# Canonical recap data for Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (1917)
# Source: https://recap.at/1917/romanov-dynasty-fall
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: romanov-dynasty-fall
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1917/romanov-dynasty-fall"
title: Fall of the Romanov Dynasty
aliases:
- Abdication of Nicholas II
- February Revolution
- Romanov Collapse
- End of Tsarism
subtitle: Nicholas II abdicates following the February Revolution, ending three centuries of Romanov rule and opening the path to Bolshevik power.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1917-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1917
decade: 1910
country:
name: Russia
slug: russia
summaryShort: The Fall of the Romanoffs is a 1917 silent American historical drama film directed by Herbert Brenon. It was released only seven months after the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in February 1917. This film is notable for starring Rasputin's rival, the monk Iliodor, as himself. Costars Nance O'Neil and Alfred Hickman wer
summaryLong: The Fall of the Romanoffs is a 1917 silent American historical drama film directed by Herbert Brenon. It was released only seven months after the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in February 1917. This film is notable for starring Rasputin's rival, the monk Iliodor, as himself. Costars Nance O'Neil and Alfred Hickman were married from 1916 to Hickman's death in 1931. The film was shot in North Bergen, New Jersey, nearby Fort Lee, New Jersey, where many early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based at the beginning of the 20th century.
lede: Russia's Romanov dynasty, which had ruled for over 300 years, collapsed in early 1917 as military defeats, food shortages, and worker unrest overwhelmed the tsarist system. Tsar Nicholas II abdicated on March 15, 1917, ending centuries of autocratic rule and triggering a power vacuum that the Bolsheviks would soon exploit.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/The_Fall_of_the_Romanoffs.jpg/1280px-The_Fall_of_the_Romanoffs.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "The Fall of the Romanoffs"
importance: 91
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Dynasty duration
  value: 304 years (1613–1917)
- label: Abdication date
  value: March 15, 1917 (February 28 by Julian calendar then in use)
- label: Military casualties in WWI
  value: Approximately 1.8 million Russian soldiers killed by early 1917
- label: Bread price spike
  value: Price of bread in Petrograd tripled between 1914 and 1917
- label: Abdication location
  value: Imperial train at Pskovskaya station
- label: Successor attempt
  value: Michael Romanov (Nicholas's brother) refused throne March 16, 1917
timeline:
- date: 1914-08-01
  title: Russia enters World War I
  description: Russia mobilizes in response to Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Serbia, committing vast resources and manpower to a catastrophic conflict.
- date: 1916-09-14
  title: Tsar takes personal command of military
  description: Nicholas II assumes direct control of the Russian military, moving to military headquarters and weakening oversight of the government in Petrograd, where Tsarina Alexandra and court influence grew.
- date: 1917-02-23
  title: Bread riots begin in Petrograd
  description: Food shortages trigger mass protests in the capital. Workers and soldiers clash with police as strikes spread across the city.
- date: 1917-02-27
  title: Soldiers defect and join protesters
  description: The Volkhov and Litovsky regiments mutiny, refusing to fire on crowds. The military backbone of Romanov rule fractures as troops join the revolution.
- date: 1917-03-15
  title: Tsar Nicholas II abdicates
  description: Unable to suppress the uprising and facing mutinying troops, Nicholas signs abdication papers at Pskovskaya station. The 304-year-old Romanov dynasty ends.
- date: 1917-03-16
  title: Michael Romanov declines the throne
  description: Grand Duke Michael, Nicholas's brother and last plausible successor, refuses to accept the crown without a popular mandate. No Romanov takes power.
- date: 1917-03-17
  title: Provisional Government forms
  description: Alexander Kerensky and liberal politicians establish a temporary government to fill the power vacuum, but lack legitimacy with the masses.
- date: 1917-07-17
  title: Romanov family placed under arrest
  description: The former imperial family is detained at Tobolsk, beginning their confinement that would end in execution.
- date: 1918-07-17
  title: Execution of Tsar Nicholas II and family
  description: Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, five children, and four retainers are executed by Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg, erasing any possibility of restoration.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall_of_the_Romanoffs"
  title: The Fall of the Romanoffs
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The Romanov dynasty's fall gutted the political order across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, redrawing maps and opening space for Bolshevik consolidation. It fractured the Russian Empire into competing claims and civil war, with consequences that shaped geopolitics through the 20th century.
categories:
- war
- revolution
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- regime_change
- revolution
canonicalClasses:
- collapse
- governance
impactRadius: global
velocity: cascading
predictability: emergent
intentionality: spontaneous
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: death
metaDescription: "How the Romanov dynasty fell in 1917: abdication, revolution, and the end of 300 years of Russian autocracy."
wikidataQid: Q3986979
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20251112091423/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall_of_the_Romanoffs"
  capturedAt: 2025-11-12
  label: The Fall of the Romanoffs
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall_of_the_Romanoffs"
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: new-york-times
  headline: Tsar Nicholas Abdicates Throne; Russia in Revolutionary Upheaval
  publishedAt: 1917-03-16
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: The Russian autocracy has collapsed as Tsar Nicholas II signs the instrument of abdication, ending three centuries of Romanov rule. Revolutionary forces seize control of Petrograd amid widespread civil unrest.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: The Times of London
  publisherSlug: times-of-london
  headline: Fall of the Romanoffs - Dynasty Ends in Exile and Uncertainty
  publishedAt: 1917-03-17
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The abdication of the Russian Tsar marks the end of an imperial dynasty that has ruled for over 300 years. British observers express grave concern over the stability of Russia as a wartime ally.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Le Figaro
  publisherSlug: le-figaro
  headline: "FR: 'La Dynastie des Romanov s'Effondre' / EN: The Romanov Dynasty Collapses"
  publishedAt: 1917-03-18
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: "FR: 'La Dynastie des Romanov s'Effondre' / EN: The Romanov Dynasty Collapses - French political circles debate the implications of Russia's revolution for the Allied cause in the Great War."
  significance: 85
  type: newspaper
  region: France
- publisher: The Chicago Daily Tribune
  publisherSlug: chicago-daily-tribune
  headline: Hollywood Rushes Film on Fall of Tsardom - Brenon's Epic Captures Historic Moment
  publishedAt: 1917-10-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - American film producers move with remarkable speed to dramatize the Russian revolution, with Herbert Brenon's 'The Fall of the Romanoffs' arriving in theaters a mere seven months after Nicholas II's abdication.
  significance: 65
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: Berliner Tageblatt
  publisherSlug: berliner-tageblatt
  headline: "DE: 'Russlands Zarenfamilie Gestürzt' / EN: Russia's Tsar Family Overthrown"
  publishedAt: 1917-03-19
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: "DE: 'Russlands Zarenfamilie Gestürzt' / EN: Russia's Tsar Family Overthrown - German press analyzes the revolutionary upheaval and its potential consequences for the Eastern Front."
  significance: 82
  type: newspaper
  region: Germany
