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What happened to the Romanov's?
tore Russia apart. The involved were the Reds and the Whites. The Reds were fighting for one cause; Lenin’s, whereas the Whites were fighting for different causes: some wanted the tsar back, some a military dictator, and others wanted a constitutional government. As one can see, there is no way such an army can be organized and united. If Nicholas would have been released it would exacerbate Lenin’s position. Lenin believed Nicholas release would have rallied the White Army to at least some extent. And if that was the case, Lenin would have to confront an even dangerous army. Yet, if Lenin would have sent the order to kill Nicholas, he would become a martyr, “…from the Communist point of view Nicholas II would have made a very poor prisoner in the dock; his very lack of intelligence combined with his dignity and Christian resignation would have made him an object of pity rather than of popular indignation. Indeed, the former emperor, an abject failure while on the throne, displayed while prisoner the kind of fortitude and equanimity that moved even his jailers.” (4). However, it is very likely and almost certain that Lenin sent the order to kill the tsar when the Whites approached Yekaterinburg. Trotsky later justified the killing of the Romanovs: “The execution of the tsar’s family was needed not only to frighten, horrify and dishearten the enemy, but also to shake up our own ranks to show them that there was no turning back, that ahead lay either complete victory or ruin…..” (4). Eight days after the bloodbath, the Whites captured Yekaterinburg. When they reached Ipatiev’s house they saw bloodstains and bullet holes in the walls, but they could not find any evidence about the tsar’s murder. It took months before the investigators could find anything of value. In January 1919 the remains of a huge bonfire were found near an abandoned mine shaft in a forest outside the town (2). They found many things like Alexandra’s pearl earrings, the tsar’s belt buckle, a piece of Alexis’ cap, and Anastasia’s dog. It was concluded that the Bolsheviks had killed the family and burned their bodies in the forest. The executioners had loaded a truck with the corpses and had then traveled north to the forest of Koptiaka where numerous mine shafts could be found. When they arrived, the Bolsheviks took anything of value before heaving the family into a pit. After they were thrown in, the murderers tried to destroy all evidence with grenades and then pouring sulfuric acid on the bodies. The pit was then covered with dirt.
However, not all historians agree on this, especially not when a girl, called Anna Anderson claimed to be Anastasia. Since no one know where the Romanovs were, people, out of financial worries, tried to imitate the Imperial family members. A year after the executions, a young woman jumped from [next page]