The Race to Save the Romanovs: The Truth Behind the Secret Plans to Rescue the Russian Imperial Family

This July marks the 100th anniversary of the murder of Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, their five children and their four remaining entourage members in a cellar of the former Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg. However, interest in the fate of the Imperial Family has not waned. On the contrary, there has been a proliferation of books devoted to the topic. Most of these books are full of bizarre conspiracy theories and are not worth the paper they are written on.Ms. Rappaport is well known for her work on the Russian Revolution. Her current work in “The Race to Save the Romanovs” adds some relatively minor information at the periphery of knowledge in this area. However, the basic information about the fate of the Imperial family and the so-called attempts to rescue them remains unchanged. The book is well written and well researched. However, I found little in the book that has not already been covered in what I consider to be the best books on the topic namely Robert Massie’s superb “Nicholas and Alexandra (1967)” and his coda to that book “The Romanovs – The Final Chapter (1995).”The information about the reasons why the Imperial Family were unable to leave Russia after the Tsar’s abdication in March 1917 has been made clear in many books written years ago. The matter was addressed partially in the memoirs of the British Ambassador to Russia, Sir George Buchanan, (“My Mission to Russia” – 1923) and further details were added by the Ambassador’s daughter Meriel Buchanan in “Dissolution of an Empire” (1932) and in a couple of later books by her. Alexander Kerensky, a member of the Provisional Government, also addressed the topic in his later memoirs.The essential facts, which Ms. Rappaport repeats, are these:1. After the Tsar abdicated in March 1917 he eventually returned after a short interval to the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo where the Empress Alexandra and his children were located;2. The Imperial family were placed under house arrest by the Provisional Government;3. The first Foreign Minister for the Provisional Government, Pavel Milyukov, was anxious to get the Imperial family out of Russia and managed to secure from the British Government an offer to grant asylum to the Imperial Family in England;4. After that King George V began receiving hostile letters from around the United Kingdom expressing opposition to the Tsar and his family being granted asylum in England;5. At the urging of his Private Secretary, Lord Stamfordham, King George then urged the British Government to withdraw the asylum offer;6. Consideration was given to providing asylum for the family in France, but the French Government declined to accept the Romanovs.Since that time, the story has gained traction that if it were not for the opposition of King George V the Imperial Family could have been saved. However, as has been pointed out in numerous studies and books, the window for the Romanovs to escape from Russia had already closed within 5-6 days of the Tsar’s abdication if not earlier. This was because the Bolsheviks had control of the railway line from Tsarskoe Selo to Petrograd and from Petrograd outwards. The Petrograd Soviet were determined to prevent the escape of the Imperial Family and the Provisional government which was weak and ineffective knew that there was no way in which they could convey the Imperial Family safely to the port of Murmansk from which they could be evacuated to England on a British ship. Accordingly, whether George V and other European monarchs were willing to grant asylum to the Imperial Family is irrelevant from a practical point of view. Ms. Rappaport agrees with the above in her book. Yet she returns repeatedly to the issue of the supposed “guilt” of King George V in this matter.Ms. Rappaport has done extensive research on the diplomatic efforts of King Alphonso XIII of Spain to secure the removal of the Romanovs from Russia. Some of this is new information, but the King’s diplomatic efforts were to no avail because by that time the Provisional government had been overthrown and the Bolsheviks under Lenin were firmly in power. The Bolsheviks hated “Bloody Nicholas” with a passion and were determined to prevent any escape of the Imperial Family from Russia. Moreover, there is evidence that Nicholas and Alexandra might have refused to leave Russia even if the opportunity had been offered. Their unrealistic plan was to get to Crimea and reside at their Livadia Palace.Other European monarchs made feeble diplomatic efforts to save the Romanovs. These included King Christian X of Denmark, King Gustav V of Sweden, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and King Haakon VII of Norway all of whom were related directly or distantly to both Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra. However, their efforts were in vain because of the opposition of the Bolshevik government and their determination to kill as many members of the extended Romanov clan as possible. The bad faith of the Bolshevik government was shown by the fact that they continued to insist for eight years after the murders that only Nicholas II had been executed. Indeed, they tried to use the dead Empress and her children as bargaining chips in negotiations with foreign powers.Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, whose own throne was in peril and which was lost not long thereafter, was as Ms. Rappaport points out perhaps better positioned than the other European monarchs to secure the safe release of the Imperial Family after the Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Russia and Germany in March 1918 removed Russia from the war. Ms. Rappaport adds some useful information on this. It is clear, however, that the Kaiser had little affection for the Romanovs and placed his own country and its welfare above any consideration of saving the Imperial Family.I think therefore that the title of Ms. Rappaport’s book – “The Race to Save the Romanovs” is a misnomer. There never was a “race.” As Ms. Rappaport herself points out the fate of the Imperial family was sealed within a few days of the Tsar’s abdication and became inevitable after the family was transferred to Siberia first to Tobolsk and later to Ekaterinburg.After the family was transferred to Siberia there were numerous hare-brained plans by Russian monarchists to save the Imperial Family. Ms. Rappaport describes these in detail only to debunk them. However, these plots to the extent that they existed outside of the vivid imaginations of the participants were so foolish that they amounted to nothing at all and the information Ms. Rappaport provides in this connection is of little value or interest.Although I found Ms. Rappaport’s book interesting and appreciated her extensive research, I’m not able to recommend this book to general readers. Ms. Rappaport states at the beginning of the book that after publishing her other books on the Imperial Family and the Russian Revolution that she thought she had exhausted all she had to say on the subject. However, she could not then resist the opportunity to provide a few additional details and therefore wrote this book. I think in many respects her first thoughts were correct and this book adds little new information of importance. I think this book will be of interest to those who have a special interest in the minutiae surrounding the murder of the Imperial Family. However, general readers would do better by confining themselves to the Massie books that I mentioned at the beginning of this review.I will say that Ms. Rappaport has mostly done a good job in avoiding the errors that usually confound books about the Russian Imperial Family. However, she persists, as in previous books by her, in describing Grand Duke Nikolay Nikolaevich incorrectly as the Uncle of Nicholas II, whereas in her own Glossary of Names, she correctly describes him as the Tsar’s first cousin once removed. The Grand Duke was not an insignificant figure as the first Commander in Chief of the Russian Imperial army during the Great War.

This is the best nonfiction book I’ve read this year and the most comprehensive account regarding the plight of the Romanovs during the Russian Revolution. They key issue addressed is why the royal relatives throughout Europe didn’t save their Russian cousins. There were so many factors at play: dislike of Czarina Alexandra, the vehemence of Soviets, the family’s refusal to be separated (or even to leave Russia), and logistical obstacles like weather, illness, and war.With war waging on the continent, the Allies were more concerned about losing the might of the Russian army on the Eastern Front. Any negotiations with the provisional government gave way to dealings with the Communists, who felt the Tsar should pay for misfortunes of the country. “[The Romanovs] were a reminder of the hated past and of a defunct tsarist regime that the revolution had destroyed…”During the past century, much blame has been laid at the feet of King George of England for not being more proactive in rescuing Nicholas and his family. But one must remember that he was a constitutional monarch and he couldn’t offer asylum without government approval (although he tried). “Socialism had brought with it the much feared specter of republicanism, and King George was only too acutely aware that his government’s priority was to hold the Home Front together all the time there was a war going on. He dreaded the onrush of a class war in Britain mimicking that in Russia; his cousin Nicholas’s fall from power posed a serious conflict of interests over which he dithered and agonized as he tried to balance his private familial sympathies with his duty as head of the nation.”What I didn’t know previously was that as much blame could be placed on Kaiser Wilhelm for not stepping up to rescue the Romanovs, especially following the German/Russian treaty. Any other diplomatic intervention by other countries was met with derision by the Soviets, who guaranteed the safety of the family to the outside world. Regardless, “Moral cowardice was indeed a characteristic of all the failed negotiations by all the parties involved…”The bottom line is that no one outside nation or sovereign was to blame; it was the Communists who ultimately imprisoned the Romanovs and murdered them in cold blood. Rappaport also staunchly emphasizes that the Romanovs would never have left Russian soil: “To leave Russia would have been an act of betrayal of Mother Russia and a final acceptance of the irrevocable destruction of their world.” The fate of the family was basically sealed once Nicholas abdicated and the very short window of opportunity closed. It is one of the saddest chapters in history, but this book does a phenomenal job presenting the various factors that would doom the Romanovs.

Just finished read the authors other work on the Romanovs.So tragic and deeply moving and unbearable to read their fate.Britain and King George V and Lloyd George dop not emerge as particulary likeable folks,but then neither does the Kaiser.Nicholas and Alexandra had many flaws and faults and perhaps made huge mistakes,but no one deserved their fate,and as for the children,or young people,well ,cruel and horrendous end.I sincerely hope Lenin and his acolytes are roasting in the pit,they deserve no less.Now that is an emotiona judgement of course,historians would no doubt point out many fallacies in my statement.But was angry and sad at the end.

This fills an important gap in the market, and well done to the author for so speedily assimilating all the information and putting out in such a characteristically readable and information-packed format. It is possible to almost feel her excitement as she grapples with the facts at her disposal - something that enhances the fast pace of her narrative.Rappaport has neatly addressed the gaps in the story and shown why nobody managed to rescue the captive Romanovs - not least because they really didn't want to leave their beloved Russia - and for the first time unravels the real and complex role played by George V and his ministers in the tricky early days following the Revolution. For anyone who wants to write accurate historical fiction on this subject, Rappaport's book will be an invaluable resource, and it will now be possible to make a clear distinction between fact and fiction - something that has previously been uncertain.I hope that this will draw a decisive line under the story of the Romanovs, and that those who insist on clinging to conspiracy theories in preference to truth will finally acknowledge that the case for the death of the whole family has been proven beyond doubt, not only by Rappaport but most convincingly with DNA testing by scientists from both east and west. Maybe now the family can finally be allowed to be "at rest with the saints."

From beginning to end, I found Rappaport's writing to be direct, engaging, and clear. The title can be found in several ways in the elegantly woven story: pre-revolution entreaties by European royals to the Romanovs anticipate the heart-wrenching tale of the abdication, arrest, and murder of the Imperial Family.This book was a fantastic historical exploration of a topic which has been mulled over by many journalists, historians, and gossipers over the last century. Rappaport's thoroughly researched and well constructed argument surely must be top of the list for any interested party in the last days of the Russian Imperial family, and Europe's reponse to them whilst in the throes of World War I.I would thoroughly recommend this book. Fantastically easy to read because it is so well written - I could not put it down.

As someone with an interest in Imperial Russia, I found this book fascinating, if ultimately sad.Reading about the many well- meaning, but bungled attempts to rescue the Csar and his family from captivity was so interesting, if ultimately depressing.The family had so many allies and family connections all over Europe that is is a lasting shame that this abdicated monarch and his family were not removed from Russia in time to save them from their horrible fate.Helen Rappaport manages to humanise her subjects and make us care abut them.We do not need reminding that this is not fiction, but stark fact.All of her works about the Romanovs are well worth reading.

Timelines and diverse family, political and international connections are notoriously difficult to bring together into a coherent story line but here we have a complex story told directly and as it happens. The author avoids taking sides whilst examining the motives and outcomes in the context of the times in which they take place. European royal families striving for validity, a world war, a civil war a revolution and the inevitable execution of an extended family requires a sharp mind to explain but Helen Rappaport has done an excellent job in giving all sides a fair hearing and suggesting conclusions that are thought provoking rather than theatrical sensationalism. A mildly heavy read but well worth the time and effort.