Gorbachev's chief rival for power But for some smart footwork one winter night in 1985 by Mikhail Gorbachev's supporters, the Soviet Union might have had a Romanov restoration - not of the former dynasty of tsars, but of Grigory Vasilyevich Romanov, long-time Leningrad...

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Nancy Wykoop of Woodstock, Vt., carries a copy of a drawing made by her grandfather from the dungeon in St. Petersburg where he spent the last year of his life. Underneath the neatly penciled rendering of the spartan, lightless...

Prosecutors announced Friday that they have reopened an investigation into the deaths of the last Russian czar and his family nearly 90 years ago after an archaeologist reported that he may have found the missing remains of Nicholas II's son and heir to the throne.The...

There is a "high degree of probability" that bone fragments found recently near the Russian city of Yekaterinburg are those of a daughter and son of the last czar, forensics experts said Friday.If confirmed, the find would fill in a missing chapter in the story...

The year 1894 marked the beginning of the end of the proud Romonov Dynasty in Russia spanning some three hundred years. Czar Alexander III died suddenly and with no warning from liver failure. His young, inexperienced son Nicholas was left to take control of the enormous Russian empire.

This essay examines to what extent Nicholas's character led to the collapse of the Romanovs. It also looks at Rasputin, the nature of the regime and WWII as contributing factors.

Essay provides a description for the last Imperial Family of Russia: The Romanovas.