Pavel the First: biography, facts from life. Literary and historical notes of a young technician

Childhood, education and upbringing

Pavel was born on September 20 (October 1), 1754 in St. Petersburg, in the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna. Subsequently, this palace was demolished, and in its place the Mikhailovsky Castle was built, in which Pavel was killed on March 11 (March 23), 1801.

On September 20, 1754, in the ninth year of marriage, Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna finally had her first child. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, Grand Duke Peter and the Shuvalov brothers were present at the birth. Elizaveta Petrovna immediately picked up the newborn baby, washed and sprinkled with holy water, and carried it into the hall to show the future heir to the courtiers. The Empress baptized the baby and ordered him to be named Paul. Catherine, like Peter III, were completely removed from raising their son.

Essentially deprived of his parents, due to the vicissitudes of a merciless political struggle, Pavel was deprived of the love of people close to him. Of course, this affected the child’s psyche and his perception of the world. But, we should pay tribute to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, she ordered to surround him with the best, in her opinion, teachers.

The first educator was the diplomat F.D. Bekhteev, who was obsessed with the spirit of all kinds of regulations, clear orders, and military discipline comparable to drill. This created in the impressionable boy’s mind that this is how everything happens in everyday life. And he didn’t think about anything except soldiers’ marches and battles between battalions. Bekhteev came up with a special alphabet for the little prince, the letters of which were cast from lead in the form of soldiers. He began to print a small newspaper in which he talked about all, even the most insignificant, actions of Paul.

The birth of Paul was reflected in many odes written by the poets of that time.

In 1760, Elizaveta Petrovna appointed a new teacher for her grandson. He became, by her choice, Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin. He was a forty-two-year-old man who occupied a very prominent place at court. Possessing extensive knowledge, he had previously spent several years on a diplomatic career in Denmark and Sweden, where his worldview was formed. Having very close contacts with the Freemasons, he picked up Enlightenment ideas from them, and even became a supporter of a constitutional monarchy. His brother Pyotr Ivanovich was a great local master of the Masonic order in Russia.

The first wariness towards the new teacher was soon erased, and Pavel quickly became attached to him. Panin opened Russian and Western European literature to young Pavel. The young man was very willing to read, and in the next year he read quite a lot of books. He was well acquainted with Sumarokov, Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Racine, Corneille, Moliere, Werther, Cervantes, Voltaire and Rousseau. He was fluent in Latin, French and German, and loved mathematics.

His mental development proceeded without any deviations. One of Pavel’s younger mentors, Poroshin, kept a diary in which he noted all of little Pavel’s actions day after day. It does not note any deviations in the mental development of the personality of the future emperor, which numerous haters of Pavel Petrovich subsequently loved to talk about.

On February 23, 1765, Poroshin wrote: “I read to His Highness Vertotov a story about the Order of the Knights of Malta. He then deigned to amuse himself and, tying the admiral’s flag to his cavalry, pretend to be a Cavalier of Malta.”

Already in his youth, Paul began to be fascinated by the idea of ​​chivalry, the idea of ​​honor and glory. And in the military doctrine presented to his mother at the age of 20, who by that time was already the Empress of All Russia, he refused to wage an offensive war, explained his idea by the need to observe the principle of reasonable sufficiency, while all the efforts of the Empire should be aimed at creating internal order .

The Tsarevich's confessor and mentor was one of the best Russian preachers and theologians, Archimandrite, and later Metropolitan of Moscow Platon (Levshin). Thanks to his pastoral work and instructions in the Law of God, Pavel Petrovich became a deeply religious, true Orthodox man for the rest of his short life. In Gatchina, until the revolution of 1917, they preserved a rug worn by Pavel Petrovich’s knees during his long night prayers.

Thus, we can notice that in his childhood, adolescence and youth, Paul received an excellent education, had a broad outlook, and even then came to knightly ideals and firmly believed in God. All this is reflected in his future policies, in his ideas and actions.

Relations with Catherine II

Immediately after birth, Pavel was removed from his mother by Empress Elizabeth. Catherine could see him very rarely and only with the permission of the Empress. When Paul was eight years old, his mother, Catherine, relying on the guard, carried out a coup, during which Paul's father, Emperor Peter III, was killed. Paul was to ascend the throne.

Catherine II removed Paul from interfering in any state affairs; he, in turn, condemned her entire way of life and did not accept the policies that she pursued.

Pavel believed that this policy was based on love of fame and pretense; he dreamed of introducing strictly legal governance in Russia under the auspices of the autocracy, limiting the rights of the nobility, and introducing the strictest, Prussian-style, discipline in the army. In the 1780s he became interested in Freemasonry.

The ever-increasing relationship between Paul and his mother, whom he suspected of complicity in the murder of his father, Peter III, led to the fact that Catherine II gave her son the Gatchina estate (that is, she “removed” him from the capital). Here Pavel introduced customs that were sharply different from those in St. Petersburg. But in the absence of any other concerns, he concentrated all his efforts on creating the “Gatchina army”: several battalions placed under his command. Officers in full uniform, wigs, tight uniforms, impeccable order, punishment with spitzrutens for the slightest omissions and a ban on civilian habits.

He significantly narrowed the rights of the noble class compared to those granted by Catherine II, and the rules established in Gatchina were transferred to the entire Russian army. The most severe discipline and unpredictability of the emperor’s behavior led to massive dismissals of nobles from the army, especially the officers of the guard (of the 182 officers who served in the Horse Guards Regiment in 1801, only two had not resigned). All officers on the staff who did not appear by order at the military board to confirm their service were also dismissed.

It should be noted, however, that Paul I started the military, as well as other reforms, not only out of his own whim. The Russian army was not at its peak, discipline in the regiments suffered, titles were not given out deservedly - so, from birth, noble children were assigned to some rank, to this or that regiment. Many, having a rank and receiving a salary, did not serve at all (apparently, mostly these officers were dismissed from the staff). For negligence and laxity, gross mistreatment of soldiers, he personally tore off the epaulets from officers and even generals and sent them to Siberia. Paul I especially persecuted the theft of generals and embezzlement in the army. As a reformer, Paul I decided to follow his favorite example - Peter the Great - like his famous ancestor, he decided to take as a basis the model of the modern European army, in particular the Prussian one, and what else but the German can serve as an example of pedantry, discipline and perfection. In general, military reform did not stop after Paul’s death.

During the reign of Paul I, the Arakcheevs, Kutaisovs, and Obolyaninovs, who were personally devoted to the emperor, rose to prominence.

Fearing the spread of the ideas of the French Revolution in Russia, Paul I banned young people from traveling abroad to study, the import of books was completely prohibited, even sheet music, and private printing houses were closed. The regulation of life went so far as to set a time when the fires in houses were supposed to be turned off. By special decrees, some words of the Russian language were removed from official use and replaced with others. Thus, among those seized were the words “citizen” and “fatherland” that had a political connotation (replaced with “everyman” and “state”, respectively), but a number of Paul’s linguistic decrees were not so transparent - for example, the word “detachment” was changed to “detachment” or “command”, “execute” to “execute”, and “doctor” to “doctor”.

Foreign policy

Paul's foreign policy was inconsistent. In 1798, Russia entered into an anti-French coalition with Great Britain, Austria, Turkey, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. At the insistence of the allies, the disgraced A.V. Suvorov was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian troops. Austrian troops were also transferred to his jurisdiction. Under the leadership of Suvorov, Northern Italy was liberated from French rule. In September 1799, the Russian army made Suvorov's famous crossing of the Alps. However, already in October of the same year, Russia broke the alliance with Austria due to the Austrians’ failure to fulfill allied obligations, and Russian troops were recalled from Europe.

Shortly before his murder, Paul sent the Don army of 22,507 people on a campaign against India. The campaign was canceled immediately after the death of Paul by decree of Emperor Alexander I.

Conspiracy and death

Mikhailovsky Castle - the place of the emperor's death

Paul I was strangled in his own bedroom on March 11, 1801 at Mikhailovsky Castle. The conspiracy involved Agramakov, N.P. Panin, vice-chancellor, L.L. Benningsen, commander of the Izyuminsky light horse regiment P.A. Zubov (Catherine’s favorite), Palen, governor general of St. Petersburg, commanders of the guards regiments: Semenovsky - N. I. Depreradovich, Kavalergardsky - F.P. Uvarov, Preobrazhensky - P.A. Talyzin.), and according to some sources - the emperor's aide-de-camp, Count Pyotr Vasilyevich Golenishchev-Kutuzov, immediately after the coup was appointed commander of the Cavalry Regiment.

Initially, the overthrow of Paul and the accession of an English regent were planned. Perhaps the denunciation to the tsar was written by V.P. Meshchersky, the former chief of the St. Petersburg regiment stationed in Smolensk, perhaps by Prosecutor General P.Kh. Obolyaninov. In any case, the conspiracy was discovered, Lindener and Arakcheev were summoned, but this only accelerated the execution of the conspiracy. According to one version, Pavel was killed by Nikolai Zubov (Suvorov’s son-in-law, Platon Zubov’s older brother), who hit him with a massive golden snuffbox (a joke later circulated at court: “The Emperor died of an apoplectic blow to the temple with a snuffbox”). According to another version, Paul was strangled with a scarf or crushed by a group of conspirators who, leaning on the emperor and each other, did not know exactly what was happening. Mistaking one of the killers for the son of Constantine, he shouted: “Your Highness, are you here too? Have mercy! Air, Air!.. What have I done wrong to you?” These were his last words.

The question of whether Alexander Pavlovich knew and gave sanction for the palace coup and the murder of his father remained unclear for a long time. According to the memoirs of Prince A. Czartoryski, the idea of ​​a conspiracy arose almost in the first days of Paul’s reign, but the coup became possible only after it became known about the consent of Alexander, who signed the corresponding secret manifesto, in which he recognized the need for a coup and pledged not to persecute conspirators after accession to the throne. One of the organizers of the conspiracy, Count Palen, wrote in his memoirs: “Grand Duke Alexander did not agree to anything without first demanding an oath from me that they would not attempt to kill his father; I gave him my word: I was not so devoid of sense as to internally undertake an obligation to fulfill an impossible thing, but it was necessary to calm the scrupulosity of my future sovereign, and I encouraged his intentions, although I was convinced that they would not be fulfilled.” Most likely, Alexander himself, like Count Palen, understood perfectly well that without murder, a palace coup would be impossible, since Paul I would not voluntarily abdicate the throne.

The conspirators got up from dinner after midnight. According to the developed plan, the signal for the invasion of the inner apartments of the palace and the emperor’s office itself was to be given by Argamakov, the adjutant of the grenadier battalion of the Preobrazhensky regiment, whose duty was to report to the emperor about the fires occurring in the city. Agramakov ran into the front of the sovereign's office and shouted: "fire"!

At this time, the conspirators, numbering up to 180 people, rushed through door a (see figure). Then Marin, who commanded the internal infantry guard, removed the loyal Grenadians of the Preobrazhensky life battalion, placing them as sentries, and placed those of them who had previously served in the life grenadier regiment in the front of the sovereign’s office, thus retaining this important post in the hands conspirators.

Two chamber hussars standing at the door bravely defended their post; one of them was stabbed to death and the other was wounded*. Having found the first door leading to the bedroom unlocked, the conspirators at first thought that the emperor had disappeared into the inner staircase (and this could have easily been done), as Kuitasov did. But when they approached the second door, they found it locked from the inside, which proved that the emperor was undoubtedly in the bedroom.

Having broken open the door, the conspirators rushed into the room, but the emperor was not in it. A search began, but to no avail, despite the fact that the door leading to the Empress’s bedchamber was also locked from the inside. The search continued for several minutes, when Generalo Bennigsen entered, he went up to the fireplace, leaned against it and at that time saw the emperor hiding behind the screen.

Pointing his finger at him, Bennigsen said in French “le voila,” after which Pavel was immediately pulled out of his cover.

Prince Platon Zubov**, who acted as a speaker and the main leader of the conspiracy, addressed the emperor with a speech. Pavel, usually distinguished by great nervousness, this time, however, did not seem particularly excited, and, maintaining full dignity, asked what they all needed?

Platon Zubov replied that his despotism had become so difficult for the nation that they came to demand his abdication from the throne.

The emperor, filled with a sincere desire to bring happiness to his people, to preserve the laws and regulations of the empire inviolably and to establish justice everywhere, entered into an argument with Zubov, which lasted about half an hour, and which, in the end, took on a stormy character. At this time, those of the conspirators who had drunk too much champagne began to express impatience, while the emperor spoke louder and louder and began to gesticulate strongly. At this time, the master of the horse, Count Nikolai Zubov***, a man of enormous stature and extraordinary strength, being completely drunk, hit Pavel on the hand and said: “Why are you shouting like that!”

________________

• This was the chamberlain hussar Kirilov, who later served as a valet under the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.
  • Zubov, Prince Platon Alexandrovich.1767 - 1822. General-from. inf., chief of the 1st cadet corps. Subsequently, member of the state. advice.
    • Zubov, Count Nikolai Alexandrovich. Chief of the Horse. 1763 - 1805 He was married to the only daughter of Field Marshal Suvorov, Princess Natalia Alexandrovna, known under the name "Suvorochki".

At this insult, the emperor indignantly pushed away Zubov’s left hand, to which the latter, clutching a massive golden snuffbox in his fist, struck with his right hand a blow to the emperor’s left temple, as a result of which he fell senseless to the floor. At that same moment, Zubov’s French valet jumped up with his feet on the emperor’s stomach, and Skaryatin, an officer of the Izmailovsky regiment, taking in the emperor’s own scarf hanging over the bed, strangled him with it. This is how he was killed.

Based on another version, Zubov, being very drunk, allegedly put his fingers into the snuff box that Pavel was holding in his hands. Then the emperor was the first to hit Zubov, and thus started the quarrel himself. Zubov allegedly snatched the snuffbox from the emperor’s hands and knocked him off his feet with a strong blow. But this is hardly plausible, considering that Pavel jumped straight out of bed and wanted to hide. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that the snuff box played a certain role in this event.

So, the words spoken by Palen at dinner: “qu”il faut commencer par casser les ocufs” were not forgotten, and, alas, were carried out.*

The names of some persons were named, who on this occasion expressed a lot of cruelty, even atrocity, wanting to take out the insults received from the emperor on his lifeless body so that it was not easy for doctors and make-up artists to bring the body into such a form that it could be exposed for worship, according to existing customs. I saw the late emperor lying in a coffin.** On his face, despite diligent make-up, black and blue spots were visible. His triangular hat was pulled down on his head so as to, if possible, hide his left eye and temple, which was bruised.

Thus died on March 12, 1801, one of the sovereigns, whom history speaks of as a monarch filled with many virtues, distinguished by tireless activity, who loved order and justice.

________________

• This needs to be done now so as not to break later.
  • They say (from a reliable source) that when the diplomatic corps was admitted to the body, the French ambassador, passing, bent over the coffin and, touching the emperor’s tie with his hand, discovered a red mark around the neck made by the scarf.

Versions of the origin of Paul I

Due to the fact that Paul was born almost ten years after the wedding of Peter and Catherine, when many were already convinced of the futility of this marriage (and also under the influence of the free personal life of the empress in the future), there were persistent rumors that the real father Paul I was not Peter III, but the first favorite of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna, Count Sergei Vasilyevich Saltykov.

Historical anecdote

The Romanovs themselves related to this legend
(about the fact that Paul I was not the son of Peter III)
with great humor. There is a memoir about
how Alexander III, having learned about her,
crossed himself: “Thank God, we are Russian!”
And having heard a refutation from historians, again
crossed himself: “Thank God we are legal!”

The memoirs of Catherine II contain an indirect indication of this. In the same memoirs one can find a hidden indication of how the desperate Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, so that the dynasty would not fade away, ordered the wife of her heir to give birth to a child, no matter who his genetic father would be. In this regard, after this instruction, the courtiers assigned to Catherine began to encourage her adultery. However, Catherine is quite crafty in her memoirs - there she explains that the long-term marriage did not produce offspring, since Peter had “some obstacle”, which, after the ultimatum given to her by Elizabeth, was eliminated by her friends, who performed a violent surgical operation on Peter , and therefore he was still able to conceive a child. The paternity of Catherine’s other children born during her husband’s lifetime is also doubtful: Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna (b.) was most likely the daughter of Poniatovsky, and Alexey Bobrinsky (b.) was the son of G. Orlov and was born in secret. More folklore and in line with traditional ideas about the “switched baby” is the story that Ekaterina Alekseevna allegedly gave birth to a stillborn child and he was replaced by a certain “Chukhon” baby.

Family

Gerard von Kügelgen. Portrait of Paul I with his family. 1800. State Museum-Reserve "Pavlovsk"

Married twice:

• 1st wife: (since October 10, St. Petersburg) Natalya Alekseevna(1755-1776), born. Princess Augusta Wilhelmina Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt, daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. Died during childbirth with a baby.

• 2nd wife: (since October 7, St. Petersburg) Maria Fedorovna(1759-1828), born. Princess Sophia Dorothea of ​​Württemberg, daughter of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. Had 10 children:
  • Alexander I(1777-1825), Russian Emperor
  • Konstantin Pavlovich(1779-1831), Grand Duke.
  • Alexandra Pavlovna (1783-1801)
  • Elena Pavlovna (1784-1803)
  • Maria Pavlovna (1786-1859)
  • Ekaterina Pavlovna (1788-1819)
  • Olga Pavlovna (1792-1795)
  • Anna Pavlovna (1795-1865)
  • Nicholas I(1796-1855), Russian Emperor
  • Mikhail Pavlovich(1798-1849), Grand Duke.

Military ranks and titles

Colonel of the Life Cuirassier Regiment (July 4) (Russian Imperial Guard) Admiral General (December 20) (Imperial Russian Navy)

He could not have children due to chronic alcoholism and, interested in the birth of an heir, turned a blind eye to the closeness of her daughter-in-law, first with Choglokov, and then with the chamberlain of the Grand Duke’s court, Saltykov. A number of historians consider Saltykov’s paternity to be an undoubted fact. Later they even claimed that Paul was not Catherine’s son. In "Materials for the biography of Emperor Paul I" (Leipzig, 1874) it is reported that Saltykov allegedly gave birth to a dead child, who was replaced by a Chukhon boy, that is, Paul I is not only not the son of his parents, but not even Russian.

In 1773, not even 20 years old, he married Princess Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt (in Orthodoxy - Natalya Alekseevna), but three years later she died in childbirth, and in the same 1776 Pavel married a second time, to Princess Sophia of Württemberg. Dorothea (in Orthodoxy - Maria Feodorovna). Catherine II tried to prevent the Grand Duke from participating in discussions of state affairs, and he, in turn, began to evaluate his mother’s policies more and more critically. Pavel believed that this policy was based on love of fame and pretense; he dreamed of introducing strictly legal governance in Russia under the auspices of the autocracy, limiting the rights of the nobility, and introducing the strictest, Prussian-style, discipline in the army.

In 1794, the Empress decided to remove her son from the throne and hand him over to her eldest grandson Alexander Pavlovich, but did not meet with sympathy from the highest state dignitaries. The death of Catherine II on November 6, 1796 opened the way for Paul to the throne.

The new emperor immediately tried to undo what had been done during the thirty-four years of Catherine II’s reign, and this became one of the most important motives of his policy.

The emperor sought to replace the collegial principle of organizing management with an individual one. An important legislative act of Paul was the law on the order of succession to the throne, published in 1797, which was in force in Russia until 1917.

In the army, Paul sought to introduce Prussian military order. He believed that the army is a machine and the main thing in it is the mechanical coherence of the troops and efficiency. In the field of class politics, the main goal was to transform the Russian nobility into a disciplined, fully serving class. Paul's policy towards the peasantry was contradictory. During the four years of his reign, he gave away gifts to about 600 thousand serfs, sincerely believing that they would live better under the landowner.

In everyday life, certain styles of clothing, hairstyles, and dances, in which the emperor saw manifestations of freethinking, were banned. Strict censorship was introduced and the import of books from abroad was prohibited.

The foreign policy of Paul I was unsystematic. Russia constantly changed allies in Europe. In 1798, Paul joined the second coalition against France; At the insistence of the allies, he placed Alexander Suvorov at the head of the Russian army, under whose command the heroic Italian and Swiss campaigns were carried out.

The capture by the British of Malta, which Paul took under his protection, accepting the title of Grand Master of the Order of St. in 1798. John of Jerusalem (Order of Malta), quarreled him with England. Russian troops were withdrawn, and in 1800 the coalition finally collapsed. Not content with this, Paul began to draw closer to France and conceived a joint struggle against England.

On January 12, 1801, Pavel sent the ataman of the Don Army, General Orlov, an order to march with his entire army on a campaign against India. A little over a month later, the Cossacks began their campaign, numbering 22,507 people. This event, accompanied by terrible hardships, was, however, not completed.

Paul's policies, combined with his despotic character, unpredictability and eccentricity, caused discontent in various social strata. Soon after his accession, a conspiracy began to mature against him. On the night of March 11 (23), 1801, Paul I was strangled in his own bedroom in the Mikhailovsky Castle. The conspirators burst into the emperor's chambers demanding that he abdicate the throne. As a result of the skirmish, Paul I was killed. It was announced to the people that the emperor had died of apoplexy.

The body of Paul I was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

On April 5, 1797, Emperor Paul I was crowned, who ascended the throne after the death of his mother Catherine II on November 6, 1796.

Paul I
S.S. Shchukin, 1797

Paul I is a unique and tragic figure on the Russian throne. For a long time, researchers, based on the evidence of contemporaries, presented Paul I as an unbalanced despot on the throne, whose entire reign boiled down to the demand to ban the wearing of French hats and the use of the words “citizen” and “fatherland” (replaced by “philistine” and “state”, respectively). Recently, interest in this mysterious person has arisen in historical science. New documents were discovered, contrasting opinions of contemporaries about Paul I were compared. The latest research suggests that Paul I and his father Peter III are the most slandered figures on the Russian throne; Paul I as a person is much deeper than is commonly believed, and his activities can no longer be painted only in dark colors.

Paul I began to reign by abruptly breaking his mother's rules. The decrees followed one after another, as if the emperor knew that he had a short sentence.

First of all, Paul removed the ashes of his father Peter III from the grave, dressed him in imperial robes, crowned him, then placed his father’s coffin next to his mother’s coffin for farewell. A month later, in accordance with the court ceremony, Paul I buried Catherine II and Peter III in the Peter and Paul Cathedral as Russian emperors. At the same time, rumors began to spread throughout St. Petersburg that the emperor was mad. Why, 34 years later, did he disturb the ashes of his father? Who needs it? There is another explanation for this act of Paul I: he loved his father, and did not allow his contemporaries to throw mud at his father’s name for history.

Then Paul I generously rewarded his associates who shared with him many years of seclusion in Gatchina: A.A. Arakcheev, Count P.A. Palena, I.P. Kutaisova and others. Trustees of Paul I were appointed to key positions in the state and favorites and proteges of Catherine II were removed.

On the day of his coronation, April 5, 1797, he issued the most significant decree on succession to the throne during his reign, “The Establishment of the Imperial Family.” This decree abolished Peter I’s law on succession to the throne “Truth of the Will of Monarchs” and established a “natural” right of inheritance. For the first time in Russian history, Paul I established a firm and unshakable order of succession to the throne. From now on, only a descendant of the ruler in the male line could take the throne. A woman could only be a regent (temporary ruler) for a young heir. Women received the throne only if there were no more male representatives of the dynasty. The “Establishment” also determined the composition of the imperial family and the hierarchical seniority of its members. The “institution” was changed and clarified by Alexander III in 1886 and existed until 1917.

The main direction in the domestic policy of Paul I was the strengthening and elevation of the principle of autocracy and the centralization of government of the country. First, the highest institutions in the state were reorganized, since many of them by this time no longer corresponded to their purpose. In 1769, Catherine II created Her Imperial Majesty's Council as an advisory body. It has not been convened for a long time and has lost its significance. In 1796, Paul I restored it and gave it the status of the Highest State. Before this, the Council consisted of seven people. Now 17 more new persons have been added to the seven members of the Council: the heir to the throne Alexander Pavlovich, the state treasurer, the prosecutor general, the St. Petersburg and Moscow governor general. Members of the State Council concentrated in their hands all the threads of government. The Council convened regularly 2-3 times a month. The most important issues in the life of the state were presented for its consideration: about the budget, about the state of industry and trade, about the annexation of Georgia, about trade with Persia, Khiva and China.

Then the emperor began to reform the highest judicial body - the Senate. By this time, the Senate was burdened with many small matters and could not cope with current affairs. In 1796, a new regulation on the Senate was approved. The number of Senate departments increased, the number of senators doubled, and new rules and forms of office work were introduced aimed at speeding up decisions in criminal administrative cases. These activities soon brought results. By the beginning of 1800, the Senate had completed consideration of all outstanding cases.

Paul I reformed the "eye of the sovereign" - the prosecutor's office. The prosecutor's office has become the main body supervising military, financial, administrative, police, judicial and other matters. He endowed prosecutors at all levels with special trust, which allowed them to exert great influence on public administration.

Paul's real passion was the army. He paid great attention to her. By the end of the 18th century. The Russian army was one of the largest armies in Europe, and there was an urgent need to reorganize its recruitment, management, supplies and weapons. Paul I began reforms in the army with the Military Collegium. The Military Collegium was relieved of administrative, economic and judicial functions. From now on, it had to deal with manning, armament, combat and drill training of troops, uniforms and food for personnel, operational and tactical control of the army.

In order to eradicate widespread embezzlement in the army, the emperor created an auditorium department in the Military Collegium, giving it broad control and audit powers. In order to strengthen control over the army, Paul I introduced monthly reports of units and divisions, the Military Collegium. Paul I conducted an audit of the personnel of the army. All officers were ordered to report for duty immediately. As a result, all junior officers, all of whom were formally in service, were dismissed from the army, and the practice of long-term leave was stopped. This caused irritation in wide circles of officers, but made it possible to put regiments and units in order and reduce payments from the budget for the maintenance of the officer corps.

At the same time, the army blindly copied the principles of management and equipment of the Prussian army, without taking into account Russian specifics. The traditions of P.A. were forgotten. Rumyantseva, G.A. Potemkina, A.V. Suvorov. Already three weeks after his accession, Paul I began to dress Russian soldiers in uncomfortable German uniforms and wigs with braids and curls, and strict discipline and drills were established. This caused grumbling among officers and soldiers. Army morale and military training fell. At the same time, many of Paul I’s military transformations subsequently showed their best side and survived until the beginning of the twentieth century. And in the twentieth century. The honor guard in the Soviet Army walked with the high printed Prussian step introduced by Paul I.

Paul I also centralized the management of the fleet. Even under Catherine II, the Tsarevich was appointed general admiral of the Russian fleet and president of the Admiralty Board. After ascending the throne, Paul I retained the rank of admiral general, which meant combining control of the army and navy in one person. The Admiralty Board was reorganized, which made it possible to clearly establish the competence of the maritime department. Now the Admiralty Board was involved in the management of the Baltic, White Sea, Caspian and Black Sea fleets, river flotillas, the construction of ships and various vessels, their technical equipment and weapons, manning the fleet and uniforms of lower ranks, etc.

The changes also affected central government and local governments. The powers of the Berg Collegium were specified, the Chamber and Commerce Collegiums were restored. Moreover, the emperor gave preference to the individual principle over the collegial one. The emperor granted leaders of all ranks the broadest powers under the control of the sovereign. Local government was centralized, simplified, and made cheaper. During 1796 - 1797 the number of provinces was reduced from 50 to 41, some local judicial and administrative bodies were abolished, and the costs of their maintenance were reduced. At the same time, direct appointments of officials to positions by the emperor and compulsory service for nobles were introduced. These measures limited the effect of the “Charter of Grant to the Nobility.”

Provincial noble assemblies were abolished, the circle of people who had the right to vote was limited, the election procedure was shortened, and the influence of the emperor, the Senate, prosecutors general, governors and provincial prosecutors on noble organizations was strengthened. In 1798, Paul I forbade nobles who had served less than a year in officer positions from asking for resignation, and in 1800, from accepting nobles who had not served in the military into the civil service. From now on, evasion of military service was considered a serious violation of state laws, and their enforcement was entrusted to governors and prosecutors. This caused discontent among the nobility, but made it possible to maintain the personnel of the army and navy.

Carrying out reforms in the army and navy required significant financial costs. Paul I introduced constant monetary fees from the nobles. The amount of fees depended on the amount of land and the number of serfs.

Corporal punishment of nobles for murder, robbery, drunkenness, debauchery, and official violations was introduced.

In relation to the peasantry, Paul I's policy was contradictory and inconsistent. Over the course of four years, the emperor issued over a hundred manifestos, decrees and orders dedicated to various categories of the peasantry. On December 12, 1796, a decree was issued prohibiting the transfer of peasants in the southern provinces of Russia and allowing landowners to assign them to themselves as those who were missed or listed according to the last revision. In fact, this turned fugitive and free people into serfs. At the same time, in 1797, the emperor allowed peasants to file complaints about the oppression of landowners to the court, governors and the emperor. In the same year, Paul I abolished all arrears of the peasants, replaced household and road duties, grain taxes with a cash tax, and organized in 1798 grain reserves in all provinces and districts in case of crop failure and famine.

Particular attention was paid to appanage and state-owned peasants. They were provided with a land plot of 15 acres of land, when they went to work they could receive passports, they were allowed to become merchants by paying a redemption amount. The same decree allowed marriages of state-owned and appanage peasants with landowner peasants, and also expanded the powers of rural local government bodies.

Some measures were taken to alleviate the situation of the landowner peasants. On April 5, 1797, right on the day of his coronation, Paul I issued a decree “On three-day work of landowner peasants in favor of the landowners and not being forced to work on Sundays.” Then decrees were issued prohibiting the sale of peasants without land, at auctions and auctions, with the fragmentation of families, and also giving peasants the right to appeal to the court. And in 1798, a decree was issued allowing factory owners from merchants to buy peasants with land and without land for factories and factories.

Immediately after ascending the throne, Paul I began to fight against his mother’s favoritism. At first he did not tolerate privileged people in the state. He began to disgrace major dignitaries. His words are well known: “In Russia, only the one with whom I speak is great, and as long as I speak with him.” But soon he surrounded himself with favorites and favorites, among whom was Admiral G.G. Kushelev, Count I.P. Kutaisov, E.V. Musina - Pushkina, A.A. Arakcheev, E.I. Nelidova. If Catherine II distributed about 800 thousand peasants to her favorites during her entire reign, then Paul I gave away 600 thousand peasants in just 5 years.

Paul I's policy towards various strata of society was imbued with the spirit of paternalism. Paul I was convinced that he must not only govern his subjects, but regulate their life, economy, and everyday life. According to the decrees of Paul I, it was forbidden to wear round hats, tailcoats, and boots in St. Petersburg. Petersburg, according to imperial decrees, had to fall asleep at 10 pm and wake up at 6 am. Paul I banned the import of literature from abroad and all private printing houses. On the other hand, N.I. was released from prison. Novikov, and A.N. Radishchev was allowed to return from Siberian exile to his estate.

More and more, Paul I began to be accused of instability, despotism, arbitrariness, and rumors about his insanity intensified.

The domestic policy of Paul I only at first glance seems inconsistent and contradictory. Upon careful examination, it clearly shows the emperor’s desire to establish law and order in the country. Paul I was in a hurry all the time, and this created the impression of throwing from side to side.

Sharp turns in domestic and foreign policy in a short period of time, the lack of balance of the emperor, and the abolition of the privileges of the nobles caused discontent among wide circles of the nobility. Therefore, soon a conspiracy arose among the emperor’s inner circle to remove him from the throne and transfer power to the heir Alexander Pavlovich. The emperor's inner circle took part in the conspiracy: Governor-General of St. Petersburg Count P.A. Palen, General L.L. Bennigsen, the last favorite of Catherine II P.A. Zubov, N.P. Panin and others.

The conspirators introduced the heir to their plans. Alexander Pavlovich was convinced that for the good of Russia his father needed to be removed from the throne. Alexander demanded that in any case his father’s life be spared.

On the night of March 11-12, 1801, drunken conspirators broke into Paul's chambers. Paul should only have accepted the conditions of the conspirators. But he considered himself a man and began to defend his dignity: he began to defend himself. The conspirators overdid it - the emperor was strangled. Alexander was waiting for the outcome of the coup. When they came to him, Alexander understood from their faces that the worst thing had happened. 24-year-old Alexander fainted. He woke up from the fact that Count P.A. Palen shook him by the shoulders: “Enough with childishness! If you please, reign!” After this P.A. Palen pushed Alexander towards the guards.

So, not willingly stepping over the corpse of his father, Alexander I ascended the throne.

Russian Emperor Peter III (Peter Fedorovich, born Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein Gottorp) was born on February 21 (10 old style) February 1728 in the city of Kiel in the Duchy of Holstein (now a territory of Germany).

His father is Duke of Holstein Gottorp Karl Friedrich, nephew of the Swedish king Charles XII, his mother is Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter I. Thus, Peter III was the grandson of two sovereigns and could, under certain conditions, be a contender for both the Russian and Swedish thrones .

In 1741, after the death of Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden, he was chosen to succeed her husband Frederick, who received the Swedish throne. In 1742, Peter was brought to Russia and declared heir to the Russian throne by his aunt.

Peter III became the first representative of the Holstein-Gottorp (Oldenburg) branch of the Romanovs on the Russian throne, which ruled until 1917.

Peter's relationship with his wife did not work out from the very beginning. He spent all his free time engaged in military exercises and maneuvers. During the years he spent in Russia, Peter never made any attempt to get to know this country, its people and history better. Elizaveta Petrovna did not allow him to participate in resolving political issues, and the only position in which he could prove himself was the position of director of the Gentry Corps. Meanwhile, Peter openly criticized the activities of the government, and during the Seven Years' War publicly expressed sympathy for the Prussian king Frederick II. All this was widely known not only at court, but also in wider layers of Russian society, where Peter enjoyed neither authority nor popularity.

The beginning of his reign was marked by numerous favors to the nobility. The former regent Duke of Courland and many others returned from exile. The Secret Investigation Office was destroyed. On March 3 (February 18, old style), 1762, the emperor issued a Decree on the liberty of the nobility (Manifesto “On the granting of liberty and freedom to the entire Russian nobility”).

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

Pavel was born on September 18 (October 1) 1754 year in St. Petersburg, in the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna. Subsequently, this palace was destroyed, and in its place the Mikhailovsky Castle was built, in which Pavel was killed on March 12 (24) 1801 of the year.

The first years after his birth, Pavel grew up under the supervision of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna; his parents were almost not allowed to see him, and he actually did not know his mother’s affection. IN 1761 N.I. Panin was appointed his tutor. A supporter of the Enlightenment, he sincerely became attached to the Grand Duke and tried to raise him as an ideal monarch. Pavel received a good education and, according to contemporaries, was a capable, knowledge-seeking, romantically inclined boy with an open character, who sincerely believed in the ideals of goodness and justice.

Initially, his relationship with his mother after her accession to the throne in 1762 year were quite close. However, over time, their relationship deteriorated. Catherine was afraid of her son, who had more legal rights to the throne than herself. Over the course of several decades, Pavel’s name came up more than once in various political processes, rumors about his accession to the throne spread throughout the country, E. I. Pugachev appealed to him as a “son”. The Empress tried to prevent the Grand Duke from participating in discussions of state affairs, and he, in turn, began to evaluate his mother’s policies more and more critically.

IN 1773 Pavel married Princess Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt (in Orthodox baptism Natalya Alekseevna) and fell in love with her, but she died during childbirth in 1776 . IN 1776 he married again to Princess Sophia Dorothea of ​​Württemberg, baptized in Orthodoxy under the name Maria Feodorovna.

IN 1781-82 The couple traveled through a number of European countries, during which Pavel openly criticized his mother’s policies, which she soon became aware of. Upon the return of the grand ducal couple to Russia, the Empress gave them the Gatchina manor, where the “small court” was now moved and where Paul, who had inherited from his father a passion for everything military in the Prussian manner, created his own small army, conducting endless maneuvers and parades. He languished in inactivity, made plans for his future reign, and by this time his character had become suspicious, nervous, bilious and despotic. His mother’s rule seemed too liberal to him; he believed that in order to avoid revolution, any manifestations of personal and social freedom should be eliminated with the help of military discipline and police measures.

Paul's rise to power in November 1796 was accompanied by the militarization of the life of the court and St. Petersburg as a whole. The new emperor immediately tried to erase, as it were, everything that had been done during the 34 years of Catherine II’s reign, and this became one of the most important motives of his policy.

In general, several interrelated directions can be distinguished in his domestic policy - transformations in public administration, class politics and military reform. According to the first of them, Pavel significantly increased the importance of the prosecutor general of the Senate, giving him the actual functions of the head of government, combining them with the functions of the ministers of internal affairs, justice and partly finance. A number of previously liquidated colleges were restored. At the same time, the emperor sought to replace the collegial principle of organizing management with an individual principle.

IN 1797 the Ministry of Appanages was created, which was in charge of the land holdings of the royal family, and in 1800 - Ministry of Commerce. Paul dealt even more decisively with the system of local institutions created by Catherine: city self-government, social security, some lower courts, etc. were partially abolished. At the same time, some traditional governing bodies were returned to a number of national outskirts of the empire (the Baltic states, Ukraine), which revealed the weakness of the new regime, fear of not being able to control the entire country and the desire to gain popularity in areas fraught with national liberation movements.

An important legislative act of Paul was issued in 1797 law on the order of succession to the throne, which was in force in Russia until 1917 .

In the field of class politics, Paul took a number of steps to attack the “liberties of the nobility.” IN 1797 A review was announced for all officers in the regiments, and those who did not appear were dismissed. Privileges for non-employee nobles were also seriously limited, and in 1800 Most of them were ordered to be assigned to the military. WITH 1799 the procedure for transferring from military to civilian service was introduced only with the permission of the Senate. Nobles who did not serve the state were prohibited from participating in noble elections and holding elective positions; contrary to the legislation of Catherine II, corporal punishment was used against nobles. At the same time, Paul tried to limit the influx of non-nobles into the ranks of the nobility. His main goal was to transform the Russian nobility into a disciplined, fully serving class.

Paul's policy towards the peasantry was equally contradictory. During the four years of his reign, he gave away gifts to about 600 thousand serfs, sincerely believing that they would live better under the landowner. IN 1796 enslavement of peasants occurred in the region of the Don Army and in New Russia, in 1798 The ban imposed by Peter III on the purchase of peasants by non-noble owners was lifted. However, in 1797 the sale of courtyards and landless peasants by hammer was prohibited, and in 1798 - Ukrainian peasants without land. IN 1797 Paul issues a Manifesto on the three-day corvee, which introduced restrictions on the exploitation of peasant labor by landowners and limited their ownership rights.

In the army, Paul, rejecting the achievements of Russian military thought of previous decades, sought to introduce Prussian military orders. The training of soldiers was reduced mainly to stepping. The emperor believed that the army is a machine and the main thing in it is the mechanical coherence of the troops and efficiency. Initiative and independence are harmful and unacceptable.

Paul's desire for petty regulation also affected his intervention in the daily life of his subjects. Thus, special decrees prohibited certain styles of clothing, hairstyles, and dances in which the emperor saw manifestations of freethinking. Strict censorship was introduced and the import of books from abroad was prohibited.

Upon ascending the throne, Paul, in order to emphasize the contrast with his mother, declared peace and non-interference in European affairs. However, when in 1798 In the year 2011, there was a threat of Napoleon re-establishing an independent Polish state; Russia took an active part in organizing the anti-French coalition. In the same year, Paul assumed the duties of Master of the Order of Malta, thus challenging the French emperor who had captured Malta.

IN 1798 -1800 years, Russian troops successfully fought in Italy, and the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, which caused concern on the part of Austria and England. Relations with these countries completely deteriorated in the spring 1800 . At the same time, rapprochement with France began, and a plan for a joint campaign against India was even discussed. Without waiting for the corresponding agreement to be signed, Pavel ordered the Don Cossacks, who were already stopped by Alexander I, to set out on a campaign.

Paul's policies, combined with his despotic character, unpredictability and at the same time a certain eccentric behavior, caused discontent in various social strata, but especially among the nobility and in the army.

Soon after his accession, a conspiracy began to mature against him, in which his eldest son was also involved. On the night of March 11 1801 years, conspirators, mostly guards officers, burst into Paul's chambers in the newly built Mikhailovsky Castle demanding that he abdicate the throne. When the emperor tried to object and even hit one of them, one of the rebels began to strangle him with his scarf, and the other hit him in the temple with a massive snuffbox. It was announced to the people that Paul had died of apoplexy.