Glencoe World History

Chapter 23: War and Revolution, 1914–1919

Web Activity Lesson Plans

Introduction
Czar Nicholas II, his wife, Alexandra, and their five children were murdered on the night of July 16, 1918. Soon after, rumors began to circulate that some members of the family had survived. In 1921, a young woman in Dalldorf, Germany, claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia, youngest daughter of Nicholas II. After later DNA testing of tissues from Anna Anderson, the woman who claimed to be Anastasia, it was revealed that she was not the Grand Duchess. In all probability, Anna Anderson was Franziska Schanzkowska, a Polish farmer’s daughter who had always dreamed of being an actress. In this activity students will learn about the ‘real’ Grand Duchess Anastasia and her royal family.

Lesson Description
Students will go to the My Name is Anastasia Web site to read her personal account of her everyday life. After answering a series of questions, students will develop a list of additional questions that they would want to ask Anastasia to learn more about her life before and during the revolution.

Instructional Objectives

1. Students will be able to interpret Anastasia’s account of her life in Russia before and during the revolution.
2. Students will be able to apply what they have learned by writing follow-up questions for Anastasia.

Student Web Activity Answers

1. The royal family lived a very extravagant lifestyle. They lived in a palace that contained 200 rooms. They also had a number of palaces to stay in all over Russia, but they would stay in their private train whenever possible when traveling. Czar Nicholas II also built a beautiful white villa on a cliff overlooking the Black Sea in the Crimea, called Livadia.
2. Students’ opinions will vary, but should mention that the family appears prosperous in the photographs.
3. As the leadership of Czar Nicholas II stumbled its way through many military and economic disasters, the Russian people grew more and more upset. The government had to start bread rationing in Petrograd after the price of bread had skyrocketed.
4. Students’ opinions will vary, but could mention one reason may have been to obtain the Romanov wealth.
5. Students' reports will vary.