The Fashion, The Inventions, Ekaterinburg, and the Books

Presented above are pictures representing the fashion, inventions, parts of the city Ekaterinburg (as well as inside views of the Ipatiev House where the Romanov's were murdered), and the first edition books I am using for my research.

Novel 3

Novel: Trotsky A Biography

Author: Robert Service

The history behind the Romanov family is so, odd. The families bloodline starting with Peter the Great, had trickled down to been spread across most if not all of the European Royal families. As my father and I were discussing I think that this is a reason for Nicholas II complacency when it came to his fate. It is shown through even the recent(relative to Nicholas II) Romanov's that unless one was passionate about something, say war tactics or political hubbub, they were complacent to the view of those surrounding them. The political views that Nicholas should have been interested in were inevitable his downfall. The next book I am reading is the biography of one of the most influential political activist of the Revolutions, Trotsky. I hope that by reading this I will get an insight on what the political minds of this time were actually thinking.

Area's In and Out of Ekaterinburg

After close to 4 hours of research I unfortunately could not find a map of Ekaterinburg (which in present day is called Yekaterinburg) Russia in the 1910's. So not being able to find a map of my decade I decided to search for a map of present day and input key historical parts, this didn't seem to work either. After translating various names of streets, historical sites, and suburb names I realized that most if not all of the names of streets and sites were changes after the various revolutions. So what I do have is a list of the various areas in Ekaterinburg that hold a historical importance during the 1910's.

Located in Ekaterinburg

Ipatiev House, "House of Special Purpose" : The final containment facility for the Romanov's. The special purpose it was so called for was the actual slaughter on the member's of the family, their trusted cook, and doctor.

The Novo-Tikhvinsky convent: The nuns who lived here came to the Ipatiev House to leave gifts of cream, eggs, and other food for the Romanov family. The unfortune part though was that most if not all of the food given were eaten by the internal gaurd, or which ever head was in charge at the time.

The Koptyaki Forest: The first burial site of the dead Romanov family.

The Amerikanskaya Hotel: The meeting place for the Ural Regional Soviet as well as the Cheka.

"The Soviet Factories": There were several factories that the Ural Regional Soviet enlisted young men to become part of the Cheka or the internal/external guard around the Ipatiev House.

Outside Ekaterinburg

Petrograd: The city is actually St. Petersburg, but was renamed by Lenin and his 'revolutions'.

The Govenor's house in Tobolsk: This was the second facility of 'house arrest' for the family, and the one they enjoyed the most. They were able to spend outside working with each other which was said to have given them the most happiness.

Alexander Palace, Tsarskoe Selo: The first containment facility of the Romanov family 'house arrest'.

Novel 2

Novel: The Flight of the Romanov's

Author(s): John Curtis Perry and Constantine V. Pleshakov

After reading the first of the four novels I am starting to realize that the death of the last Imperial Family of Russia was not how I thought it was. There were so many political parties that had some say in what happened to this one family. Whether or not the German's wanted the family for collateral or the US to not attack, so many events were involved over the fate of this family. During all of the political uproar the Imperial family was left in the Ipatiev house in Ekaterinburg left essentially to sit and wait for their fate. The next novel I am planning to read, The Flight of the Romanov's, addresses the Romanov family history. With this history I hope that I will have a better understanding as to how Nicholas the II could have lost the contact to his people, especially concerning the crucial years surrounding his abdication in the 1910's, that was so crucial for Tsar. The neat part about this book that will be very interesting, is that it is written from first hand accounts from relatives of the royal family that were able to escape either from Ekaterinburg or Petrograd. The sources that make up this book also include oral history's, experts on Russian history, and the written accounts from some of the key players within the Bolshevik ranks.