Rulers of the era of palace coups. Palace coups. The cost of Russia's participation in the Seven Years' War
Palace coup- this is the seizure of political power in Russia in the 18th century, the reason for which was the lack of clear rules for succession to the throne, accompanied by the struggle of court factions and carried out, as a rule, with the assistance of guard regiments.
The era of palace coups from 1725 to 1762.
Reasons for palace coups in Russia
The culprit of the instability of the supreme power in the 18th century in Russia turned out to be Peter I, who in 1722 issued the “Decree on Succession to the Throne.”
This regulatory legal act became the cause of palace coups in Russia.
Thus, the circle of possible contenders for the throne expanded.
After the death of Peter I, Russia entered a long period of palace coups.
Already on the eve of the death of Peter I, January 25-26, 1725, a split arose among the highest ranks of the empire. One group (Apraksin, Golitsyn, Repnin, Dolgoruky, Musin-Pushkin and Golovkin) advocated the enthronement of Peter I’s grandson, Tsarevich Peter Alekseevich, and the establishment of a regency system - the rule of Peter I’s wife, Ekaterina Alekseevna, together with the Senate.
Another group (Prince A.D. Menshikov, Yaguzhinsky, Buturlin, P.A. Tolstoy) defended Catherine’s candidacy as an autocratic empress. The dispute went far, but assertiveness and reliance on the guards regiments at a critical moment ensured the elevation of Ekaterina Alekseevna to the throne after the death of Peter the Great on January 28, 1725.
Coup in favor of Ekaterina Alekseevna
After the death of the emperor, diplomat and associate of Peter I Andrei Ivanovich Osterman entered into an alliance with the most influential person of the Peter I era - A. D. Menshikov with the aim of enthroning Empress Catherine. Although, there were other contenders, in particular, the son of Tsarevich Alexei - Peter (the future Peter II).
As a result of the coup organized by Menshikov with the support of the guard, it was Catherine I who came to power.
Catherine's inability to govern was compensated for by the creation in February 1726 of the highest government institution - the Supreme Privy Council, staffed by the new nobility, Peter's closest associates. Menshikov quickly took over the Supreme Privy Council and, taking advantage of the boundless trust of the sick Catherine, became the de facto ruler of the country.
Political reshuffles in the era of Peter II
After the death of Catherine I in 1727, the question of power arose again. Alexei's son Peter II was declared emperor (according to the will of Catherine I). In July 1727 (that is, a month and a half after Catherine’s death), the “Charter on the Succession to the Throne” was withdrawn by Decree of the Supreme Privy Council.
Anna Petrovna and the “Holstein” group led by her made an unsuccessful attempt to plot against Menshikov-Osterman, and, ultimately, against the accession of the young Peter. The planned coup failed. Osterman was never able to exert the proper influence on the boy autocrat.
Of course, personal, informal communication with the sovereign gave Osterman truly limitless opportunities - this is how the overthrow of Menshikov was gradually prepared. However, in 1730, Peter II dies.
The era of palace coups is considered to be the time from 1725 to 1862 - approximately 37 years. In 1725, Peter I died without transferring the throne to anyone, after which a struggle for power began, which was marked by a number of palace coups.
The author of the term “palace coups” is a historian IN. Klyuchevsky. He outlined another time period for this phenomenon in Russian history: 1725-1801, since in 1801 the last palace coup in the Russian Empire took place, ending with the death of Paul I and the accession of Alexander I Pavlovich.
To understand the reason for the series of palace coups in the 18th century, one should return to the era of Peter I, or more precisely, to 1722, when he issued the Decree on Succession to the Throne. The decree abolished the custom of transferring the royal throne to direct descendants in the male line and provided for the appointment of an heir to the throne at the will of the monarch. Peter I issued a Decree on Succession to the Throne due to the fact that his son, Tsarevich Alexei, was not a supporter of the reforms he was carrying out and grouped the opposition around himself. After the death of Alexei in 1718, Peter I did not intend to transfer power to his grandson Peter Alekseevich, fearing for the future of the reforms he was carrying out, but he himself did not have time to appoint a successor.
Thus, Peter I himself provoked a crisis of power, because did not appoint an heir to the throne. And after his death, many direct and indirect heirs laid claim to the Russian throne.
Each of the groups defended its class interests and privileges, which means it nominated and supported its own candidate for the throne. One should not discount the active position of the guard, which was raised by Peter I as a privileged part of society, or the absolute passivity of the people who did not delve into political life.
Immediately after the death of Peter I, two groups of conspirators emerged, seeking to see their protege on the throne: the most influential people of Peter’s era - Andrei Osterman and Alexander Menshikov - had the goal of elevating the wife of Emperor Peter I, Ekaterina Alekseevna, to the throne. The second group, inspired by the Duke of Holstein (Anna Petrovna’s husband), wanted to see the grandson of Peter I, Pyotr Alekseevich, on the throne.
Ultimately, thanks to the decisive actions of Osterman-Menshikov, Catherine was elevated to the throne.
N. Ge "Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich in Peterhof"
After his death, his widow was proclaimed empress Catherine I, which relied on one of the court groups.
Catherine I occupied the Russian throne for just over two years; she left a will: she appointed Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich as her successor and outlined in detail the order of succession to the throne, and all copies of the Decree on Succession to the Throne under Peter II Alekseevich were confiscated.
But Peter II died, also without leaving a will or an heir, and then the Supreme Privy Council (created in February 1726 with members: Field Marshal General His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, Admiral General Count Fyodor Matveevich Apraksin, State Chancellor Count Gavriil Ivanovich Golovkin, Count Peter Andreevich Tolstoy, Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn, Baron Andrei Ivanovich Osterman, and then Duke Karl Friedrich of Holstein - as we see, almost all the “chicks of Petrov’s nest”) were elected empress Anna Ioannovna.
Before her death she designated a successor Ioann Antonovich, also detailing the further line of succession.
Overthrown Joan Elizaveta Petrovna relied on the will of Catherine I to justify her rights to the throne.
A few years later, her nephew Pyotr Fedorovich ( Peter III), after his accession to the throne his son became heir PaulI Petrovich.
But soon after this, as a result of a coup, power passed to the wife of Peter III Catherine II, which referred to “the will of all subjects,” while Paul remained the heir, although Catherine, according to some data, considered the option of depriving him of the right to inherit.
Having ascended the throne, in 1797, Paul I, on the day of his coronation, published the Manifesto on the succession to the throne, compiled by him and his wife Maria Fedorovna during Catherine’s lifetime. According to this manifesto, which repealed Peter’s decree, “the heir was determined by the law itself” - Paul’s intention was to exclude in the future the situation of removal of legitimate heirs from the throne and the exclusion of arbitrariness.
But the new principles of succession to the throne were not accepted for a long time not only by the nobility, but even by members of the imperial family: after the murder of Paul in 1801, his widow Maria Feodorovna, who together with him drew up the Manifesto on succession to the throne, cried out: “I want to reign!” Alexander I’s manifesto on accession to the throne also contained Peter’s wording: “and his imperial majesty to the heir, who will be appointed", despite the fact that according to the law, Alexander’s heir was his brother Konstantin Pavlovich, who secretly renounced this right, which also contradicted the Manifesto of Paul I.
The Russian succession to the throne stabilized only after the accession to the throne of Nicholas I. Here is such a long preamble. And now, in order. So, CatherineI, PeterII, Anna Ioannovna, Ioann Antonovich, Elizaveta Petrovna, PeterIII, CatherineII, PavelI…
CatherineI
Catherine I. Portrait of an unknown artist
Ekaterina Alekseevna
V.M. Tormosov "Peter I and Catherine"
Her origins are not very clear, there are many assumptions, but one thing is known: in Catholic baptism her name was Martha (Skavronskaya), she was not born into a noble family and belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. She was raised by the Protestant theologian and learned linguist Gluck in the city of Marienburg (now Aluksne in Latvia). She did not receive an education, and in the pastor’s family she played the role of a girl in the kitchen and laundry.
In August 1702 (Northern War), Russian troops under the command of Field Marshal B.P. Sheremetev besieged the Marinburg fortress. A game of chance: Marta Skavronskaya was among the prisoners! She was 18 years old, the soldier who captured her sold the girl to a non-commissioned officer... And he “gifted” her to B.P. Sheremetev, for whom she was a concubine and laundress. Then it went to A. Menshikov, and then to Peter I. Peter saw it at Menshikov’s - and was captivated by it: not only by its magnificent and graceful forms, but also by its liveliness and witty answers to his questions. So Martha became the mistress of Peter I. This caused discontent among the soldiers and the people, but meanwhile they had children: by 1706 there were three of them: Peter, Paul and daughter Anna.
She lived in the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow, adopted the Orthodox faith and the name Ekaterina Alekseevna Vasilevskaya (the patronymic was given by her godfather, Tsarevich Alexei).
To everyone’s surprise, Catherine had a huge influence on Peter; he became necessary for him both in difficult and joyful moments of his life - before her, Peter I’s personal life had not worked out. Gradually, Catherine became an indispensable person for the Tsar: she knew how to extinguish his outbursts of anger and share the difficulties of camp life. When Peter began to have severe headaches and convulsions, only she could calm him down and relieve the attack. In moments of anger, no one could approach him except Catherine; her voice alone had a calming effect on him. Since 1709 they were no longer separated. In 1711, she even saved Peter and the army in the Prut campaign, when she gave her jewelry to the Turkish vizier and persuaded him to sign a truce. Upon returning from this campaign, a wedding was celebrated and two daughters were already legitimized by that time: Anna (future wife of the Duke of Holstein) and Elizabeth (future Empress Elizaveta Petrovna). In 1714, the tsar approved the Order of St. Catherine and awarded it to his wife on her name day in honor of the Prut campaign.
Over the 20 years of their marriage, Catherine gave birth to 11 children, most of whom died in infancy, but meanwhile she was constantly with him on campaigns and on all journeys, experienced hardships, lived in tents, even participated in military reviews and encouraged the soldiers. But at the same time, she did not interfere in state affairs and did not show interest in power, never started intrigues and even sometimes stood up for those whom the king, prone to outbursts of anger, wanted to punish.
Catherine I
J.-M. Nattier "Portrait of Catherine I"
On December 23, 1721, she was recognized as empress by the Senate and Synod. Peter himself placed a crown on her head, which was more magnificent than the king’s crown. This event took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. It is believed that Peter was going to make Catherine his successor, but she took on a lover, Willie Mons, and when Peter found out about this, he ordered Mons executed, and his relationship with Catherine began to deteriorate. The betrayal of the woman he loved so greatly undermined his health. In addition, now he could not entrust her with the throne, fearing for the future of the great work he was doing. Soon Peter fell ill and finally took to his bed. Catherine was always at the bedside of her dying husband. Peter died on January 28, 1725, without naming a successor.
The throne could be claimed by the young grandson Peter Alekseevich (son of the executed Tsarevich Alexei), daughter Elizabeth and Peter’s nieces. Catherine had no basis for the throne.
On the day of Peter's death, senators, members of the Synod and generals (officials belonging to the first four classes of the table of ranks) gathered to decide the issue of succession to the throne. Princes Golitsyn, Repnin, Dolgorukov recognized the grandson of Peter I as the direct male heir. Apraksin, Menshikov and Tolstoy insisted on proclaiming Ekaterina Alekseevna the ruling empress.
But unexpectedly, in the morning, guards officers entered the hall where the meeting was taking place and issued an ultimatum demanding Catherine’s accession to the throne. On the square in front of the palace, two guards regiments lined up under arms, expressing their support for the empress with the beating of drums. This stopped the argument. Catherine was recognized as empress.
The heir to the throne was declared the grandson of Peter I by his first marriage, the son of Tsarevich Alexei, Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich.
Thus, a foreign woman of simple origin was elevated to the throne under the name of Catherine I, who became the king’s wife on very dubious legal grounds.
The historian S. Solovyov wrote that “the famous Livonian captive was one of those people who seem capable of ruling until they accept the rule. Under Peter, she shone not with her own light, but borrowed from the great man whose companion she was.”
The era of A.D. Menshikova
Catherine did not know how to govern the state and did not want to. She spent all her time in lavish feasts and celebrations. Power actually passed to A.D. Menshikov. According to his instructions, V. Bering's expedition was sent to resolve the question of whether Asia is connected to America by a strait; the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences was opened, the creation of which was prepared by the actions of Peter I; The Order of St. Alexander Nevsky “For Labor and the Fatherland” was established - all this happened in 1725.
In 1726, the Supreme Privy Council was established, which consisted of 6 people headed by A.D. Menshikov. In fact, he led the country, because Catherine, during the three months of her reign, only learned to sign papers without looking. She was far from government affairs. Here is an excerpt from the memoirs of Ya. Lefort: “There is no way to determine the behavior of this court. Day turns into night, everything stands still, nothing gets done... There are intrigues, searches, disintegration everywhere... Holidays, drinking bouts, walks took up all her time. On special days she appeared in all her splendor and beauty, in a golden carriage. It was so breathtakingly beautiful. Power, glory, delight of loyal subjects - what else could she dream of? But... sometimes the empress, having enjoyed the glory, went down to the kitchen and, as recorded in the court journal, “cooked it themselves in the kitchen.”
But Catherine did not have to rule for long. The balls, feasts, celebrations and revelries that followed continuously undermined her health. She died on May 6, 1727, 2 years and three months after her accession to the throne, at the age of 43.
Conclusion
She intended to transfer the reign to her daughter Elizaveta Petrovna, but before her death she signed a will transferring the throne to the grandson of Peter I - Peter II Alekseevich, which Menshikov insisted on. He had his own plan: to marry his daughter Maria to him. Peter II by that time was only 11.5 years old. The daughters of Peter I, Anna and Elizabeth, were declared regents for the young emperor before his 16th birthday.
Catherine I was buried next to Peter I and his daughter Natalya Petrovna in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
Catherine did not actually rule Russia, but she was loved by the common people because she knew how to sympathize and help the unfortunate.
The state of affairs in the state after her reign was deplorable: embezzlement, abuse, and arbitrariness flourished. In the last year of her life, she spent more than six million rubles on her whims, while there was no money in the state treasury. What reforms?
PeterII Alekseevich
Emperor of All Russia, son of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich and Princess Charlotte Sophia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, grandson of Peter I and Evdokia Lopukhina. Born on October 12, 1715. He lost his mother at the age of 10 days, and his father fled to Vienna with his teacher N. Vyazemsky’s serf, Efrosinya Fedorovna. Peter I returned his rebellious son, forced him to renounce his right to the throne and sentenced him to death. There is a version that Alexey Petrovich was strangled in the Peter and Paul Fortress without waiting for its execution.
Peter I did not care about his grandson, since he assumed in him, like his son, an opponent of reforms, an adherent of the old Moscow way of life. Little Peter was taught not just “something and somehow,” but just anyone, so he received virtually no education by the time he ascended the throne.
I. Wedekind "Portrait of Peter II"
But Menshikov had his own plans: he convinced Catherine I to name Peter as heir in her will, and after her death he ascended the throne. Menshikov betrothed him to his daughter Maria (Peter was only 12 years old), moved him into his house and actually began to govern the state himself, regardless of the opinion of the Supreme Privy Council. Baron A. Osterman, as well as Academician Goldbach and Archbishop F. Prokopovich, were appointed to train the young emperor. Osterman was a clever diplomat and a talented teacher, he captivated Peter with his witty lessons, but at the same time turned him against Menshikov (a struggle for power in another version! Osterman “bet” on Dolgoruky: a foreigner in Russia, albeit crowned with the glory of a skilled diplomat, can carry out its policy only in close alliance with the Russians). It all ended with Peter II removing Menshikov from power, taking advantage of his illness, depriving him of his ranks and fortune, and exiling him and his family first to the Ryazan province, and then to Berezov, Tobolsk province.
V. Surikov "Menshikov in Berezovo"
He died in Berezovo. His daughter Maria also died there at the age of 18. After some time, Peter II declared himself an opponent of Petrine reforms and liquidated all the institutions he created.
So, the powerful Menshikov fell, but the struggle for power continued - now, as a result of intrigues, the Dolgoruky princes gain primacy, who draw Peter into a wild life, carousing, and, having learned about his passion for hunting, take him away from the capital for many weeks.
On February 24, 1728, the coronation of Peter II takes place, but he remains far from state affairs. The Dolgorukys betrothed him to Princess Ekaterina Dolgoruky, the wedding was scheduled for January 19, 1730, but he caught a cold, contracted smallpox and died on the morning of the proposed wedding, he was only 15 years old. This is how the Romanov family in the male line was extinguished.
What can be said about the personality of Peter II? Let's listen to the historian N. Kostomarov: “Peter II did not reach the age when a person’s personality is determined. Although his contemporaries praised his abilities, natural intelligence and kind heart, these were only hopes for good things in the future. His behavior did not give the right to expect him to become a good ruler of the state over time. He not only did not like teaching and work, but hated both; nothing fascinated him in the state sphere; he was completely absorbed in fun, being constantly under someone’s influence.”
During his reign, power was mainly vested in the Supreme Privy Council.
Board results: decrees on streamlining the collection of poll taxes from the population (1727); restoration of the hetman's power in Little Russia; The Bill of Exchange Charter was promulgated; A trade agreement with China has been ratified.
Anna Ioannovna
L. Caravaque "Portrait of Anna Ioannovna"
After the premature death of Peter II, the issue of succession to the throne again becomes on the agenda. There was an attempt to enthronement the bride of Peter II, Catherine Dolgorukaya, but it was unsuccessful. Then the Golitsyns, rivals of the Dolgorukys, nominated their contender - the niece of Peter I, Anna of Courland. But Anna came to power by signing the conditions. What are these “conditions” (conditions) of Anna Ioannovna?
This is an act that was drawn up by members of the Supreme Privy Council and which Anna Ioannovna had to fulfill: not to enter into marriage, not to appoint an heir, not to have the right to declare war and make peace, to introduce new taxes, to reward and punish subordinate senior officials. The main author of the conditions was Dmitry Golitsyn, but the document, drawn up immediately after the death of Peter II, was read only on February 2, 1730, so the bulk of the nobility could only guess about its contents and be content with rumors and assumptions. When the standards were made public, a split emerged among the nobility. Anna signed the conditions proposed to her on January 25, but when she arrived in Moscow, she accepted a deputation of opposition nobles who were concerned about the strengthening of the power of the Supreme Privy Council, and with the help of officers of the guard regiments, on February 28, 1730, she swore in the nobility as Russian autocrat, and also publicly refused from the conditions. On March 4, she abolishes the Supreme Privy Council, and on April 28, she is solemnly crowned and appoints her favorite E. Biron as chief chamberlain. The era of Bironovism begins.
A few words about the personality of Anna Ioannovna.
She was born on January 28, 1693, the fourth daughter of Tsar Ivan V (brother and co-ruler of Peter I) and Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna Saltykova, granddaughter of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. She was brought up in an extremely unfavorable environment: her father was a weak-minded man, and she did not get along with her mother from early childhood. Anna was arrogant and not of high intelligence. Her teachers could not even teach the girl to write correctly, but she achieved “bodily well-being.” Peter I, guided by political interests, married his niece to the Duke of Courland, Friedrich Wilhelm, nephew of the Prussian king. Their marriage took place on October 31, 1710 in St. Petersburg, in the palace of Prince Menshikov, and after that the couple spent a long time at feasts in the capital of Russia. But, barely leaving St. Petersburg for his possessions at the beginning of 1711, Friedrich Wilhelm died on the way to Mitava - as they suspected, due to immoderate excesses. So, without having time to be a wife, Anna becomes a widow and moves to her mother in the village of Izmailovo near Moscow, and then to St. Petersburg. But in 1716, by order of Peter I, she left for permanent residence in Courland.
And now she is the All-Russian Empress. Her reign, according to the historian V. Klyuchevsky, “is one of the darkest pages of our empire, and the darkest spot on it is the empress herself. Tall and corpulent, with a face more masculine than feminine, callous by nature and even more hardened by early widowhood amid diplomatic intrigues and court adventures in Courland, she brought to Moscow an angry and poorly educated mind with a fierce thirst for belated pleasures and entertainment.” Her courtyard was drowned in luxury and bad taste and was filled with crowds of jesters, firecrackers, buffoons, storytellers... Lazhechnikov talks about her “fun” in the book “Ice House”. She loved horse riding and hunting; in Peterhof, in her room, she always had loaded guns ready to shoot from the window at flying birds, and in the Winter Palace they specially built an arena for her, where they drove wild animals that she shot.
She was completely unprepared to rule the state, and moreover, she did not have the slightest desire to rule it. But she surrounded herself with foreigners completely dependent on her, who, according to V. Klyuchevsky, “fell into Russia like cheese from a holey bag, stuck around the courtyard, settled around the throne, and climbed into all the lucrative positions in management.”
Portrait of E. Biron. Unknown artist
All affairs under Anna Ioannovna were managed by her favorite E. Biron. The cabinet of ministers created by Osterman was subordinate to him. The army was commanded by Minich and Lassi, and the court was commanded by the bribe-taker and passionate gambler Count Levenvold. In April 1731, a secret search office (torture chamber) began its work, supporting the authorities with denunciations and torture.
Board results: the position of the nobility was significantly eased - they were assigned the exclusive right to own peasants; Military service lasted 25 years, and by a manifesto of 1736, one of the sons, at the request of his father, was allowed to stay at home to run the household and train him in order to be fit for civil service.
In 1731 the law on single inheritance was repealed.
In 1732, the first cadet corps was opened to educate nobles.
The subjugation of Poland continued: the Russian army under the command of Minich took Danzig, losing more than 8 thousand of our soldiers.
In 1736-1740 there was a war with Turkey. The reason for it was the constant raids of the Crimean Tatars. As a result of the campaigns of Lassi, who took Azov in 1739, and Minikh, who captured Perekop and Ochakov in 1736, and won a victory at Stauci in 1739, after which Moldova accepted Russian citizenship, the Peace of Belgrade was concluded. As a result of all these military operations, Russia lost about 100 thousand people, but still did not have the right to maintain a navy in the Black Sea, and could only use Turkish ships for trade.
To maintain the royal court in luxury, it was necessary to introduce milking raids and extortion expeditions. Many representatives of ancient noble families were executed or sent into exile: the Dolgorukovs, Golitsyns, Yusupovs and others. Chancellor A.P. Volynsky, together with like-minded people, in 1739 compiled a “Project on the improvement of state affairs,” which contained demands for the protection of the Russian nobility from the dominance of foreigners. According to Volynsky, government in the Russian Empire should be monarchical with the broad participation of the nobility as the first class in the state. The next government authority after the monarch should be the Senate (as it was under Peter the Great); then comes the lower government, made up of representatives of the lower and middle nobility. Estates: spiritual, urban and peasant - received, according to Volynsky’s project, significant privileges and rights. Literacy was required from everyone, and from the clergy and nobility a broader education, the breeding grounds of which were to be academies and universities. Many reforms were also proposed to improve justice, finance, trade, etc. For this they paid with execution. Moreover, Volynsky was sentenced to a very cruel execution: impaled alive, having first cut out his tongue; quarter his associates and then cut off their heads; confiscate the estate and send Volynsky’s two daughters and son into eternal exile. But then the sentence was commuted: three were beheaded, and the rest were exiled.
Shortly before her death, Anna Ioannovna learned that her niece Anna Leopoldovna had a son, and declared the two-month-old baby Ivan Antonovich heir to the throne, and before he came of age, she appointed E. Biron as regent, who received “the power and authority to manage all state affairs as internal, and foreign ones."
IvanVI Antonovich: Biron’s regency – Minich’s coup
Ivan VI Antonovich and Anna Leopoldovna
Biron's regency lasted about three weeks. Having received the right to regency, Biron continues to fight with Minich, and in addition, spoils relations with both Anna Leopoldovna and her husband Anton Ulrich. On the night of November 7–8, 1740, another palace coup took place, organized by Minich. Biron was arrested and sent into exile in the Tobolsk province, and the regency passed to Anna Leopoldovna. She recognized herself as a ruler, but did not take actual participation in state affairs. According to contemporaries, “... she was not stupid, but she had an aversion to any serious activity.” Anna Leopoldovna constantly quarreled and did not speak for weeks with her husband, who, in her opinion, “had a kind heart, but no intelligence.” And disagreements between spouses naturally created conditions for court intrigues in the struggle for power. Taking advantage of Anna Leopoldovna's carelessness and the dissatisfaction of Russian society with the continued German dominance, Elizaveta Petrovna comes into play. With the help of the guardsmen of the Preobrazhensky Regiment loyal to her, she arrested Anna Leopoldovna along with her family and decided to send them abroad. But the chamberlain A. Turchaninov made an attempt to carry out a counter-coup in favor of Ivan VI, and then Elizaveta Petrovna changed her decision: she took Anna Leopoldovna’s entire family under arrest and sent him to Ranenburg (near Ryazan). In 1744, they were taken to Kholmogory, and on the orders of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, Ivan VI was isolated from his family and 12 years later secretly transported to Shlisselburg, where he was kept in solitary confinement under the name of a “famous prisoner.”
In 1762, Peter III secretly examined the former emperor. He disguised himself as an officer and entered the casemates where the prince was kept. He saw “a rather tolerable dwelling and sparsely equipped with the poorest furniture. The prince's clothes were also very poor. He was completely clueless and spoke incoherently. Either he claimed that he was Emperor John, or he insisted that the emperor was no longer in the world, and his spirit had passed into him...”
Under Catherine II, his guards were instructed to persuade the prince to become a monk, but in case of danger, “kill the prisoner, and not hand over the living one into the hands of anyone.” Lieutenant V. Mirovich, who learned the secret of the secret prisoner, tried to free Ivan Antonovich and proclaim him emperor. But the guards followed the instructions. The body of Ivan VI was exhibited for a week in the Shlisselburg fortress “for the news and worship of the people,” and then buried in Tikhvin in the Bogoroditsky Monastery.
Anna Leopoldovna died in 1747 from patrimonial fever, and Catherine II allowed Anton Ulrich to leave for his homeland, since he did not pose a danger to her, not being a member of the Romanov dynasty. But he refused the offer and stayed with the children in Kholmogory. But their fate is sad: Catherine II, after consolidating the dynasty with the birth of two grandchildren, allowed Anna Leopoldovna’s children to move in with her aunt, the Dowager Queen of Denmark and Norway. But, as N. Eidelman writes, “ironically, they lived at home - in prison, and then abroad - in freedom. But they yearned for that prison in their homeland, not knowing any language other than Russian.”
Empress Elizaveta Petrovna
S. van Loo "Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna"
Read about it on our website:
PeterIII Fedorovich
A.K. Pfanzelt "Portrait of Peter III"
Read about it on our website:
CatherineII Alekseevna the Great
A. Antropov "Catherine II the Great"
Empress of All Russia. Before the adoption of Orthodoxy - Princess Sophia Frederica Augusta. She was born in Stettin, where her father, Christian August, Duke of Anhalt-Zerbst-Bernburg, at that time served with the rank of major general in the Prussian army. Her mother, Johanna Elisabeth, for some reason did not like the girl, so Sofia (Fike, as her family called her) lived in Hamburg with her grandmother from early childhood. She received a mediocre upbringing because... The family was constantly in need; its teachers were random people. The girl did not stand out for any talents, except for a penchant for command and boyish games. Fike was secretive and calculating from childhood. By a happy coincidence, during a trip to Russia in 1744, at the invitation of Elizaveta Petrovna, she became the bride of the future Russian Tsar Peter III Fedorovich.
Catherine already in 1756 was planning her future seizure of power. During the serious and prolonged illness of Elizabeth Petrovna, the Grand Duchess made it clear to her “English comrade” H. Williams that he had to wait only for the death of the Empress. But Elizaveta Petrovna died only in 1761, and her legal heir, Peter III, the husband of Catherine II, ascended the throne.
Teachers of the Russian language and the Law of God were assigned to the princess; she showed enviable persistence in learning in order to prove her love for a foreign country and adapt to a new life. But the first years of her life in Russia were very difficult, and she also experienced neglect from her husband and courtiers. But the desire to become a Russian empress outweighed the bitterness of the trials. She adapted to the tastes of the Russian court, only one thing was missing - an heir. And this is exactly what was expected of her. After two unsuccessful pregnancies, she finally gave birth to a son, the future Emperor Paul I. But by order of Elizabeth Petrovna, he was immediately separated from his mother, showing him for the first time only 40 days later. Elizaveta Petrovna raised her grandson herself, and Ekaterina began to educate herself: she read a lot, and not only novels - her interests included historians and philosophers: Tacitus, Montesquieu, Voltaire, etc. Thanks to her hard work and perseverance, she was able to achieve respect for herself, with her not only famous Russian politicians, but also foreign ambassadors began to count. In 1761, her husband, Peter III, ascended the throne, but he was unpopular in society, and then Catherine, with the help of the guards of the Izmailovsky, Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments, overthrew her husband from the throne in 1762. She also stopped attempts to appoint her regent for her son Paul , which N. Panin and E. Dashkova sought, and got rid of Ivan VI. Read more about the reign of Catherine II on our website:
Having become known as an enlightened queen, Catherine II was unable to achieve love and understanding from her own son. In 1794, despite the opposition of the courtiers, she decided to remove Paul from the throne in favor of her beloved grandson Alexander. But sudden death in 1796 prevented her from achieving what she wanted.
All-Russian Emperor PavelI Petrovich
S. Shchukin "Portrait of Emperor Paul I"
Read about it on our website.
In the Russian Empire, the change of power occurred mainly through palace coups carried out by noble groups with the assistance of guards regiments. In Russian historiography, this period is called the era of palace coups.
The beginning of the era is considered to be February 8 (January 28, old style) 1725, when Emperor Peter I died without leaving an heir and without having time to implement his decree of 1722, according to which the tsar had the right to appoint his own successor. Among the contenders for the throne were the grandson of Peter I - the young Tsarevich Pyotr Alekseevich, the wife of the late Tsar Ekaterina Alekseevna and their daughters - the Tsarevnas Anna and Elizabeth. It is believed that at first Peter I was going to leave the throne to Anna, but then he changed his mind and for the first time in Russian history he crowned his wife Catherine. However, shortly before the death of the king, the relationship between the spouses deteriorated sharply. Each of the contenders had their own supporters. On the day of the emperor’s death, Alexander Menshikov, who supported Catherine, configured the guards regiments accordingly, lined them up under the windows of the palace - this is how he achieved the proclamation of the queen as an autocratic empress. The way the issue was resolved anticipated subsequent events.
In 1727, during the reign of Peter the Great’s grandson Peter II, Menshikov himself became a victim of the coup, having by that time concentrated all power in his hands and completely controlled the young tsar. Menshikov’s unexpected illness was taken advantage of by his political opponents, princes Dolgoruky and Andrei Osterman, who managed to gain influence on the tsar and achieve a decree first on the resignation and then on Menshikov’s exile to Siberia.
Romanovs - female dynasty
The royal dynasty of the Romanovs in the 17th century was a predominantly female dynasty. The number of children was large: the first Romanov, Mikhail Fedorovich, had 10 children, his son Alexei Mikhailovich - 16. At the same time, infant mortality took up a significant percentage of the number of births, although it decreased over time. But most importantly, more girls were born than boys (by the way, there was an interesting pattern in the Romanov family - the birth of four girls in a row in one family).
Equestrian portrait of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich.1650-1699 Google Cultural Institute
Men had a lower average life expectancy than women. Thus, of the Romanov tsars in the 17th century, none exceeded the 50-year mark: Mikhail Fedorovich lived 49 years, Alexey Mikhailovich - 46, Fyodor Alekseevich did not live to see 21 years, Ivan Alekseevich lived 29 years. By today's standards, all the tsars of the Romanov dynasty in the 17th century were relatively young or mature, but by no means old people. The life expectancy of princesses ranges between 42 (Tsarevna Natalya Alekseevna) and 70 (Tsarevna Tatyana Mikhailovna) years. However, only two princesses did not live to be 50 years old - Natalya Alekseevna and Sofya Alekseevna (lived 46 years), while the majority crossed the 50-year mark. Physically, the women of the Romanov family were, apparently, much stronger than the men.
Despite the presence of a large number of young women, the Romanov dynasty was in absolute international genealogical isolation. An insurmountable obstacle stood in the way of dynastic marriages with foreign ruling families. A Russian tsar (or prince) could marry a person of lower status (a “simple” noblewoman), thereby elevating her. The princess could not marry a person below her in status - therefore, only an equal marriage was possible. In this case, the groom had to be Orthodox (and there were almost no other Orthodox kingdoms besides Russia) or convert to Orthodoxy before marriage and remain in Russia.
Mikhail Fedorovich attempted to marry his eldest daughter Irina to the illegitimate son of the Danish king, Duke Voldemar, but the question of the groom’s conversion to Orthodoxy turned out to be the stumbling block over which all plans were dashed. This unsuccessful attempt, apparently, discouraged the Romanovs from looking for other suitors for their princesses - be that as it may, until 1710, not a single princess from the Romanov family ever got married, and most of them lived until their death in the royal mansion unmarried virgins (the opinion that they took monastic tonsure en masse does not correspond to reality; in fact, such cases were isolated).
Tree of the Moscow State (Praise to Our Lady of Vladimir). Icon of Simon Ushakov. 1668 Google Cultural Institute Safe marriages to noblewomen
Only once, the very first, the Romanovs tried to become related to the Russian aristocracy - the princes Dolgorukovs, but this first marriage of Mikhail Fedorovich was very short-lived. Subsequently, the Romanovs became related to the “ordinary”, not very noble nobility, which existed far from palace intrigues.
The choice of a bride from, as they say, “broad layers of the noble masses” probably symbolized the connection of the royal family with their subjects, with the then “society” from which the Russian queens came. In the 17th century, the Romanovs became related to the nobles Streshnevs, Miloslavskys, Naryshkins, Grushetskys, Apraksins, Saltykovs and Lopukhins. Subsequently, many relatives of the queens, even very distant ones, such as, for example, Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy Petr Andreevich Tolstoy(1645-1729) - associate of Peter the Great, statesman and diplomat, active privy councilor. or Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev(1686-1750) - Russian historian, geographer, economist and statesman; author of "Russian History". Founder of Yekaterinburg, Perm and other cities., took important places in the state life of the country. In other words, the matrimonial policy of the royal dynasty remained deeply unique.
How Peter I inherited the throne
Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna. Painting by Peter Nikitin. Late 17th century Wikimedia Commons After the death of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, the struggle between two branches of the Romanov family for the throne was clearly revealed. The eldest branch represented the descendants of Alexei Mikhailovich from his first marriage, with Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna (Miloslavskaya), the youngest - the descendants from his second marriage, with Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna (Naryshkina). Since the only man in the senior branch, Tsarevich Ivan Alekseevich, was of little capacity, and the only man in the junior branch, Tsarevich Pyotr Alekseevich, reached only ten years of age, relatively young women of the royal family came to the forefront of political life - the princess Sofya Alekseevna, who was 24 years old at that time, and her stepmother Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, aged 30.
As you know, victory in the events of 1682 remained with Princess Sophia, who actually became the real ruler under two kings - Ivan and Peter. The situation of two kingdoms was unique to Muscovite Rus', although it had some basis in the previous Rurik tradition and the more distant dynastic tradition of Byzantium. In 1689, young Peter Alekseevich was able to remove Princess Sophia from power, and after the death of his brother Ivan in 1696, he remained the sole sovereign of Russia. Thus began a new era in the history of the country and in the history of the House of Romanov.
Princess Sofya Alekseevna. 1680s Bridgeman Images/Fotodom The 18th century saw the royal dynasty in the following composition: two men (Tsar Peter Alekseevich and his ten-year-old son and heir Alexei Petrovich) and fourteen (!) women - three queens, two of them widows (Marfa Matveevna, the widow of Fyodor Alekseevich, and Praskovya Fedorovna, the widow of Ivan Alekseevich) and one who was “out of work” and tonsured a nun (Peter’s first wife, Evdokia Fedorovna) and eleven princesses - the seven sisters of the Tsar (six half-blooded, including Sofya Alekseevna, imprisoned in a monastery, and one relative; almost all of them left from the usual childbearing age for that time), one aunt of the tsar (Tatyana Mikhailovna, the last of the children of Mikhail Fedorovich) and three nieces of the tsar (daughters of Ivan Alekseevich and Praskovya Fedorovna). Accordingly, only in relation to the last three women could one hope for marriage and continuation of offspring. Due to this situation, the royal family found itself under a certain threat. Peter I made fundamental changes in dynastic politics and changed the dynastic situation itself.
An extraordinary phenomenon was the actual divorce of the tsar and his second marriage to a rootless native of Livonia, Marta Skavronskaya, who in Orthodoxy received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna. The marriage took place in 1712, and by that time the couple had two premarital daughters (who survived among other children who died in infancy) - Anna (born in 1708) and Elizabeth (born in 1709). They became “married”, which, however, did not remove the question of the legality of their origin. Subsequently, Peter and Catherine had several more children, but they all died in infancy or childhood. By the end of the reign of Peter I, there was no hope left for continuation of the family line through the male line from the second marriage of the tsar (emperor).
Peter I
Three dynastic marriages, breakthrough to the West
Portrait of the family of Peter I. Miniature on enamel by Gregory of Musiki. 1716-1717 Wikimedia Commons A breakthrough phenomenon was the marriage with representatives of foreign ruling dynasties. This turned out to be possible thanks to a tolerant attitude towards the issue of religion - at first it was not even necessary for one of the spouses to convert to the faith of the other. A breakthrough into Europe also meant recognition of the royal dynasty as a European dynasty, and this could not have happened without appropriate matrimonial unions.
The first foreign marriage among the Romanovs was the marriage of Princess Anna Ioannovna (niece of Peter I and the future Russian Empress) with the Duke of Courland Friedrich Wilhelm, concluded in 1710. It had great geopolitical significance, since Courland was a prominent Baltic state that played a significant role in the region. The borders of Russia came into direct contact with the borders of Courland after the annexation of Livonia as a result of the Northern War. Despite the fact that the Duke died two and a half months after the wedding, Anna, remaining the Dowager Duchess of Courland, at the behest of Peter, went to her new homeland, where she lived for almost twenty years (let us note that she remained Orthodox).
Ceremonial portrait of Princess Sophia Charlotte of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. 1710-1715 Wikimedia Commons The second marriage, concluded under Peter, had even greater dynastic significance. In 1711, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, who was the heir to the throne, married in Europe Charlotte Christina Sophia, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (neither the bride nor the groom changed their religion). The most significant aspect of this marriage was that the bride’s sister, Elizabeth Christina, was the wife of the Austrian Prince Charles, who in the same 1711 became Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation under the name Charles VI (it was to his brother-in-law that Alexei Petrovich later fled) .
The Holy Roman Empire was the leading and highest status state of the then European world. The twinning with its rulers (even through property) placed Russia in the rank of leading European countries and strengthened its status in the international arena. The heir to the Russian throne became the brother-in-law of the Holy Roman Emperor, and the future sovereigns turned out to be directly related (this was actually the case - Peter II was the cousin of the future Empress Maria Theresa; however, they ruled at different times and Peter did not leave offspring). So, thanks to the marriage of Tsarevich Alexei, the Russian dynasty became related to the Habsburgs.
The third dynastic marriage took place in 1716: Peter's niece Ekaterina Ivanovna married Karl Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The territory of this state occupied the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, and this union further strengthened Russia’s position in the Baltic region. Finally, after the death of Peter, the previously prepared marriage of the Tsar’s eldest daughter Anna Petrovna and the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl Friedrich was concluded. Holstein was the northernmost German duchy, bordering the Kingdom of Denmark and also facing the Baltic Sea. However, the important point was that Karl Frederick on his mother’s side was the nephew of the Swedish king Charles XII, which means that his descendants could lay claim to the Swedish throne. And so it happened: the son born to Anna Petrovna, Karl Peter, named after Charles XII and Peter the Great, was for some time considered the heir to the Swedish throne. Thus, under a favorable set of circumstances, the Swedish throne could be occupied by the descendants of Peter I, that is, representatives of the Romanov dynasty.
So Peter the Great covered almost the entire Baltic region with dynastic marriages. To the southwest of the territory of the Russian Empire was the Duchy of Courland, where his niece ruled. Further west, the southern coast of the Baltic Sea was occupied by the Duchy of Mecklenburg, whose ruler was the husband of another niece and where her offspring could subsequently rule. Further, the southern part of the Baltic was closed by Holstein, where Peter’s son-in-law ruled, whose descendants had rights not only to the Holstein throne, but also to the Swedish one - and the longtime enemy of the Northern War could in the future become not only an ally, but also a relative of the Romanovs. And the territory of Sweden (in its Finnish part), as is known, adjoined the lands of the Russian Empire from the northwest. In other words, having entered the Baltic and established a territorial position there, Peter I simultaneously consolidated Russia dynastically in almost the entire Baltic region. But this did not help solve the main problem - the problem of succession to the throne in Russia itself.
Problems of succession to the throne. Tsarevich Alexey. Catherine I
Portrait of Tsarevich Peter Alekseevich and Princess Natalya Alekseevna as children in the form of Apollo and Diana. Painting by Louis Caravaque. Probably 1722 Wikimedia Commons The dramatic conflict of Peter's reign was the notorious case of Tsarevich Alexei. Accused of treason, the king's son and heir was imprisoned, where he was interrogated and tortured, as a result of which he died in 1718 (his wife died even earlier). At that time, in the male generation, Peter's offspring consisted of two three-year-old children - a grandson (son Alexei), Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich, and a son from Catherine, Tsarevich Peter Petrovich.
It was Pyotr Petrovich who was declared the next heir to the throne. However, he died before he was four years old, in April 1719. Peter had no more sons from Catherine. From that moment on, the dynastic situation in the royal family became threatening. In addition to Peter and Catherine, the royal family consisted of Peter's grandson and granddaughter through his son Alexei - Peter and Natalya, two daughters from Catherine (the third, Natalya, who lived to a relatively adult age, died a little over a month after the death of Peter himself) and three nieces - Catherine , Anna and Praskovya (their mother, Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna, died in 1723). (We do not take into account Peter’s first wife, Evdokia Feodorovna, Elena in monasticism, who, of course, did not play any role.) Anna was in Courland, and Ekaterina Ivanovna left her husband in 1722 and returned to Russia with her daughter Elizaveta Ekaterina Christina, a Lutheran religion (the future Anna Leopoldovna).
In a situation where the circle of potential heirs is extremely narrow, and the heir himself theoretically may not justify the trust of the monarch (as happened, according to Peter, in the case of Tsarevich Alexei), Peter I made a radical decision by issuing the Charter on the succession to the throne in 1722. According to this document, the sovereign had the right, at his own discretion, to appoint an heir from any of his relatives by will. One might think that in that situation this was the only way out to continue the continuity of power in the fading Romanov dynasty. The previous order of succession to the throne from father to eldest son was abolished, and the new one became, contrary to the wishes of its founder, one of the factors in the frequent changes of power on the Russian throne, which in historiography was called the “era of palace coups.”
Peter I on his deathbed. Painting by Louis Caravaque. 1725 Wikimedia Commons But Peter I did not have time to exercise his right of testament. The famous legend that he allegedly wrote before his death: “Give everything,” but to whom he did not have time to finish writing, is a fiction. At the time of his death in 1725, the only male heir was his grandson Pyotr Alekseevich, nine years old. In addition to him, the Romanov dynasty consisted of Peter’s widow Ekaterina Alekseevna; their daughters - Anna, who was a bride at that time, and Elizabeth; three nieces, one of whom was in Courland, and two in Russia (one with her daughter), as well as Peter’s granddaughter, Natalya Alekseevna (she would die in 1728 during the reign of her younger brother Peter II). Perhaps anticipating difficulties in the event of his death, Peter crowned his wife Catherine as empress back in 1724, giving her the absolutely legal status of empress consort. However, by the beginning of 1725, Ekaterina Alekseevna lost Peter’s trust.
There were two possible contenders for the throne - Peter's widow, Ekaterina Alekseevna, and his grandson, Peter Alekseevich. Catherine was supported mainly by Peter's associates, primarily the Menshikovs; Peter - representatives of old boyar families from the royal circle, such as princes Golitsyn, Dolgorukov, Repnin. The intervention of the guards decided the outcome of the confrontation, and Catherine I was proclaimed empress.
The era of palace coups
Catherine I (1725-1727)
Catherine I. Painting presumably by Heinrich Buchholz. XVIII century Wikimedia Commons Catherine's family itself consisted of two daughters - Anna, who married the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and the unmarried Elizabeth. There remained the direct heir of Peter I in the male line - Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich. In addition to him, the royal family included: his elder sister Natalya Alekseevna and three nieces of Peter I - the daughters of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich, one of whom was outside Russia. The potential heir was Pyotr Alekseevich (there was even a plan to “reconcile” the two lines of descendants of Peter I - the marriage of Pyotr Alekseevich to Elizaveta Petrovna).
At the insistence of Menshikov, who planned the marriage of Peter with his daughter Maria, a testament was signed on behalf of Catherine I shortly before her death - a will, according to which Peter Alekseevich became the heir to the throne. In the event of his childless death, Anna Petrovna and her descendants would then inherit, then Elizaveta Petrovna and her possible descendants, then Peter Alekseevich's elder sister Natalya Alekseevna and her possible descendants. Thus, for the first time, due to factual circumstances, this document assumed the transfer of rights to the throne through the female line.
It is significant that the throne was assigned only to the descendants of Peter I, and the descendants of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich were excluded from the line of succession to the throne. In addition, provision was made for the exclusion from the order of succession to the throne of persons of non-Orthodox religion, as well as those who occupied other thrones. Due to the young age of the heir, his reign was initially supposed to take place under the tutelage of the Supreme Privy Council, the highest government body in the empire, created in 1726. After the death of Catherine I in May 1727, Peter II was proclaimed emperor in accordance with her will.
Peter II (1727-1730)
Peter II. Painting by Johann Paul Ludden. 1728 Wikimedia Commons Soon after the accession to the throne of Peter II, the eldest daughter of Peter I and Catherine I, Anna Petrovna, together with her husband, the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, left Russia. She died in 1728, giving birth to a son, Karl Peter (the future Peter III). In 1728, Peter II’s elder sister Natalya Alekseevna also died childless. The question of the emperor's possible marriage was acute. Menshikov's plans to marry Peter to his daughter collapsed as a result of court intrigues. Representatives of the family of princes Dolgorukov had a great influence on the young emperor, at whose insistence Peter was betrothed to the daughter of Alexei Dolgorukov, Ekaterina. The young emperor died suddenly from smallpox in January 1730, on the eve of the announced wedding, and did not leave a will. The attempt of the Dolgorukov princes to present the emperor's false will in favor of his bride as genuine failed. With the death of Peter II, the Romanov family in the direct male line came to an end.
By the time of the death of Peter II, the line of descendants of Peter I was represented only by the grandson of Peter I - the Holstein prince Karl Peter (two years old), who was in the Holstein capital Kiel, and the daughter of Peter I, the unmarried Elizabeth Petrovna. The line of descendants of Ivan Alekseevich was represented by three daughters of Tsar Ivan and one granddaughter of the Lutheran faith. The circle of potential heirs has narrowed to five people.
The issue of succession to the throne was decided at a meeting of the Supreme Privy Council headed by Prince Golitsyn. The testament of Catherine I, according to which, in the event of the childless death of Peter II, the throne should have passed to the offspring of Anna Petrovna (however, the Lutheran religion of Karl Peter could probably serve as an obstacle in this), and then to Elizabeth Petrovna, was ignored. The offspring of Peter I and Catherine I were perceived by members of the Council as premarital, and therefore not entirely legitimate.
At the suggestion of Prince Golitsyn, the empress was to become the Duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna, the middle of three sisters - the daughters of Tsar Ivan (which again contradicted the testament of Catherine I - also because Anna was the regent of a foreign throne). The main factor in choosing her candidacy was the opportunity to realize the plan of the members of the Supreme Privy Council to limit autocracy in Russia. Under certain conditions (conditions), Anna Ioannovna was invited to take the Russian throne.
Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740)
Empress Anna Ioannovna. 1730s State Historical Museum / facebook.com/historyRF At the very beginning of her reign, Anna Ioannovna, as is known, rejected plans to limit autocratic power. In 1731 and 1733, her sisters, Praskovya and Ekaterina, died. The only relative of the Empress through Ivan Alekseevich was her niece, the daughter of Catherine’s sister, who in the same 1733, shortly before her mother’s death, converted to Orthodoxy with the name Anna (Anna Leopoldovna).
The offspring of Peter the Great still consisted of two people - a grandson, Karl Peter, who became the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp in 1739, and a daughter, Elizaveta Petrovna. To secure succession to the throne for her line, Anna Ioannovna already in December 1731 signed a manifesto “On taking the oath of allegiance to the Heir to the All-Russian Throne, who will be appointed by Her Imperial Majesty.” Thus, the principle of Peter the Great's Charter on the succession to the throne was fully restored - the exclusively testamentary nature of the Russian succession to the throne.
The future son of Anna Leopoldovna (niece of Anna Ioannovna) was supposed to be the heir. Only in 1739 was Anna Leopoldovna married to Anton Ulrich, Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel, who had been in Russian service since 1733. His candidacy as the husband of the Empress's niece was lobbied by Austria. Through his mother, Antoinette Amalia, the prince was the nephew of Elizabeth Christina, the wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, and also of Charlotte Christina Sophia, the wife of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich. Consequently, he was a cousin of both Empress Maria Theresa and Peter II. In addition, the prince's younger sister, Elisabeth Christina, was the wife of the Prussian heir to the throne, Frederick (later the Prussian king Frederick II the Great), from 1733. In August 1740, Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich had their first child, who was named by the dynastic name of this line of the Romanov family - Ivan (John).
A few days before her death, Anna Ioannovna signed a will in favor of Ivan Antonovich, and then appointed the Duke of Courland Biron as regent until he came of age. In the event of the premature death of Ivan Antonovich, who left no offspring, the next potential son of Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich became the heir.
John VI (1740-1741)
Ivan VI Antonovich. 1740s Wikimedia Commons The short reign of Emperor John VI (officially he was called John III, since the account at that time was kept from the first Russian Tsar, Ivan the Terrible; later it began to be told from Ivan Kalita) was marked by the quick elimination and arrest of Biron as a result of a conspiracy organized by Field Marshal Minich. Anna Leopoldovna was proclaimed ruler under the young emperor. In July 1741, Ivan Antonovich's sister Catherine was born. On November 25, 1741, Ivan Antonovich was overthrown from the throne as a result of a coup led by the daughter of Peter the Great, Elizaveta Petrovna.
Elizaveta Petrovna (1741-1761)
Portrait of young Elizabeth. Painting by Louis Caravaque. 1720s Wikimedia Commons During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, the “Brunswick family” - Anna Leopoldovna, Anton Ulrich, Ivan Antonovich and their other children (Ekaterina and Elizabeth, Peter and Alexey, who were born later) were imprisoned and exiled (Anna Leopoldovna died in 1746). The only heir of the unmarried empress was her nephew, Duke of Holstein Karl Peter. In 1742, he arrived in St. Petersburg, where in November of the same year he converted to Orthodoxy with the name Peter Fedorovich and was officially declared heir to the throne. In 1745, Peter Fedorovich married Ekaterina Alekseevna (before the adoption of Orthodoxy, Sophia Frederick Augustus), daughter of Prince Anhalt-Zerbst. On her mother’s side, Catherine also came from the family of the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp and was her husband’s second cousin. Catherine's maternal uncle became the heir to the Swedish throne in 1743, and then the Swedish king, and his son, the Swedish king Gustav III, was Catherine's cousin. Another uncle was once Elizaveta Petrovna’s fiancé, but died of smallpox on the eve of the wedding. From the marriage of Pyotr Fedorovich and Ekaterina Alekseevna in 1754, a son was born - Pavel Petrovich. After the death of Elizaveta Petrovna, the last representative of the Romanov family proper, in December 1761 Peter Fedorovich became emperor under the name of Peter III.
Peter III (1761-1762) and Catherine II (1762-1796)
Portrait of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich and Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna. The painting is believed to be by Georg Christopher Grotto. Approximately 1745 Russian Museum: virtual branch The unpopular Emperor Peter III was overthrown on June 28, 1762 in a coup led by his wife, who became the Russian Empress Catherine II.
At the beginning of the reign of Catherine II, during an attempt to liberate (in accordance with a certain order), the former Emperor John Antonovich, who was imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress, was killed. Anton Ulrich died in exile in 1776, four of his children were sent by Catherine to their aunt, the Danish queen, in 1780 (the last of them, Catherine Antonovna, died in Denmark in 1807).
Catherine's heir, Pavel Petrovich, was married twice. From her second marriage, with Maria Feodorovna (nee Princess of Württemberg), three sons and six daughters were born during Catherine’s lifetime (another son was born after Paul I’s accession to the throne). The future of the dynasty was assured. Having become Russian Emperor after the death of his mother in 1796, Paul I adopted a new law on succession to the throne, which established a clear order of succession to the throne in order of seniority in a direct male descendant line. With its adoption, Peter's Charter of 1722 finally lost force.
Every educated Russian knows that the era of palace coups marked 18th-century Russia with an active change of power. Over the course of a century, about six rulers of Russia have changed. Reactionary actions were carried out as a result of the confrontation between opposing noble clans with the use of the guard. Contemporaries would say that this is the so-called “quiet” revolution - at least a bloody abdication of monarchs, without military events.
The period of palace coups - 1725 - 1762.
Russia in this era was a state with a weakened economy. The country, like a weather vane, with the accession of one or another ruler, turned in its development. In the absence of a permanently ruling emperor for a long time, it was impossible to pursue a unified political line. However, each emperor brought his own beneficial contribution to the development of the country.
Politics of the Era of Palace Coups
As for the internal policy of the rulers elected at different times, it was aimed at strengthening their power. Thus, various councils and collegiums were established. For example, Catherine I established the supreme government body - the Privy Council. Anna Ioanovna created the Senate and Synod.
Elizabeth became famous for her educational policy. Under her, science flourished - the key activity was the work of the scientist and writer M.V. Lomonosov.
Foreign policy of the second quarter of the 18th century. was an echo of the long work of Peter the Great. Catherine I, and especially his daughter Elizabeth, openly talked about continuing his course. Thus, three directions in foreign policy were formed:
1.South. War with Turkey and the Crimean Khanate for the opening of a waterway through the Black Sea to Europe. This is how the Russian-Turkish War (1735 – 1739) broke out. As a result, the Crimean territories were recaptured (for example, Perekop, Bakhchisaray). However, as a result of the peace concluded in Belgrade, Russia could not leave the fleet in the Black Sea.
2.Southeast. Peaceful annexation of the Kazakh steppes (1730 – 1740).
3. Northwestern. The struggle to strengthen Russia's position in this region led to a war with Poland. As a result of the Russian-Swedish War (1733-1735), significant lands in the Baltic states went to Russia. The Seven Years' War (1756-1762) turned out to be the bloodiest and also the most protracted. At first, Elizabeth won victories and spent a lot of money on maintaining the warring army, but she died in the midst of the confrontation, and her nephew Peter, Duke of Holstein, who ascended the throne, turned the war in a new direction - everything that Elizabeth fought for returned to the sphere of influence of Prussia .
Thus, Russia did not gain dominance in the Black Sea.
Rulers of the era of palace coups
The first ruler of Russia at this time is considered to be Catherine I, the wife of the deceased Peter I, in January 1725. Together with her, Peter’s favorite, A. Menshikov, became the ruler of the country. At that time he bore many honorary and most significant titles.
Making an attempt to defend herself against the old, noble opposition, Catherine appointed Peter II, a young prince, as her follower. But the nobility did not support this enterprise and nominated the daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth, to the throne. The opposition dealt with Menshikov, depriving him of his titles and sending him to Siberia to settle with his family.
The new government not only did not continue the policies of Peter the Great, but also pointedly moved the capital to Moscow, pushing into the background the importance of St. Petersburg, the fleet and other Peter the Great innovations and transformations. It seemed that Russia began its development in the opposite direction.
However, in connection with the death of the weak and sickly fifteen-year-old Peter II, he brought Anna Ioanovna to power in 1730. The noble noble families of the Dolgorukovs and Golitsyns promoted her candidacy, because they decided that her political figure did not have significant weight, and they could concentrate in their hands all the power. The so-called “conditions” announced by the Privy Council prohibited Anna from pursuing an active foreign policy, especially military policy, and from giving orders on domestic expenditures. The Privy Council also completely reigned over the army and received full command of it.
However, in Moscow, during her coronation, Anna Ioanovna publicly broke her standards at the request of the highest nobility. So Anna declared herself the sovereign empress, urgently abolished the Privy Council, and sent all its members into exile or executed.
Anna Ioanovna was a supporter of everything German. Just look at her favorite Biron.
While dying, the empress announced that Ivan Antonovich, her sister's grandson, would rule in her place. Biron was appointed regent, for whom it was very beneficial. In fact, he received unlimited power in the country. However, Ivan Antonovich’s mother Anna Leopoldovna, as well as princes Minikh and Osterman, conceived a new coup.
So, Anna Leopoldovna in 1740 became regent under Ivan Antonovich.
While Anna Ioanovna was making her plans, a new coup was being prepared by the daughter of Peter I, Elizaveta Petrovna. Her accession took place in 1741 with the support of her closest friends. Elizabeth was also actively supported by the Swedish and Prussian embassies. Elizabeth's reign was the longest in the era of palace coups - she ruled until 1761. Representatives of the old aristocracy were appointed to the highest posts.
Elizabeth's reign was marked primarily by the fact that she never executed anyone, and her military victories were successful. The Empress, feeling her imminent death, appointed her nephew, Duke of Holstein Peter, as her successor.
Peter III became emperor and established a fashion for everything German in Russia. He returned to Prussia everything his aunt had won. The aristocracy was unhappy with this policy.
The Guard did not like the drill arranged by the emperor, and she conspired against him and proclaimed his wife to the throne, who became Empress Catherine II. Some time after Catherine's coronation, Peter was killed by the guards.
The period of palace coups ended when Emperor Paul I, the son of Catherine II and Peter III, became emperor.
