It was exactly Michael II who was the last Russian emperor.
Only one day has passed between Nicholas II abdicating from the throne and Michael agreeing to postpone his ascending to the throne till the decision of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly will be taken. All this time it was Michael II, who was the Russian tsar.[20] Then, why is all this confusion necessary? Why call Nicholas II the last Russian Emperor and deprive his brother of this title of honour? There are several reasons for entangling the truth. One evident fact comes to the front: Michael Romanov was the main pretender to the throne and he was the first of the Romanovs to be murdered. It was the matter of how the one who was killed should be called: was it just the younger brother of the last Russian Tsar or the main pretender to the throne? The following events only confirm our guess. Who was the second in this tragic list? The one who was the next candidate to becoming a Russian tsar. So, who is this person? It is Crown Prince Alexei, the 14-year old son of Nicholas II, suffering from hemophilia. But hasn't his father abdicated from the throne himself and on behalf of his son? Yes, he has. Yet, this fact could be disputed. Whether Nicholas II could or could not abdicate from the throne on behalf of his son is a subject of a separate legal research. Does the abdication of the Tsar from the throne have any legal force at all? Since Nicholas had abdicated from the throne, so many God's and human laws were broken that the former Tsar could have appealed against his own abdication. He could have cited being under pressure and his life being under threat. In such conditions, he could do nothing but abdicate from the throne. Theoretically, we cannot reject such a possibility. That's why Crown Prince Alexei and Nicholas Romanov himself could be №2 and №3 on the list of the pretenders for the throne, respectively.
Now, a few words about the very first pretender to the Russian throne. Michael was the favourite son of Alexander III, who, being rather strict with other children, was always forgiving to his favourite son for all his antics. In July 1899, after the death of his brother George, he was declared the heir of the throne and had been the heir until the birth of Nicholas II's son -Crown Prince Alexei, in July 1904. It looked as if the throne had forever become inaccessible for Michael. And he behaves in the respective way: in October 1912, in Vienna he gets secretly married with Natalia Wulfert without having got a permission from his brother – the Emperor. This union is a fruit of the frenzied passion of the grand prince. The result was a secret wedding abroad. Because of this marriage, Michael was banned from entering Russia by the order of Nicholas II. Besides that, he was dismissed and was striped of his title of aide-de-camp. But Michael was not worried about all that, he was enjoying his serene family happiness living in London. He was allowed to return to Russia and received his title back only when the World War started, and his wife was conferred the surname of Brasova. During the war, Michael was the commander of the so-called Caucasian Savage Division formed of Chechens and Dagestani, which was famous for its uncontrollable temper. However, the brother of the Tsar was not allowed to go to the frontline.
And absolutely unexpected, at a twist of history, Michael becomes the Russian tsar. However, Michael didn't follow his brother's advice. On the contrary, being under pressure from Kerensky and other Duma members,[21] he left the question of succession to the throne to be decided by the All-Russian Constituent Assembly. Being who he was, could he proceed in a different way, take the power and save the country from the future turmoil? The fact is that he was not able to do it. That's why Nicholas II allegedly had to write the instrument of abdication twice. It was necessary that Nicholas abdicated not in favour of his son Alexei, but in favour of his brother Michael. The psychological portrait of Michael Romanov was well-known, because he had lived with his beloved in London for two years. He steers clear of the crown, preferring a calm private life to it. His reaction to the extreme situation can be easily predicted. In the moment of choice, Michael can be easily pressed and will use any pretext to absolve himself of any responsibility for power. And it really turns out that way. The decision regarding the takeover of the tsar's power by Michael, dictated by the Duma members and approved by the Constituent Assembly, had no precedent in the history. It has never been so that the transition of power from one monarch to another was decided by the results of the plebiscite and, in addition to this, during the war!
Having performed his task and having given up power, Michael settled down in the Gatchina Palace in the suburbs of Petrograd. In August 1917, the first bell rang for him, as well – he was also arrested by the Provisional Government.
However, the release was not long in coming. And after that the real Theatre of the Absurd started. After the October overthrow, the pretender to the throne Michael Romanov asked Bolsheviks for the permission for a "free residency" in Russia in the capacity of a rank and file citizen, and received it. Not being able to understand the secret motives of the current events, not feeling the peril, which was created by his very existence, the naive Michael Alexandrovich believed that everything would be just so.
And later on the dates started to coincide oddly. Michael Romanov was again arrested by the Bolshevik government in March 1918. "Without any reasons," as the historians used to put it, describing these events. We fully understand the reason of the arrest: the second stage of the future elimination of the main pretenders to the throne begins. The Provisional Government didn't let anybody go abroad, now Lenin's government must kill the Romanovs. In this case, it absolutely doesn't matter at all whether Michael Romanov is involved in the anti-Bolshevik plots or not. He is arrested not because of something, he is arrested in order to have something done. He is arrested to be killed.
It was not only Michael who was in trouble late in March 1918, it was the whole family. And this family of the Romanovs is big – the executioners will have a lot of work. The genealogic tree of the Romanovs has grown exuberantly on the blessed Russian soil. Emperor Nicholas I had four sons and three daughters. Emperor Alexander II had six sons and two daughters. Emperor Alexander III fell behind his father a little: he had four sons and two daughters. Nicholas II himself had four daughters and one son. These are the children of the Romanovs, who have ruled in Russia. The productivity of the sisters and brothers of the Russian monarchs was also high. It was the tradition of the ruling house to have many children. In other words, the number of the Romanovs was just a bit smaller than the number of the Ivanovs[22] in Russia.
March 1918 is the beginning of the Romanovs' road to the Calvary. On March 17, 1918, Michael Romanov is exiled to Perm. The farther away from Petrograd the better, to a place where there is solitude and stillness. Have a look at the map, and you will get the idea. The private secretary of Michael Romanov, Johnson, who was British, was arrested and exiled by Bolsheviks at the same time. Accompanied by the secretary, escorted by two servants, the last Russian emperor comes to Perm. Other exiled Romanovs are gathered not far from Perm, in a little county town of Alapayevsk in the Perm province, which is known only for its monastery. They were accommodated in the local school building: the sister of the Russian Empress, Grand Princess Elizaveta Feodorovna, who had ardently welcomed Rasputin's assassination; Grand Prince Sergei Mikhailovich Romanov, and Grand Princes Ioann, Igor, and Konstantin. The last prisoner to come to Alapayevsk was Vladimir Paley (Alexander II's grandson). He was born in the second marriage of his father Grand Prince Pavel Alexandrovich and was the stepbrother to Grand Prince Dmitry Pavlovich, the murderer of Rasputin. Being Romanov by birth, he had a different family name – Paley. The scenario with the prisoners in Alapayevsk is the same: they live freely after both revolutions, and then they get arrested without any reason. Their arrest took place in March 1918.
The family of Nicholas II also experiences troubles in March. They lived a calm life in Tobolsk, when Commissar Ducmane from Omsk arrived there. He was appointed the commissar of the town, but his main task was to watch the Romanovs. And so he did. He watched the Romanovs, not interfering in their life, studying them. Exactly two days after his arrival, on March 26, the detachment of the Red Guard (the first (!) after the Bolshevik overthrow) arrived