Reaction

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

I have often thought that the Russians could have all been sent to Malta and lived there peacefully forever....
That's where the rescued 1919 members went and only the Dowager Empress and Xenia came to Britain quickly and that was because Queen Alexandra insisted.
This information was told to me years ago by someone who once worked for the DE....  Lisa knows whom I mean!!

Larry

[Kalafrana]

Larry

We have to bear in mind that they would first have to be got out of Russia. In 1919 it was a good deal easier in practical terms because the Great War was over and there were British warships at Constantinople already. In 1917-18 both the Baltic and Black Sea were closed to Allied surface ships, so the only possibilities were Murmansk, Archangel or Vladivostok. The northern route was certainly not impossible, as the British had a squadron of ancient cruisers stationed in the White Sea while it was ice-free (one at least was later used as a blockship in the Zeebrugge Raid).

Ann

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Ann,

Yes, I agree with you wholeheartedly.
I should have better stated that this plan for Malta would have to have taken place more under Kerensky's time, probably not the Bolsheviks!
Also, the Emperor and his immediate family were guarded far more than the Crimea group and that would have been a problem too....
Lenin wanted revenge for his brother's death years before;  Kerensky was not a murderer, Lenin was...

Larry

[blessOTMA]

I think we have to bear in mind that we are not living in 1917-18 and George V was. He had only the information available to him at the time, which was, inevitably, incomplete, and did not have the benefit of knowing that Nicholas and family were going to be murdered. Further, as a monarch his duty was to his monarchy, which meant putting aside personal feelings.Ann

  George V could have tired a bit more don't you think? If he cared , I believe he would have made more of a fuss...He certainly could be insistent when he wanted to be. But he folded immediately , almost gratefully and made his ministers responsible for it all. The order to "stand down"  came as much from him ,   as his government imo.  As it was , well after the murder of the Tsar ,his family and other Romanovs was  known , it took his  mother's insistence and the ease  the end of the war brought to ship movements to get even Minnie and company out. 

[Selencia]

I've recently read that it was George V himself who refused to let the Romanovs in England and that there is a coverup to place blame on his government rather than on him where it belongs. Either way what George did was shady and has placed a big black mark on his family even today; must say I think it serves them right. Even the Kaiser, who was Russia's enemy, tried to bring him to his country and they were at war. Apparently it was only when the danger was apparent that George changed his position and tried to get them out; but by then the bolsheviks were in power and it was too late.