Nicholas & Alexandra 1971 quotes, page 7

Lenin

Of course, I agree you're free to say what you like, and you must agree I'm free to shoot you for saying it. Murder, arson, terror. I'll agree to anything that gives us power. Power! And we can't have power if we compromise. Even though it takes years, terror and power.

Tsar Nicholas II

Our diplomats will send some angry notes, a few generals will go on exercise, and everyone will be sensible again. All over Europe, the kings and queens are sleeping safely in their beds. And that's what we are going to do.

Stolypin is a good man. They always kill the good ones... I cannot find a match. Does anyone have a match?... It happened with my grandfather, too. He helped the serfs; he freed them. So how did the peasants express their gratitude? They threw a bomb at him. Damn those revolutionaries. You try to help them by giving them what they want, and what do you get for it? Bombs, gunshots, assassinations! I want them rooted out. I want something done, do you understand me? I want them paid in kind!

Gapon

The czar is here in Petersburg to bless the troops. He's staying at the Winter Palace. Thousands of us will march there on Sunday morning. I'll go to him on the balcony and read this. [holds up a paper] "Sire, we working men and inhabitants of St. Petersburg come to you, sire, to seek for truth, justice and protection. Only you can hear our prayers. And if you do not, we shall die here on this square, before your palace."

The English have a parliament. Our British cousins gave their rights away; the Hapsburgs, and the Hohenzollerns, too. The Romanovs will not. What I was given, I will give my son.

The people want more schools and health clinics, laws to protect the workers, and the right to vote for an elected Duma. They are angry sir, and they are serious. Imagine sire, imagine if you would, that you are a factory worker living in Vladivostok or Saint Petersburg. You are really poor; meals almost never fill your belly. You freeze eight months out of the year. Your children have no school; no doctors. Your country taxes you, and sends the men a continent away to die for a piece of land on the Pacific Ocean. Imagine all that you have to deal with. You must give your people a little of what they want. Not everything mind you; just a taste.

The Tsar is here in Saint Petersburg to bless the troops. He is staying at the Winter Palace. This Sunday, hundreds of us will walk to the palace in a peaceful parade. I will meet him on the balcony and read this: "Your Majesty, we, the working men and women of Saint Petersburg, come to you seeking justice and protection. Only you can hear our grievances. If you do not help us, we will stay here and die, right in this very courtyard."

Grand Duke Nicholas

There's this fantastic holy fellow just arrived. You must meet him. He's a live, authentic starets straight from the fields. Cures diseases by the laying on of hands. I've seen him do it. Saw this fellow wheeled in, legs like pretzels. Then the starets – Grigori Rasputin is his name – gave him a deep look, touched him, prayed a bit. And up the pretzel popped and skipped about the room. A bit grotesquely, I admit, but you could tell he was skipping.

They won't last a week. We'll bury the German army and that little pansy of a Kaiser and be home in time for Christmas!

Alexandra

This is the beginning of the glory of your reign. Our friend told me so. It will be the greatest page in Russian history, the story of these weeks and days. And when you go, don't worry over what you've left behind. I'm here. Lean on me, use me. I'm not wise or strong, but God will show me what to do.

Alexandra

To marry Nicky, I had to change my faith. That was a great sin, don't you think? God thinks so. He won't hear me when I pray. I've sinned and He won't listen.

Marie Fedorovna

We're an 18th-century country in a 20th-century world. We need all our strength and money to look after Russia. Don't waste it on those little yellow Buddhists or pagans or whatever they are. It's a great mistake to get involved in all these strikes and wars. You only encourage them by taking them seriously.

You ministers never cease to amaze me. You think you are in control, but you are going to be swept away just like us princes.

You must understand that you are free to say whatever you like. You must also understand that I am free to shoot you for saying it.

Alexandra

You never see unpleasant things, you drift away. I even wonder if you hear me half the time.