Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia before World War I broke out, Grand Duchess Anastasia visited her brother, Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia, and his family in England. When many eagerly greeted the outbreak of war, after the Austrian ultimatum, she wrote to Tsar Nicholas II: ""I hope that the war will not happen and that we even can say ‘perhaps in a few days, we’ll all be together again'"". The conflict split her family. Her son was a reigning prince in Germany and her younger daughter was the Kaiser's daughter in law. On the opposite side, her brothers in Russia were fighting to defeat
Prince Nikita Alexandrovich of Russia Prince Nikita Alexandrovich of Russia Prince Nikita Alexandrovich of Russia (13 January 1900 – 12 September 1974) was the third son and fourth child of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia. He was a nephew of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Born in Imperial Russia during the reign of his uncle, Prince Nikita escaped the fate of many of his relatives who were killed by the Bolsheviks. He left Russia in April 1919, at age nineteen. In 1922 he married Countess Maria Vorontsova-Dashkova. The couple had two children. Prince Nikita Alexandrovich was born