Grand Duke Mikhail of Russia

Grand Duke Mikhail of Russia, (1878-1918) was the younger brother of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Nicholas abdicated in favor of Michael on March 15, 1917, but the next day Michael deferred acceptance of the throne. The following year, Mikhail became a victim of the Russian Revolution, when he was (based on archival evidence) taken from the hotel he'd been staying in, driven out into the woods, and shot.

Mikhail in Southern Victory
Tsar Mikhail II or Michael, as he was called in the English-speaking countries, was the emperor of Russia during the Second Great War.

Mikhail ascended to the throne in the late 1920s following the death of his older brother, Nicholas II. The end of the Russian Civil War and the crushing of Socialist revolutionaries (led by Joseph Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov) at Tsaritsin followed not long after.

The destruction of the Great War and the long civil war left Russia in such a poor state that in 1929 she was forced to suspend payment of a loan to Austria-Hungary. This caused a chain effect that led in turn to the worldwide stock market crash of that year.

Mikhail's regime was weak as it attempted to rebuild following the disastrous Red rebellions. The tsarist regime sanctioned pogroms led by the Black Hundreds against Jewish communities. With these pogroms, Mikhail provided an outlet for the anger and discontentment of the lower classes and prevented them from unleashing another rebellion against the regime.

Mikhail led his country into the Second Great War shortly after the death of Kaiser Wilhelm II. He waited until both Britain and France first declared war early in 1941 before bringing Russia into the war. As with the other members of the Entente, Russia was able to make substantial gains early in the war, overrunning the Kingdoms of Ukraine and Poland before Austro-German troops were able to stop the advance in Ukraine.

By 1943, Russia was retreating, although still providing a formidable foe for Germany. Russian factories and railroads in Petrograd, Minsk, and Smolensk were heavily damaged by German bombers. The remaining Reds from the Russian Civil war adopted the Mormon people bombing tactic against the Tsar's government by 1943. Concurrently, Finland began its successful drive for independence, with the support of Germany.

Early in 1944, Germany warned Russia to withdraw from the war with a vague threat of destruction. When Russia did not withdraw, Germany destroyed Petrograd, the national capital, with a uranium-based superbomb. Mikhail survived the attack, and fled to Moscow. He attempted to continue the war, but the loss of Petrograd proved quite devastating to the country's war effort. Mikahil sued for peace some weeks later.

Mikhail's reign was further blackened when his one-time ally Japan immediately began making territorial demands in Siberia. However, Mikhail was able to see that his country begin its own superbomb project.