This video summarises the major events of Russia's two revolutions of 1917 – the February Revolution that ended Tsarist rule in Russia, and the October Revolution, that brought the Bolsheviks to power. We explain the causes of Tsar Nicholas II's growing unpopularity, inclkuding the role of the mysterious Siberian mystic Rasputin, Russia's disastrous involvement in World War One, and the events on the streets of Petrograd that led to the Tsar's abdication. That summer Russia lurched from crisis t

"Circa the early 20th century, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and King George V of Great Britain shared not only a royal lineage but also an extraordinary physical resemblance that often fascinated contemporaries. First cousins through their mothers—both granddaughters of Queen Victoria—the two monarchs maintained a warm correspondence throughout their reigns. Nicholas II, born in 1868, ascended the Russian throne in 1894, while George V, born in 1865, became King of the United Kingdom in 1910. Thei

Did you know that three monarchs of World War I, King George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Tsar Nicholas II, were closely-related cousins? | History in Color