Starting in 1533, the Russian empire began to decline. Why? Ivan the Terrible had taken power. He killed his own son, also named Ivan, and his only other competent son, Dimitrij, was found dead with his throat cut. His remaining son, Feodor, was mentally retarded, and when Ivan died in 1584, Feodor was the only heir.
Because of this disaster, Boris Godunov, Feodor's brother-in-law, ruled in place for Feodor. A while later, a man seemed to come from nowhere and proclaim that he was the true Dimitri, that he had somehow survived getting his throat slit. He is now known as Dimitrij the false. Very few people believed him, but he still removed Godunov's family from the throne.
Vasilij IV took over in 1606, killed Dimitrij, and shot his remains out of a cannon. However, his amusement was short-lived. Poland took over in 1610, and it was not until 1613 when a man named Philaret drove them out and offered his son the throne. His son was Mikhail the first, and was the beginning of the Romanov line.
In 1696, Peter the Great took control of Russia, and began the industrialization of Russia. Peter was known for being a giant in his time, and for his obsession with dwarves. He started a museum of curiosities which still stands today in Russia. Peter was also known for his incentive to start new things, but it led to his death. He dived into a harbor to save drowning sailors. He returned with pneumonia and died of it.
Alexander I defeated Napoleon, therefore becoming known as Alexander the Blessed. He died without warning (and without a corpse) in 1825, after which his brother ruled for a while. It is believed that he faked his own death, to join a monastery.
Alexander II was a very unlucky czar. Assassination was attempted on him about 13 times. Someone with a bomb was finally successful. Alexander still lived long enough to get to the palace and die there, someplace he knew well. After this, his son, Alexander III, was shaken badly. Not wanting to share his father's fate, he became a peacemaker.
An interesting tradition started by Alexander III is the Fagberg� eggs. What are the Faberg� eggs? They are fancy, delicate, mechanical masterpieces, in the shape of oversized easter eggs. The first egg was done by Peter Carl Faberg�. It is after this man that the Faberg� eggs are named after. Each egg is decorated heavily with jewels, silver, and gold. Each egg took about a year to finish. There were 56 eggs made in total, but only 10 remain today.
In 1904, Nikolai and Alexandra Romanov were blessed with a son, but this so-called blessing had hemophilia, a disease that made it nearly impossible for blood to clot. Because of this, even the slightest bruise or cut could kill this son, Alexey. In despair, the Romanovs sought a man who could heal each bleeding. Into the story came Grigory Rasputin. He was able to cure bleedings, but he greatly crippled the empire.
In 1914, World War I began, and Russia was dragged into the interminable conflict. The Russian people entered the war with determined hearts, but few returned, and those that did were laden heavy with tragedy and sorrow. All the while, a new party was brewing, the Bolsheviks. They decided that the czar had to go. Their deeds would end the reign of all czars.
Grigory Rasputin was growing in power, but at the same time, sensed a distress amongst the people. He wrote a letter, foretelling that he would die before 1917. It was true. On the night of December 30, 1916, Rasputin was invited to a dinner party by conspiring nobles. They poisoned his cakes with cyanide. When they found out that all it did was to slow him down, they shot him repeatedly, and brutally beat him. He nevertheless survived and was gasping for the breath of life. The nobles tied him up and finally drowned him in the river.
In his letter, Rasputin had stated that if his death was brought upon him by the Russian people, the Romanovs would live long and be mighty for many years. If, however, his death was caused by anyone connected withthe Romanovs, none of the Romanov family would outlive him by more than two years.
On July 16, 1918, Nikolai and his family were taken into the basement of a building and shot. Because the grand duchesses had sewn jewels into their dresses, the bullets glanced off of them. The grand duchesses were stabbed to death. Their bodies were cut into pieces, burned, and thrown down a mine shaft. Acid was poured on them to disintegrate their remains. Rasputin's prophecy had come true.