20 July/2 August 1914
St Petersburg

Yesterday is still kind of a jumble. We ate a hurried meal, changed our clothes, and left for St Petersburg. Alexei had to stay in Peterhof because he can’t walk, and Papa thought this was a bad time for people to see the tsarevitch in such a condition. So it was Papa and Mama and the four of us and our usual suite.

I had been feeling so sad and afraid, but it was quite thrilling to find the crowds outside the Winter Palace all cheering and singing. “Batiushka,” they were shouting (that means “Father of Russia”), “lead us to victory!” And they sang “God Save the Tsar” in a voice like a mighty roar.

The cheering went on and on. Dr Botkin and Gleb were there, and Gleb kept going on about how great a thing this war was going to be for Russia. When I asked him if he wasn’t frightened, he said, “The Germans don’t know how to fight! They only know how to make sausages!” He says all we have to do to defeat them is throw our caps at them.

Dear Gleb, his excitement was so great that I began to feel excited, too. But one look at Papa’s face tells me it may not be as easy as Gleb believes.