The story of the First World War has many characters, but almost all the key figures in your history books from this period are men. But there were some women behind the scenes that did exert a great deal of influence over proceedings - none more so than Alix of Hesse and by Rhine - the Tsarina of Russia.
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Up until now her life in Russia had been one of unimaginable luxury - but now, Ella decided to make a change.
Ella's worldview comes into conflict with that of Sergei’s as they moved from their home in St Petersburg to the ancient Russian metropolis of Moscow. Meanwhile, conflict at home and abroad causes Ella's world to change forever.
Ella leaves her (relatively) simple upbringing in Darmstadt for the opulence and rampant excesses of life in St Petersburg as the wife of a Romanov.
No country was more profoundly changed by World War I than Russia, and at the centre of its revolutionary story are two Hessian princesses
Maud of Wales became queen of a newly formed country in one of the most turbulent times in modern European history.
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Newsreels
Today we look at a woman who married into a kingdom that doesn’t get much coverage in mainstream history - Maud, a daughter of Bertie, the Prince of Wales and future King Edward VII.
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We last left Sophia on a boat into exile. She would end up in Switzerland, but she wouldn't be there for long.
Sophia became Queen of Greece at a great tipping point in its history. It would be a very turbulent reign.
Sophia of Prussia settles into her kingdom, which was new in more ways than one.
The daughters of Queen Victoria grew up at the height of the Victorian era - their granddaughters would be left to pick up the pieces. Today, we begin the second half of this season with Princess Sophia of Prussia.
A brief (well not really) telling of the lives of Victoria's other two daughters.
Following the death of her husband, Beatrice began a long retirement that involved, amongst other things, a stunning act of historical vandalism.
Videos of Beatrice
Today we will see Beatrice find love and get married, despite the obstacles that her mother placed in her path.
In this third part of The Mothers of World War I, we are introduced to Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria's youngest daughter and constant companion.
Alice continues her efforts to improve the lives of her people but personal tragedy and a deterioration in relations with her husband marred the final decade of her life.
A little update on the podcast.
In which Alice gets married and moves to Hesse, opening up a whole new period in her life where she would leave a huge lasting impact on the lives of countless men and women in the grand duchy.
Princes Alice was Queen Victoria’s most underrated child, whose influence both intended and not intended was every bit as important as that of Vicky and Bertie and she packed it into a sadly short life full of ambition, courage, tragedy and determination.
Women make up half of the world's population, and yet history books often consign them to the sidelines. They are dismissed as merely the wives of powerful men; babymakers and nothing more. Yet women have been the driving force behind history for millennia, from female Pharoahs, warrior princesses and pirates, to the revolutionaries who sought to topple the male-dominated political systems of their day. From host of the popular 'Queens of England Podcast', The Other Half tells the forgotten and ignored stories of the most powerful and influential women in history.
