Brother of the Tsar | Michael Romanov

this is the story of grand duke michael romanov brother of tsar nicholas ii and the first romanoff to be murdered by the bolsheviks grand duke michael was a frequent visitor to the alexander palace his last visit took place on july 31 1917 when he was permitted by provisional government leader alexander karensky a visit to his older brother nicholas ii before the imperial family's departure to exile into bolsk it was their final meeting and the last time the former czar would see any member of his family apart from his wife and children the life and death of this third son of alexander iii served to punctuate the trials of the last tsar's reign as well as the horror and brutality of the regimes that followed his ancestor peter the great made history misha as he was known to his family was swept into a political tidal wave over which he had little control [Music] grand duke mikhail alexandrovich romanov was born in saint petersburg on december 9 1878 the fourth child and third son of the czerevich alexander alexandrovich and his wife the former danish princess dagmar known in russia's maria theodorovna misha was the undisputed favourite child of his parents his father would become tsar in 1881 upon the assassination of his father alexander ii michael's childhood was spent primarily at the palace of gachena located outside saint petersburg the former home of his great-great-grandfather tsar paul the first descriptions of his family's life at kachina speak of a relaxed countrified existence stressing modesty and simplicity these of course were relative terms when one's father was the tsar of russia while alexander iii could be fierce and domineering with other members of the large imperial family he could be a doting and lenient parent especially with misha [Music] [Music] [Music] nicholas ii was known to be insecure and was shy as a child in contrast michael was friendly displaying the inner confidence of a favored offspring history was michael's favorite subject and he regarded russian history as a chronicle of his family educating their children was very important to the imperial couple and michael exhibited the intelligence shown by his other siblings in pursuing his studies as well as the free spirit fostered by his liberal upbringing michael was closest to his youngest sister olga alexandrovna who called her older brother dear darling floppy the two siblings often traveled together and michael's first romance was with one of her ladies-in-waiting a young girl named dina that attachment was deemed unsuitable and was thus ended by the efforts of his mother [Music] [Applause] [Music] michael was also at his beloved father's side when alexander succumbed in 1894. michael towered over his older brother nicholas attaining a height of over six feet he shared in the good looks of his family being devastatingly handsome and charming in 1899 when michael was 20 his second brother george died of tuberculosis since nicholas and alexandra had yet to produce a son michael was heir to the throne from then until august 1904 when his nephew alexi nikolayevich was born while alexandra was pregnant with anastasia nicholas came very near to death from typhus fortunately for all nicholas rallied and michael could resume his more routine duties as heir the role of a young adult heir to the romanovs was similar in some respects to that of a u.s vice president he attended numerous weddings and funerals michael represented nicholas at the funerals of both queen victoria in 1901 and edward vii of england in 1909 the tsar's reluctance to leave his young family greatly increased the travelling required of his air both at home and abroad as a result of his foreign travels michael became something of an anglophile many of his tastes and preferences shaped during those years reflect those of the english aristocracy of the period he was an accomplished equestrian an avid automobile driver and loved animals and country living during those years he made his home at his childhood home gachana [Music] another duty led indirectly to his marriage in 1912. for many years michael was the commander of the imperial guard headquartered at gachener there the grand duke met the wife of one of his officers natalia wolfert in 1906. the scandal caused by this liaison was the second of its type to hit the imperial family earlier grand duke paul michael's uncle had married the estranged wife of vladimir aleksandrovich's adjunct [Music] as described by her contemporaries natalia wolfert at the time when she met michael was a beautiful girl of 18 years with an independent demeanor daughter of a moscow lawyer she first married at 16 to the music director of the bolshoi momontov while married to wolford she met michael and it was reported as love at first sight for both parties they soon became lovers and the grand duke wrote to his brother nicholas as required requesting his permission for them to marry the romanov standards are different and more complex from the british royal family's disdain of divorced persons as spouses for their members under the pauline law members of the imperial family are prohibited from entering into unequal marriages this standard was interpreted by reigning czars as requiring marriage into other royal or aristocratic houses with the approval of the tsar interestingly enough most of the matrimonial scandals of nicholas ii's reign involved marriages of members of the imperial family to russians outside the aristocracy for example their sister olga alexandrovna married a perfectly respectable but unaristocratic colonel so the family's objection to michael's marriage stem not so much from natalia's divorcee status but from her lack of aristocratic ancestry nicholas's refusal was made more emphatic by his reassignment of his brother to a remote command in oral natalia was sent on an extended european vacation the lovers exchanged numerous telegrams and letters and finally could no longer bear their separation they live together without benefit of clergy for several years in 1910 natalia gave birth to their only child george named for michael's brother the couple's stalemate with nicholas was broken by two events alexi's medical crisis at spalla in 1912 and world war one when in 1912 michael heard of the gravity of alexis illness at the hunting lodge in spala in poland he panicked he and natalia had been living the life of imperial vagabonds traveling throughout europe with their infant son however if alexi died michael would again become heir to the throne he was unwilling to do so without natalia at his side as his wife with his nephew's frail health and the apparent end to alexandra's childbearing michael feared his bachelorhood would be sacrificed to a dynastic marriage thus during the crisis he married natalia in vienna in a serbian orthodox church the significance of the venue was that this marriage could not be put aside by nicholas or russian church authorities like it or not the woman was now natalia romanov [Music] michael's defiance of his family in mata's matrimonial foreshadowed the refusal of his cousin edward viii to go on without the support of the woman that he loved romantics may thrill at the depth of the grand duke's love for natalia but for nicholas ii the act was one of crass betrayal it left the tsar angry and devastated particularly over the timing so close to his own sons near death the breach between the two brothers was not mended until world war one with michael's return to russia nicholas did not immediately request his brother's return home when hostilities broke out in august 1914. michael's best friend general ivan ivanovich for ronsoft dashkov interceded between the two brothers suggesting that michael be recalled to command the wild division the wild division was an all-volunteer irregular division of the russian army composed of six regiments of muslims from the caucasus region michael was a wildly popular choice as commander among the divisions fighters and photos exist of the tall handsome grand duke a tired one of their colourful uniforms [Music] natalia established several hospitals around petrograd as saint petersburg was now called even turning their estate at gachena into a danish red cross hospital the latter proved to be a fortuitous move after the revolution she was finally granted the title of countess brass over with her son also to be called count brasov she was never received by nicholas and alexandra as a sister-in-law however by all accounts she was quite content to be the grand dukes woman and bore the disdain of her imperial in-laws with dignity as long as michael lived she was content as a hostess she frequently entertained members of the imperial duma michael proved to be a brave commander of his wild division it is interesting to note that while much of the army mutinied after the revolution these fierce men remained a disciplined fighting force they only disbanded in 1920 after having continued to fight in the white army when they were evacuated to constantinople with general rangel some of their descendants may be the present-day rebel fighters in chechnya as many chechens fought in the wild division there is no evidence that michael took part in the grand ducal plots of 1916-1917 against zar nicholas and it is believed that he remained loyal to his brother to the last he was stunned along with the rest of the world by nicholas's abdication for himself and alexi in february 1917 the romanov dynasty which began in 1613 with zarmichael would now end with michael alexandrovich some historians consider michael to be the last tsar of russia what is beyond doubt is that he was named nicholas's successor had things been different he may have become zar however he inherited a situation that by the hour was careened out of his or anyone's control alexander karensky and other duma leaders made it clear to him that his safety could not be guaranteed if he assumed power he would be a czar without a court michael's manifesto of march 3 1917 is noteworthy in that it represents a fundamental change in the romanov family's willingness to use violence in order to retain its power his repudiation of force to claim or regain the crown has remained to the present day the roman off policy regarding a restoration of the monarchy here is what he said a heavy burden had been laid upon me by the will of my brother who in a time of an example strife and popular tumult has transferred to me the imperial throne of russia sharing with the people the thought that the good of the country should stand before everything else i have firmly decided that i will accept power only if that is the will of our great people who must by universal suffrage elect their representatives to the constituent assembly in order to determine the form of government and draw up new fundamental laws for russia therefore calling for the blessing of god i ask all citizens of russia to obey the provisional government which has arisen and has been endowed with full authority on the initiative of the imperial duma until such time as the constituent assembly called at the earliest possible date and elected on the basis of universal direct equal and secret suffrage shall by its decision as to the form of government give expression to the will of the people in this document michael neither accepts nor rejects the crown it is clearly not an abdication as some have argued michael instead strikes a new course consistent with his call before nicholas's fall for representative government he would rule as a constitutional monarch or not at all michael remained in contact with alexander karensky until the latter fled russia after the bolshevik uprising in october 1917. frequently forgotten is that the elections michael calls for were held only to have the constituent assembly disbanded by the armed force of the bolsheviks michael assisted karensky with his escape from russia after the bolshevik coup obtaining for the ousted leader at danish passport through his family connections the danes still occupied gachana and it offered michael's family and connections the tiny bit of safety they had left karensky made his way to the west finally settling in the united states and died in 1964. george count brassov was also spirited out of russia with a danish passport he lived in paris until his death in an automobile accident at age 21. he had no children ensuring that michael had no direct descendants natalia countess brassova was briefly imprisoned after the coup along with michael savankoff the murderer who planned sergey alexandrovich's assassination was the instigator nicholas and alexandra learned about this during their internment at tibolsk all thoughts of the impropriety of michael's morganatic marriage by this time had vanished they were terribly afraid for their brother and sister-in-law michael ever the devoted husband ordered his beloved wife to leave russia by whatever means after he was ordered to the urals in the spring of 1918. once released she obeyed her husband and escaped from russia with a danish passport disguised as a red cross nurse she lived the good life for some years in london natalia's son by michael died in 1931. in 1932 she finally found out what happened to her husband back in june 1918. impoverished in her later years she received no help from the romanovs or their royal relations curiously the only financial help which materialized came from a cousin by marriage prince felix yusupov natalia's daughter by her first marriage also escaped married and had a daughter pauline gray who wrote natalia's biography the grand duke's woman by the time she died alone and forgotten in 1952 it was her favorite title [Music] michael enjoyed relative freedom for many weeks and was undoubtedly relieved that natalia and the children either had or would escape on the night of the 11th of june 1918 a band of gangster-like bolsheviks entered michael's hotel room in the city of perm and asked him to ready himself for transfer to a safe place when he protested and tried to call the local bolshevik leader who kept promising his continued freedom his phone lines were cut after he was dressed he was grabbed by the collar and put into a conveyance along with his secretary the englishman brian johnson the two men were driven outside of perm into a forested area there they were shocked by the band one report indicates that michael after being wounded ran toward his friend with his arms outstretched only to be shot dead one of the murderers would proudly wear johnson's watch for many years as a souvenir the bodies of michael romanoff and brian johnson have never been found their murders were the first in an orgy of romanov murders that took place between june 1918 and january 1919. in all 18 members of the imperial family were murdered during this time it is impossible not to recognize the dynastic significance of these brutal acts they began their rampage with the kind gentleman known to nicholas's children as uncle misha who desired to know the will of the russian people before becoming their tsar based strictly on primary sources the book the romanoff royal martyrs offers previously unpublished texts in english from various archival sources an impressive 512-page book featuring more than 200 black and white photographs and a 56 page full color photo insert

Channel: The Romanov Royal Martyrs

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Keywords: romanovs, romanov, Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, Royal Family, Four sisters, Ekaterinburg, Royalty, British Royalty, romanov family death, romanov sisters, romanov jewels, romanov book, romanov execution, national geographic, anastasia romanov, otma, tsarevich alexei, alexandra feodorovna, olga romanov, maria romanov, mystery of the romanovs, rasputin, documentary, romanov family, russian revolution, russian history, history channel

Id: j-IpMtx3Jrc

Length: 21min 47sec (1307 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 19 2021