Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia Historical Figure Nationality: Russia (born in the Russian Empire, died in the Russian SFSR) Year of Birth: 1901 Year of Death: 1918 Cause of Death: Execution by firing squad Religion: Russian Orthodox Parents: Nicholas II of Russia (father) Alix of Hesse (mother) Relatives: Mikhail (uncle) House: Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov Fictional Appearances: Shared Universe Story "Last Flight of the Swan of the East" POD: 1878 Type of Appearance: Oblique contemporary reference Political Office(s): Empress of Russia

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (Russian: Анастасия Николаевна Романова, tr. Anastasíya Nikoláyevna Románova; 18 June [O.S. 5 June] 1901 – 17 July 1918) was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia, and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna.

Anastasia was the younger sister of Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, and Maria, and was the elder sister of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia. She was killed with her family by a group of Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg on 17 July 1918. Persistent rumors of her possible escape circulated after her death, fueled by the fact that the location of her burial was unknown during the decades of Soviet rule. Most of the family's remains were found in 1991. The remainder were found in 2007. DNA testing conclusively proved that, despite a number of famous pretenders, Anastasia died in 1918.

Anastasia in "Last Flight of the Swan of the East"

After the murder of the rest of her family in March 1911, Anastasia was named Czar of Russia.

In July, 1914, Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist. Austria-Hungary issued a series of six ultimata against Russia's ally, Serbia. With the backing of Anastasia's government, Serbia accepted five demands, but refused to allow Austrian investigators to come to Serbia to help the investigation. In response, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary, and Germany declared war on Russia. France, another Russian ally, declared war on Germany. Japan, concerned by Russia's ambitions in the Pacific, and still angry over their defeat in 1896, declared war on Russia.

Literary Comment

In Leviathans: Armored Skies, a fictional "news article" by editor Bryn Bills reveals that the Romanovs were wiped out by assassins in March, 1911, with Grand Duchess Anastasia being the only survivor. The article states Anastasia is 16 years old. In OTL, she was born in June 1901, meaning she would have been age 10 going on 11 in March 1911; the eldest Romanov daughter, Olga, turned 16 in November 1911. The POD of the Leviathans project seems to have had little effect elsewhere on births, so swapping Anastasia and Olga seems counter-intuitive. Turtledove compounds the error in his own work by stating the Russian Czar is a "he."

For purposes of this project, the administrators are treating the historical Anastasia as the incumbent czar in "Last Flight of the Swan of the East", without further comment on her age or gender.

References

Royal offices (Fictional Work)
Preceded by Nicholas II	Empress of Russia ("Last Flight of the Swan of the East") 1911-?	Succeeded by Incumbent at story's end, 1915