Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia
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| Grand Duke Michael Aleksandrovich | |
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| Reign | 15 March 1917–15 March 1917 (De jure emperor; declined to accept throne until approved by a constitutional assembly) |
| Coronation | None |
| Predecessor | Nicholas II |
| Successor | Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia |
| Spouse | Natalia Brassova |
| Issue | |
| George, Count Brasov | |
| Full name | |
| Michael Aleksandrovich Romanov | |
| House | Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov |
| Father | Alexander III of Russia |
| Mother | Dagmar of Denmark |
| Born | 22 November 1878 Tsarskoye Selo, Russian Empire |
| Died | 12 June 1918 (aged 39) Perm, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic |
Grand Duke Michael Aleksandrovich of Russia (Mikhail Aleksandrovich Romanov; Russian: Михаи́л Александрович Рома́нов) (St. Petersburg, 22 November 1878 (O.S.) – Perm, Ural, 12 June 1918) was the younger brother of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Nicholas abdicated in favour of Michael on 15 March [O.S. 2 March] 1917, but the next day Michael deferred acceptance of the throne.
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[edit] Family
Michael was a son of Alexander III of Russia and Dagmar of Denmark. His paternal grandparents were Alexander II of Russia and his first wife Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. His maternal grandparents were Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel).
Michael was a younger brother of Nicholas II of Russia, Grand Duke Alexander Aleksandrovich, Grand Duke George Aleksandrovich and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna. He was also an elder brother of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna.
[edit] Marriage and career
Michael began a relationship with Natalya Sergeyevna Wulffert (née Sheremetevskaya), a twice-divorced commoner. Their only child, George, was born in 1910, whom Michael named for his deceased brother, George. The couple married in secret on 30 October 1912 (N.S.) in Vienna, for which action Michael was exiled and his renunciation of his Imperial succession rights (unsuccessfully) demanded by his brother, the Tsar. Natalya was not entitled to be known as Grand Duchess; she instead used the style "Countess Brasova".
Nicholas II later agreed to make George legitimate and granted him the style of "Count Brasov", although he never obtained any rights to the throne. Brasov died in a car crash at age 20 on 22 July 1931. On 28 July 1935, Countess Brasova was granted the title-in-exile of HSH Princess Romanovskaya-Brasova by her late husband's cousin Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich, pretender to the Russian throne.
Upon the outbreak of World War I, Mikhail Aleksandrovich requested the Tsar's permission to return to Russia and to the Army, with the understanding that his wife and son would come too. He returned home as a Russian general, leading the Savage Division, formed of Chechens and Daghestani troops.
[edit] Heir to the Russian throne
At the time of his birth, his paternal grandfather (Alexander II) was still the reigning Emperor of Russia. Michael was fourth-in-line to the throne following his father and elder brothers Nicholas and George. His elder brother, Alexander, had died in infancy.
His paternal grandfather was assassinated by Ignacy Hryniewiecki of the Narodnaya Volya on 13 March 1881. His father succeeded him as Emperor. Nicholas became heir apparent while George was second-in-line to the throne, and Michael Aleksandrovich was third. When their father died on 1 November 1894, his oldest brother became Nicholas II, while George Aleksandrovich became heir presumptive, and Michael stood second-in-line to the throne.
George suffered from poor health and died of tuberculosis on 9 August 1899. Michael became heir presumptive to his still-reigning elder brother Nicholas II, expected to become Emperor in his own right since Nicholas and his Empress Consort Alexandra had several daughters, but no son. Under Russian law, the eldest daughter, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, could only succeed to the throne if all legitimate male Romanov dynasts predeceased her.
Michael continued as heir presumptive until 12 August 1904, when the birth of Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich to Nicholas II and Alexandra resulted in the newborn becoming heir apparent to his father. Michael again became second-in-line to the throne.
[edit] Michael during the Revolution
At 3.05 pm on 15 March [O.S. 2 March] 1917, Emperor Nicholas II, under pressure from generals and Duma representatives, abdicated in favour of his son, Alexei. However, he reconsidered his decision, deciding that the 12 year-old boy's haemophilia rendered him too vulnerable to be separated from his parents. In a second abdication document, signed at 11.15 pm but marked as having been issued at 3.05 pm, the time of the earlier one, Nicholas II declared
| “ | We bequeath Our inheritance to Our brother the Grand Duke Mikhail Aleksandrovich and give him Our Blessing on his accession to the throne."[1] | ” |
The abdication was countersigned by the Minister for the Imperial Court, Count Freedericksz. According to Russia's Fundamental Laws, Michael became Emperor on the day the abdication of his predecessor was lawfully promulgated. Michael was, in fact, proclaimed as "Emperor Michael II" to Russian troops and in some cities, though not in most.
Michael's accession was accepted by the newly-formed Provisional Government, with the exception of the representative of the newly-formed Petrograd Soviet, Alexander Kerensky. He anticipated rejection of the monarchy's continuance by the Soviet's members, and, along with most other leaders of the Provisional Government who met with Michael the next morning, Kerensky sought to dissuade Michael from attempting to reign, but unknown to them, Michael had already made up his mind.
Kerensky and two lawyers (including Vladimir Nabokov, father of the future writer) drafted a declaration of conditional acceptance for Michael to sign, which he duly did the following day, on 16 March [O.S. 3 March] 1917. In it, Michael neither abdicated nor refused acceptance of the throne, but deferred exercise of the Crown's authority, conferring the Tsarist imprimatur upon the Provisional Government's regime until, and for the purpose of, democratically ascertaining whether the Russian people wished to retain or replace the monarchy. Kerensky, surprised by Michael's foresightedness, called The Grand Duke's action noble and patriotic [1].
The manifesto stated, in part:
| “ | I am firmly resolved to assume supreme power only if such is the will of our great people, who must now by universal suffrage and through their representatives in the Constituent Assembly establish a form of government and new fundamental laws of the Russian State.[2] | ” |
Michael's diary entry of 15 March 1917 (mentioned in Before the Revolution — A view of Russia under the last Tsar by Kyril Fitzlyon {Allan Lane Publication 1977, 256 pages, ISBN 0713908947}) is noteworthy, though it did not prove prescient:
- 'We woke up this morning to hear Russia declared a Republic. What does it matter which form the government will be as long as there is order and justice.'
Any hopes that Michael might be able to assume the throne, following the election of the Constituent Assembly, were overtaken by events. His renunciation of the throne, though conditional, marked the end of the Tsarist regime in Russia. Given that he never ruled, and reigned for at most a few hours, his brother Nicholas II is regarded as the last actual, or de facto Emperor, while Michael's "reign" is relegated to a largely forgotten footnote of history.
[edit] Murder
The best source material, both archival from Russia and elsewhere, seems to indicate that on 12 June 1918 Michael was ordered by a group of men to get out of the hotel in Perm where he lived. Then he and his friend, an Englishman by the name of Brian Johnson—who had been his secretary and valet—were taken by a car to the outskirts of town where they were executed.[3] The first shot was fired at Michael, but the assassins' gun had jammed. Seconds later, Johnson was shot by another of the assassins. Michael, moving towards his friend with arms outstretched, was then shot—at point-blank range and in the head. The official Soviet point of view was that those men who had committed the murders were local workers who hated the Tsarist regime and were annoyed by Michael's "luxury" lifestyle. The documents, however, show that the order to execute him appears to have been given by Vladimir Lenin.[4] Thus, Grand Duke Michael Aleksandrovich of Russia was the first of the Romanovs to be executed by the Bolsheviks. His remains, along with those of Johnson, remain as yet unfound. On 8 June 2009, four days short of the ninety-first anniversary of their murders, both Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich Romanov and Brian Johnson were officially rehabilitated, with Russian State Prosecutors stating:
The analysis of the archive material shows that these individuals were subject to repression through arrest, exile and scrutiny by the Cheka without being charged of committing concrete class and social-related crimes.[5]
[edit] Ancestry
[edit] Notes
- ^ World War I, Abdication of Nicholas II at www.lib.byu.edu
- ^ The Abdication of Nicholas II at www.histdoc.net
- ^ http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/mikhail.html
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1191845/Faithful-British-servant-murdered-Bolsheviks-alongside-tsar-Russia-cleared.html
- ^ http://www.expatica.com/de/news/german-news/Russia-rehabilitates-tsar_s-slain-younger-brother--_53394.html
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Virtual Museum of Michael Romanov in Perm, with information about his last days in Perm.
[edit] Further reading
- Biography: Michael and Natasha, The Life and Love of the Last Tsar of Russia, Rosemary & Donald Crawford, Widenfeld & Nicholson, London. 1997
| Russian royalty | ||
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| Preceded by Grand Duke George Alexandrovich |
Heir to the Russian Throne 9 August 1899 – 12 August 1904 |
Succeeded by Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich |
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