fabergé himself in his records and invoice, as well as the imperial archives in Moscow, suggest it was a gold egg covered in diamonds and sapphire, being pulled by a chariot and angel, with a clock as the surprise inside it.

After the fall of the Romanovs in 1917, the egg was seized by the Bolsheviks and sent to the Kremlin, where it was documented in 1922. Some believe the industrialist Armand Hammer (nicknamed ‘Lenin’s favourite capitalist’) bought the egg: a 1934 catalogue of his possessions in New York describes an egg which could well be the ‘Cherub with Chariot’ egg.

However, it seems that if this was the egg, Hammer did not realise it, and there is no definitive proof. Regardless, the whereabouts of Hammer’s egg today are unknown.

3. Nécessaire (1889)

Believed to be in the hands of a discerning private collector, the ‘Nécessaire’ egg was originally given by Tsar Alexander III to Maria Feodorovna in 1889, and was described as being covered in ‘rubies, emeralds and sapphires’.

It was evacuated from St Petersburg to the Kremlin in 1917 along with many other Imperial treasures. The Bolsheviks later sold it as part of their so-called ‘treasures for tractors’ initiative, which raised money by selling off Imperial family belongings to fund the Bolsheviks’ political and economic aims.

‘Nécessaire’ was acquired by the jewellers Wartski in London and displayed as part of a wider Fabergé exhibition in London in November 1949. The egg was subsequently sold by Wartski in 1952: the sale is recorded in their ledger for £1,250, but the buyer is listed only as ‘A Stranger’.

As such, it’s believed ‘Nécessaire’ is still in anonymous private hands, but its owner has never come forward to confirm its whereabouts.

The Necessaire egg (left) is believed to be in private ownership today, after being bought by a mysterious ‘Stranger’.

Image Credit: Public Domain

4. Mauve (1897)

The Mauve egg was made in 1897 and presented by Tsar Nicholas II to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Existing descriptions of the egg are extremely vague. Fabergé’s invoice described it simply as a ‘mauve enamel egg with 3 miniatures’. The miniatures were of the Tsar, his wife, Tsarina Alexandra, and their oldest child, Grand Duchess Olga.

The miniatures still exist and are kept in St Petersburg: they were in the possession of Lydia Deterding, neé Kudeyarova in 1962, a Russian-born French emigré. The whereabouts of the rest of the egg are unknown, although it was not recorded in the 1917 or 1922 inventories, suggesting it had been removed before the revolution.

5. Royal Danish (1903)

The Royal Danish egg was created for the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, who was known as Princess Dagmar of Denmark until she married Alexander III. The egg was topped by the symbol of Denmark’s Order of the Elephant.

One of the larger Fabergé eggs, it opened to reveal portraits of the Dowager Empress’ parents, King Christian IX of Denmark and Queen Louise. Its whereabouts today are unknown: a July 1917 survey of the royal treasures at the Gatchina Palace, compiled by loyalists, implies it was present at this point and therefore potentially successfully evacuated to safety.

Left: A photo of the Royal Danish egg taken sometime before 1917.
Right: The Alexander III Commemorative egg, pre-1917.

Image Credit: Unknown photographers / Public Domain

6. Alexander III Commemorative egg (1909)

Made in 1909, the Alexander III egg was another gift for the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Inside the egg was a miniature gold bust of Alexander III, the Tsar’s father and the Dowager Empress’ former husband.

Whilst there is a photograph of the egg, there have been no leads on its whereabouts, and it was not recorded in Bolshevik inventories, implying it disappeared before they arrived. Whether it fell into private hands or was destroyed in the looting of the royal palaces is unclear.

His errors in leadership that ultimately led to his abdication are well-known, yet here are some facts you may not know about Russia’s last Tsar.

1. In 1890-1891 he went on a round-the-world trip where he got a tattoo and was nearly killed

Along with his younger brother George and cousin Prince George of Greece, Nicholas went on a round the world trip when he was 22 years-old, visiting countries such as Egypt, India, Singapore and Thailand (then Siam).

Russian Tsarivich Nicholas (future Tsar Nicholas II) at Nagasaki, Japan, in 1891 (Image Credit: Nagasaki City Library Archives / Public Domain).

While in Japan, Nicholas got a large dragon tattooed on his right forearm from Japanese tattoo artist Hori Chyo.

During his visit, one of Nicholas’ escorting policeman swung at his face with a sabre in an assassination attempt (the Ōtsu incident). Nicholas’ cousin stopped the second blow, saving Nicholas’ life. The attack left Nicholas with a 9cm scar on the right of his forehead, and cut the trip short.

Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Russia (later Tsar Nicholas II), pictured in the 1880s (Image Credit: Sergey Lvovich Levitsky / Public Domain), and Tsuda Sanzō, Prince Nicholas’s attacker (Image Credit: The Eastern Culture Association / Public Domain).

2. Before his marriage, he had a romance with a ballerina

When Nicholas was a Grand Duke, he had a relationship with Polish ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya, who he met in 1890 after her graduation performance. The relationship lasted 3 years until Nicholas’ marriage to the future Tsarina, Empress Alexandra in 1894.

Matilda became prima ballerina assoluta of the Imperial Russian Ballet.

3. He was 26 years old when he became Tsar

When Nicholas II succeeded his father in 1894, he was 26 years old. His father had died aged 49, by which point Nicholas was still poorly trained in state affairs.

He is said to have confessed to a close friend:

“I am not prepared to be a Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling.”

Despite this, Nicholas was an autocrat, believing he derived his authority from God (which meant his will could not be disputed).

4. He was first cousin to King George V of England and second cousin to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany

Despite being related to both sides in World War One, Nicholas’ familial connections did not prevent Russia from being drawn into the conflict, which ultimately played a large role in his downfall.

Left: Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany (left) with Nicholas II (right) in 1905. Nicholas is wearing a German Army uniform, while Wilhelm wears that of a Russian hussar regiment. (Image Credit: German Federal Archives / CC). Right: Tsar Nicholas II (left) and King George V (right) in Berlin, 1913 (Image Credit: Mrlopez2681 / Public Domain in USA/UK).

5. He was related to both Queen Victoria and Prince Philip through marriage

Nicholas married Princess Alexandra of Hesse-Darmstadt less than a month after he became Tsar. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Nicholas’ sister-in-law, Princess Victoria, was the grandmother of Prince Philip. In 1993, Philip donated his blood for a DNA check of the Tsarina and her children, which matched perfectly.

6. He often spoke in English to his wife

As Nicholas spoke Russian and his wife spoke German, they often spoke in English to each other to aid communication, as well as some German (they could also speak French and Italian). The Tsarina didn’t learn Russian until after their engagement – she was said to have a good accent, yet speak it very slowly.

Nicholas had studied English (since it had replaced French as the language of international communication), and his uncle Alexander remarked:

“When his studies came to an end, Nicholas could fool any Oxford professor into thinking he was an Englishman.”

Nicholas’ courtiers remarked that he spoke foreign languages so well that he had a slight foreign accent in Russian.

7. He gave his mother and wife a Fabergé Easter egg every year

A series of 50 Imperial Fabergé Easter eggs were created for the Russian Imperial family from 1885 to 1916, 40 of which were created during Nicholas II’s rule. Nicholas gave two each year as presents, one for his mother and one for his wife. Fabergé was free to create anything he wanted, provided it housed some kind of hidden surprise inside.

Most famous was the Coronation Egg that Nicholas gave to his wife as a memento of their Coronation Day. The egg opens to reveal a surprise in the form of a replica of their coronation coach.

Photo of ‘Coronation’ Imperial egg by Fabergé (Image Credit: Uklondoncom / CC).

8. He was nominated for the 1901 Nobel Peace Prize

Nicholas aimed to strengthen the Franco-Russian Alliance and pursue a policy of European pacification. He initiated and convened the Hague Convention of 1899, designed to end the arms race and solve international disputes peacefully.

Although it proved unsuccessful due to mutual distrust between great powers, it was among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes. Nicholas was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Russian diplomat Friedrich Martens, for setting this up and contributing to its implementation.

9. He was refused exile by his own cousin

Following his abdication, both the Provisional Government and Nicholas wanted the royal family to go into exile in the UK. Whilst the British government reluctantly offered the family asylum, this provoked uproar from the Labour Party and many Liberals, and was later over-ruled by King George V, Nicholas’ cousin.

King George was acting on the advice of his secretary Lord Stamfordham, who worried Nicholas’ presence might provoke an uprising, similar to the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland.

10. He was made a Saint

In 1981, Nicholas, Alexandra, and their children were recognised as martyrs by the ‘Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia’. After the discovery of the location of their remains was revealed following the fall of Communism, the imperial family were exhumed and identified by DNA analysis in 1993, using a blood sample from Prince Philip.

The royal couple and three daughters were formally reburied on 17 July 1998 – the 80th anniversary of the murder. They were canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000 as ‘passion-bearers’ – facing death in a Christ-like manner.

Tomb of Tsar Nicholas II and his family (Image Credit: Richard Mortel / CC).

(The remains of what is believed to be the Grand Duchess Maria and Tsesarevich Alexei, were discovered in 2007, also identified by Prince Philip’s DNA).

Changes in society

For much of the 19th century, Russia remained relatively backward, with few roads and limited industrialisation, and a wide class divide. Following the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, agriculture remained in the hands of peasants and former landowners, relying predominantly on traditional methods.

Toward the end of the century, Russia experienced a large population increase, and its late and rapid industrialisation resulted in hundreds of thousands of people moving to urban areas out of financial necessity. This led to overcrowding and poor working conditions, with low wages, unsafe practices and few rights.

Nevertheless, acquiring new skills gave them a sense of self-respect and confidence, increasing expectations and exposing them to new ideas. After 1905’s ‘Bloody Sunday’ massacre, strikes and public disorder from this new proletariat rapidly increased, no longer seeing the Tsar as their champion.

The Tsar’s incompetence

Tsar Nicholas II was a deeply conservative autocratic ruler. He believed he had been granted the power to rule by divine right and assumed this gave him the unquestioning loyalty of his people.

Detached from their plight, Nicholas refused to allow progressive reforms or accept any reduction in power. Religious faith was used as a means of political authority, exercised through the clergy and later through the Cossacks and secret police.

Tsar Nicholas II (Image Credit: Public Domain).

However, Bloody Sunday forced Nicholas to create the October Manifesto, making a number of concessions to decree limited civil rights and a democratically elected parliament, the Duma. Nevertheless, he worked to limit these to preserve his authority, dismissing the first two Dumas.

Nicholas was unprepared for the outbreak of World War One, but he was keen to restore Russia’s prestige after the Russo-Japanese War in 1904/5, and use the war to create national unity. However, he failed to choose skilled leaders, was disorganised in ensuring adequate supplies, and made poor strategic decisions throughout the war, leading to huge losses.

In Autumn 1915, Nicholas declared himself Commander in Chief of the army and departed for the Eastern Front, believing this would inspire the soldiers to fight with renewed vigour. By removing himself from a political role and now in sole command, he consequently bore more personal responsibility for any military failure. His absence also left a weakened government.

The Tsarina and the war

Nicholas’ departure left his wife, Tsarina Alexandra, in control. She wasn’t popular, and as a German princess, raised suspicions as to where her true loyalties lay.

Alexandra gained increasing influence over the appointment of ministers to the government and determined that no member should be in a strong enough position to challenge her husband’s authority. Consequently, the government tended to be filled with increasingly weak and incompetent men – leading to rumours she was a German collaborator.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with Rasputin, her children and a governess.

Rasputin and his influence over the Tsarina

Alexandra became strongly influenced by a Siberian monk, Rasputin, who was a mystic and self-proclaimed holy man. Although infamous for his drunkenness and womanising, Rasputin also gained a reputation as a healer who could perform amazing feats.

Nicholas and Alexandra had 4 daughters and a son, Alexei, who had haemophilia. Rasputin was summoned by Alexandra to pray for Alexei after he had an internal haemorrhage in spring 1907. After Alexei recovered, Alexandra became convinced Rasputin could control Alexei’s illness, and his influence over the Tsarina became considerable, advising her on government appointments and important decisions.

Rasputin soon became a controversial figure, bringing ridicule on the royal family. He was accused by his enemies of religious heresy and rape, and was rumoured to be having an affair with the Tsarina.

After Rasputin’s murder in December 1916 by Russian aristocrats, Alexandra’s behaviour became more erratic, and she failed to even attempt to address the challenges posed to government in Nicholas’ absence.

Impact of the First World War

Instead of restoring Russia’s prestige, the First World War led to the deaths of almost 2 million Russian soldiers and multiple military defeats.

When Russia entered the war, it was distinctly less industrialized than its allies, with a weakened navy following the 1904 Russo-Japanese War. The addition of the Ottoman Empire to the Central Powers cut off essential trade routes, contributing to munition shortages. Military defeats such as the 1914 Battle of Tannenberg sapped morale, as did the superior German army’s shift of focus to the Eastern front in 1915.

As the war progressed, many officers loyal to the Tsar were killed and replaced by discontented conscripts, with little loyalty to the Tsar. Soldiers were ill-equipped and staggering losses increasingly led to mutinies and revolts.

Tsar Nicolas II reviewing Russian troops. When Russia entered World War One, its army was the largest, but least modern of the major European powers. (Image Credit: Everett Collection / Shuttershock).

Economic problems

The vast demand for factory production of war supplies and workers resulted in labour riots and strikes, as did conscription, which took skilled workers from the cities, replacing them with unskilled peasants.

Conscripted peasants were also a large part of the Russian army. This led to a shortage of farm workers, hugely impacting production. By the end of 1915, there were signs the economy was breaking down due to wartime demand. The government attempted to address this by printing more money, but this led to high inflation. Underdeveloped railway systems led to food shortages and rising prices, with workers increasingly abandoning cities to seek food.

The Tsarina failed to address strikes and protests in late 1916 and by the time revolution hit, Russia’s economy was near collapse.

Peasant and worker discontent

The scorched earth policy during the 1915 Russian army retreat destroyed large areas of peasant farmland, ruining their livelihoods. Meanwhile living conditions deteriorated, with shortages in shops and a severe lack of food. This was made worse by peasants hoarding grain for themselves, and the railways being committed to the war effort, unavailable to transport supplies to the cities.

These shortages exacerbated social unrest, creating a powder-keg of despair and anger. Revolutionary groups continued to attract support, aided by the Bolshevik newspaper, Pravda. They believed a worker-run government should replace Tsarist rule, and the shortages provided the ideal opportunity to gain support.

In January 1917, to commemorate Bloody Sunday, thousands of workers went on strike in St Petersburg. In February, further rioting broke out, initially in response to an announcement on bread rationing. Strikers from the Putilov Engineering Plant joined the crowds at the celebration of International Women’s Day.

Meeting in the Putilov Works in Petrograd during the 1917 Russian Revolution. In February 1917 strikes at the factory contributed to the February Revolution. (Image Credit: Shuttershock).

As numbers increased, some of the Tsar’s forces opened fire. Angry protestors broke into the barracks of the city’s Pavlovsky Regiment, yet the Cossack soldiers refused orders to fire on the crowds, joining the protestors and mutinying against the Tsar.

Seize of Power

Dismissing this as short-lived, Nicholas attempted to return to St Petersburg to reclaim authority, but his train was diverted by revolutionaries to Pskov. Isolated and powerless, he was forced to abdicate.

A Provisional Government replaced Nicholas (after his brother refused the crown), but carried on fighting the war. Lenin claimed the government was imperialist in doing so, and undeserving of Socialist support. As the Provisional Government’s power waned, Bolshevik influence increased. As shortages and military defeats continued, Lenin and the Bolsheviks determined to seize power in the name of the Soviets.

Vladimir Lenin during the Russian Revolution of October 1917. (Image Credit: Alamy).

In October 1917 they stormed the Winter Palace, and arrested the Provisional Government, putting themselves in charge.

A year later the Tsar and his family were executed. Russia had changed forever.