The Final Journey Of The Romanovs Direct

The tone shifted dramatically after the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917. The Romanovs were no longer "guests" of the state; they were "enemies of the people." In the spring of 1918, they were transferred to Ekaterinburg, a staunchly pro-Bolshevik industrial city. They were imprisoned in the Ipatiev House, ominously renamed the "House of Special Purpose." The House of Special Purpose

On the night of July 16, the family was woken and told they were being moved for their own safety. They were led into a small, semi-basement room. Nicholas, Alexandra, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, the young Alexei, and four loyal servants stood together for a final photograph that would never be taken. Instead, a firing squad entered. The Final Journey of the Romanovs

The journey began in February 1917, when the pressures of World War I and domestic famine forced Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate. Initially, the family—Nicholas, Empress Alexandra, and their five children—were held under house arrest at Tsarskoye Selo. At this stage, the "journey" still held a glimmer of hope; there were talks of asylum in England with Nicholas’s cousin, King George V. However, political sensitivities in London and the rising tide of radicalism in Russia quickly shuttered those doors. The Move East The tone shifted dramatically after the Bolshevik Revolution