Anastasia Romanov Timeline 1901-1918

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna (often referred to as Anastasia Romanov) was born to Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna (formerly Alix of Hesse) at the Peterhof Palace in St Petersburg. Anastasia was the couple’s fourth daughter and they were disappointed that she was not the son and heir they were longing for.

Anastasia Romanov shared a room with her sister Maria while her older sisters Olga and Tatiana shared another room. The children were overseen by their governess, Margaretta Eagar.

Anastasia’s brother, Alexei, was born to Nicholas II and Alexandra. It was soon discovered that he had haemophilia, a disease that affects the ability of blood to clot, for which there was no cure. The disease was kept a secret from the outside world.

The holy man Grigory Rasputin was introduced to the Royal family he told the Tsarina that he had the power to heal Alexei, who was haemophiliac.

Anastasia Romanov was schooled by tutors Pierre Gilliard and Sydney Gibbes, however she had little interest in academic studies.

Tsarevich Alexei was taken ill due to his haemophilia. Rasputin was summoned and he managed to stop the bleeding.

Anastasia’s parents, Nicholas and Alexandra hosted Britain’s King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra on their Royal yacht in the Baltic.

Anastasia Romanov and the Russian royal family made a visit to England where they attended Cowes Week on the Isle of Wight.

Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin conducted an investigation into the affairs of Rasputin after claims of rape and inappropriate behaviour were made against the holy man, and presented it to Nicholas. After Nicholas took no action, Stolypin ordered Rasputin to leave St Petersburg. Alexandra was furious but Nicholas refused to order his return.

Alexei jumped into a boat and injured himself on an oarlock. A large haematoma appeared but began to reduce in size after a week.

Anastasia Romanov’s brother Alexei was riding in a carriage with his family. The carriage jolted rupturing the haematoma in his thigh. His conditioned worsened rapidly and he soon became unconscious.

Although Alexei was beginning to recover, Anastasia’s mother secretly sent a message to Rasputin asking him to come to help Alexei recover. Rasputin replied by letter that Alexei would not die.

Anastasia’s brother, Alexei had recovered considerably. Her mother was convinced it was due to Rasputin.

The Octobrists, the largest party in the Russian parliament, ordered an investigation into the affairs of Rasputin. They were concerned about the influence Rasputin had with the Tsarina.

Anastasia attended a service held at Kazan Cathedral and a reception at the Winter Palace to celebrate the three-hundredth year anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.

The Russian royal family made a tour of the Russian Empire as part of the three-hundredth year anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.

Triple Entente
This treaty of mutual support allied Russia with Britain and France.

The heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, member of the Black Hand a Serbian Nationalist group, in Sarajevo.

Nicholas sent a message to Kaiser Wilhelm calling on him to use the Hague Conference to settle the Austro-Serbian dispute rather than declaring support for Austria. He received no reply.

Nicholas II ordered a general mobilisation of Russian troops.

Germany declared war on Russia beginning Russia’s involvement in World War One.

During World War One, Anastasia Romanov and her sister Maria visited wounded soldiers in hospital and played games and talked to them. Her mother and two older sisters became Red Cross nurses.

Saint Petersburg was renamed Petrograd (Peter’s City). The move was made to remove the German word ‘burg’ from the city.

Tsar Nicholas II took personal charge of the army, possibly on the advice of Rasputin and dismissed the Duma (parliament). Although a brave move by Nicholas he did not have sufficient military experience to turn the war to Russia’s favour. Moreover, he had put himself in a position where he was wholly responsible for the continuing defeats Russia faced. He left his wife in control of the country during his absence at the front.

Rasputin was blamed for a series of ministerial changes made by the Tsarina. People were becoming increasingly suspicious of the extent of Rasputin’s influence on the Tsarina.

The numbers of men conscripted into the army continued to rise. Many of them were peasants and their serving at the front meant they were not on the farms getting in the harvest.

Food prices were now four times higher than in 1914. Workers began to strike for higher pay.

Rasputin was assassinated by a group of nobles including Prince Felix Yusupov and Dmitri Pavoovich. They poisoned Rasputin’s food and when that failed they shot him. His body was dumped in the Little Nevka river.

The army had no faith in Nicholas as their leader. Army officials agreed to support the Duma if it took control of the country.

Anastasia Romanov and the Russian royal family attended the funeral of Grigory Rasputin.

150,000 workers took to the streets of Petrograd to protest at the desperate situation many were in – lack of food, poor living conditions and Russia’s continued participation in a war that was going from bad to worse.

Cold weather, anti-war feeling and food shortages led to people rioting and breaking shop windows to loot food. Anti-Tsar feeling was at its highest and people chanted ‘Down with the Tsar’. Troops were sent onto the streets to remove the protestors by force. Although some complied killing around 40 protestors many sympathised with the masses, refused to fire on them and joined the protests instead.

Workers on the streets of Petrograd were joined by women celebrating International Women’s Day and protesting against food rationing.

200,000 protestors were on the streets of Petrograd calling for the Tsar to be replaced.

Petrograd was at a standstill as more than 250,000 people were on strike.

Members of the Duma decided to form a Provisional Committee.

Nicholas II reluctantly abdicated as Tsar. He named his younger brother Mikhail as the new Tsar, a position he refused. Anastasia Romanov and the Russian royal family were placed under virtual house arrest.

Nicholas requested that the new foreign minister, Pavel Milyukov, contact the United Kingdom to request that the Russian royal family be allowed to go into exile in Britain.

The British government agreed to grant asylum to the Russian royal family. However, many in Britain did not approve, particularly as the Tsarina was German and Britain was at war with Germany.

Fearful that accepting the Russian royal family into Britain would lead to protests against the British monarchy, King George V wrote to the British Prime Minister stating that accepting the Romanovs would adversely affect the popularity of the monarchy in Britain and could lead to their overthrow. Lloyd George withdrew the offer of asylum.

Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from exile.

Anastasia Romanov and the Russian Royal family were moved to Tobolsk in Western Siberia.

October Revolution
Armed Bolshevik supporters entered the Winter Palace and arrested members of the Provisional Government.

October Revolution
A congress of Soviets was held which appointed the first Soviet government and appointed Vladimir Lenin as Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars.

Russian Civil War
Although Lenin had taken control of the country there were still many opponents that sought to overturn the new regime. These were known as whites. The fighting between the whites and the red army was often violent.

With the White Army advancing and fearing a possible foreign invasion in support of the Romanovs, Lenin moved the capital of Russia to Moscow. Anastasia Romanov and her family were moved to the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg and closely guarded by a detachment commanded by Yakov Yurovsky.

Anastasia Romanov and all members of her family were woken and told to dress and then taken to the cellar. They were informed that they were to be moved for their safety as the White Army was approaching Yekaterinburg. Guards then entered the room, told them they were to be executed and began firing. Nicholas was killed first followed by his wife and Tatiana and then the others. So many rounds were fired that the room was filled with smoke. Those that showed any signs of life were bayonetted or clubbed. The bodies were buried in shallow graves in nearby woods. Yakov Yurovsky wrote a detailed account of the event which was sent to his superiors.

Amid rumours that Anastasia Romanov may have survived the massacre, numerous women emerged claiming to be the Grand Duchess. The most famous of these was Anna Anderson who maintained her claim from 1920 to her death in 1984. In 1994 DNA tests showed Anderson to be an imposter.

The detailed report of the assassination of the Russian Royal family written by Yakov Yurovsky was found. In addition to the details of the actual assassination, the not revealed that two bodies had been removed from the main grave and cremated elsewhere This had been done to try to disguise the fact that the Royal family had been murdered.

After the fall of Communism in Russia, the graves of the Russian Royal family, in the woods outside Yekaterinburg, were excavated revealing the remains of nine persons rather than the expected eleven that were executed. The body of Alexei and one of the girls was missing.

An archaeologist found two burned partial skeletons. Analysis revealed them to be the remains of a teenage boy and girl. DNA testing revealed the remains to be those of Alexei and one of his sisters, most likely Anastasia Romanov.

The discovery of the two additional bodies was proof that all members of the Russian Royal family were killed in 1918.