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Why did Mikhail Lermontov face a military trial in 1840?
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Mikhail Lermontov
Mikhail Lermontov.
In February 1840, Mikhail Lermontov was brought before a military tribunal because he engaged in a duel with the son of the French ambassador in St. Petersburg.
While the duel served as the immediate cause for the trial, it was used by the court of Nicholas I as a pretext to punish the poet for his recalcitrant behavior. As a result of the proceedings, Lermontov was sentenced to exile in the Caucasus, where he was assigned to an infantry regiment tasked with dangerous military operations.1