Экскурсия "The tragic destiny of the last russian Empress"
методическая разработка (английский язык) по теме

                “ The tragic destiny of the last Russian Empress”

 The tragic death of Аlexandrа Fedorovnа the last Russian empress, her dignity and fortitude in front of the face of death, her devotion to her husband, her calm acceptance of the tragic lottery were worth of respect and even admiration . Her words  "You  can not kill  the love o to Russia in my heart,  in spite the ingratitude to the Emperor, which breaks my heart"  proved her devotion not only to her beloved husband but also to our country .

   But in fact, the attitude to Alexandra .F in Russia was not so unambiguous and speaking about the tragic destiny we mean not only her tragic death but misunderstanding and  estrangement with the russian  society. 

Let,s try to analise the circumstances of the negative attitude of the public to the Russian Empress.

  Young  Princess Alice of  Hessens was brought up by her grandmother, Queen Victoria of England. In 1886, she came to visit her sister, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. It was the first meeting of N icholas and Alex  . Childish flirting grew up into  serious  strong feelings.  Nicholas wrote in his diary: "It is my dream to marry Alex H. I had loved her for a long time, but more deeply and strongly since 1889 when she spent six weeks in Petersburg. "  Alex reciprocated his feelings. At first, Nicholas's father, Tsar Alexander III, was totally against the marriage of his son to Alex for many reasons, but primarily because of a terrible illness of hemophilia, which suffered  Alex,es rod    
It took another four years, and a blind chance helped to decide the fate of the two lovers but their future seemed to be  bloody  like a cruel fate over Russia.
In 1893, Alexander III became seriously ill. Nikolai categorically stated that he will choose his bride only for love, not for dynastic reasons. Finally, the permission for  marriage  was obtained, and it seemed to a happy couple that their future will be a paradise.

 Alexander III died on 1 November 1894 and Nicholas became the Emperor of Russia at the age of twenty-six. Alex of  Hessens came  to St Petersburg in a very tragic period, the death  of the beloved tsar, and  people greeted their new Empress with ominous whispers of " She comes to us behind a coffin."

 The fact that the Princess of  Hessens joined the Russian imperial family in the sorrowful days served  as one of the reasons for the negative attitude of  the high society and Tsar,s family to the new sovereign.

Alexandra Feodorovna became Empress of Russia on her wedding day, but it was not until 14 May 1896 that the coronation of Nicholas and Alexandra took place inside the Kremlin in Moscow. The following day, tragedy struck the coronation celebrations when the deaths of several thousand people became known. The victims were trampled to death at the Khodynka Field   in Moscow when rumours spread that there would not be enough of the food being distributed in honour of the coronation for the thousands who had gathered there. [

 Many Russians took the disaster at Khodynka Meadow as an omen that the reign would be unhappy. This awful and tragic event did not add the popularity to Alexandra F.

Unlike her predecessor Marie Feodorovna (spouse to Alexander III), the new tsarina of Imperial Russia was heartily disliked among her subjects. As the Tsarina, Alexandra seemed very cold and curt, although according to her close friends, she was only terribly shy and nervous in front of the Russian people.  

Her inability to produce a son also incensed the people. After the birth of the Grand Duchess Olga, her first-born child, Nicholas was reported to have said, "We are grateful she was a daughter; if she was a boy she would have belonged to the people, being a girl she belongs to us.

.  Three more girls followed Olga:Tatiana ,Maria and Anastasiya . Three more years passed before the Empress gave birth to the long-awaited heir: Alexei Nikolaevich was born in Peterhof on 12 August 1904. To his parents' dismay, Alexei was born with haemophilia, an incurable bleeding disease. Alexandra doted on Alexei. The children's tutor Pierre Gilliard wrote, "Alexei was the centre of a united family, the focus of all its hopes and affections. His sisters worshiped him. He was his parents' pride and joy”.

 When her "sunbeam" Alexei the Tsarevitch was born, she further isolated herself from the Russian court by spending nearly all of her time with him; his haemophiliac disorder did little to distance their close relationship.

The last years of the reign of Alexandra as her previous were full of bitterness and despair. Consequences of mutual estrangement between the society and the queen  were  various and even  tragic. The fatal role in it was played by Aleksandra Fiodorovna's excessive vanity. The public soon began to denounce openly "the hated German woman." Meanwhile, Alexandra sincerely tried to help her husband, was sincerely devoted to the country, which became her only home, the home of her closest people. She was an exemplary mother and raised four daughters in modesty and decency. The girls, despite the high origins,were very hardworking , did not know luxury and even assisted in operations in military hospitals. But public accused the Empress in allowing too much to young ladies

Nikolay's renunciation of a throne brought a family into Tobolsk where the family lived with  the remains of servants under house arrest.  The emperor,s renunciation had  only one purpose  - to save the much-loved wife and children. But a miracle didn,t happen:  in July 1918 the couple went to the basement of the Ipatiev house. Nicholas was carrying a sick son in  the hands  ... followed by Alexandra ... Shooting in Yekaterinburg ended the 300-year reign of the Romanov dynasty in Russia.