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Season 2024 – Talk 14 – The Romanovs
In ‘The Romanovs’ Alan Freeland tells us about the dynasty that ruled Russia from 1613 until 1917.
One family:
One family dominates Russian life for three centuries, the Romanoffs.
In Alan’s view possibly the most successful Imperial Royal Family in Europe, and yet people don’t usually give them much credence. A dynasty with a very inauspicious start, with Michael in 1613 and an inauspicious end with the assassination, or execution, of Nicholas II.
17 rulers:
Alan tells us about the 17 rulers who span the three centuries. At least two would earn the title of ‘the Great’.
Then there are others that were incompetent, many self-serving and some just downright nasty.
Geography and a fear of invasion:
For a sense of scale the distance from Moscow to Kyiv is about a thousand kilometers. The only mountains are in the Caucasus and in the far west on the borders of Romania and Western Ukraine. In the East the Ural mountains are really just big hills, not like the Alps or the Pyrenees. Beyond the Urals is Asia and Russian Siberia.
In the more southern latitudes the lands are part of the Eurasian steppe. The steppe nomads, like the Mongols, have renown for conquering their sedentary neighbours.
Just west of Moscow are the Central Russian Uplands. They’re only about 250 meters tall, which is about the size of Box Hill. Whilst not sufficient to be much of a barrier, they are sufficient to be the source of a number of rivers that flow both north and south.
The geography of Russia has few natural boundaries, this makes it very easy for Russia to expand. Its also very easy for enemies to attack and conquer these lands which has always created a sense of paranoid insecurity in the rulers of Russia.
The Mongols, the Ottomans, the Swedes, the Poles, the French and the Germans have swept in over these lands during this period.
This all has an impact on both the history and attitudes today.
Listen to Alan tell us the story of this dynasty.
About this podcast:
This is an edited recording of a talk given to the Farnham u3a World History: Ancient, Medieval and Modern Group.
This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Podchaser, Spotify, YouTube and others.
AKM Music licenses Media Magazine for use with this talk.
© The MrT Podcast Studio and Farnham u3a World History: Ancient, Medieval and Modern Group 2018 – 2026