Bakov claims to have restored the Russian Empire through his establishment of the micronation of the Imperial Throne in 2011. In 2014, the Imperial Throne issued a manifesto announcing that German Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen had succeeded Nicholas II and is now Emperor Nicholas III.[1] In 2017, the micronation was re-branded into Romanov Empire, and it was announced the African nation of Gambia had begun the process of its state recognition.[