The Last of the Tsars the First World War, where he served in the Russian Army. When Tsar Nicholas abdicated in March 1917, he did so in favour of Grand Duke Michael, who himself abdicated some 48 hours later. So Michael was in fact 'the last of the Tsars.' The play was commissioned by the Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario, Canada, in the spring of 1966, after another play on the same subject, "Nicholas Romanov" by William Kinsolving, had been tried out by the Stratford Festival Company at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in February, 1966, and found insufficiently dramatic. In spite of the shared general theme,
Ranks and insignia of the Russian armed forces until 1917 Servicefrom 1912 to 1917. The following shoulder board insignias of the Imperial Army used by specific units and cadet corps are illustrated below: The Imperial Russian Navy () of the Russian Empire, had been established at the end of the 17th century under the regency of Peter the Great and by the personal leadership of Franz Lefort. It existed until the October Revolution of 1917. Ranks similar to those of the Imperial Army were, beginning in the late 18th century, used by the coastal services of the Imperial Russian Navy. By order № 125 of the Navy Ministry of the