“Nicholas and Alexandra”
This film is based on the non-fictional book of the same name by Robert K. Massie. The dialogue below is an accurate but dramatized account of the events, with former Russian Prime Minister Witte functioning not unlike a Greek chorus.
The dialogue below is an accurate but dramatized
account of the events, with former Russian Prime Minister Witte
functioning not unlike a Greek chorus. The characters are:
Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte (June 29, 1849 - March 13, 1915)
Nicholas II of Russia (18 May 1868 - 17 July 1918)
The Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaievich Romanov, also known as Nikolasha
It is the beginning of World War I)
Nikolasha: Here’s some wonderful news, a telegram from the Kaiser, just what we wanted, offering to mediate between us and Austria.
Tsar Nicholas II: I knew I could count on Willie! You see? He signed it “Your very dear and devoted cousin, Willie.”
Count Witte: With all due respect to your cousin, Sire, the Kaiser is a decietful megalomaniac. If he is offering to help, then it is time to pray.
Count Witte: I am old, sir. I have seen so many wars. They all seemed so important at the time, but now I don’t even remember what they were called. Millions of dead men! I don’t know why. Nobody knows. You could so easily stop this war, sir. All you have to do is get up, now, quietly, and go home to your family. You would be the greatest of all the Tsars.
Tsar Nicholas II: Gentlemen, Germany has declared war on Russia. God save Russia!
Nikolasha: God save the Tsar.
Count Witte: None of you will be here when this war ends.
Everything we fought for will be lost, everything we’ve loved will be
broken. The victors will be as cursed as the defeated. The world will
grow old, and men will wander about, lost in the ruins, and go mad.
Tradition, restraint, virtue, they all go. I’m not mourning for myself,
but for the people who will come after me, they will live without hope.
And all they will have will be guilt, revenge, and terror. And the world
will be full of fanatics and trivial fools.