u/Mattia_von_Sigmund

Happy 127th birthday Maria!

Born June 26th, 1899 she was the beloved third daughter to Alix and Nicky II. Kind, loving, patient and angelic, she was welcoming and warm to all those around her. Companion to her younger sister Anasastia who always seemed to get the two of them into mischief, Maria was fun loving and charming. Often described as pure and unearthly she had large, beautiful blue eyes called “Mashkas saucers”, rosy cheeks and rich brown hair. She was genuine and took great interest of the lives of nurses, ladies in waiting and soldiers around her. She had many crushes and was a very romantic girl who dreamed of a family of her own. Now, some words from those who knew her in life. 

“Maria was born good, with the very smallest trace of original sin as possible” - Margaret Eager 

“Maria was like Olga in coloring and features. But on all the more vivid scale. She had the same charming smile. The same shape face” - Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden

Her reputation for goodness was such that it was rather surprising when Maria stole some biscuits at teatime, Eager and the Empress thought she should be sent to bed, but the Emperor disagreed, saying that he “…was always afraid of the wings growing. I am glad to see she is only a human child” (Eager).

“ Maria was tall, healthy, with sable eyebrows and a bright blush on her open Russian face; she was especially lovely to a Russian heart… her eyes illuminate her entire face with a unique, radiant luster; they sometimes seem black, as long eyelashes throw shadows over the bright blush of her soft cheeks. She is merry and alive, but she has not yet awakened completely to life; probably concealed in her are the immense forces of a real Russian woman.” - S.F. Ofrosimofova

While three of her siblings were seriously ill, the hardy Maria and Anastasia had thus far remained healthy, but the burdens Maria carried were enormously taxing: “Alexandra received Viktor Zborovsky, one of the most trusted officers of the Escort guarding the palace… As Zborovsky was leaving Maria stopped him and they ended up chatting for an hour. He was deeply moved by the great change in her during recent days. ‘Nothing remained of the former young girl,’ he told his colleagues later; in front of him stood ‘a serious sensible woman, who was responding in a deep and thoughtful way to what was going on.’ (Rappaport, Helen. Four Sisters 291).

Happy birthday Mashka!

Let's take a moment to appreciate these beautiful and patriotic shots showing how Nicholas put body and soul for the war effort

Regarding the last 3 photos:

The Manifesto of Nicholas II of August 2 announced to the subjects of the Russian Empire the entry into war with Germany. In Saint Petersburg, on August 2, a huge crowd of people gathered on the square before the Winter Palace and greeted Nicholas II. On that day, after a solemn oath, the Emperor appeared before the people on the balcony of the Winter Palace:

“With calm and dignity our great mother — Rus’ — received the news of the declaration of war against us. I am convinced that with the same feeling of calm we shall carry the war, whatever it may be, through to the end.

I hereby solemnly declare that I shall not conclude peace until the last enemy soldier has departed from our land. And to you, assembled here as representatives of the dear-to-me troops of the Guard and of the Petersburg Military District — through you I address my whole army, one in origin, one in spirit, strong as a granite wall — and I bless it for the labor of war.”

Representatives of all classes of society gathered on Palace Square. Popular feeling acquired a clearly anti-German direction. The German embassy was wrecked, and the buildings of German firms were set on fire.

After his coronation, Nicholas II of Russia leaves Dormition Cathedral. The Chevalier Guard Lieutenant marching in front to the Tsar's left (to the viewer's right) is Mannerheim.