Tragedies That Shook Royal Families Around The World

The Mass Execution Of The Romanov Family

Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images

Despite what Disney executives portrayed in their fairytale movie Anastasia, the entire Russian Imperial Romanov family were heinously killed in 1918. Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra and their five children, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei were murdered by Bolshevik troops.

Due to rising conflict in the country, the Romanov’s were overthrown. The entire family was woken in the middle of the night on the pretense of being moved to a safe location. Instead, they were led to the basement, shot, killed, bayoneted and mutilated before their bodies were disposed of in a field. The details surrounding the execution were kept secret, with the first announcement perpetuating the lie that Alexandra and Alexei were alive and well.