The Teetering Throne: Reminiscences on the Fall of the Russian Monarchy
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2013
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Haverford College. Department of History
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
In 1913, fourteen-year-old Martha Edith Almedingen looked on as the splendor of the Russian Court unfurled before her on the streets of St. Petersburg. Double-headed eagles flapped in the breeze as a succession of grand carriages containing the imperial family clattered past the crowds. The government intended the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Romanov Dynasty to represent permanence, strength, and stability. By 1917 the monarchy had fallen. Through the memoirs of aristocrats, officials, and foreign visitors who experienced these events first-hand, themes emerge that point to a growing strain between the Romanovs and their traditional base of support: the nobility. As Nicholas II struggled to adjust to the dynamics of a Russia undergoing industrialization while responding to calls for political liberalization, the regime responded with a muddled policy of engagement with the realities of the 20th century and intransigence, clinging to the medieval Rus of the 1600s while utilizing modern propaganda tools to connect with the populace. These memoirs also highlight issues of memory-politics inherent in reconstructing an historical period decades removed from the time of composition. Instead of remaining passive observers, these writers emerge as key actors in the creation of the popular myths surrounding the downfall of the Romanovs. By examining the interplay between society and the autocracy in the years immediately preceding the Revolution, they paint a picture of a growing gulf between Nicholas and his subjects. The people, these memoirists stress, did not abandon the Tsar: the Tsar abandoned his people.