Nicholas II

How Nicholas II Created The World’s Largest Bank

Posted on November 25, 2021 by Paul Gilbert

In any country in the world, its national currency is one of the main guarantors of its independence. Moreover, its issuance is carried out by a central bank owned by the state. Only the United States is different. A private financial company, the US Federal Reserve, is responsible for issuing the dollar, one of the world’s primary reserve currencies. Many believe that its shareholders run the global economy. It is a little known fact that during the early 20th century, Emperor Nicholas II helped finance the authorized capital of the US Federal Reserve System [FRS].

The Russian Empire as the world arbiter

Despite the popular opinion that pre-revolutionary Russia was the gendarme of Europe, in reality it was a world power that sought not only to end wars, but also to create an international body regulating relations between countries. While on the throne, Emperor Alexander II in 1868 initiated the signing in St. Petersburg of the convention on the “rules of war”. This document, in particular, provided for a ban on the use of a number of inhumane types of weapons. Nicholas II followed the example of his grandfather by organizing the First World Peace Conference in 1899. With the active participation of the last Russian emperor, a proposal was made to create the League of Nations, the prototype of the UN. It sounds incredible, but even then, at the end of the 19th century, Nicholas II spoke from a high rostrum about the need to end the arms race.

Money is the engine of politics

Simultaneously with the discussion of the creation of the League of Nations at the beginning of the 20th century, proposals were raised for the establishment of an international financial body. Its functions were to include the regulation of financial disputes between different countries. It was then that the proposal to create the US Federal Reserve appeared. From the earliest days of its existence, this financial institution was essentially an international private bank, which was required to have its own authorized capital, denominated in gold. Today, the US dollar is not backed by either gold or the mass of commodities in the United States. But in 1913 everything was different. At the time when the FRS was created, the dollar, like the ruble, was obliged, if necessary, to be exchanged for an equivalent in gold. Not surprisingly, the US Federal Reserve had large reserves of gold as its charter capital.

Where did it come from?

Under US law, however, American banks involved in the creation of the FRS, could not utilize their gold as authorized capital. It was assumed that it would be provided by those countries, for the settlement of financial disputes between which the FRS was created. The major world powers showed little interest in the proposal to finance the authorized capital of the FRS with their own gold and foreign exchange reserves. This was done only by Emperor Nicholas II from Russia’s vast gold reserves. The contribution of the Russian Empire to the US Federal Reserve amounted to 88.8% of its authorized capital in gold! At the same time, Russia was supposed to receive 4% of the invested funds annually, as dividends. However, soon after the establishment of the FRS, the 1917 Russian Revolution broke out, and then the Imperial Family were murdered by order of the new Bolshevik regime.

The USSR, refused to recognize the debts of Tsarist Russia, and, accordingly, did not have any rights to its income from foreign assets. There was no one to pay interest to the FRS. Had the history of Russia taken a different course, perhaps today it would be the owner of the printing press of the world reserve currency.

The Prophesies of Grigory Rasputin

Posted on November 24, 2021 by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: Grigory Efimovich Rasputin (1869-1916)

Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin (1869-1916) was a Russian strannik [wanderer or pilgrim], and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Emperor Nicholas II, and is believed by many historians to have gained considerable influence in late Imperial Russia.

Historians often suggest that Rasputin’s scandalous and sinister reputation helped discredit the tsarist government and thus helped precipitate the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty a few weeks after he was assassinated. Accounts of his life and influence were often based on hearsay and rumour.

In 1912, Grigory Efimovich Rasputin (1869-1916) published the book Благочестивые размышления [Pious Reflections]. In it, he publishes prophecies, some of which soon came true, while others have yet to happen.

Which prophecies came to pass:

The shooting of the Imperial Family

It is said that Rasputin foresaw the death of the Imperial Family long before the shooting in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, on the night of 16/17 July 1918,

“Whenever, I embrace the Tsar and the Tsarina, the girls, and the Tsesarevich, I shudder with horror, as if I embrace the dead. And then I pray for these people. I pray for the Imperial Family, because the shadow of a long Eclipse falls on them.”

October revolution of 1917

Rasputin predicted the arrival of a new power in Russia and mountains of corpses, among which would be the bodies of the Grand Dukes, and the water in the Neva will be stained with their blood. He said,

“Darkness will descend on Petersburg. When it’s name is changed [Petrograd], then the Empire will end.”

His own death:

Rasputin also foresaw the circumstances of his own death. He wrote “if I am killed by simple robbers of the Russian peasants,” he said, “Tsar Nicholas should not fear for his fate, and the descendants of the Romanovs will reign a hundred years and more. However,” Rasputin further added, “If the murder is committed by nobles – relatives of the Tsar – then the future of Russia and the Imperial Family will be terrible. The nobles will flee the country, and the relatives of the Tsar will not be alive in two years. Brothers will rise up against brothers, and will kill each other.” Rasputin was murdered by a group of nobles on 30th [O.S. 17th] December 1916.

PHOTO: Благочестивые размышления [Pious Reflections] by G.E. Rasputin (1912)

What prophecies have yet to pass:

Global catastrophes

Rasputin predicted various troubles and catastrophes. As in the cases with other soothsayers, his prophecies are very vague, they do not contain any specific dates. But if you interpret them from the point of view of modern knowledge, then it becomes truly spine-chilling from the accuracy of his predictions.

Grigory Efimovich predicted more frequent earthquakes, rising sea levels.

“Earthquakes will become more frequent, lands and waters will open, and their damage will engulf people …”

“The seas, like thieves, will enter cities, into houses, and the lands will be drenched with salt …”

Sadly, Rasputin turns out to be right. Over the past 100 years, sea levels have risen by almost 20 centimeters.

Scientists at the Potsdam Climate Institute conducted computer simulations, according to which the current trend in climate change will lead to a rise in sea level by 3 meters or more over the next hundred of years. According to other studies, during the twenty-first century, the sea level will rise by 2 meters.

How could an illiterate peasant in 1912 even simply assume something like that?

Loss of moral values

“When times draw near to the abyss, man’s love for man will turn into a dry plant …”

All one has to do is to turn on the television on any news channel to see proof of this on a daily basis.

Development of genetic engineering

“Monsters will be born that will not be humans or animals….

“Irresponsible human alchemy, in the end, will turn ants into huge monsters that will destroy homes and entire countries …”

For example, let us recall the world’s most popular sheep – Dolly. On 5th July 1996, the first cloned mammal was “born”. The animal was produced from frozen genetic material from an already deceased donor. Dolly became a complete copy of her prototype and lived for almost 7 years. She gave birth to 6 lambs.

Nowadays, rumors about the cloning of a mammoth are already circulating. What is this if not the beginning of the implementation of the predictions of the “elder”?

The third global conflict

In his prophecies, Rasputin mentions three world wars. Two of them have already passed.

“Three hungry snakes will crawl along the roads of Europe, leaving behind ash and smoke … The time of peace will come, but the world will be written in blood. And when two fires go out, the third fire will burn the ashes. “

Putting aside one’s personal views of Rasputin or beliefs in propecies, let us hope and pray that the unfulfilled predictions of Grigory Efimovich will remain so, otherwise humanity will face truly terrible trials and tribulations.

Bones of Contention: The Russian Orthodox Church and the Ekaterinburg Remains

Posted on November 23, 2021 by Paul Gilbert

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON

Full-colour covers, 206 pages + 90 black & white photographs

Originally published in 2020, this NEW REVISED & EXPANDED 2021 EDITION features an additional 40+pages, new chapters and 90 black and white photos. It is the most up-to-date source on the highly contentious issue of the Russian Orthodox Church and their position on the Ekaterinburg Remains.

In May 2022, the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, will meet in Moscow during which they will review the findings of the Investigative Commission and deliver their verdict on the authenticity of the Ekaterinburg Remains.

The reopening of the investigation into the death of Nicholas II and his family in 2015, caused a wave of indignation against the Russian Orthodox Church. This book presents the position of both the Moscow Patriarchate and the Investigation Committee.

This is the first English language title to explore the position of the Orthodox Church in Russia with regard to the Ekaterinburg remains. The author’s research for this book is based exclusively on documents from Russian media and archival sources.

This unique title features an expanded introduction by the author, and eight chapters, on such topics as the grounds for the canonization of Nicholas II and his family by the Moscow Patriarchate in 2000; comparative details of the Sokolov investigation in 1919, and the investigations carried out in the 1990s to the present; reluctance of the Moscow Patriarchate to officially recognize the remains as authentic; interesting findings of Russian journalist, producer and screenwriter Elena Chavchavadze in her documentary Regicide. A Century of Investigation; and the author’s own attempt to provide some answers to this ongoing and long drawn-out investigation for example: “Will Alexei and Maria be buried with the rest of their family?” and “Will the Imperial Family remains be reinterred in a new cathedral in Ekaterinburg?”.

This new revised and expanded edition also includes two NEW chapters!

Interviews with Vladimir Soloviev, Chief Major Crimes Investigator for the Central Investigate Department of the Public Prosecution Office of the Russian Federation and Archpriest Oleg Mitrov, a member of the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints – BOTH key players in the Ekaterinburg remains case, reveal the political undertones of this to this ongoing and long drawn-out investigation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Independent researcher Paul Gilbert has spent more than 25+ years researching and writing about the Russian Imperial Family. His primary research is focused on the life, reign and era of Nicholas II. On 17th July 1998, he attended the tsar’s interment ceremony at the SS Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Twenty years later, he attended the Patriarchal Liturgy on the night of 16/17 July 2018, held at the Church on the Blood in Ekaterinburg. Since his first visit to the Urals in 2012, he has brought prayers and flowers to both Ganina Yama and Porosenkov Log on numerous occasions.

Poklonskaya punished for carrying icon of Tsar Martyr Nicholas II

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: Natalya Poklonskaya carrying an icon of Tsar Martyr Nicholas II during the Immortal Regiment March, held in Moscow on 9th May 2016

On 9th May 2016, Natalya Poklonskaya took part in the Immortal Regiment March[1], during which she carried an icon of Tsar Martyr Nicholas II. Earlier this week, she opened up for the first time about the retributions that followed.

“For the fact that I carried the image of Nicholas II, which is revered as a Saint in the Russian Orthodox Church, I was punished. I even received a letter from the General Prosecutor’s Office. On 22nd June 2016, the First Deputy Prosecutor General wrote: “You have committed an inappropriate act, contrary to the charter of the Immortal Regiment movement, prompting criticisms from the Russian media. As an employee of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation, you have committed a violation of the code of ethics”. So, I was punished, but I am very happy with this punishment – because that means I did something right.

Shortly thereafter, Poklonskaya was dismissed from her position as Prosecutor of the Republic of Crimea. The first rumours about her resignation were published in July – right after her “punishment”.

During a conversation with her Instagram subscribers earlier this week, Natalya also explained the meaning behind her act on the Immortal Regiment.

“Nicholas II, of course, did not take part in the Great Patriotic War[2]. He couldn’t because he had been murdered. After that, the story began to develop in a different way. The people who died for their faith, defending our freedom, for me they are all heroes! My two grandfathers died. One of them at the hands of the Bolsheviks. Their portraits were also with me during the Immortal Regiment,” – said Poklonskaya.

PHOTO: Poklonskaya standing next to a bust of Nicholas II in Simferopol

Who is Natalya Poklonskaya?

Poklonskaya is a popular Russian politician who, from 2014 to 2016 served as Prosecutor of the Republic of Crimea and in 2015 as State Counselor of Justice 3rd Class. From 2016 to 2021, she served as Deputy of the State Duma of Russia, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs.

While in office, Poklonskaya became notable for her defence of Russia’s much slandered tsar Nicholas II. In February 2017, she led a campaign to block the release of the film Matilda for its allegedly blasphemous portrayal of the affair between Tsar Nicholas II (who has been canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church) and the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya. Poklonskaya defended the Tsar and called on local prosecutors to determine whether the film was religiously insensitive.

She released a 39-page report attempting to denounce the film and alleging, among other claims, which according to Poklonskaya, grossly violates the historical truth and offends the feelings of Orthodox believers.

In addition, Poklonskaya has also argued that Nicholas II’s abdication in 1917 was legally null and void. She further claimed that a bronze bust of Nicholas II in Simferopol was seeping fragrant myrrh. Her claims, however, were denied by the Russian Orthodox Church.

On 13th October 2021, Poklonskaya was appointed by Russian president Vladimir Putin as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Cape Verde.

PHOTO: Natalya Poklonskaya wearing the Imperial Order of St. Anastasia, illegally awarded to her by Princess Maria Vladimirovna (right)

Poklonskaya and Princess Maria Vladimirovna

In 2014, the Russian politician and State Duma deputy Natalya Poklonskaya was illegally awarded the Imperial Order of St. Anastasia by the self proclaimed Head of the non-existent Russian Imperial House Princess Maria Vladimirovna[3], for her efforts in the reunification of Crimea with Russia.

On 30th November 2017, Poklonskaya returned the Order and nobility title, because Maria Vladimirovna refused to support Poklonskaya’s efforts on outlawing the controversial film Matilda for its allegedly blasphemous portrayal of the affair between Nicholas II and the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya.

NOTES:

[1] The Immortal Regiment is a massive civil event staged annually on 9th May in major cities in Russia during the Victory Day celebrations. It is also a public non-profit organization, created in Russia on a voluntary basis with the aim of “immortalizing” the memory of home front workers, armed forces service personnel, partisans, personnel of resistance organizations, and personnel of law enforcement and emergency services. The March involves people carrying on the memory of war veterans, with participants carrying pictures of relatives and/or family friends who served in the country’s labour sector, paramilitary units, the Soviet Armed Forces and law enforcement organizations during the Second World War.

[2] Emperor Nicholas II’s strategic projects did in fact play a decisive role in the victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. I am currently researching for an article on this subject, to be published in early 2022 – PG

[3] Maria Vladimirovna promotes herself as a “Grand Duchess,” however, this is incorrect. The last grand duchess of Russia was Nicholas II’s younger sister Olga Alexandrovna, who died on 24th November 1960, in Toronto, Canada.

It is very important to note, that Maria Vladimirovna never had or has any authority to hand out titles or awards as she is not and never has been a ruling monarch. Despite this, Maria actively, and completely illegally distributes orders, medals and even titles of the Russian Empire. While many orders and awards of the Russian Empire have been officially restored in the modern Russian Federation, an ordinary civilian, and not a representative of the state, distributes the same order in appearance and name to her supporters on behalf of the “Imperial House”!

Icon made on the occasion of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna’s wedding sold at auction

Posted on November 12, 2021 by Paul Gilbert

On 11th November, the icon “St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Martyr Tsarina Alexandra”, sold at an auction held at Literary Fund Auction House in Moscow for 4.3 million rubles [$60 thousand USD].

The icon was made by the Moscow jewellery company I.P. Khlebnikov, Sons and Co. The firm was founded in 1871 and in 1879 was awarded the title of Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Alexander II.

The icon was made on the occasion of the wedding of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, held on 27th November [O.S. 14th November] 1894 at the Grand Church – the home church of the Imperial Family – in the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg.

The wood icon made by A.A. Artsibashev, is 30.6 x 25.6 x 2.1 cm. Setting: silver, enamel, filigree, filigree enamel, chasing, gilding, mount; 30.7 x 25 x 3 cm. Good condition. The icon has a museum, artistic, historical and cultural significance.

Blood reappeared in the Ipatiev House for years after the regicide, claimed eyewitnesses

Posted on November 4, 2021 by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: view of the murder room in the basement of the Ipatiev House, following the massacre of Emperor Nicholas II, his family, and four faithful retainers. The bullet holes can clearly be seen on the walls

On 17th July 1918, Emperor Nicholas II and his family were brutally murdered by a Bolshevik firing squad in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg. In the spring of 1924, Professor Valentin Nikolaevich Speransky (1877-1957) visited the Ipatiev House, and later published his book La maison à destination speciale la tragedie d’ekaterinenbourg in French (1929) followed by Spanish and Italian editions.

Prof. Speransky was not permitted to enter the living quarters of the Ipatiev House, but thanks to one of the council employees he saw the scene of the terrible massacre – a room of the basement floor, where the regicide was carried out.

“It resembles a cellar, not more than 50 cubic meters in volume,” he wrote. “In the damp semi-darkness the room seemed very narrow… Even after six years there were still bloodstains on the floor. There were traces of bullets on the walls … On the wallpaper one could see traces of bloody hands.”

These protruding traces of the blood of the Holy Royal Martyrs on the walls were later confirmed by numerous testimonials:

“We had a girl from Sverdlovsk [Ekaterinburg]. Her mother told us that the wall of the house where the execution of the Imperial Family had been carried out had been stained with blood for many years. The authorities believed it was the antics of hooligans, put sentries to guard the room around the clock, painted over the wall with paint, and illuminated it with floodlights. But every day, fresh drops of blood would appear on the wall before the eyes of astonished eye-witnesses.

“In the 1950s,” recalls L.N. Kasyanova from Feodosia, “I studied in Sverdlovsk in the Urals, at the Pedagogical Institute. In Sverdlovsk, we went on excursions to the Ipatiev House, leading us into the basement where the Holy Royal Martyrs were shot. They say from time to time that blood appeared on the walls, and no matter how much it was washed off, it reappeared.”

“From my childhood”, Z.S. Grebenshchikova recalls, “my mother used to show us this house. When I met the watchman Bukharkin Fyodor Ivanovich, a great admirer of the Imperial Family, in St. John’s Church in Ekaterinburg, I began to learn more about it. To the watchman one boy – Tikhomirov Alexander Dmitrievich, born in 1956 was very attached. His father was a general and his mother worked as a general practitioner. His grandmother Olga took him to church when he was three years old and he already knew the prayers.

PHOTO: Valentin Nikolaevich Speransky (1877-1957), author of the book ‘La maison à destination speciale la tragedie d’ekaterinenbourg’, published in 1929

“All three of us – Fyodor Ivanovich, Sasha and I – started going to the house to pray: we also came at night before the holidays – in winter, in spring, at Easter, and on the night of 16th July [the night of the anniversary marking the death and martyrdom of the Imperial Family] and others. We took faithful old ladies with us. We took candles, placed them on the side porch, and sang ‘God rest the saints,’ ‘Eternal Memory,’ and say the names of the Holy Royal Martyrs.

“Sasha said that the wall against which the Imperial Family were shot had been whitewashed – but the blood still runs through the whitewash. They decided to paint it blue, a soft blue colour, like the sky, and again it comes out, the blood, through the holes that the bullets penetrated. . .”

Sasha’s grandmother Olga had a friend who worked as a janitor in the Ipatiev house, and she said that on the eve of holidays – before Easter and Pentecost, when she was on night duty – the sound of some angelic, very gentle singing could be heard from the basement.

One day Sasha brought a piece of plaster from that wall in his grandmother’s locket with a lid, filled with hot wax. Such a small piece in the shape of a trapezoid, and there, like a bouquet of flowers, was sprinkled – large, medium, smaller, maroon, orange, light orange droplets. Just like a bunch of flowers. I prayed and touched the shrine. I had the honour…”.

Over the years, local authorities were getting concerned that the Ipatiev House was becoming a shrine for Orthodox Christians and monarchists, who came in growing numbers, to light candles, pray and sing hymns. As a result, a decision was made to demolish the Ipatiev House, and in so doing, wipe any memory of the Holy Royal Martyrs from the Russian landscape.

The destruction of the Ipatiev House began on 22nd September 1977, that is, more than two years after a joint decision of the chairman of the State Security Committee, Yuri Andropov (1914-1984) and the Politburo.

Today on this spot stands the Church on the Blood of the Holy Royal Martyrs. Construction began in 2000, and on 16th June 2003, 85 years after the death and martyrdom of Emperor Nicholas II and his family, the five-domed main church with a height of 60 meters, a building area of 966 m² and a total area of 3152 m², with an estimated capacity of 1910 people was consecrated.

Prominent Orthodox Bishop discusses the Bishops Council and the Ekaterinburg Remains

Posted on November 3, 2021 by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and Metropolitan Tikhon

The founder of the Russian online media outlet Daily Storm, Anastasia Kashevarova, recently interviewed Metropolitan of Pskov and Porkhov Tikhon (Shevkunov), who was asked about upcoming Bishops Council in May 2022 and the Ekaterinburg Remains.

Metropolitan Tikhon is a Bishop of the Moscow Patriarchate, and has been closely involved with the investigation into the deaths of Nicholas II and his family, which was initiated by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2015.

Tikhon is now the second prominent Bishop [known to this author] to hint that the Ekaterinburg Remains, are indeed those of Emperor Nicholas II and his family. See my article Metropolitan Hilarion hopeful ROC will recognize authenticity of Ekaterinburg remains, published on 20th June 2021.

AK: At the Bishops’ Council, which has now been postponed to the spring of 2022, will the issue of recognizing the remains of the Imperial Family be resolved?

MT: During the past five years, together with the Investigative Committee, we have collected all the documents and materials. In 2015, there was a new investigation, it was very interesting. We do not prejudge the outcome, of course, of the Council of Bishops, but we have provided them with all the documents that have been worked out by the investigation, the historical commission and our church commission. At the request of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, we carried out genetic research. The remains of Nicholas II’s father, Alexander III were exhumed, genetic samples were taken and compared with the Ekaterinburg Remains. Everything coincided there. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill spoke about this, however, it will be the Council of Bishops who will make the final judgement.

AK: But do you have all the expertise?

MT: We have all the expertise. They quite satisfy me, because I observed them all very closely. However, the controversy continues.

AK: If the Council of Bishops makes a positive decision and recognizes that these are the remains of the Imperial Family, do they then become Holy Relics?

MT: Yes, we will then recognize them as the relics of saints. Some people will agree, some will not – I do not know how it will be, although for me it is quite obvious, I am not even going to be a hypocrite here. We have just published all three volumes of the case, and they are posted on the website of the Investigative Committee; anyone can read these documents in their entirety. Not only were there genetic examinations, there were about fifty different examinations carried out. Anyone can read them with an open mind. I did not trust the investigation that was conducted in the 1990s. There were many reasons for this, including procedural reasons – that is, they took samples from the remains of Nicholas II’s brother Grand Duke George Alexandrovich, compared them with the remains found near Ekaterinburg, but procedurally this was not properly formalized; and aroused mistrust. [Alexander Ivanovich] Bastrykin spoke about this in his report, even before being appointed head of the Investigative Committee.

AK: What has changed since the 1990s investigation?

MT: Yes, there were difficulties. All these bugs have now been fixed; procedurally everything is perfect; research carried out at the highest level. Professor Popov, one of Russia’s leading forensic experts, who, as a specialist, did not recognize these remains, based on these errors. As the heir, Nicholas Alexandrovich was in Japan, where an assassination attempt was carried out on his life: a Japanese policeman struck him on the head with a saber and seriously wounded him. In the1990s, tomography failed to show this injury. Thanks to modern-day tomography, however, Professor Popov, after analyzing this skull [skull No. 4, which, presumably, belonged to Nicholas II], found traces of an injury that coincide with the hat worn by Nicholas II during the incident and is now kept in the Hermitage. The blood-stained shirt of the last Russian tsar was also compared to the blood of his grandfather Alexander II, who was killed in 1881 by terrorists. The latter’s blood-stained shirt has also been preserved. The blood-stained shirts of Alexander II and Nicholas II are also kept in the Hermitage. We have provided every opportunity for every literate person to study the expertise. When we became experts, we signed a document stating that in the event of a knowingly false examination, we are subject to criminal liability with a sentence of up to five years.

AK: And if in the future the answer of the Council is positive, where will the relics be kept?

MT: This will be a joint decision made by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and the Council of Bishops. Possibly in the Peter and Paul Fortress – in the same place where almost all members of the Romanov family are buried.

The Alexander Palace fed starving children in 1922

Posted on November 1, 2021 by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: view of the Western Wing of the Alexander Palace (1922), which had been converted into an ARA kitchen, feeding more than 2000 local children a day

During the Russian Civil War (1917-1922), a terrible famine began in Bolshevik Russia. In an effort to stop it spreading throughout the former Russian Empire, the new Soviet government, led by Vladimir Lenin, invited the American Relief Administration (ARA), the brainchild of Herbert Hoover, to save communist Russia from ruin.

In 1921, to ease famine in Russia, the director of the American Relief Administration (ARA) in Europe, Walter Lyman Brown, began negotiating with the Soviet People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Maxim Litvinov, in Riga, Latvia. An agreement was reached on 21st August 1921, and an additional implementation agreement was signed by Brown and People’s Commisar for Foreign Trade Leonid Krasin on 30th December 1921. The U.S. Congress appropriated $20,000,000 for relief under the Russian Famine Relief Act of late 1921.

It was the largest humanitarian operation in history, preventing countless deaths, riots and, quite possibly, the collapse of the communist state. Indeed, while the ARA’s efforts were admirable, it is one of those historical ironies that the United States not only helped fund the new Bolshevik order, but also helped save it from collapsing.

The Western Wing of the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, the former residence of Emperor Nicholas II and his family, was turned into an ARA kitchen, which fed more than two thousand local children a day. The kitchen was run by one of the former tsarist chefs, who cooked boiled rice, beans and cocoa, assisted by several servants of the last Tsar.

American Relief Administration operations in Russia in 1922

At its peak, the ARA employed 300 Americans, more than 120,000 Russians and fed 10.5 million people daily. Its Russian operations were headed by Col. William N. Haskell. The Medical Division of the ARA functioned from November 1921 to June 1923 and helped overcome the typhus epidemic then ravaging Russia. The ARA’s famine relief operations ran in parallel with much smaller Mennonite, Jewish and Quaker famine relief operations in Russia. The ARA’s operations in Russia were shut down on 15th June 1923, after it was discovered that Russia renewed the export of grain

A hundred years later, few people remember these events. The Soviet government quickly erased the memory of American aid.

4 NEW Romanov Titles

Posted on October 31, 2021 by Paul Gilbert

I am pleased to offer 4 additional Romanov titles – published in October – available in PAPERBACK editions on AMAZON. Prices for paperback editions start at $12.99 USD. Each title offers a FREE “Look Inside” feature.

All of these titles are available from any AMAZON site in the world and are priced in local currencies [CLICK on any of the following links]: Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, India, Brazil, Mexico and Australia

Please refer to the links provided below to view this month’s selection – PG

VERA: Princess of the Imperial Blood Vera Konstantinovna
Compiled and Edited by Paul Gilbert

Includes more than 75 black and white photos!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER PAPERBACK EDITION

Princess of the Imperial Blood Vera Konstantinovna (1906-2001), was the youngest child and daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna.

Vera was a second cousin of Emperor Nicholas II, and a childhood playmate of his younger children. During World War I, she lost her father and brother, and during the Russian Revolution, three of her brothers were murdered by the Bolsheviks.

At age twelve, she escaped revolutionary Russia, fleeing with her mother and brother George to Sweden. She spent the rest of her long life in exile, first in Western Europe and from the 1950s in the United States.

In the last years of her life, the Supreme Monarchist Council considered her the Empress of Russia, after whose death there were no heirs to the Russian throne.

Vera was the only Romanov who remembered pre-revolutionary life and her legendary relatives. She was a living embodiment of the best traditions of the House of Romanov, enjoyed great respect and respect in the circles of the Russian emigration.

Princess Vera died on 11 January 2001, at the age of 95. She was buried next to her brother Prince George Konstantinovich at the cemetery of the Russian Orthodox Monastery of Novo-Diveevo in Nanuet, New York.

Petrograd: The City of Trouble, 1914-1918
by Meriel Buchanan

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A compelling first-person account by the daughter of the British Ambassador to Imperial Russia Sir George Buchanan. Meriel Buchanan writes in a colourful, highly readable style that keeps her subject fresh.

Her memories provide a lively and accurate account of the 1917 Revolution, and the terror and horror the new Bolshevik order had on the Russian people

This is an fascinating account of the tense, eventful months leading to the Revolution. As the war became a disaster for Russia, the author witnessed many of the harrowing scenes in St. Petersburg, often viewing them from the windows of the British Embassy facing the Neva River and bridges where so many of the most important events were played out.

As events unfolded, Buchanan recalls the Russian soldiers, the wounded in the hospital, the crowds on the street where public speakers held forth – to her, all were upstanding and sympathetic depending on their attitude toward Bolshevism. Those who favoured Bolshevism, she correctly identifies as surly and disreputable.

The author speaks of the Russian masses in the same way that foreigners always have. In her eyes, they were almost simple-minded — admirable when they were subservient, docile, and humble, but savage when they wanted freedom from the iron grip of tyranny and capitalism.

When they fought the Germans, she acknowledges that they fought bravely even though they lacked every essential for fighting, but when they were thrown back by the enemy and flooded into St. Petersburg, in her eyes they became slovenly, lazy, and dirty.

This book is well worth reading. It demonstrates how diplomats managed, though with difficulty and with the help of many servants, to keep up a privileged existence in a city in the grip of dire circumstances, a city torn apart by events of world-shaking consequence.

A great tool for anyone researching St. Petersburg in the final days before WWI and the collapse of the Romanov dynasty.

Romanov Relations: Volume I
Compiled and Edited by Paul Gilbert

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More than a century after the fall of the monarchy in Russia, the world’s fascination with the Romanov dynasty endures, as a whole new generation of Romanovphile pursues their fascination with Russia’s most famous family.

Romanov Relations is a multi-volume set of books, with each volume offering a collection of out-of-print articles, about the emperors, empresses, grand dukes and grand duchesses, as well as their descendants. Many of them dating back to the golden years of Imperial Russia have sat around collecting dust, mostly forgotten by time and neglected by researchers. Many of the authors, whom have long since passed from this world, personally knew their subjects and present them objectively to their reader in this volume. They offer both interesting anecdotes and insight into the private world of the Russian Imperial Court. Further, each volume is richly illustrated throughout, offering a selection of vintage photographs, many of which are drawn from Russian sources, and some of which may be new to readers.

Volume One includes 70 photographs, and 5 articles, some of which are divided into numerous sub-chapters:

(1) The Imperial Family of Russia by the Countess Marguerite Cunliffe-Owen

(2) H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna of Russia by the Countess Alexandra Olsoufieff

(3) The Controversial Grand Duchess: An Intimate Biography of the Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna, Senior by Christopher Heu

(4) The Russian Imperial Family in Olden Times by Princess Catherine Radziwill

(5) Flight from Russia by Louise Mountbatten, Queen of Sweden and includes Letters from the Russian Imperial Family. The letters written by the Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana to their cousin, Louise

Romanov Relations will be enjoyed by readers who have an interest in the Romanovs and their legacy, as well as providing a useful reference to writers and historians as they continue to unravel the mysteries and dispel many of the popular held myths surrounding the Romanov dynasty.

Emperor Nicholas II As I Knew Him
by Sir John Hanbury Williams

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In this compelling and intimate series of diary entries, originally published in 1922, Major-General Sir John Hanbury-Williams (1859-1946) depicts Tsar Nicholas II not as history knows him, but as he knew him.

The author claims that he probably saw the Tsar oftener and knew him more intimately than most others, outside his immediate entourage, during the period of his command in the field in 1916 to early 1917.

From a great personal friend of the Emperor and one of the last people to have received any kind of correspondence from him, a fresh perspective on the character of the man behind the title is available.

This is a powerful recollection from Hanbury-Williams, who includes touching and poignant details from his own life in an historical and historic diary.

Sir John Hanbury-Williams (1859-1946) was the Military Secretary to the Secretary of State for War and Brigadier-General in charge of Administration. During the First World War, he was head of the British military mission with the Russian Stavka with direct access to Tsar Nicholas II.

Click HERE to view 5 NEW Romanov titles published in September 2021

Click HERE to view 4 NEW Romanov titles published in August 2021

Rare portrait of Nicholas II on display at Bavaria exhibit

Posted on October 24, 2021 by Paul Gilbert

Portrait of Tsarevich and Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich (1889), the future Emperor Nicholas II, by the artist Baron Ernst Friedrich von Liphart (1847-1932), Russified as Ernst Karlovich Lipgart. Lipgart painted at least six portraits of Russia’s last monarch, including several ceremonial portraits.

This magnificent portrait is currently on display in the Twilight of the Gods II – Last Monarchs in the House of History of Bavaria exhibition, at the Museum of the House of Bavarian History in Regensburg, Bavaria until 16th January 2022.

The Emperor is depicted in the uniform of the Prussian 8th Hussar Regiment, of which he was appointed an Honourary Chief in 1889, his cape is decorated with the Royal Prussian Order of the Black Eagle.

The painting hung from 1890 to 1995 in the former dining room of Neuhaus Castle, directly opposite the portrait of Elector Clemens August of Bavaria. The officers of the 8th Hussar Regiment established a club for their meetings here and in the adjacent premises. The Prussian regiment was stationed at Neuhaus and Paderborn castle from 1851 to 1919. Following the end of World War I, the regiment was disbanded.

After the exhibition ends in January of next year, the portrait will be returned to the Residenz Museum in Neuhaus Castle.

PHOTO: Ernst Karlovich Lipgart (1847-1932). Self-portrait, 1881.
From the Collection of the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Ernst Karlovich Lipgart (1847-1932) was a Russian portraitist and decorator. He was born in Tartu, and after living for a time in Florence, where he studied at the Academy of Arts, he moved to France and then to Russia.

He arrived in St. Petersburg in 1886, where he painted portraits of members of the Imperial family, including a whole gallery of portraits of Nicholas II. He also decorated palaces and theatres in the capital, including the curtain in the Hermitage Theatre.

Lipgart also took on more unusual requests, including the menu for the Tsar’s coronation in 1896 and then painting 100 figures on a piano, telling the story of Orpheus. The piano was a present from the Tsar to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

Between 1906-1929 he served as the Main Curator of the Hermitage Art Gallery. His role in the acquisition of the Madonna with a Flower by Leonardo da Vinci, which belonged to the Benois family, became a sensation in 1914.

In 1921 he was evicted from his house and his daughter was executed for harbouring a White Army officer.

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COLOUR Hard cover edition of ‘Nicholas II. Portraits’ now available!

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CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO ORDER FROM AMAZON

*HARD COVER EDITION @ $50 USD

PAPERBACK EDITION @ $40 USD

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Large format 8-1/2″ x 11″ hard cover and paperback editions, with 178 pages + 200 Colour and black & white photographs

SECOND EDITION, FEATURING 185 FULL COLOUR PHOTOS!

I am pleased to announce the publication of my latest book Nicholas II. Portraits, in both hard cover and paperback editions. This is my first hard cover book and my first book featuring full colour photographs.

Originally published in 2019, with 140 pages with 175 black and white photos, this new expanded edition features more pages and more photographs: 180 pages + more than 200 photos, including 185 FULL COLOUR and 30 black & white!

Nicholas II. Portraits explores a century of portraits of Russia’s last emperor and tsar, through the eyes of pre-revolutionary and contemporary Russian, and foreign artists.

This unique title – the first book of its kind ever published on the subject – features an introduction, as well as a series of short articles, and richly illustrated, including many full-page, with detailed and informative captions.

The cover features a portrait of Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich (1889), the future Emperor Nicholas II, by the artist Baron Ernst Friedrich von *Lipgart (1847-1932).

* Lipgart painted a whole gallery of portraits of Nicholas II, my book features 10 of them – all in COLOUR!

From the Collection of the Museum of the House of Bavarian History in Regensburg, Bavaria.

The articles include: Serov’s Unfinished 1900 Portrait of Nicholas II; A Nun’s Gift to Russia’s New Tsar. The Fate of a Portrait; Galkin’s Ceremonial Portrait of Nicholas II Discovered; among others!

Famous portraits and their respective artists are all represented, including Serov, Repin, Lipgart, Tuxen, Bakmanson, Becker, Bogdanov-Belsky, Kustodiev, and many others.

The last section of the book is dedicated to the works of contemporary Russian artists, who have painted outstanding portraits of Nicholas II since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY FROM AMAZON WORLDWIDE!