In Memoriam Renuka Ray 1925 -- 2014

First of all, on behalf of my sister Pam and myself, we would like to thank everyone for coming here today to remember our mother Renuka Ray. I just wanted to say a few words as a memorial to her. Our mother was born in Calcutta in India in 1925. She was one of 4 sisters and 2 brothers. Her father Narendranath Sen was a physicist at Calcutta University. Our mother was brought up in the hustle and bustle of a big extended family with lots of cousins spending time together – and it’s nice that mum’s cousin Arun and his brother’s wife Sujata are able to be here today. She went to school in Calcutta and then went on to study Modern History at Calcutta University. She then became a teacher at the Loretto Girls school in Calcutta. At the age of 31 she was married to our father, Prabhat Ray, a research chemist. In 1960 he came to London to start a PhD, and my mum and Pam and myself followed him to the UK in 1962. In England, Mum at first took a job as a primary school teacher. But she soon found that teaching in a British school is a world apart from teaching at a private girls school in Calcutta. She gave up teaching and eventually worked for a number of years as a clerical assistant in the Department of Trade and Industry.

Mum’s interest in history stayed with her throughout her life. She was a great reader and in her fifties, she became very interested in everything to do with the last Tsar of Russia. She read every book she could find on the subject including some very obscure and old books which she ordered through the local public library. She also visited Russia and saw all the palaces and sites that she had become so familiar with through her reading. Eventually she started putting her researches down on paper and this resulted in a book entitled The Last Tsar and the Downfall of the Russian Monarchy which was privately printed for her seventieth birthday. This book has now been uploaded onto the internet and if anyone is interested the web address is given on the back of the order of service.

She also enjoyed reading novels – David Copperfield, Jane Eyre and Vanity Fair were probably her favourites. Later in life she greatly enjoyed reading the books written by the Christian author Corrie Ten Boom. She was fascinated by Corrie Ten Boom’s story of how she and her family saved many Jews in occupied Holland from being taken to the concentration camp and then were eventually sent to the camp themselves yet discovered God’s love and grace even there. She read the books by Corrie Ten Boom over and over and learned much about the power of forgiveness which she was able to apply in her own life.

Mum was also very interested in the British Royal Family and especially in the details of the abdication crisis. She must hold the record for the number of times that anyone has watched the Thames Television drama, Edward and Mrs Simpson. I’m not exaggerating when I say that she must have watched it right through at least a hundred times. Watching videos that she enjoyed over and over again was something that she did a lot of – Anne of Green Gables, documentaries about Princess Diana, and comedies such as Keeping Up Appearances, Rising Damp and Open All Hours, and even the film, Forest Gump, were her particular favourites. She had a great sense of humour and I think we all remember times when she would become hysterical with laughter. She was a great raconteur with an amazing memory and had an endless collection of stories about different relatives. She was very interested in politics, generally holding quite radical views, though her favourite British politician was Edward Heath. Her great hero was the Bengali Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose. The day India became independent must have been one of the happiest of her life, though it was tempered by the fact that Bose himself did not live to see it. She loved travelling, especially visiting historical places; she loved having days out and spending time with people; she loved McDonalds.

She had a great interest in music all her life. She had a fine singing voice, and at the age of 15, she auditioned for the Calcutta Radio. Unfortunately due to nervousness this didn’t go too well but the Radio station encouraged her to come back in 6 months. Unfortunately she then suffered a bout of bronchitis which sadly put an end to this ambition. She appreciated much British pop music especially from the 60s and 70s – Val Doonican, Roger Whittaker, The Carpenters, Abba, Elton John amongst others. I remember her once telling me that she had come across a great new singer called Arthur Brownlow. I had no idea who it was until I eventually worked out that she meant Barry Manilow. In recent years she greatly enjoyed singing Christian worship songs at church – the two songs we are singing at this service today were her particular favourites and I have many memories of her wandering around the house singing these songs. She also loved to listen to a CD of worship songs which Pam herself had written and performed. Throughout her life she loved the music associated with the great Bengali writer and composer, Rabindranath Tagore. She knew huge amounts of Tagore’s poetry by heart, and she loved the songs, several of which she could play on the piano. She also greatly enjoyed the film adaptations Of some of Tagore’s stories by the director Satyajit Ray. We have already heard one of Tagore’s songs which became the Indian national anthem. And in a few minutes we’re going to listen to mum’s favourite song “Diner Sheshe” which means the Day’s Ending, performed many years ago by her favourite singer, Hemanta Mukherjee.

We will never forget Mum – her beautiful smile, her infectious sense of humour, her interesting stories, her love of people and good company, her warmth, kindness generosity and love.

Renuka Ray - Funeral Service

Renuka Ray

17th March 1925—18th March 2014

3pm Friday 4th April 2014

ORDER OF SERVICE

Entrance

Jana Gana Mana (National Anthem of India)

Words (Bengali) and music by Rabindranath Tagore

Welcome and Introduction

Reverend Mark Aldridge

Opening Prayer

Song: Within the Veil

Within the veil I long to come,
Into the Holy Place to look upon His face.
I see such beauty there, none other can compare,
I worship Thee, my God, within the veil.

Memorial

Prabal Ray

Song: Diner Sheshe (The day’s ending)

Words (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore, Music by Pankaj Mallick, Performed by Hemanta Mukherjee

Reading

Glenys Hulme

Address

Reverend Mark Aldridge

Song: I Love You Lord

I love you, Lord
And I lift my voice
To worship You
Oh, my soul, rejoice!

Take joy my King
In what You hear
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
In Your ear

Words and music by Laurie Klein

Prayers

Commendation, Farewell and Committal

Reverend Mark Aldridge

All are welcome to join us at:

The Barn Hotel,

West End Road, Ruislip,

Middlesex HA4 6JB

Donations may be made to:

Grandmas, a charity working with women and children in the poorest parts of Kolkata, India via

www.justgiving.com/GrandmasRenukaRay

Renuka Ray’s book

The Last Tsar and the Downfall of the Russian Monarchy

is available to read online at

http://renukaray.blogspot.co.uk/

Other writings - The Trench

From a programme about the First World War

A man read extracts from his father’s letters from the trenches during the First World War.

“I was sitting in  atrench in France with other soldiers, both English and French. It was December and freezing cold. It was also horribly smelly as some of the men were using the trench as a toilet. It was not long to Christmas, and I shed tears when I thought of the wonderful Christmas dinner I had enjoyed back home the previous year. Now this year, everything was different.

On Christmas Day we all cried as we thought of our loved ones back home. Suddenly the Germans attacked. I heard our commander’s voice, “fire, boy! Fire, boy!” We all fired. The fighting continued for more than an hour.

Many of us could not walk because of the freezing cold because of sores and frostbite in their feet.  We all forgot how to sleep. Day and night we waited in the freezing cold, watching out for a German attack. Eventually an attack did come and we had to desert the trench that we had been in as it was occupied by the Germans. We withdrew and dug a new trench some distance back.

Sunday was the one day where things were different. We attended services and prayed for victory. No doubt the Germans did the same”

Other writings - A story by S. Wazed Ali retold in English

A story by S. Wazed Ali Q.C. (Bengali) retold in English by Renuka Ray

I used to live in a narrow street in Calcutta with my family. Opposite to our house was a small grocery shop. An old man owned the shop which sold rice, salt, oil, sugar etc. All day long the old man would serve customers in the shop. Then at the end of the day he would retire to his living quarters for his evening meal. I noticed that every day after about an hour he would reappear in the shop and would proceed to read by the light of a lantern, the Mahabharat and the Ramayana. Often I would hear him sing, “kasiram das kahe suna punyban”.

I finished my studies in Calcutta and then left for England to read for the Bar. After many years I came back home. There were many changes to our neighbourhood. As I walked about I suddenly heard a familiar voice, “kasiram das kahe suna punyban”. I looked around. There was the same grocery shop! And there through the window was the old man reading  by the light of the lantern in the shop window. I went over to the shop. I burst through the door and said to  the old man, “nothing has changed here even after all these years!”. It was then that I suddenly realised that it was not the old man at all – the features were similar but the face was younger and less lined. The man looked at me through his sad eyes, “12 years ago, my father died. Since that day I have followed faithfully this same tradition.”

Later that night I thought to myself, “the years pass by, even generations pass on, but nothing really changes.”

Other Writings: From Jessore to Calcutta

From Jessore to Calcutta by Renuka Ray

Every year during the Durga Puja festival my whole family would gather at my grandfather’s house in a small but very pretty village close to Jessore. When the festival was over (after about a month) we would leave my grandfather’s large, beautiful house where we had been staying. We all set off towards the steamer boat departure point, the servants carrying the luggage on their heads. As it was nearly dusk, each also carried a lantern.

The steamer boat departure point was really just a small hut with a lantern inside. Eventually the steamer would arrive, its huge light shining brightly at us and whistling dreadfully. Having waited a long time, we were all glad to see the steamer. The servants got on first of all, as they had to get our quarters ready. Eventually the steamer captain would blow his whistle, indicating that the boat was about to depart. When this happened the servants would quickly get off the boat and run back to their homes in the village.

As the boat set off, most of the passengers settled down to sleep. However I did not do this. I loved to stand up on deck, holding the railings in the dark, looking at the beautiful countryside near the river – the dimly visible trees casting their long shadows everywhere. From time to time the steamer would stop at villages further up the river and more passengers would get on heaving their luggage with them. I would not sleep at all that night, instead standing on the deck and gazing at the beautiful flat fields and the tall black trees in the river delta. Eventually the faintest glimmer of light on the horizon became visible. Gradually that glimmer became brighter and the darkness receded. People started to wake up. Cries of “Khulna!” were heard as they spotted the skyline of that town (the largest in the district) in the distance. Eventually we were there, the boat stopped, and that magical night journey through the villages of Bengal was over.

At Khulna we had several hours to wait before the arrival of the Calcutta train. My uncle and some of the other relatives jumped in and swam in the river. We girls set off for one of the local hotels where we washed and freshened up after that long boat journey.  Then it was to the hotel dining room for a lovely lunch, sitting not at tables and chairs but on wooden “piris”. Soon though, the time came to go to the station. The train arrived whistling wildly. My family together with all the passengers crowded onto the train and soon we off. Our holiday in East Bengal was over and soon we would once more be in the crowded, noisy metropolis of Calcutta.

The Last Tsar - Chapter One

The Last Tsar

and the

Downfall of the Russian Monarchy

by Renuka Ray

© 1995, by Renuka Ray

Extracts may be copied / reproduced but full attribution (title, author and web address) must be given.

This book is dedicated to the memory of

my late husband, Prabhat Kumar Ray 1922-1981

Chapter One

On 13th March 1881, Tsar Alexander II, known as the Tsar Liberator for his emancipation of the serfs, was returning home to the Winter Palace just after signing a draft law which would give the zemstvos (local councils) some power and had approved the establishment of a national representative body to advise on legislation.

As his carriage was rolling down the Alexander Bridge over the Neva river, an assassin belonging to the Nihilist Party threw a bomb at his carriage, killing some of his bodyguards and the coachman.

The explosion shattered the vehicle and wounded his horses, but the Emperor escaped unhurt. He got off his carriage and was arranging for the wounded to be sent to hospital when a second bomb exploded between his legs, shattering his body. Still alive and conscious, he whispered - 'Take me home to the Palace, to die there.'

His men carried his mutilated body to the palace, leaving a trail of thick drops of black blood, up the marble stairs, through the long, endless corridors, then to the study, where his body was laid on a couch. There the surgeon of the Imperial family sat beside him, held his blood covered wrist in his hand and declared, 'The Emperor is dead'. The horrified members of the Imperial family rushed to the Palace. The eldest son of the Tsar, and heir to the throne, Alexander, stood near the windows. He looked out and his heavy body shook for a moment, his fists clenching and unclenching. He nodded grimly and left the Palace with his wife, Dagmar, once the princess of Denmark.

Surrounded by Cossacks in attack formation, their red lances shining brightly in the March sunset, the new Emperor and the Empress rushed to the 'Anitchove Palace' where they lived. The last tsar, Nicholas II, was then a thirteen year-old boy. He was standing besides his dead grandfather, staring at his blood-covered body. Without uttering a single word he slowly left the Palace.

The late Emperor's second wife, Princess Yurovskye, rushed from her apartment towards the study crying all the way 'Sasha, Sasha', then threw herself over her husband's body, like a felled tree.

Nicholas wrote in his memoirs - 'There was no need to show us the way to the study. All the way from the Palace square to the study was covered with blood.'

Alexander III ascended the throne on the 13th March 1881. He went to the Admiralty the day after his father's assassination, tore the draft law (which granted some power to the zemstvos or local councils) into pieces. He declared himself autocrat of all Russia. He proclaimed that he would rule '.....with faith in the power and right of autocracy.' To him revolutionaries were nothing but terrorists. He had had nothing to do with them. He lumped them together. Many leaders of the 'Nihilist' Party were hanged, many of them were sent to Siberia, others were sent abroad to live in exile forever.

Alexander III really made the autocracy work. He ruled his country with an iron hand. Throughout his thirteen year reign peace was established and maintained in every corner of Russia. Law and order came back. All sorts of anarchist groups were put down ruthlessly; but he was a man of foresight. He made a peace treaty with France. As a result, France offered him a huge sum of money as a loan. With it he started constructing railways all over Russia under the direction of his famous Minister for Ways and Communication, Count Serge Witte. He built the longest railway in the world 'The Trans Siberian Railway' which started from Moscow and ended at Vladivostock on the Pacific coast. The construction of the longest railway line began in his reign and ended in his son's reign.

The Balls in the Winter Palace

The finest balls in St. Petersburg were given by their Majesties at the Winter Palace. Every year, in January, the famous elegant, dazzling balls were held in the beautiful 'Nicholas Hall' in the Winter Palace, in great pomp and splendour.

No palace in Europe was more suitable for balls than the Winter Palace. In January 1894, a ball was given by the huge Tsar, six feet and four inches tall, and the dark-haired Empress Marie, the daughter of the King of Denmark and sister of Queen Alexandra of England.

In the bitter cold of January, the whole Winter Palace was bathed in the bright floodlight. Inside, the marble staircases were covered with thick red carpets. Exotic orchids and palm trees, beautiful bouquets of flowers in every corner of the hall and on the window sills, superb hanging baskets of chrysanthemums here and there, huge glittering mirrors in gold frames, immensely huge crystal chandeliers, hanging from the high gilded ceiling, illuminated the hall brilliantly, making the Palace look like a fairyland. The ladies of St. Petersburg, covered by dazzling diamonds and fur, appeared one after another. The chevalier guards, in white uniforms with silvered plates and silver eagle-crested helmets and Cossack lifeguards in scarlet tunics, stood to attention.

The Imperial Ball began at 8.30 in the evening. The grand master of the ceremonies tapped on the floor with an ivory staff, and cried out 'Their Imperial Majesties'. The great mahogany doors, inlaid with gold, were opened. The tall, giant Tsar, Alexander III, appeared with his empress Marie. On that special night she wore a silver brocade gown, her famous diamond tiara and fabulous necklace.

The music began with dances; the Polonaise, Quadrille, Mazurka, a waltz followed one after another. At midnight three thousand guests were served with plates of lobster, salad, chicken, tarts and cream. In the middle of supper the tall, powerful Tsar was seen, stopping here and there, to chat. At 1.30 a.m. the Imperial couple left the hall. Marie wrote in her diary - 'I danced and danced until I was carried away.'

In the winter of 1894 the Tsar, Alexander III, caught influenza. He recovered but developed kidney trouble which sapped his vitality and strength rapidly. His daughter, the Grand Duchess, wrote in her memoirs how one morning she was walking with her father. After walking for a few minutes, the Emperor turned back and asked her to go back to the Palace. Being surprised Olga looked at him. 'Papa was pale and looking sick..' The Tsar was really ill. He was only forty-nine years old. He was huge and of a giant-like stature. The Empress, being worried, called the specialist from Vienna who asked the Tsar to go to 'Livadia', in Yalta, immediately, but he told his brother, the Grand Duke Vladimir secretly that the end was near. So the Tsar moved to 'Livadia'.

At the beginning he showed some improvements. His appetite came back. He was sleeping well, but it was only temporary. He again started suffering from insomnia, his legs failed, he lost his appetite, his nose was bleeding. His condition was getting worse and worse. His eldest son, Nicholas, the heir to the throne, was at his bedside with his fiancée, the Princess Alix of Hesse, granddaughter of Queen Victoria. By the end of October the Emperor's condition became worse and he died on 1st November 1894.

The Grand Duke Sandro, brother-in-law of Nicholas, wrote in his autobiography - 'No-one better understood the significance of the death of Alexander III than his son Nicholas. I and Nicky were standing on the balcony of the beautiful Livadia Palace, surrounded by oxygen cylinders watching the end of a colossus. Alexander died as he lived. In the afternoon he had difficulty breathing. He whispered a prayer and died. Nicky took me by the arm and led me downstairs to his room. We embraced and cried together. He could not collect his thoughts. 'Sandro, what am I going to do?' he exclaimed pathetically. 'What is going to happen to me - to all of Russia? I am not prepared to be a tsar. I know nothing of the business of ruling.'

Nicholas wrote in his diary on that night - 'Good God! What a day! Lord God took away our beloved Papa. It is the passing of a saint. Papa has been removed to the Cathedral. We came back to an empty home and broke into tears.'

Nicholas was so depressed, even his fiancee, Princess Alix of Hesse, could not cheer him up. The body of the late Emperor was transferred to Moscow, then to St. Petersburg for burial.

Nicholas II became the tsar and autocrat of all Russia on 1st November 1894, 13 years after the assassination of his grandfather.

The Last Tsar - Chapter Two Imperial Children

Chapter Two
Imperial Children

Grand Duchess Olga, Tsar Nicholas' sister, recalled - 'I heard some sort of noise in the morning, a day after the funeral of Papa. I asked my nanny 'What is the bustle about?', she told me Nicky is getting married. He wouldn't let Alix go home. So the period of mourning was postponed for a week so Nicky and Alix could get married. They got married on 27th November.

On the wedding day Princess Alix drove with her mother-in-law to the Winter Palace where, in a private chapel, they were married.

At a quarter to one they came out as husband and wife, drove to Anitchove Palace where they lived for the time being. The new Empress Alexandra Fedorovna was called 'funeral bride' by the Russian people. 'She came behind the coffin.'

In the summer they moved to the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, which became their home for twenty-two years. Alexander Palace was built by Catherine the Great for her grandson, Alexander I, who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Borodino in 1812.

Gleb Botkin, son of Dr. Eugene Botkin, the physician of the Imperial Family, wrote in his memoirs, 'Tsarskoe Selo is the fairyland, earthly abode of human gods. To the monarchist it is Paradise, to the revolutionists it is a sinister place where blood-thirsty tyrants were hatching their terrible plots against the innocent population.'

Tsarskoe Selo was a magnificent symbol of the Russian autocracy. Fifteen miles south of St. Petersburg, a succession of tsars and tsarinas had created an isolated, miniature world, an artificial fantastic, mechanical toy. Around the high iron fence of the imperial park, bearded Cossack horsemen in scarlet tunics rode night and day. Inside the park, monuments, obelisks, triumphal arches studded eight hundred acres of velvet green lawns. An artificial lake, big enough for small sailboats could be emptied and filled like a bath tub.

At one end of the lake stood a pink Turkish bath. At the other end of the lake stood a dazzling red and gold Chinese pagoda, crowning an artificial hillock. Winding paths led through groves of ancient trees. A pony track curved through gardens planted with exotic flowers. Throughout the park were lilacs planted by a dozen empresses. When the spring rain fell, the sweet smell of wet lilacs drenched the air.

In November 1895, the Tsarina gave birth to her first child. It was a daughter named 'Olga'. She was very fair with blonde hair, very similar to her father, both physically and mentally.

Tatiana, the second daughter, was born in 1897, dark with auburn hair, tall and slender, like her mother very active. She was the favourite of her mother and had tremendous influence on her parents. If one of the girls needed a favour from their father, Tatiana was sent to him for his permission, or requested him to grant it. Her sisters and brother called her 'Governess'. When she grew up she was regularly called by her mother to comb and dress her hair. The Empress asked her advice when she was in trouble.

Marie, the third daughter, was born in 1899, was the most beautiful amongst the sisters. She had a fresh complexion and red cheeks, thick light brown hair and dark blue eyes; so large that they were called 'Marie's saucers'. Marie liked to paint, but she was too gay to apply herself seriously. Had she not been the daughter of a tsar, this warm hearted girl would have made some man an excellent wife.

Anastasia, the youngest daughter, was born in 1901. She was short, dumpy, blue-eyed child called in the family 'Wag'. She was witty and vivacious, and also had a streak of stubbornness, mischief and impertinence. She was also a good caricaturist. Anastasia was also a tomboy. She climbed trees to dizzying heights, refusing to come down until specifically commanded by her father. When she was born the Tsar was so disappointed (because he expected her to be a boy). Before facing his wife, the Tsar had to go to the park to conceal his frustration and emotion.

The four grand duchesses were closer to each other than most sisters. All the girls were kind and generous. They used to send money, gifts and presents to the poor girls in joint name 'OTMA'. The fifth and last child was a boy, Alexis Nicholavich, the heir to the throne.

'Alexis was the centre of this united family, the focus of all its hopes and affections. His sisters worshipped him. He was his parent's pride and joy. When he was well the Palace was transformed. Everyone and everything seemed bathed in sunshine.' - Gilliard.

To his mother he was the blessing of God and the fruit of her long prayers.

The Tsarvitch was a handsome little boy with blue eyes and golden hair.

Olga Alexandrovna was most intimate and close to her nieces. She was convinced that her nieces needed an outing. Every Saturday evening she came to Tsarskoe Selo and spent the night in the Palace.

The next morning, on Sunday, she and her four excited nieces boarded the train for the Capital. On the way to their aunt's palace they dropped at Anitchove Palace to have their lunch with their grandmother, the Dowager Empress Marie. In the evening Olga arranged for party, dance, tea, etc., for the girls. The four grand duchesses enjoyed every minute of it. Other young children of the Imperial Family were also invited.

They remained at Olga's palace until midnight, when the Tsarina sent one of her ladies-in-waiting to get the girls home.

In 1914, just before war, the Dowager Empress gave a magnificent ball for her four granddaughters in her Palace. Baroness Sophie Buxhoevedan recalled - 'We remained in Anitchove Palace until 2 a.m. On our way to Tsarskoe Selo the Tsar was sipping a cup of tea and the grand duchesses were talking about sleeping for long in the morning, and getting up late.

In 1911 Grand Duchess Olga, the eldest of the girls, celebrated her sixteenth birthday in Livadia Palace, Yalta. As a present, she received for the first time a beautiful diamond necklace and ring from her parents. In the evening Olga had appeared, flushed and fair, at her first ball to dance and celebrate her birthday.

In 1945, thirty-four years later, Stalin, at the height of his power, received his allies in the same ballroom.

The four sisters were kind and sympathetic to the poor and disabled children. Seeing a child on crutches, Olga enquired and found that the parents were too poor to afford treatment. Olga arranged for the treatment of that crippled child.

As the Imperial children had very short lives, as fate decreed, very little about their talents and personalities are known to the people.

The Last Tsar - Chapter Three The Birth of the Heir

Chapter Three
The Birth of the Heir

'On August 12th 1904, took place the event which, more than anything else, determined the whole later course of Russian history. On that day was at last born the heir to the throne, long expected and fervently prayed for.'

There was one black spot in the cloudless happy married lives of the Tsar and Tsarina. It was that the Empress did not give birth to a son, the heir to the throne. On 12th August 1904, ten years after their marriage, the Empress, at last, gave birth to a son, Tsarvitch Alexis. In spite of a disastrous war with Japan, the birth of the Tsarvitch brought tremendous joy to his parents. Alas! Within less than six weeks, their joy and happiness vanished. He was discovered to be haemophiliac (the blood does not clot).

The Tsar wrote in his diary - 'Our little Alexia's navel was bleeding without any reason. We called the doctor, who bandaged him tightly. Thank God, after that bleeding was stopped and his healthy looking features took away our fear. It is terrible to live with these fears and anxieties for the rest of our lives.'

Professor Pierre Gilliard, the tutor of Tsarvitch, recalled - 'I knew Alexis Nicholavich was a prey to a disease but what sort of disease I had no idea. Like every child he was mischievous. When he was a little boy, his nanny used to bring him to his sister's classroom and interrupted his sisters' lessons. He would not go until he was carried away. For some time he could not be seen. Every time he disappeared, the Palace was smitten with depression. His sisters tried in vein to conceal their anxieties. Being asked why they were looking sad, they only answered - 'Tsarvitch Alexis is not well.'

The family moved to Spala, the hunting lodge of the Imperial family in Poland, in September 1912 where Tsarvitch was about to die from a fall. In Spala the Tsarina asked Gilliard to give lessons to her son. 'To my great surprise I found that Alexis Nicholavitch could not walk. He was carried to the classroom by two giant sailors, called Nagorny and Drevenko (not connected with Dr. Drevenko, who was the specialist of haemophilia). I gave him lessons for a few days. He became very ill and was bedridden again. But his disease was always kept in strict secret. Only the household of the Palace knew about it. The illness of the Tsarvitch cast its shadow over the whole of the concluding period of Tsar Nicholas II's reign and can explain it. Without appearing to be, it was one of the main causes of his fall, for it made possible the phenomenon of Rasputin and resulted in the fatal isolation of the Sovereigns, who lived in a world apart, wholly absorbed in a tragic anxiety which had to be concealed from all eyes.' - Gilliard.

'The Empress refused to surrender to fate. She talked incessantly of the ignorance of the physicians. She turned towards religion and her prayers were tainted with a certain hysteria. The stage was ready for the appearance of a miracle worker. She tried to wrench from God what modern science denied her. Sitting on a cold floor in the dark chapel by a lamp, she prayed day and night, begging the same thing: the good health of her very sick son.' - Grand Duke Alexander.

The suffering of the Tsarvitch from haemophilia led his distraught mother to turn to Rasputin, the mystic healer, for help. Rasputin's presence near the throne, his influence on the Empress, and through her on the Government, brought the downfall of the Russian monarchy.' - R.K. Massie.

As he grew up, Alexis's parents explained everything to him about his fatal disease. Sometimes he understood and tried to compromise with it. Sometimes he could not.

'Mama, can I play tennis?' Alexis asked his mother. 'Alexis, dear, you know you cannot', answered his mother.

Pausing a few minutes he asked again - 'Can I have a bicycle, mama?'

'Dear, you know you can't have', answered the Tsarina.

Then the boy burst into tears. 'Why everybody got everything, I got nothing.' Sometimes he rebelled against constant over-protection. The deprivation from which Alexis was suffering was covered up by his parents with superb, exotic, magnificent toys, imported form abroad. Most of them were operated by electrics. There were great railways with passengers (dolls) inside, stations, buildings, bridges, tunnels, battalions of tin soldiers, models of towns with church towers, domes, floating models of ships, factories with doll workers, mines with miners ascending and descending. All the toys were mechanically operated.

The Last Tsar - Chapter Four The War Against Japan

Chapter Four
The War Against Japan

In 1895 Japan occupied the great warm water port and fortress of Port Arthur. Six days after the invasion of Port Arthur, Russia intervened. Japan was forced to disgorge Port Arthur to imperial China. Russia, three years later, extracted a ninety-nine year lease on the port from the helpless Chinese government. In 1900 Russia occupied Manchuria and advanced towards Korea. Japan regarded Korea vital to her security. Witte, the Finance Minister, opposed Russia's expansion policy. In 1903 Witte resigned. The Russian advance into Korea made war with Japan inevitable.

On the evening of 6th February 1904, Japanese destroyers made a sudden attack on Port Arthur. At the battle of Tsushima, in January 1905, the Russian navy was defeated. She lost all her battleships, twelve cruisers and six of her nine destroyers.

The spectacular victory of the Japanese navy surprised the world. Kaiser William was alarmed, got worried about the 'yellow peril'. America came forward, wanted to help both parties involved as mediator. The Tsar asked Serge Witte to go to America to finalise the peace treaty with Japan. Witte grumbled - 'When a sewer has to be cleaned, Witte is asked.' Witte was the most capable, efficient and intelligent statesman in Russia.

At Portsmouth in New Hampshire, the peace treaty between Russia and Japan was signed. It was Witte's intelligence and profound diplomacy that saved Russia. In spite of a disastrous defeat, Witte succeeded in achieving favourable peace terms for Russia.

The war ended in 1905, but peace did not come to Russia. After the war Russia's economic condition deteriorated. The internal turmoil began which swept over Russia from one end to the other. Millions of workers went on strike. The railway came to a stand still. Violence broke out and spread everywhere. The sailors on board the 'Potemkin' revolted and threw their officers overboard. The country was suffering from a scarcity of food. The revolutionaries came out and started killing ministers, governors and police officers.

The Grand Duke Sergei, Governor of Moscow, uncle and brother-in-law of the Tsar, was murdered. The Interior Minister was blow to pieces by an assassin's bomb. When Russia was on the verge of collapse, a priest called 'Father Gapon' took the leadership of the disturbed, unhappy people.

He personally led a mass march (which was peaceful and non-violent) to the Winter Palace, where he would hand to Nicholas a petition on behalf of the Russian people. On Sunday 22nd January the march took place but, unfortunately, the Tsar was not in the capital. The demonstrators, including some women and children, proceeded towards the Palace. The procession, before reaching the Palace square, faced the firing of the Palace guards. The demonstrators, being panic-stricken, were forced to retreat when many women and children fell under the heavy feet of men. More than two hundred men, women and children were killed.

Gapon attacked the Tsar and cabinet bitterly. He denounced the government and Palace guards for firing on innocent men, women and children. He declared himself the bitterest enemy of the Tsar - 'From now we have no Tsar.' The day, which became known as 'Bloody Sunday' was a turning point in Russian history. It shattered the old, legendary belief that the Tsar and the people were one. He asked the people to fight to the end and bring the downfall of the monarchy. When the government issued a warrant against him he fled to Finland. There he was missing for some time. Later, in April 1906, his body was found hanging in an abandoned hut. The Social Revolutionary Party accused him of being a double agent and sentenced him to death.

The Last Tsar - Chapter Five Duma

Chapter Five
Duma

By mid-October 1905, all Russia was paralysed by a general strike. From Warsaw to the Urals, trains stopped running, factories closed down, ships lay idle alongside piers. In St. Petersburg food was not longer delivered, hospitals and schools closed, newspapers stopped being printed, even the electric lights flickered out. By day crowds marched through the street shouting slogans loudly, and red flags flew from every window. At night streets were empty and dark. In the countryside peasants raided the manor houses of landlords, crippled and stole cattle and finally set fire to the estates, the flames of burning manor houses glowed through the night.

Sentries paced up and down the street guarding all public buildings and Cossacks clattered up and down the boulevards. The revolution was at hand; it needed only a spark.

The Tsar wrote to his mother - 'The troops were waiting for the signal but the other side would not begin. One had the same feeling as before a thunder storm in summer.'

Through all those horrible days I constantly met Witte. He comes to my study every morning and stays until night. We discussed the situation thoroughly and gravely. Witte suggested that there were two paths to pacify the people: to find an energetic man to put down the anarchy by force. The other one would be to give to the people their civil rights, freedom of speech and press and also to have all laws confirmed by state Duma. After much and serious thoughts I chose the latter one, which resulted in the creation of state Duma.'

That was the beginning of the end of Tsarism.

Sergius Witte, who gave Russia its first constitution and its first parliament, did not believe either in constitution or in Parliament

The Imperial Manifesto of 30th October 1905, transformed Russia from an absolute autocracy into a semi-constitutional monarchy.

'Nothing has changed, the struggle goes on', said Paul Milhukov, the leading Russian historian and liberal leader, later becoming the first foreign secretary of the Provisional Government in 1917, after the Revolution.

The Last Tsar - Chapter Six Alexander Palace

Chapter Six
Alexander Palace

'It was an enchanted fairyland. To the monarchists it was a paradise, the abode of earthly gods. To the revolutionists it was a sinister place where blood thirsty tyrants were hatching their plots against the innocent population', - wrote Gleb Botkin, the son of a court physician.

Tsarskoe Selo is only fifteen miles away from the capital. There are two palaces, one is called 'Alexander Palace' and was built by Catherine the Great, for her grandson Alexander I. It is smaller in size, consisting of one hundred rooms. It has two wings. In this palace Nicholas and Alexandra, the last Tsar and Tsarina, came to live in the summer of 1895. It became their home for twenty-two years.

The two palaces were situated in the midst of a beautiful park, which was surrounded by high iron fences. Inside the fence Cossack horsemen, in their beautiful scarlet uniforms, rode day and night on their ceaseless patrol. The park had beautiful monuments, obelisks, triumphal arches, an artificial lake, a beautiful pink turkish bath, a dazzling gold Chinese pagoda, crowned on an artificial hill, a pony track curved through gardens planted with exotic flowers.

The middle part of the Palace was used for official purposes - the Tsar's study, reception rooms, audience room, drawing rooms. The right wing of the Palace was the private apartment of the monarch. The left wing of the Palace was used by the household. The most beautiful room in the Palace was the boudoir of Empress Alexandra.

Everything, carpets, curtains, every piece of furniture was mauve, as it was the favourite colour of the Tsarina. In the morning the Empress lay and relaxed on a couch in her boudoir when she heard the footsteps of her children, or listened to the soft sweet sound of the piano being played by her daughters. Here in that boudoir she helped her daughters to choose their dresses. Near her couch there was a table full of books. Sometimes her eldest daughter descended from upstairs, down into the boudoir, picked up some books and left. When the Tsarina looked for them Olga used to say - 'Mama, let me read first and tell you which one is suitable for you.'

Early in the morning servants, holding the pots of incense, walked up and down the endless corridor, moving from one room to another, leaving behind sweet smells. Maids in beautiful uniforms visited every room, polished the gold, silver and china vases, threw away the previous day's flowers and replaced them with fresh scented flowers, just arrived from the gardens of Livadia Palace in Crimea.

Every afternoon the Tsarina used to get out for a short drive. The carriage was ready at two o'clock in the afternoon, waiting at the Palace gates. In the evening she used to call her maids to help her in wearing jewels. They had dinner at 8 o'clock. After dinner the family gathered in the cosy comfortable drawing room of the Palace. The Emperor used to read a book aloud, while listening to the Tsarina and her daughters knitting or embroidering something. Before retiring to bed they used to have hot drinks. At 11 o'clock at night the Tsar wrote his daily activities in his diary. Finishing his diary, he plunged himself into his beautiful silver bath.

To guard this paradise, to tend its lawns, pick its flowers, groom its horses, polish its motor cars, clean its floors, make its beds, polish its crystals, serve its banquets and baths, and dress its Imperial children took thousands of human hands.

According to a Soviet who had access to the Palace, wrote in his book what he saw inside - 'When at last the door opened with a reluctant grunt, we entered the vestibule with a vast officer in a bearskin hat like a tub, pages, court negroes in crimson velvet coats, embroidered in gold, with turbans and sharp pointed curved shoes, equerries in cocked hats, red capes bordered with stamped imperial eagles, stepping noiselessly with the soft patent leather shoes, resplendent in snow white garters, the footmen ran before us up the carpeted staircases. We passed through drawing rooms, anterooms, banqueting rooms, passing from carpets to glittering parquet, then back to carpets. At every door stood servants petrified in pairs in most varied costumes, according to the room to which they were attached; now the traditional black frock coats, now polish surcoats, with red shoes and white stockings and gaiters. At one of the doors stood two handsome servants with crimson scarves on their heads, caught up with tinsel clasps.'

There was an army of cooks in the Palace kitchen. Most important of them was Cubat, a Frenchman. He cooked special dishes on special occasions. After dinner was over he was stood at the door of the dining hall listening carefully to what the guests would say about his cooking.

Tea was a most important and interesting time in the Palace. The Grand Duchess wore special dresses for tea. When they were little they used to play with toys on the floor after tea. When they grew up toys were replaced by knitting and sewing. Anna Vyrubova remembered the Tsar entering the dining hall exactly at 4 o'clock, drank two cups of tea, no more no less, buttered a slice of hot bread, while drinking he looked into some official paper. Cakes never appeared on the table. After tea the Tsar left for his audience chamber, where people gathered to discuss their problems with him. At 8 o'clock the meeting ended. As soon as the clock struck eight the Emperor got up and walked to the window showing the sign that the meeting was over. After dinner the Tsarina used to go upstairs to say Tsarvitch his prayers before going to bed.

The Last Tsar - Chapter Seven Princess Alix

Chapter Seven
Princess Alix

'One day I will marry Princess Alix of Hesse', - Nicholas wrote in his diary in 1889, when he was twenty-one years old. Princess Alix was born in Dermstadt, Hesse, a medieval town in Germany with cobbled streets, in 1872. Her mother was Princess Alice, second daughter of Queen Victoria. Her mother died when she was only seven years old. She grew up by eating baked apples and rice pudding. After her mother's death, Queen Victoria became her guardian. She spent most of the year in England with her grandmother. She met Nicholas for the first time when she was twelve years old. She travelled to St. Petersburg for the marriage of her sister Ella to Grand Duke Sergei, the younger brother of Tsar Alexander III, the uncle of Nicholas II. The wedding took place in 1883.

The next time Alix saw Nicholas was when she was seventeen years old. It was in 1889 when Alix went to Moscow to stay with Ella for the summer holidays. Nicholas was twenty-one then. They never saw each other again until 1894, when the Grand Duke Earnest, Alix's brother, got married. Nicholas attended the wedding as the representative of his father, Tsar Alexander III. It was during Earnest's marriage that Nicholas proposed to Alix. After some hesitation, she accepted.

What sort of woman was she? Why was she blamed for the downfall of Russian monarchy? What was wrong with her? Her character, nature and bad health should be denounced for that terrible tragedy.

Her aunt, Empress Victoria of Prussia, mother of Kaiser William II, wrote to her mother, Queen Victoria - 'Alix is very imperious.'

Her Mother-in-law, Dowager Empress Marie, wrote in her diary - 'She is ambitious beyond my imagination.'

Michael Rodzianko, President of Duma (parliament), wrote - 'Unhealthy mysticism of the Empress led Russia to terrible catastrophes.'

Princess Catherine Radziwill wrote in her book - 'She was selfish and ruthless. She wasn't an autocrat but despot.'

The Grand Duke Alexander, wrote in his book - 'She was incredibly selfish.'

Muriel Buchanan, the daughter of the British Ambassador, Sir George Buchanan, wrote in her book - 'Every time the Emperor yielded to reform every time he was prevented by the Empress.' 'To her mind autocracy was the only form of government for Russia.'

Alexander Kerensky wrote in his book - 'Empress Alexandra was very different from her husband. She was arrogant, domineering and selfish. She was born to rule. Her influence over her husband was formidable. She played a dominant role in the dissolution of the Russian empire. For some time she suffered from hysteria and was partially paralysed. She ruled Russia for two years in co-operation with Rasputin in the most critical and worst time in the history of Russia, when the country desperately needed a strong and efficient ruler. Her diseased mind did not see any better form of government for Russia but autocracy.'

The French Ambassador wrote in his diary - 'The evil course followed by Tsarina and her despicable entourage will be responsible to history.'

She paid a high price. She saw her husband and all of her children felled, one after another, before she fell in a hail of bullets.

The Last Tsar - Chapter Eight Nicholas II

Chapter Eight
Nicholas II

He was weak beyond imagination. He was indecisive. He was unable to make decisions.

Count Witte wrote in his memoirs - 'Our Emperor is Byzantine.'

He wanted to do everything himself, because he did not trust anybody. Unlike other monarchs, he had not even a secretary. He was a fatalist. The British prime minister, Lloyd George, wrote in his book - 'Nicholas was a crown without a head.'

C.M. Bykov wrote in his book - 'Nicholas II was weak, cruel, double-faced, suspicious, vindictive and unscrupulous.'

Alexander Kerensky wrote in his book - 'He was indifferent to other people's sorrow and suffering, but he was very polite. He remained polite even to the very end of his life. After abdication life was not very easy and rosy for him, but still for a moment he never failed to be courteous.'

Count Witte wrote in his autobiography - 'I went to the Palace to see the Tsar, he received me cordially, he showered upon me all sorts of best wishes and blessings, kissed me and embraced me. I came home with good heart but next morning only to receive from (Tsar) a letter dismissing me from the post of premiership.'

Nicholas II was born on 6th May 1868. In his childhood and youth he was influenced by two men, one was his very powerful father, Tsar Alexander III, and his tutor Pobedostov. Both of them hated democracy and parliament. To them parliament and newspapers were the roots of all evil. From his childhood he learnt from them that 'autocracy is the best form and only form of government for Russia'. Pobedostov's influence on Nicholas was tremendous. In 1893 he came to England to attend the wedding of his cousin, George V and Queen Mary. He visited many places but avoided Parliament and the House of Commons. He finished his studies at the age of 22. He joined the army and took training to become the Colonel of the Regiment.

In 1890, Nicholas and his brother George left home for a visit to eastern countries. After visiting Egypt, his brother George became very ill and was sent back home. Nicholas, with his Greek cousin, proceeded towards India and Japan. In India, Nicholas complained about heat. In Japan he was attached by a Japanese fanatic. After crossing the Pacific he came to Vladivostock where he laid a foundation stone for the world's longest railway line - the Trans Siberian Railway - from Moscow to Vladivostock.

To the despair of Russian liberals, who had hoped that the death of Alexander III would mean a modification of the autocracy, Nicholas quickly made it clear that he would closely abide by the principle of autocracy. In sending to the new Tsar the traditional address of congratulation on his accession, the Zemstvo (Council) of the Tver, a stronghold of liberalism, expressed its dearest desire of having some power. Nicholas drafted a reply denouncing the Zemstvo of Tver for cherishing 'a senseless dream'. His speech ran from one end to the other end of Russia like an electric shock. To the revolutionaries it is a challenge. They set to work again to destroy the Tsarism.

The Last Tsar - Chapter Nine Peter Stolypin

Chapter Nine
Peter Stolypin

With the exception of Serge Witte, Imperial Russia had never had a good prime minister as Stolypin was. He ruthlessly crushed the last outbursts of the 1905 Revolution, but Stolypin was a practical man. He knew that the monarchy could be saved if the government moved with the times. Direct, outspoken, his deep love for his country, with his extraordinary physical strength and vitality, Stolypin grappled with the fundamental causes of Russia's trouble. Accordingly he reconstructed the system of peasant land ownership and began the transformation of an autocracy into a form of government, more responsive to the popular will. He rebuked revolutionaries by his comment - 'You want great upheavals but we want great Russia'. He meant to attack the root problems, such as the peasant's long suppressed thirst for land of their own. To the revolutionaries the Stolypin era was a time of fading hope.

His agricultural policy was so successful that it produced remarkably good results, even after the Revolution in 1917. He requisitioned all crown lands and distributed them. The peasants, for the first time, achieved enough land to produce enough food. The peasants were given enormous sizes of land, instead of having strips of land scattered here and there.

On the political side, he achieved great success by working in co-operation with Duma (Parliament), but his days were numbered. In 1911 Stolypin ordered an investigation of Rasputin's matter, because of the violent outbursts of the members of Duma. He incurred the displeasure of the Tsarina and Tsar. The Tsar wanted to get rid of him, but he did not have to dismiss him. In September, 1911 he went to Kiev to unveil the statue of Tsar Alexander III, where in the theatre hall in front of the Tsar, he was shot. He was removed to a nursing home where he stayed alive for three days. Imperial Russia never recovered from the blow caused by Stolypin's death.

His successor, Vladimir Kokovstove wrote - 'Stolypin was a man of courage and vision'. 'His honesty won the heart of everybody'.

The next prime minister was Vladimir Kokovstove. Two years after his appointment he also toppled from power. Once again it was Rasputin who poisoned this political career.

The Last Tsar - Chapter Ten Count Serge Witte

Chapter Ten
Count Serge Witte

If anything great was done during the reign of the last Tsar it was done by Witte. Inside his head Witte carried the ablest administrative brain in Russia. It had guided him from humble beginnings to the role of leading minister of two tsars. Witte was the unique, exceptional statesman of intellectual power.

But during the latter part of his life, for many years, while he was still full of vigour and creative ability, he was relieved of office and remained away from state affairs, tragically alone. The last tsar hated him. Yet he was the only man who could have prevented the national catastrophe of 1917 in time, had he had the fullness of power in his hands. He would have established the politically reformed monarchy upon the basis of the tremendous development of national activity. All the constructive work that was done by the government during the last two reigns is coupled with the name of Witte. He industrialised Russia, introduced gold standards, spirit monopoly, constructed railways all over Russia, great trans Siberian railways, the longest in the world, starting from Moscow and ending at Vladivostock on the Pacific Coast.

He insisted upon a change in the existing system of government before the tides of the revolution had burst on the banks. He concluded the peace treaty with Japan at Portsmouth and secured terms in favour of Russia. He gave Russia its first constitution and its first parliament. The Imperial Manifesto, of October 30 1905, transformed Russia from an absolute autocracy into a semi-constitutional monarchy. Witte's proposal, as regards the peasants, was the only expedient solution. When war broke out in 1914, he was abroad. He hurried back home and warned the Tsar about the future catastrophe and asked him to withdraw his army immediately from the frontier. But the Tsar did not listen to him. The great war continued. He died broken-hearted in the midst of war in 1916. It was his fate to see the demolition of the giant edifice which he built.