Russian Tsar anniversary: 100 years since the royal execution

100 years since the country’s last royal family, disagreement over the Romanovs is one of many examples of the difficulty Russia has in reconciling with its bloody past.

Tens of thousands of Russian Orthodox worshippers have marked 100 years since the country’s last royal family were executed.

Canonised in 2000, the Tsar and his family are now saints, and symbols the church uses to preach the conservatism and self-reliance to which it wants Russia to adhere.

The murders of Tsar Nicholas II and his family ended a 300-year-old dynasty.

It also heralded the rise of communism in Russia, which would go on to shape the new world order.

Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands reports from Moscow.

By Rory Challands