Russian Tsars Family Tree | Ivan the Terrible to Nicholas II

CREDITS:
Chart: Matt Baker

[mlovecraftr]

"epileptic seizure while playing with a knife"
ah, yes, the good ol' slip and fall (on top of a knife)

[akikolehmainen]

Romanovs getting the throne wasn't quite the start from scratch that it may have looked like since Filaret was Rurikid on his mother's side.

[DawnReiFaun]

Why didn't you mention the fact that Alexander II was assassinated? That was partially why his successor Alexander III rolled back reforms.

[crystalp]

Anyone who’s read “War and Peace” will know that the book primarily takes place during the reign of Alexander I, although the epilogue does cover the rise of the Decembrists, and Tolstoy’s whole motive for writing the book in the first place was because he wanted to tell the story of the return of the surviving Decembrists from exile (which I believe took place in the 1850s)...but in order to tell that story, he also had to tell the story of the Decembrists...but in order to tell that story, he also had to tell the story of how the Napoleonic Wars (and the French occupation of Moscow in 1812) led to the policies that led to the rise of the Decembrists in the first place. By the time he finishes telling his story, he ends up giving the world one epic story and he only remembers to mention the Decembrists at the very end (although it is implied that either Pierre or his son, I can’t remember which one off the top of my head, ends up becoming one of the Decembrists).

[imokin]

Another great video! Thanks and greetings from Russia!

One thing you didn't mention when talking about how it went wrong, it's that Alexander II was killed by revolutionary terrorists. He was reforming the state, but they wanted immediate radical change and were ready to kill for it. So his son, seeing that, believed that any kind of change is wrong and reforms are bad. He turned the country back, and this only made a revolution more likely.

[iainsan]

I think that you might have mentioned that Alexander II was blown to pieces by an assassin's bomb. This heavily influenced his son and grandson who therefore saw liberalism as a dangerous weakness. Their reactionary attitude partially led to the eventual revolution.

[bernicia-sciw]

It's interesting to see just how Germanized the Romanovs became . The last czar Nicholas II was 1.5% Russian at best in terms of ancestry . His children 0.7% . They were basically German by this point.

[MuricaTurkey]

The story of Ivan V makes me so sad. My son is mentally and physically disabled and the idea that a bunch of people in this young man's family just used him and manipulated him, then ignored him after he served their purposes, until he died, infuriates and saddens me. Apparently though, his wife was very kind and loving to him, which is nice to know.

[Rafirafael.]

I just had a PowerPoint about the history of Russia 🇷🇺 this would have been so useful

[danielforeroc]

Alexander II was the last opportunity for Russia to modernise. Sadly, his son and grandson were bad rulers, if he hadn't been assasinated, he'd probably outlived his son and educated his grandson. One of the reasons why Nicholas was so fearful is because he ended up traumatized after seeing his grandfather dying in the Winter Palace, bleeding to death and with his legs destroyed.

[andrewscott]

As much as Nicholas and George look a like, that want enough motivation for King George to keep his word and rescue the family and bring them back to England

[alisonridout]

FUN FACT - my History teacher in the early 1980s actually looked like Rasputin and we all called him by that name 😂
He was a really good teacher though. I'm in the UK

[lone_cowboy]

This channel is gold! Thank you for your wonderful work!

[napoleonibonaparte]

Fun fact: Paul I thought that his mother was going to pass the crown to his son, Alexander I. Which is why he sought for the succession documents.

Another fun fact: Paul I visited a “holy man” that “predicted” his family’s future. He then wrote a letter only to be opened and read 100 years later. It was Nicholas II that opened and read it with his wife. Nicholas and his wife were both somewhat excited to read it entering, only to be depressed when they left. The letter Paul wrote, spoke of what Paul listened to the holy man said, speaking of a tragedy befalling their dynasty and the empire. Including the Great War.

And an addendum to Jack’s mention of Alexander III: Alexander III pushed back against his father’s reforms because he had several assassination attempts on him (Alexander II). Even during his visit to Paris, lucky enough the gun of the would-be assassin did not fire. Alexander II was killed by a second bomb after surviving the initial blast while checking on his retinue and the people that were hit. Alexander III concluded from this that the liberal reform policies implemented by his father were the cause of his demise.

Interesting to know: Alexander was told that he would face a number of assassination attempts by a “holy man” (iirc). He might have concluded that the initial blast was the last attempt. It was Alexander II’s several assassination attempts and death that ended any walks outside without guards or retinue. His carriage was a bomb-proof one sent by my nephew, Napoleon III. It was very damaged after the first blast. Lastly, he also often went out on strolls in St. Petersburg without guards or retinue, the people would either normally greet, or just pass. Either way, a stroll.

Alexander I might have faked his own death to become a monk, and hid in the far east. A report discovered an old man many years after his ‘death’ matching his description, with general knowledge and some items on the events during his reign, but doesn’t speak much of himself.

[theduckyduck]

The map at 8:09 is incorrect if it's supposed to show Peter the Great's expansion since Finland wasn't part of the Russian Empire until 1809.

[eustache_dauger]

There lived a certain man, in Russia long ago
He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow
Most people looked at him with terror and with fear
But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear
He could preach the Bible like a preacher
Full of ecstasy and fire
But he also was the kind of teacher
Women would desire

Ra, Ra, Rasputin
Lover of the Russian Queen
There was a cat that really was gone
Ra, Ra, Rasputin
Russia's greatest love machine
It was a shame how he carried on

[alisonridout]

Thank you this was brilliant as the last few weeks I've been studying Nicholas and Alexandra and their deaths etc

[silesiaball]

Great video! Also Jack impressed me with his correct pronunciation of name Władysław

[ferd]

If you do a reboot of the "who would be Emperor of Russia today" video you should explain all the mess about morganatic and unequal marriages otherwise the viewers can't understand why Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna and Karl Emich of Leiningen think they have a claim.

[lawsonbrady]

Alexander iii harsh reaction was in part due to the fact that his father was assassinated