The Romanovs, whose dynasty history dates back to the sixteenth century, were simply an old noble family. But after the marriage concluded between Ivan the Terrible and the representative of the Romanov clan - Anastasia Zakharyina, they became close to the royal court. And after establishing a relationship with Moscow Rurikovich, the Romanovs themselves began to claim the royal throne.
The history of the Russian dynasty of emperors began after Mikhail Fedorovich, the elected granddaughter of Ivan the Terrible’s wife, began to rule the country. His offspring stood at the head of Russia until October 1917.
Background
The ancestor of some noble families, including the Romanovs, is called Andrey Ivanovich Kobylu, whose father, according to records, Divonovich Glanda-Kambila, who received the name Ivan in baptism, appeared in Russia in the last decade of the fourteenth century. He came from Lithuania.
Despite this, a certain category of historians suggests that the beginning of the Romanov dynasty (briefly - the House of Romanov) comes from Novgorod. Andrei Ivanovich had five sons. Their names were Semyon Stallion and Alexander Elka, Vasily Ivantai and Gabriel Gavsha, as well as Fedor Koshka. They were the founders of as many as seventeen noble houses in Russia. In the first tribe, Andrei Ivanovich and his first four sons were nicknamed the Kobylins, Fedor Andreevich and his son Ivan - Koshkins, and the offspring of the latter - Zakharia - Koshkin-Zakharyin.
Surname origin
The descendants soon discarded the first part - Koshkiny. And for some time now they began to be written only under the name of Zakharyina. From the sixth knee, the second half - the Yurievs — was added to it.
Accordingly, the offspring of Peter and Vasily Yakovlevich were called the Yakovlevs, Roman - okolnichno and governors - Zakharyin-Romanovs. It is from the children of the latter that the famous Romanov dynasty originates. The years of rule of this kind began in 1613.
Kings
The Romanov dynasty managed to raise five of its representatives to the royal throne. The first of them was the great-nephew of Anastasia - the wife of Ivan the Terrible. Mikhail Fedorovich - the first king of the Romanov dynasty, he was elevated to the throne by Zemsky Cathedral. But, since he was young and inexperienced, in fact, the old man Martha and his relatives ruled the country. After him, the kings of the Romanov dynasty were not numerous. This is his son Alexei and three grandchildren - Fedor, Ivan V and Peter I. It was on the last in 1721 that the tsarist Romanov dynasty ended.
Emperors
When Peter Alekseevich ascended the throne, a completely different era began for the clan. The Romanovs, whose history as emperors began in 1721, gave Russia thirteen rulers. Of these, only three were blood representatives.
After Peter the Great - the first emperor of the Romanov dynasty - as the autocratic empress, the throne was inherited by his legal wife Catherine I, about whose origin historians are still heatedly debated. After her death, power passed to the grandson of Peter Alekseevich from his first marriage - Peter the Second.
Due to strife and intrigue, his grandfather's line of succession was frozen. And after him, imperial power and regalia were transferred to the daughter of the elder brother of Emperor Peter the Great - Ivan V, while after Anna Ioannovna her son ascended the Russian throne from the Duke of Braunschweig. His name was John VI Antonovich. He became the only representative of the Mecklenburg-Romanov dynasty to occupy the throne. He was overthrown by his aunt - “Petrov’s daughter”, Empress Elizabeth. She was unmarried and childless. That is why the Romanov dynasty, whose board table is very impressive, ended in a straight male line on it.
Getting to know the story
The accession of this kind to the throne occurred under strange circumstances, surrounded by many strange deaths. The Romanov dynasty, the photos of which are in any history textbook, is directly related to the Russian annals. She stands out for her constant patriotism. Together with the people, they were going through hard times, slowly lifting the country out of poverty and poverty - the results of constant wars, namely the Romanovs.
The history of the Russian dynasty is literally saturated with bloody events and secrets. Each of its representatives, while honoring the interests of subjects, was at the same time distinguished by cruelty.
First ruler
The year the Romanov dynasty began was very hectic. The state did not have a legal ruler. Mainly due to the excellent reputation of Anastasia Zakharyina and her brother Nikita, the Romanov family was respected by everyone.
Russia was tormented by wars with Sweden and practically unceasing internecine feuds. In early February 1613, the first king of the Romanov dynasty, the young and inexperienced prince Mikhail Fedorovich, was proclaimed in the Great Kremlin Palace, left by foreign invaders along with a pile of dirt and garbage. And it was this sixteen-year-old son of Patriarch Filaret that marked the beginning of the reign of the Romanov dynasty. He entrenched himself in the reign for a full thirty-two years.
It was with him that the Romanov dynasty begins, the genealogy table of which is studied at school. In 1645, Mikhail was succeeded by his son Alex. The latter also ruled for a long time - more than three decades. After him, the succession to the throne was associated with some difficulties.
Since 1676, Russia has been ruled for six years by Mikhail's grandson Fedor, named after his great-grandfather. After his death, the reign of the Romanov dynasty was continued with dignity by Peter I and Ivan V - his brothers. For almost fifteen years, they have exercised dual power, although virtually all of the administration of the country was taken over by their sister Sophia, who was known as a very power-hungry woman. Historians say that to conceal this circumstance, a special double throne was ordered with a hole. And it was through him that Sophia gave instructions to her brothers in a whisper.
Peter the Great
And although the beginning of the reign of the Romanov dynasty is connected with the name of Mikhail Fedorovich, nevertheless, almost everyone knows one of its representatives. This is a man whom the whole Russian people and the Romanovs themselves can be proud of. The history of the Russian dynasty of emperors, the history of the Russian people, the history of Russia are inextricably linked with the name of Peter the Great - the commander and founder of the regular army and navy, and in general - a man with very progressive outlooks on life.
Possessing purposefulness, strong will and great capacity for work, Peter I, as, indeed, the whole, with a few exceptions, the Romanov dynasty, whose representatives are represented in all history textbooks, studied a lot during his life. But he paid special attention to military and naval affairs. During his first trip abroad in 1697-1698, Peter took a course in artillery sciences in the city of Koenigsberg, then worked for six months in Amsterdam shipyards as a simple carpenter, and studied the theory of shipbuilding in England.
This was not only the most remarkable personality of his era, the Romanovs could be proud of him: the history of the Russian dynasty did not know a more intelligent and inquisitive person. The whole look of it, according to contemporaries, testified to this.
Peter the Great was always interested in everything that somehow affected his plans: both in terms of government or commerce, and in education. His curiosity extended to almost everything. He did not neglect even the smallest details, if later they could be useful in something.
The life of Peter Romanov was the rise of his state and the strengthening of its military power. It was he who became the founder of the regular fleet and army, continuing the reforms of his father - Alexei Mikhailovich.
The state transformations of Peter's rule turned Russia into a strong state, which acquired seaports, developed foreign trade and a well-established administrative management system.
And although the beginning of the reign of the Romanov dynasty was laid almost six decades before, not one of its representatives was able to achieve what Peter the Great achieved. He not only established himself as an excellent diplomat, but also created the anti-Swedish Northern Alliance. In history, the name of the first emperor is associated with the main stage of development of Russia and its formation as a great power.
At the same time, Peter was a very tough person. When at the age of seventeen he took power, he did not fail to hide his sister Sophia in a distant monastery. One of the most famous representatives of the Romanov dynasty, Peter, better known as the Great, was known as a rather heartless emperor who set himself the goal - to reorganize his low-civilized country in a Western manner.
Nevertheless, despite such advanced ideas, he was considered a wayward tyrant, quite in line with his cruel predecessor - Ivan the Terrible, the husband of his great-grandmother Anastasia Romanova.
Some scholars reject the great importance of Peter the Great's perestroika and, in general, the policy of the emperor during his reign. Peter, they believe, was in a hurry to achieve his goals, so he moved the shortest way, sometimes using even obviously clumsy methods. And this was precisely the reason why, after his untimely death, the Russian empire quickly returned to the state from which the reformer Pyotr Romanov tried to bring it out.
It is impossible in one fell swoop to radically change your people, even building a new capital for it, shaving the beards of the boyars and commanding you to gather for political rallies.
Nevertheless, the policy of the Romanovs, and in particular, the administrative reforms that Peter introduced, meant a lot to the country.
New branch
After the marriage of Anna (the second daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine) with the nephew of the Swedish king, the beginning of the Romanov dynasty was laid, which actually passed to the Holstein-Gottorp family. Moreover, according to the agreement, the son born of this marriage, and Peter III became him, still remained a member of this royal house.
Thus, according to the genealogical rules, the imperial family became known as Holstein-Gottorp-Romanovsky, which was reflected not only in their family coat of arms, but also on the coat of arms of Russia. Starting from this time, the throne was transmitted in a straight line, without any intricacies. This happened thanks to a decree issued by Paul. It spoke of succession in a male direct line.
After Paul, the country was ruled by Alexander I - his eldest son, who was childless. His second descendant, Prince Konstantin Pavlovich, abdicated the throne, which, in fact, was one of the reasons for the Decembrist uprising. The next emperor was his third son, Nicholas I. In general, from the time of Catherine the Great, all the heirs to the throne began to bear the title of Tsarevich.
After Nicholas I, the throne passed to his eldest son, Alexander II. At the age of twenty-one years, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich died of tuberculosis. Therefore, the next was the second son - Emperor Alexander III, who was succeeded by his eldest offspring and the last Russian ruler - Nicholas II. Thus, from the moment the Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp dynasty began, eight emperors come from this branch, including Catherine the Great.
Nineteenth century
In the 19th century, the imperial family greatly expanded and expanded. Special laws were even adopted that regulated the rights and obligations of each member of the family. The material aspects of their existence were also discussed. A new title was even introduced - the prince of imperial blood. He assumed too far offspring of the ruler.
From the time the Romanov dynasty began, and until the beginning of the nineteenth century, four branches along the female line began to enter the Imperial House:
- Holstein-Gottorpovskaya;
- Leuchtenberg - descended from the daughter of Nicholas I, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, and the Duke of Leuchtenberg;
- Oldenburg - from the marriage of the daughter of Emperor Paul with the Duke of Oldenburg;
- Mecklenburg - originating from the marriage of Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna and the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitzky.
Revolution and the Imperial House
From the moment the Romanov dynasty began, the history of this family is full of deaths and bloodshed. No wonder the last of the kind - Nicholas II - was nicknamed the Bloody. I must say that the emperor himself was not at all cruel in nature.
The reign of the last Russian monarch was marked by the rapid economic growth of the country. At the same time, an increase in social and political contradictions was observed within Russia. All this led to the beginning of the revolutionary movement and, as a result, to the uprising of 1905-1907, and then to the February revolution.
The All-Russian Emperor and Tsar of Poland, as well as the Grand Duke of Finland - the last Russian emperor from the Romanov dynasty - ascended the throne in 1894. Contemporaries characterize Nicholas II as a gentle and highly educated, sincerely devoted to the country, but at the same time very stubborn man.
Apparently, this was the reason for the stubborn rejection of the advice of experienced dignitaries in matters of state administration, which, in fact, led to fatal errors in the Romanovs' policies. Surprisingly devoted love of the sovereign to his own wife, which in some historical documents is called even a mentally unbalanced person, has become the cause of the discredit of the royal family. Her authority was put in doubt as the only true one.
This was due to the fact that the wife of the last Russian emperor had a pretty weighty word in many aspects of government. At the same time, she did not miss a single opportunity to take advantage of this, while in many ways this did not suit many high-ranking persons. Most of them considered the last reigning Romanov a fatalist, while others were of the opinion that he was simply completely indifferent to the suffering of his people.
End of board
The bloody 1917 was the final year for the shaken power of this autocrat. It all began with the First World War and the ineffectiveness of the policy of Nicholas II in this difficult period for Russia.
The antagonists of the Romanov family argue that during this period the last autocrat simply couldn’t or failed to implement the necessary political or social reforms on time. The February Revolution forced the last emperor to abdicate. As a result, Nicholas II and his family were taken under house arrest in his palace in Tsarskoye Selo.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the Romanovs ruled over more than a sixth of the planet. It was a self-sufficient, independent and concentrated in itself the largest wealth in Europe state. It was a huge era that ended after the execution of the royal family, the last of the Romanovs: Nicholas II with Alexandra and their five children. It happened in the basement of Ipatiev’s house in Yekaterinburg on the night of July 17, in 1918.
Romanovs today
By the beginning of 1917, the Russian Imperial House numbered sixty-five representatives, of which thirty-two belonged to its male half. Eighteen people were shot by the Bolsheviks in the period from 1918 to 1919. It happened in St. Petersburg, Alapaevsk and, of course, in Yekaterinburg. The remaining forty-seven people fled. As a result, they were in exile, mainly in the United States and France.
Despite this, a significant part of the dynasty hoped for more than ten years for the collapse of Soviet power and the restoration of the Russian monarchy. When in December 1920 Olga Konstantinovna - Grand Duchess - became regent of Greece, she began to receive many refugees from Russia in this country who were going to just wait and return home. However, this did not happen.
Nevertheless, the House of Romanovs for a long time had weight. Moreover, in 1942, the throne of Montenegro was even offered to two representatives of the House. An Association was even created, which included all the living members of the dynasty.