Basic Info:
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Of Russia
Father- Tsar Nicholas II
Mother- Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna
Born- June 18, 1901
Died- July 17, 1918

Early Life:
She was the fourth daughter of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna. Her sisters were Olga, Maria, and Tatiana. She had a little brother named Alexei. Despite their family's wealth and titles, they lived rather modest lives. The children slept in simple beds and did many chores.

One of Alexandra's ladies in waiting complimented Anastasia, stating that she was a "sharp and clever child."

Anastasia often played pranks on her siblings and was very disinterested in school, despite her cleverness.

She was very close with her sister, Maria, and people referred to them as "The Little Pair." The older sisters, Olga and Tatiana were called "The Big Pair."

The Romanov children were not very healthy. Anastasia suffered from weak muscles in her back and painful bunions. Maria had her tonsils removed and suffered a hemorrhage that almost killed her. Alexei was a hemophiliac and was bedridden for much of his life.

During the times when Alexei was bedridden, Alexandra would call upon a man named Rasputin to help. Rasputin was a mystic who claimed to have healing powers, and Alexandra praised him, believing his abilities saved her son's life multiple times.

The children were very close with Rasputin, often writing him letters.

One of the governesses became concerned when she found Rasputin in the room with the children when they were in their nightgowns. The governess was fired eventually and she went on to tell this story.

Most people agree that Rasputin had no inappropriate relationships with the children, but there are still some out there who are uncertain. Rumors spread hat he was having affairs with Alexandra and the children. Because of this, Nicholas sent Rasputin out of the country for a while.

Rasputin was murdered in 1916, and Anastasia was reportedly devastated by the news.

During WWI, Alexandra and the two eldest daughters volunteered as Red Cross nurses. Anastasia and Maria were too young, so instead they visited wounded soldiers in a hospital in St. Petersburg.

The Russian Revolution:
The revolution took place in February of 1917. Mobs were furious and protesting about the food rationing. Over the course of eight days, there were riots and fights. Many members of the Russian army deserted and joined these revolutionaries. Around 1,500 people were killed during the protests. People began calling for the end of imperial rule, resulting in the Romanov family's house arrest.

Nicholas abdicated he throne on March 2, stating that his brother (Grand Duke Michael) should take over the throne. However, Michael didn't accept this offer, knowing he wouldn't have any support. Russia was left without a monarchy for the first time.

Imprisonment:
A provisional government was set into place and one of their first acts was to ship the Romanov family off to Tobolsk, Siberia. They arrived in August of 1917 and along with their servants, were taken to the former governor's house.

There was no evidence of the family being mistreated. Anastasia and her siblings continued their lessons and Alexandra did her needlework and music.

The family was moved once again when the Bolsheviks (AKA communists) took over the government. This time, they were taken to a house in Yekaterinburg.

They did their best to adjust to this confined life, but times were hard. Alexandra and Alexei were in poor health and Anastasia was extremely bothered by the fact that they had to stay indoors.

At one point, she tried to open a window for fresh air and a soldier attempted to shoot her.

The Revolution Continues and Execution of the Romanovs:
In October of 1917, Russia was in a full blown civil war. The Bolesheviks, also called the Reds, were negotiating an exchange with the anti-Bolesheviks, AKA the Whites, however talks had stopped.

By the time the Whites reached Yekaterinburg, the imperial family was gone.

A Bolshevik revolutionary named Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky later wrote his own account of the Romanov family murders.

On July 18, 1918, the family was woken up and told to quickly get dressed. The parents were told that they were being moved to a safe house in case the White Army was coming. The family was taken to a small room in the basement of the house. Yurovsky and he guards entered the room, informed the Tsar that they were being executed, and opened fire on the family.

Nicholas and Alexandra were shot first, followed by the children. The servants were killed shortly after that. Yurovsky describes how Anastasia was screaming, huddled against her sister in the back of the room. She was bayoneted to death.

Conspiracies:
Shortly after the execution, various Russian women stepped forward, claiming to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia (or one of the other children) and to have miraculously survived the execution in the basement. Everyone wanted to be heir of the large Romanov fortune being held in the bank.

One woman, Eugenia Smith, wrote memoirs of how she was Anastasia and how she escaped from Russia. Another woman named Nadezhda Vasilyeva appeared in Siberia, claiming to be Anastasia. She was arrested by the Bolsheviks and placed into a mental asylum until her death in 1971.

The most famous of these women was a girl who called herself Anna Anderson. Over the course of many years, up to 1970, she insisted that she was the Grand Duchess Anastasia. She claimed that one of the guards had been sympathetic to the royal family and had spared her. In 1970, West German courts finally rejected her claims. In the 1990s, gene testing was done that proved that she was of no relation to the Romanov family.

We now know that she was really a polish woman named Franziska Schanzkowksa. In 1968 she married a history professor and spent the rest of her life in Virginia, until she died in 1984.

The imperial fortune was given to the duchess of Mecklenberg. In 1991, bodies were found in the woods out Yekaterinburg and DNA tests proved them to be the Romanovs. Two of the bodies were missing though: Alexei and one of the sisters. A Russian builder found the other two bodies in 2007. They'd been burned and dumped in another part of the forest, just as Yurovsky described in his account.

Testing proved that these bodies were Alexei and one of the sisters, but it's unclear as to which is Anastasia and which is Maria. However, every family member was found.

Books and Movies:
There's a great animated movie about her that cane out in 1997. It's called Anastasia.
There's also a book called I Was Anastasia. Its really good and a recommend you read it.