Grand duke

Men who are acquainted with the conditions in Russia had reason to hope that soon after the outbreak of the war, all the opposed nations in the Russian empire would rise against their oppressors and help the invader.

many friends of these oppressed nations are greatly disappointed because they have not revolted as far as the poles and the ukrainians are concerned i have it from the best authority that everything was prepared for uprising but that the developments of military operations have prevented the realization of these plans The explosion in the wars of Zeteldale and the revolutionary uprising in Odessa and in many other parts of the Ukraine during the first days of the war are not forgotten, and one also remembers a proclamation of the Grand Duke Nikola Nikolaevich in which he warns the Polish locals not to help the enemy under the threat of being court-martialed.

this is not a mere presumption of mine but i know it from official finnish polish and ukrainian personalities that all these respective nationalities had expected the germans to invade poland and occupy warsaw in the early days of the war but also proposed to invade finland while the austrians were expected to occupy parts of the russian ukrainia in the first weeks of the war Had this taken place, the Poles, the Ukrainians, and the Finns would have openly declared their sympathy with the invading liberator.

But as the Russian forces prevented such an invasion, there was only one course open to them, this to remain silent.

The Pan-Poles in Galicia, who are themselves Russophiles, actually helped the Russian efforts among the Ruthenians.

After ten years' work in making propaganda and stirring up agitation among the Ruthenians in Galicia, the Russians thought that they had succeeded in winning over the majority of the Ruthenians to their cause.

Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, the Russian generalismus, when arriving at the head of his troops in Lemberg, telegraphed to the Tsar, The Austrian danger has been overcome.

What he meant to say is very clear.

The country had been for centuries the cockpit in which the struggle for the supremacy between Russia and Sweden was fought out; and rest only came when the Scandinavian power definitely retired from the contest.

The incapacity or the treachery of Sweden's later rulers had succeeded in alienating Finland so completely that the acceptance of Tsar Alexander as Grand Duke at the Diet of Borgo was unanimous.

His sympathetic and cordial demeanour, and the unequivocal nature of the reiterated pledges by which he recognized and confirmed for all time the ancient constitutional rights of his new subjects, left no room for suspicion.

Even by the absolute Nicholas, who had no sympathy with the early aspirations of his brother, these pledges were held sacred, and he checked the unifiers who even then would have treated Finland as a Russian province.

Sprengtporten's original idea seems to have been that Finnish affairs should be reported on to the Tsar by his Russian ministers.

Alexander himself altered this and directed that the Governor-General should report to him personally and not through the Russian ministers, who had nothing to say to the Grand Duchy.

In the proclamation of January 20th Alexander had for the first time called himself by his new title, Grand Duke of Finland, and he was apparently determined to emphasise the distinction between his functions as an autocrat in Russia and a constitutional ruler in Finland.

Later on, when the Secretary and Council for Finland were set to work, the separation between Russian affairs and Finnish became still more striking.

Grand Princes, Grand Barons, Graffs.

Boris used to be the Grand Graff or the Grand Duke of Middenheim.

They were all gone.

They were now just elector counts.

He's the fucking king.

to put it in very simple terms.

His official title might be Grand Duke or Elector Count, depending on which one of his many titles you want to go with, but he can do whatever he wants.

And many people are attempting to curry favour with Boris by sending pretty girls at him.

Hinton, "'and was very difficult and tiresome to learn, "'and even now I can't play it properly.

"'Afterwards we breakfasted all together in the open air, "'but I could not eat or drink for expectation, "'and then my parents took me into Papa's room, "'where his presents and mine were laid out on two tables.' on my table i found a brooch and earrings an egg-cup a very pretty parisian cotton frock a blouse which mamma mamma had embroidered herself and a beautiful piano-stool but what was my joy and even awe when dear good kind papa and mama put into my hand the key of the long desired little moss house footnote it stood unused in the space behind the ruins oh i fell on their necks and almost wept for joy papa told me that at the moss house yet another surprise awaited for me in the midst of my delight the dear old grand duke arrived and gave me an exquisite little watch smaller than a six kreutzer piece and is of blue enamel with a rose in diamonds on it it once belonged to the sainted grand duchess mathilde Now thinking about it, wasn't the Grand Duchess Mathilde the aunt of Alice who was the mother of Prince Philip and didn't Grand Duchess Mathilde, wasn't she killed? Hmm.

Hmm.

I'm just thinking, killed in the Russian Revolution, but no, but that can't be right, can it? Because that would make this all out of sync.

We stayed there and cooked.

Our parents drove over to Seeheim to tea and later all the relations from there came to take tea with us and I had many more presents.

The footnote says at Seeheim it was a neighbouring castle where the Grand Duke lived.

After describing some of the dearly loved animal friends of her childhood, the writer continues, In that summer occurred an event which, in its own romantic way, left its impress on my memory.