Romanov Dynasty (House of Romanov)

The Romanov dynasty was the ruling monarchy of Russia from 1613 until the abdication of Nicholas II (1868–1918) in 1917, during the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Romanovs are named after their ancestor Roman Yurev (d. 1543), whose daughter Anastasia Romanovna Zakharina-Yureva (1530–60) married Ivan IV (1530–84), known to history as Ivan the Terrible, in 1547. Ivan IV was the grand prince of Moscow before assuming the title of czar of Russia in 1547.

Following the death of Ivan IV, his son Feodor I (1557–98) ruled as the last czar of the Rurik dynasty. Years of political anarchy followed Feodor I’s death, as he left no heir. In the National Assembly of 1613, the boyars, or nobility, elected Michael I (1596–1645), a great-grandson of Roman Yurev, as czar, thus beginning the Romanov dynasty. Michael I was succeeded upon his death by his son Alexis I (1629–76). Although the Romanovs were not direct descendants of the Rurik dynasty, they maintained their rule for three centuries until the early twentieth century.

Background

The chaotic period that followed the death of Feodor I is known in Russian history as the Time of Troubles. With no apparent heir to the throne, Feodor I’s uncle Boris Godunov (ca. 1551–1605) rose to become the de facto ruler. Godunov, who claimed to be descended from an old family of Tatar origin, oversaw a period marked by dynastic conflicts, uprisings, and great famine. In the years following Godunov’s death, a series of rulers took control of the throne, including False Dmitry I and Vasily Shuysky, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth invaded the country during the Polish-Muscovite War (1605–18).

Overview

The election of Michael I as czar by the zemsky sobor, or national assembly, in 1613 established the Romanov dynasty and marked the end of the Time of Troubles. This period had been so catastrophic for Russia that it kept the country mired in stagnation and prevented its development as one of the great powers of Europe. Michael I’s reign was followed by that of his son Alexis I, whose own son Fyodor III (1661–82) took the throne following his father’s death in 1676. Fyodor III was then succeeded by his half-brother, Peter I (1672–1725), who became known as Peter the Great.

Peter I engaged in dynastic conflicts with his half-siblings Ivan V (1666–96) and Sofia (1657–1704). He became the sole ruler following Ivan V’s death and went on to become one of Russia’s greatest rulers. Peter I expanded and modernized the nation, building a strong army and organizing his military in order to bring it up to Western standards, developing industry and commerce, and secularizing education, among many other reforms. He was the first monarch to declare Russia an empire following the Great Northern War (1700–21). He died without declaring an heir, and his wife, Catherine I (1684–1727), became his successor.

Upon Catherine I’s death, Peter I’s grandson Peter II (1715–30) ascended to the throne. The direct male line of the Romanov dynasty ended three years later with his death. Peter II was succeeded by Anna Ivanovna (1693–1740), the daughter of Ivan V. Upon her death, she was succeeded by her niece’s son Ivan VI (1740–64), who was an infant at the time and ruled only in name before being deposed in 1741 in favor of Peter I’s daughter Elizabeth (1709–62). Elizabeth promoted reforms in Peter I’s model, ruled through the Seven Years’ War, and selected her nephew Peter of Holstein-Gottorp (1728–62), later Peter III, as her heir.

Peter III died after six months as czar and was succeeded by his wife, Catherine II (1729–96), who became known as Catherine the Great. She worked to cement the absolute rule of the monarchy and weaken the power of the aristocracy and military, although she extended the rights and liberties of local gentry. During her rule, she annexed Crimea and parts of the Ukraine as well as Belarus, Lithuania, and Courland. Some historians argue that Catherine actually took the throne from her son, the rightful heir, Paul I (1754–1801). When Paul I eventually became the monarch following his mother’s death, he decreed that the laws of succession to the Russian throne be based on primogeniture, or inheritance by the firstborn son.

Paul’s son Alexander I (1777–1825) ascended to the throne after his father’s assassination. He ruled throughout the Napoleonic Wars and worked toward some liberal reforms, although he continued the tradition of autocratic rule that was the norm for Russian monarchs. He defeated the Napoleonic armies that invaded Russia in 1812 and added eastern Finland to the Russian Empire. Alexander I died without a male heir and was succeeded by his brother Nicholas I (1796–1855) after the rightful heir, Nicholas’s older brother Constantine, renounced the crown.

Nicholas I was succeeded by his son Alexander II (1818–81), who abolished serfdom in 1861 and sold Alaska to the United States in 1867. His son Alexander III (1845–94) took the throne following his assassination. Alexander III was considered by some to be a tyrant, and he reversed many of the liberal reforms of his father.

After Alexander III’s death, he was succeeded by his oldest son, Nicholas II (1868–1918), who sought to continue the conservative policies established by his father. He approved many anti-Semitic policies and oversaw brutal pogroms against Russian Jews. He also took Russia into the Russo-Japanese War and World War I, both of which had disastrous results for the country. His rule was marked by growing unrest and uprisings.

Nicholas II was forced to abdicate following the February Revolution of 1917. He was the last czar of Russia. He, his wife, and their five children were assassinated in Yekaterinburg in July 1918 by Bolshevik revolutionaries. Only a few minor members of the Romanov family survived, as they had been exiled from Russia.

The remains of the last Romanov emperor and his family were lost for a long time. The bodies of Nicholas II, his wife, and three of their daughters were located in 1979, and their remains were officially identified by DNA analysis in the 1990s. The remains of his daughter Maria and his son, Alexei, were found in 2007 and identified by DNA analysis in 2008.

Bibliography

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Fleming, Candace. The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia. New York: Schwartz, 2014. Print.

Hughes, Lindsey. The Romanovs: Ruling Russia, 1613–1917. London: Hambledon, 2008. Print.

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Radzinsky, Edvard. Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar. Trans. Antonina W. Bouis. New York: Free, 2005. Print.