i`m 100% sure that nowdays it`s impossible to state with absolute certainty that alexander 1 was fedor kuzmich or vice versa. we can speculte with bigger or smaller probability, some facts might suggest that fedor kuzmich is MOST PROBABBLY the tzar. it`s impossible to conduct dna analysis as alexnder`s coffin is empty.
in my post of 31.07 i presented some evidence concerning the tzar`s wish to leave the court nd his position here are some facts that may suggest the existence of the plot that was supposed to help alexander to leave the court.
1. there were favotable conditions to carry out alexander`s plans: a. taganrog was far away far way so it took weeks to get to st petersburg b. his loving wife elizaveta alexeevna with whom she became close again loved him and was ready to help him
2. one of the servants witnessed the following scene: the tzar was kneeling in front of his wife wife whispering "darling darling, forgive me, please!"
3. three days before alexander`s death the tzar received news bout the death of a messenger called maskov. as soon as the tzar learned bout this he left his bed and immediately went to his wife .they talked for 6 hours, and the subject of their conversation remained a mystery.
4. alexandrr`s doctor claimed thta he didn`t sign autopsy documents. he also said that in the autopsy documents they stated that the tzar had wounds on his right leg but in reality the tzar had wounds on his left leg.
5.he didn`t want to see priest althugh he was a firm believer in god
6.the day before is death, when according to all the reports, his condition improved elizaveta alexeevna left their house and went to the neigbouring house where they prepared a room for her.
7. on the day of his death the doctor was bsent, alexander`s friend volkonskiy was prsent instead
8.strangely enoufg, elizaveta alexeevna decided to stay in taganrog though her condition had improved
9.when the tzar`s coffin arrived at the village of babino, not far from petersburg, mriya fodorovna,the dowager empress, arrived there at night.she ordered to open the coffin looked at the body for a long time and left.
10. the srvice took place at tsrskoe selo at night (!),as the members of the imperial fmily were passing the coffin. mariya fedorovna stopped in front of it and said loudly so that evrybody could hear: " yes, this is my dear son my dear alexander!"
11.prerevolutionary historians claimed that nikolay I could not stand the fact that someone wsnot of the royl blood was lying in st pter and pul cathedral so he ordered to tke the body away from the cathedral. his son opened the coffin and found out that it was empty.
12.grand dule nikolay mikhailovich, a professional historian, said to moriis paleologue, the french ambassador, that fedor kuzmich was tzar alexander 1.soon afterwards nikolay mikhailovich as if changed his opinion on the issue nd followed the official version.
these facts don`t state unequivocally tht fedor kuzmich was tzar alexander but they DO look weird thus cauing doubts...
I have to say I'm a little at a loss to understand what these 'facts' prove. I can't see what was actually wierd about them, or what doubt they were supposed to cast. Most seem easily susceptible of an alternative explanation, or are just not evidence:
1. Favourable conditions to carrying out a disappearance do not, in the absence of any other facts, suggest that such a deed was carried out. In any case, Taganrog might have been a long way from St Petersburg but it wasn't in the middle of a desert and the Tsar was hardly on his own there - he had doctors, his wife, his wife's doctors, his friends, soldiers, servants, his wife's servants and the citizens of Taganrog itself milling around - not necessarily ideal conditions in which to vanish. With regard to Elizaveta Alexeevna there is no evidence of any kind to suggest that because the Tsar had a better relationship with her, that she was ready to help him if he had the plan of pretending to be dead. The one does not naturally follow on from the other.
2. There might be plenty of reasons why Alexander might have been asking his wife for forgiveness that had nothing to do with a supposed plot to disappear. If he had said "darling darling, forgive me please
for planning to disappear" now
that might have been evidence.
3. The same as for no. 2. The Tsar and his wife may have been discussing religion, philosophy, their youth, the weather - who knows. There is no evidence here of any plot. No doubt the inference is that there was a body which could be substituted for the Tsar's, but inference and speculation is not evidence.
4. All this argues is that Alexander's doctor was wary of committing himself to an explanation of the sudden death of a Tsar - he might have been blamed for not taking better care of him. Far better to obliquely suggest that the body wasn't really that of his former patient. Whether that was the explanation or not I can't say - all I am saying here is that there might be several possible reasons for the doctor's conduct which do not provide evidence in themselves of a plot by the Tsar to disappear.
5. Again, not wishing to see a priest does not of itself indicate a desire to disappear. It might mean he did not expect to die.
6. As no. 5. The Empress might have thought he would recover and moved to a different house so as to be out of the way of his doctors and nurses etc. but stayed in close visiting reach. She herself was not well and no doubt had her own doctors, nurses etc. to consult.
7. As nos. 4, 5 and 6. The doctor, his patient and his patient's friend and wife all thought he was getting better. The doctor (see no. 4), might subsequently have tried to cover his rather poor prognosis skills by letting people infer that his patient hadn't died because of his neglect.
8. Why strangely? She might just have been in a state of shock and still being an invalid, not up to immediately travelling a long distance, on bad roads, in winter. An improvement was by no means a cure - Alexander and she had gone to Taganrog for her health and indeed she died 5 months later. No reason to suppose she was just hanging around because her husband wasn't dead.
9. Not in itself evidence that her son wasn't in that coffin.
10. The statement might have had something to do with the suddeness of Alexander's death giving rise to the rumours of his disappearance - and Maria Feodorovna wanted to contradict the rumours. Again it does not in itself provide evidence that the rumours were true.
11. Exactly. They claimed. There wasn't a public exhumation with attested evidence.
12. As a professional historian, Grand Duke Nicholas might have changed his mind because he realised there was no evidence for his original statement!
