Nicholas Trushalov about the legitimist succesion to the Russian throne

Rozmawiał Adam Tomasz Witczak

In response to a few questions send to Mr Nicholas Trushalov by Mr Adam T. Witczak (member of Supreme Council of OPM) we’ve received a long answer which is the next important opinion in a discussion about complicated situation of Russian legitimism.

There are several directions among the Russian monarchists: some of them support as a candidate for the throne Maria Vladimirovna and her son; there are those who support the other candidates (for example, Britain’s Prince Michael of Kent, Prince Henry of Wales, or the descendant of Emperor Alexander II by his second marriage, Georgy Yurievskiy); the most numerous monarchists are supporters of the Zemsky Sobor (The Council of the All Land); there are also “unpredetermined” monarchists (“nepredreshentsy”) who believe that the restoration of the monarchy must happen in some mysterious way by the will of God, not human wish.

The only descendants of the Romanovs, who openly lay claim to power, are Maria and her son Georgy. She even calls herself an “Empress” and her son an “Heir”. However, according to the law of succession of the Russian Empire, they do not have undeniable rights to the throne.

Her great-grandfather, the son of Emperor Alexander II, Vladimir Alexandrovich was married to a person who had not converted to Orthodoxy before marriage. His son, Kirill — who proclaimed himself an “Emperor” while in exile — was deprived of succession by the decree of Emperor Nicholas II because of his marriage to his cousin Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Melita, that was banned by canons of the Church and the civil laws of the Empire. In addition, Kirill took an active part in the February Revolution of 1917. In violation of the oath, he withdrawn his Emperor Guards who were protecting the Royal family and brought them under the red flag at the disposal of the revolutionary government.

His son, Vladimir, married Princess Leonida Georgievna Bagration Mukhrani who was not a member of the royalty. There was no male offspring from this marriage, but his daughter Maria declared herself as “The keeper of the Russian throne” and the “Head of the House of Romanov”. This decision is not supported by anyone of the descendants of the Romanovs.

Thus, Maria and her son, Prince Georgy of Hohenzollern have no rights to the throne.

However, this right has been lost by the other descendants of the Romanovs, because not one of them have respected the law of succession of the Russian Empire that requires concluding an equal marriage.

Russian Imperial Movement supports the Zemsky Sobor (The Council of the All Land) to determine candidates for the throne. Of course, candidates must be descendants of the Romanov or Rjurikovichi royal houses.

The Council of the All Land is to be convened on a corporate basis with the participation of all social classes (the clergy, the military, business, etc.). It should not be elections by voting in today’s “democratic” sense.

However, we believe that before restoring the monarchy, a period of authoritarian national (but not totalitarian!) dictatorship (regency) is needed to bring order in the political, economic and cultural spheres of the state.

Russian authorities sometimes raise the question of the monarchy, when feel distrust of the people. This projects aim to legitimize the authorities through the establishment of an apparent constitutional monarchy. The last time such a project has been widely discussed was during the reign of President Boris Yeltsin. Perhaps the loss of confidence in Putin will force him to use this as a chance to stay in power.

But there are no openly declared the monarchists in the current government and the Duma. There are opposition extra-parliamentary right-wing nationalist parties, whose leaders are the monarchists. This are The Russian All-People’s Union (Российский общенародный союз), whose leader Sergei Baburin supports Maria Vladimirovna, and party The Great Russia (Великая Россия) led by Andrey Savelyev.

However, we doubt that the monarchy may be restored by parliament’s vote. This can be done only by the commitment to the idea true leader of the nation.

In Russia, as in all of Europe now, there are conflicts between indigenous people and immigrants, mainly from Asian countries. Even the Caucasian republics which are members of the Russian Federation are the source of a serious problems. The problems of ethnic minorities existed also in the Russian Empire. Thus the Russian monarchists and nationalists do not want to include into the territory of the future Russian state the same fragments of the former Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.

We want to see Poland, Finland, Moldova, the Baltic, Transcaucasian and Central Asian countries as our neighbors — friendly to Russia, but not to Anglo-Saxon, pan-Turkic and Islamic imperialism.

We especially pay attention to the Russian irredenta, so the main objects of the Russian imperialism should be the regions of Russian population beyond the modern territory of the Russian Federation (Ukraine, Belarus, Transnistria, Northern Kazakhstan and some part of the Baltic lands).