Where did Peter 3 live? Alien Tsar - Peter III

Peter III Fedorovich, Emperor of All Russia (1761 - 1762), son of Peter I's daughter Anna and Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl Friedrich.

He was born on February 10, 1728 in Holstein and was given the name Karl Peter Ulrich at birth. The death of his mother and the disorderly life of his father that followed 7 days later affected the upbringing of the prince, which was extremely stupid and absurd. In 1739 he became an orphan. Peter's tutor was a rough soldier-trained man von Brumer, who could not give anything good to his pupil. Peter was destined to be the heir to the Swedish throne, like the great-nephew of Charles XII. He was taught the Lutheran catechism, and hatred of Muscovy, the primordial enemy of Sweden, was instilled in him. But Empress Elizabeth Petrovna immediately after accession to the throne began to take care of her successor, which was necessary to strengthen the throne for herself in view of the existence of the Braunschweig family (Anna Leopoldovna and Ivan Antonovich). Peter was brought from his homeland to St. Petersburg in early January 1742. Here, in addition to the Holsteinites Brumaire and Berchholz, Academician Shtelin was assigned to him, who, despite all the efforts and efforts, could not correct the prince and put his upbringing at the proper height.

Peter III. Portrait by Pfanzelt, 1762

In November 1742, the prince converted to Orthodoxy and was named Peter Fyodorovich, and in 1744 he was snatched from the princess of Anhalt-Zerbst Sophia Augusta, later Catherine II. In the same year, during a trip with the Empress to Kiev, Peter fell ill with smallpox, which distorted his entire face with mountain ash. His marriage to Catherine took place on August 21, 1745. The life of the young couple in the mutual relations of spouses was the most unfortunate; at the court of Elizabeth, their position was rather painful. In 1754, Catherine's son Paul was born, separated from his parents and taken up by the empress. In 1756, Catherine gave birth to another daughter, Anna, who died in 1759. At this time, Peter, who did not love his wife, became close to the maid of honor Gr. Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova. At the end of her life, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna was very afraid for the future that lay ahead in the reign of her heir, but she died without making any new orders and not officially expressing her last will.

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

Peter III marked the beginning of his reign with a number of favors and preferential government orders. Minich, Biron were returned from exile, Lestok, Lilienfeldy, Natalia Lopukhina and others, a decree was given to abolish the oppressive salt tax, granted letter of liberty of the nobility, destroyed the secret office and the terrible "word and deed", returned schismatics who fled from persecution under Empresses Elizabeth and Anna Ioannovna, and now received complete freedom of faith. But the reason for taking these measures was not the real concern of Peter III for his subjects, but the desire for the first time to gain popularity. They were carried out inconsistently and did not bring popular love to the new emperor. The military and clergy became especially hostile to him. In the army, Peter III aroused displeasure with his addiction to the Holsteinites and the Prussian order, the destruction of the influential noble guard in St. Petersburg, the change of Peter's uniforms to Prussian ones, the names of the regiments after the names of their chiefs, and not, as before, according to the provinces. The clergy was dissatisfied with the attitude of Peter III towards the schismatics, the emperor's disrespect for the Orthodox clergy and the veneration of icons (there were rumors that he was going to dress all Russian priests from cassocks into civilian clothes - according to the Protestant model), and, most importantly, the decrees on the administration of bishop and monastic estates. turning the Orthodox clergy into officials on a salary.

Added to this was a general discontent. foreign policy new emperor. Peter III was an ardent admirer of Frederick II and completely submitted to the influence of the Prussian ambassador to St. Petersburg, Baron Goltz. Peter not only stopped Russian participation in the Seven Years' War, which constrained the Prussians to the extreme, but concluded a peaceful treatise with them to the detriment of all interests of Russia. The emperor gave Prussia all the Russian conquests (that is, its eastern provinces) and entered into an alliance with it, according to which the Russians and the Prussians had to provide assistance in the event of an attack on any of them in 12 thousand infantry and 4 thousand cavalry. It is said that Frederick the Great personally dictated the terms of this peaceful treatise with the consent of Peter III. By secret articles of the treaty, the Prussian king undertook to help Peter acquire the Duchy of Schleswig from Denmark in favor of Holstein, to assist Prince George of Holstein in taking the Ducal throne of Courland and to guarantee the then constitution of Poland. Frederick promised that after the death of the reigning Polish king, Prussia would facilitate the appointment of a successor, pleasing to Russia. The last point was the only one that gave some benefit not to Holstein, but to Russia itself. The Russian army, stationed in Prussia under the command of Chernyshev, was ordered to oppose the Austrians who were previously allies of Russia in the Seven Years' War.

The troops and Russian society were terribly outraged by all this. The hatred of the Russians towards the Germans and the new order increased, thanks to the cruelty and tactlessness of the uncle of the Emperor George Holstein, who arrived in Russia and was promoted to field marshal. Peter III began to prepare for a war for Holstein interests with Denmark. Denmark, in response, entered Mecklenburg and occupied the vicinity of Wismar. In June 1762, orders were given to the guards to prepare to go to war. The emperor wanted to open a campaign after his name day on the 29th, without listening this time to the advice of Frederick II: to be crowned before the start of the war.

Emperor Peter III. Portrait by Antropov, 1762

Meanwhile, the relationship of Peter III to his wife Catherine became more and more strained. The tsar was not a deeply vicious person, as his wife later wrote about him, but he barely maintained an officially correct relationship with her, interrupting them with often rude antics. There were even rumors that Catherine was threatened with arrest. On June 28, 1762, Peter III was in Oranienbaum, and the troops against him had already prepared a conspiracy, which was joined by some prominent nobles. The accidental arrest of one of its members, Passek, precipitated a coup on 28 June. On the morning of that day, Catherine went to Petersburg and declared herself empress, and her son, Paul, heir. On the evening of the 28th, at the head of the guards, she moved to Oranienbaum. Confused, Peter went to Kronstadt, occupied by the empress's supporters, and he was not allowed there. Not heeding the advice of Minich to retire to Revel, and then to Pomerania to join the troops, the emperor returned to Oranienbaum and signed the abdication of the throne.

On the same day, June 29, Peter III was brought to Peterhof, arrested and sent to Ropsha, chosen for him for residence, until a decent apartment in the Shlisselburg fortress was finished for him. Catherine left her lover Alexei Orlov, Prince Baryatinsky and three guards officers with a hundred soldiers under Peter. On July 6, 1762, the emperor died suddenly. In the manifesto published on this occasion, the cause of the death of Peter III was explicitly called “hemorrhoids and severe colic” with obvious mockery. At the burial of Peter III, held in the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, Catherine was not at the request of the Senate, prompted by the proposal of Count N. Panin, to postpone her intention to attend for the sake of health

Literature about Peter III

M. I. Semevsky, "Six months from the Russian history of the 18th century." ("Fatherland. Zap.", 1867)

V. Timiryazev, "The six-month reign of Peter III" ("Historical Bulletin, 1903, No. 3 and 4)

V. Bilbasov, "The Story of Catherine II"

"Notes of Empress Catherine"

Schebalsky, " Political system Peter III "

Brickner, "The Life of Peter III before Accession to the Throne" (Russian Bulletin, 1883).

The son of the Duke of Holstein and Anna Petrovna received his first name in honor of his grandmother's brother - Charles XII, the second - in honor of his maternal grandfather - Peter the Great. His parents died early, and the little orphan remained the ruler of a small German state in the very north of the German lands (for some time he was considered a potential heir to the Swedish throne). His upbringing was very bad. The mentor - Count Otton Brummer, a narrow-minded and rude person, instilled in Peter a love of military affairs, drill and parades, but cared little about his mental development. Peter read little and mostly adventure novels. He learned to play the violin, and carried this hobby throughout his life. Apparently, he played well, and already in Russia he performed in the court orchestras.

Russia has always been present in his fate. Already from birth, the name of the grandson of Peter I inevitably "emerged" in all the dynastic vicissitudes, for which the 18th century was so rich. They especially disliked Peter at the court of Anna Ioannovna. There he was nicknamed "the devil", either because of his quickness and restlessness, or because of the stubborn unwillingness to consider the little duke, even if potential, but the heir to the throne. So he grew up in the old German traditions of a small sovereign house. But then Anna's reign ended, the Brunswick family flashed on the throne, and Aunt Elizabeth came to power. She had no choice - Peter remained the only heir. She had high hopes for him.

Already on February 5, 1742, the young duke was brought to St. Petersburg. He was hastily started to prepare for his future role, taught the Russian language, baptized into Orthodoxy with the name Pyotr Fedorovich, and on November 7, 1742, was declared the heir to the throne. But the Russian emperor did not work out of him. He was indifferent to religion, he had not outlived his old habits, he still respected Frederick the Great and the Prussian army, spent time hunting and reveling and selflessly taught his Holstein soldiers to march in formation. Russia is not that it was alien to him, it did not enter his heart and soul. He did not understand that this empire cannot be ruled in the same way as he ruled his small duchy. From the outside, everything seemed easy, but as soon as he actually became the head of a huge power, he was at a loss. And most importantly, he could not win the love of his subjects, remaining completely alien to both the people and the army. He did not like Elizabeth too much, seeing that behind the tinsel of the court splendor there was often an insignificant content hidden. She responded in kind to her nephew.

Outwardly inconspicuous, he had a not very handsome, but not ugly face, a slender figure, narrow shoulders, and in a Prussian military uniform seemed awkward. But he was capable of tenderness, friendship, and even love. Catherine could not achieve the latter - the spouses were too different in character, lifestyle and interests. He loved the less spectacular and rude Countess Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova (the niece of Chancellor MI Vorontsov and the sister of Princess E.R. Dashkova), and loved her faithfully and faithfully. No wonder in his last notes he begged his wife not to separate him from Vorontsova and not to take away his dear violin.

But that was later. In the meantime, he stood at the tomb of his aunt and did not believe that he had finally become the All-Russian Emperor Peter III. At the funeral ceremony, he walked behind the coffin at the head of the procession, and then quickened his pace, then slowed it down. In these strange races, as in a mirror, his entire short reign was reflected.

Peter's policy was largely spontaneous. Much of what he began was continued and completed by Catherine, although, of course, she always tried to distance herself from her "half-insane" husband, whose overthrow was a boon for her subjects. Peter began to restore and strengthen the Russian fleet, then it was recreated by Catherine. Peter published a Manifesto on the freedom of the nobility, then Catherine confirmed it with her Certificate of Merit. Peter signed a decree on the secularization of church estates; Catherine, just two years later, carried it out.

Peter's main mistake was his adherence to his idol, Frederick. The emperor dressed the Russian army in Prussian uniforms, concluded a sudden peace with yesterday's enemy, abandoning all Russian conquests - and this was enough to lose everything. Deep down, Catherine despised her husband. The last straw was his rude shout at her during a gala dinner on June 9, 1762 in the presence of dignitaries, generals and diplomats: "Folle!" - "Stupid!" She could not wait for an official break. And on June 28, 1762, she interrupted his reign.

Early in the morning of that memorable day, Aleksey Orlov woke Catherine up in the Monplaisir Palace in Peterhof with the words: "It's time to get up, everything is ready to proclaim you!" She got up and went to Petersburg, where the entire capital swiftly passed the oath of allegiance to the new empress. And the emperor was sitting in Oranienbaum. He rushed to Peterhof, but Catherine was no longer there. Confused Peter rushed about, sent orders to the loyal (as it seemed to him) troops, but they were intercepted. He didn't know what to do. Field Marshal Minich, returned by him from Siberian exile, offered to appear in Petersburg and, by his appearance, like Peter the Great, pacify the rebellion. But how little the present emperor was like his mighty grandfather! He decided to sail to Kronstadt. When approaching the harbor, to the demand to let him in, I heard the answer that the emperor was no longer there, but there was an empress. Probably, he could have run abroad, but he hoped for the mercy of his wife. His idol Frederick said: "He allowed himself to be overthrown from the throne, like a child who is sent to sleep."

On June 29, from Oranienbaum, where he returned, Peter sent his own renunciation to Catherine. And he was arrested. Together with Vorontsova, they were transported to Peterhof, separated there, and the disgraced emperor was transported to Ropsha, a small estate in the same Petersburg district. Here he was put on guard. Peter asked to go to Holstein. "Your Majesty can be confident in me: I will not think or do anything against your person and against your reign." One could believe it, but not for a woman like Catherine. She thought of placing him in the Shlisselburg fortress, and transferring Ivan Antonovich, who was already there, to Kexholm. But her associates prevented the appearance of a second "iron mask" in Russia. On July 6, Aleksey Orlov wrote to his empress in braided scribbles: “Mother, merciful empress! How can I explain, describe what happened: you will not believe your faithful slave, but how I will tell the truth before God. Mother! I am ready to go to death, but I myself do not know how this misfortune happened. We are lost when you will not have mercy. Mother, He is not in the world! But no one thought of this, and how can we plan to raise our hand against the Emperor! But, Empress, trouble has happened. We were drunk and so was he. He argued at the table with Prince Fyodor (Baryatinsky), we did not have time to separate, but he was gone. We ourselves do not remember what we did, but every single one is to blame. Worthy of execution. Have mercy on me, even for my brother. I brought you a blame - and there is nothing to look for. Forgive me or order me to finish soon. The light is not sweet, they angered you and ruined souls forever. "

Exposed during three days in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, the body was not allowed to come close. Peter lay in the uniform of a Holstein dragoon. According to a contemporary, "the appearance of the body was extremely pitiful and caused fear and horror, since the face was black and swollen, but quite recognizable, and the hair was fluttering in complete disarray from the draft." They buried him next to the grave of Anna Leopoldovna. Catherine was not present at the funeral at the request of the Senate, saying she was sick.

Peter III's wife, Catherine II, is an amazing phenomenon in our history. Like Peter I, she remained in it with the epithet "Great". Only two sovereigns of the Romanov dynasty received this honor. But the most important thing is that, being a German princess by birth, she, having arrived in Russia, was able not only to take root in it, but to become the most Russian of all Russian empresses. Its time is the time of glorious victories and significant transformations, the "golden age" Russian Empire.

Sophia-Frederica-Augusta (her family's name was Fike) was born in the castle of the city of Stettin in the family of a prince (this was the title her father bore) Christian-Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst. Her mother Johanna-Elizabeth was 22 years younger than her husband. According to her father, Fike came from an old and famous dynasty. The Anhalt-Zerbst dukes belonged to the Askanian house, which has been mentioned since the middle of the 11th century. In particular, among the ancestors of Catherine along this line is the Margrave of Brandenburg Albrecht Medved, who lived in the XII century. His successors expanded their domains and founded the future capital of Germany - Berlin. Then the clan split into several branches: one owned the principality of Anhalt, the other - the duchy of Saxony. By the 18th century, only the Anhalt dynasty survived, which in turn was also divided into lines that owned different cities of this land: Zerbst, Dessau, Köthen, etc.

Despite the fact that the family was ancient and noble, the Anhalt-Zerbst princes lived modestly. Fike's father served in the Prussian army, where he had the rank of general, and later rose to the rank of field marshal. Fike's mother came from the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty, which had been known in Russia since the time of Peter the Great. On this Holstein-Gottorp line, Fike was brought to her future husband as a second cousin, and the uncle of the princess Frederick in 1751 became king of Sweden. In addition, Fike was the fourth cousin of Charlotte-Sophia of Braunschweig, mother of Peter II.

Empress Elizaveta Petrovna chose a young princess as a bride for her nephew, guided primarily by the following considerations: “There would be a Protestant religion (this, unlike Catholicism, was believed to facilitate the transition to Orthodoxy) and although she was from a noble, but so small family, so that neither the connections, nor the princess's retinue aroused special attention or envy of the local people. "

Fike received a very good education. She knew German perfectly and French languages, could communicate in Italian and understand English. I read a lot since childhood. She did not show talent for music due to a lack of ear for music; much later, Catherine admitted that music for her is nothing more than noise. But on the other hand, from childhood, those remarkable qualities were laid in her that later helped her to become a great empress.

On January 1, 1744, Johann-Elizabeth received an invitation to come to Russia with her daughter. Their entry into the territory of the great empire took place on January 26 in Riga. The honorary escort sent by Elizabeth was commanded by the later literary famous Baron K.-F.-I. von Munchausen. On February 3, the guests arrived in St. Petersburg, but the empress was in Moscow, so they also had to go to the old capital. At first glance, Fike charmed Elizabeth.

The princess set herself three tasks: to please the Grand Duke Peter, the Empress and the Russian people. She performed the latter brilliantly. She persistently studied Russian, and, although she spoke with a barely perceptible accent until the end of her life, he became native to her. On June 28, 1744, she converted to Orthodoxy with the name Ekaterina Alekseevna in the Moscow Dormition Cathedral, and the next day she was betrothed to Peter. Catherine loved Russian customs and traditions, sincerely professed the Orthodox faith, and often went out “to the people”. She stubbornly wanted to turn into a Russian the grand duchess and she succeeded. In our history, there are few such patriots as Catherine. She did not spare strength for her new homeland, and did not even remember about her German relatives, calling Peter the Great her “grandfather”.

The real grandson of the great emperor was not interesting to her - their tastes, preferences and principles were too different. For a long time, the marriage remained formal, and only in 1754 did Catherine give birth to her son Paul. He was immediately excommunicated from his parents. Having lost her child, and then her husband completely estranged from her, Catherine was left to herself. She did a lot of self-education. “I had good teachers: a misfortune with solitude, ”she said. I read entire libraries, and especially fell in love with the French encyclopedists. Already when she reigned, she corresponded with Voltaire and Diderot, who considered her their student and lavished countless praise on her. Voltaire called Catherine “the most brilliant star of the North”. But that was later, but for now she was only joining the sparkling heights of European thought.

However, one should not think that the joys of life passed her by. Catherine loved hunting, horse riding, festivities, dancing and masquerades. The first suitors also appeared, but oh personal life Catherine a little later.

Life at court taught the Grand Duchess a lot: patience, secrecy, the ability to control oneself and suppress feelings. All this greatly helped her on the imperial throne. This modest and sweet girl had highly developed selfishness and ambition. In a letter to the English envoy Charles Williams dated August 12, 1756, she formulated her motto of those years: "I will reign or die."

Elizabeth died in December 1761. Catherine did not leave the coffin of the Empress and burst into tears. It is difficult to say how sincere her sadness was, but her behavior in the eyes of her subjects in better side differed from Peter's behavior. The careless policy of the new autocrat ultimately led to his collapse, and, relying on the guards, Catherine almost instantly removed her husband from the throne. The Orlov brothers played an important role in this coup, and above all Gregory, the favorite of the new empress.

Not everything was going smoothly with the political status of the new empress - Catherine could not be considered a legitimate sovereign. Elizabeth, Peter's own daughter, removed the German ruler from the throne, who had occupied it contrary to the rules established since ancient times; now a pure-blooded German woman overthrew an unloved, but still legitimate emperor. Not all the rank and file guards knew that on June 28 they were being led to depose Peter III: they were sure that he had died, and they only had to swear allegiance to the new empress. When the deception was revealed, open demonstrations began in the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, which had to be suppressed with the most severe measures. The death of Peter III also caused various rumors. Increasingly, they began to talk about Ivan Antonovich, who had been imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress for 20 years. Only a narrow circle of people knew that he had lost his mind.

On September 22, 1762, Catherine II was married to the throne in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Her 34-year reign began.

Its official position was strengthened, but it was still far from real recognition. A few days later, it became known about a conspiracy to elevate Ivan Antonovich to the throne. Although everything was limited only to conversations, Catherine saw a danger in this. The culmination of the conspiracy was the insane attempt by second lieutenant Vasily Mirovich to free Ivan Antonovich. On July 4, 1764, while on guard, he raised a mutiny, arrested the commandant, but he could not do anything else - the officers who were under Ivan Antonovich were ordered to kill the prisoner if they tried to free him, and they followed the order.

But conspiracies were a lesser evil compared to the claims of those to whom Catherine owed the throne. These people - first of all the Orlovs - considered the Empress something like a good investment and now wanted to enjoy all possible benefits. They wanted ranks, money and power. At first it was difficult to refuse them. However, Catherine quickly surrounded herself with clever advisers such as Count Nikita Panin and former Chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin. At first, its program was simple - to restore the best of the lost in the past reigns and to revive the national dignity of Russia. The first government measures were aimed at this.

She raised the art of communication to an unattainable height. She knew how to please, win over people and win them over to her side. She was always polite, attentive to others and encouraged others to do this: “Study people, try to use them, not trusting them indiscriminately; look for true dignity, even if it is at the end of the world: for the most part it is modest and hides somewhere in the distance. Valor does not show itself out of the crowd, does not strive forward, is not greedy and does not repeat about itself. "

The Empress surrounded herself with truly wonderful companions. She knew how not only to find a worthy person, but also to put him in the place where he could best show his abilities and bring more benefit. Ekaterina perfectly understood that there are people who are smarter and more talented than her, more competent in certain areas, and she was happy with such people, she welcomed them. “Oh, how badly they make mistakes, pretending that someone’s dignity frightens me. On the contrary, I wish there were only heroes around me. And I did my best to instill heroism in everyone in whom I noticed the slightest ability for it. " And she did it splendidly. She knew how to praise and note merits, often exaggerating them. “He who does not respect merits does not have them himself; whoever does not try to find merit and does not discover it is not worthy to reign either. " With her graces she encouraged me to new exploits. Here is a typical example. When Suvorov, in the course of suppressing the movement of Kosciuszko, took Prague, he sent a report to the Empress, which consisted of three words: “Hurray! Prague. Suvorov ". She replied: “Bravo! Field Marshal. Catherine ", thereby announcing the conferment of a high military rank.

The Empress was unforgiving and condescending to manifestations of weakness. “Live and let others live,” she once said to her secretary G. R. Derzhavin. Once she was asked: "Are Your Majesty satisfied with all these people?" She replied: "Not really, but I praise loudly and scold slowly." That is why we will not find almost a single negative response from contemporaries about her. She removed people who did not cope with their duties, but she did it tactfully and gently. Under Catherine, there were no those loud overthrows when the one who fell out of favor lost everything, trampled into the mud, such as Menshikov, Biron or Osterman. “I adhere to the rule that the evil should do as little evil as possible; Why follow the example of the wicked? Why become cruel towards them? It means violating obligations to oneself and to society. " Of course, the above does not mean that she calmly endured betrayal, deception or criminal inaction, but in general she preferred, where possible, to do without excessive harshness.

She knew how to listen to the opinion of the interlocutor, and the conversation with her was interesting and meaningful. Grimm noted: "She always correctly grasped the thoughts of her interlocutor, therefore, she never found fault with an inaccurate or bold expression and, of course, never was offended by such." Catherine was smart, but about her own intellectual abilities she said with a smile: "I never thought that I had a mind capable of creating, and I often met people in whom I found much more intelligence without envy than in myself."

She loved to take risks. In 1768, she was the first in Russia to agree to the smallpox inoculation for herself and her son Pavel, who were given the English doctor T. Dimsdale. All that she achieved, she achieved by incessant daily work. Her day began at 6 o'clock in the morning and was painted with German pedantry. Like Peter the Great, she sacredly believed in the law: "Only the power of the law has unlimited power, and a person who wants to reign arbitrarily becomes a slave." She saw her main task in achieving the "common good" - the good for all subjects. She understood her role as serving the state, Russia. “I wish and want only the good of the country to which the Lord brought me. Her glory makes me glorious. " "The Russian people are special in the whole world, God gave them different properties from others." And here contradictions appeared.

Catherine considered herself a "republican" and an opponent of serfdom - in words, in reality it was the other way around. Yes, she lived with the ideas of the Enlightenment, but she always remained a realist and pragmatist, she was well aware of the complexity of governing such a huge country, of the entire inveterate tradition of social relations.

Thanks to her natural insight and intuition, Catherine realized all the conventionality of loud words about freedom, equality and brotherhood. What these ideas led to in practice, she saw twice. The first time she was horrified by the "Russian revolt" - the uprising of Pugachev: wild elements, robberies and robberies, bloody murders - and all this for the sake of a Cossack who imagined himself emperor, who ruined half the country with his freeman. The other people, for whose welfare the freedom-loving encyclopedists were so concerned, did no better. He turned the flourishing kingdom into a heap of smoking ruins, and filled the streets of cities with stinking corpses. The execution after the farcical trial of the legitimate monarch of France shook all European courts. She also shocked Catherine, who for several days did not get out of bed at all. True, the empress, true to the ideals of her youth, nevertheless separated Voltaire and other enlighteners from the Girondins and Jacobins. In December 1793, she wrote to Grimm: “The French philosophers, who are considered to be the preparation of the revolution, were mistaken in one thing: in their sermons they turned to people, assuming a good heart and the same will, and instead of that their teachings were used by prosecutors, lawyers and various scoundrels, so that under the cover of this doctrine (however, they also rejected it) to commit the most horrible crimes, which are only capable of disgusting villains. They enslaved the Parisian mob by their atrocities: never before had it experienced such a cruel and so senseless tyranny as now, and this is what it dares to call freedom. Hunger and plague will come to her senses, and when the king's murderers destroy each other, then only one can hope for a change for the better. "

It now faced the task of preventing a revolution in Russia. And for this it was necessary to cut off the air to all the distributors of freedom-loving ideas. N. I. Novikov and A. N. Radishchev were arrested, the tragedy of Y.B. Knyazhnin, "Vadim Novgorodsky", already deceased by that time, was banned, the rout of the Masonic lodges began, to which the empress had always treated with great prejudice. "If the monarch is evil, then it is a necessary evil, without which there is neither order, nor tranquility," says Ekaterina Dashkova. And the Empress was deeply convinced that in Russia no other form of government, except for the monarchy, was possible (since she would never be able to take root here).

Potemkin had a great influence on Russian policy and did a lot for the good of his homeland. There is speculation that he officially married the Empress (although, of course, the marriage remained secret). This happened probably on June 8, 1774. In 1775 Potemkin received the title of Count of the Russian Empire, in 1776 - Prince of the Holy Roman Empire with the title of Lordship, in 1784 - the rank of Field Marshal General, and in 1787 - the honorary surname Tauride. From the connection between Catherine and Potemkin in July 1775, a daughter was born - Elizaveta Grigorievna Tyomkina (died in 1854).

In addition to Pavel and Temkina, Catherine also had a daughter, Anna (it is believed that this is a child from Stanislav Ponyatovsky). In addition, on April 11, 1762, a son was born from G.G. Orlov. During childbirth, which took place in the Winter Palace, the wardrobe master (later valet) of Catherine V.G. Shkurin set fire to his St. Petersburg house, Peter III went to extinguish the fire, and the empress was able to give birth in peace. Soon, after the child, wrapped in a beaver coat, was carried out of the palace (the same Shkurin sheltered him in his family), the emperor, who was informed that something was happening in his wife's quarters, came to her bedroom. But Catherine found the strength to meet Peter already dressed. The son was named Alexei Grigorievich Bobrinsky (he died in 1813, and received his surname from the name of the Bobriki estate in the Tula province). Paul I recognized him as his brother and granted the title of count. It was from Alexei Grigorievich that the famous family of counts Bobrinsky went.

And finally, according to some reports, Ekaterina gave birth to another daughter from Orlov - Natalia Aleksandrovna Alekseev (years of life 1758 or 1759 - July 1808), who was married to Count Fyodor Fedorovich Buxgewden, who commanded the Russian army during the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809.

"Romantic emperor" - this is the definition given by Pushkin to Paul I. This is, perhaps, the most mysterious person among the Romanovs. There were many rumors surrounding Paul's birth. It was said that his real father was the favorite of Catherine S.V. Saltykov, or even that Pavel is a rootless Chukhon boy, substituted in infancy. But all these speculations are not confirmed by anything. From the age of 6, the former envoy to Sweden, Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin, was engaged in the upbringing of Pavel. The Tsarevich received a good education: he knew German and French, was well versed in history, geography, mathematics. He was distinguished by his piety. At the same time, Panin tried to instill in his pupil the idea of ​​limiting autocracy and in many ways turned him against his mother.

Catherine understood that it was Paul who, in theory, was supposed to take the throne after the death of his father, that the Tsarevich was a more legitimate heir than herself. She also knew that some nobles, for example the same Panin, were thinking about the removal of Catherine and the ascent of Paul. Perhaps all this influenced the attitude of the empress to her son.

There has always been alienation between son and mother. At court, Pavel felt in the background, Catherine did not allow him to go to state affairs, and therefore the Tsarevich could only patiently wait in the wings. He waited - literally thirty years and three years. These years developed secrecy and suspicion in his character.

When Paul had a son, Alexander, and then a second son, Constantine, Catherine decided to correct her mistakes in relation to Paul and raise her grandchildren in her own spirit, so that they would become the successors of her deeds. According to some testimonies, she even intended to transfer the throne bypassing Paul to her grandson Alexander, but these plans did not come true.

On the morning of November 5, 1796, when Catherine the Great went to her dressing room after morning coffee, she suffered a stroke. The next day, at quarter past ten in the evening, the Empress passed away. Catherine's sudden death made Paul the Russian autocrat.

The series "Catherine" was released on the screens, in connection with this there is a surge of interest in the controversial figures of the history of Russia of Emperor Peter III and his wife, who became Empress Catherine II. Therefore, I present a selection of facts about the life and reign of these monarchs of the Russian Empire.

Peter and Catherine: a joint portrait by G.K. Groot

Peter III (Peter Fedorovich, nee Karl Peter Ulrich Holstein-Gottorp) was a very extraordinary emperor. He did not know Russian, loved to play soldiers and wanted to baptize Russia according to the Protestant rite. His mysterious death led to the emergence of a whole galaxy of impostors.

From birth, Peter could lay claim to two imperial titles: Swedish and Russian. On his father's side, he was the great-nephew of King Charles XII, who himself was too busy with military campaigns to marry. Peter's grandfather on his mother's side was Charles' main enemy, the Russian emperor Peter I.

The orphaned boy spent his childhood with his uncle, Bishop Adolf Eitinsky, where he was raised to hate Russia. He did not know the Russian language, he was baptized according to the Protestant custom. True, he also did not know other languages ​​besides his native German, he spoke only a little French.

Peter was supposed to take the Swedish throne, but the childless Empress Elizabeth remembered the son of her beloved sister Anna and declared him heir. The boy is brought to Russia to meet the imperial throne and death.

In fact, the sickly young man was not particularly needed by anyone: neither the aunt-empress, nor the educators, nor, later, his wife. Everyone was only interested in his origin, even the cherished words were added to the official title of the heir: "The grandson of Peter I".

And the heir himself was interested in toys, especially the soldiers. Can we blame him for being childish? When Peter was brought to St. Petersburg, he was only 13 years old! Dolls attracted the heir more than state affairs or a young bride.

True, his priorities do not change with age. He continued to play, but secretly. Ekaterina writes: “during the day, his toys were hidden in my bed and under it. The Grand Duke went to bed first after dinner, and as soon as we were in bed, Kruse (the maid) locked the door with a key, and then Grand Duke played until one or two in the morning. "

Over time, toys get bigger and more dangerous. Peter is allowed to dismiss a regiment of soldiers from Holstein, whom the future emperor enthusiastically chases around the parade ground. Meanwhile, his wife is learning Russian and studying French philosophers ...

In 1745, in St. Petersburg, the wedding of the heir to Peter Fedorovich and Ekaterina Alekseevna, the future Catherine II, was magnificently celebrated. There was no love between the young spouses - they differed too much in character and interests. The more intellectual and educated Catherine makes fun of her husband's memoirs: “he doesn't read books either, and if he does, then either a prayer book or descriptions of torture and executions”.

Letter from the Grand Duke to his wife. on the obverse bottom left: le .. fevr./ 1746
Madam, this night I ask you not to inconvenience yourself - to sleep with me, since the time to deceive me has passed. The bed has become too narrow after two weeks of living apart. This afternoon. Your most unfortunate husband, whom you will never deign to call that, Peter.
February 1746, ink on paper

Peter's marital duty was also not going smoothly, as evidenced by his letters, where he asks his wife not to share the bed with him, which has become "too narrow." This is the origin of the legend that the future emperor Paul was born not at all from Peter III, but from one of the favorites of the loving Catherine.

However, despite the coldness in the relationship, Peter always trusted his wife. In difficult situations, he turned to her for help, and her tenacious mind found a way out of any troubles. Therefore, Catherine received from her husband the ironic nickname "Lady Help".

But it was not only children's games that distracted Peter from the matrimonial bed. In 1750, two girls were presented to the court: Elizaveta and Ekaterina Vorontsov. Ekaterina Vorontsova will be a faithful companion of her royal namesake, while Elizabeth will take the place of Peter III's beloved.

The future emperor could take any court beauty as his favorite, but his choice fell, nevertheless, on this "fat and awkward" maid of honor. Love is evil? However, is it worth trusting the description left in the memoirs by the forgotten and abandoned wife?

Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, sharp-tongued, found this love triangle very amusing. She even nicknamed the good-natured, but narrow-minded Vorontsova "Russian de Pompadour".

It was love that became one of the reasons for the fall of Peter. At court they began to say that Peter was going, following the example of his ancestors, to send his wife to a monastery and to marry Vorontsova. He allowed himself to insult and bully Catherine, who seemingly endured all his whims, but in fact nurtured plans for revenge and was looking for powerful allies.

During Seven Years War, in which Russia took the side of Austria. Peter III openly sympathized with Prussia and personally with Frederick II, which did not add to the popularity of the young heir.

A.P. Antropov Peter III Fedorovich (Karl Peter Ulrich)

But he went even further: the heir gave his idol secret documents, information about the number and location of Russian troops! Upon learning of this, Elizabeth was furious, but she forgave a lot to the close nephew for the sake of his mother, her beloved sister.

Why is the heir to the Russian throne helping Prussia so openly? Like Catherine, Peter is looking for allies, and hopes to find one of them in the person of Frederick II. Chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin writes: “The Grand Duke was convinced that Frederick II loved him and spoke with great respect; therefore, he thinks that as soon as he ascends the throne, the Prussian king will seek his friendship and will help him in everything. "

After the death of Empress Elizabeth, Peter III was proclaimed emperor, but was not officially crowned. He showed himself to be an energetic ruler, and in the six months of his reign he managed, contrary to popular belief, to do a lot. Assessments of his reign are very different: Catherine and her supporters describe Peter as a feeble-minded, ignorant soldier and Russophobe. Modern historians create a more objective image.

First of all, Peter made peace with Prussia on conditions that were unfavorable for Russia. This caused discontent in army circles. But then his "Manifesto on the Liberty of the Nobility" gave the aristocracy enormous privileges. At the same time, he issued laws prohibiting the torture and murder of serfs, and stopped the persecution of the Old Believers.

Peter III tried to please everyone, but in the end all attempts turned against him. The reason for the conspiracy against Peter was his ridiculous fantasies about the baptism of Russia according to the Protestant model. The guard, the main support and support of the Russian emperors, sided with Catherine. In his palace in Orienbaum, Peter signed the abdication.

Tombs of Peter III and Catherine II in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
The head slabs of the buried have the same date of burial (December 18, 1796), which gives the impression that Peter III and Catherine II lived together for many years and died on the same day.

Peter's death is one big mystery. It was not in vain that Emperor Paul compared himself to Hamlet: during the entire reign of Catherine II, the shadow of her deceased husband could not find peace. But was the Empress guilty of her husband's death?

According to the official version, Peter III died of illness. He was not in good health, and the excitement of a coup and abdication could kill a stronger person. But the sudden and so quick death of Peter - a week after the overthrow - caused a lot of talk. For example, there is a legend according to which the favorite of Catherine, Alexei Orlov, was the murderer of the emperor.

Peter's illegal overthrow and suspicious death spawned a galaxy of impostors. In our country alone, more than forty people tried to impersonate the emperor. The most famous of them turned out to be Emelyan Pugachev. Abroad, one of the false Petrov even became the king of Montenegro. The last impostor was arrested in 1797, 35 years after the death of Peter, and only after that the emperor's shadow finally found peace.

Under the reign Catherine II Alekseevna the Great(nee Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst) from 1762 to 1796, the empire's possessions expanded significantly. Of the 50 provinces, 11 were acquired during the years of her reign. The amount of state revenues increased from 16 to 68 million rubles. 144 new cities were built (more than 4 cities per year throughout the reign). The army almost doubled, the number of ships in the Russian fleet increased from 20 to 67 battleships, not counting other ships. The army and navy won 78 brilliant victories that strengthened Russia's international authority.

Anna Rosina de Gask (née Lisevski) Princess Sophia Augusta Friderica, in the future Catherine II 1742

Access to the Black and Azov Seas was conquered, Crimea, Ukraine (except for the Lvov region), Belarus, Eastern Poland, Kabarda were annexed. Georgia began joining Russia. At the same time, during her reign, only one execution was carried out - the leader of the peasant uprising, Yemelyan Pugachev.

Catherine II on the balcony of the Winter Palace, greeted by the guards and the people on the day of the coup on June 28, 1762

The Empress's daily routine was far from the common people’s idea of ​​royal life. Her day was scheduled by the hour, and its routine remained unchanged throughout her reign. Only the time of sleep changed: if in adulthood Catherine got up at 5, then closer to old age - at 6, and by the end of her life at all at 7 in the morning. After breakfast, the empress received high-ranking officials and secretaries of state. The days and hours of reception for each official were constant. The working day ended at four o'clock, and it was time for rest. Hours of work and rest, breakfast, lunch and dinner were also constant. At 10 or 11 o'clock in the evening, Catherine finished the day and went to bed.

Every day 90 rubles were spent on food for the Empress (for comparison: the salary of a soldier during the reign of Catherine was only 7 rubles a year). His favorite dish was boiled beef with pickles, and currant juice was used as a drink. For dessert, preference was given to apples and cherries.

After dinner, the Empress got down to handicrafts, while Ivan Ivanovich Betskoy read aloud to her at that time. Ekaterina “skillfully sewed on the canvas”, knitted on the needles. After finishing reading, she went to the Hermitage, where she sharpened from bone, wood, amber, engraved, played billiards.

Artist Ilyas Fayzullin. Visit of Catherine II to Kazan

Catherine was indifferent to fashion. She did not notice her, and sometimes quite deliberately ignored her. V weekdays the empress wore a simple dress and did not wear jewelry.

By her own admission, she did not have a creative mind, but she wrote plays, and even sent some of them for "review" to Voltaire.

Catherine came up with a special suit for the six-month-old Tsarevich Alexander, the pattern of which the Prussian prince and the Swedish king asked her to design for their own children. And for her beloved subjects, the Empress came up with a cut of the Russian dress, which they had to wear at her court.

Portrait of Alexander Pavlovich, Jean Louis Veil

People who knew Catherine closely note her attractive appearance not only in her youth, but also in her mature years, her exceptionally friendly appearance, ease of handling. Baroness Elizabeth Dimsdale, who was first introduced to her with her husband in Tsarskoe Selo at the end of August 1781, described Catherine as "a very attractive woman with lovely expressive eyes and an intelligent look."

Catherine knew that men liked her and she herself was not indifferent to their beauty and masculinity. “I received from nature a great sensitivity and appearance, if not beautiful, then at least attractive. I liked me the first time and did not use any art or embellishment for this. "

The Empress was quick-tempered, but knew how to control herself, and never made decisions in a fit of anger. She was very polite even with the servants, no one heard a harsh word from her, she did not order, but asked to do her will. Its rule, according to the testimony of Count Segur, was "to praise aloud, and scold slowly."

There were rules on the walls of the ballrooms under Catherine II: it was forbidden to stand in front of the empress, even if she approached the guest and spoke to him while standing. It was forbidden to be in a gloomy mood, to offend each other. " And on the shield at the entrance to the Hermitage was the inscription: "The mistress of this place does not tolerate coercion."

Catherine II and Potemkin

Thomas Dimsdale, an English physician, was called from London to introduce smallpox vaccinations in Russia. Aware of society's resistance to innovation, Empress Catherine II decided to set a personal example and became one of Dimsdale's first patients. In 1768, an Englishman instilled smallpox in her and the Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. The convalescence of the empress and her son became a significant event in the life of the Russian court.

The Empress was an avid smoker. Cunning Catherine, not wanting her snow-white gloves to be saturated with a yellow nicotine coating, ordered to wrap the end of each cigar with a ribbon of expensive silk.

The Empress read and wrote in German, French and Russian, but made many mistakes. Ekaterina was aware of this and once confessed to one of her secretaries that “she could learn Russian only from books without a teacher,” since “aunt Elizaveta Petrovna told my hofmeysteyrsha: to teach her completely, she is already smart”. As a result, she made four mistakes in the three-letter word: instead of “more”, she wrote “ischo”.

Johann Baptist the Elder Lampi, 1793. Portrait of Empress Catherine II, 1793

Long before her death, Catherine composed an epitaph for her future tombstone:

“Catherine the Second is buried here. She arrived in Russia in 1744 to marry Peter III.

At fourteen, she made a threefold decision: to please her husband, Elizabeth and the people.

She did not miss anything in order to achieve success in this regard.

Eighteen years of boredom and loneliness prompted her to read many books.

Having ascended the Russian throne, she made every effort to give her subjects happiness, freedom and material well-being.

She easily forgave and did not hate anyone. She was indulgent, loved life, was distinguished by a cheerful disposition, was a true republican in her convictions and had a kind heart.

She had friends. The work was easy for her. She liked secular entertainment and arts. "

There have been incomprehensible characters in Russian history. One of these was Peter III, who, by the will of fate, was destined to become the Russian emperor.

Peter-Ulrich, was the son of Anna Petrovna, the eldest daughter, and the Duke of Holstein Cala - Friedrich. The heir to the Russian throne was born on February 21, 1728.

Anna Petrovna died three months after the birth of the boy, from consumption. At the age of 11, Peter-Ulrich will also lose his father.

Peter-Ulrich's uncle was the Swedish king Karl XII. Peter had the rights to both the Russian and the Swedish throne. From the age of 11, the future emperor lived in Sweden, where he was brought up in the spirit of Swedish patriotism and hatred of Russia.

Ulrich grew up as a nervous and sickly boy. This was largely due to the manner of his upbringing.

His teachers often took humiliating and harsh punishments in relation to the ward.

The character of Peter-Ulrich was simple-minded, the boy was not particularly angry.

In 1741 the aunt of Peter Ulrich became the Empress of Russia. One of her first steps at the head of state was the proclamation of an heir. The empress named Peter Ulrich as the successor.

Why? I wanted to establish the paternal line on the throne. And her relationship with her sister, Peter's mother, Anna Petrovna, was very, very warm.

After the proclamation of the heir, Peter-Ulrich came to Russia, where he converted to Orthodoxy and at baptism received a new name, Peter Fedorovich.

When Empress Elizabeth Petrovna first saw Peter, she was unpleasantly surprised. The heir had a mediocre mind, had low level education and unhealthy look.

An educator Jacob Shtelin was immediately assigned to Peter Fedorovich, who tried to instill in his pupil a love for Russia and teach the Russian language. In 1745, Peter III married Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst. At baptism, the lady received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna, and again, by the will of fate, after a while she took the Russian throne and entered history under the name.

The relationship between Peter Fedorovich and Ekaterina Alekseevna immediately went wrong. Catherine did not like the infantilism and limitations of her husband. Peter, on the other hand, was not going to grow up, and continued to devote himself to children's amusements, played with soldiers, and with great enthusiasm. On December 25, 1761, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna died and Pyotr Fedorovich ascended the Russian throne, although it is worth noting that he did not have time to be crowned.

First of all, ascending to the Russian throne, he did an unprecedented thing. Let me remind you that Russia participated in, on the battlefields of which, the military genius was tempered. The Seven Years' War developed so successfully that it was possible to put an end to the existence of the German state, well, or at least oblige Prussia to pay a huge indemnity and knock out profitable trade agreements from it.

Peter III was a longtime and great admirer of Frederick II, and instead of benefiting from a successful war, the emperor concluded a free peace with Prussia. This could not please the Russian people, who, with their courage and blood, achieved success on the battlefields of that war. This step cannot be characterized otherwise than by betrayal or tyranny.

In the domestic political arena, Peter III was active. Per a short time he issued a huge number of legal acts, apart from which there is a manifesto on the liberty of the nobility - the liquidation of the Secret Chancellery, which was engaged in political crimes and the fight against dissent. Under Peter, the persecution of the Old Believers was stopped. In the army, he imposed the Prussian order, in a short time he turned against himself a significant part of Russian society.

Pyotr Fedorovich did not act within the framework of a certain political program. According to historians, most of his actions were chaotic. Public discontent intensified, which ultimately turned into a coup d'état in 1762, after which Ekaterina Alekseevna, the wife of Peter III, who Russian history will remember as Catherine II, ascended the throne.

Peter died in a suburb of St. Petersburg under mysterious circumstances. Some believe that he was crippled by a transient illness, the second, that the conspirators - the supporters of Catherine II - helped him die. The short reign of Peter III, which lasted about six months, from December 1761 to July 1762, can be characterized in one word - a misunderstanding.

In 1762, another palace coup took place in Russia, for which the 18th century was so rich. For 37 years after the death of Peter the Great before the accession of Catherine II, the throne was occupied by six monarchs. All of them came to power after palace intrigues or coups, and two of them - Ivan Antonovich (Ivan VI) and Peter III were overthrown and killed ..

Few of the Russian autocrats have deserved so many negative and ridiculous assessments in historiography - from “tyrant” and “lackey Frederick II” to “hater of everything Russian” - like Peter III. Domestic historians in their writings have not honored him with a single praise. The authoritative professor Vasily Klyuchevsky wrote: "His development stopped before he grew, in the years of courage he remained the same as he was in childhood, grew up without maturing."

In the courses of Russian history, a paradoxical thing developed, the reforms of Peter III - the Manifesto on the Liberty of the Nobility and the liquidation of the sinister Secret Chancellery, which was engaged in political investigation - everyone called progressive and timely, and their author was feeble-minded and narrow-minded. In the popular memory, he remained a victim of his royal wife, Catherine the Great, and the most formidable rebel who made fear of the Romanovs' house Emelyan Pugachev was named after him.

Relative of the three monarchs

Before the adoption of Orthodoxy in Russia, the name of Peter III sounded like Karl Peter Ulrich. By the will of fate, he was the heir of three royal houses at once: Swedish, Russian and Holstein. His mother, the eldest daughter of Peter I, the crown princess Anna Petrovna, died three months after the birth of her son, and the boy was brought up until the age of 11 by his father, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl-Friedrich.

The father raised his son in a military manner, in a Prussian way, and the young man retained his love for military engineering for the rest of his life. At first, the boy was being prepared for the Swedish throne, but in 1741, Elizaveta Petrovna, who had no children of her own, came to power in Russia, and she chose her nephew as the future heir to the Russian throne.

After moving to Russia and taking Orthodox faith he was named Peter Fedorovich, and to emphasize the continuity of power on the throne, the words "Grandson of Peter the Great" were included in his official title.

Pyotr Fedorovich when he was the Grand Duke. Portrait by G. H. Groot Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Heir to Elizabeth Petrovna

In 1742, during the days of the solemn coronation, Elizaveta Petrovna announced him as her heir. Soon there was also a bride - the daughter of an impoverished German prince - Sophia-Frideric-August of Anhalt-Zerbst. The marriage took place on August 21, 1745. The groom was 17 years old, and the bride - 16. The young were granted possession of palaces in Oranienbaum near St. Petersburg and Lyubertsy near Moscow. But their family life did not work out from the very first days. Soon, both had hobbies on the side. And even the fact that at first both were in Russia in the same position, in a foreign land, forced to change their language (Catherine and Peter could not get rid of a strong German accent) and religion, get used to the orders of the Russian court - all this did not bring them closer.

The wife of Pyotr Fedorovich, who received the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna at baptism, was more willing to learn Russian, did a lot of self-education, and, most valuable, she perceived her move to Russia as an incredible fortune, a unique chance, which she did not intend to miss. Natural cunning, ingenuity, subtle intuition and purposefulness helped her to find allies, to attract the sympathy of people much more often than her husband could.

Short reign

Peter and Catherine: a joint portrait by G.K. Groot Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

In 1762, Elizabeth dies and Peter III Fedorovich ascended the throne. Peter Fedorovich waited for his reign for almost 20 years, and lasted only 186 days.

Immediately after his ascension, he developed a vigorous legislative activity. During his short reign, almost 200 pieces of legislation were passed!

He pardoned many criminals and political exiles (among them Minich and Biron), abolished the Secret Chancellery, which had operated since the time of Peter I and was engaged in secret search and torture, announced forgiveness to repentant peasants who had previously shown disobedience to their landowners, and prohibited the persecution of schismatics. Under him, the State Bank was created, which encouraged commercial and industrial activities. And in March 1762, he issued a decree, which, in theory, was supposed to attract the nobility in Russia to his side - he abolished compulsory military service for the nobles.

In the reforms, he tried to imitate his great grandfather, Peter Alekseevich. Today historians note that in many ways, the reforms of Peter III became the foundation for the future transformations of Catherine II. But it was the wife who became the first source for the unflattering characterization of the personality of the Russian emperor Peter III. In her notes, and in the memoirs of her closest friend Princess Yekaterina Dashkova, Pyotr Fedorovich first appears as a stupid and eccentric Prusak who hated Russia.

Conspiracy

Despite active lawmaking, much more than laws, the emperor was interested in war. And here for him the ideal was the Prussian army.

After accession, Peter introduced the Prussian uniform into the Russian army, the strictest discipline and daily training in the Prussian style. In addition, in April 1762, he signed the unprofitable Petersburg Peace Treaty with Prussia, according to which Russia withdrew from the Seven Years War and voluntarily gave Prussia the territory occupied by Russian troops, including East Prussia. But the Russian guard was outraged not only by the unusual Prussian order, but also by the disrespectful attitude towards the officers of the emperor himself, who did not hide his intention to disband the guards regiments, considering them to be the main culprits of all conspiracies. And in this Emperor Peter was right.

Portrait of Peter III by the artist A.P. Antropov, 1762 Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Most likely, the conspiracy against Pyotr Fedorovich began to take shape long before the death of Elizabeth Petrovna. Hostile relations between spouses were no longer a secret for anyone. Peter III openly stated that he was going to divorce his wife in order to marry his favorite Elizaveta Vorontsova.

On the eve of Peter's Day on June 28, Peter III went to Peterhof to participate in large festivities, Ekaterina Alekseevna, the main organizer of this celebration, did not meet him at the residence. The Emperor was informed of her escape in the early morning to Petersburg with a guard officer Alexei Orlov. It became clear that events had taken a critical turn, and suspicions of treason were confirmed.

In St. Petersburg, Catherine was sworn in by the main government institutions - the Senate and the Synod. The guard also supported Catherine. On the same day, Peter III, who did not dare to take any retaliatory actions, signed the abdication of the Russian throne. He was arrested and sent to Ropsha, where he died a few days later. The circumstances of his death are still unclear to this day.

According to the official version, the cause of death was an attack of "hemorrhoidal colic". This version was questioned even during the life of Catherine, suggesting that the emperor was simply strangled. Some scientists believe that death was the result of a massive heart attack. There is no doubt only that the living Emperor Peter III was not needed either by the guards or by Ekaterina Alekseevna, his wife. According to Catherine's contemporaries, the news of her husband's death shocked her. Despite her steely nature, she remained an ordinary person and feared retribution. But the people, the guards and posterity forgave her this crime. In history, she remained, first of all, as an outstanding statesman, unlike her unhappy husband. After all, history is known to be written by the winners.