Grand Duke Mikhail Aleksandrovich Romanov: biography, family, military ranks and titles

The story, which is associated with the name of the younger brother of Nicholas II, resembles a real thriller, which includes elements of real absurdity. A number of historians believe that Grand Duke Mikhail Romanov is truly the last autocrat of Russia. Although in the era of the Soviet Union, he was generally preferred not to be remembered. In the West, he was ranked among the saints ... The fate of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov will be presented in the article.

Spartan education

Mikhail Romanov was born at the very beginning of the winter of 1878. He is the youngest son of Alexander III. According to the succession of the Russian throne, he was considered the third. The first were the future autocrat Nicholas II and George.

Young Mikhail grew up as an energetic and intelligent boy. Since childhood, he was keen on horseback riding, hunting, sports and theater. After some time, these addictions were added to the driving of the car and a genuine interest in aviation.

According to recollections, Michael was very well brought up, modest and even shy. In addition, he was characterized by a kind of democracy. That is, he sometimes preferred the company of his mentors, and not relatives at all.

He also did not attach any importance to money. At the same time it was considered the richest among the great princes.

By and large, he grew up in a strict, almost spartan setting. Father - the Russian emperor, and Maria Fedorovna, the wife of Alexander III, brought him up "without weaknesses and sentiments." He had to observe the strict regime of the day, which was set by his parents. He slept on an ordinary field cot. When he woke up, took cold baths and at breakfast ate ordinary oatmeal.

Every day he studied different disciplines without fail. The prince also had to attend church services and make visits to relatives. Naturally, he took part in official events.

Since for all the royal people the way of serving the Fatherland was only one, then at birth Michael was assigned to the elite and prestigious Preobrazhensky regiment. Years later, he was recorded in the Cuirassier division, and then he headed one of the squadrons of the regiment "Blue Cuirassier".

Heir

Shortly before these events, while walking on a bicycle, one of Mikhail Georgy's older brothers suddenly died. The cause of his death was a bout of consumption. By the way, ahead of the events, let's say: in memory of him, the younger brother will later call his newborn son his name ...

After the death of George Michael suddenly became heir to the throne, as the family of Emperor Nicholas II at the time had no son.

Mikhail received a considerable part of the deceased brother's inheritance. Including his property now was a huge estate Brasovo, which is near Bryansk.

An important circumstance: George wore the title "Tsesarevich", but Michael did not receive such a title. Actually, this fact became the reason for gossip about the Russian tsar. Basically, the initiator of these conversations was Maria Fyodorovna, the wife of Alexander III, the widowed empress, and her entourage.

True, in fact, all this impartial situation was fairly easily explained. The thing is, the wife of the Russian autocrat hoped that she would still have a son. And when in 1904 it all the same happened, Michael ceased to be heir. But now he wore the title of "ruler of the State". It was understood that the Grand Duke could be so, if the emperor does not become. And, accordingly, this title Michael could use until the son of the emperor reaches the age of majority.

Love triangle

It is worth noting, with the autocrat Michael had rather strained and uneasy relations. And they escalated more strongly when the Grand Duke decided to conclude a morganatic marriage with Natalia Wulfert. For the sake of love, he, in fact, refused the Russian throne.

Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich Romanov met his future wife at one of the festive events. By this time, Natalia was the wife of the lieutenant of the Gatchina regiment, Vladimir Wulfert. By the way, the Grand Duke was patronizing this division. By the way, before that, Natalya had another marriage.

Anyway, between the prince and the wife of the officer began a violent romance. These relations developed literally in front of colleagues. On the one hand, they caused genuine admiration. But on the other - envy. The fact that the prince and husband of Natalia were familiar for a long time contributed to the rapprochement of lovers. Together they were fond of photogallery.

After some time, rumors about the novel reached the emperor. He was dissatisfied with these gossip around his younger brother. As a result, Michael had to hand over the command of the military unit, after which he went to Eagle. He became commander of the Chernigov Hussar Regiment. This happened in 1909.

By this time, Michael's beloved was still a married lady. She was married in the church. At the same time she was expecting a child from the Grand Duke. But only Lieutenant Wulfert, Natalia's husband, had the rights to the future son.

Only one month before the birth of the first-born, the situation radically changed. With the permission of the emperor, all documentation on divorce was submitted to the Holy Synod for consideration. As a result, in the summer of 1910 Natalia and Vladimir ceased to be spouses. And a few weeks later appeared the first-born of Michael - son George.

Consequences of marriage

Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov, whose biography is full of interesting events, has long tried to persuade his elder brother to allow him to marry his lover. But the Russian autocrat was inexorable and said that he would not give his consent for anything. By and large, there were very good reasons for that. The thing is, Natalya was a simple noblewoman, but she did not have the title. In addition, she had already been married twice. But most importantly, these divorces were always ecclesiastical.

Nevertheless, Michael was determined. In 1912, the lovers managed to get married. They were combined secretly in one of the small Austrian churches.

The Emperor was indignant and tried in every possible way to prevent their marriage. To do this, he activated the mechanism of internal and diplomatic services. They say that all this difficult situation was due to the fact that Alexandra Fedorovna, the wife of the tsar, sincerely feared a conspiracy by the Grand Duke. She was afraid that Mikhail would try to overthrow Nicholas from the throne.

Whatever it was, in this conflict the Grand Duke turned out to be the winner. But the consequences of these disagreements were deplorable for him. First, he ceased to be a ruler, that is, a regent. Secondly, he was removed from all posts and posts. Since 1901, he is no longer a member of the Council of State. Thirdly, all the estate of the Grand Duke was under sequestration. Well, in the fourth, he was forbidden to return to his homeland. As a result, the prince's family decided to live in Europe.

Return

The news of the outbreak of the First World War caught Michael in the UK. He immediately decided to write a letter to his elder brother, where he asked to be allowed to return to his homeland. Despite the difficult relationship, the emperor gave the Grand Duke an opportunity to come to Russia. And after a while Michael headed the well-known Wild Division. This unit at that time fought on the Galician fronts. In the battles of the prince was awarded the St. George cross of the fourth degree.

At this time, her husband Natalya was able to organize a hospital, which was based in the mansion of her husband. The mansion of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich was also called Alekseevsky Palace. It began to be designed in 1883. Prince Michael wished that he resembled French chateaux.

In addition, the money of the Grand Duke was formed and the "sanitation train".

Reconciliation

In 1915, the Russian autocrat decided to make a final reconciliation with Mikhail. So, Nicholas gave Natalie the title of Count. She became Countess Brasova. Of course, her son George also received this name. In addition, he was recognized emperor. George officially became his nephew. Although he did not have the right to the throne. But through his father Michael, he still remained one of the closest people to the Russian throne.

In fifteen years, this handsome and interesting young man will die of wounds, which he will receive in a car crash.

Returning to the events of the First World War, we will inform you that during this period Michael began to keep his diary. These records he did until his premature death. The diaries of Grand Duke Mikhail Aleksandrovich Romanov were published relatively recently.

Fronde

At the end of 1916 some of the grand dukes decided to stand in opposition to the lawful king. Their demarches entered the domestic history as a "grand prince".

They demanded to remove from government not only the elder G. Rasputin, but also the empress. They also intended to introduce the so-called. "Responsible ministry".

The Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, the brother of the last tsar, was already aware of the disagreements between the Romanovs. And when Rasputin was killed, he did not sign the collective letter of some of his relatives who protested against the decision connected with the fate of Dmitry Pavlovich. The Grand Duke took part in the conspiracy against the old man.

In a word, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich Romanov never intrigued in relation to his elder brother. Moreover, during these times he was already very close to the autocrat. True, many politicians and military leaders tried to take advantage of this relationship. In addition, many contemporaries pointed to the role of Mikhail's wife. Her salon became a kind of center, which not only preached liberalism, but also nominated the Grand Duke to the throne.

Manifesto of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich

Mikhail was in Gatchina, when the February Revolution broke out. Nicholas refused the throne, and his younger brother became his successor. For many contemporaries, his candidacy for the throne seemed to be the only and best option for the country's development.

A number of military units have already begun to swear to Michael II. But the prince himself at the moment did not want to risk it. In the army, his renunciation made a depressing impression.

Political figure P. Milyukov persuaded him not to give up power. He even suggested that all monarchists leave the northern capital and be grouped in Moscow.

Nevertheless, the next day after lengthy negotiations the prince published the "Manifesto of Michael." The document said that the prince was ready to enter the throne. But before that, a Constituent Assembly must be convened, where a nation-wide vote will be held on the subject of succession to the throne.

Period of dual power

Meanwhile, the Grand Duke Mikhail Aleksandrovich Romanov arrived in revolutionary Petrograd. He continued to take no part in political life, but the new authorities remembered his existence.

The Grand Duke was trying to get permission to emigrate. He wanted to move to the UK. However, both the Kerensky government, the Bolsheviks, and British officials in every possible way resisted this desire.

And when the Kornilov revolt was suppressed, Mikhail was placed under house arrest. From this imprisonment he got rid of at the end of September 1917. By this time the Cabinet allowed him to go to the Crimea. But after all these events he decided to stay in Russia and left for Gatchina.

Massacre

Meanwhile, in October 1917, a coup took place, and the Bolsheviks took power. After a while they dispersed the Constituent Assembly, and there was no question of popular voting.

At this time, Grand Duke Mikhail Romanov continued to be in Gatchina. In March 1918, the new proletarian power sent him to Perm.

At first, Mikhail's "freedom of movement" was not limited to anything within the city. But after a while the Chekists established supervision over him. And in June of the same year at night the Bolsheviks kidnapped him from the hotel, took him out into the forest and shot him ...

For a long time the fact of punishment remained secret. And in July in the Perm periodical appeared a custom-made article that the Grand Duke lives in Omsk. According to the reporters, he heads the rebels of Siberia ...

Impostors

By that time there was still no official confirmation of the death of the Grand Duke. Information about the execution of Nicholas II was published in all editions. But the fate of Michael was unknown. Accordingly, this understatement gave rise to rumors about the fate of the abortive autocrat. There were impostors who pretended to be for him. In any case, the famous writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn mentioned such a "Michael". Others were sure that the prince actually survived and disappeared under the name of Bishop Seraphim Pozdeev. Still others claimed that he was saved, and they saw him in Kiev.

Be that as it may, in 2009, Mikhail Romanov was officially rehabilitated. And the question of whether to consider him the last Russian emperor Michael II remains to be controversial.