Yesterday's Print

Showing 26 posts tagged imperial russia

A collection of old photographs, historic newspaper clippings and assorted excerpts highlighting the parallels of past and present. Featuring weird, funny and baffling headlines, articles and advertisements! Visit www.yesterdays-print.com 

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The Graphic, London, May 25, 1907 The Grand Duke Alexis Nicolaivitch [Alexei Nikolaevich] is not yet three years old, having been born on July 30, 1904, while his country was in the throes of the Russo-Japanese Campaign. The future Tsar is here shown...   High-res

The Graphic, London, May 25, 1907

The Grand Duke Alexis Nicolaivitch [Alexei Nikolaevich] is not yet three years old, having been born on July 30, 1904, while his country was in the throes of the Russo-Japanese Campaign. The future Tsar is here shown wearing his first pair of knickerbockers.

The Saint Paul Globe, Missouri, January 10, 1904 One winter night, when Demidoff was certain that the princess would not follow, he went to a court ball in the czar’s winter palace. The dancing was about to begin when the princess, unaccompanied and...   High-res

The Saint Paul Globe, Missouri, January 10, 1904

One winter night, when Demidoff was certain that the princess would not follow, he went to a court ball in the czar’s winter palace.

The dancing was about to begin when the princess, unaccompanied and unattended, entered and walked up to the czar, at whose feet she knelt. Then, withdrawing the lace scarf that covered her bare shoulder, and bowing her head low, she displayed her white back, streaked all over with bloody marks left by her husband’s whip, and with uplifted hands begged the czar to rid her of the price.

Weekly Republican-Traveler, Arkansas City, Kansas, January 14, 1897 From Wikipedia’s article on the Ōtsu incident: The assassination attempt occurred on 11 May [O.S. 29 April] 1891, while Nicholas was returning to Kyoto after a day trip to Lake Biwa...   High-res

Weekly Republican-Traveler, Arkansas City, Kansas, January 14, 1897

From Wikipedia’s article on the Ōtsu incident: 

The assassination attempt occurred on 11 May [O.S. 29 April] 1891, while Nicholas was returning to Kyoto after a day trip to Lake Biwa in Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture. He was attacked by Tsuda Sanzō (1855–1891), one of his escorting policemen, who swung at the Tsesarevich’s face with a sabre. The quick action of Nicholas’s cousin, Prince George of Greece and Denmark, who parried the second blow with his cane, saved his life. Tsuda then attempted to flee, but two rickshaw drivers in Nicholas’s entourage chased him down and pulled him to the ground. Nicholas was left with a 9 centimeter long scar on the right side of his forehead, but his wound was not life-threatening.

Emperor Meiji publicly expressed sorrow at Japan’s lack of hospitality towards a state guest, which led to an outpouring of public support and messages of condolences for the Tsesarevich. More than 10,000 telegrams were sent wishing the Tsesarevich a speedy recovery. One town in Yamagata Prefecture even legally forbade the use of the family name “Tsuda” and the given name “Sanzō”. When Nicholas cut his trip to Japan short in spite of Emperor Meiji’s apology, a young seamstress, Yuko Hatakeyama, slit her throat with a razor in front of the Kyoto Prefectural Office as an act of public contrition, and soon died in a hospital. Japanese media at the time labeled her as “retsujo” (lit. valiant woman) and praised her patriotism.

The former policeman Tsuda was sent to prison near Kushiro, Hokkaidō, and died of an illness in September of the same year. His motivation for the attack remains unclear with explanations ranging from mental derangement to hatred of foreigners.