Summary and Analysis of The Romanovs: 1613–1918

Based on the Book by Simon Sebag Montefiore

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• Publisher: Worth Books
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781504046404
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Biographies
• Index: Politics & International Relations

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The Romanovs tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Simon Sebag Montefiore's book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of The Romanovs: 1613–1918 includes:

• Historical context
• Chapter-by-chapter overviews
• Important quotes
• Fascinating trivia
• Glossary of terms
• Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work

About The Romanovs by Simon Sebag Montefiore: Award-winning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore's The Romanovs delves into the reign of the Romanovs, Russia's most infamous ruling family, showing how the formidable clan rose to power and held on to it for more than three hundred years. In a sweeping chronological narrative of tsars and tsarinas, Sebag Montefiore's well-researched biography details the drama that characterized Russia's greatest dynasty, shedding light on the monarchs' lives and actions. Beginning with Michael's accession in 1613—marking the end of the Time of Troubles—and ending with the family's tragic massacre in 1918, The Romanovs shows how generations of Russian tsars ruled autocratically, through violence, greed, and intrigue. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.

Summary

Introduction

The Romanovs are often considered a tragic family (six of the last tsars were murdered and eighteen Romanovs were killed in 1918), but they were also a highly successful one. They reined for 304 years, and expanded their empire until they controlled more than one-sixth of the earth. Yet, the family behind these strategic triumphs was also known for depravity, sexual appetites, and obscene excess.

The word “tsar” derives from “Caesar,” and the Romanovs ruled in the Roman manner: corruptly and arrogantly. A tiny court ran an enormous empire, and calculating the interests of both was the key to the Romanovs’ survival. Within the court, power could belong to a range of people, from the leader of a military victory to the lover of the empress.

The family produced two political geniuses: Peter and Catherine. Each was adept at finding talented retainers and promoting them. Stalin considered this to be Catherine’s greatest gift. The Romanovs ruled from the top, largely unchallenged. They supported the nobles who managed their estates and the army. The Romanovs and the aristocracy depended on the serfs, taking taxes and grain from them, and using them as soldiers in the constant wars during the Romanov rule.

Need to Know: In the Romanov Empire, the personal was political. The personality of the tsar shaped the society beneath him, and the tsar’s personality was shaped—or warped—by the absolute power he possessed.

Prologue: Two Boys in a Time of Troubles

The story of the Romanovs begins and ends with two teenage boys, both delicate and living in a time of revolution, but 305 years apart. In 1613, sixteen-year-old Michael Romanov was awoken with the news that a delegation had arrived and he must travel to the capital and become the next tsar. More than 300 years later, Alexei and his family, who were being held prisoner by the Bolsheviks, were awoken and told they needed to move to a safer place—where they were taken to the basement and executed, instead.

Need to Know: Michael and Alexei were part of the same political family, and both were destined to rule Russia. Michael’s reluctant acceptance of the crown began the Romanov dynasty; Alexei’s assassination on the orders of Lenin ended it.

Act 1: The Rise

Scene 1: The Brideshows

In 1598, Tsar Fyodor died childless. Russia began to fragment, with numerous pretenders to the throne engaged in constant conflict. Poland and Sweden took advantage of the chaos and launched attacks against the country. Battles and famine drastically reduced the population.

Russia was unstable and desperate for a ruler. An assembly met to review the possibilities. Sixteen-year-old Michael Romanov, frail and sickly, appealed to several groups in part because he was young and thought to be unintelligent and easy to influence and because he didn’t have any personal enemies. His bloodline was also a factor. Michael’s great-aunt, Anastasia, was the first wife of Tsar Ivan the Terrible and mother to Tsar Fyodor. Anastasia had emerged from the contest of the brideshow: 500 noble virgins were summoned from across the realm for Ivan’s inspection.

Michael’s father was out of the running when, years before, he was forced to become a priest—preventing him from ever becoming tsar. So it was decided. Michael was successfully crowned in 1613, but, being placid and not very wise, he was not ruler material. Still, he recognized the people’s need for the magnificent court they were used to. He gathered a number of noble families to rebuild it, rewarding them with land grants. His military went on an effective campaign against international foes, such as the Poles.

In 1615, Michael called a brideshow of his own, bringing some 60 girls to Moscow. Michael chose Maria Khlopova, renamed Anastasia. However, she fell ill—it is possible that she was poisoned by the Michael’s mother—and was exiled. In 1619, Michael’s father, Filaret, was released from Poland where he had been held prisoner. A belligerent but experienced man, he essentially ruled jointly with his son.

Four years after his dissolved marriage, Michael was persuaded into a union with a cousin of his mother’s, Princess Maria Dolgorukaya. Soon after the wedding, she died. Michael took another wife, Eudoxia Streshneva. They had ten children.

Michael’s father—eager to get back at his former captors—instigated a war against Poland after the death of the country’s leader. The war ended in a peace agreement. Just before the end of the war, in 1633, Filaret died, followed by Michael’s mother, Martha. In 1645, Michael died. On his deathbed, he made sure to name his eldest son, Alexei, the next tsar.

Need to Know: Michael did not want to become ruler, weeping when delegates told him he had been chosen as the next tsar. His coronation began the Romanov dynasty.

Scene 2: The Young Monk

Russia urgently needed to crown a new tsar, troubled as the country was by the “three plagues” of typhus, Tatars, and Poles. Alexei was six-feet tall with a red beard; he was intelligent, sharp tongued, and much more effective as a leader than his fragile father.

He was engaged with the army and the state. Prone to rages, he could nonetheless be gentle and was very religious, becoming known as “the young monk.” He appointed his old tutor, Morozov, as a principal minister. When Alexei had his brideshow, Morozov favored Maria, the daughter of one of his protégés.

The two married, had thirteen children (including “the frail Fyodor”), and stayed together for twenty-one years. Ten days after Alexei and Maria wed, Morozov married Maria’s younger sister, bringing him officially into the Tsar’s family. But Morozov was unpopular, the agent of a reviled salt tax, and mobs reacted by attacking the palace. The tsar pleaded with the crowds for his former tutor and now brother-in-law’s life and was able to satisfy them by exiling him to a monastery.

In response to the rebellion, a new law was put into place that was supposed to protect all the people, but actually gave landowners complete power over the peasants.

Alexei promoted Miloslavsky, his father-in-law, although he found the man infuriating, and also a monk named Nikon, who was obsessed with religious reforms and supporting a “sacred monarchy.” He needed help: The world was in chaos, with King Charles overthrown in England, and a civil war in Ukraine that included a terrible purge of Catholics and Jews—similar atrocities not seen again until the Holocaust centuries later. Bogdan Khmelnitsky, a Cossack, emerged as the victor, but he soon needed protection from Poland and pledged loyalty to Alexei.

With Khmelnitsky contributing Cossack troops, Alexei went to war with Poland and significantly added to Russia’s territories. Sweden responded by invading Poland. Alexei followed Nikon’s bad advice to go to war against the Nordic country without first establishing a peace agreement with Poland.

Alexei got rid of the overreaching Nikon and reformed the Russian army. Miloslavsky, his father-in-law, was also unpopular: Riots ensued after his devaluation of the currency.

In 1669, Maria died in childbirth. Alexei Romanov married again, this time to a girl who was younger than his eldest daughter. Natalya bore him a son, Peter. Alexei did not live beyond forty-seven, dying of renal and cardiac failure. A power struggle started while the body was still warm.

Need to Know: During his reign, Alexei implemented laws that gave nobles land and ownership over the peasants. This alliance with the upper class was essential to the Romanov dynasty in the years that followed. The Ukraine became part of Russia when Khmelnitsky, defeated by Poland and needing protection, pledged fidelity to the tsar.

Scene 3: The Musketeers

In 1676, Fyodor was named the new tsar at the age of fourteen. He was an intelligent boy, but his poor health (he had to attend his father’s funeral on a stretcher) made him a bad choice for ruler. Fyodor married, but his wife and baby died shortly childbirth. He married again, but died in 1692 before he could produce an heir. That meant the tsar would be one of the two princes: Peter, aged ten, or Ivan, the mentally and physically handicapped teenage son of Alexei and his first wife. The boyars chose Peter.

Fyodor’s sister Sophia and the Miloslavskys spread rumors to the musketeers that Ivan, who they claimed should have become tsar, was in danger from the Naryshkins (five of Peter’s Naryshkin uncles had been given high positions after Peter was selected as tsar). The musketeers rioted through the Kremlin, committing atrocities.

Ivan Naryshkin...

Table of contents

• Title
• Disclaimer
• Contents
• Context
• Overview
• Summary
• Direct Quotes and Analysis
• Trivia
• What’s That Word?
• Critical Response
• About Simon Sebag Montefiore
• For Your Information
• Bibliography
• Copyright