“A Nice Little Family!” The Romanov Brothers and the Fate of Russian Monarchy in 1917

Abstract Historians of modern Russia have long viewed the abdications of Nicholas II and his younger brother the Grand Duke Michael Aleksandrovich as the culmination of the February Revolution. On 2 March 1917, Nicholas II abdicated for himself and – in contravention of the law of succession – for his 12-year-old son Alexei, leaving the throne to his brother. On 3 March, the Grand Duke renounced the throne pending a decision by the future Constituent Assembly on the form of the post-imperial government. Michael’s refusal to become Michael II completed the downfall of Russia’s old regime and all but guaranteed the end of its monarchical system. While the circumstances, legal inconsistencies and immediate fallouts of the abdications have been repeatedly addressed in the literature on the February Revolution, scholars have not discussed these historic acts as a deep personal and family drama. This article will offer an overview of the relationship between the Romanov brothers and will suggest that family discord was a contributing, yet completely overlooked, factor that sealed the fate of Russian monarchy in 1917.