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Grand Duke Michael of Russia, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Romanov (Russian: Михаи́л Александрович Рома́нов) (St. Petersburg, November 22, 1878 (O.S.) – Perm, Ural, about June 12, 1918) was the controversial younger brother of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Nicholas abdicated in favour of Michael on 2 March (O.S.) / 15 March (N.S.).
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.
Michael was a younger brother of Nicholas II of Russia, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich of Russia, Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia. He was also an elder brother of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia.
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 elder brother, George. The couple married in secret on October 30, 1912 (N.S.) in Vienna, for which action he was exiled and removed from imperial succession by his brother Nicholas. Natalya was not entitled to be known as Grand Duchess.
Nicholas II later titled Natalya and her son Countess Brasova and Count Brasov, and legitimitized George, although he still held no claim to the throne. Count Brasov died in a car crash at age 21 on July 22, 1931. On July 28, 1935, Countess Brasova was granted the title of HSH Princess Romanovskaya-Brasova by Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia, the pretender to the Russian throne.
Upon the outbreak of World War I, Mikhail Alexandrovich requested Tsar Nicholas II permission to return to Russia and to the army, with the understanding that his wife Natalya Sergeyevna Wulffert and son would come too. He returned home as a Russian general, leading the Savage Division formed from Chechens and Daghestani.
At the time of his birth, his paternal grandfather Alexander II was still the reigning Emperor of Russia. Michael was fourth-in-line heir to the throne following his father and elder brothers Nicholas and George. His elder brother Alexander was already deceased.
His paternal grandfather was assassinated by Ignacy Hryniewiecki of the Narodnaya Volya on March 13, 1881. His father succeeded him as Emperor of Russia. Nicholas became Heir Apparent while George was second-in-line to the throne. Michael was third-in-line to the throne at this point.
Their father Alexander III died on November 1, 1894. Nicholas II became the new Emperor of Russia while George was his Heir Presumptive. Now Michael was second-in-line to the throne.
George suffered from poor health and died of tuberculosis on August 9, 1899. Michael became Heir Presumptive to his still reigning elder brother Nicholas II. He was considered likely to become Emperor of Russia in his own right. Nicholas II and his Empress consort Alexandra Fyodorovna of Hesse were parents to four daughters: Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia, and Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia. All four daughters could only succeed to the throne provided that no other male Romanov survived.
Michael continued as Heir Presumptive until August 12, 1904, when the birth of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia to Nicholas II and Alexandra resulted in the newborn becoming Heir Apparent to his father. Michael again became the second-in-line heir to the throne.
At 3.05 pm on , Emperor Nicholas II, under pressure from generals and Duma representatives, abdicated in favour of his son, Alexei. However, he reconsidered his decision, given that Alexei was not an adult, and in poor health, which would have meant a regency. Nicholas decided to nominate his brother, Michael, and in the 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 announced The abdication was countersigned by the Minister for the Imperial Court, Count Freedericksz.
Michael's accession was accepted by conservatives in the government under the Prime Minister, Prince Lvov. However the self-appointed Prime Minister of the Provisional Government, Alexander Kerensky feared revolution by the newly-formed Soviet and persuaded the Provisional Government to witthdraw from supporting Michael as Tsar. He and two lawyers drafted a declaration of conditional acceptance for Michael to sign, which he duly did the following day, on . The manifesto did not renounce the throne, but laid conditions for its acceptance. It stated
Any hopes that Michael might be able to assume the throne, following the election of the Duma, were overtaken by events. His renouncement of the throne, though conditional, marked the end of the Tsarist regime in Russia. Given that he never ruled, was never crowned, and never had his accession publicly promulgated, and given the fact that he reigned for at most a few hours, his brother Nicholas II is regarded as the last actual, or de facto Tsar, while Michael's "reign" is relegated to a largely forgotten footnote of history.
The best source material, both archival from Russia and elsewhere, seems to indicate that on June 12 1918 Michael was ordered by a group of men to get out of the hotel in Perm where he lived. Then he and his secretary were taken by a car to the outskirts of town where they were shot and their bodies were burnt. The official Soviet point of view was that those men 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 the Perm Cheka.