Russian Life & People Digest
Question by TINY: Why did Lenin ordered to kill the Romanov family?
What were his reasons?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Dana R
I believe it had something to do with the fact that he took power from the Romanovs and he ordered them killed because they were the only people with birthright to the throne or power of the country.
Read all the answers in the comments.
What do you think?
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Ariel Parra says
I do believe that Lenin was the one that order the murder of the Romanov Family they were murdered without a trial Lenin and the Bolsheviks were simply afraid of the power the Romanov Family represented in Russia and that is why they decided to kill them regardless of what they had done no one deserves to be murdered the way they did.
I am very interested in learning more about Russian history and will read War and Peace as someone in a previous posting has suggested .
Sprouts Mom says
First, I'm not sure it was Lenin, it certainly wasn't him alone making the decision.
As long as the Tsar was alive there were MANY people who revered him to the point where they would lay down their lives for him. Hence the "Reds" v. the "Whites" and their armies.
Watch Doctor Zhivago – REALLY. In addition to being a remarkable love/life story, it gives you a fairly accurate representation of what was going on after WWI – which directly led to the Communist Revolution.
There's also "War and Peace." I recommend the book (a must read for any serious history student) but there's always the movie. Not my favorite – Henry Fonda?
In order for the Communists to ensure the "masses" wouldn't rise up to fight them, they had to eliminate the Tsar AND his entire family, including the children, Uncles, cousins, et al.
Any of these people could have been used to rally the masses. Most ran off to Paris to avoid being executed.
As one answerer noted, this has been a common tactic in war for millenia.
ruinrunner82 says
My history professor had a great explanation for this. (Well, at least I think it's pretty good.)
When the Russian Revolution began, the Nicholas II gave up the throne, and he and his famiy were placed under house arrest. There were two groups fighting in the revolution, one group that supported the revolution, and the group that supported the old monarchy. With the royal family dead, it gave the group supporting the monarchy nothing left to fight for. Nicholas' son, Alexei, was the only heir to the throne, and he was killed along with his family. It's the first rule of revolution, get rid of the old system as completely and effectively as you can.
It was a cruel and evil thing to do, but from a purely tactical standpoint, it was the best move for him to make.
llz611 says
To eliminate the enemy. Lenin has to secure his power; therefore, he had to kill the monarch, in fear that supporter will overthrow the communist party. Same thing happened to Stalin and Trosky (spelling?)
Dan M says
Found this on wiki and it stand up to what I know from my own research (I majored in history)…
"Whether this was on direct orders from Vladimir Lenin in Moscow (as many believe, though scholarly research has found no hard evidence), or an option approved in Moscow should White troops approach Yekaterinburg, or at the initiative of local Bolsheviks, remains in dispute, as does whether the order (if there was an order) was for the execution of Nicholas alone or the entire family.
Then in 1989, Yakov Yurovsky's own report was published, which seemed to show conclusively what had happened that night. The execution took place as units of the Czechoslovak Legion, making their retreat out of Russia, approached Yekaterinburg. Fearing that the Legion would take the town and free him, the Emperor's Bolshevik jailers pursued the immediate liquidation of the Imperial Family, arguing that there was "no turning back".[5] The telegram giving the order on behalf of the Supreme Soviet in Moscow was signed by Yakov Sverdlov, after whom the town was subsequently renamed, Svderdlovsk. Nicholas was the first to die. He was executed with multiple bullets to the head and chest. "
Dan
glenn says
Removal of the Monarchs permently by killing the family is a normal (if bloody) political method. Once gone, they can not revive their government.
beth l says
If they were left alive there would always be the fear that their supporters would rally and put them back on the throne. It obviously worked because Lenin and the communists held power for over 60 years.
Redisca says
Several reasons.
1. For one, the West apparently wasn't willing to buy them out with money or political concessions. So as prisoners of the communist regime, they were more of a liability than an asset — their continued captivity would attract attention and condemnation. And they couldn't be let go either, lest they foment rebellion (see no. 2).
2. As long as Nicholas II or any of his direct descendants were alive, there would always be a possibility that monarchy would be restored in Russia. Without a direct descendant, however, restoration is a much iffier proposition.
3. Propaganda value. Up until Kruschev's ascendancy, the anniversary of the execution was actually a national holiday. This stuff was celebrated.
Grendle says
Not clear whether Lenin did that, or Stalin, or one of the other leaders. Things were pretty chaotic and it is just possible that it was the local guard commander who took it upon himself to off Nicholas, Alexandra and all the little tsarinas and the tsaravich.
As for reasons … there were many who supported the Romanovs and the newly formed communist regime couldn't take the chance that they could survive to become figureheads to a counter-revolution.
Pretty good reason, actually.