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 USSR they generally preferred not to remember him. In the West, he was counted 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 Michael grew up an energetic and intelligent boy. Since childhood, he was passionate about horse riding, hunting, sports and theater. After a while, these addictions were supplemented by car driving and a genuine interest in aviation.
According to the memoirs, Mikhail was very well brought up, modest and even shy. In addition, he was characterized by a certain democracy. That is, he sometimes preferred the company of his mentors, rather than relatives.
He also did not attach any importance to money. It was considered the richest among the great princes.
By and large, he grew up in a strict, almost Spartan atmosphere. Father is the Russian emperor, and Maria Fedorovna, wife of Alexander III, raised him "without weaknesses and sentiments." He had to observe the strict regime of the day, which was established by the parents. He slept in an ordinary field bed. When he woke up, he took cold baths and ate ordinary oatmeal at breakfast.
Every day, without fail, he studied various disciplines. The prince also had to attend church services and make visits to relatives. Naturally, he took part in official events.
Since there was only one way of serving the Fatherland for all the royal persons, Mikhail was assigned to the elite and prestigious Preobrazhensky regiment at birth. Years later, he was enrolled in the Cuirassier unit, and then he led one of the squadrons of the Blue Cuirassier regiment.
Heir
Shortly before these events, one of the elder brothers, Mikhail George, suddenly died while cycling. The cause of his death was an attack of consumption. By the way, ahead of the course of events, let's say: in memory of him, the younger brother will subsequently call his newborn son by his name ...
After the death of George, Michael became the heir to the throne overnight, since the family of Emperor Nicholas II at that time did not have a son.
Michael received a considerable part of the legacy of his late brother. Including his property now was a huge estate Brasovo, which is near Bryansk.
An important circumstance: George bore the title “Tsarevich”, but Mikhail did not receive such a title. Actually, this fact caused rumors about the Russian tsar. Basically, the initiator of these conversations was Maria Fyodorovna, wife of Alexander III, the already widowed empress, and her entourage.
True, in fact, this whole unpleasant situation was quite easily explained. The fact is, the wife of the Russian autocrat hoped that she would nevertheless have a son. And when in 1904 this all the same happened, Mikhail ceased to be the heir. But now he bore the title of "ruler of the State." It was understood that the grand duke could be such if the emperor did not. And, accordingly, Michael could use this title until the emperor’s son reaches the age of majority.
Love triangle
It is worth noting that Michael had a rather strained and difficult relationship with the autocrat. And they became more aggravated when the Grand Duke decided to enter into an organic marriage with Natalia Wulfert. For the sake of love, he essentially abandoned the Russian throne.
Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov met his future wife at one of the festive events. By this time, Natalia was the wife of Lieutenant of the Gatchina Regiment Vladimir Wolfert. By the way, the Grand Duke patronized this unit. By the way, before that, Natalia had another marriage.
Be that as it may, between the prince and the wife of the officer began a stormy romance. These relations developed literally in front of colleagues. On the one hand, they aroused genuine admiration. But on the other - envy. The rapprochement of the lovers was also facilitated by the fact that the prince and spouse of Natalia were familiar for a long time. Together they were seriously fond of photo business.
After some time, rumors of a romance reached the emperor. He was unhappy with these gossip around his younger brother. As a result, Mikhail had to surrender the command of the military unit, after which he went to Oryol. He became the commander of the Chernihiv Hussar Regiment. This happened in 1909.
By this time, Mikhail's lover 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, the husband of Natalia, had the rights to the future offspring.
Only one month before the birth of the first-born, the situation began to change dramatically. With the permission of the emperor, all the divorce documents were submitted to the Holy Synod for consideration. As a result, in the summer of 1910, Natalia and Vladimir ceased to be spouses. A few weeks later, the first-born of Mikhail appeared - son George.
Consequences of marriage
Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov, whose biography is full of interesting events, has long been trying to persuade his older brother to allow him to marry his beloved. But the Russian autocrat was implacable and said that he would never give his consent. By and large, there were very good reasons. The fact is, Natalya was a simple noblewoman, but she did not have the title. In addition, she was already married twice. But most importantly, these divorces have always been ecclesiastical.
However, Michael was determined. In 1912, the lovers managed to get married. They combined secretly in one of the small Austrian churches.
The emperor was indignant and tried his best to prevent their marriage. To do this, he activated the mechanism of internal and diplomatic services. They say that this whole difficult situation was due to the fact that Alexandra Fedorovna, the wife of the tsar, was genuinely afraid of a plot from the side of the Grand Duke. She was afraid that Michael would try to overthrow Nicholas from the throne.
Be that as it may, in this conflict the Grand Duke was the winner. But the consequences of these disagreements were disastrous for him. Firstly, 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 estates of the Grand Duke were under sequestration. Well, and fourthly, 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 World War I caught Michael in the UK. He immediately decided to write a letter to his older brother, where he asked for permission to return to his homeland. Despite the difficult relationship, the emperor gave the grand duke the opportunity to come to Russia. And after some time, Mikhail headed the Wild Division, known to many. This unit at that time fought on the Galician fronts. In battles, the prince was awarded the St. George Cross of the fourth degree.
At this time, the wife Natalia was able to organize a hospital, which was based in her husband's mansion. The mansion of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich was also called the Alekseevsky Palace. It began to be designed back in 1883. Prince Michael wished that he resembled a French chateau.
In addition, a "medical train" was formed with the money of the Grand Duke.
Reconciliation
In 1915, the Russian autocrat decided to go for a final reconciliation with Mikhail. So, Nicholas granted Natalya the count's title. She became the Countess of Brasova. Of course, her son George also received this surname. In addition, he was recognized by the emperor. George officially became his nephew. Although at the same time he did not have rights to the throne. But through his father Michael, he still remained one of the people closest to the Russian throne.
Fifteen years later, this handsome and interesting young man will die from the wounds that he will receive in a car accident.
Returning to the events of the First World War, we will inform you that during this period Michael began to keep his diary. He made these notes until his untimely death. The diaries of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov were published relatively recently.
Fronde
At the end of 1916, some of the great princes decided to stand in opposition to the legitimate king. Their demarches went down in Russian history as the “Grand Ducal Front”.
They demanded that not only the elder G. Rasputin be removed from government, but also the empress. They also intended to introduce the so-called. "Responsible ministry."
Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, brother of the last tsar, was already aware of the differences 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 related to the fate of Dmitry Pavlovich. The Grand Duke participated in a conspiracy against the elder.
In a word, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov never intrigued in relation to his older brother. Moreover, in these times he was already very close to the autocrat. True, many politicians and military leaders tried to take advantage of these relations. In addition, many contemporaries pointed to the role of Mikhail's wife. Her salon became a kind of center that not only preached liberalism, but also put forward the Grand Duke to the throne.
Manifesto of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich
Michael 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 the only and best option for the development of the country.
A number of military units have already begun to swear allegiance to Michael II. But the prince himself at the moment did not want to risk it. In the army, his abdication made a depressing impression.
Politician P. Milyukov persuaded him not to give up power. He even suggested that all monarchists leave the northern capital and group in Moscow.
However, the day after lengthy negotiations, the prince published the "Manifesto of Michael." The document said that the prince is still ready to ascend the throne. But before that, a Constituent Assembly should be convened, where a popular vote will be held on the subject of succession to the throne.
The period of dual power
Meanwhile, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov arrived in revolutionary Petrograd. He continued not to take any part in political life, but the new authorities remembered his existence.
The Grand Duke tried to obtain permission to emigrate. He wanted to move to the UK. However, the Kerensky government, the Bolsheviks, and British officials opposed this desire in every way.
And when the Kornilov rebellion was suppressed, Mikhail was placed under house arrest. He got rid of this imprisonment at the end of September 1917. By this time, the cabinet of ministers allowed him to go to the Crimea. But after all these events, he decided to stay in Russia and went to Gatchina.
Violence
Meanwhile, in October 1917, a coup occurred, and the Bolsheviks took power. After a while, they dispersed the Constituent Assembly, and there was no question of a popular vote.
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 restricted by anything within the city. But after some time, the Chekists established supervision of him. And in June of that year, at night, the Bolsheviks kidnapped him from the hotel, took him out into the woods and shot him ...
For a long time, the fact of violence was kept secret. And in July, a custom article appeared in the Perm periodical stating that the Grand Duke lives in Omsk. According to the newspaper, he leads 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 publications. But the fate of Michael was unknown. Accordingly, this understatement gave rise to rumors about the fate of the failed autocrat. Impostors appeared who pretended to be him. In any case, the famous writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn mentioned such “Michael”. Others were convinced that the prince had actually survived and was hiding under the name of Bishop Serafim Pozdeev. Still others claimed that he was saved, and 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 a moot point.