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Practice dictation & shadowing on the daily life story: Anastasia and the Russian Revoluion
Anastasia and the Russian Revoluion
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Anastasia and the Russian Revolution
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The 20th century brought many changes to traditional cultures around the world.
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Some of the most radical changes occurred in the Russian Empire, which had one of the oldest monarchies in Europe.
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In 19/17/18, the rule of the czars was replaced by the world's first communist government, led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.
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No one was more affected by these changes than Anastasia, the Czar's youngest daughter.
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Between 1895 and 1901, Czar Nicholas the 2nd and his wife Alexandra became the parents of four beautiful and healthy daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Marie and Anastasia.
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However, since a girl could not inherit the throne of Russia, it was important for Alexandra to give birth to a son.
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Finally, in 1904, the Czar and Czarina had a son, Alexei.
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This event, which should have made the whole family very happy, proved to be a source of great sorrow.
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Alexei was soon found to have an incurable disease.
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This disease, hemophilia, meant that Alexei regularly suffered from uncontrollable internal and external bleeding, which left him very weak.
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This caused anxiety for all the family, especially his mother and father.
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The Czar and Czarina love their children.
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The girls who didn't have to worry about becoming rulers, let a fairly carefree existence.
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Anastasia and her sisters lived in a palace with hundreds of servants.
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They attended many society parties with their parents.
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The most elaborate parties were grand balls where everyone dressed in their finest clothes and danced all through the night.
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The absolute rule of the czar was not popular with everybody.
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The majority of the population was poor peasant farmers who could barely keep themselves and their families alive if they moved into the city.
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To get jobs in the factories, they had to work long hours for very low wages and live in slum conditions.
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Popular opposition forced the czar in 1905 to give up some of his power to an elected parliament.
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None of the girls married.
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They all lived a happy life.
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Together they moved from palace to palace, attended by their private tutors, visiting the beach and sailing on the Royal Yacht.
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Anastasia was the clown of the family.
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She didn't like schoolwork, but she enjoyed painting and photography.
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Many of her photos of the royal family and happy times survive.
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Soon the Czar's problems worsened.
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The Empress Alexandra worried about her son and became ill War with Germany broke out in 1914 and the Russians suffered many defeats and losses.
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In March 1917 there was a popular revolution and the Czar was deposed.
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From that time on, the Royal family were prisoners.
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At first they were treated kindly, but in November the Bolsheviks or communists gained control of the revolution.
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Lenin and his followers hated the czar.
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The royal family have been living in Tabolsk in Siberia, because of fears that they might escape.
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They were brought back to a Katerinburg in the Ural region.
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Here, after midnight on June 19th 1918, the entire royal family was shot by the Bolsheviks.
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To some, this news was too dreadful to be believed.
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The thought that the Czar's lively and beautiful daughters have been killed was too hard to bear within a couple of years.
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A woman who went by the name of Anna Anderson appeared in Western Europe.
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She claimed to be Anastasia.
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Some believed her story and some did not.
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With the fall of the Soviet Union, it was possible to investigate the murder of the royal family.
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It was also possible to prove that Anna Anderson was not the real Anastasia.
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After a long surge, the bodies of Anastasia and Alexe were found.
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They had died with the rest of the family.
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A great mystery was finally solved.