(Ella of Hesse)
(1864-1918)
part 2
Elisabeth's youngerst sister, Alix, had met Tsarevitch Nicholas at Ella's wedding in 1894, when she was twelve. Later on they had seen each other when Alix visited here sister Nicholas had felt in love with her but Alix was unsure about her feelings. Ella had always encorage her to accept Nicholas. One of Alix's obstacles was the change of religion. Ella was not forced to embrace Orthodoxy because Sege was far away in the line of succesion to the Russian throne, but the wife of the heir to the throne woukld have unavoidably to convert. Ella tried to explain Alix about the Orthodox doctrines, she even lent her books and did as much as she could to convinced her. Finally, in 1894, at her brother Ernest's wedding in Coburg, Alix and Nicholas became engaged.
From then on, events happened very quickly; Tsar Alexander III died that same year; Alix embraced the Russian faith and she married Nicholas, who now was Tsar Nicholas II. She became Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Since the begining, Alexandra proved to be shy; she didn't like to participate in court ceremoniesor in any other evnet she had to deal with people, which made her quite unpopular. Besides she didn't get along with her mother in law, now Dowager Empress,who didn't understand that Alexandra, as the reigning empress had precedence over her. Elisabeth, in a conciliative attitude, did as much as she could to help. She used to spetn much time with her sister and her brother in law. She even accompanied Alexandra during her first childbirth in 1895, when Grand Duchess Olga was born.
On Nicholas and Alexandra's coronation day, in 1896, a great feast was offered to the peasants in honour of the new Tsar, at Khodynka Meadow, in the outsides of Moscow. Serge, as Governor General of Moscow, was in charge of the organization of the feast, where free beer and gifts were going to be given to the people. At the first hour of the morning of May 30, half million people had gathered at Khodynka, where they could see the beer and the gifts already awaiting for them. Serge had only assigned 16 men to keep order among the crowd. Suddenly a rumour spread among the people that here were not enough beer and presents for everybody. They began to push each other, falling down and crushing between them. It all happened in 15 mminutes; there were 1429 deads and thousands of woundeds. The blame of the tragedy fall on Serge, who was accused of negligence. Anyway he was exhonerated, and he stayed in his charge. With this fact he became even more unpoular than he already was.
During the subsequent years following their mother's death, Marie and Dimitri, Grand Duke Paul's children, spent long periods of time at Ilinskoe with Serge and Ella. Altough his severe character, Serge was affectionate and tender with his brother's children, but he demanded form them a strict obedience. On the other hand, Elisabeth showed herself indifferent towards the children; as Marie later recalled: "My aunt Ella never showed the less interest towards us, seeing us the less possible, seeming disagreable to her our presence in the house and the affection our uncle showed us". Elisabeth's attitude towards the children was maybe caused by her herown lacked of children and becuase Serge had never demontrate her the same affection as to the children; nevertheless, she loved them. In 1901, Grand Duke Paul became involved with a divorcee woman named Olga Pistolkors; they got married without the Tsar's permisson and in consecuence Nicholas exiled Paul from Russia. It was decided that Serge would be the official tutor for Paul's children, so Marie and Dimitri went to live permanently to Moscow with Serge and Ella. Serge told them: "I am your father now and you are my children". He forbid Paul to see his children it would pass almost a year before he allowed a meeting in Germany. To Serge's annoyance, Marie and Dimitri missed and loved their father and they were delighted to meet him again.
Meanwhile,anarchy and revolts in Russia had increased during the last yeras Nicholas II showed himself a weak monarch. On April 3, 1902, Ella wrote a letter to his brother in law: "...Nicky dear, for Heaven's sake be enregetic now, more deaths may be in store...put an end to this time of terror -forgive me if I write straight out witout phrases and look as if I were dictating, I don't expect your doing what I say. I only put it so in case these ideas might be of use to you. I would have directly named your new minister; every day you looks will do harm- why not Pleve who has experience and is honest. Don't be so gentle -all think you are wavering and weak, they no more speak of you as kind and it makes my heart ache so too too bitterly" (Maylunas).
Plehve was in fact named minister of the Interior and his ineptitude made him the most hated man in Russia.; Elisabeth was regreted for having given Nicholas such anawful advise.
In the summer of 1904, Serge and Elisabeth made a visit to Sarovo. It is said that they walked into the woods to meet an elderly hermit who lived there. The old man told Serge that he would be killed and his head "crushed to atoms" (Mager).
The years of 1904 and 1905 proved to be awful for Russia. In 1904 it was the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, with disastrous results for Russia. The revolutionary movement in Moscow was strnghtening day by day. On July 28, Plehve, the hated minster of the Interior was murdered by terrorists at the Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg. On August 12, Empress Aexandra gave birth to the long awaited heir, the Tsarevitch Alexis, and soon it became evident he had haemophilia, fact that made Alexandra to feel guilty and made the Imperial couple more isolated from their subjects in trying to hide the Tsarevicth's illness.
On Sunday, January 22, 1905, Father Gapon, an "excitable man, fund of drink, with handsome berad face and a reputation as a holy man" organized a grand march of thousands of people to the Winter Palace to present several petitons to the Tsar; they had no arms and were going in terms of peace. When they arrived to the Palace, bearing icons and portraits of the Tsar, the Cossack cavalry ordered them to disperse; as Father gapon refused and insisted in seeing the Tsar, the troops opened fire. Thousands of people were killed, including women and children. It was called the "Bloody Sunday".
The terrosits that had killed lehve were leaded by a jew named Ezno Azev, who was involucrated with the Socialist Revolutionary Party, a terrosit movement that included among its members many from the "Will of the People" that had killed Alexander II. Azev had planned Plehve's assesination because he blamed the minister of the progrom that had took place in Kisahirev in 1903, were many of Azev's relatives were killed. He had never forgotten the expulsion of the Jews from moscow in 1891, ordered by Grand Duke Serge, so he chose the Grand Duke as his next victim. Azev ordered Boris Savinkov and Ivan Kaliaev, the same polish students that had murdered that had murdered Plehve, to go to Moscow and kill Serge.
On Wednesday, February 15 (February 2 on the Russian calendar), 1905, Serge and Ella were going to attend a performance at the Bolshoi theatre. When their carriage passed by where Ivan Kaliaev was, the terrorist was about to throw a bomb when he noticed that besides Serge and Ella, Marie and Dimitri were in the carriage. Kaliaev decided he could not kill two innocent children and the whole family was saved. Two days later, on February 17, Serge left the Kremlin by the Nikolski Gate in his carriage, conducted by his driver Andrei Rudinkin. While the carraige by the Senate Square, Kaliaev, dressed as a peasant threw the bomb towards the carriage. A terrible explosion was heard and Serge was instantly killed. His body cas completely mutilated, his head, the upper part of the chest and the left shuolder and arm were blown off and completely destroyed. Rudinkin was severly wounded and after the smoke had disperse Kaliaev was caught by the police.
From her rooms in the Kremlin, Elisabeth heard the terrible explosion and she inmediately tought: "It's Serge".
All morning she had felt unease; from her window she could see people running on to the square. She quickly put on her coat and, followed by Mlle. Helene, the children's governess, she set off in direction of the square. The people gathered there tried to prevent her from passing but she push trhough the place where the remains of Serge's body were lying. She inclined on his right hand and took off his rings, while her face covered with his blood. She herself arranged that serge's remains were placed on a stretcher brought from her Red Cross Organization and covered with a soldier's coat.. The remains were taken to the Chudov monastery. All the time, Elisabeth mainteined the calm and she showed up her submission to the will of God.
Meanwhile Ivan Kaliaev had been transferred to the Pugachev tower of Boutyrky Prisson. On February 20, Elisabeth visited her husband's murderer in his prisson. She approached him, all dressed in black, with tears in her eyes and told him in a low voice: "I am his wife". Kaliaev answered: "Princess, don't cry,. It had to be so. Why do they talk to me only after I have commited a murder?"
Elisabeth:-"You must have suffered a lot to take this decision"
Kaliaev:-"What does it matter whether I suffered or not. Yes I suffered; but I join my suffering to that of a million others. Too much blood is being spilt around us, yet we have no other form of protest against a cruel government and a terrible war. But why don't they talk to me only after I have commited murder?
Elisabeth:-"Yes, it's a pitty that you did not come to see us and that we did not know you before"
Kaliaev:-"So you think it is easy to go to you. Surely you know what happened on January 4 when they went to the Tsar. Do you really believe that this could go unpunished? There is also that terrible war that people hate so much. You have declared war on the peple and we took up the challenge. I would give my life thousand times, not just once. Russia must be free."
Elisabeth: -" In war men fight each other, face to face,and you have murdered from behind, that is not war but cowardice. You think that you are the only ones that suffer; we also suffer and i assure you, we wish only good for the people."
Kaliaev: -" Yes, you are suffering now! and as for the good... lets leave the good aside."
At that point of the conversation they both were silent for a while and then Eliabeth started talking about Serge. Kaliaev interupted her saying that he didn't want to talk about the grand Duke because he didn't want discuss him with her. Then Elisabeth said: "Yes, I don't want to enter into discusison with you. I only wantyed you to know that the Grand Duke forgives you and that I will pray for you. I beg you to accept this icon in my memory". Kaliaev took the icon and he stood up as Elisabeth rose to leave.
Ivan Kaliaev was taken to the Schlusselburg Fortress near St. Petersburg. On May 23 he was hanged on the courtyard of the fortressand his body remained suspended for 30 minutes before it was burried outside the fortress.
After Serge's death, Elisabeth retired completely from social life; she forgot all of Serge's deffects and began to idolized him. She wrote: "I hope God might give me strenght, that never one can say I was worthy of having been in olden times guided by such a true noble husband and true Christian". She devoted more than ever to charities and established a hospital at Ilinskoe for wounded soldiers. She wrote:" I took it up not as cross but as a road full of light God showed me after Serge's death and which years and years before had begun in my soul." Her attitude towards Marie and Dimitri changed completely and now she acted as a loving mother.
