Grand Duke of Russia.
He was tsar Nicholas II’s uncle and the most charismatic figure in the Romanov family. His term as the supreme commander of the Russian Army in World War I was a fiasco.
Nikolay Nikolayevich Romanov, 1914
Background
Lived: 1856-1929.
Nikolay Nikolayevich was the grandson of Nicholas I. “Nikolasha” was born in St. Petersburg and was educated at the General Staff Academy.
Career
Although he had served in the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78) under the command of his own father, his experience in the battlefield was very scarce. Nikolay was a tough general and very popular among his soldiers.
According to a legend, Grand Duke Nikolay threatened to shoot himself in Nicholas II’s cabinet if he did not accept Sergey Witte’s October Manifesto.
World War I
The tsar appointed Grand Duke Nikolay as the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces in World War I. Nikoly was 58 and had never actually commanded in a battlefield before. The result was a disastrous defeat at Tannenberg (1914).
Nicholas II then delicately demoted him to command the Caucasus front that was already successfully functioning, as general Yudenich was having one victory after the other.
Emigration
In 1919, Nikolay escaped to France and became the central figure of the Russian All-Military Union that connected all the White emigrants, among them Pyotr Wrangel.
Death
Despite repeated attempts by the Soviet spies to take him as a hostage, he died of natural causes in French Riviera in 1929.
Nikolay Nikolayevich Romanov
Grand Duke of Russia.
He was tsar Nicholas II’s uncle and the most charismatic figure in the Romanov family. His term as the supreme commander of the Russian Army in World War I was a fiasco.
Nikolay Nikolayevich Romanov, 1914
Background
Lived: 1856-1929.
Nikolay Nikolayevich was the grandson of Nicholas I. “Nikolasha” was born in St. Petersburg and was educated at the General Staff Academy.
Career
Although he had served in the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78) under the command of his own father, his experience in the battlefield was very scarce. Nikolay was a tough general and very popular among his soldiers.
According to a legend, Grand Duke Nikolay threatened to shoot himself in Nicholas II’s cabinet if he did not accept Sergey Witte’s October Manifesto.
World War I
The tsar appointed Grand Duke Nikolay as the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces in World War I. Nikoly was 58 and had never actually commanded in a battlefield before. The result was a disastrous defeat at Tannenberg (1914).
Nicholas II then delicately demoted him to command the Caucasus front that was already successfully functioning, as general Yudenich was having one victory after the other.
Emigration
In 1919, Nikolay escaped to France and became the central figure of the Russian All-Military Union that connected all the White emigrants, among them Pyotr Wrangel.
Death
Despite repeated attempts by the Soviet spies to take him as a hostage, he died of natural causes in French Riviera in 1929.
Ivan Goremykin