Alexander III, the Emperor of Russia In Paris

Alexander III was the second son of Alexander II and of Maria Aleksandrovna (Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt). During the first 20 years of his life, Alexander had no prospect of succeeding to the throne. His training and acquaintance was with French, English, and German, and military drill. When he became heir apparent on the death of his elder brother Nikolay in 1865, he began to study the principles of law and administration under the jurist and conservative philosopher K.P. Pobedonostsev. The tsesarevich Nikolay, on his deathbed, had expressed a wish that his fiancée, Princess Dagmar of Denmark, known as Maria Fyodorovna, should marry his successor. The marriage proved a happiest one. On March 13 (March 1, O.S.), 1881, Alexander II was assassinated, and the following day autocratic power passed to his son. Alexander III political ideal was a nation with one language, one religion, and one form of administration, he sought to strengthen and centralize the imperial administration.

There were special court cameramen and photographers who captured the daily life of the Romanov family. The Company of von Gun filmed the Tsar, and with the permission of the Ministry of the Court, showed these films in movie theatres beginning in 1907. Before the February 1917 Revolution, the von Gun Company was the main provider of the Tsar's chronicles in the Russian film industry. After 1907 other filmmakers were permitted to film the Royal family, including A. Drankov, V. Bulla (the elder), Khanzhonkov Company, Pate Company, and others. Before the beginning of World War I a newsreel became popular capturing military parades, holidays, reviews and drills. Many are devoted to the Fleet. They document everyday life of the Baltic Sea and Black Sea squadrons. Some of the newsreels document the fire of the Maly Theatre in Moscow, mass gymnastics, auto and motor races, zoos and animal preserves, and the life of peoples of the Russian Empire. The objects of filming were political and cultural figures, the construction of warships, the Moscow flood, the testing of new agricultural equipment and the oil industry in Baku. There are also films showing the towns of Russia, etc. During World War I, cameramen captured events on all fronts. Before 1915, the exclusive rights to film battles belonged to the Film Department of the Skobelev Committee. The Skobelev Committee of the Assistance to the Wounded Soldiers of the General Staff was founded in November 1904 as a public organization. By the order of the Scobelev Committee many cameramen filmed the events of the World War I, such as Englishman Arcol (representative of Pate Company, filmed on South-Western and Caucasus fronts), cameramen E.D. Dored (represented American companies) and P.V. Ermolov, (filmed events on Caucasus front); P.K. Novitskiy (Gomount Company), N.M. Toporkov, K.E. von Gan, A.K. Gan-Jagelskiy, made filming in the General Headquarters. Other cameramen such as: A. G Lemberg, S, Zebel, Trushe, etc. also worked at the fronts. Cameramen filmed the war not only on the fronts but also from the rear. Since the first month of the war until 1917 the Scobelev Committee produced about 70 newsreels. From 1914 to 1915 cameramen of the Scobelev Committee produced 21 series of the newsreel "Russian Military Chronicle". The materials of this newsreel were used many times for the separate films made by Scobelev Committee and other film companies. Read more at: http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/rao/archives/rgakfd/textind10.html