Russian Empire | Nicholas II

Nicholas II Vintage Newsreels No. 1 – 5

This is the first installment of a new feature to my Nicholas II. Emperor. Tsar. Saint. blog, which showcases the vast collection of vintage newsreels which are now available to watch on YouTube and other online media sources. I have taken the liberty of selecting 5 interesting newsreels which depict Emperor Nicholas II and his family attending events in various cities throughout the Russian Empire.

Many of these newsreels include background music, with tunes of the Russian Empire or Orthodox music. Others are narrated in Russian, however, that should not deter the viewer from watching. You can turn on the English (or other language) subtitles by clicking on Google translate and then turn on the closed captioning [CC] button, found at the bottom of the newsreel. ENJOY!

No. 1 – Piety of Emperor Nicholas II

This video presents newsreel footage of the Imperial Family from the Russian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents (RGAKFD). These newsreels captures the moments when the Emperor, together with his Family, attends divine services, venerates the cross and icons, participates in processions of the cross and talks with church leaders.

Music: 1 – “Tsar mighty, Tsar sovereign” (lyrics and music by Shchurovsky; 2 – “Many years, Orthodox Russian Tsar!” (both songs are performed by the choir of the Valaam Monastery).

Duration: 3 minute, 13 seconds with musical background

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No. 2 – Emperor Nicholas II in Smolensk. 31st August 1912

The newsreel opens with the Imperial Train arriving at the railway station in Smolensk, whereby the Emperor walks down the platform to review the honour guard. He is then seen receiving gifts and the traditional bread and salt from local officials and dignitaries.

At 2:39, you will notice a rather plump chap appearing from the right hand side of the screen. This is Prince Vladimir Nikolaevich Orlov (1868-1927), one of Nicholas II’s closest advisors. Between 1906-1915, Orlov headed the Emperor’s Military Cabinet, he also served as the the Emperor’s personal chauffeur. For many years, he was one of Nicholas II’s most trusted aides, however, his negative feelings towards Rasputin, eventually led to his dismissal from the Imperial Court.

Further into the newsreel, we see carriages carrying the Imperial Family arriving at the Cathedral Church of the Assumption. Their visit coincided with events marking the 100th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812. Upon leaving the cathedral, they pass by students of the Smolensk Diocesan School. If you watch closely, you will see the dedicated Minister of the Imperial Court, Baron V.B. Fredericks, who constantly shadowed the Emperor.

The newsreel concludes with a view of the Imperial Family, standing on a hill overlooking Smolensk.

Duration: 5 minutes, 54 seconds with musical background

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No. 3 – French President Raymond Poincare’s State Visit to Russia, 1912-1914

In this newsreel we see Emperor Nicholas II with President Raymond Poincare of France at Krasnoye Selo, the summer military capital of the Russian Empire. We see Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and her daughters getting into some of the fine automobiles which the Emperor was so fond of.

This is followed by a parade of grand dukes and generals on horseback. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna is then seen riding in an open carriage with President Raymond Poincare, the Emperor on horseback riding along side.

Members of the Imperial Family join Poincare in a tent, positioned on a slight hill, where they can witness manoeuvres in honour of the French president’s state visit. Towards the end of the footage, the Empress is seen nodding as soldiers file past the tent and its guests.

Duration: 4 minutes, 19 seconds, no audio

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No. 4 – Emperor Nicholas II at Revel in 1908

[1] Arrival of the Imperial train in Revel (modern day Tallinn, Estonia). We see Emperor Nicholas II, along with members of his family and retinue walking along the platform

[2] A launch carries the Emperor and his family to the Imperial Yacht ‘Standart’

[3[ Arrival of a train in Revel carrying the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, Queen Olga of Greece, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, Prince P.A. Oldenburg, among others

[4] A launch carries the Dowager Empress and members of the Imperial Family to the Imperial Yacht ‘Standart’

[5] The arrival of the British Royal Yacht ‘Victoria and Albert’, carrying King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra at Revel, 27th May 1908

Duration: 8 minutes, 30 seconds with musical background

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No. 5 – Historic visit to Riga in the summer of 1910 by Emperor Nicholas II

At the beginning of the newsreel we see the Imperial Yacht ‘Standart’ sailing into the harbour. It is one thing to admire the ‘Standart’ in photographs, however, it is only when one views it in a moving image, that one can put into perspective the sheer size of this magnificent “floating palace” – 128 m (420 feet) in length and 5557 tons standard in weight. It was the envy of all the royal houses of Europe and Great Britain.

Nicholas II’s visited Riga with his family for three days – from 3 to 5 July 1910. The Imperial Family arrived for the celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the capture of Riga from Sweden by Russian troops, making it part of the Russian Empire.

The highlight of the visit was the grand opening and consecration of the monument to Emperor Peter I on the Alexander Boulevard in Riga, which is also featured in this video.

Alexandre Spiridovitch writes about the tsar’s 1910 visit to Riga in his memoirs Last Years of the Court at Tsarskoe Selo Volume II (1910-1914) – first English language edition published in 2017 [now out of print].

Duration: 5 minutes, 1 second with Russian language audio

Russia does not intend to pay the debts of Nicholas II

Posted on 17 Days Ago by Paul Gilbert

Moscow is not responsible for Petrograd

Further to my previous post ‘United States demands billions from Russia for Romanov-era bonds‘ – published on 16th January 2026, I am pleased to provide the following update on this issue:

“The Russian Federation does not intend to pay the debts of the Russian Empire” – said Deputy Finance Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Kolychev regardubg the lawsuit filed on 16th January 2026 by the American investment fund Noble Capital RSD LLC. The lawsuit filed in the court of the District of Columbia (USA) is demanding $225.8 billion USD from Moscow for sovereign bonds issued by the Tsarist government in December 1916. The chances of this claim being satisfied are close to zero, if we proceed from historical logic.

The sovereign bonds of the Russian Empire, were issued n December 1916 at 5.5% per annum for a period of 5 years, just two months before the fall of the Tsarist government, were then transferred to the management of the National City Bank of New York (which later changed its name to Citibank). The amount of the claim is $25 billion of fixed capital plus interest accrued over almost 110 years.

The defendants in the lawsuit are the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the National Welfare Fund of Russia (NWF). They have until 30th January 2026, to file objections to the lawsuit of the Delaware-registered Noble Capital RSD.

Noble Capital’s lawsuit, strictly speaking, cannot even be accepted for consideration in court, since it is based on factually incorrect premises, notes Igor Semenovsky, associate professor of the Department of International and Public Law of the Faculty of Law at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation:

“The lawsuit alleges that in February 1918, the Soviet Union refused to pay the debts of both the Tsarist and the Provisional Government, citing that the USSR was established only at the end of 1922. It is also argued that the recognition of the debts of the USSR by the Russian Federation is tantamount to its recognition of the debts of the Russian Empire, which is incorrect both historically (because the USSR did not recognize the Tsarist debts) and logically (the Russian Federation declared itself the successor of the Soviet Union only, but never declared itself the successor of the Russian Empire or the Provisional Government). Neither the RSFSR before 2022, nor the USSR after 2022 undertook such continuity, that is, the logical scheme of transitivity does not work here either.”

Nevertheless, the plaintiff insists that such succession exists. As a precedent (paragraphs 26 and 28 of the lawsuit), the agreements between the USSR and Great Britain of July 1986 and between the Russian Federation and France of November 1996 were mentioned.

There are indeed precedents when the USSR and the Russian Federation recognized Tsarist debts ad hoc (in particular cases), but this does not increase the chances of Noble Capital to win theie lawsuit, Vladimir Kanashevsky, head of the Department of Private International Law at the Kutafin Moscow State Law Academy, explained:

“Russia, like any sovereign country, has state immunity from the decisions of any national court. We may ask why Noble Capital did not present its claims in 1996, when the Russian Federation signed an agreement with the Paris Club on the payment of Tsarist debts. Even if the American court agrees with the plaintiff’s arguments, the Russian Federation has the right to ignore this decision. In this case, the plaintiff may try to enforce the judgment at the expense of Russian property that it can reach, for example, the frozen assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.”

Probably, it is these frozen assets that are the goal of the authors of the lawsuit. Sooner or later, their fate will have to be decided, and the investment fund (or those who stand behind it) wants to create a legal basis for withdrawing this money in its favor. Albeit under the guise of imperial debts.

United States demands billions from Russia for Romanov-era bonds

Posted on January 16 by Paul Gilbert

The American investment fund Noble Capital has filed a lawsuit against Russia, demanding payment of $225.8 billion of debts on bonds from the time of the Russian Empire. The corresponding application was sent to the US Federal District Court for the District of Columbia.

The fund claims that Russia, as the successor state of the Russian Empire, allegedly refused to fulfill sovereign debt obligations issued more than a hundred years ago to American investors. Noble Capital claims to be the legal successor and owner of these bonds and demands debt repayment on this basis.

Recall that in the 19th century, the Russian Empire turned to the public capital markets and, especially, foreign markets and foreign intermediaries, to regulate and stimulate the growth of its economy, financing its ambition and its development.

In October 1918, shortly after the Bolsheviks seized power, their Council of People’s Commissars repudiated the sovereign debt and other financial obligations of the Russian Empire. This position shocked international finance and triggered unanimous worldwide condemnation. Bolshevik Russia completely fell out of the world economy as a result of this development and sealed itself up in isolation,

In addition to the Russian Federation itself, there are several government agencies among the defendants, including the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the National Welfare Fund of Russia (NWF). The court made the last procedural decision in November – the Russian side was ordered to submit a response to the claim no later than 29th January 2026.

Particular attention in the lawsuit is paid to the source of possible payments. Noble Capital is seeking permission to make settlements on the required amount at the expense of frozen Russian assets. After the start of the Russia-Ukraine War in February 2022, the EU and G7 countries blocked about half of Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves. More than 200 billion euros, according to open data, are in the EU, mainly in the accounts of the Belgian depository Euroclear.

PHOTO: Bond of the Russian Empire

In response, Moscow introduced restrictive measures: the assets of foreign investors from “unfriendly countries” and income on them are accumulated in special type “C” accounts. Access to these accounts is possible only by decision of a government commission.

The Bank of Russia, in turn, has also filed a lawsuit against Euroclear in the amount of more than 18 trillion rubles ($228.4 billion USD). The regulator points out that the actions of the European depository caused direct damage due to the inability to dispose of funds belonging to Russia.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly stated that the ideas of seizing Russian assets are actually robbery. According to him, such steps undermine the foundations of the global financial system and can lead to serious losses for its participants.

Experts note that Noble Capital’s lawsuit fits into the general line of pressure on Russia through legal and financial mechanisms. The appeal to the debts of the pre-revolutionary era looks not so much a legal as a political attempt to legalize the seizure of frozen assets.

In fact, we are talking about creating a precedent in which Western structures are trying to gain access to Russian reserves through US courts, hiding behind historical obligations of a hundred years ago.

It is interesting to note, that this is not the first time this issue has been raised. Numerous attempts to recoup bonds issued during the Russian Empire failed, given the current state of Russian-US relations, so will this one.

CLICK on the LINK below to read a follow up of this story, published on 1st February 2026:

Russia does not intend to pay the debts of Nicholas II

The Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire

Posted on July 14 by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire is in the Collection
of the Diamond Fund of the Russian Federation in the Moscow Kremlin

The Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire was made for the coronation of Empress Catherine II in 1762. The last Russian monarch who wore the Imperial Crown was Emperor Nicholas II, on the day of his Holy Coronation in Moscow, on 27th May (O.S. 14th May) 1896.

The Imperial Crown is a joint creation of a large number of craftsmen, but the main creators were two jewelers – the Frenchman Jérémie Pauzié (1716-1779) and the Swiss Georg Friedrich Eckart. The coronation of Catherine II was scheduled for 22nd September 1762, so there were only two and a half months for it’s preparation.

According to the surviving reports of the Diamond Workshop, it was Eckart who was given 3.96 pounds of gold and 20 pounds of silver for the manufacture of the crown and orb. A request, however, was made to Pauzié to draw a sketch of the proposed crown. The Frenchman’s version strongly resembled the crown of Empress Anna Ioannovna (1730) and looked like “an Orthodox church with its side gables and a raised central part crowned with an onion dome.” The diameter of the lower rim and the upper part of the hemispheres was almost the same, which gave the crown a bulky cylindrical shape. The arc connecting the hemispheres ended with a cross, on which a giant spinel was attached with the wide side down.

When Eckart saw the sketch, he “tore it up in anger.” The Swiss wrote a petition to Catherine with a complaint that the Frenchman’s drawing did not agree with the image of an Imperial Crown at all and was too reminiscent of a church in shape. Eckart created his own sketch of the crown, more elegant and harmonious: “the ellipsoidal hemispheres are strongly curved at the base and spread apart, making the crown look more compact. The dividing arc recessed between the hemispheres carried a cross and a giant spinel, turned wide side up. Due to the fact that Eckart made the frame openwork slotted, the finished crown turned out to be quite light in weight.”

When the frame was finished and it was time to inlay the stones, this work was entrusted to Pauzié. In preparation for the inlay, Pauzié used his original method: he made a wax model of Eckart’s slotted frame and tried different options for the arrangement of stones on it. Such a study made it possible to place each diamond in the most advantageous way, hide defects and emphasize the advantages. Pauzié was assisted in his work by six jewelers from Austria and one from France. Also involved in the creation of the crown were three Russian masters: Ivan Estifeev, Ivan Lipman and apprentice Ivan Nikiforov.

The crown was completed on time. All the masters received cash bonuses in addition to their salaries, Eckart was paid 700 rubles. Pauzié personally placed the finished crown on the head of the Empress, for fitting. Catherine II was “very pleased with it” and said she was confident that she would “somehow be able to hold the crown’s weight” on her head during the four hour coronation ceremony.

PHOTO: the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire (left), among the Imperial Regalia is laid out on a table in the Grand Kremlin Palace, in preparation for the Holy Coronation of Emperor Nicholas II in May 1896

Design of the Imperial Crown

The image of the Imperial Crown is inspired by Byzantine symbolism, each element of the decoration has a certain meaning. The two hemispheres embody the connection of East and West. At the bottom, the grid of the hemispheres is encircled by laurel branches, a symbol of power and glory, and in the garland drawing, oak leaves and acorns are placed between the hemispheres as an image of the inviolability of the monarchy.

The Great Imperial Crown reflects the change of stylistic eras: it is decorated in the spirit of early Classicism, but also bears traces of the Baroque that preceded it. During the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1741-1762), massive Baroque jewelry with large precious stones of bright colors was in fashion. To give the diamonds a certain shade, a thin layer of colored foil was placed under them. From the 1760s, under Catherine II, court jewelry fashion began to change – the natural beauty of the stone began to be valued more highly, jewelry was made in more concise and restrained forms.

“I selected the most suitable materials, and since the Empress wanted not to change the crown after the ceremony, I preferred the largest stones, which were no longer in fashion, and so I created one of the most expensive jewels that ever existed in Europe. Despite the difficult task of making the crown as light as possible, using only the most necessary materials to secure the stones, it still weighed five pounds.”

– Jérémie Pauzié

A total of 5012 stones were used to decorate the crown: 75 pearls weighing 763 carats and 4936 diamonds, their total weight is 2858 carats. The height of the crown with the cross was 27.5 cm, the length of the lower circumference was 64 cm. The total weight of the jewelry is 1993.80 grams. In addition to materials from melted down jewelry from the Imperial Treasury, the work required an additional pound of gold and twenty pounds of silver for a total of 86 thousand rubles. The cost of the finished crown at the time of manufacture was estimated at 2 million rubles!

PHOTO: Emperor Nicholas II, wearing the Great Crown of the Russian Empire
on the day of his Holy Coronation in Moscow, on 27th May (O.S. 14th May) 1896

After Catherine

The new crown became the main part of the Russian Imperial Regalia and the main symbol of power, it was worn only on the most solemn occasions, and the image was used on all heraldic signs. Following the established ceremony, the Great Imperial Crown was placed on the heads of all subsequent rulers of Russia, from Emperor Paul I (1797) to Nicholas II (1896). For each of the monarchs, the crown was adjusted to personal standards, this work was entrusted only to outstanding jewelry masters. The Great Imperial Crown was an integral attribute of imperial power and was used in solemn ceremonies – holidays, receptions, even funeral processions. The last time the Great Imperial Crown was worn by Nicholas II, was in 1906, during the opening ceremony of the first State Duma on 10th May (O.S. 27th April) 1906.

After the 1917 Revolution

In 1914, the Imperial Regalia, including the Great Imperial Crown, were evacuated from Petrograd [St. Petersburg] to the Armoury Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin. Because of the 1917 Revolution and the ensuing Civil War, the jewels were temporarily forgotten. Only in 1920 was the Gokhran, which collected jewels from the Romanovs, the Armoury, the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as valuables confiscated from private individuals. Many of these items were later sold abroad. In 1921, an official decision was made to use the “jewelry potential” for the benefit of the Communist Party, although the first secret deals date back to 1919. Between 1922 and 1938, the Soviet government auctioned off most of the jewelry that was not recognized as “valuable” to mostly British and American buyers.

It is interesting to note that in 1920, the estimated value of the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire was a staggering$52 million USD!

Secret attempts to sell the Great Imperial Crown have been reliably confirmed, when, under the leadership of the Chekist Yakov Yurovsky (1878-1938), the Imperial Regalia and the main treasures of the Romanovs were taken from Moscow to Chita in 1923. The accidental publicity of the future deal created headlines in the international press and served as an impetus to stop the sale of crown jewels. It was this incident, which prompted Josef Stalin to issue a personal decree in 1934, ordering that the “tsar’s trinkets” were no longer to be sold and exported abroad, so as not to harm the reputation of the Communist Party.

PHOTO: “Comrade” Robert Yanovich Karklin (1892-1938) wearing
the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire, Chita. 1923

In the photo above, Bolshevik thugs amuse themselves, as “Comrade” Robert Yanovich Karklin (1892-1938) – an authorized representative of the People’s Commissariat of Finance of the RSFSR under the Far Eastern Revolutionary Committee – poses with the Imperial Regalia. Karkin is seen wearing the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire, while holding the Imperial Orb and Sceptre.

Up until a few years ago, this photograph, taken in 1923 in Chita, had never been published, it was kept by Karklin’s daughter Victoria, in the family’s private archive.

Today, the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire is in the Collection of the Diamond Fund of the Russian Federation in the Moscow Kremlin. According to Article No 7 of Federal Law No 41-F3 of 26th March 1998, it is part of an indivisible collection of unique jewelry in federal ownership and is not subject to alienation in any form. The Ministry of Finance of Russia is responsible for the safety of the fund, exclusion from the fund is possible only by personal decree of the president. All exhibits can only be used for exhibition and scientific activities exclusively on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin. The current value of the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire is too great to be calculated or estimated.

PHOTO: replica of the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire, recreated in 2012

Replica of the Great Imperial Crown

The idea of creating a modern interpretation of the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire, belongs to Kristall-Smolensk – an enterprise with a world reputation, and leader of diamond processing in Russia. In tandem with its subsidiary, the Smolensk Diamonds Jewellery Group, famous for the perfect cut and impeccable setting of its jewellery.

The replica of the Russian Imperial Crown was made in 2012, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty and the 250th anniversary of the original crown.

PHOTOS: two views of the replica of the Great Imperial
Crown of the Russian Empire, recreated in 2012

More than 60 Smolensk craftsmen worked on the creation of a replica of the Great Imperial Crown for six months. It is made of white gold, encrusted with more than 11,000 diamonds of perfect cut and the highest quality. The sparkle of diamonds is accentuated by the matte brilliance of 74 natural large white sea pearls. Instead of spinel, the product contains a unique natural rubellite weighing almost 384 carats.

The creation and presentation of the Great Imperial Crown in a modern interpretation is a great opportunity to demonstrate the leading world position of the jewellery art of Russia. And two memorable historical dates were excellent occasions – 250 years since the coronation of Empress Catherine the Great (1762) and the four hundredth anniversary of the Romanov dynasty (1613).

CLICK on the image above to watch a short 2-minute VIDEO

This author has viewed both the original Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire in the Diamond Fund of the Moscow Kremlin, and the replica, which was on display in The Mint, located in the SS Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg. Both are exquisite works of jewellery art in their right.

NEW BOOK – ‘The Lost World of Imperial Russia’- Volume II

Posted on April 14 by Paul Gilbert

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This second volume of The Lost World of Imperial Russia, features more than 400 additional vintage photographs of architectural gems, people and places of the Russian Empire during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, between 1894 to 1917. This second volume complements Volume I, which was published in September 2022.

Imperial palaces, palatial mansions, seaside villas, suburban dachas, churches, government buildings, all of which reflect a variety of architectural styles, and many which reflect Imperial Russia itself are featured. In addition, are photographs depicting daily life, social activities, life in the Russian Imperial Army and Navy, and much more.

Like Volume One, this second volume is a photographic record of a lost world, one of great historical value in our understanding and appreciation of the Russian Empire during the reign of Russia’s last Tsar.

Volume II is available in both hard cover and paperback editions, 240 pages, richly illustrated with more than 400 vintage black and white photos! AVAILABLE exclusively from AMAZON.

COVER PHOTO: Andrei Alexeevich Kudinov (1852–1915), standing at the Emperor’s Porch at the Feodorovsky Cathedral in St. Petersburg in January 1914. This is probably one of the last photographs taken of him before his death in June 1915. Kudinov served as bodyguard to Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich [future Emperor Alexander III]. In December 1878, he was assigned to Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna [future Empress Maria Feodorovna]; he stayed at this post when she became Empress in 1881 and continued until his death. Photo by Karl Bulla.

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THE LOST WORLD OF IMPERIAL RUSSIA
Volume I – Published in September 2022

*This title is available from AMAZON in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia,
France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Japan

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE PAPERBACK EDITION @ $35.00 USD

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE HARD COVER EDITION @ $50.00 USD

Large 8-1/2″ x 11″ format, 242 pages, featuring
400+ black & white photos

First General Census of the Population of the Russian Empire (1897)

Posted on February 10, 2025 by Paul Gilbert

On this day – 10th February (O.S. 28th January) 1897 – the First General Census of the Population of the Russian Empire took place.

Emperor Nicholas II took part in the First General Census of the Population of the Russian Empire (1897). He personally filled in the form, under name he wrote “Nicholas II Alexandrovich Romanov”. In the column “Occupation, position or trade” he wrote “Master of the Russian land.”

This important historical document [seen in the photo above], has been preserved to this day in a velvet cover. It is now in the funds of the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF) in Moscow.

Enumerators and organizers of the first general population census of the Russian Empire in 1897, who volunteered their time were awarded this bronze medal (29 mm). It was established on 3rd December (O.S. 21st November) 1896 by decree of Emperor Nicholas II.

The obverse of the medal [above] depicts the monogram of Nicholas II crowned with the Russian Imperial Crown in the center. Around the monogram there is a laurel wreath of two branches. Between the laurel wreath and the border, from the edge of the medal is an inscription along the circumference: “FIRST GENERAL CENSUS OF THE POPULATION”.

On the reverse side [seen above] there is a horizontal inscription in five lines:

ЗА ТРУДЫ
ПО ПЕРВОЙ ВСЕОБЩЕЙ
ПЕРЕПИСИ
НАСЕЛЕНІЯ
1897

FOR WORK
ACCORDING TO THE FIRST GENERAL
CENSUS
POPULATION
1897

The medal had to be worn on the chest. The ribbon of the medal is white-blue-red, in the colours of the flag of the Russian Empire.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Ivan Logginovich Goremykin (1839-1917), was given the authority to determine the right of individuals to wear the medal. The awardees were issued a certificate for the right to wear the medal.

The Lost World of Imperial Russia: The Russian Empire During the Reign of Emperor Nicholas II

Posted on August 15, 2024 by Paul Gilbert

*This title is available from AMAZON in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia,
France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Japan

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE PAPERBACK EDITION @ $35.00 USD

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE HARD COVER EDITION @ $50.00 USD

Large 8-1/2″ x 11″ format, 242 pages, featuring
400+ black & white photos

“Keeping the memories of Old Russia alive!”

This richly illustrated pictorial is a celebration of the beauty and splendour of a lost world: Imperial Russia during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, from 1894 to 1917.

More than 400+ black and white photographs showcase Imperial residences, country estates and manor houses, dachas, churches, government buildings, hotels, restaurants, historic events, people and much more.

The Lost World of Imperial Russia, is a remarkable photographic record of one of the world’s greatest empires—one that both attracts and eludes description.

While many of the architectural gems of Imperial Russia have survived to the present day, many others have been lost to history: revolution, civil war, two world wars and 70+ years of Soviet dogma have each taken their toll on Russia’s rich architectural heritage. Many of the photographs in this album remain the only evidence of their existence.

Click HERE to read a REVIEW of this book by Mikhail Smirnov, published on the Russian Faith blog.

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The Lost World of Imperial Russia. Volume II
NOW AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

***

Paul Gilbert’s Romanov Bookshop on AMAZON

I have published nearly 30 titles to date through AMAZON – featuring one of the largest selections of books on Nicholas II, the Romanov dynasty and the history of Imperial Russia.

Please CLICK on the BANNER or LINK above to review my current selection of titles in hardcover, paperback and ebook editions. Listings provide a full description for each title, pricing and a Look inside feature.