The reign of Peter 3, if my memory serves me, was the shortest in the history of Russia. Even the impostors in the Time of Troubles ruled even more! The years of his reign: from December 1761 to June 1762. Nevertheless, under him many innovations were adopted, which went both in line with the policy of his predecessors and not. In this article, we will briefly analyze his reign and characterize the emperor himself.

Peter the Third

About personality

The real name of Peter III Fedorovich is Karl Peter Ulrich. He, like his wife, Sophia Augusta Frederic Anhalt Zerbskaya, is a native of an impoverished North German family. Some people subscribe to newspapers or magazines, but Elizaveta Petrovna subscribed to herself an heir - himself! At that time, Northern Germany "supplied" noble princes to all of Europe!

Karl was crazy about Prussia (Germany), from its emperor Frederick. While he was the heirs - all the game of war games, like his grandfather - Peter the Great. Yes Yes! Moreover, Karl Peter was also a relative of Charles XII, the Swedish emperor, with whom Peter the Great fought in the years. How did it happen? The fact is that Karl's mother was the daughter of Peter Anna Petrovna, who was married off to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. And the husband of Anna Petrovna, Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp, was the nephew of Charles XII. In such an amazing way, two opponents found their continuation in him!

Meanwhile, you can call him a fool. Well, judge for yourself: he forced his wife, Sophia Augusta (the future Catherine the Great), to carry a gun at the ready so that she would guard the castle in his amusing games! Moreover, he told her about all his love affairs - his wife! It is clear that she did not take him seriously, and, in general, predetermined his fate, probably even during the life of Elizabeth Petrovna.

Karl Peter Ulrich (future Peter the Third) with his wife Sophia Augusta Frederika Anhalt of Zerbskaya (future Catherine the Great)

It is precisely because of his eccentricity and tomfoolery that many researchers believe that he was not the initiator of all those decrees, perhaps, except for the first, that followed in his reign.

Board milestones

A summary of the reign of Peter III is reduced to the following points.

In the field of foreign policy, you should know that Russia under Elizaveta Petrovna was at war with Prussia (Seven Years' War). And since the new emperor was a fan of this country, he himself issued a decree on the immediate cessation of the military conflict. He returned all the lands richly watered with the blood of Russian soldiers to the German emperor and made an alliance with him against the rest of the world.

It is clear that such news was extremely negatively received by the guard, which, as we remember, became a political force in.

In the field of domestic policy, you need to know the following points:

• Peter III issued a manifesto on the freedom of the nobility. According to one historical myth, this document appeared in the following piquant way. The fact is that the tsar announced to his mistress E.R. Vorontsova, which is locked with D.V. Volkov and will be immersed in state affairs. In fact, Volkov personally wrote the manifesto while the emperor was having fun with his second mistress!
• Under this emperor, the secularization of church lands was prepared. This step was a natural phenomenon of the rise and victory of secular power over church power. By the way, the confrontation between these authorities is an excellent cross-cutting topic, which is analyzed in. By the way, secularization was carried out this way only during the reign of Catherine the Great.
• It was Peter the Third who stopped the persecution of the Old Believers, which had begun since. In general, the emperor's plans were to equalize all confessions. Of course, no one would let him realize this truly revolutionary step.
• It was this emperor who liquidated the Secret Chancellery, which was created during the reign of Anna Ioannovna.

Deposition of Peter

The coup of 1762 can be briefly described as follows. In general, a conspiracy to remove Peter the Third to his wife had been ripe for a long time, since 1758. The founder of the conspiracy was Alexei Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin, chancellor of the empire. However, he fell into disgrace, and Ekaterina Alekseevna herself did not want to go to the monastery, so she did nothing.

However, as soon as Peter reigned, the conspiracy began to mature with renewed vigor. Its organizers were the Orlov brothers, Panin, Razumovsky and others.

The reason was that on June 9 the tsar publicly called his wife a fool, and told everyone that he would divorce her and marry his mistress Vorontsova. The conspirators simply could not allow such an intention to materialize. As a result, on June 28, when the emperor left for Peterhof on the occasion of his namesake, Ekaterina Alekseevna left with Alexei Orlov for Petersburg. There, the Senate, the Synod, the Guards and other state bodies swore allegiance to her.

But Peter the Third was out of work, and was soon arrested and strangled. Of course, everyone was told that the king de died of apoplexy. But we know the truth =)

That's all. Share this article with your friends on social networks! Write what you think about this emperor in the comments!

Sincerely, Andrey Puchkov

The reign of Peter III (briefly)

The reign of Peter 3 (short story)

There are many sharp turns in the biography of Peter III. He was born on February 10, 1728, but very soon lost his mother, and eleven years later, his father. From the age of eleven, the young man was prepared to rule Sweden, but everything changed when the new ruler of Russia, Empress Elizabeth, announced him in 1742 as her successor. Contemporaries note that Peter III himself was not very educated for a ruler and knew only a little of the Latin, French and Lutheran catechism.

At the same time, Elizabeth insisted on the re-education of Peter and he persistently studied the Russian language and the foundations of the Orthodox faith. In 1745, he was married to Catherine II, the future Empress of Russia, who bore him a son, Paul the First, the future heir. Immediately after the death of Elizabeth, Peter was declared the Russian emperor without coronation. However, he was destined to rule only one hundred and eighty-six days. During his reign, Peter the Third openly expressed sympathy for Prussia in the era of the Seven Years' War and for this reason was not very popular in Russian society.

With his most important manifesto of February 18, 1762, the monarch abolishes the obligatory service of the nobility, dissolves the Secret Chancellery, and also issues permission for the schismatics to return to their homeland. But even such innovative bold orders could not bring Peter popularity in society. During the short period of his reign, serfdom was significantly strengthened. In addition, according to his decree, the clergy were to shave their beards, leaving only the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God in the churches, and also to dress from now on like Lutheran pastors. Also, Tsar Peter the Third tried to remake the charter and life of the Russian army in the Prussian manner.

Admiring Frederick the Second, who at that time was the ruler of Prussia, Peter the Third leads Russia out of the Seven Years' War on unfavorable terms, returning to Prussia all the lands conquered by the Russians. This caused a general outrage. Historians believe that it was after this important decision that most of the tsar's entourage became participants in a conspiracy against him. In the role of the initiator of this conspiracy, which was supported by the guards, was the wife of Peter the Third herself - Ekaterina Alekseevna. It is from these events that the palace coup of 1762 begins, which ends with the overthrow of the tsar and the accession of Catherine II.

Peter III Fedorovich Romanov

Peter III (Pyotr Fyodorovich Romanov , birth nameCarl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp; February 21, 1728, Kiel - July 17, 1762, Ropsha- Russian emperor in 1761-1762, the first representative of the Holstein-Gottorp (or rather: Oldenburg dynasty, Holstein-Gottorp branches, officially bearing the name "Imperial House of the Romanovs")on the Russian throne, husband of Catherine II, father of Paul I

Peter III (in the uniform of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, 1762)

Peter III

The short reign of Peter III lasted less than a year, but during this time the emperor managed to set against himself almost all the influential forces in Russian noble society: the court, the guards, the army and the clergy.

He was born on February 10 (21), 1728 in Kiel in the Duchy of Holstein (northern Germany). The German prince Karl Peter Ulrich, who received the name Peter Fedorovich after the adoption of Orthodoxy, was the son of Duke Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp and the eldest daughter of Peter I Anna Petrovna.

Karl Friedrich Holstein-Gottorp

Anna Petrovna

Having ascended the throne, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna summoned the son of her beloved sister to Russia and appointed her heir in 1742. Karl Peter Ulrich was brought to St. Petersburg in early February 1742 and on November 15 (26) was declared her heir. Then he converted to Orthodoxy and received the name of Peter Fedorovich

Elizaveta Petrovna

As a teacher, Academician J. Shtelin was assigned to him, who could not achieve any significant success in the education of the prince; he was fascinated only by military affairs and playing the violin.

Pyotr Fedorovich when he was the Grand Duke. Job portrait G. H. Groot

In May 1745 the prince was proclaimed the ruling duke of Holstein. In August 1745 he married Princess Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst, the future Catherine II.

Pyotr Fedorovich (Grand Duke) and Ekaterina Alekseevna (Grand Duchess

Tsarevich Pyotr Fedorovich and Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna. 1740s Hood. G.-K. Groot.

The marriage was unsuccessful, only in 1754 their son Pavel was born, and in 1756 their daughter Anna, who died in 1759. He had a connection with the maid of honor E.R. Vorontsova, niece of Chancellor M.I. Vorontsov. Being an admirer of Frederick the Great, he publicly expressed his pro-Prussian sympathies during the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763. Peter's open hostility to everything Russian and his apparent inability to deal with state affairs caused Elizabeth Petrovna to worry. In court circles, projects were put forward to transfer the crown to the young Paul during the regency of Catherine or Catherine herself.

Portrait of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich as a child ( Rokotov F. S., )

Peter and Catherine were granted the possession of Oranienbaum near Petersburg

However, the empress did not dare to change the order of succession to the throne. The former duke, who was trained from birth to take the Swedish throne, since he was also the grandson of Charles XII, studied the Swedish language, Swedish law and Swedish history, was accustomed from childhood to treat Russia with prejudice. A zealous Lutheran, he could not reconcile himself to being forced to change his faith, and at every opportunity tried to emphasize his contempt for Orthodoxy, the customs and traditions of the country that he was to rule. Peter was neither evil nor treacherous; on the contrary, he often showed gentleness and mercy. However, his extreme nervous imbalance made the future sovereign dangerous, as a person who concentrated absolute power over a vast empire in his hands.

Peter III Fedorovich Romanov

Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova, favorite of Peter III

Having become the new emperor after the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, Peter quickly angered the courtiers against himself, attracting foreigners, the guards to government positions, canceling the Elizabethan liberties, the army, concluding a peace unfavorable for Russia with defeated Prussia, and, finally, the clergy, ordering all the icons to be taken out of the churches , except for the most important ones, to shave their beards, take off their vestments and change into frock coats in the likeness of Lutheran pastors.

Empress Catherine the Great with her husband Peter III of Russia and their son, the future Emperor Paul I

On the other hand, the emperor softened the persecution of the Old Believers, signed in 1762 a decree on the freedom of the nobility, abolishing the compulsory service for representatives of the noble class. It seemed that he could count on the support of the nobles. However, his reign ended tragically.

Peter III is depicted on horseback among a group of soldiers.The emperor wears the orders of St. Andrew the First-Called and St. Anne.Snuffbox decorated with miniatures

Many were not happy that the emperor entered into an alliance with Prussia: shortly before, under the late Elizabeth Petrovna, Russian troops won a number of victories in the war with the Prussians, and the Russian Empire could count on considerable political benefits from the successes achieved on the battlefields. The alliance with Prussia crossed out all such hopes and violated good relations with Russia's former allies - Austria and France. Even greater dissatisfaction was caused by the involvement of numerous foreigners in the Russian service by Peter III. At the Russian court there were no influential forces whose support would ensure the stability of the reign of the new emperor.

Portrait of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich

Unknown Russian artist PORTRAIT OF EMPEROR PETER III Last third of the 18th century.

Taking advantage of this, a strong court party, hostile to Prussia and Peter III, in alliance with a group of guards, carried out a coup.

Pyotr Fedorovich was always afraid of Catherine. When, after the death of Empress Elizabeth, he became the Russian Tsar Peter III, almost nothing connected the crowned spouses, but they shared a lot. Rumors reached Catherine that Peter wanted to get rid of her by imprisoning her in a monastery or depriving her of her life, and declare their son Paul illegitimate. Catherine knew how harshly the Russian autocrats treated hateful wives. But for many years she had been preparing to ascend the throne and was not going to give it up to a man whom everyone did not like and "slandered out loud without trembling."

Georg Christoph Groot.Portrait of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich (later Emperor Peter III

Six months after Peter III ascended the throne on January 5, 1762, a group of conspirators led by Catherine's lover Count G.G. Orlov took advantage of Peter's absence at court and issued a manifesto on behalf of the imperial guard regiments, according to which Peter was deprived of his throne, and Catherine was proclaimed empress. She was crowned bishop of Novgorod, while Peter was imprisoned in a country house in Ropsha, where he was killed in July 1762, apparently with the knowledge of Catherine. According to a contemporary of those events, Peter III "allowed himself to be overthrown from the throne, like a child who is sent to sleep." His death soon finally freed Catherine the way to power.

in the Winter Palace, the coffin was placed next to the coffin of Empress Catherine II (the hall was designed by the architect Rinaldi)

After official ceremonies, the ashes of Peter III and Catherine II were transferred from the Winter Palace to the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress

This allegorical engraving by Nicholas Anselin is dedicated to the exhumation of Peter III

Tombs of Peter III and Catherine II in the Peter and Paul Cathedral

Hat of Emperor Peter III. 1760s

Ruble of Peter III 1762 St. Petersburg silver

Portrait of Emperor Peter III (1728-1762) and a view of the monument to Empress Catherine II in St. Petersburg

Unknown North Russian carver. Plaquette with a portrait of Grand Duke Pyotr Fedorovich. St. Petersburg (?), Ser. 19th century. Mammoth tusk, relief carving, engraving, drilling

Series of messages " ":
Part 1 - Peter III Fedorovich Romanov

(Start)

Pyotr Fedorovich and Ekaterina Alekseevna. In 1742, Elizabeth declared her nephew, the natural grandson of Peter the Great (and the grandson of the sister of Charles XII of Sweden), the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein Karl-Peter-Ulrich, to be his heir. For the Russian people, he was the same German prince as those from whom Russian society was freed in 1741 and who were so disgusted with him. This choice of hers, or, rather, the necessity of this choice, Elizabeth soon began to consider a serious misfortune. The fourteen-year-old orphaned duke was transported from Holstein to Russia, found a second mother in Elizabeth, converted to Orthodoxy and, instead of a German upbringing, began to receive Russian. In 1745 they hurried to marry him. The issue of the bride was discussed at court for a very long time, because marriage was given political significance and they were afraid to make a mistake. Finally, Elizabeth settled on the person pointed out, in contrast to Bestuzhev, by the French-Prussian party, which Friedrich of Prussia also pointed out - Princess Sophia-August-Frederike of Anhalt-Zerbst. Her father was only a general in the Prussian service, commandant of Stetin; mother, in caring for a rather poor household, managed to lose her sense of tact and good character, acquiring a tendency to acquisitions and gossip. The bride and her mother came to Russia, converted to Orthodoxy and was named Ekaterina Alekseevna; On August 25, 1745, the wedding of 17-year-old Peter and 16-year-old Catherine took place. But everyone noticed that the groom was cold to the bride and directly quarreled with the future mother-in-law. However, Catherine's mother showed her quarrelsome character in relation to everyone and therefore was sent from Russia in the same 1745. The young couple remained, as it were, alone in the large Elizabethan palace, being cut off from the German environment, from the atmosphere of their childhood. Both husband and wife had to determine their own personality and their relationships at court.

Grand Duke Pyotr Fedorovich (future Peter III) and Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna (future Catherine II)

Pyotr Fedorovich was a weakly gifted man both physically and mentally, he lost his mother and father early and remained in the hands of Marshal Brummer, who was more a soldier than an educated person, more a groom than a teacher. Peter's childhood passed in such a way that nothing good could remember him. His upbringing was neglected, as was his education. Brummer established such an order of life for his pupil, which could not but upset his health, which was already weak: for example, during long studies, the boy did not have exercise and did not eat until two in the afternoon. And at lunchtime, the sovereign duke often only looked from the corner as his servants ate dinner, which he himself was denied by teachers. Poorly feeding the boy, he was not allowed to develop, which is why he became lethargic and weak. Moral education was neglected: kneeling on peas, decorating with donkey ears, hitting with a whip and even beating with anything were the usual means of pedagogical persuasion. A series of moral humiliations in front of the courtiers, Brummer's rude shouts and his impudent antics, of course, could not develop in the prince either sound moral concepts or a sense of human dignity. Mental education was also bad. Peter studied many languages, many subjects, but they taught him through force, not in accordance with his weak abilities, and he learned little and received an aversion to teaching. Latin, which at that time was obligatory for every educated person, got tired of him to the point that he forbade placing Latin books in his library in St. Petersburg. When he came to Russia and Elizabeth met him, she was surprised at the paucity of his knowledge. They began to teach him again, already in the Orthodox Russian way. But science was hindered by Peter's illness (in 1743-1745 he was seriously ill three times), and then his marriage. Having learned the Orthodox catechism hastily, Peter remained with the views of a German Protestant. Getting acquainted with Russia from the lessons of Academician Shtelin, Peter was not interested in her, he missed his lessons and remained a very ignorant and undeveloped person with German views and habits. He did not like Russia and thought superstitiously that he would be unhappy in Russia. He was only interested in "entertainment": he loved to dance, play pranks like a child and play soldiers. He was interested in military affairs in the highest degree, but he did not study it, but amused himself with it and, like a German, was in awe of King Frederick, whom he wanted to imitate always and in everything and never knew how to do anything.

Marriage did not bring him to reason and could not bring him to reason because he did not feel his oddities and had a very good opinion of himself. He looked down on his wife, who was immeasurably taller than him. Since they stopped teaching him, he considered himself an adult and, of course, did not want to learn from his wife either her tact, or her restraint, or, finally, her efficiency. He didn’t want to know about business, on the contrary, he expanded the repertoire of fun and strange antics: either for whole hours he slapped the rooms with a coachman’s whip, then he unsuccessfully practiced the violin, then he gathered palace lackeys and played soldiers with them, then he reviewed toy soldiers, arranged toy fortresses, bred guards and did toy military exercises; and once, in the eighth year of his marriage, he judged according to military laws and hanged a rat that ate his starched soldier. All this was done with serious interest, and it was clear from everything that these games of toy soldiers interested him extremely. He woke his wife at night so that she ate oysters with him or stood on the clock at his office. To her, he described in detail the beauty of the woman who had fascinated him and demanded attention to such an insulting conversation for her. Being tactless towards Catherine and insulting her, he had no tact in relation to strangers and allowed himself various vulgarities: for example, in church during the service, behind his aunt, he mimicked the priests, and when the maid of honor looked at him, he showed them his tongue , but in such a way that the aunt would not see it: he was still very afraid of his aunt. Sitting at the table, he mocked the servants, poured water on her dresses, pushed dishes on the neighbors and tried to get drunk as soon as possible. So behaved the heir to the throne, an adult and the father of the family (in 1754 his son Pavel was born). "Peter showed all the signs of a stopped spiritual development," says S. M. Solovyov, "he was an adult child." Empress Elizabeth understood Peter's qualities and often wept, worrying about the future, but she did not dare to change the order of succession to the throne, because Peter III was a direct descendant of Peter the Great.

However, they did not lose hope to win over and accustom Peter to business. Shtelin continued to acquaint him with state affairs theoretically, and in 1756 Peter was appointed a member of the Conference, established, as we have seen, for especially important matters. At the same time, as Duke of Holstein, Peter every week "on Monday and Friday, with his Holstein ministers, the council held and managed the affairs of his duchy." All these concerns had some result. Peter became interested in affairs, but not in Russia, but in Holstein. It is unlikely that he knew them well, but he learned Holstein's views, wanting to win the Holstein lands from Denmark and was very busy with the Holstein soldiers and officers, whom he was allowed to bring to Russia from 1755. He lived with them in the summer in the camps at Oranienbaum, adopted their soldierly manners and foppishness, learned from them to smoke, drink like a soldier, and dream of Holstein conquests.

Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. Portrait by V. Eriksen

Over time, Peter's attitude to Russia and Russian affairs was also determined. He told his wife that "he was not born for Russia, that he was unsuitable for the Russians and the Russians were unsuitable for him, and he was convinced that he would perish in Russia." When the Swedish throne was vacated and Peter could not take it, although he had the right, he spoke out loud with malice: “They dragged me into this accursed Russia, where I must consider myself a state prisoner, would sit on the throne of a civilized people." When Peter was present at the Conference, he submitted his opinions and in them revealed a complete ignorance of the political situation in Russia; he talked about Russian interests from the point of view of his love for the Prussian king. Thus, ignorance of Russia, contempt for her, the desire to leave her, Holstein sympathies and the absence of a mature personality distinguished the future Russian emperor. Chancellor Bestuzhev seriously thought about either completely removing Peter from power, or in some other way protecting the interests of Russia from his influence.

A completely different kind of person was Peter's wife, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna. Growing up in a modest family of an insignificant prince, a strict Protestant father, Catherine received some education, enhanced by her own powers of observation and receptivity. As a child, she traveled a lot in Germany, saw and heard a lot. Even then, with her liveliness and abilities, she attracted the attention of observant persons: in Braunschweig, one canon who was engaged in predictions remarked to her mother: "I see at least three crowns on your daughter's forehead." When Catherine and her mother were summoned to Russia, the purpose of the trip was no secret to her, and the lively girl managed to take her first steps at the Russian court with great tact. Her father wrote to her guide a series of rules of prudent restraint and modesty. Catherine added her own tact and remarkable practical instinct to these rules and charmed Elizabeth, won the sympathy of the court, and then the people. No older than 15 years old, she behaved better and smarter than her supervisor mother. When the mother quarreled and gossiped, the daughter tried to acquire a common disposition. She diligently took up the Russian language and Orthodox dogma. Brilliant abilities allowed her to make great progress in a short time, and at the baptismal ceremony she recited the creed so firmly that she surprised everyone. But the news survived that the change of religion for Catherine was not as easy and joyful as she showed the empress and the court. In pious embarrassment before this step, Catherine wept a lot and, they say, sought consolation from the Lutheran pastor. However, the lessons of the Orthodox teacher of the law did not stop there. "Ambition takes its toll," one diplomat remarked on this occasion. And Catherine herself admitted that she was ambitious.

Catherine II after her arrival in Russia. Portrait by L. Caravaca, 1745

Not loving either her husband or Elizabeth, Catherine nevertheless behaved very well towards them. She tried to correct and cover up all the antics of her husband and did not complain about him to anyone. She treated Elizabeth with respect and, as it were, sought her approval. In the court environment, she sought popularity, finding an affectionate word for everyone, trying to adapt to the mores of the court, trying to seem like a purely Russian pious woman. At a time when her husband remained a Holsteiner and despised the Russians, Catherine wished to stop being a German and, after the death of her parents, renounced all rights to her Anhalt-Zerbst. Her mind and practical prudence forced others to see in her great strength, to foresee great court influence behind her. And indeed, over the years, Catherine occupied a prominent position at court; she was well known even among the masses of the people. For everyone, she became more visible and prettier than her husband.

But Catherine's personal life was unenviable. Placed far from work and left for whole days by her husband, Catherine did not know what to do, because she had no company at all: she could not get close to the ladies of the court, because "she dared to see only maids in front of her," in her own words; she could not get close to the circle of court men because it was inconvenient. It remained to read, and Catherine's "reading" continued for the first eight years of her married life. At first she read novels: a casual conversation with the Swedish Count Gyllenborg, whom she knew back in Germany, directed her attention to serious books. She re-read many historical works, travels, classics, and, finally, remarkable writers of French philosophy and journalistic literature of the 18th century. During these years, she received that mass of information that surprised her contemporaries, that philosophical liberal way of thinking that she brought with her to the throne. She considered herself a student of Voltaire, worshiped Montesquieu, studied the Encyclopedia and, thanks to the constant tension of thought, became an exceptional person in the Russian society of her time. The degree of its theoretical development and education reminds us of the strength of the practical development of Peter the Great. And they were both self-taught.

In the second half of Elizabeth's reign, Grand Duchess Catherine was already a well-established and very prominent person at court. A lot of attention has been paid to her by diplomats, because, as they find, "no one has so much firmness and determination" - qualities that give her many opportunities in the future. Catherine is more independent, clearly at odds with her husband, incurring the displeasure of Elizabeth. But the most prominent "seizure" people of Elizabeth, Bestuzhev, Shuvalov, Razumovsky, now do not ignore the Grand Duchess, but, on the contrary, try to establish good, but cautious relations with her. Catherine herself enters into relations with diplomats and Russian statesmen, monitors the course of affairs and even wants to influence them. The reason for this was the morbidity of Elizabeth: one could expect an imminent change on the throne. Everyone understood that Peter could not be a normal ruler and that his wife should play a big role with him. Elizabeth also understood this: fearing from Catherine any step in her favor against Peter, she began to treat her badly and even directly hostile; over time, Peter himself treats his wife in the same way. Surrounded by suspicion and enmity and driven by ambition, Catherine understood the danger of her position and the possibility of tremendous political success. Others also told her about this possibility: one of the envoys (Prussian) vouched for her that she would be empress; The Shuvalovs and Razumovskys considered Catherine a contender for the throne; Bestuzhev, together with her, made plans to change the succession to the throne. Catherine herself had to prepare to act both for her personal protection and to achieve power after the death of Elizabeth. She knew that her husband was attached to another woman (Eliz. Rom. Vorontsova) and wanted to replace her with her wife, in whom she saw a person dangerous to herself. And so, so that the death of Elizabeth does not take her by surprise, does not give her defenseless into the hands of Peter, Catherine seeks to make political friends for herself, to form her own party. She secretly interferes in political and court affairs, and is in correspondence with many prominent persons. The case of Bestuzhev and Apraksin (1757-1758) showed Elizabeth how great the importance of Grand Duchess Catherine was at court. Bestuzhev was accused of excessive respect for Catherine. Apraksin was constantly influenced by her letters. The fall of Bestuzhev was due to his closeness to Catherine, and Catherine herself suffered at that moment the disgrace of the empress. She was afraid that she would be expelled from Russia, and with remarkable dexterity she achieved reconciliation with Elizabeth. She began to ask Elizabeth for an audience in order to clarify her case. And Catherine was given this audience at night. During Catherine's conversation with Elizabeth, Catherine's husband Peter and Ivan Iv were secretly behind the screens in the same room. Shuvalov, and Ekaterina guessed it. The conversation was crucial to her. Under Elizabeth, Catherine began to assert that she was not to blame for anything, and in order to prove that she did not want anything, she asked the empress to let her go to Germany. She asked for it, being sure that they would do just the opposite. The result of the audience was that Catherine remained in Russia, although she was surrounded by surveillance. Now she had to play the game without allies and assistants, but she continued to play it with even more energy. If Elizabeth had not died so unexpectedly soon, then, probably, Peter III would not have had to take the throne, because the conspiracy already existed and a very strong party was already behind Catherine. Catherine could not reconcile with her husband, she could not bear him; he saw in her an evil, too independent and hostile woman. “We need to crush the snake,” said the Holsteiners surrounding Peter, conveying with this expression his thoughts about his wife. During Catherine's illness, he even directly dreamed of her death.

So, in the last years of Elizabeth, the complete incapacity of her heir and the great importance and intelligence of his wife were revealed. The question of the fate of the throne greatly occupied Elizabeth; According to Catherine, the empress "looked with trepidation at the hour of death and at what could happen after it." But she did not dare to dismiss her nephew directly. The court environment also understood that Peter could not be the ruler of the state. Many thought about how to eliminate Peter, and came up with various combinations. It was possible to eliminate it by transferring the rights to the minor Pavel Petrovich, and his mother Ekaterina would have received a big role. It would be possible to put Catherine directly in power. Without it, the issue could not be resolved in any case (then no one thought about the former emperor John). Therefore, Catherine, in addition to her personal qualities and aspirations, gained great importance and was the center of political combinations and the banner of the movement against Peter. We can say that even before the death of Elizabeth, Catherine became a rival to her husband, and a dispute began between them about the Russian crown.

In the 18th century in the Russian Empire, the stability of the transfer of power from monarch to monarch was seriously disrupted. This period went down in history as the “epoch of palace coups”, when the fate of the Russian throne was decided not so much by the will of the monarch as by the support of influential dignitaries and guards.

In 1741, as a result of another coup, the empress became daughter of Peter the Great Elizaveta Petrovna. Despite the fact that at the time of her accession to the throne, Elizabeth was only 32 years old, the question arose of who would become the heir to the imperial crown.

Elizabeth had no legitimate children, and therefore, the heir had to be sought among other members of the Romanov family.

According to the "Decree on the Succession to the Throne", issued by Peter I in 1722, the emperor received the right to choose his successor himself. However, it was not enough just to name the name - it was necessary to create a solid ground for the heir to be recognized by both the highest dignitaries and the country as a whole.

Bad experience Boris Godunov and Vasily Shuisky He spoke about the fact that a monarch who does not have a solid support can lead the country to confusion and chaos. Similarly, the absence of an heir to the throne can lead to confusion and chaos.

To Russia, Carl!

Elizaveta Petrovna, in order to strengthen the stability of the state, decided to act quickly. She was chosen as her heir sister's son, Anna Petrovna, Karl Peter Ulrich.

Anna Petrovna was married to Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl Friedrich and in February 1728 bore him a son. Karl Peter lost his mother just a few days after his birth - Anna Petrovna, who had not departed after a difficult birth, caught a cold during fireworks in honor of the birth of her son and died.

Who came as a great-nephew Swedish king Charles XII Karl Peter was originally seen as the heir to the Swedish throne. At the same time, no one was seriously involved in his upbringing. From the age of 7, the boy was taught marching, handling weapons and other military wisdom and traditions of the Prussian army. It was then that Karl Peter became a fan of Prussia, which subsequently had a detrimental effect on his future.

At the age of 11 Karl Peter lost his father. The boy's upbringing was taken up by his cousin, future king of Sweden Adolf Frederik. The caregivers assigned to educate the boy focused on cruel and humiliating punishments, which made Karl Peter nervous and fearful.

Pyotr Fedorovich when he was the Grand Duke. Portrait by G. H. Groot

The envoy of Elizabeth Petrovna, who arrived for Karl Peter, took him to Russia under a false name, secretly. Knowing the difficulties with the succession to the throne in St. Petersburg, the opponents of Russia could well prevent this in order to subsequently use Karl Peter in their intrigues.

Bride for a troubled teenager

Elizaveta Petrovna met her nephew with joy, but was struck by his thinness and sickly appearance. When it turned out that his training was purely formal, it was just right to grab his head.

The first months of Karl Peter were literally fattened and put in order. They began to train him almost anew, from the very beginning. In November 1742 he was baptized into Orthodoxy under the name Petr Fedorovich.

The nephew turned out to be completely different from what Elizaveta Petrovna expected to see him. However, she continued the line of strengthening the dynasty, deciding to marry the heir as soon as possible.

Considering the candidates for brides for Peter, Elizaveta Petrovna opted for Sophia Augusta Frederick, daughter of Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, a representative of an ancient princely family.

father fike, as the girl was called at home, there was nothing but a high-profile title. Like her future husband, Fike grew up in Spartan conditions, even though both her parents were in perfect health. Home schooling was caused by a lack of funds, noble entertainment for the little princess replaced street games with boys, after which Fike went to darn her own stockings.

The news that the Russian Empress chose Sophia Augusta Frederica as a bride for the heir to the Russian throne shocked Fike's parents. The girl herself very quickly realized that she had a great chance to change her life.

In February 1744 Sophia Augusta Frederica and her mother arrived in St. Petersburg. Elizaveta Petrovna found the bride quite worthy.

Ignorant and smart

On June 28, 1744, Sophia Augusta Frederica converted from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy and received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna. On August 21, 1745, 17-year-old Pyotr Fedorovich and 16-year-old Ekaterina Alekseevna were married. The wedding celebrations were held on a grand scale and lasted 10 days.

It seemed that Elizabeth achieved what she wanted. However, the result was rather unexpected.

Despite the fact that the phrase “grandson of Peter the Great” was included in the official name of Pyotr Fedorovich, it was not possible to instill in the heir a love for the empire created by his grandfather.

All efforts by educators to fill the gaps in education have failed. The heir preferred to spend time in entertainment, playing soldiers, rather than in training sessions. He never learned to speak Russian well. His hobby Prussian King Friedrich, which already did not add sympathy to him, became completely obscene with the beginning of the Seven Years' War, in which Prussia acted as an opponent of Russia.

Sometimes, annoyed, Peter threw phrases like: “They dragged me into this damned Russia.” And it also did not add to his supporters.

Catherine was the complete opposite of her husband. She studied Russian with such zeal that she almost died from pneumonia, earned while studying with the window wide open.

Having converted to Orthodoxy, she zealously observed church traditions, and the people soon started talking about the piety of the heir's wife.

Ekaterina was actively engaged in self-education, read books on history, philosophy, jurisprudence, essays Voltaire, Montesquieu, Tacitus, Bayle, a large number of other literature. The ranks of admirers of her mind grew as rapidly as the ranks of admirers of her beauty.

Fallback Empress Elizabeth

Elizabeth, of course, approved of such zeal, but did not consider Catherine as the future ruler of Russia. She was taken so that she would give birth to heirs for the Russian throne, and there were serious problems with this.

The marital relationship between Peter and Catherine did not go well at all. The difference in interests, the difference in temperaments, the difference in outlook on life alienated them from each other from the first day of marriage. It did not help that Elizabeth introduced to them as educators a married couple who had lived together for many years. In this case, the example was not contagious.

Elizaveta Petrovna hatched a new idea - if you failed to re-educate your nephew, then you need to properly educate your grandson, to whom power will then be transferred. But with the birth of a grandson, problems also arose.

Grand Duke Pyotr Fedorovich and Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna with a page. Source: Public Domain

Only on September 20, 1754, after nine years of marriage, Catherine gave birth to a son Paul. The Empress immediately took the newborn away, limiting the communication of parents with the child.

If Peter was not excited at all, then Catherine tried to see her son more often, which greatly annoyed the empress.

The plot that failed

After the birth of Paul, the cooling between Peter and Catherine only intensified. Pyotr Fedorovich made mistresses, Ekaterina - lovers, and both sides were aware of each other's adventures.

Pyotr Fedorovich, for all his shortcomings, was a rather simple-hearted man, unable to hide his thoughts and intentions. The fact that with accession to the throne he would get rid of his unloved wife, Peter began to talk a few years before the death of Elizabeth Petrovna. Catherine knew that in this case a prison awaits her, or a monastery that is no different from her. Therefore, she secretly begins to negotiate with those who, like herself, would not like to see Peter Fedorovich on the throne.

In 1757, during a serious illness of Elizabeth Petrovna Chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin prepared a coup with the aim of removing the heir immediately after the death of the empress, in which Catherine was also involved. However, Elizabeth recovered, the plot was revealed, and Bestuzhev-Ryumin fell into disgrace. Catherine herself was not touched, since Bestuzhev managed to destroy the letters compromising her.

In December 1761, a new aggravation of the disease led to the death of the Empress. Paul failed to implement plans to transfer power, since the boy was only 7 years old, and Pyotr Fedorovich became the new head of the Russian Empire under the name of Peter III.

Fatal world with an idol

The new emperor decided to start large-scale state reforms, many of which historians consider very progressive. The Secret Chancellery, which was an organ of political investigation, was liquidated, a decree on freedom of foreign trade was adopted, and the killing of peasants by landowners was prohibited. Peter III issued the "Manifesto on the Liberty of the Nobility", which abolished the compulsory military service for the nobles introduced by Peter I.

His intention to carry out the secularization of church lands and equalize the rights of representatives of all religious denominations alerted Russian society. Opponents of Peter spread a rumor that the emperor was preparing to introduce Lutheranism in the country, which did not add to his popularity.

But the biggest mistake of Peter III was the conclusion of peace with his idol, King Frederick of Prussia. During the Seven Years' War, the Russian army utterly defeated the vaunted army of Frederick, forcing the latter to think about renunciation.

And at this very moment, when the final victory of Russia was already actually won, Peter not only makes peace, but without any conditions returns to Frederick all the territories he has lost. The Russian army, and especially the guard, was offended by this step of the emperor. In addition, his intention, together with Prussia, to start a war against yesterday's ally, Denmark, did not find understanding in Russia.

Portrait of Peter III by artist A.P. Antropov, 1762.