By Tatyana Shvetsova In the words of Russian historian Sergey Platonov, “the first 17 years after the death of Peter the Great were most unfortunate for the Russian throne. Five monarchs passed in succession, with Russia having to survive several Palace revolutions. The people who seized power were alien to the country, and in their egoistic tendencies far unworthy of wielding such authority. On the one hand, the reasons for such a turbulent epoch of palace revolutions lay in the actual state royal power was in, and on the other – in the peculiarities of the milieu that governed the affairs of state.” Characterizing this particular period of Russian history, Russian writer-historian Yevgeny Anisimov noted: “When it comes to the historical period between the reign of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great … there seems to be a great yawning gap in the conscience of people, but superficially familiar with Russian history of the 18th century. This is understandable: the time of Peter the Great is like a dazzling outburst, that obliterates all else from sight. Grand-scale reforms that infiltrated practically all spheres of Russian activity… A totally different philosophy of life, where everything was brand new and unfamiliar – from the impressive military naval fleet and the city of St.Petersburg on the banks of the Neva river – to new clothes and many other things – all this impressed on Peter’s contemporaries the outstanding importance of the period they were living in, and the astounding changes wrought in their country in just a matter of two and a half decades. The methods, which Peter resorted to in introducing these alterations, lent a particular poignancy to the entire process. After this vivid outburst of reformist activity, the brief reigning of a kaleidoscope of rulers and favorites leave an impression of totally meaningless and negligible activity.” In 1722 Peter the Great issued a decree that the Russian Ruler was from then on endowed with the right to choose whoever he pleased to become his rightful heir. This decree reversed the previous ‘title by succession’ Act that was in force in pre-Peter Russia. In this connection, historian Boris Krasilnikov wrote: “The demise of Peter I plunged all his entourage not only into a state of grief, but an obvious discomposure. The Emperor died in 1725 without bequeathing the throne to any specific person. As a result, events took a most dramatic turn.” After his demise, Peter the Great left behind the following family members:
his wife Yekaterina (Catherine), two daughters – Anna (bride of a German
Duke) and Yelizaveta (Elizabeth), and the little grandson Pyotr (Peter).
The court split into two camps: nobility of the old Boyar ancestry wanted
to see tsarevitch Pyotr on the throne; while the nobility that had risen
to rank and authority under Peter the Great due to their personal achievements
and merit, and feared According to Russian historian Dmitry Ilovaysky… “Catherine outlived her husband by just two years, and instructed that Peter the Great’s grandson, also Peter, inherit the throne. The focal point in the history of these two reigns was the struggle between specific individuals for prime influence over all affairs of state. Initially, Alexander Menshikov was the one with most clout at court. The Empress even proclaimed his daughter the rightful heir’s bride. However, his excessive pride and bad character alienated many other noblemen. Their attempt to oust Menshikov in Catherine’s lifetime failed, though. Some of the Prince’s enemies paid a dear price for their intractable spirit – exiled to Siberia and other dour regions.” The reign of Catherine I was marred by the emergence in the East of the country of two Impostors, each of whom claimed to be the son of Peter the Great – Alexei, allegedly still alive. Both Impostors were later executed in St.Petersburg. Writer-historian Boris Krasilnikov remarked: “From the beginning of her reign Catherine I announced she would see through to the end all the changes begun by Peter the Great. Thus, a Science Academy was opened in Russia, an expedition led by Vitus Bering was sent to establish whether there was a connection between Asia and America. The strait, discovered by the expedition, was later named the Bering Strait. Catherine gave her first, elder daughter Anna in marriage to Karl Friedrich
Duke of Holstein. The purpose of the Catherine deprived the Senate of the governing powers that Peter I had endowed it with, and set up a Supreme Privy Council over it, that incorporated the most influential senators. Prince Menshikov held pride of place in this Council, just as in all matters of State. According to Boris Krasilnikov, the last months of Catherine I’s reign were taken up with resolving the title succession issue. Not only the nobility, but a majority of those who had backed Catherine’s ascending the throne, were dead set against the candidacies of tsarinas Anna and Yelizaveta. Thus, the Empress was obliged to announce 12-year-old Peter, Peter the Great’s grandson, as the heir apparent. Until the boy came of age, a regency was introduced, made up of the Supreme Privy Council, of which tsarinas Anna and Yelizaveta were members.
Dwelling on Prince Menshikov, historian Dmitry Ilovaysky noted: “…the proud and intractable Prince soon antagonized the young Emperor, so that the clan of the Princes Dolgoruki, led by Prince Ivan, a favorite of Peter II, seized the moment to oust Menshikov. This was further augmented by the young Emperor’s Mentor Count Osterman. Peter II’s best-loved sister Natalie also found the arrogant and haughty favorite, who presumed to take away from her the money her brother gave her, more than distasteful.” Alexander Menshikov’s opponents were fortunate – the all-powerful minister and military commander fell gravely ill. The Princes Dolgoruki made good use of his absence to set the young Emperor against him, and when Prince Menshikov returned he was promptly arrested and exiled with his family to Northern Siberia, the town of Beriozov, where he died in 1729, stripped of all property. The court moved from St.Petersburg to Moscow. Here, the young Emperor lapsed into an indolent lifestyle: he wasted away his time on amusements, and predominantly – hunting… Meanwhile, state affairs were in havoc. Soon Peter II died of smallpox. This was in 1730… Historian Boris Krasilnikov, estimating the reign of Peter II, wrote that: “The brief reign of Peter II, even though peaceful, wasn’t at all prosperous…
Instances of brigandage were After the demise of Peter II, his first aunt once removed, widowed Duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna ascended the throne. However, the throne was offered her on certain “conditions”: that her powers be limited, as would the number of foreigners flowing into Russia. As for her limited monarchy, historian Leonid Katzva says: “In stipulation with the “conditions” offered Anna Ioannovna for signing, “the Empress couldn’t issue laws, introduce taxes, bestow or reclaim estates, award rank and titles, designate an heir, etc. This signified the substitution of autocracy with limited monarchy.” Anna agreed to these conditions. However, news of the latter seriously disgruntled the gentry and officers of the guard, since they feared that instead of one Emperor, several autocratic aristocratic families would contest the throne, and thus threaten to plunge the country into havoc. In turn, the gentry cliques drew up draft plans for instituting representative bodies limiting the powers of the monarch and the Supreme Privy Council. What was actually intended was a constitutional monarchy. However, all these plans of limiting autocratic rule were to fall through. Historian Leonid Katzva writes: “Anna, besides the plans on limiting autocracy, received numerous pleas for a reestablishment of full monarchy. At that point she surmised that advocates of a constitutional monarchy didn’t enjoy mass support – a fact that untied her hands and gave her full reign to tear up the “conditions”, announcing a complete return to autocracy.
Regarding Anna Ioannovna’s character, her contemporaries voiced diverse opinions. Some wrote of her brutal and somber nature, others praised her kind heart. In any case, she showed little interest in state affairs, and relied heavily on her favorite – Courland German Biron. According to historian Sergey Platonov, this is what it resulted in: “From the first minutes after the reestablishment of autocracy, the Russian nobility fell out of grace, while the foreigners were increasingly starting to dominate. The Russian gentry were being ousted from court, forced to give up positions of distinction and even exiled to remote villages, to Siberia or executed. Under Anna the Germans acquired tremendous influence. They were the ruling clique, they stood at the head of the army… The Empress’s favorite, the German Biron, was a disreputable nonentity, who interfered in all state matters, yet professed neither opinions of his own, nor any program of action. He hadn’t the least notion of what the Russian mentality and culture were all about. However, this didn’t stop him from giving vent to a volatile hatred of all things Russian. He pursued the sole purpose of self-enrichment, and securing his position at court and in state power. Acting with the help of the Germans and those Russians, who hoped to make a career through indulging the favorite, Biron exploited the state for personal gain, despising the laws and blatantly duping the Empress.”
At the same time the country was undermined by famine and plague. The wars with Poland and Turkey scarcely justified their enormous cost in life and money… Understandably, in these conditions the population could hardly be expected to remain tranquil, despite their fear of the Privy Chancellery… The people detested the foreigners who had grabbed power in Russia. “There is no order in our state,” came the chorus of voices. “Ours is a forsaken country. The Germans care not a whit for it. The money earned by our blood and sweat is spent on their crude amusements. The Germans are taking advantage of the throne being in the hands of a weak woman. Of course, she cannot be expected to rule as a man would do.”…This was the prevalent mood in society. The atmosphere among the gentry was just as uneasy, undermined by endless fears of informants and blind subservience to the favorite. There wasn’t a single independently-minded individual within a mile of Biron, for he had effectively ridden himself, through devious cunning, of all worthy Russians, who could put up a resistance. He was completely in charge of things… Sergey Platonov wrote: “The German dominance continued for ten years. For ten long years the Russians were humiliated and thwarted in every possible way. The grumbles of discontent were gaining in strength. People who had come to harm from the Germans just for being Russian, were now regarded as martyrs by the population.”
“The faces of Russians mirrored grief and despair: the advent to power of the despicable favorite was a blow they could barely stomach,” Sergey Platonov wrote. “The entire body of the Guard was ready and waiting for the minute the Empress’s remains would be buried, so as to rise up against Biron. The army was in turmoil… The one thing that held them back was absence of a leader; all the more so since the Guard didn’t know how the mother of the newborn, Anna Leopoldovna, would react to their uprising. However, the moment Anna Leopoldovna summoned the Guard to oust Biron, he was promptly seized. This happened about a month after the beginning of his Regency.”
In November 1741 Elizabeth led the 300-strong Preobrazhensky regiment of the Guard in a coup that resulted in the arrest of the Emperor and his parents, and herself ascended the throne. Her reign began under the slogan of a return to the principles and traditions of Peter the Great. However, in actual fact there was no return to Peter the Great’s policies. Historian Leonid Katzva believes: “…the conditions were altered, and the Empress herself little resembled her father. She afforded attention exclusively to foreign policy, obviously disinclined to dwell on all other matters of state, preferring various amusements: balls and such. Still, her 20-year reign is a relatively significant period in Russian history. There was a modification, a mellowing of mores at court and in the gentry. Ideas of the Enlightenment started infiltrating Russia.”
As for internal affairs, historian Dmitry Ilovaysky regards Elizabeth’s decree to reconstitute the Senate as it had been created by her father as the first major important step taken by her on the domestic scene. “Under Elizabeth,” Dmitry Ilovaysky writes, “Petersburg saw the establishment of a Naval Cadets Corps, two National Loan banks, one for the gentry, and the other for the merchantry; the death penalty was abolished from the legal code. However, generally, administration and law during Elizabeth’s reign were in a most deplorable state. The roads, villages, and even towns were far from safe due to rampaging brigands. As for the upper classes of society, during Elizabeth’s reign the German dominance, upperhand since Peter the Great’s time, was displaced by pro-French sentiments. French manners and language entered the court and homes of the nobility, and Paris fashions rose to dominance.” As for foreign affairs, Russia led two wars under Elizabeth: the first was with Sweden, which wanted to return the part of Finland that Peter the Great had annexed. The Russians came out victorious in this war and annexed a portion of southern Finland. In the second half of Elizabeth’s reign, Russia successfully conducted hostilities in the Seven Years’ War, which the Austrian Empress Marie Theresa led in alliance with France against Prussian King Friedrich II. Only Elizabeth’s death brought Friedrich out of the critical situation he was placed in by fighting three great powers. The Seven Years’ War, which sapped Russia’s financial and human resources, nonetheless became a good training ground for our army. It was here the future talents of our military leaders, such as Alexander Suvorov, were honed.
Giving an estimate of Elizabeth’s rule, historian Yevgeny Anisimov wrote the following: “The 20-year long reign of Elizabeth was one of the most peaceful, tranquil and cool-tempered in the history of Russia. Just the mere fact that she never once signed a death sentence deserves credit. Without doubt, there were problems throttling state affairs. Yet, the political stability that Elizabeth had brought with her had a beneficial impact on the country’s economic development. After spending several decades on adapting to Peter’s reforms, Russia had finally adjusted. And although the industrial revolution was still a long way off, cheap and good-quality Russian goods flooded Europe. Thus, in Sweden they simply couldn’t get by without Russian bread. Rope, flax, sailcloth, timber, potash, honey, salt pork, and numerous other goods coursed through Baltic seaports en route to Europe in a never ending stream. Excellent Russian iron from the Urals was highly prized on the world market, and in 1750 demand for it reached 100 percent of its output, which led to a veritable industrial boom. People from the gentry, dignitaries and the officiary began building metallurgical plants. For them, this was a gold mine. Under Elizabeth, there was a marked population growth, and the taxes went down. Important changes swept literature, the arts, science… An Art Academy was opened; then - Moscow University, and the Public theatre. Russia was becoming increasingly aware of music and the opera in particular. All this spawned bright new talents, and molded people’s tastes. It became a matter of prestige to patronize the arts and sciences. The success of such outstanding people as Mikhail Lomonosov only further augmented the Russian people’s self-awareness and esteem. Elizabeth’s reign ushered in a new epoch, the epoch of Catherine II, who was named “Great.” ______________________ Illustrations: A.Peskov, The Life of Famous People, “Paul I”, Molodaya Gvardiya, Moscow, 2003
02/18/2005
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radical
changes in politics – laid their claim with Catherine. Alexander Menshikov,
a friend and companion to Peter the Great, displayed particular zeal in
advocating the interests of Catherine. The issue of heir was finally settled
with the use of the Home Guard. Menshikov won them over to his side, and
had Catherine proclaimed Empress. Further issues of succession to the throne
were likewise resolved with the interference of the Home Guard.
marriage
was to strengthen ties between Russia and the Princedom (which was on the
territory of present-day Latvia).
Catherine I
died on May 6th 1727. Tsarevitch Peter II ascended the throne. As head
of the Supreme Privy Council, Prince Alexander Menshikov ultimately claimed
all governing control in the State.
widespread,
and there was an overall disarray in Russia’s internal affairs.”
With the
advent of Anna to the throne, the Supreme Privy Council was abolished,
and a cabinet of Ministers established, headed by Count Osterman. While
advocates of a constitutional monarchy – the Princes Dolgoruki and Golitsin
– were exiled.”
During
the period when Biron was so all-powerful, practically all classes of society
forfeited their wealth and personal freedoms. The peasants were stripped
of their property due to relentless extortion of taxes, landowners were
imprisoned, the regional administration subjected to disgraceful punishment.
However, when malcontent voices began to be heard in society, to ensure
his own safety, Biron resorted to a system of delation, or informants that
spread out of all proportion… The Privy Chancellery was inundated with
political delations and files. It came to a point when nobody could feel
safe. Any petty strife, family feud, vengeance, or simply avarice could
lead any person to a court trial, prison, torture and death. Terror was
at large in the society.
At the
end of 1740, after a brief illness, Empress Anna Iannovna passed away.
Shortly before her death, she named as her successor the just-born Prince
Ivan, great-grandson of the Russian Tsar Ivan Alekseevich, and Duke
of Braunsweig. Biron was named as the infant’s regent. This meant that
Biron was guaranteed another 17 years of total power, until the monarch
came of age.
Thus,
Anna Leopoldovna, the mother of the infant monarch, became Regent. However,
the ousting of Biron didn’t lead to an immediate change of the mode of
rule. Anna Leopoldovna was unpopular. Many patriotically inclined officers
of the Guard laid great hopes on Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Peter
the Great, believing her to be the rightful continuer of her father’s lifework.
The actual
ruler during Elizabeth’s reign, managing all internal affairs, was Count
Pyotr Shuvalov. Historian Dmitry Ilovaysky characterizes him as a “most
talented individual”. In the opinion of the same historian, another worthy
person at court was Chancellor of Foreign Affairs Aleksey Bestuzhev-Ryumin,
who enjoyed Elizabeth’s complete confidence. He brought to an end the machinations
of French Ambassador Marquis Chetardi, who had handicapped the Petersburg
Court by continual intrigues. If before he’d busied himself with aiding
Elizabeth to ascend the throne, he now interfered in Russian affairs and
in particular – its relations with Sweden. Chancellor Bestuzhev intercepted
Chetardi’s secret missives, his correspondence with foreign ambassadors,
and displayed these to the Empress. After this, Chetardi was convoyed out
of Russia.
Elizabeth
attempted to secure the throne with offspring of Peter the Great. Thus,
she summoned her nephew, Peter Ulrich, the Duke von Holstein-Gottorp, and
announced him her successor.
