March 3, 1917
St. Petersburg, Russia
A heavy burden had been laid upon me by the will of my brother, who in a time of unexampled 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.
MIKHAIL
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich assumed he would act as regent if Nicholas II’s son ascended to the Russian throne before reaching legal age. That’s why Michael was shocked to learn Nicholas II overlooked his sickly 14-year-old son to abdicate in his favor on March 2, 1917. The next day Michael responded with his manifesto displayed above.
Michael was determined to keep the Romanov monarchy solvent until a free election could be arranged within a six-month period and to provide legitimacy to the Provisional Government in order to ensure restoring order at home while continuing to participate in World War I. His preference of governing for his beloved Russia was a constitutional monarchy.
Michael was not intimidated by his brother’s abrupt action but desired to point his beloved country in the right direction–one of shared rule. Although Lenin’s Bolsheviks wanted the world to believe that Michael abdicated the throne, the word abdicate does not appear in his manifesto. As you read it carefully, you realize that his emphasis was on offering the people to actively participate in the governing process.
He signed his manifesto with the imperial Mikhail instead of the grand-ducal Mikhail Aleksandrovich–which also shows that he acknowledged Nicholas’ intention for his brother to succeed him on the throne.
According to the Pauline Laws of Succession, Michael remained emperor Michael II until October 1917 when the Bolsheviks seized power and chose him as the first Romanov to be killed. Until his murder in June 1918, Michael remained the most viable Romanov for regaining the Russian throne–a living banner for the Russian people.