THE REVOLUTION SEEN FROM THE ALEXANDER PALACE—THE CZAR’S RETURN TO TSARSKO?E-SELO  
WHILE the dramatic events I have described in the preceding chapters were in progress at Pskoff and Mohileff the Czarina and her children, who had remained behind at the Alexander Palace, were passing through days of the most poignant anguish.
As we have seen, it was only after long hesitation that the Czar, in his anxiety, had decided on March 8th, 1917, to leave Tsarsko?e-Selo and go to G.H.Q.
His departure was a great blow to the Czarina, for to the fears aroused in her breast by the political situation had been added her anxiety about Alexis Nicola?evitch. The Czarevitch had been in bed with measles for several days, and his condition had been aggravated by various complications. To crown everything, three of the Grand-Duchesses had also been taken ill, and there was no one but Marie Nicola?evna to help the mother.
On March 10th we learned that trouble had broken out in Petrograd and that bloody collisions had taken place between police and demonstrators.
The fact was that for several days the shortage of food had produced feelings of bitter discontent in the poorer quarters of{210} the city. There had been processions, and mobs had appeared in the streets demanding bread.
I realised that Her Majesty had a good deal on her mind, for, contrary to her usual habit, she spoke freely about political events, and told me that Protopopoff had accused the Socialists of conducting an active propaganda among railway employees with a view to preventing the provisioning of the city, and thus precipitating a revolution.
On the 11th the situation suddenly became very critical and the most alarming news arrived without warning. The mob made its way into the centre of the town, and the troops, who had been called in the previous evening, were offering but slight resistance.
I heard also that an Imperial ukase had ordered the sittings of the Duma to be suspended, but that, in view of the grave events in progress, the Assembly had disregarded the decree for its prorogation and decided to form an executive committee charged with the duty of restoring order.
The fighting was renewed with greater violence the next morning, and the insurgents managed to secure possession of the arsenal. Towards the evening I was told on the telephone from Petrograd that reserve elements of several regiments of the Guard—e.g., the Paul, Preobrajensky, and other regiments—had made common cause with them. This piece of news absolutely appalled the Czarina. She had been extremely anxious since the previous evening, and realised that the peril was imminent.
She had spent these two days between the rooms of the Grand-Duchesses and that of Alexis Nicola?evitch, who had taken a turn for the worse, but she always did her utmost to conceal her torturing anxiety from the invalids.{211}
At half-past ten on the morning of the 13th the Czarina beckoned me to step into an adjoining room just as I was entering the Czarevitch’s bedroom. She told me that the capital was actually in the hands of the revolutionaries and that the Duma had just set up a Provisional Government with Rodzianko at its head.
“The Duma has shown itself equal to the occasion,” she said. “I think it has realised the danger which is threatening the country, but I’m afraid it is too late. A Revolutionary-Socialist Committee has been formed which will not recognise the authority of the Provisional Government. I have just received a telegram from the Czar saying he will be here at six in the morning, but he wants us to leave Tsarsko?e-Selo for Gatchina,[58] or else go to meet him. Please make all arrangements for Alexis’s departure.”
The necessary orders were given. Her Majesty was a prey to terrible doubt and hesitation. She informed Rodzianko of the serious condition of the Czarevitch and the Grand-Duchesses, but he replied: “When a house is burning the invalids are the first to be taken out.”
At four o’clock Dr. Derevenko came back from the hospital and told us that the whole network of railways round Petrograd was already in the hands of the revolutionaries, so that we could not leave, and it was highly improbable that the Czar would be able to reach us.
About nine in the evening Baroness Buxh?veden entered my room. She had just heard that the garrison of Tsarsko?e-Selo had mutinied and that there was firing in the streets. She was going to tell the Czarina, who was with the Grand-Duchesses. As a matter of fact, she came into the corridor at{212} that moment and the Baroness told her how things stood. We went to the windows. We saw General Reissine, who had taken up position outside the palace at the head of two companies of the composite regiment. I also saw some marines of the bodyguard and cossacks of the escort. The park gates had been occupied in special strength, the men being drawn up in four ranks, ready to fire.
At that moment we heard on the telephone that the rebels were coming in our direction and had just killed a sentry less than five hundred yards from the palace. The sound of firing came steadily nearer and a fight seemed inevitable. The Czarina was horrorstruck at the idea that blood might be shed under her very eyes; she went out with Marie Nicola?evna and exhorted the men to keep cool. She begged them to parley with the rebels. It was a terrible moment, and our hearts almost stopped beating with suspense. A single mistake and there would have been a hand-to-hand fight followed by bloodshed. However, the officers stepped in and a parley began. The rebels were impressed by the words of their old leaders and the resolute attitude of the troops which remained faithful.
The excitement gradually subsided and a neutral zone was fixed between the two camps.
Thus was the night passed, and in the morning formal orders from the Provisional Government arrived which put an end to the dreadful situation.
In the afternoon Her Majesty sent for the Grand Duke Paul and asked him if he knew where the Czar was. The Grand Duke did not know. When the Czarina questioned him about the situation he replied that in his opinion the grant of a constitution at once could alone avert the peril. The Czarina shared that view, but could do nothing, as she had been
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IN THE CHAIR, THE GRAND-DUCHESS MARIE RECOVERING FROM HER ILLNESS. ON THE LEFT, ANASTASIE NICOLA?EVNA. ON THE RIGHT, TATIANA NICOLA?EVNA. APRIL, 1917.
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THE FOUR GRAND-DUCHESSES IN THE PARK AT TSARSKO?E-SELO. MAY, 1917.
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unable to communicate with the Czar since the previous evening.
The day of the 15th passed in an oppressive suspense. At 3.30 a.m. next morning Dr. Botkin was called to the telephone by a member of the Provisional Government, who asked him for news of Alexis Nicola?evitch. (We heard subsequently that a report of his death had been circulating in the city.)
The Czarina’s ordeal was continued the next day. It was three days since she had had any news of the Czar and her forced inaction made her anguish all the more poignant.[59]
Towards the end of the afternoon the news of the Czar’s abdication reached the palace. The Czarina refused to believe it, asserting it was a canard. But soon afterwards the Grand Duke Paul arrived to confirm it. She still refused to believe it, and it was only after hearing all the details he gave her that Her Majesty yielded to the evidence. The Czar had abdicated at Pskoff the previous evening in favour of his brother, the Grand Duke Michael.<............