THE LAST OF THE ROMANOVS: ASSASSINATION OR EXECUTION?

Chris Danziger, tutor, Oxford University Department of Continuing Education

The place – the Ipatiev House, Ekaterinburg, 1 900 km from Moscow. The date – 17th July 1918. The time – 1.00 a.m. The event – the death of the whole of the last Russian Royal Family. In Soviet times, the house was demolished to prevent it from becoming a neo-Imperialist shrine. But the murder, especially one as brutal as this, of a family with five children and two dogs is always a cause for revulsion. Sentiment has swung full circle and the Russian Orthodox Church has now proclaimed them saint-martyrs. However, in 1918 the stakes were too high to allow the Tsar to live. Was this in effect the assassination of innocent victims or the execution of a dangerous political enemy?