Russia
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich
1856–1929 Supreme Commander of the Russian armies, 1914–1915
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, a grandson of Nicholas I, was inspector-general of the cavalry for 10 years from 1895 and from 1905 commanded the Petersburg Military District. At the outbreak of war in 1914 Nicholas II made him supreme commander, though he had played no part in preparing the war plans. Russian armies under his command suffered the disaster at Tannenberg, and in 1915, short of supplies, he could not hold the front against the German and Austro-Hungarian offensive. In August 1915 the tsar took personal command and sent him to the Caucasus, where, with General Yudenich's help, Russian forces captured Erzerum (Erzurum) and Trebizond (Trabzon) in 1916. After the revolution he went into exile in France and died at Antibes in 1929.