Nicholas II was the last Czar of Russia. His wife was Alexandra and he had children, one of whom is the famous Anastasia who was the object of speculation for many years. When Lenin was in power, the symbol of a monarch was very dangerous to him. He wanted no loyalty given to the Nicholas's family. He sent people to secretly murder the czar and his family and to make the bodies disappear. They did indeed murder the family, but it was taking too long for some of the bodies to burn, so they were taken to a mine shaft and thrown inside. When their remains were later discovered, Anastasia's body was not with her family, giving birth to rumors that she somehow survived. This was completely false. They later found her remains about 65 yards away from the rest of her family and it was confirmed by DNA tests.
Let me back up a little. Nicholas II was a family man and spent no time in Petrograd (St Petersburg) to rule. He left the running of the government to the corrupt officials while he stayed with his family in a nearby town. He had never really wanted to be a ruling czar, but since he was the last monarch in line, he had no choice. The Russian people began to realize that the country was not doing well and rumblings of a revolution began. Nicholas eventually was forced to abdicate and a man, Kapersky, took over running the country. He was sympathetic to the royals and kept them under "house arrest" in a town outside of St Petersburg. It wasn't really an arrest. It was meant to keep the family safe from the revolutionaries in Petrograd ( St. Petersburg). As things continued to heat up, Kapersky sent the family to the Ural Mountains where they were basically in hiding. Lenin, one of the early leaders of the Bolshevik party, was forced to flee to Finland for his safety during the rule of Kapersky. He promised the Fins that if they helped keep him hidden, when he gained control back in Russia, he would grant Finland its independence....The Bolshevik party was very small in number, but with less then 100 members, they managed in one night to sneak into the palace and imprison Kapersky and his soldiers. Lenin had initiated this coup. He then gained power and began to preach his Utopian idea of socialism. He truly believed in the ideal concept of all of the people controlling everything. He told the workers that they could own the factories and appoint the head of the factory. If the people didn't like the man they appointed, they could throw him out and choose another. He told the farmers they could work and run the collective farm and appoint the head of the collective. And, he continued to tell them that if the head of the collective was no good the people could replace him. These ideas of "power to the people" began to take hold and Lenin won the hearts and minds of the workers, the peasants and the soldiers. He told them he would sign a peace treaty with Germany to end Russian involvement in WWI and the soldiers could go home. This entrenched his power. He fulfilled his promises early, setting up collective farms, ending the war with Germany and granting Finland independence. But although his ideas sounded wonderful, in reality it didn't work. People were living in communal apartments -- maybe 4 or 5 families in a tiny apartment. He had hoped the people would all love and support each other, but of course that didn't happen. Actually, communal living is still in existence today, but with greatly reduced numbers. The current government is trying to get people out of the communal apartments, but there is a 30 year waiting list for some to get a private apartment with a stipend from the government.
Times got worse under Lenin's socialism and the people were discontent. Corruption was prevalent in Lenin's government. Lurking In the background of the Bolshevik party was Stalin. When Lenin dies a natural death, Stalin has entrenched himself as the new leader who will get rid of the government corruption and improve the life of the people with communism. Stalin was a brutal man, many would say a psychopath, who killed anyone who was a threat to him or his power. He sent thousands to the Gulags where they labored in the mines until they died. If they were supporters of Lenin's peoples' party, they were killed or imprisoned. Stalin stayed in power until the early 1950's. He had a longer rule because of the terror of the KGB coming for you, and because, in part he got credit for being a victor in WWII. The Russian people like a strong ruler, but not necessarily a crazy one! Hitler even betrayed Stalin. He had secretly signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler and did not believe the multiple reports from spies that were telling him Hitler was preparing to invade Russia. Thus, when Hitler did invade, Russia was totally unprepared for the invasion. Hitler had betrayed him. Russians are a proud people and fierce fighters! They lost more then 27 million people during the war. Just to show you what kind of ruler he was, after the war when Russian soldiers returned home being victors, they thought they would be going home to their farms. But anyone who had fought outside of Russia in the European part, was thought to be dangerous because they had seen the western world. So he had them killed or sent to the gulags. Quite a guy...
We also visited the Yusopov Palace. It was the home of a very well known ballerina. The Yusopov family was the wealthiest "noble" family in Russia. Yusopov was the curator for all the art work at the Hermitage. As he bought art pieces for Catherine from the money she gave him, he also helped himself to some of the spoils.
Yusopov was involved in the plot ,with the cousin of Czar Nicholas II, to murder the influential "Mad Monk" as he was called. Rasputin had become very close to Nicholas's family because of the medical help he seemed to provide his son, who was a hemophiliac. Actually, it was Nicholas 's wife, Alexandra, who became enamored with Rasputin because it was her line that carried the hemophiliac gene. Yusopov and his friends plotted to kill Rasputin out of fear of his influence on the Czar. Yusopov Invited Rasputin to his home. The first plotter, a doctor , was supposed to put poison in Rasputin's tea and cakes. Yusopov is entertaining Rasputin, but after two hours, he went to the rest of the conspirators and said "He isn't dying. We must do something else." The next plotter, went in where Rasputin was on his knees praying and shot him. Still, he did not die. He next tried to strangle him and he believed him dead, though he was only unconscious. The man who believed Rasputin was dead, ran to get the others to tell them he was dead, but when they all came back to the room, the window was broken and Rasputin was gone. They followed the trail of blood in the snow and when they caught up to him they strangled him again, tied him up with a rope and threw him in the river. When the police later found the body (in their haste the murderers had not put a rock at the end of the rope to send him to the bottom) it was discovered that the rope had Yusopov's initials on it and he was arrested but later fled to France. Nicholas had two guards that were supposed to protect Rasputin. When they rushed into the house saying they heard two gunshots, Yusopov confessed he had just killed Rasputin. But, being the wealthy man he was, he bribed the guards to say they had seen Rasputin leave alive. When an autopsy was done on Rasputin, it was discovered he had water in his lungs, so he actually died of drowning when they threw him in the river. There are two theories about why the poison in the tea and cakes didn't kill him. One theory is that Rasputin never drank tea or ate sweets. The other is that the Doctor who was supposed to put the poison in the food,
had second thoughts because of his Hippocratic oath and never put the poison in the food. No one knows for sure.
This was the home of a famous ballerina friendly to the Czar. She fled to France when the Bolshevik Revolution occurred. Lenin actually spoke to the workers from the balcony of this house. It became their headquarters.
The balcony from which Lenin spoke to the people.
Lenin himself.
A painting of Lenin speaking from the balcony.
Patterned after the Uncle Sam poster "We want you!" This was to recruit the workers to the red army.
Sample of the mined rocks from the gulag prisoners.
Prisoners had numbers, not names. They put their numbers on the pile of ore mined in a day. They were required to mine enormous amounts in a single day.
Sample of a tiny communal kitchen in an apartment. This might have been shared by as many as four families. You never knew when a new family was moving in. They would just appear.
Example of dormitory style bedrooms in a communal apartment.
Second largest Orthodox Temple is Europe. The largest is in Belgrade.
Inside the Temple. Since it is Orthodox, women attend services but sit in the balcony.
A delicious lunch where beef stroganoff is the specialty! Yum!
Entrance to Yusopov palace.
Marble stairway. Yusopov tried to buy it when he was in a castle in Italy. They said no. He bought the castle, took out the staircase and installed in his home in St Petersburg!
One of the bedrooms in the Yusopov Palace. Walls are original silk coverings.
New type of oil lamp. Originally, chandeliers were lit with candles. This new type had oil stored in the bottom and tubes that fed the oil to the lamps. It was a great improvement because it lasted so much longer.
Mrs. Yusopov wanted to be an actress but her noble position wouldn't allow that. So, she had her own theater built where she could perform. It is still used today for performances in the evening and seats 180 people. Today it seems that acapella groups perform in many of the palaces. These gentlemen were excellent and the acoustics were amazing.
Beautiful carved wood. The chandelier was carved from oak.
Looking into,the entrance hall with the marble staircase.
Mr. Yusopov who conspired to murder Rasputin.
The conspirators who murdered Rasputin plotting their deed in the basement of Yusopov's house.
Rasputin 
Where Rasputin was kneeling and while praying he was shot.
Rasputin at the table where they first tried to poison him.
Tomorrow we dock at Tallinn, Estonia. We had a great last day in St. Petersburg and avoided most of the rain. Just a few drops as we were boarding the ship!
