Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
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The Last Tsar...
The last tsar of Russia was not Nikolai II but his younger brother Mikahil Aleksandrovich...:
Nikolaj II had designated this man as his successor in his declaration of abdication!
If the tsar, who was extremely unpopular with all sections of the population, had decided to renounce the throne and to make these succession arrangements, he would have been able to save the Romanov dynasty with some probability.
Everyone in Russia knew that Grand Duke Michael had been at odds with the Tsar - and especially his wife Alexandra - for years!
In addition to political reasons (Mikhail was not a friend of the autocratic tsarist regime, but advocated a parliamentary monarchy like in England), there were also private reasons:
Mikhail had twice wanted to marry women who were not "well-born". The tsar prevented the first planned marriage to Alexandra Dina Kossikovskaya by having the woman arrested in Saint Petersburg and then banished from Russia for life.
From then on, the Grand Duke was under police surveillance!
Marrying the next candidate, Nathalie Sergeevna Brassova, was also a thorn in Nikolai II's side. He first attempted to separate the couple by giving his brother a military command far away in the province.
Finally, the Grand Duke and his chosen one fled to Vienna, where they secretly married on October 30, 1912.
The tsar categorically forbade the couple to re-enter Russia – they were only allowed to return after the outbreak of the First World War!
In 1915, the tsar “forgave” his brother for the “misstep” and gave him a military command at the front.
As commander of the famous "Wild Division", a cavalry division consisting of Caucasian tribal warriors and Russian-Cossack support personnel, Grand Duke Mikhail earned some military merit.
The man was popular with the people because of his well-known rifts with the tsar's family - in the military he had broad sympathy because of his achievements.
Now his brother has proclaimed him tsar! That's not worth much these days, because the revolution has already taken power in Saint Petersburg.
Mikhail responds in his own way – honorable and honorable:
In a letter addressed to the Russian people on March 16, 1917, he solemnly declared that powers should first pass to the provisional government and that he was ready to succeed to the throne if the people decided so at a later date in secret elections .
He also decides not to leave Russia and states that from now on he wishes "to live as a private citizen and as a Russian among Russians".
The Provisional Committee and the Petrograd Workers' and Soldiers' Council, which are themselves fiercely contending for power, breathe a sigh of relief - this man could not have been brushed aside if he had seriously aspired to power!
Mikhail then lived with his wife in seclusion in Gatchina...
...until the Bolsheviks took power through the – bloodless – October Revolution.
The new rulers immediately banished the couple to Perm in the Urals and put him up there in a shabby hotel that still stands today
...:
But arrest is only the first step - the Bolsheviks mercilessly killed every Romanov they could lay their hands on, the counter-revolution, as Lenin said, "should have no banner to rally around".
Mikhail was absolutely aware of the danger he was in - and he still managed to get his wife and their son Georgy out of Perm. Both survived. Only his private secretary, Brian Johnson, remains with Mikhail, who, as an Englishman, believes he is out of danger.
On the night of June 12-13, 1918, armed men led by Gavril Ilyich Myasnikov invaded...
...to the hotel where the grand duke is being held and take him out of Perm in a carriage.
Mikhail Romanov and Brian Johnson are taken to a nearby forest and shot. The bodies were robbed and buried in the forest. Her grave was never found.
A cross and a small chapel were later erected on a hill near the suspected site of the murders...:
In der Stadt Nasran in der nordkaukasischen Republik Inguschetien steht seit vergangenem Jahr ein Denkmal, das an die "Wilde Division" erinnert...:
The inscription also commemorates their commander Mikhail Aleksadrovich Romanov...
The last tsar of Russia was not Nikolai II but his younger brother Mikahil Aleksandrovich...:
Nikolaj II had designated this man as his successor in his declaration of abdication!
If the tsar, who was extremely unpopular with all sections of the population, had decided to renounce the throne and to make these succession arrangements, he would have been able to save the Romanov dynasty with some probability.
Everyone in Russia knew that Grand Duke Michael had been at odds with the Tsar - and especially his wife Alexandra - for years!
In addition to political reasons (Mikhail was not a friend of the autocratic tsarist regime, but advocated a parliamentary monarchy like in England), there were also private reasons:
Mikhail had twice wanted to marry women who were not "well-born". The tsar prevented the first planned marriage to Alexandra Dina Kossikovskaya by having the woman arrested in Saint Petersburg and then banished from Russia for life.
From then on, the Grand Duke was under police surveillance!
Marrying the next candidate, Nathalie Sergeevna Brassova, was also a thorn in Nikolai II's side. He first attempted to separate the couple by giving his brother a military command far away in the province.
Finally, the Grand Duke and his chosen one fled to Vienna, where they secretly married on October 30, 1912.
The tsar categorically forbade the couple to re-enter Russia – they were only allowed to return after the outbreak of the First World War!
In 1915, the tsar “forgave” his brother for the “misstep” and gave him a military command at the front.
As commander of the famous "Wild Division", a cavalry division consisting of Caucasian tribal warriors and Russian-Cossack support personnel, Grand Duke Mikhail earned some military merit.
The man was popular with the people because of his well-known rifts with the tsar's family - in the military he had broad sympathy because of his achievements.
Now his brother has proclaimed him tsar! That's not worth much these days, because the revolution has already taken power in Saint Petersburg.
Mikhail responds in his own way – honorable and honorable:
In a letter addressed to the Russian people on March 16, 1917, he solemnly declared that powers should first pass to the provisional government and that he was ready to succeed to the throne if the people decided so at a later date in secret elections .
He also decides not to leave Russia and states that from now on he wishes "to live as a private citizen and as a Russian among Russians".
The Provisional Committee and the Petrograd Workers' and Soldiers' Council, which are themselves fiercely contending for power, breathe a sigh of relief - this man could not have been brushed aside if he had seriously aspired to power!
Mikhail then lived with his wife in seclusion in Gatchina...
...until the Bolsheviks took power through the – bloodless – October Revolution.
The new rulers immediately banished the couple to Perm in the Urals and put him up there in a shabby hotel that still stands today
...:
But arrest is only the first step - the Bolsheviks mercilessly killed every Romanov they could lay their hands on, the counter-revolution, as Lenin said, "should have no banner to rally around".
Mikhail was absolutely aware of the danger he was in - and he still managed to get his wife and their son Georgy out of Perm. Both survived. Only his private secretary, Brian Johnson, remains with Mikhail, who, as an Englishman, believes he is out of danger.
On the night of June 12-13, 1918, armed men led by Gavril Ilyich Myasnikov invaded...
...to the hotel where the grand duke is being held and take him out of Perm in a carriage.
Mikhail Romanov and Brian Johnson are taken to a nearby forest and shot. The bodies were robbed and buried in the forest. Her grave was never found.
A cross and a small chapel were later erected on a hill near the suspected site of the murders...:
In der Stadt Nasran in der nordkaukasischen Republik Inguschetien steht seit vergangenem Jahr ein Denkmal, das an die "Wilde Division" erinnert...:
The inscription also commemorates their commander Mikhail Aleksadrovich Romanov...
