Why did Maria go?

[aussiechick12]

I've been wondering for a while now why did Maria go with her parents to Ekaterinburg? Was there a reason why she didn't stay with her sisters to look after Alexei? Or was there a reason why Maria got picked over her other sisters to go with her parents?

[Georgiy]

The generally stated reason is that Tatiana was needed to look after the household, Olga to look after Alexei (I think) and Anastasia was too young (though that seems strange as there was only a two year difference between her and Maria.)
Maybe the Empress found Maria a reliable person and a comfort. After all during the days of the Revolution, it was the Empress and Maria that went out to talk to the soldiers. Maybe the Empress found Maria was the daughter who coped best in a crisis. (Although admitedly when they went out to the soldiers the others were all sick.)

[LisaDavidson]

Alexandra wanted one of her daughters to go. Tatiana managed the household and Anastasia was keeping the books. That left Olga and Maria. Olga was needed, as has been pointed out, to look after her brother, who was closest to her and Anastasia. That left Maria by default if nothing else.

[Sarushka]

From Alexandra's diary 12/25 April, 1918:

"Marie comes with us, Olga will look after Baby, Tatiana the household & Anastasia will cheer all up."


I wonder if they thought that taking one of the children was a sort of insurance policy toward being reunited later? Or perhaps N&A reasoned that harm was less likely to come to them if one of their daughters was there as a witness? On the other hand, if they truly believed they were in mortal danger, I bet N&A woudn't have taken ANY of their children...

[Rachael89]

I also heard that Maria was the most psyically robust of all the girls, so she could handle the trip better than the others.

Rachael

[LisaDavidson]

Nicholas was the only one required to go. Alexandra chose to go with him, believing he would be pressured into signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. And, she elected to take Maria with her. I think that Nicholas at least realized that they were all in mortal danger from the time of the Revolution. It's interesting that at the two times when a rescue or escape would have been possible, ill health on the part of the children helped to cement the family's captivity.

[isabel]

It´s true, ....perhaps destiny. Destiny wanted them all toghether, they had been a united family to the end.

[Nadezhda_Edvardova]

I imagine a more straightforward answer would be more correct.  The Empress wouldn't let the Tsar go alone, and the Empress always had an attendant of some sort--needing the two elder daughters to look after Alexei, and Marie perceived as more steady of the two remaining.  Not at all romantic.  Nadezhda.

[AGRBear]

I often wonder why Alexandra wanted any of her children to go with her and Nicholas II, who were heading into the darkness of the unknown and more than likely execution.

All the girls and Alexei were safer in Tobolsk than going farther east.

More than likely, the girls would have survived in Tobolsk.  Who khows,  they might have even  been resued....

I doubt that Alexei would have survived since he was linked to the title "Tsar" of All the Russias.

I just have to shake my head over Alexandra's decision which reveals to me  that Alexandra never had a clue about how much the Russian  disliked her and how they believed she held great  influence upon Nicholas II.   Just as she didn't realize that  she proved it, again, when Nicholas II allowed her to go with him...

Taking Marie was just another blunder made by Alexandra.

From what I've read here,  it appears the older and the youngest didn't need Marie, sooooo Marie was the the odd one out,  she got to go with Mummy and Daddy.

What kind of relationship did Marie have with her mother?  Father?

Maybe I'm wrong,  maybe, it was Nicholas II who wanted Marie with them.

Maybe,  it was Nicholas II who  insisted Alexandra and Marie go with him...

Guide me to some sources, please.

AGRBear 

[isabel]

Perhaps you are right, AGRBear, in the opinion of Margaretta Eagar, the english nanny of the G. Duchesses, Maria was Nichola´s favourite.

"Maria adored her father, and was forever trying to escape from the nursery to fin him. Of all the children she is the Emperor´s favourite. When we were in the Crimea when she was a year and four months old, she toddled round the balcony one day to where he was eating his breakfast. I quickly came after her, and the Emperor looked smilingly at me and asked me to put a chair for her. "It touches me", he said, "to see so much affection..." (*)

(*) From de book : From Cradle to Crown, british nannies and governesses at the world´s Royal Courts. By Charlotte Zeepvat

[Holly]

From Alexandra's diary 12/25 April, 1918:

"Marie comes with us, Olga will look after Baby, Tatiana the household & Anastasia will cheer all up."


I wonder if they thought that taking one of the children was a sort of insurance policy toward being reunited later? Or perhaps N&A reasoned that harm was less likely to come to them if one of their daughters was there as a witness? On the other hand, if they truly believed they were in mortal danger, I bet N&A woudn't have taken ANY of their children...

I don't think there is any need for much speculation on this subject. Olga was the eldest and therefore likely the most capable to take care of sick Alexei. Tatiana was very level-headed and knew how to take care of the household so she would be needed there; she oversaw the sewing of the jewels. Anastasia was too young to be taken into account really, and Alexei would probaby have enjoyed her company. As Alexandra's diary said, she could cheer all of them up. That leaves Maria. Alexandra wanted to have one of her daughters for company and to help her since she wasn't well. Maria was the strongest and I can understand why she was chosen.

[Sarushka]

I imagine a more straightforward answer would be more correct.  The Empress wouldn't let the Tsar go alone, and the Empress always had an attendant of some sort--needing the two elder daughters to look after Alexei, and Marie perceived as more steady of the two remaining.  Not at all romantic.  Nadezhda.

According to Commissar Yakovlev's testimony, quoted in Fall of the Romanovs (pg 256), Nicholas & Alexandra were accompanied by these attendants in addition to their daughter:
Prince Dolgoruky
Anna Demidova
Dr Botkin
an unnamed footman (Sednev)
an unnamed valet (Chemodurov)


AGRBear asked if Nicholas might have chosen Maria to accompany them. I don't believe so. Most of the sources I've checked so far (FOTR, Fall of the Romanovs, Last Tsar, Last Empress) all indicate that it was Alexandra herself who asked Maria to make the journey. However, Massie says the following in chapter 33 of Nicholas and Alexandra:
"The decision that Marie should accompany the parents was made by the girls themselves. Hurriedly meeting, they decided that Olga was not well enough, that Tatiana would be needed in Tobolsk to supervise the household and manage Alexis, and that Anstasia was too young to be helpful to their mother, and so Marie was chosen."
Unfortunately, Massie provides no source for that information in my edition. Gilliard, whom Massie had quoted in the lines immediately preceeding the passage above, makes no mention of this meeting of OTMA...

[isabel]

I am agree with AGRbear, i really don´t undestand why they took one of their child with them.

As a mother, i will left all my children toghether, in such a tragic situation...., unknowing where they were going...., for me it was an imprudence to take any of their children with them.

As AGRbear has said, the only explanation for this is that they didn´t realize their real situation, and that their  live´s were in danger.

It would be so tragic for them to left their children, one of them so ill........terrible¡¡¡. Perhaps they thought that if they took one of the children to acompany them, it would be an assurance to the others to join the family later. But in my opinion they were not concious of their tragic situation.

About Maria, physically she was the stronger of the girls, but perhaps her carachthere was not so strong as her sister´s, perhaps it was her who wanted to go with her parents. We will never know.

[Nadezhda_Edvardova]

Sarushka points lists the attendants who travelled with Nicholas and Alexandra, perhaps implying that Maria was superfluous.  I recall reading elsewhere (someone is sure to recognize the anecdote!) that the girls always organized themselves into shifts so that Alexandra was constantly attended to by at least one daughter.  Stands to reason this occasion was no different. Pax, N.

[Sarushka]

Sarushka points lists the attendants who travelled with Nicholas and Alexandra, perhaps implying that Maria was superfluous.  I recall reading elsewhere (someone is sure to recognize the anecdote!) that the girls always organized themselves into shifts so that Alexandra was constantly attended to by at least one daughter.  Stands to reason this occasion was no different. Pax, N.

That's very true -- the girls did switch off keeping the empress company, particularly in Ekaterinburg. It's interesting, given how Alexandra generally favored Tatiana's company, that she chose Maria to accompany her instead. I didn't really mean to imply that Maria was superfluous, just that she probably wasn't brought along as an attendant with so many other servants to care for her. (But maybe I'm just interpreting Nadezhda's notion of "attendant" too literally.  )