From 13 August 1917 to 13 April 1918 is relatively called “the Tobolsk period of the Romanovs` exile”. Why was the Tobolsk chosen?

A. Kerensky, the chairman of the Provisional Government wished that town to be chosen as a remote place of an exile. Although remaining a provincial center Tobolsk yielded the administrative functions to Omsk at the beginning of the XX th century as its population grew slowly in comparison with that one of Ishim and Kurgan. Moreover, Tobolsk had neither developed industry nor railway as Tyumen did. It was a quiet town with the population of a little more than 23 thousand people.

Tobolsk was a town of handicraftsmen, clergy, officials and merchants.

A heir to the throne Nokolas Alexandrovich Romanov visited Tobolsk in July 1891.

Being in the Kremlin, in the governor’s museum, he rang the exiled Uglichesky bell.

Grigori Rasputin, the friend of the tsarist family came from peasants living in Pokrovskoye village of Tobolsk province. The Romanovs participated in canonization of Tobolsk Metropolitan loann (Maksimovich) in 1916. The empress did mention these two facts in her letter to Ann Vyrubova: “… saint is calling us there and so is our friend”. The Romanovs set out for Tobolsk. On 1 August 1917 the tsarist family got into a steamer “Rus” in Tyumen.

While passing Pokrovskoye Alexandra Fyodorovna said to her children: “Here an old Grigori used to live and go fishing in the Tobol river and bring the caught fish to the tsarist village for us”.

On 6 August 1917 the steamer arrived at Tobolsk. The tsarist family was supposed to settle in a governor’s house. However, the tsar was informed of the house having been unprepared for the reception. The tsar wrote down in his diary: “The rooms are dirty, empty and not ready to move in”. Thus, the family had to stay in the steamer for the whole week. The Romanovs were relatively free there as they could walk along the bank of the river and meet peasants. Nikolas II visited the Suzgun Cape that was known as the Bald Hill. According to a version the Romanovs did visit the Abalaksky Monastery.

The tsar wrote down in his diary: “The rooms are dirty, empty and not ready to move in”. Thus, the family had to stay in the steamer for the whole week. The Romanovs were relatively free there as they could walk along the bank of the river and meet peasants. Nikolas II visited the Suzgun Cape that was known as the Bald Hill. According to a version the Romanovs did visit the Abalaksky Monastery.

On 13 August their staying in the governor’s house began. Besides the numerous guard (330 soldiers and 6 officers) some other people wanting to be helpful followed the tsarist family in their journey to Tobolsk with general-adjutant Tatishchev, prince Dolgorukov, physician-in-ordinary E. Botkin, Cesarevich Alexey`s teacher – Pyer Zhilyar amongst. All in all 45 people: persons in attendance and servants. The Romanovs settled on the first floor of the governor’s house, their attendants – in the house of the hotel “Loskutnaya” and in the houses of Tobolsk officials and merchants. At first the Romanovs lived a quiet and peaceful life in Tobolsk. The children were engaged in doing their lessons, Nikolas II worked in the study. The tsar and great princesses even started going out. There was a horizontal bar, a swing and a pond for ducks in the yard.

At night the family would all gather in the living-room to talk, play cards and have tea.

On 8 September 1977 the Romanovs got possibility to visit the Blagoveshchenskaya Church. On their first visit Nikolas noted the stupidity of the guard’s placement as soldiers were standing along the road, whilst others were crowding at the Church.

They had visited it until a great scandal happened on 25 December.

The matter is that the wonder-working Abalakskaya icon “Sign” would be brought into the town in July.
When reading the festive canon the priest proposed the health of the tsar and mentioned all his titles in accordance with an old tradition.

The soldiers were beside themselves as the priest dared to celebrate the tsar after the tsarist regime had been overthrown in Russia. It was only the intercession of the Archbishop Germogen that saved the priest.

Soldiers` indignation spread over all the inhabitants of the governor’s house, they were prohibited to visit Church. As a result services became possible in the Assembly Hall of the governor’s house, where the iconostasis had been arranged. The service was conducted by the priest of the Blagoveshchenskaya Church Alexiy (Vasilyev) and two nuns.

The guard treated the Romanovs in a different way. Some of them were hostile while the other strelets couldn’t help sympathizing with the emperor and his family.

When those sympathetic were keeping guard Nikolas II would drop at their place, play draughts and just talk to them as the emperor himself put it he would do it “to unburden his heart”.

Such a quiet life lasted till the October Revolution. In February 1918 the tsarist family were put on common soldiers` board as the new authorities declared that they couldn’t afford a privileged position for the former tsar’s family. The Ioann –Vvedensky women`s monastery had to take a responsibility for providing foodstuff for the Romanovs.

At the end of March all the tsar’s attendants including the servants were under arrest. The situation in the town grew more complicated. Immediately coffee, cream, butter partly sugar disappeared from the tsarist family`s dinner-table.

The detachments of the Red Army quarreling with each other were involved into collapses. That one consisting of the Ural soldiers under Commissar Zaslavsky`s command proved the most warlike.
Zaslavsky required that the tsarist family should be transferred to prison otherwise he would explode the whole quarter. For this reason the inhabitants of the governor’s house were not allowed to come up to the window and stay on the balcony. There was a rumour about the monarchists` conspiracy aiming at setting the Romanovs free.

On 9 April 1918 commissar Yakovlev brought a mandate signed by Swerdlov by which the Romanovs had to be brought to Moscow.

The tsar was supposed to participate in concluding a peace treaty with the Germans. However, Yakovlev had a secret order to take the tsarist family to Yekaterinburg. It was a matter of some difficulty. Cesarevich Alexey fell seriously ill. He could hardly stand bad conditions of the way. The family got in a predicament.

Thus it was settled to leave Alexey in Tobolsk until the ice on the rivers broke.

On 13 April 1918 the emperor, the empress, the great princess and the attendants set out for the Urals. On 20 April the Romanovs left Tobolsk for their last journey.