Baby in the Palace - PART II

But wars have a tendency to turn quickly from fast and glorious to ugly, painful and slow. Such was this war. By September 1915, about four million of Russia’s men had been lost, wounded or taken prisoner. The Council of Ministers argued constantly with the Military Headquarters. Seeing his army command deteriorate rapidly under the pressure, and witnessing the painful plight of his men, the Tsar chose to undertake a drastic measure which, though misunderstood by many subjects at the time and by many historians today, had Russia’s best interests at heart and succeeded in saving it from utter defeat. In August of 1915, Tsar Nicholas II issued an edit: This day I assume command over all land and navy forces engaged in the theater of war operations. With firm trust in God’s help and unshakable confidence of final victory, we shall do our sacred duty of defense of our Motherland to the end. Soon, the cooperation of the Tsar and a newly appointed Chief of Staff, one of the most gifted officers of the Russian Army, restored Russia’s situation. A reorganization of rear services -- specifically ammunition and food supplies -- brought about a bettering of the soldier’s general welfare. And, to uphold the spirit of patriotism and hope, a surprising guest came to visit the Headquarters.

He was eleven years old that year, tall for his age, and delirious with delight at having been allowed to follow his father. Major-General Hansbury-Williams describes the life of Russia’s Tsar-to-Be at the front that year, in his novel The Tsarevich:

Alexis Nicolaievitch was about eleven years old when I first saw him in 1915.
On our first acquaintance he was as shy as one might expect on suddenly being thrown among a big crowd of strangers at the General Headquarters, not only of his own nationality, but of all of us -- the Allied representatives. The shyness soon disappeared, however, and gradually he became almost a spoilt child among us, if anything could spoil such an attractive and merry little fellow as he was.

On our first meeting he followed his father, the Emperor, round the circle which we made in the ante-room, shaking hands with each of us in turn. He wore a khaki uniform and tall Russian boots, and was very proud of himself as a soldier, had excellent