The Romanov Family visit Mogilev, October 4th 1916
Summary
Introduction
- This footage is believed to be the last one ever filmed of the Imperial Family, prior to Russian Revolution in early 1917, when Tsar of all Russians, Nicholas the second had to abdicate in Pskov in March of 1917.
Prologue
- Russia entered the Word War the First in August 1914, often called 'Long Summer of 1914'. Tsar put his uncle GD Nicholas to be the commander in chief of the Russian army, while Russian Army headquarters (General Headquarters, GHQ, Stavka in Russian) were located at Baranovichi. (Then part of the Russian Empire, today Belarus region), just near Eastern front line.
In August of 1915 Nicholas II announced himself to be new commander in chief ( due to the influence of Gregory Rasputin, 'mad monk', partly) and removed the center of Russian GHQ to small town near the Dnieper bank , Mogilev (today north eastern Belarus).
Since autumn of 1915, with a little break in spring of the following 1916 , Nicholas spent most of the time visiting front fields, hospitals, on outings around the city, with his son, Alexei, who was very proud to be along with his father. Since women were not permitted to be presented at GHQ, Tsarina Alexandra and Grand Duchesses were said to slept in the Train, during their visits to Nicholas and Alexei.
continuation --
- Here we can see only part of footage filmed on the October 4th 1916, during Cossacks review at Mogilev. Alexandra did not feel well herself, so she refused to present the manifestation.
We can also see soldiers and counts which toke part in filming, from left to right - - - E.D. Shkuropatski, F.M. Kireev, M.I.Svidin, M.A. Skvortsov, Count A.N. Grabbe, I.A.Vetor, G.A. Rashpil, A.K.Shvedov, S.G.Lavrov,V.E. Zborovski, N.V.Galushkin, A.A. Gramotin, P.G. Ergushev.
Epilogue
- After the Revolution, members of Imperial Family were arrested in their own home, Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. In August of same year, they left their home forever and moved to Tobolsk, Siberia, and spent long, terrible months at Governor s House. In spring of 1918, IF removed to Ekaterinburg, the big city of Ural area (200 km east from Moscow), where they were imprisoned in Ipatiev House. After 78 days of incertitude, on the night of 17th July 1918 they were sentenced to death by Ural Soviet Government.
- In the late 70s, some skulls were discovered, but immediately put back into grave. In the 90s, bodies were found out, buried after long exhumation in 1998 in St. Paul and Peter Cathedral . Imperial family was canonized by Russian Orthodox Church in 1981 in exile, and in 2000 for public domain.
- In July of 2007, two bodies were discovered at Koptyaki area, believed to be those missing from mass grave in 1991 -- those of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria Nicholaievna.
Thanks to:
I am very grateful to Alexander Palace Time Machine Forum, as well as to kind members there.
No copyright infringement intended.
There were special court cameramen and photographers who captured the daily life of the Romanov family. The Company of von Gun filmed the Tsar, and with the permission of the Ministry of the Court, showed these films in movie theatres beginning in 1907. Before the February 1917 Revolution, the von Gun Company was the main provider of the Tsar's chronicles in the Russian film industry. After 1907 other filmmakers were permitted to film the Royal family, including A. Drankov, V. Bulla (the elder), Khanzhonkov Company, Pate Company, and others. Before the beginning of World War I a newsreel became popular capturing military parades, holidays, reviews and drills. Many are devoted to the Fleet. They document everyday life of the Baltic Sea and Black Sea squadrons. Some of the newsreels document the fire of the Maly Theatre in Moscow, mass gymnastics, auto and motor races, zoos and animal preserves, and the life of peoples of the Russian Empire. The objects of filming were political and cultural figures, the construction of warships, the Moscow flood, the testing of new agricultural equipment and the oil industry in Baku. There are also films showing the towns of Russia, etc. During World War I, cameramen captured events on all fronts. Before 1915, the exclusive rights to film battles belonged to the Film Department of the Skobelev Committee. The Skobelev Committee of the Assistance to the Wounded Soldiers of the General Staff was founded in November 1904 as a public organization. By the order of the Scobelev Committee many cameramen filmed the events of the World War I, such as Englishman Arcol (representative of Pate Company, filmed on South-Western and Caucasus fronts), cameramen E.D. Dored (represented American companies) and P.V. Ermolov, (filmed events on Caucasus front); P.K. Novitskiy (Gomount Company), N.M. Toporkov, K.E. von Gan, A.K. Gan-Jagelskiy, made filming in the General Headquarters. Other cameramen such as: A. G Lemberg, S, Zebel, Trushe, etc. also worked at the fronts. Cameramen filmed the war not only on the fronts but also from the rear. Since the first month of the war until 1917 the Scobelev Committee produced about 70 newsreels. From 1914 to 1915 cameramen of the Scobelev Committee produced 21 series of the newsreel "Russian Military Chronicle". The materials of this newsreel were used many times for the separate films made by Scobelev Committee and other film companies. Read more at: http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/rao/archives/rgakfd/textind10.html
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