18 March 1917. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich with Nicholas II

Non-fiction

Project 1917 is a series of events that took place a hundred years ago as described by those involved. It is composed only of diaries, letters, memoirs, newspapers and other documents

Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich with Nicholas II

Mogilev, Stavka, Russian Empire

General Alexeev asks us to assemble in the main hall of the Mogilev headquarters. Nicky wants to address his former general staff with a farewell speech. By 11 o'clock the hall is full: generals, staff and company officers, and people from the retinue. Nicky enters, calm, composed, with something akin to a smile on his lips. He thanks his general staff and asks everyone to continue their work "with the same assiduousness and self-sacrifice."

He asks everyone to forget feuds and to faithfully and truthfully serve Russia and to lead our army to victory. Then he says his farewell words in short, military phrases, avoiding passionate words. His modesty strongly impresses everyone present. We yell "hurrah" as we have never yelled in the last 23 years. Old generals are crying.

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Sofia Tolstaya

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Igor Stravinsky

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Kazimir Malevich

Moscow, Russian Empire

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Nikolai Wrangel

Petrograd, Russian Empire

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Mikhail Rodzianko

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Grigory Zinoviev

Zurich, Switzerland

We must be on our way. Every minute is precious. But how do we get into Russia? The imperialist massacre has reached its apogee; chauvinistic passions rage with all their might. Here in Switzerland, we’re cut off from all the warring states. Vladimir Ilyich is concocting ever more unworkable plans. These include: getting to Russia by aeroplane (just a few missing pieces in this jigsaw: the aeroplane itself, the requisite funds, official permission to make the trip, etc.); getting there via Sweden on the passports of two deaf-mutes (alas, we don’t speak a word of Swedish); securing passage in exchange for the release of German POWs; getting there via London; and so on and so forth. See more

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Stefan Zweig

Byron Hotel, Villeneuve, Switzerland

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Nikolai Berdyaev

Bol'shoy Vlasyevskiy Lane, 4, Moscow, Russian Empire

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Vasily Gurko

Lutsk, the Volyn province

In one of the Foot Guards regiments people refused to remove the insignia of Nicholas II from their epaulets. For both regiments, I have instructed that those who did not wish to take the oath were allowed to not participate in the ceremony; those who wanted to leave the emperor’s insignia on their epaulets, received permission to do so.

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17 March

Lenin hatches a crazy plan to reach Russia in the guise of a deaf-mute Swede

The new government convenes beneath the portraits of former tsarist ministers

Alexandra Feodorovna: “There’s a revolution in Germany! Masonic interference is everywhere apparent”

Nightmare before Christmas

Death of Rasputin. Murder conspiracy and its consequences

Map of the Royal dynasties of Europe

Romanovs dangerous liaisons

-15

in Petrograd

-16

in Moscow