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# Speaking of disputed abdications in history, one of the most famous is surely that of Nicholas II, signed in plain pencil
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/esli-uzh-govorit-o-spornykh-otrecheniiakh-v-istorii-to-pozhalui-odno-iz-samykh-znamenitykh-eto-otrechenie-nikolaia-ii-podpisannoe-prostym-karandashom/
- Published: 2024-07-22T08:03:45.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:33:12.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Archive, Monarchies, Society, People

As you can see, the document bears in its lower right corner the autograph signature of Emperor Nicholas II in plain pencil: “Nikolai”; in the lower left corner, a certifying inscription has been added in black ink in the hand of Frederiks: “Minister of the Imperial Court, Adjutant General Count Frederiks”. In the date and time of the abdication, the figures were entered in pencil by Nicholas II himself.

Nicholas II informed the members of the State Duma, Guchkov and Shulgin, of his abdication in favour of his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, on 27 February, when they came to see him in Pskov. The text of the abdication was drawn up, contrary to the emperor’s original wish, not in favour of the heir, Tsarevich Alexei, with the Grand Duke Mikhail as regent, but at once in favour of Mikhail, since the emperor now considered his son too ill. The document was signed a matter of minutes before midnight between 2 and 3 March. Yet the document gives a different time for the abdication, 15:00 hours, which is to say that it was backdated.

The text runs as follows:

*In the days of the great struggle against a foreign enemy, who for nearly three years has striven to enslave Our Motherland, it has pleased God to send down upon Russia a new and grievous trial. The internal popular disturbances that have begun threaten to have a calamitous effect on the further conduct of the stubborn war. ... In these decisive days in the life of Russia, We have deemed it a duty of conscience to facilitate for Our people the close union and rallying of all the forces of the nation for the speediest attainment of victory and, in agreement with the State Duma, We have judged it good to abdicate the Throne of the Russian State and to lay down Supreme power. Not wishing to part with Our beloved Son, We transmit Our inheritance to Our Brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, and bless Him on His accession to the Throne of the Russian State. ...*

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_12885@22-07-2024_11-03-45.jpg)