On August 14, 1917, the family was moved to Tobolsk, Siberia. The eight months they spent here were not entirely unpleasant, as they discovered that

"... the people of Tobolsk remained strongly attached to both the symbol and the person of the tsar" (Massie 475).

In April 1918, Nicholas, Alexandra, and Marie left Tobolsk. Alexei was very ill and remained with his other three sisters, who were to care for

Tobolsk

Nicholas and Alexei chopping wood at Tobolsk

him. The Emperor, Empress, and Marie, though supposed to go to Tyumen, instead ended up in Ekaterinburg, followed by the rest of their family in May. Here at Eketerinburg was where the conditions were the worst for the family. They were confined to their rooms and were treated harshly by their guards, many of which were seasoned revolutionaries (Massie 509).

Ekaterinburg was the last place of imprisonment for the Romanov family. On July 16 there was word that the Whites would be coming to take Ekaterinburg. Yurovsky awakends the family in the middle of the night to say that the Czechs and white army are coming and that they must be relocated. The family is taken to the basement, where they are lined up and violently massacred (Massie 515).

The Bolsheviks sought to annihilate every living member of the Romanov family and seventeen total were murdered in the revolution. The Romanov family was able to build a great empire but failed to address and solve the basic needs of the people, who grew resentful of the autocratic society. Was the fall of the Romanov empire the fault of a disconnected Tsar? Was it the mysterious "holy" man's influence? There were a number of different factors at play, all of which led to the end of the 304 year Romanov dynasty. Mazour 136)

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