Today we began to look into the lives of the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia. Tsar Nicholas was born in Alexander Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. Tsarina Alexandra was born on 6 June 1872 at the New Palace in Darmstadt in the region of Hesse, a Grand Duchy that was then part of the German Empire. She was the a child of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the second daughter of Queen Victoria and Albert. Some historians place Alexandria as Queen Victoria's favorite grandchild. One of the many fascinating things about Nicholas & Alexandra is that this was not an arranged marriage as they truly fell in love and their union forever altered the direction taken by Russia in the 20th century. During the turbulent years of WWI, the Tsar & Tsarina were overthrown, ending 300 years of Romanov rule in Russia. In this next unit, we will follow the 1917 Russian Revolution that occurred in the middle of WWI, the phases of this revolution and ultimately the results of the revolution that forever altered Russian as well as modern world history.