Baby in the Palace - PART II
But despite the difficulties that life had made him face, Aleksei retained his tremendous sense of humor, and, about a year after 1912, he was again up and running, once again a healthy, almost ordinary boy. He returned seriously to his studies, trying his best to catch up for the time he had spent in bed, and impressing his tutors more than ever by his quick mind and extraordinary ability to analyze. He was interested in warfare most of all. And then, in 1914, war came personally to attend the drama of his life. Only ten years old, Aleksei Nikolaievich Romanov, the Heir to the Imperial Throne, would walk beside his father in one of the greatest parades ever seen in St Petersburg. The news that his father read that day in August, 1914, was that Russia had entered World War I.
The authors of The Romanovs: Love, Power and Tragedy write that “Nicholas II did not wish for war. The bitter experience of the Russo-Japanese campaign made it absolutely clear that any armed conflict would inevitably lead to suffering, deprivation and death on a very large scale. In his heart, he was opposed to violence, and whenever he was brought to face it, he would painfully regret it. He knew very well that there were too many obstacles in the way of a speedy, victorious military campaign... But to commit a betrayal, letting the friendly country [of Serbia] to be torn to pieces [by Austria-Hungary] -- such a decision was out of the question. The Tsar deemed it his duty to rise to protect the Slavs and Russia, and his duties as a sovereign were sacred to him. He would not shrink from them. Circumstances decreed that he choose war, and he did.”
The beginning of the war had a great impact on Aleksei. Never had such gatherings been seen in the Palace Square during his lifetime; never had so many people knelt before him to sing God Save the Tsar. He became just as St Petersburg had been all that summer -- elated, expecting, full of anticipation towards something glorious and unknown on the horizon.
Again, from The Romanovs: “The military campaign opened with Russia’s brilliant offensive in East Prussia. But inadequate preparation turned early success into defeat. His
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