Introduction

No, Anton Bakov has not succeeded in recreating the Romanov Dynasty’s rule. The dynasty was a long-lasting series of monarchs that included many of Russia’s historic politicians, whose rule was forcibly dismantled in 1917. The millionaire Bakov is also the leader and founder of the only legal monarchist party in Russia. Despite having no ancestral ties to the Romanov Dynasty, Anton Bakov took it upon himself to recreate their rule, in the form of his micronation: the Imperial Throne.

Before his infamous attempts at restarting the Russian Empire, he actually helped a movement for the independence of the Greater Ural area within Russia, for which he headed the currency development whilst helping the movement politically. The ‘Ural Republic’ never succeeded. He has had a political history in Russia. 

The New Russian Empire, This Time in…

Anton Bakov started his project for restarting the Romanov Dynasty in 2011, when he declared that the Romanov Dynasty was still sovereign and must be preserved. His political attempts at instituting monarchism back into Russia have been to no avail overall, and his ‘Romanov Empire’ project has no defined location. He has seen many countries as possible starts for his nation, including Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, and most notably, Kiribati as well as the Gambia, yet he has plans to ask many more countries. Throughout all of this, German Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen, a distant ancestor of the Romanov family, has been chosen as the heir to the throne, whereas Bakov is the leader of the empire.

His first land claim was for an excessive amount of land which included the whole of Antarctica and many islands, which were already owned by the US, Japan, and the UK among others. This was later renounced.

His attempts with Kiribati to purchase three uninhabited islands in the country fell through. He had plans to develop more than adequate amounts of infrastructure, which exceeded the amount of infrastructure in Kiribati. His offer was $350 million and Kiribati rejected his plans, with many citing it as colonization rather than investment, though this was after much deliberation. At the time, he brought up the fact that he was also working with the Gambia for the acquisition of territory for his empire.

Instead of acknowledging the fact that Kiribati rejected his plans because they were unreasonable, he said that “the equatorial climate doesn’t suit the Russian people…the number of Russians living on the islands will likely be one to two percent,” while also saying that internal troubles in Kiribati prevented them from accepting the deal.

But the best part of the story lies within his attempts to start the country in the Gambia. He was to buy the rights to some territorial waters on the Gambia’s coast and create a series of artificial islands that would be the first smart-city in Africa as well as, according to him “the gate for international investors to Africa.” He made detailed plans for infrastructure, resorts, etc. and even held a conference where he announced that his nation had been recognized by the Gambia, as per their treaty, and was now sovereign, and thus that the Romanov Dynasty’s rule  was now restored after a “100-year hiatus.” He was to pay the Gambia $60 million dollars for the area. His country, if constructed, would’ve been five times larger than Monaco, or 314 times smaller than Rhode Island. The fun thing about this all is that his deal with the Gambia didn’t go through. He made up the treaty; he was just lying. The Gambia was quick to deny their recognition of Bakov’s country and fervently denied any definite resolutions to his proposal. He is still continuing to pretend the deal went through, with his country posting fake news on their website about new developments between them and the Gambia, as well as with other countries. He seems to have no plans to stop. Nonetheless, he was congratulated by a member of the Russian government on the start of his empire. 

Next thing you know, the Ming Dynasty will start up again in Idaho.