Once A Grand Duke

Alexander Mikhailovich

Description

Former Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovic of Russia presents his memoirs and his reflections on the downfall of the Romanov family in this enlightening account of the final fifty years of the Russian Empire.

The author narrates his childhood experiences growing up in the Caucuses and explains how he turned away from his expected role within the army in favour of serving in the navy. He describes his visits to South Africa, America and Europe and we see the headstrong Duke’s love of the outdoors.

When his cousin becomes Tsar Nicholas II, Alexander Mikhailovic must play a part in the government and the reader is given an inside perspective of the running of the Russian Empire. His distorted perspective of autocracy is presented unapologetically and his opinions are often hypocritical. His hatred of the liberals who were responsible for the deaths of many of his friends and family members is unsurprising, but is contradicted by his own liberal ideas and rebellion against the Orthodox Church.

This volume’s contents include:

- Our Friends of December the Fourteenth

- A Grand Duke is Born

- My First War

- An Emperor in Love

- A Grand Duke Comes of Age

- My Relatives

- Millions That Were

- Nicholas II

Read & Co. History is proud to have republished this unique account of the last fifty years of the Russian empire and the events leading up to the fated February Revolution. Not to be missed by those with an interest in Russian history and the Romanov dynasty.

I. Our Friends of December the Fourteenth

II. A Grand Duke is Born

III. My First War

IV. An Emperor in Love

V.The Windless Afternoons

VI. A Grand Duke Comes of Age

VII. A Grand Duke at Large

VIII. A Grand Duke Settles Down

IX. My Relatives

X. Millions that Were

XI. Nicholas II

XII. Tin Gods

XIII. Drifting

XIV. Nineteen Hundred Five

XV. The Rebound

XVI. The Eve

XVII. Armageddon

XVIII. Escape

XIX. The Aftermath

XX. The Religion of Love

Sujets

• Religion
• Autobiography
• Royalty
• Biography
• Lettres et linguistique

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 14 juillet 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528766739
• Langue: English

Extrait

ONCE A GRAND DUKE
by
ALEXANDER
GRAND DUKE OF RUSSIA
Copyright 2018 Read Books Ltd. This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ONCE A GRAND DUKE
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER DURING THE WAR WHEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE RUSSIAN AIR FORCES.
FOREWORD
T HE history of the last fifty turbulent years of the Russian Empire provides only a background, but is not the subject of this book.
In compiling this record of a grand duke s progress I relied on memory only, all my letters, diaries and other documents having been partly burned by me and partly confiscated by the revolutionaries during the years of 1917 and 1918 in the Crimea.
Naturally enough, I am dealing at greater length with those who played an important part in my personal life: Emperor Alexander II, Emperor Alexander III, the last Czar Nicholas II, my mother-in-law Dowager-Empress Marie of Russia, my wife Grand Duchess Xenia, and my parents and brothers. The others-generals, ministers and statesmen-appear to have been generously taken care of both in their own memoirs and in the numerous volumes dedicated to the Russian Revolution.
I have no desire for post-mortems and I have done my utmost to keep bias and prejudice from influencing my judgment. In fact, there is no bitterness left in my heart.
A LEXANDER, GRAND DUKE OF RUSSIA .
Paris, Autumn, 1931 .
CONTENTS

FOREWORD
I.
OUR FRIENDS OF DECEMBER THE FOURTEENTH
II.
A GRAND DUKE IS BORN
III.
MY FIRST WAR
IV.
AN EMPEROR IN LOVE
V.
THE WINDLESS AFTERNOONS
VI.
A GRAND DUKE COMES OF AGE
VII.
A GRAND DUKE AT LARGE
VIII.
A GRAND DUKE SETTLES DOWN
IX.
MY RELATIVES
X.
MILLIONS THAT WERE
XI.
NICHOLAS II
XII.
TIN GODS
XIII.
DRIFTING
XIV.
NINETEEN HUNDRED FIVE
XV.
THE REBOUND
XVI.
THE EVE
XVII.
ARMAGEDDON
XVIII.
ESCAPE
XIX.
THE AFTERMATH
XX.
THE RELIGION OF LOVE

INDEX
ILLUSTRATIONS
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER DURING THE WAR
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER AT THE AGE OF FOUR
THE FUTURE EMPRESS MARIE WITH HER DAUGHTER XENIA
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER AT THE AGE OF FIVE
AN IMPERIAL PICNIC PARTY
GRAND DUKE MICHAEL NICHOLAEVICH
GRAND DUCHESS OLGA FEODOROVNA
EMPEROR ALEXANDER III
THE IMPERIAL FAMILY OF RUSSIA
GRAND DUKE SERGEI MICHAILOVICH
GRAND DUKE NICHOLAS MICHAILOVICH
GRAND DUKE GEORGE MICHAILOVICH
TWO VIEWS OF THE ESTATE AT AY-TODOR
CZAR NICHOLAS II WITH GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER AND GRAND DUCHESS XENIA
CZAR NICHOLAS II; GRAND DUKE MICHAEL NICHOLAEVICH
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER AND GRAND DUCHESS XENIA
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER WITH HIS DAUGHTER IRENE
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER, GRAND DUCHESS XENIA AND THEIR TWO ELDEST CHILDREN
THE CZAR AND CZARINA WITH THEIR THREE ELDER DAUGHTERS
CZAR NICHOLAS II IN 1899
THE LAST CZARINA IN 1899
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER IN XVII CENTURY COSTUME
GRAND DUCHESS XENIA IN XVII CENTURY COSTUME
CZAR NICHOLAS AS A XVII CENTURY CZAR
THE LAST CZARINA OF RUSSIA
THE LAST CZARINA IN THE UNIFORM OF HER OWN GUARD REGIMENT
THE HEIR APPARENT AND ONLY SON OF THE LAST CZAR
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER INSPECTING A NEW AERODROME
CZAR NICHOLAS II IN HIS SUMMER RESIDENCE
CZAR NICHOLAS IN MOSCOW
GRAND DUKE MICHAEL ALEXANDROVICH ( MISHA )
THE CZAR AND THE CZARINA REVIEWING A REGIMENT
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER DISTRIBUTING DIPLOMAS
THE SEVEN CHILDREN OF THE GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE AIR FORCES
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER AND HIS WIFE DURING THE WAR
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER AND GRAND DUCHESS OLGA
CZAR NICHOLAS AT HIS HEADQUARTERS IN MOGILEV IN 1916
GRAND DUCHESS OLGA
THE GRAND DUCHESS XENIA IN EXILE WITH HER CHILDREN
PRINCESS IRENE YOUSOUPOFF, ONLY DAUGHTER OF GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER AS HE LOOKS TODAY
THE DOWAGER-EMPRESS
THE THREE GRAND-CHILDREN OF GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER
Someone has proposed the toast, Our Memories. Goethe knocked on the table and said: I do not like these words. The toast seems to imply that we have forgotten and that some outer event recalls our memories to us. Those things which are great and beautiful never leave us; they become part of ourselves. It is not the past but the eternally new which our desires would have us seek. . . . The new is itself the creation of ever-growing elements of the past. True longing must always be productive and fashion a new and better self.
R OMAIN R OLLAND: Goethe and Beethoven .
ONCE A GRAND DUKE
CHAPTER ONE
OUR FRIENDS OF DECEMBER THE FOURTEENTH
A TALL man of military bearing crossed the rain-drenched courtyard of the Imperial Palace in Taganrog and rapidly made for the street.
The sentinel jumped to attention, but the stranger ignored the salute. The next moment he disappeared in the dark November night that had wrapped this small southern seaport in a thick blanket of yellowish fog.
Who was it? asked the sleepy corporal of the guard, returning from his tour around the block.
I think, answered the sentinel hesitatingly, that it was His Imperial Majesty going for an early stroll.
Are you mad, man? Don t you know that His Imperial Majesty is gravely ill? The doctors gave up hope last evening and expect the end will come before dawn.
It may be so, said the sentinel, but no other man has those stooping shoulders. I guess I ought to know, having seen him daily for the last three months.
A few hours later a heavy knell filled the air for miles around, announcing that His Imperial Majesty, the Czar of all the Russias and the conqueror of Napoleon-Alexander I-had passed away in peace.
Several special couriers were dispatched immediately to notify the Government in St. Petersburg and the Heir Apparent, the brother of the late Czar, Grand Duke Constantin in Warsaw. Then a trusted officer was called in and ordered to accompany the imperial remains to the capital.
For the following ten days the entire nation breathlessly watched a pale, worn-out man crouching behind a sealed coffin and driving in a funeral coach at a speed suggestive of a raid by the French cavalry. The veterans of Austerlitz, Leipzig and Paris, stationed along the long route, shook their heads dubiously and said that it was a strange climax indeed for a reign of unsurpassed glamour and glory.
The late sovereign is not to be laid in state, said the laconic statement issued by the Government on receipt of the dispatches from Taganrog.
In vain did the foreign ambassadors and powerful courtiers try to find a plausible explanation for this mystery. Everybody pleaded ignorance and expressed bewilderment.
In the meantime something else happened which caused all eyes to be turned from the imperial mausoleum in the direction of the Plaza of the Senate. Grand Duke Constantin had abdicated in favor of his brother Nicholas. Happily married to a Polish commoner, he felt reluctant to exchange his carefree existence in Warsaw for the vicissitudes of the throne. He asked to be excused, and hoped his decision would be respected.
His letter had been read by the puzzled Senate in an atmosphere of gloomy silence.
Grand Duke Nicholas-his name sounded but vaguely familiar. Of course there were four sons in the family of Czar Paul I, but who could have expected that the handsome Alexander would die without issue, and that the robust Constantin would spring such a surprise on his beloved Russia? Several years younger than his brothers, the Grand Duke Nicholas followed until December, 1825, the well-established routine of a man following a military career, and the Minister of War seemed the only official in St. Petersburg to have formed an idea of the new Czar s habits and talents.
An excellent officer, a dependable executor of orders, a patient solicitor who had spent many hours of his youth waiting in the antechambers of high commanders. A likable chap of sterling qualities, but a poor boy who knew nothing of the complicated affairs of state, for he had never been invited by his brother to participate in the deliberations of the Imperial Council. Fortunately for the future of the empire, he would have to rely upon the judgment of statesmen, experienced and patriotic. This last thought brought a certain comfort into the hearts of the ministers as they went to meet the youthful ruler of Russia.
A certain coolness marked their encounter. First of all, declared the new Czar, he wanted to see with his own eyes the letter of Grand Duke Constantin. One had to be prepared for all sorts of intrigues when dealing with persons who did not belong to the army. He read it carefully and examined the signature. It still seemed unbelievable to him that an heir apparent to the Russian throne should disobey the command of the Almighty. In any event, brother Constantin should have advised the late Czar of his plans in due time, so that he, Nicholas, could have been afforded a possibility of learning le m tier d un Empereur (the profession of an Emperor).
He clenched his fists and got up. Tall, handsome and athletically built, he looked a perfect specimen of manhood.
We shall carry out the orders of our late brother and the wishes of Grand Duke Constantin, he concluded curtly, and his usage of the plural did not escape the