Home > Work > The Flight of the Romanovs: A Family Saga
1 " The Turks, themselves defeated in the Great War, treated the Russians surprisingly well and smiled acceptingly when their uninvited guests would rest on the stairs of mosques. They would even allow the Russians to enter the Hagia Sophia, which before the Ottoman conquest of 1453 had been the major cathedral of Eastern Christianity. Greeks and Armenians, old foes of the Turks, were still banned from this enormous mosque. "
― , The Flight of the Romanovs: A Family Saga
2 " The Commander of the British cruiser Cardiff, who happened to be an old friend, got wind of Olga's presence in town and invited her to his ship. After tea on board, the grand duchess was tactfully presented with a length of navy-blue cloth, enough to make clothing for the four members of her family, and she was relieved that they could be respectable again. "
3 " The real strength of refugee families seems to have emerged from the women who, in some cases, experienced an odd sense of liberation. Women who had never before cooked took it up with enthusiasm, consulting books they had used previously only to instruct servants.... They went out of the house to find jobs. Men, usually untrained for any career other than the military, emasculated by the loss of power as well as the loss of wealth, were more reluctant to accept the fact that the golden years they had known were gone forever. The Romanovs themselves reflected this widespread pattern among emigrés: strong women taking charge in an often desperate situation. "
4 " People from all walks of life now fled Russia. The major centers of Russian emigration were understandably those old favorite haunts, Paris and Berlin. But Prague and Belgrade, Sofia and Riga also lured refugees. Some places treated Russians better than others did. Russians found England the worst place to go, despite the British tradition of hospitality to political refugees. The British were still reluctant to grant visas, especially to Romanovs, and Russians in London were always the last, it seemed, to get jobs. "
5 " No one knows how many Russians in all fled the homeland. Perhaps one million, perhaps many more. We are interested here in seventeen, the senior Romanovs, the grand dukes and grand duchesses who escaped the revolution. "
6 " ... despite the Turks' friendliness, most of the exiles soon left Istanbul. No opportunities existed there for them, and Turkey seemed an alien land. Private individuals proceeded to western Europe, French visas being most sought after. Russians still regarded Paris as the center of civilization, especially in contrast to the ferocious Stone Age into which Russia had fallen, or to the sleepy lands of the former Ottoman Empire. "
7 " Maria's subsequent marriage provided a splendid occasion. The groom was Prince Franz Wilhelm ... a great-grandson of the last German kaiser and a cousin of Louis Ferdinand .... Once again the genes of the greater European royal family were pooled. The king and queen of Spain and a number of royal exiles from Italy, Bulgaria, Albania, Portugal and Egypt inflated the importance of the wedding with their presence. "
8 " [Minnie] knew what the public wanted of her and relished her role as empress, playing it extremely well, taking an almost childish delight in brilliant jewels, stylish clothing and grand parties. People responded readily to her pleasure. Physically small, she stood with royal carriage and a vital presence, commanding any room she entered. Her public both admired and liked her. "
9 " With her two daughters Minnie was strict and demanding, always reminding them of their royal duties. With her three growing sons she was far more permissive than with the girls, more like an older sister or intimate friend than mother, conspiring with the boys to deflect the temper of their father. Minnie would wheedle, charm and deceive Sasha. Nicky was especially close to his mother, ready to accept her advice, and unfortunately she encouraged his dependence on her rather than helping him to develop a style of leadership unsuitable for his future responsibilities. "
10 " Typhus was raging and even some at the Danish consulate were infected.... The pharmacies, running out of medicines, sold Orthodox amulets, and people were instructed to tie their sleeves tightly at the wrist so as to prevent lice from creeping in. Former ladies-in-waiting were sleeping on the floor, with eleven former aristocrats sharing one room. A feeling of doom was spreading all over the city, like typhus itself. "
11 " Aside from anything else marriage may have provided the young grand duchess, it enabled Marie to drop her title and the Romanov name, now considered "indecent" by the public. "
12 " Officials guarding the frontier between Russia and the German zone took malicious delight in harassing those wishing to pass. Since Marie and her husband were without documents and without shelter in a town completely strange to them where they knew no one, they could not stay. Nor could they return. "
13 " Minnie could believe in miracles but, unlike many of the Romanovs, she was not attracted to mysticism and the occult and would come to abhor these practices in her later years. "
14 " Lunch in Paris, dinner in St. Petersburg" had been the kaiser's terse summation of German grand strategy. "
15 " Not only did Russian planners have no notion of quantities needed to wage modern war, they were also unready for innovation in modes of warfare. In June 1915, the Germans introduced poison gas on a large scale. The Russians had some gas masks but they were in storage, not in the hands of troops. Newspapers reported reassuringly that soldiers nonetheless had time to take "the necessary measures." These measures turned out to be "urinating on handkerchiefs and tying them around the face." More than a thousand men then died of gas poisoning. "
