Catherine II is the great Russian empress, whose reign became the most significant period in Russian history. The era of Catherine the Great is marked by the “golden age” of the Russian Empire, whose cultural and political culture the queen raised to the European level. The biography of Catherine II is full of light and dark stripes, numerous plans and achievements, as well as a stormy personal life, about which films are made and books are written to this day.

Catherine II was born on May 2 (April 21, old style) 1729 in Prussia in the family of the governor of Stettin, Prince of Zerbst and the Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp. Despite the rich pedigree, the princess's family did not have a significant fortune, but this did not stop the parents from providing home education for their daughter, without much ceremony with her upbringing. At the same time, the future Russian empress learned English, Italian and French at a high level, mastered dancing and singing, and also gained knowledge about the basics of history, geography and theology.

As a child, the young princess was a playful and curious child with a pronounced “boyish” character. She did not show any special mental abilities and did not demonstrate her talents, but she helped her mother a lot in raising her younger sister Augusta, which suited both parents. In her youth, her mother called Catherine II Fike, which means little Federica.

At the age of 15, it became known that the Zerbst princess had been chosen as a bride for her heir, Peter Fedorovich, who later became the Russian Emperor. In this regard, the princess and her mother were secretly invited to Russia, where they went under the name of the Countesses of Rhinebeck. The girl immediately began studying Russian history, language and Orthodoxy in order to learn more fully about her new homeland. Soon she converted to Orthodoxy and was named Ekaterina Alekseevna, and the next day she became engaged to Pyotr Fedorovich, who was her second cousin.

Palace coup and ascension to the throne

After the wedding with Peter III, practically nothing changed in the life of the future Russian empress - she continued to devote herself to self-education, studying philosophy, jurisprudence and the works of world-famous authors, since her husband showed absolutely no interest in her and openly had fun with other ladies in front of her eyes. After nine years of marriage, when the relationship between Peter and Catherine went completely wrong, the queen gave birth to an heir to the throne, who was immediately taken away from her and was practically not allowed to see him.

Then a plan to overthrow her husband from the throne matured in the head of Catherine the Great. She subtly, clearly and prudently organized a palace coup, in which she was helped by the English Ambassador Williams and the Chancellor of the Russian Empire, Count Alexei Bestuzhev.

It soon turned out that both confidants of the future Russian empress had betrayed her. But Catherine did not abandon her plan and found new allies in its implementation. They were the Orlov brothers, adjutant Khitrov and sergeant Potemkin. Foreigners also took part in organizing the palace coup, providing sponsorship to bribe the right people.

In 1762, the Empress was completely ready to take a decisive step - she went to St. Petersburg, where the guards units, who by that time were already dissatisfied with the military policy of Emperor Peter III, swore allegiance to her. After this, he abdicated the throne, was taken into custody and soon died under unknown circumstances. Two months later, on September 22, 1762, Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst was crowned in Moscow and became Empress Catherine II of Russia.

Reign and achievements of Catherine II

From the very first day of her ascension to the throne, the queen clearly formulated her royal tasks and began to actively implement them. She quickly formulated and carried out reforms in the Russian Empire, which affected all spheres of life of the population. Catherine the Great pursued a policy that took into account the interests of all classes, which won the enormous support of her subjects.

To pull the Russian Empire out of the financial quagmire, the tsarina carried out secularization and took away the lands of churches, turning them into secular property. This made it possible to pay off the army and replenish the treasury of the empire by 1 million peasant souls. At the same time, she managed to quickly establish trade in Russia, doubling the number of industrial enterprises in the country. Thanks to this, the amount of government revenue increased fourfold, the empire was able to maintain a large army and begin the development of the Urals.

As for Catherine’s domestic policy, today it is called “absolutism”, because the empress tried to achieve the “common good” for society and the state. The absolutism of Catherine II was marked by the adoption of new legislation, which was adopted on the basis of the “Order of Empress Catherine,” containing 526 articles. Due to the fact that the queen’s policy was still “pro-noble” in nature, from 1773 to 1775 she was faced with a peasant uprising led by. The peasant war engulfed almost the entire empire, but the state army was able to suppress the rebellion and arrest Pugachev, who was subsequently executed.

In 1775, Catherine the Great carried out a territorial division of the empire and expanded Russia into 11 provinces. During her reign, Russia acquired Azov, Kiburn, Kerch, Crimea, Kuban, as well as part of Belarus, Poland, Lithuania and the western part of Volyn. At the same time, elected courts were introduced in the country, which dealt with criminal and civil cases of the population.

In 1785, the Empress organized local government in cities. At the same time, Catherine II established a clear set of noble privileges - she freed the nobles from paying taxes, compulsory military service, and gave them the right to own lands and peasants. Thanks to the empress, a secondary education system was introduced in Russia, for which special closed schools, institutes for girls, and educational homes were built. In addition, Catherine founded the Russian Academy, which became one of the leading European scientific bases.

During her reign, Catherine paid special attention to the development of agriculture. Under her, for the first time in Russia, bread began to be sold, which the population could buy with paper money, also introduced into use by the empress. Also among the valor of the monarch is the introduction of vaccination in Russia, which made it possible to prevent epidemics of fatal diseases in the country, thereby maintaining the population.

During her reign, Catherine the Second survived 6 wars, in which she received the desired trophies in the form of lands. Her foreign policy is considered by many to this day to be immoral and hypocritical. But the woman managed to go down in Russian history as a powerful monarch who became an example of patriotism for future generations of the country, despite the absence of even a drop of Russian blood in her.

Personal life

The personal life of Catherine II is legendary and arouses interest to this day. The Empress was committed to “free love,” which was a consequence of her unsuccessful marriage to Peter III.

The love stories of Catherine the Great are marked in history by a series of scandals, and the list of her favorites contains 23 names, as evidenced by data from authoritative Catherine scholars.

The most famous lovers of the monarch were Platon Zubov, who at the age of 20 became the favorite of 60-year-old Catherine the Great. Historians do not rule out that the empress’s love affairs were her kind of weapon, with the help of which she carried out her activities on the royal throne.

It is known that Catherine the Great had three children - a son from her legal marriage with Peter III, Pavel Petrovich, Alexey Bobrinsky, born from Orlov, and a daughter, Anna Petrovna, who died of illness at the age of one.

In the last years of her life, the Empress devoted herself to caring for her grandchildren and heirs, as she was on bad terms with her son Paul. She wanted to transfer power and the crown to her eldest grandson, whom she personally prepared for the royal throne. But her plans were not destined to happen, since her legal heir learned about his mother’s plan and carefully prepared for the fight for the throne.

The death of Catherine II occurred according to the new style on November 17, 1796. The Empress died from a severe stroke; she tossed about in agony for several hours and, without regaining consciousness, passed away in agony. She was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Movies

The image of Catherine the Great is very often used in modern cinema. Her bright and rich biography is taken as a basis by screenwriters all over the world, since the great Russian Empress Catherine II had a turbulent life filled with intrigues, conspiracies, love affairs and the struggle for the throne, but at the same time she became one of the most worthy rulers of the Russian Empire.

In 2015, a fascinating historical show started in Russia, for the script of which facts were taken from the diaries of the queen herself, who turned out to be a “male ruler” by nature, and not a feminine mother and wife.

9. Death of Catherine II.
Accession of Paul I
Somehow, the long-prepared primary conspiracy of Catherine II against Paul I (the scale and duration of which is vast. If we start counting, of course, from 1776, the year of poisoning, by Catherine II, the first wife of Paul I, Princess Wilhelmina of Darmstadt.), - with the goal of “rolling him past the throne”! - which we, you, already told about in the first chapter of our essay, did not work.
In this note, we do not touch upon this issue, although it is also interesting, since it overturns all the ideas we have, with the help of official historians, about the Ekaterino-Alexandrovsky coup of 1801. And, contrary to the plans of the impostor, Paul I nevertheless reigned.
There are many reasons and circumstances here: the sudden death of Catherine II; and the eternal indecision of Alexander I, supported by fear, of his father. And, by the way: the very atmosphere of suspicion created at that time by Paul I, which, as you already know, was noted by Pushkin in his diary. And, even, the very fear of Catherine’s nobles, of the harsh disposition of Paul I, and the fact that, at that time, somehow the St. Petersburg and Moscow nobles did not work hard! - Freemasons. And so on.
We will not disassemble them. Let us dwell only on the main events of the very accession of the already 42-year-old Paul I. Events that are direct - and immediate! - they will touch upon - the most important secret desecration, by Tsar Nicholas I, of both the name of Pushkin and his grave in the Svyatogorsk Monastery. And that’s what they are, in short.
At a quarter past midnight, November 6, 1796, Catherine II died. Pushkin takes her “death” in “The Queen of Spades”, as you already know, “at a quarter to three” at night. He takes it in order, once again, to smoothly “translate” his inattentive readers - in time, of course! - in the next day.
What will cause the capture, by P. Vyazemsky, is the moment of the poet’s death, January 29, 1837, precisely “a quarter to three,” but only, of course, in the afternoon. By the way, the Vyazemsky spouses were constantly “on duty” in the poet’s house: on the night of the 27th to the 28th; and on the night from January 28 to 29, in order to “catch” - exactly the night “quarter to three”. This is clearly visible from the diary of A.I. Turgenev.
He became emperor, as you already know from the second chapter of our essay, through the Privy Council, organized, at the will of the already deceased Catherine II, by Count A.A. Beardless! - precisely Paul I. And he reigned, as they write to us, almost with rapture! - official historians, four years, four months and four days. And to revel here in such precision (With all the signs of some mysticism.)! – perhaps it’s not worth it.
Most likely, that the Russian Masons, carrying out the will of the already deceased Catherine II - but not the dead Englishmen and Prussians standing behind her! - it was a little boring to kill right away, like Peter III in 1762! – the newly-minted Emperor Paul I. And evidence of this is, as the historian-playwright E. Radzinsky tells us! - the fact that it was Count A. Bezborodko who not only assembled the above-mentioned Privy Council, but was also the first to propose the candidacy of Paul I for emperor at the Council.
That’s probably why they created it – a certain mysticism. This is their kind of “black mark”. But they really created mysticism because Paul I finally “got” them. “I got tired of it,” to use youth vocabulary, because of the rapprochement with Napoleon.
By the way, Pavel became emperor precisely by proposal - and personal initiative! - Count A. Bezborodko, was still distrustful of the count himself. Only about six months later he gave him a “prince.” And then he made him chancellor. This is where the story with A. Bezborodko ended, because after some time he will die. But the Orlovs, Zubovs and other Catherine’s nobles will not die. Which, one must assume, will continue the plan of Catherine II, begun by Catherine II and Count A. Bezborodko.
We will give it to you here - to expand your knowledge about the last months of the life of Catherine “The Great”! – and some information from the TV show “Seekers”, on the ORT channel, dated May 30, 2006. The main essence of it boils down to approximately the following. There was no will of Catherine II. Comment by V.B. - But her plan was “to drive Paul past the throne with the accession of her grandson, Alexander,” which, as you will see below, was well known not only to the Russian Masons, but also to their masters, the British and Prussians. .
In August 1796, a comet appeared over St. Petersburg, foreshadowing, according to superstition, something bad. After Catherine II, in conversations with her closest noble circle, - A. Bezborodko, P. Zubov! – she said that she was weakening. In September 1796, she had her first stroke, on November 5th - the second and, on November 6th, she died.
The Privy Council actually assembled A.A. Bezborodko. He nominated Paul as a candidate for emperor. But Paul I treated Bezborodko himself with suspicion. Only six months later he gave him the title of “prince.” And then he made him chancellor. However, A. Bezborodko was already seriously ill. He will die in 1799. So Paul became, as the “Seekers” said, “emperor by the grace of God.”
They gave “Seekers” a kind of epilogue to their program. The main meaning is approximately as follows. Catherine II did not leave a will, but Paul I left some kind of document as a legacy. On which he wrote: “Open in a hundred years. After reading it, burn it." And, as the same “Seekers” testify, this document was opened by Emperor Nicholas II. I read it and burned it.
xxx
However, let us return to the events highlighted at the beginning of the section precisely after the accession of Paul I. And then the usual ceremonies for these cases began. Catherine was “dressed” like an empress in a white satin dress. They put her from the mattress she was on into the prepared coffin. And they carried the coffin with the body of the deceased to the court church.
So, it turns out, where Tsar Nicholas I’s conspiracy against Pushkin will come from is the court church. Will appear even despite N.N.’s announcement. Pushkina, notifying that the funeral service or memorial service, according to Pushkin, will take place on February 1, 1837, in St. Isaac's Cathedral. The fact, by the way, is documented. In addition, the house in which Pushkin lived belonged specifically to the parish of the named cathedral.
We have already told you a little about the Stables Court Church above (And there will be a special conversation about it below and, of course, in subsequent brochures of our book series; - explanation by V.B.). In general, in it, in the court church, after the Privy Council, Paul I appeared. Where, the majority of the courtiers, began to swear allegiance to the newly-minted emperor who appeared in the church for these purposes.
Here is the “white dress” of the mother lying in the church, already in the coffin, and reminded Paul I: both about the rumors circulating in St. Petersburg that Peter III was not his father, and about the murder by Alexei Orlov - in Ropsha, in 1762 year, - Peter III. It reminded him of rumors that had also been around for a long time - but also very vague and vague! - reached the 42-year-old newly-minted king. Which is what made him send for Count Alexei Orlov. To bring him to the church to take the oath to the new emperor.
It seems that Alexei Orlov will not go to church and will swear allegiance to Paul I in his palace. This is not so important. Another thing is important. After taking the oath, Pavel, remembering the rumors that had just been highlighted to you, immediately went to Catherine’s office. To learn there as many secrets of his mother’s reign as possible. Including learning as much as possible: about the circumstances of your birth; and about the circumstances of the murder of Peter III in Ropsha. By the way, this was done not only by Russian emperors, but also by all rulers of nations and kingdoms! - all over the world! Pavel is no exception here.
It was in his mother’s office that he, without going to bed that night, learned about at least three things. And the first of them will be the “Notes” of Catherine II, addressed, on the package, by Catherine, to him personally: “To His Highness, my son, Pavel Petrovich.” We don’t know exactly what Catherine the impostor and intriguer was planning when she created the package for her son. Most likely - as we already suggested in the second chapter of our essay! - to “ride”, “His Highness”, namely “past the throne”.
There is probably no other option here. Yes, this is no longer so important. But we will still devote a few lines - in order to comply with the principles of storytelling! - specifically Catherine’s “Notes”. Notes, a preliminary conversation about which, as you remember, we already had in the first chapter of our essay.
The main content, you already know from our first chapter: not Peter III, but the chamberlain of the Elizabethan era, S.V. Saltykov, according to the “Notes” of Catherine II herself, is the father of Paul I. “Notes”, let us once again highlight, are false from beginning to end. And they were intended “personally for Pavel Petrovich,” one must assume (Based on the package specially prepared by Catherine II for her son.), so that it was precisely Pavel Petrovich - when Catherine II created, of course, the appropriate conditions and circumstances! - “roll past the throne.” And in order to somehow justify the murder by Catherine II, through the Orlov brothers, of her husband, who, upon accession, became Emperor Peter III.
This was precisely their main purpose, the Notes. While Catherine II is still alive, place on the Russian throne not Pavel Petrovich, but his son, Alexander Pavlovich! In any case, the “Notes” do not have the character of a “testamentary document”. However, let us return precisely to the contents of the above-mentioned “Notes”, since we have not yet told everything about them.
Let us add to the first chapter that they denigrated not only Peter III, but also - and to the strongest extent! - Elizaveta Petrovna herself. The Russian Empress, whom Catherine II “brought out” - in her correspondence with Williams (And in her “Notes.”)! - a limitless Despot and Tyrant. Which, in its specifics, does not correspond to reality.
Their further fate is as follows. Unable to restrain himself from emotions, Paul I allowed them to be examined - so that, after that, they would be sealed forever (Not realizing, at the same time, that they would end up in the Russian archive.)! - to one of his courtiers (It seems, if my memory serves me right, to Prince Kurakin.). And that one - being very agile and quick-witted! - skillfully dividing them into parts, he secretly ordered the scribes to quickly rewrite these parts. What was done was soon fulfilled.
So, the named “Notes” of Catherine II began to secretly “behind the scenes” - in the salons of the highest Russian nobility. Which, also multiplying them in copies, began to store them in their personal libraries. And - in the archives. It is precisely through this path, most likely, “Notes” - presumably through the library of Count M.S. Vorontsova! - or, perhaps, through the personal library of officer-agent I.P. Liprandi ended up in southern exile with Pushkin.
To the poet who - if we take into account the library of Count Vorontsov! – presumably through Eliz. Xaver. Vorontsov, the count's wife, with whom Pushkin had a love affair! – I also secretly made a leather-bound copy from them, through the scribes of Count Vorontsov. Or he made a copy from the “Notes”, which may also be in the library of the named officer. An officer who, some researchers considered, was an agent of political investigation.
The original mentioned above, sealed by Paul I, ended up in the Russian archive. From which, in 1818, A.I. Turgenev secretly removed it. By making a copy from it. Pushkin became acquainted with the contents of this copy in the same year, after reading, by him, “History of the Russian State” by N.M. Karamzin. See more about this above.
Pushkin’s copy of Catherine II’s “Notes” was read, as Pushkinian testifies, by N.N. Pushkin. And according to the poet’s diary entry, dated January 8, 1835, it is clear that Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna also read them: “The Grand Duchess took the Notes of Catherine II from me and is going crazy from them” (See Pushkin’s diary for 1833-35 .).
Here we note that historians, rummaging through the archives, also discovered earlier copies of Catherine’s “Notes” (More precisely, their drafts!). Drafts, quite sharply different in content, from Catherine’s original. They came up with all this - and from the praise of Catherine II as the “Great Empress” (that is, similar to Peter the Great.)! - God knows what.
Although the difference itself, in the content of the drafts and the original, clearly and, most importantly, unambiguously indicates that the intriguer Catherine followed the path of falsification of the events described by her in the “Notes”. She committed falsification, of course, only in the direction of her own interests. Exhibiting himself everywhere - of course! - in a favorable light for yourself. However, let us return specifically to Pushkin.
Let us emphasize that everything that has just been stated about him above is not yet dangerous for the poet. It will turn out to be dangerous for him - presumably, of course! - approximately the following. This is that it was precisely Pushkin’s copy, from the “Notes” of Catherine II, that I secretly became acquainted with in the poet’s house, in the absence of Pushkin, of course, - and the poet was very often absent from the house, due to his frequent trips to Moscow and then and to the Orenburg province to the Pugachev places! - and Idalia Poletika.
Poletika, who had already secretly illustrated, for the poet, the second, that is, not yet completely encrypted by the poet, draft of “The Queen of Spades.” And Poletika, who entered the poet’s house as a relative of N.N. Pushkina. Which, by the way, was only a pretext for secret observation: both of the poet and of his work.
And not so indirectly confirms, this is like the “posthumous search” itself, by the gendarmes - on the secret order of the tsar! – the poet’s papers (By the way, this term was introduced by Pushkinists, it seems, S. Abramovich, in Soviet times.), and mysterious for Pushkinists, to this day, item No. 1 of the gendarmerie inventory of the poet’s papers. A paragraph written, moreover, in red ink. And a point that, moreover, had nothing behind it. And the point on which they, the Pushkinists of the past, then created the myth about the existence of Pushkin, - of course, the most seditious and important! - the poet's diary number one.
While Pushkin’s copy, from the “Notes” of Catherine II, for some reason ended up in the library of the Winter Palace. In the library, which the king used most often. You know the rest about Pushkin’s copy from the first chapter of our essay: it will be found only in 1947. And the Pushkinists will no longer attach any importance to it. While it is precisely the named “Notes” - of course, together with the huge secret of the six-planned “Queen of Spades”! - and constitute the poet’s main “sedition.” In other words, unlawful sedition and, therefore, prohibited by Nicholas I.
It remains only to point out that the subsequent tsars of Catherine’s branch were secretly acquainted with the “Notes” of Catherine II: Alexander I, Nicholas I, Alexander II, etc., right up to Nicholas II. So they knew very well that they, according to Catherine herself, were the second! - impostors. However, let’s continue the conversation specifically about the events characterizing the accession of Paul I.
And the second, interesting thing for him, turned out to be three letters, from Alexei Orlov (And he is a direct, - and immediate! - killer of Peter the Third.), to Catherine II. Three letters in which all the circumstances of the murder of Peter the Third by Alexei Orlov and his accomplices were revealed.
The third should include several notes from Peter III to Catherine, his wife. Notes in which he, humiliatingly and tearfully, asked for mercy and leniency. And to Catherine, who, let us once again highlight, has absolutely no rights to the Russian throne due to the dynastic Anglo-Prussian intrigue against Russia.
Which, I think, did not add to Paul I’s respect for his mother. Especially in the last years of her reign, when she began to change her lovers - several times a day.
This is all, in its totality, and even with an obviously unkind attitude towards his mother, who has illegally usurped “his throne” for many years! - and enraged the already unbalanced Paul I.
By the way, Pavel, especially when he grew up, even in his dreams felt like a king. Over all the long years of his “non-reign,” he developed so many Russian laws that they were often used by his subsequent descendants. During four years and four months of his reign, he issued 2251 decrees. Which is, of course, a very unusual record. And the law on succession to the throne by male tribe was introduced by Paul I in 1797! - was strictly followed by them until 1917.
And the first thing he will do is after getting acquainted with the main secrets of the reign of Catherine the Second! – it will turn out to be the following. He will suspend, if my memory serves me right, all ceremonies for the burial of Catherine II. Her coffin will remain, for now, in the court church.
And, having suspended all preparations for burial, he will immediately begin to restore - scolded by Catherine II and the Orlovs! - the authority of his father - as the legitimate Russian emperor. Moreover, on top of everything else, they were contemptuously buried by Catherine II - and the Orlov brothers! - not in the Peter and Paul Fortress - as it was supposed to be, a deceased emperor, according to Russian laws, status or protocol, or something! – a – in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. What happened next, if my memory serves me right, is approximately the following.

Education

Who ruled after Peter 1? Russia after Peter 1

The history of Russia is rich in various eras, each of which left its mark on the life of the country. One of the most intense and controversial reigns was the reign of Peter I the Great, which ended on January 25, 1725 due to the sudden death of the emperor.

Russia without a Tsar? Who ruled after Peter 1

Three years before his death, the autocrat managed to issue a decree that changed the previously existing order of succession to the throne: now the heir became not the eldest son, but the one of the sons whom the father considered worthy to take such an honorable place. This decision was due to the fact that the king’s son, the potential heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei, was accused of preparing a conspiracy against his own father and, as a result, was sentenced to death. In 1718, the prince died within the walls of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

However, before his death, Peter I did not have time to appoint a new tsar, leaving the country, for the development of which he had made so much effort, without a ruler.

As a result, the next few years were marked by numerous palace coups, the purpose of which was to seize power. Since no official heir had been appointed, those wishing to sit on the throne tried to prove that they had earned this right.

The very first coup, carried out by the guards of the wife of Peter I - by birth Martha Skavronskaya, popularly known as Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova (Catherine I) - brought the first woman in Russian history to power.

The enthronement of the future All-Russian Empress was supervised by an associate of the late Tsar, Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, who became the de facto ruler of the state.

Russia after Peter 1 is a special milestone in world history. The strict orderliness and discipline that had partly characterized the emperor's reign now lost their former force.

Catherine I: who is she?

Marta Skavronskaya (the empress's real name) came from a family of Baltic peasants. She was born on April 5, 1684. Having lost both parents at an early age, the girl was raised in the family of a Protestant pastor.

During the Northern War (between Sweden and Russia), in 1702, Martha, along with other residents of the Marienburg fortress, was captured by Russian troops, and then into the service of Prince Menshikov. There are two versions of how this happened.

One version says that Marta became the mistress of Count Sheremetyev, the commander of the Russian army. Prince Alexander Danilovich, the favorite of Peter the Great, saw her and, using his authority, took the girl to his house.

According to another version, Marta became the managing servant of Colonel Baur, where Menshikov set his sights on her and took her into his house. And already here Peter I himself noticed her.

Video on the topic

Rapprochement with Peter I

For 9 years Martha was the king's mistress. In 1704, she gave birth to his first son, Peter, and then his second son, Pavel. However, both boys died.

The education of the future empress was carried out by the sister of Peter I, Natalya Alekseevna, who taught Martha to read and write. And in 1705, a girl was baptized into Orthodoxy under the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova. In 1708 and 1709, Catherine’s daughters were born from Peter Alekseevich - Anna and Elizaveta (who later took the throne under the name Elizaveta Petrovna).

Finally, in 1712, the wedding with Peter I took place in the Church of John of Dalmitsky - Catherine became a full member of the royal family. The year 1724 was marked by the solemn coronation of Martha Skavronskaya in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow. She received the crown from the hands of the emperor himself.

Who ruled Rus' and when?

After the death of Peter 1, Russia fully learned what a country is worth without an imperious ruler. Since Prince Menshikov won the favor of the Tsar, and later helped Catherine I become the head of state, to the question of who ruled after Peter 1, the correct answer would be Prince Alexander Danilovich, who actively participated in the life of the country and made the most important decisions. However, the reign of the empress, despite such strong support, did not last long - until May 1727.

During Catherine I's reign, an important role in Russian politics at that time was played by the Supreme Privy Council, created even before the empress ascended the throne. Its members included such noble and prominent people in the Russian Empire of that time as Prince Alexander Menshikov (who headed this body), Dmitry Golitsyn, Fyodor Apraksin, Pyotr Tolstoy.

At the beginning of the reign of Catherine I, taxes were reduced and many people sentenced to exile and imprisonment were pardoned. Such changes were caused by the fear of riots due to price increases, which invariably should lead to discontent among ordinary people.

In addition, the reforms carried out by Peter were canceled or modified:

The Senate began to play a less prominent role in the political life of the country;

governors replaced local authorities;

For the improvement of the troops, a special Commission was organized, consisting of flagships and generals.

Innovations of Catherine I. Domestic and foreign policy

For those who ruled after Peter 1 (we are talking about his wife), it was extremely difficult to surpass the reformer tsar in the versatility of politics. Among the innovations, it is worth noting the creation of the Academy of Sciences and the organization of an expedition led by the famous navigator Vitus Bering to Kamchatka.

In foreign policy in general, Catherine I adhered to her husband’s views: she supported the claims of the Holstein Duke Karl Friedrich (who was her son-in-law) to Schleswig. This led to strained relations with England and Denmark. The result of the confrontation was the accession of Russia to the Union of Vienna (which included Spain, Prussia and Austria) in 1726.

Russia after Peter 1 acquired significant influence in Courland. It was so great that Prince Menshikov planned to become the head of this duchy, but local residents showed discontent about this.

Thanks to the foreign policy of Catherine I and Alexander Danilovich (who ruled Russia after the death of Peter 1 in fact), the empire was able to take possession of the Shirvan region (having achieved concessions in this matter from Persia and Turkey). Also, thanks to Prince Raguzinsky, friendly relations with China were established.

End of the Empress's reign

The power of Catherine I came to an end in May 1727, when the empress died at the age of 44 from lung disease. She was buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Before her death, Catherine wanted to make her daughter Elizabeth empress, but once again she listened to Menshikov and appointed her grandson, Peter II Alekseevich, heir and Tsar of Russia, who was 11 years old at the time of his ascension to the throne.

The regent was none other than Prince Alexander Danilovich (this fact once again proves who ruled after Peter 1 in Russia). Menshikov soon married the newly-crowned tsar to his daughter Maria, thus further strengthening his influence on court and state life.

However, the power of Prince Alexander Danilovich did not last long: after the death of Emperor Peter II, he was accused of state conspiracy and died in exile.

Russia after Peter the Great is a completely different state, where the first place was not reforms and transformations, but the struggle for the throne and attempts to prove the superiority of some classes over others.

On April 24, 1605, the very next day after the death of Tsar Boris Godunov, Moscow proclaimed his 16-year-old son Fedor, a talented and educated young man, fully prepared for the throne, to reign. But it was a troubled time - False Dmitry I was moving towards Moscow, plotting intrigues to seize the throne and was able to win over to his side Prince Mstislavsky and many of those who had recently supported the Godunovs. The ambassadors who arrived in Moscow, on behalf of the impostor at Lobnoye Mesto, read a message in which False Dmitry I called the Godunovs usurpers, himself - Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich, who allegedly managed to escape, promised all sorts of favors and benefits and called for swearing allegiance to himself. Popular unrest began, the crowd shouted “Down with the Godunovs!” rushed to the Kremlin.

Konstantin Makovsky

With the connivance of the government of the boyars, Fyodor Godunov, his mother and sister Ksenia were placed in custody, and False Dmitry I ascended to the Russian throne. On June 20, 1605, Fyodor II Borisovich Godunov and his mother were strangled. This was the order of the new king. It was announced to the people that they themselves had taken poison.

Fyodor II Borisovich Godunov was killed (10) June 20, 1605 by order of False Dmitry I. He and his mother were strangled, and the people were told that they had poisoned themselves. Only Princess Ksenia was spared. According to legend, she was first given as a concubine to False Dmitry, and then exiled to a monastery.

Also, by order of False Dmitry, the bodies of Fyodor and his mother were buried without honors in the Varsonofevsky Monastery. The coffin with the body of Boris Godunov was transported there from the Archangel Cathedral. However, under Shuisky, the remains of the Godunov family were solemnly reburied in a special tomb of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.

False Dmitry I - the first impostor tsar

Historians consider False Dmitry I an adventurer who pretended to be Tsarevich Dmitry, the escaped son of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. He became the first impostor who managed to take the Russian throne. False Dmitry stopped at nothing in his quest to become king: he made promises to the people and even staged his “confession” with Maria Naga, the mother of Tsarevich Dmitry.

But very little time passed during the reign of False Dmitry I, and the Moscow boyars were very surprised that the Russian tsar did not observe Russian rituals and customs, but imitated the Polish monarch: he renamed the boyar duma into the Senate, made a number of changes to the palace ceremony and emptied the treasury with entertainment, expenses for maintenance of the Polish guards and for gifts for the Polish king.

A dual situation arose in Moscow - on the one hand, they loved the Tsar, but on the other, they were very dissatisfied with him. The dissatisfied leaders were Vasily Golitsyn, Vasily Shuisky, Mikhail Tatishchev, Prince Kurakin, as well as the Kolomna and Kazan metropolitans. The tsar was to be killed by the archers and the killer of Tsar Fyodor Godunov, Sherefedinov. But the assassination attempt, planned for January 8, 1606, failed, and its perpetrators were torn to pieces by the crowd.

Engravings from portraits of F. Snyadetsky. Early 17th century

A more favorable situation for an assassination attempt arose in the spring, when False Dmitry I announced his wedding to the Polish Marina Mniszech. On May 8, 1606, the wedding took place, and Mniszech was crowned queen. The party lasted for several days, and the Poles who arrived for the wedding (about 2 thousand people) in a drunken stupor robbed passers-by, broke into the houses of Muscovites, and raped women. False Dmitry I retired from business during the wedding. The conspirators took advantage of this

On May 14, 1606, Vasily Shuisky and his comrades decided to act. The Kremlin changed security, opened prisons and issued weapons to everyone. On May 17, 1606, an armed crowd entered Red Square. False Dmitry tried to escape and jumped out of the window of the chambers directly onto the pavement, where he was grabbed by archers and hacked to death. The body was dragged to Red Square, his clothes were torn off, a pipe was stuck in the mouth of the impostor king, and a mask was placed on his chest. Muscovites mocked the body for 2 days, after which they buried it behind the Serpukhov Gate in the old cemetery. But the matter did not end there. There were rumors that “miracles were happening” over the grave. They dug up the body, burned it, mixed the ashes with gunpowder and fired it from a cannon towards Poland.

Ivan VI Antonovich - the emperor who did not see his subjects

Young Emperor Ivan VI

Ivan VI Antonovich is the son of Anna Leopoldovna, the niece of the childless Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna and Duke Anton Ulrich of Brunswick, the great-grandson of Ivan V. He was proclaimed Emperor in 1740 at the age of two months, and Duke of Courland E.I. Biron was declared regent. But a year later - on December 6, 1741 - a coup d'état took place, and the daughter of Peter I, Elizaveta Petrovna, ascended the Russian throne.

At first, Elizabeth thought of sending the “Brunswick family” abroad, but she was afraid that they might be dangerous. The deposed emperor with his mother and father were transported to Dynamunde, a suburb of Riga, and then north to Kholmogory. The boy lived in the same house with his parents, but in complete isolation from them, behind a blank wall under the supervision of Major Miller. In 1756 he was transferred to “solitary confinement” in the Shlisselburg fortress, where he was called a “famous prisoner” and kept in complete isolation from people. He couldn't even see the guards. The prisoner’s situation did not improve either under Peter III or Catherine II

During his imprisonment, several attempts were made to free the deposed emperor, the last of which turned out to be his death. On July 16, 1764, officer V.Ya. Mirovich, who was on guard duty at the Shlisselburg fortress, was able to win over part of the garrison to his side. He called for the release of Ivan and the overthrow of Catherine II. But when the rebels tried to free the prisoner Ivan VI, two guards who were constantly with him were stabbed to death. It is believed that Ivan Antonovich was buried in the Shlisselburg fortress, but in fact he became the only Russian emperor whose burial place is precisely unknown

Peter III - Emperor deposed by his wife

joint portrait by G.K. Groot

Peter III Fedorovich - German prince Karl Peter Ulrich, son of Anna Petrovna and Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, grandson of Peter I - ascended the Russian throne in 1761. He was not crowned, ruled for only 187 days, but managed to make peace with Prussia, thereby erasing the results of the victories of the Russian troops in the Seven Years' War.

Peter's erratic actions in the domestic political arena deprived him of the support of Russian society, and many perceived his policies as a betrayal of Russian national interests. As a result, on June 28, 1762, a coup took place, and Catherine II was proclaimed empress. Peter III was sent to Ropsha (30 versts from St. Petersburg), where the deposed emperor died under unclear circumstances

According to the official version, Peter III died either from a stroke or from hemorrhoids. But there is another version - Peter III was killed by guards in the ensuing fight, and 2 days before his officially announced death. Initially, the body of Peter III was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and in 1796 Paul I ordered the body to be transferred to the Peter and Paul Cathedral

Paul I was strangled with a scarf

Portrait of Paul I
Artist S.S. Shchukin

Pavel Petrovich Romanov (born September 20 according to the old style, October 1 according to the new style 1754 in St. Petersburg; died March 12 according to the old style, March 24 according to the new style 1801 in the same place) - Russian emperor (1796 - 1801), who ruled under the name Paul I Son of Catherine II and Peter III, father of Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I. Crowned on April 5 (new style - April 16), 1797. Died at the hands of assassins during the coup that brought his son Alexander Pavlovich to power

The first government act of great importance during the reign of Paul was the act of succession to the throne, promulgated at his coronation on April 5 (April 16, new style) 1797. The order of succession was determined by the “Institution of the Imperial Family”. Instead of the previous order, established by Peter the Great in 1722, of the arbitrary appointment of an heir to the throne by the reigning person, an unchangeable order of the transfer of the throne in a straight descending line from father to eldest son was established, “so that the state would not be without an heir, so that the heir would always be appointed by law itself, so that There was not the slightest doubt who would inherit." Paul I restored the pre-Petrine order of succession to the throne. This order was in effect until 1917

Paul's foreign policy was also partly dictated by the spirit of contradiction of his mother, partly by Paul's ideas about honor and nobility. It is known that Paul proposed a solution to disagreements between European countries through duels of sovereigns, as in the times of medieval chivalry

Shortly before her death, Catherine was going to support the anti-French coalition (Prussia, Austria, England) with bayonets. Pavel announced that Russia would henceforth adhere to a policy of non-interference in European affairs, formally remaining a member of the coalition. Paul stopped the war in Persia started by Catherine and canceled the new recruitment, declaring that Russia needed peace and rest.

But Paul was unable to maintain this policy to the end. In 1798, Napoleon's successes in Europe forced Paul to join the coalition formed in 1799, which consisted of England, Austria, Turkey and Naples. On December 10 (new style) 1798, Paul I assumed the duties of Master of the Order of Malta and thereby challenged the French, who had captured and plundered Malta. The Russian fleet operated against the French in the Mediterranean Sea (the forces of the allied Russian-Turkish fleet under the command of Fyodor Ushakov captured a fortress on the island of Corfu) and landed troops in Italy to help the Neapolitan king Ferdinand VI. The brilliant actions of Russian troops under the command of A.V. Suvorov in Italy did not bear tangible fruit due to the fact that the Austrian allies did not accept Suvorov’s plan, which included the capture of Paris and a change in the French government. Instead, the Russian army headed to Switzerland, where it suffered huge losses while crossing the Alps.

When in 1800 the British captured Malta and occupied it (as it turned out, for 170 years), the Master of the Order of Malta, Emperor Paul I, took this as an insult (in his opinion, the liberated island should have been handed over to Russia) and forbade merchant ships from England to enter Russian ports.

Paul's claims to Malta caused the first ever aggravation of relations between Russia and Spain. After the defeat of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem on the territory of the modern states of Syria, Palestine and Israel, the crown of Jerusalem formally passed to the Spanish king. Since Paul, accepting the title of master, remained Orthodox, King Charles IV of Spain did not recognize the new master. The exchange of ultimatums was followed by a mutual declaration of war. Fortunately, due to the remoteness, the opponents never reached each other, and there were no casualties in this war. The matter was resolved (after Paul's death) by the 1801 treaty of peace and friendship.

Outraged by the actions of the allies, Pavel left the coalition. In 1800, Russia made peace with France and began preparing for war with its former allies. Emperor Paul entered into an alliance with Prussia against Austria and an alliance with Prussia, Sweden and Denmark against England. Preparations for military action against England were especially active: the Don Cossack army had already set out on a campaign to Orenburg with the aim of capturing the most valuable British colony - India. But the death of Paul stopped this campaign.

Many historians associate the death of Paul I with the fact that he dared to encroach on the world hegemony of Great Britain. On the night of March 11, 1801, conspirators burst into the imperial chambers and demanded that Paul I abdicate the throne.

The emperor tried to object, and, they say, even hit someone; in response, one of the rebels began to strangle him with a scarf, and another struck the emperor in the temple with a massive snuff box. It was announced to the people that Paul I had suffered an apoplexy. Tsarevich Alexander, who overnight became Emperor Alexander I, did not dare to touch his father’s murderers, and Russian politics returned to a pro-English channel

On the same days in Paris, a bomb was thrown at Bonaparte's motorcade. Napoleon was not injured, and commented on what happened: “They missed me in Paris, but hit me in St. Petersburg.”

An interesting coincidence, 212 years later, on the same day as the assassination of the Russian autocrat, the disgraced oligarch Boris Berezovsky passed away

Alexander II - imperato, reformer and liberator

Emperor Alexander II, the eldest son of the imperial couple Nicholas I and Alexandra Feodorovna, remained in the history of Russia as a reformer and liberator. Several attempts were made on Alexander II's life. In 1867 in Paris, the Polish emigrant Berezovsky tried to kill him, in 1879 in St. Petersburg - a certain Solovyov. But these attempts were unsuccessful, and in August 1879 the executive committee of Narodnaya Volya decided to kill the emperor. After this, two more unsuccessful attempts occurred: in November 1879, an attempt was made to blow up the imperial train, and in February 1880, an explosion occurred in the Winter Palace. To fight the revolutionary movement and protect state order, they even created a Supreme Administrative Commission, but this could not prevent the violent death of the emperor.

On March 13, 1881, when the Tsar was driving along the embankment of the Catherine Canal in St. Petersburg, Nikolai Rysakov threw a bomb directly under the carriage in which the Tsar was riding. Several people died from the terrible explosion, but the emperor remained unharmed. Alexander II got out of the broken carriage, approached the wounded, the detainee, and began to inspect the site of the explosion. But at that moment, the terrorist terrorist Ignatius Grinevitsky threw a bomb right at the feet of the emperor, mortally wounding him

The explosion tore the emperor's stomach, tore off his legs and disfigured his face. While still conscious, Alexander was able to whisper: “To the palace, I want to die there.” He was carried into the Winter Palace and put to bed, already unconscious. On the spot where Alexander II was killed, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was built using public donations.

Nicholas II - the last Russian emperor

Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, Nicholas II, was the last Russian emperor to ascend the throne in 1894 after the death of his father, Emperor Alexander III. On March 15, 1917, at the insistence of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, the Russian emperor signed an abdication of the throne for himself and for his son Alexei and was placed under arrest with his family in the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoe Selo.

The Bolsheviks wanted to hold an open trial of the ex-emperor (Lenin was a supporter of this idea), and Trotsky was to act as the main prosecutor of Nicholas II. But information appeared that a “White Guard conspiracy” had been organized to kidnap the Tsar, and on April 6, 1918, the royal family was transported to Yekaterinburg and placed in Ipatiev’s house

The execution of the royal family (former Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his family and servants) was carried out in the basement of the Ipatiev house in Yekaterinburg on the night of July 16-17, 1918 in pursuance of the resolution of the executive committee of the Ural Regional Council of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies, headed by the Bolsheviks


Ipatiev's house. 1928 The first two windows on the left and two windows on the end are the room of the king, queen and heir. The third window at the end is the room of the grand duchesses. Below it is the basement window where the Romanovs were shot

The wife of Peter III, who became empress after dethroning her husband. Being a German princess who converted to Orthodoxy, having no relationship with the Romanov dynasty, nor any rights to the Russian throne, she nevertheless held the reins of power in her hands for more than 30 years. And this time in Russia is usually called the “golden age”.

Catherine pursued her policy in three main directions:

Expanding the territory of the state, strengthening its authority in the world;

Liberalization of methods of governing the country;

Administrative reforms involving the involvement of nobles in the management of local authorities.

During her reign, the country was divided into 50 provinces. The principle of division was a certain number of inhabitants.

The reign of this empress was the era of the heyday of the noble class. The provinces were completely under the rule of their nobles. At the same time, the nobleman was exempt from taxes and corporal punishment. Only a court of equals could deprive him of his title, property or life.

In the foreign policy arena, the main directions of Russia were:

Strengthening its influence in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Catherine carefully ensured that only Russian proteges sat on the Polish throne;

Relations with Turkey. In this direction, the struggle was for Russia's access to the Black Sea. As a result, two long military campaigns were carried out, ending in the victory of the Russian troops;

The fight against revolutionary France. Despite the fact that Catherine was a fan of the French enlighteners, she gradually became disillusioned with their ideas and methods, and perceived the revolution in this country rather hostilely. To fight France, it was decided to join forces with Prussia, England and Austria. However, death prevented Catherine from fulfilling her plans.

Such illustrious names as G. Potemkin, A. Suvorov, F. Ushakov, P. Rumyantsev are closely associated with the name of Catherine the Great and the conquests of her period.

The ruler paid great attention to the development of education, the main goal of which was not simply to increase the level of education, but to educate a new generation of people, true citizens of their state.

It was she who became the founder of female school education in Russia, establishing institutions for the “education of noble maidens.”

However, for all her desire for liberalism, Catherine zealously persecuted dissent and cruelly punished those who disagreed with her state policy. Thus, A. Radishchev was sentenced to death and then “pardoned” by exile to Siberia for his famous “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”, public activist, writer and publisher N. Novikov was persecuted, some foreign publications were banned, etc. .

In Catherine's era, culture and science actively developed. A thorough study of Russia, its history, geography, ethnography, etc. was carried out. Thanks to the high imperial support, the Academy of Sciences gave the world such people as I. Kulibin, I. Polzunov. The names of D. Fonvizin, G. Derzhavin and others became known in the literature. The empress herself made a valuable contribution to literature by writing memoirs.

Art also developed during this period: painting, sculpture, architecture.

Along with achievements in many areas of life, the reign of Catherine the Great was marked by one of the most famous and major uprisings in Russia - the Pugachev uprising. The reason for this uprising under the leadership of the Cossack E. Pugachev was the further enslavement of the peasants. By posing as Peter III, who miraculously managed to escape death, Emelyan Pugachev managed to unite workers, peasants, representatives of national minorities, and Cossacks. The uprising grew into a real bloody war. Pugachev's army, growing as it advanced, won victories one after another, taking advantage of the fact that most of the Russian troops were absent from the country (the Russian-Turkish war was going on). The months-long struggle ended with the betrayal of Pugachev by his own comrades. After he was handed over to government forces, Catherine ordered his public execution on Bolotnaya Square.

After the death of the leader, the uprising was suppressed, and all those responsible were severely punished.

In addition, civil unrest periodically broke out in many parts of the country, but they were not of such proportions.

Thus, the “golden age” was significantly overshadowed, especially in relation to the ordinary population of Russia.

Almost half of Catherine's reign was occupied by wars and riots. Bribery and theft flourished.

However, with all this, during her reign the population of Russia almost doubled, the territory of the state expanded significantly, the army strengthened and the fleet increased (instead of 21 half-rotten battleships, by the end of her reign there were 67 well-equipped ships and 40 frigates). The number of factories and factories increased to 2 thousand (instead of 500), and state income increased 4 times.