Was It George V's Fault That The Romanovs Were Murdered ?

Question

I Am Fascinated By The Story Of The Last Russian Royal Family , The Romanovs. I Read That They Tried To Seek Asylum In Britain But George V (Who Was The Cousin Of The Tsar) Refused It , Because The Romanovs Were Unpopular In Britain. Was It Down To Him That The Romanovs Were Murdered ?

Answer 1

A valid question. King George (a first cousin to Tsar Nicholas II) can hardly been held in contempt for his prudent decision to not accept the Tsar and his family into England as exiles. The correct answer, based upon all that I know of the sequence of events (which is a lot) would be an asserive *no*. It would be *more* correct to assert that, at a single point in time, he could have *saved* them, but this would additionally pre-suppose that he could have anticipated their final gruesome demise. No one really ever predicted that the Tsar and his family would be murdered and it was all done very swiftly and covertly, once the decision was made.



Nicholas II and his family (and a couple of their servants as well) were murdered as a result of two primary factors:



1. Nicholas was a poor leader, a tyrant, and he had thus lost the confidence of his people, many of whom were starving and otherwise dying in the streets. The people also despised the Tsarina who was a German by birth and thus widely perceived (wrongly) as a WW I spy for the Germans in addition to being heavily tied to Rasputin the Starets, the latter being perceived by most Russians as being totally dissolute.



2. The Red Bolsheviks [Communists] feared that as long as the Tsar [and his son, the young Tsarevich Alexi] lived that they constituted a prospective danger to their cause at some future date. So the order was issued to eliminate them altogether, which is what happened. There was also a faction of White Bolsheviks on their way to rescue the Tsar and his family so that sped things up,



King George was hog-tied by diplomacy. The American and British allies (in particular) were very angered over Russia having made a separate peace with Germany [the Communists effected this treaty which was a big factor in their being able to seize power from Karensky and the Duma, the representatives of the Russian Provisional government following the forced abdication of the Tsar]. Thus, the allied nations viewed the Tsar as the root couse of the subsequent events which led to the Russian treaty with the Kaiser, Wilhelm II. There was no way that King George could bring his cousin and his family into the safe fold of England -- this would have caused tremendous political strife between the allied nations. [The Kaiser was also a first cousin to the Tsar and to King George, all three being grandsons of Queen Victoria!]



For a quick but fairly accurate depiction of all these events (and much more) you can acquire and view the excellent film *Nicholas and Alexandra* [which is based upon an authoritative book by a renowned historian]. But my own sources for what I have said here involves many years of reading Russian history as well as historical fiction concerning this politically turbulent nation.



I hope that answers your question adequately.

Answer 2

He most certainly wasn't guilty of that. History tells us that while the british government and the king weren't exactly thrilled about a possible exile lend to the russian imperial family, they didn't flat out refuse it. After all several other royals sought refuge in the kingdom and had not been turned away either. The Csars behaviour however was extremely strange: when you read some of his letters to both his cousins, the king and the kaiser it seems he was completely torn on the issue of going into exile or not. He made inquiries to Britain, asking for impossible provisions, he even reached out to Denmark and in the next moment apparently he refused to contemplate any kind of giving up. I have read many many very believable accounts that for ex. Germany (although the enemy) or better yet relatives of the Csarina had offered safe passage for the children. There is even some evidence that the russian authorities would have agreed to let the girls go, after all there is no way they would have let the Csar or the Csarevitch go. But in a QueenMom way the parents sealed their daughters fate by deciding that they would stay together till the end. I don't think that George felt "guilty" I think he felt bad at not having been able to save this family and esp the children. Just as bad as the Kaiser felt and probably the whole of the royal relations in Germany, Denmark etc... BTW, this feeling of helplessness and/or maybe guilt at least saved the greek, for the British and the Germans send their war ships to Greece to pick up the royal family before anything could happen....

Answer 3

The British Royal family were in a very difficult position in the latter period of the First World War. They had already had to change their name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor as they were perceived as too German. The fact they were related to Wilhelm II of Germany was also used as evidence of this fact. Many of the lower classes did not naturally sympathise with the plight of the Romanovs over that of the Russian working class, and as such George V felt unable to order the assistance of his cousin, for fear of his own throne.

However, whether the Bolsheviks would have been willing to allow Nicholas II to leave, and potentially create an emigre court in England is not certain, especially in 1918 as Russia drifted into Civil War. The main point is though, that even had there not been many mitigating circumstances for George V's inaction he would not be responsible for a murder which he had not ordered, though he certainly could have done more.

Answer 4

Interestingly, a programme is due to air here in Britain sometime soon asking this very question. But now the Queen's cousin, Prince Michael of Kent who was named after Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, the last Tsar's younger brother, has gone public on what he says were plans drawn up by the then King to rescue his Russian cousin and other members of the family.



In the upcoming TV series, the Prince is interviewed about one of history's most tragic stories: the murder of the Romanovs at the hands of a Bolshevik firing squad.



He discusses his grandfather's relationship with the Tsar and discloses details of the King's doomed plot to save the Romanovs, attempting to clear George V's name amid criticism over his apparent refusal to act.



The Prince tells how close the two cousins were: "They were first cousins and they were on very affable terms together. They were very close," he says.



The programme, Mystery Files: The Romanovs, describes how the Tsar requested asylum in Britain but was turned down because of vicious opposition inside Britain to the family's German roots amid the canage of the First World War.



Nevertheless, says Prince Michael, the King never gave up hopes of rescuing the Romanovs and there were several plots.



'It's thought that there was an attempt made by an aircraft to get them out," he says.



"On the staff of King George V, my grandfather, was an RAF officer called Air Commodore Fellowes, who was, they say, given the opportunity to plan an escape and that he would have flown in and landed nearby and got them out."



Unfortunately, the RAF officer's mission did not go ahead due to the logistics of where the family was being held.



George V came under severe criticism for his role in the events.



Asylum in the UK was offered to the Tsar and his family following the 1917 revolution, but later withdrawn after the King raised concerns about how it would impact on the reputation of the House of Windsor.



Helen Rappaport, author of Ekaterinburg which examines the situation, said "King George became increasingly conscience-stricken.



"He had a consultation with the British Secret Service in which he said 'If you can get them out, get them out.'"

Answer 5

Russian Royal Family Murdered

Answer 6

There is no way the Romanovss would ever have left Russia to go to England. They still believed they were ruling by Divine Right and to flee would be unheard of. Secondly, the Bolsheviks would never have let them out of the country. Lastly as England had a democratic government which was ruled by the Parliament and not the Royal family they would not have been able to offer any asylum because it wasn't theirs to offer. It would have had to have come from the government. Do you think the government of the day or the people of the day wanted an autocratic despot and his family on their doorstep with revolutionaries pursuing them as well. As long as the Romanovs were alive any peoples' government in Russia would be shaky. they had to be eliminated.

Answer 7

It might be partly his fault, but it can't be his fault alone.



I answered yours, could you please answer mine?

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