Text copyright © 2014 by Candace Fleming Jacket photographs courtesy of the Library of Congress Map of Russia and family tree by Holly Pribble All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York. Schwartz & Wade Books and the colophon are trademarks of Random House LLC. Visit us on the Web! randomhouse.com/teens Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Fleming, Candace. The family Romanov : murder, rebellion, and the fall of imperial Russia / Candace Fleming. pages; cm Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-375-86782-8 (hc) — ISBN 978-0-375-96782-5 (glb) — ISBN 978-0-37589864-8 (ebook) 1. Russia—History—Nicholas II, 1894–1917. 2. Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, 1868–1918— Family. 3. Romanov, House of. 4. Soviet Union—History—Revolution, 1917–1921. I. Title. DK258.F5725 2014 947.08′30922—dc23 [B] 2013037904 Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read. v3.1 A C F LSO BY ANDACE LEMING Young Adult The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave Middle Grade Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School The Fabled Fifth Graders of Aesop Elementary School Younger Readers Oh, No! Clever Jack Takes the Cake Imogene’s Last Stand CONTENTS Cover Title Page Copyright Other Books by This Author Before You Begin … Family Tree Map Russia, 1903 Beyond the Palace Gates: Peasant Turned Worker Part One: Before the Storm Chapter One: “I Dreamed That I Was Loved” Beyond the Palace Gates: A Peasant Boyhood Chapter Two: “What a Disappointment!” Beyond the Palace Gates: Lullabies for Peasant Babies Chapter Three: “A Small Family Circle” Beyond the Palace Gates: Another Family Circle Part Two: Dark Clouds Gathering Chapter Four: The Year of Nightmares Chapter Five: Lenin, the Duma, and a Mystic Named Rasputin Beyond the Palace Gates: House No. 13 Chapter Six: “Pig and Filth” and Family Fun Beyond the Palace Gates: An Occupation for Workers’ Daughters Chapter Seven: Gathering Clouds Chapter Eight: Three Centuries of Romanovs Beyond the Palace Gates: A Different Kind of Education for a Different Kind of Boy Photo Insert 1 Part Three: The Storm Breaks Chapter Nine: “My God! My God! What Madness!” Chapter Ten: In Defense of Mother Russia Beyond the Palace Gates: Vasily’s Diary Chapter Eleven: “The Reign of Rasputin” Chapter Twelve: It All Comes Tumbling Down Beyond the Palace Gates: Molecule in a Storm Chapter Thirteen: “Ye Tyrants Quake, Your Day Is Over” Beyond the Palace Gates: “Ye Tyrants Quake, Your Day Is Over” Part Four: Final Days Chapter Fourteen: “Survivors of a Shipwreck” Beyond the Palace Gates: The “Tsar’s Surprise Party” Chapter Fifteen: Into Siberia Beyond the Palace Gates: Swarming the Palace Chapter Sixteen: The House of Special Purpose Chapter Seventeen: Deadly Intent Chapter Eighteen: “The World Will Never Know What Has Become of Them” Beyond the Palace Gates: Life Under Lenin Photo Insert 2 Acknowledgments Bibliography The Romanovs Online Notes B Y B EFORE OU EGIN … The ruler of Russia is called the tsar or emperor (the titles are interchangeable), his wife is either the tsaritsa or empress, and his male heir is called the tsarevich. His other children are given the title of grand duke if male or grand duchess if female. These last titles are passed down just one more generation, so a tsar’s grandchildren are also grand dukes and grand duchesses. But a tsar’s great-grandchildren hold only the rank of prince or princess. Thus grand dukes and grand duchesses outrank princes and princesses. Russians have three names: a first name; a father’s name with -ovich or -evich (meaning “son of”) added if male, or -evna or -ovna (meaning “daughter of”) if female; and a last, or family, name. Therefore, Nicholas II’s daughter’s full name was Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova; his son’s full name was Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov. Russian dates can be bewildering. That’s because during Nicholas’s reign, Russia used the old-style Julian calendar to record dates, when most of the world was using the new-style Gregorian calendar. This meant Russian dates lagged twelve days behind during the nineteenth century, and thirteen days behind during the twentieth. Thus Anastasia was born June 5, 1901, according to the Julian calendar, but June 18, 1901, by the Gregorian calendar. Since readers of this book are familiar with the Gregorian calendar, all dates in this book are given in the new style. To view a full-size version of this image, click HERE.