The Romanovs. The History of the Russian Dynasty

It was 20 years before the beginning of the XX century. The country was in fever. Never before tsar’s power had been as unstable as at that time. It was Alexander III Aleksandrovich who had to take on responsibility for the future of the empire. He was able to extricate the country from economic crisis and turn it into one of the world’s mightiest powers. It was in this condition – at the peak of its power – that the country was inherited by Nicholas Aleksandrovich Romanov. Nobody could even guess at that time that the Russian Empire would collapse soon and Nicholas would be its last ruler, the last monarch of the great dynasty, the House of Romanov.

The most vivid pages of Russian history and the establishment and consolidation of Russian state power are associated with the eighteen Russian Tsars of the House of Romanov which include such historic names as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas I and Alexanders I, II and III. The dynasty ended with the brutal assassination of the last Tsar, Nicholas II and his family by the Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg in 1917.

The Romanov dynasty played a hugely important role in world history, and the series highlights the life stories and characters of the tsars, recounting their rise to power and their contribution to the dynasty, their merits and their faults, their achievements and mistakes, their victories and defeats in war.