The death of Peter the Great marked the end of one era - the period of rebirth, transformations and reforms, and the beginning of another, which went down in history under the name "era of palace coups", which is studied in the History of Russia in the 7th grade. About what happened in this period of time - 1725-1762 - we are talking today.

Factors

Before speaking briefly about the era of palace coups in Russia, it is necessary to understand what the term “palace coup” means. This stable combination is understood as a forceful change of power in the state, which is carried out through a conspiracy by a group of courtiers and relies on the help of a privileged military force- Guards. As a result, the current monarch is overthrown and a new heir from ruling dynasty- a protege of a group of conspirators. With the change of the sovereign, the composition of the ruling elite also changes. During the period of coup d'état in Russia - 37 years, six sovereigns have changed on the Russian throne. The reasons for this were the following events:

• After Peter I, there were no direct heirs in the male line: son Alexei Petrovich died in prison, convicted of treason, and the youngest son Peter Petrovich died at an early age;
• Adopted by Peter I in 1722, the "Charter on the succession to the throne": according to this document, the decision on the heir to the throne is made by the ruling monarch himself. Thus, various groups of supporters gathered around possible contenders for the throne - noble groups that were in confrontation;
• Peter the Great did not have time to make a will and indicate the name of the heir.

Thus, according to the definition of the Russian historian V.O. Klyuchevsky, the beginning of the era of palace coups in Russia is considered to be the date of the death of Peter I - February 8 (January 28), 1725, and the end - 1762 - the year Catherine the Great came to power.

Rice. 1. Death of Peter the Great

Distinctive features

The palace coups of 1725-1762 had several common features:

• Favoritism : around a possible contender for the throne, a group of persons was formed - favorites, whose goal was to be closer to power and have influence on the balance of power. In fact, the nobles close to the sovereign concentrated all power in their hands and completely controlled the sovereign (Menshikov, Biron, princes Dolgoruky);
• Reliance on the Guards Regiment : guards regiment appeared under Peter I. In the Northern War, they became the main striking force of the Russian army, and then were used as the personal guard of the sovereign. In other words, their privileged position and proximity to the king played a decisive role in their "fate": their support was used as the main striking force in palace coups;
• Frequent change of monarchs ;
• Appeal to the legacy of Peter the Great : each new heir, claiming the throne, demonstrated the intention to strictly follow the course of Peter I in foreign and domestic politics. However, often what was promised went against the current affairs and deviations from his program were observed.

Rice. 2. Portrait of Anna Ioannovna

Chronological table

Next chronological table all six Russian rulers are presented, whose reign is historically associated with the era of palace coups. The first line answers the question which of the rulers discovered the gap in question in political life Russia in the 18th century - Catherine I. Followed by other monarchs in chronological order. In addition, it is indicated with the help of which forces and court groups, each of them came to power.

TOP 4 articleswho read along with this

Some historians believe that the era of palace coups does not end with the advent of Catherine II. They name other dates - 1725-1801, relating to the administration of the state of Alexander I.

Rice. 3. Catherine the Great

The era of palace coups led to the fact that noble privileges expanded significantly.

What have we learned?

According to the new decree of Peter I on changes in the order of succession to the throne, the person entitled to inherit the royal throne in Russia was indicated in the current monarch. This document did not contribute to the establishment of order and stability in the state, but, on the contrary, led to the era of palace coups, which lasted 37 years. This period includes the activities of six monarchs.

Topic quiz

Report Evaluation

average rating: 4.7. Total ratings received: 1279.

The Romanovs are a female dynasty

The royal dynasty of the Romanovs in the 17th century was predominantly a female dynasty. The number of children was large: the first Romanov, Mikhail Fedorovich, had 10 children, his son Alexei Mikhailovich had 16. At the same time, infant mortality occupied a significant percentage of the number of births, although it decreased over time. But most importantly, more girls were born than boys (by the way, an interesting pattern existed in the Romanov family - the birth of four girls in a row in one family).

For men, life expectancy was lower than for women. So, of the Romanov tsars in the 17th century, no one overcame the 50-year milestone: Mikhail Fedorovich lived for 49 years, Alexei Mikhailovich - 46, Fedor Alekseevich did not live up to 21 years, Ivan Alekseevich lived for 29 years. By today's standards, all the tsars of the Romanov dynasty in the 17th century were relatively young or mature, but by no means old people. The life expectancy of the princesses fluctuates between 42 (Princess Natalya Alekseevna) and 70 (Princess Tatyana Mikhailovna) years. However, only two princesses did not live to be 50 years old - Natalya Alekseevna and Sofya Alekseevna (she lived for 46 years), most of them crossed the 50-year mark. Physically, the women of the Romanov family were, apparently, much stronger than men.

Despite the presence of a large number of young women, the Romanov dynasty was in absolute international genealogical isolation. An insurmountable obstacle stood in the way of dynastic marriages with foreign ruling families. The Russian tsar (or tsarevich) could marry a person of lower status (a “simple” noblewoman), thereby elevating her. The princess, on the other hand, could not marry a person below her in status - therefore, only an equal marriage was possible. In this case, the groom had to be Orthodox (and there were almost no other Orthodox kingdoms except Russia) or convert to Orthodoxy before marriage and stay in Russia.

Mikhail Fedorovich made an attempt to marry his eldest daughter Irina to the natural son of the Danish king, Duke Voldemar, but the question of the groom's conversion to Orthodoxy turned out to be the stumbling block against which all plans were shattered. This unsuccessful attempt, apparently, discouraged the Romanovs from looking for other suitors for their princesses - be that as it may, until 1710 not a single princess from the Romanov family married, and most of them lived to death in the royal chamber as unmarried maidens ( the opinion that they massively took monastic vows is not true; in fact, such cases were isolated).

Safe marriages to noblewomen

Only once, the very first, the Romanovs tried to intermarry with the Russian aristocracy - the princes Dolgorukov, but this first marriage of Mikhail Fedorovich was very short-lived. Subsequently, the Romanovs became related to the "ordinary", not very noble nobility, which existed far from palace intrigues.

The choice of a bride from, as they say, "broad strata of the noble masses" probably symbolized the connection of the royal family with their subjects, with the then "society", from where the Russian queens came from. In the 17th century, the Romanovs became related to the nobles Streshnevs, Miloslavskys, Naryshkins, Grushetskys, Apraksins, Saltykovs and Lopukhins. Subsequently, many relatives of the queens, even very distant ones, such as, for example, Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy Petr Andreevich Tolstoy(1645-1729) - associate of Peter the Great, statesman and a diplomat, virtual privy councillor. or Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev(1686-1750) - Russian historian, geographer, economist and statesman; author of "History of Russia". Founder of Yekaterinburg, Perm and other cities. occupied important places in the public life of the country. In other words, the matrimonial policy of the royal dynasty remained deeply peculiar.

How Peter I inherited the throne

After the death of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, the struggle of two branches of the Romanov family for the throne was clearly revealed. The older branch was the descendants of Alexei Mikhailovich from his first marriage, with Tsarina Maria Ilyinichnaya (Miloslavskaya), the youngest - the descendants from his second marriage, with Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna (Naryshkina). Since the only man in the senior branch, Tsarevich Ivan Alekseevich, was of little ability, and the only man in the younger branch, Tsarevich Pyotr Alekseevich, reached only ten years of age, relatively young women of the royal family - the princess Sofya Alekseevna, who at that time was 24 years old, and her stepmother, Tsaritsa Natalya Kirillovna, at the age of 30 years.

As you know, the victory in the events of 1682 remained with Tsarevna Sophia, who actually became the real ruler under two tsars - Ivan and Peter. The dual kingdom situation was unique in Muscovite Russia, although it had some basis in the earlier tradition of the Rurikids and the more distant dynastic tradition of Byzantium. In 1689, young Peter Alekseevich was able to remove Princess Sophia from power, and after the death of his brother Ivan in 1696, he remained the sovereign sovereign of Russia. Thus began a new era in the history of the country and in the history of the Romanov dynasty.

In the 18th century, the royal dynasty met in the following composition: two men (Tsar Peter Alekseevich and his ten-year-old son and heir Alexei Petrovich) and fourteen (!) Women - three queens, two of them widowed (Marfa Matveevna, widow of Fyodor Alekseevich, and Praskovya Feodorovna, widow of Ivan Alekseevich) and one who was “out of work” and tonsured a nun (Peter’s first wife, Evdokia Fedorovna) and eleven princesses - the seven sisters of the king (six consanguineous, including Sofya Alekseevna imprisoned in a monastery, and one relative; almost all of them left from the normal childbearing age for that time), one aunt of the tsar (Tatiana Mikhailovna, the last of the children of Mikhail Fedorovich) and three nieces of the tsar (daughters of Ivan Alekseevich and Praskovya Feodorovna). Accordingly, only in relation to the last three women could one hope for marriages and the continuation of offspring. Due to this situation, the royal family was under a certain threat. Peter I carried out fundamental changes in dynastic politics and changed the dynastic situation itself.

An extraordinary phenomenon was the actual divorce of the tsar and his second marriage to a rootless native of Livonia, Marta Skavronskaya, who in Orthodoxy received the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna. The marriage was concluded in 1712, while the spouses had by that time two premarital daughters (who survived among others who died in infancy) - Anna (born in 1708) and Elizabeth (born in 1709). They became "married", which, however, did not remove the question of the legality of their origin. Subsequently, Peter and Catherine had several more children, but they all died in infancy or childhood. By the end of the reign of Peter I, there were no hopes for continuation of the family in the male line from the second marriage of the tsar (emperor).

Peter I

Three dynastic marriages, breakthrough to the West

A breakthrough phenomenon was the conclusion of marriages with representatives of foreign sovereign dynasties. This turned out to be possible thanks to a tolerant attitude towards the issue of religion - at first it was not even required that one of the spouses convert to the faith of another. A breakthrough into Europe also meant the recognition of the royal dynasty as a European dynasty, and this could not happen without appropriate matrimonial unions.

The first foreign marriage among the Romanovs was the marriage of Princess Anna Ioannovna (niece of Peter I and future Russian Empress) with Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Courland, concluded in 1710. It was of great geopolitical importance, since Courland was a prominent Baltic state that played a significant role in this region. The borders of Russia directly came into contact with the borders of Courland after the annexation of Livonia as a result of the Northern War. Despite the fact that the duke died two and a half months after the wedding, Anna, remaining the Dowager Duchess of Courland, at the behest of Peter went to her new homeland, where she lived for almost twenty years (note that she remained Orthodox).

The second marriage, concluded under Peter, was of even greater dynastic significance. In 1711, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, who was the heir to the throne, married in Europe Charlotte Christina Sophia, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (neither the bridegroom nor the bride changed their religion). The most significant aspect of this marriage was that the bride's sister, Elizabeth Christina, was the wife of the Austrian prince Charles, who in the same 1711 became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation under the name of Charles VI (it was to his brother-in-law that Alexei Petrovich later fled) .

The Holy Roman Empire was the leading and most status state of the then European world. Parenting with its rulers (albeit through property) put Russia in the rank of leading European countries and strengthened its status in the international arena. The heir to the Russian throne became the brother-in-law of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and the future sovereigns were directly related (this was actually the case - Peter II was the cousin of the future Empress Maria Theresa; however, they ruled at different times and Peter did not leave offspring). So, thanks to the marriage of Tsarevich Alexei, the Russian dynasty intermarried with the Habsburgs.

The third dynastic marriage was concluded in 1716: Peter's niece Ekaterina Ivanovna married Karl Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The territory of this state occupied the southern coast Baltic Sea, and this alliance further strengthened Russia's position in the Baltic region. Finally, after the death of Peter, the previously prepared marriage of the eldest daughter of the Tsar Anna Petrovna and the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl Friedrich was concluded. Holstein was the northernmost Germanic duchy, bordering the Kingdom of Denmark and also overlooking the Baltic Sea. However, an important point was that Karl Friedrich was the mother's nephew of the Swedish king Charles XII, which means that his descendants could claim the Swedish throne. And so it happened: the son born to Anna Petrovna, Karl Peter, named after Charles XII and Peter the Great, for some time was considered the heir to the Swedish throne. Thus, under favorable circumstances, the descendants of Peter I, that is, representatives of the Romanov dynasty, could take the Swedish throne.

So Peter the Great covered almost the entire Baltic region with dynastic marriages. To the southwest of the territory of the Russian Empire was the duchy of Courland, where his niece ruled. Farther west, the southern coast of the Baltic Sea was occupied by the Duchy of Mecklenburg, which was ruled by the husband of another niece and where her offspring might subsequently rule. Further southern part The Baltics were closed by Holstein, where Peter's son-in-law ruled, whose descendants had rights not only to the Holstein throne, but also to the Swedish one - and the long-time enemy of the Great Northern War could become in the future not only an ally, but also a relative of the Romanovs. And the territory of Sweden (in its Finnish part), as you know, adjoined the lands of the Russian Empire from the north-west. In other words, by entering the Baltic and gaining a territorial foothold there, Peter I simultaneously consolidated Russia dynastically in almost the entire Baltic region. But this did not help solve the main problem - the problem of succession to the throne in Russia itself.

Problems of succession. Tsarevich Alexei. Catherine I

A dramatic collision of Peter's reign was the infamous case of Tsarevich Alexei. Accused of treason, the king's son and heir was imprisoned, where he was interrogated and tortured, as a result of which he died in 1718 (his wife had died even earlier). At that time, in the male generation, the offspring of Peter consisted of two three-year-old children - the grandson (son of Alexei), Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich, and the son from Catherine, Tsarevich Peter Petrovich.

It was Peter Petrovich who was declared the next heir to the throne. However, he died before he was four years old, in April 1719. Peter had no more sons from Catherine. From that moment on, the dynastic situation in the royal family became threatening. In addition to Peter and Catherine, the royal family consisted of the grandson and granddaughter of Peter through the son of Alexei - Peter and Natalia, two daughters from Catherine (the third, Natalia, who lived to a relatively adult age, died a little over a month after the death of Peter himself) and three nieces - Catherine , Anna and Praskovya (their mother, Tsaritsa Praskovya Fedorovna, died in 1723). (We do not take into account Peter's first wife, Evdokia Fedorovna, in monasticism Elena, who, of course, played no role.) Anna was in Courland, and Ekaterina Ivanovna left her husband in 1722 and returned to Russia with her daughter Elizabeth Ekaterina Khristina, a Lutheran religion (the future Anna Leopoldovna).

In a situation where the circle of potential heirs is extremely narrow, and the heir himself theoretically may not justify the trust of the monarch (as happened, according to Peter, in the case of Tsarevich Alexei), Peter I made a cardinal decision by issuing the Charter on the succession to the throne in 1722. According to this document, the sovereign had the right, at his own discretion, to appoint an heir from any of his relatives by means of a will. One might think that in that situation it was the only way to continue the succession of power in the fading Romanov dynasty. The former order of succession to the throne from father to eldest son was abolished, and the new one became, contrary to the wishes of its establisher, one of the factors in the frequent change of power on the Russian throne, which in historiography was called the “epoch of palace coups”.

But Peter I did not have time to use his right of will. The famous legend that he allegedly wrote before his death: “Give everything back,” and to whom, he did not have time to finish, is a fiction. At the time of his death in 1725, the only heir in the male line was his grandson Peter Alekseevich, nine years old. In addition to him, the widow of Peter Ekaterina Alekseevna made up the Romanov dynasty; their daughters are Anna, who was at that time the bride, and Elizabeth; three nieces, one of whom was in Courland, and two in Russia (one with her daughter), as well as Peter's granddaughter, Natalya Alekseevna (she would die in 1728 during the reign of her younger brother Peter II). Perhaps, anticipating the difficulties in the event of his death, back in 1724, Peter crowned his wife Catherine as empress, giving her the absolutely legal status of empress consort. However, by the beginning of 1725, Ekaterina Alekseevna had lost Peter's confidence.

There were two possible contenders for the throne - Peter's widow, Ekaterina Alekseevna, and his grandson, Peter Alekseevich. Catherine was supported mainly by Peter's associates, primarily Menshikov; Petra - representatives of the old boyar families from the royal environment, such as the princes Golitsyn, Dolgorukov, Repnin. The intervention of the guards decided the outcome of the confrontation, and Catherine I was proclaimed empress.

The era of palace coups

Catherine I (1725-1727)

Catherine's family directly consisted of two daughters - Anna, who married the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and unmarried Elizabeth. There remained the direct heir of Peter I in the male line - Grand Duke Petr Alekseevich. In addition to him, the royal family included: his older sister Natalya Alekseevna and three nieces of Peter I - the daughters of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich, one of whom was outside Russia. The potential heir was Peter Alekseevich (there was even a plan to "reconcile" the two lines of descendants of Peter I - the marriage of Peter Alekseevich to Elizaveta Petrovna).

At the insistence of Menshikov, who planned the marriage of Peter to his daughter Maria, on behalf of Catherine I, shortly before her death, a testament was signed - a will, according to which Peter Alekseevich became the heir to the throne. In the event of his childless death, Anna Petrovna and her descendants followed, then Elizaveta Petrovna and her possible descendants, then Pyotr Alekseevich's older sister Natalya Alekseevna and her possible descendants. Thus, this document for the first time, due to actual circumstances, assumed the transfer of rights to the throne through the female line.

It is significant that the throne was assigned only to the descendants of Peter I, and the offspring of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich were excluded from the line of succession to the throne. In addition, it provided for the exclusion from the order of succession of persons of a non-Orthodox religion, as well as those who occupied other thrones. In connection with the infancy of the heir, his reign was originally to be held under the tutelage of the Supreme Privy Council - the highest state body in the empire, created in 1726. After the death of Catherine I in May 1727, Peter II was proclaimed emperor in accordance with her will.

Peter II (1727-1730)

Shortly after the accession to the throne of Peter II, the eldest daughter of Peter I and Catherine I, Anna Petrovna, together with her husband, the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, left Russia. She died in 1728, having given birth to a son, Karl Peter (the future Peter III). In 1728, the elder sister of Peter II, Natalya Alekseevna, also died childless. There was an acute question about the possible marriage of the emperor. Menshikov's plans to marry Peter to his daughter collapsed as a result of court intrigues. Representatives of the family of princes Dolgorukov had a great influence on the young emperor, at the insistence of which Peter was betrothed to Alexei Dolgorukov's daughter Ekaterina. The young emperor died suddenly of smallpox in January 1730, on the eve of the announced wedding, and did not leave a will. An attempt by the princes Dolgorukov to present a false testament of the emperor in favor of his bride as a genuine one failed. With the death of Peter II, the Romanov family came to an end in the direct male line.

By the time of the death of Peter II, the line of descendants of Peter I was represented only by the grandson of Peter I - the Holstein prince Karl Peter (two years old), who was in the capital of Holstein, Kiel, and the daughter of Peter I, unmarried Elizaveta Petrovna. The line of descendants of Ivan Alekseevich was represented by three daughters of Tsar Ivan and one granddaughter of the Lutheran faith. The circle of potential heirs narrowed to five people.

The issue of succession to the throne was decided at a meeting of the Supreme Privy Council headed by Prince Golitsyn. The testament of Catherine I, according to which, in the event of the childless death of Peter II, the throne should have passed to the offspring of Anna Petrovna (however, the Lutheran religion of Karl Peter could probably serve as an obstacle in this), and then to Elizabeth Petrovna, was ignored. The offspring of Peter I and Catherine I were perceived by members of the Council as premarital, and therefore not entirely legal.

At the suggestion of Prince Golitsyn, the Duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna, the middle of the three sisters - the daughters of Tsar Ivan (which again contradicted the testament of Catherine I - also because Anna was the regent of the foreign throne) was to become the empress. The main factor in choosing her candidacy was the opportunity to realize the plan of the members of the Supreme Privy Council to limit autocracy in Russia. Under certain conditions (conditions), Anna Ioannovna was invited to take the Russian throne.

Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740)

At the very beginning of her reign, Anna Ioannovna, as you know, rejected plans to limit autocratic power. In 1731 and 1733, her sisters, Praskovya and Ekaterina, died. The only relative of the Empress along the line of Ivan Alekseevich was her niece, the daughter of Catherine's sister, who in the same 1733, shortly before her mother's death, converted to Orthodoxy with the name Anna (Anna Leopoldovna).

The offspring of Peter the Great still consisted of two people - the grandson, Karl Peter, who in 1739 became the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and his daughter, Elizabeth Petrovna. In order to secure the succession to the throne for her line, Anna Ioannovna already in December 1731 signed a manifesto "On taking an oath of allegiance to the Heir to the All-Russian Throne, who will be appointed by Her Imperial Majesty." Thus, the principle of the Petrine Charter on the succession to the throne was fully restored - the exclusively testamentary nature of the Russian succession to the throne.

The future son of Anna Leopoldovna (Anna Ioannovna's niece) was supposed to be the heir. Only in 1739, Anna Leopoldovna was married to Anton Ulrich, Prince of Braunschweig-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel, who had been in the Russian service since 1733. His candidacy as the wife of the Empress' niece was lobbied by Austria. Through his mother, Antoinette Amalia, the prince was the nephew of Elizabeth Christine, wife of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, and Charlotte Christine Sophia, wife of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich. Consequently, he was a cousin of both Empress Maria Theresa and Peter II. In addition, the prince's younger sister, Elisabeth Christina, had been the wife of the Prussian heir to the throne, Frederick (later the Prussian King Frederick II the Great) since 1733. In August 1740, the first-born was born to Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich, who was named the dynastic name of this line of the Romanov family - Ivan (John).

A few days before her death, Anna Ioannovna signed a will in favor of Ivan Antonovich, and then appointed the Duke of Courland Biron as regent until he came of age. In the event of the premature death of Ivan Antonovich, who left no offspring, the next potential son of Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich became the heir.

John VI (1740-1741)

The short reign of Emperor John VI (officially he was called John III, since at that time the account was kept from the first Russian tsar, Ivan the Terrible; later it began to be kept from Ivan Kalita) was marked by the quick elimination and arrest of Biron as a result of a conspiracy organized by Field Marshal Munnich. Anna Leopoldovna was proclaimed ruler under the young emperor. In July 1741, Ivan Antonovich's sister Ekaterina was born. On November 25, 1741, Ivan Antonovich was overthrown from the throne as a result of a coup led by the daughter of Peter the Great, Elizabeth Petrovna.

Elizaveta Petrovna (1741-1761)

In the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna Brunswick family”- Anna Leopoldovna, Anton Ulrich, John Antonovich and their other children (Catherine and then born Elizabeth, Peter and Alexei) were imprisoned and exiled (Anna Leopoldovna died in 1746). The only heir to the unmarried Empress was her nephew, Duke Karl Peter of Holstein. In 1742, he arrived in St. Petersburg, where in November of the same year he converted to Orthodoxy with the name Pyotr Fedorovich and was officially declared heir to the throne. In 1745, Peter Fedorovich married Ekaterina Alekseevna (before the adoption of Orthodoxy, Sophia Frederick Augustus), the daughter of Prince Anhalt-Zerbst. By mother, Catherine also came from the family of the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp and was brought to her husband by a second cousin. Catherine's maternal uncle in 1743 became the heir to the Swedish throne, and then the Swedish king, and his son, the Swedish king Gustav III, was Catherine's cousin. Another uncle was once the groom of Elizabeth Petrovna, but died of smallpox on the eve of the wedding. From the marriage of Peter Fedorovich and Ekaterina Alekseevna in 1754, a son was born - Pavel Petrovich. After the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, the last representative of the Romanov family proper, in December 1761, Peter Fedorovich became emperor under the name of Peter III.

Peter III (1761-1762) and Catherine II (1762-1796)

The unpopular Emperor Peter III was overthrown on June 28, 1762 in a coup led by his wife, who became Empress Catherine II of Russia.

At the beginning of the reign of Catherine II, while trying to free (in accordance with a certain order), the former emperor John Antonovich, who was imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress, was killed. Anton Ulrich died in exile in 1776, and four of his children were sent by Catherine to their aunt, the Danish queen, in 1780 (the last of them, Ekaterina Antonovna, died in Denmark in 1807).

Ekaterina's heir, Pavel Petrovich, was married twice. From the second marriage, with Maria Feodorovna (nee Princess of Württemberg), during the life of Catherine, three sons and six daughters were born (another son was born after Paul I came to the throne). The future of the dynasty was secured. After the death of his mother in 1796, who became the Russian emperor, Paul I accepted new law on the succession to the throne, which established a clear order of succession to the throne in order of seniority in a direct male descending line. With its adoption, the Petrine Charter of 1722 finally lost its force.

1. general characteristics era of palace coups

The overexertion of the country's forces during the years of Peter the Great's reforms, the destruction of traditions, and the violent methods of reform caused an ambiguous attitude of various circles of Russian society towards the Peter's heritage and created the conditions for political instability.

From 1725, after the death of Peter I and until Catherine II came to power in 1762, six monarchs and many political forces behind them were replaced on the throne. This change did not always take place in a peaceful and legal way, which is why this period of V.O. Klyuchevsky is not entirely accurate, but figuratively and aptly called " era of palace coups".

2. Background of palace coups

The main reason that formed the basis of the palace coups was the contradictions between various noble groups in relation to the Peter's heritage. It would be a simplification to consider that the split occurred along the lines of acceptance and rejection of reforms. Both the so-called "new nobility", which had come to the fore in the years of Peter the Great thanks to their service zeal, and the aristocratic party tried to soften the course of reforms, hoping in one form or another to give a respite to society, and first of all, to themselves. But each of these groups defended its narrow class interests and privileges, which created a fertile ground for internal political struggle.

Palace coups were generated by a sharp struggle of various factions for power. As a rule, it came down most often to the nomination and support of one or another candidate for the throne.

At that time, the guards began to play an active role in the political life of the country, which Peter brought up as a privileged "support" of the autocracy, which, moreover, assumed the right to control the correspondence of the personality and policy of the monarch to the legacy that her "beloved emperor" left.

The alienation of the masses from politics and their passivity served as fertile ground for palace intrigues and coups.

To a large extent, palace coups were provoked by the unresolved problem of succession to the throne in connection with the adoption of the Decree of 1722, which broke the traditional mechanism for the transfer of power,

3. The struggle for power after the death of Peter I

Dying, Peter did not leave an heir, having only time to write with a weakening hand: "Give everything ...". The opinion of the leaders about his successor was divided. "Chicks of Petrov's nest" (A.D. Menshikov, P.A. Tolstoy , I.I. Buturlin , P.I. Yaguzhinsky etc.) advocated for his second wife Catherine, and representatives of the noble nobility (D.M. Golitsyn , V.V. Dolgoruky and others) defended the candidacy of their grandson - Peter Alekseevich. The outcome of the dispute was decided by the guards, who supported the empress.

accession Catherine 1 (1725-1727) led to a sharp strengthening of the position of Menshikov, who became the de facto ruler of the country. Attempts to somewhat curb his lust for power and greed with the help of the Supreme Privy Council (VTS) created under the Empress, to which the first three colleges, as well as the Senate, were subordinate, did not lead to anything. Furthermore, temporary worker decided to strengthen his position through the marriage of his daughter with the young grandson of Peter. P. Tolstoy, who opposed this plan, ended up in prison.

In May 1727, Catherine 1 died and, according to her will, 12-year-old Peter II (1727-1730) became emperor under the regency of the military-technical cooperation. Menshikov's influence at court increased, and he even received the coveted rank of generalissimo. But, pushing away old allies and not acquiring new ones among the well-born nobility, he soon lost influence on the young emperor and in September 1727 was arrested and exiled with his whole family to Berezovoe, where he soon died.

A significant role in discrediting the personality of Menshikov in the eyes of the young emperor was played by the Dolgoruky, as well as a member of the military-technical cooperation, the tutor of the tsar, nominated to this position by Menshikov himself - A.I. Osterman - A clever diplomat who, depending on the alignment of forces and the political situation, was able to change his views, allies and patrons.

The overthrow of Menshikov was, in essence, an actual palace coup, because the composition of the military-technical cooperation changed, in which aristocratic families (Dolgoruky and Golitsyn) began to predominate, and A.I. began to play a key role. Osterman; the regency of the MTC was put an end to, Peter II declared himself a full-fledged ruler, who was surrounded by new favorites; a course was outlined aimed at revising the reforms of Peter I.

Soon the court left St. Petersburg and moved to Moscow, which attracted the emperor by the presence of richer hunting grounds. The sister of the tsar's favorite, Ekaterina Dolgorukaya, was betrothed to Peter II, but while preparing for the wedding, he died of smallpox. And again the question of the heir to the throne arose, because. with the death of Peter II, the male line of the Romanovs ended, and he did not have time to appoint a successor.

4. Supreme Privy Council (STC)

In the conditions of a political crisis and timelessness, the military-technical cooperation, which by that time consisted of 8 people (5 seats belonged to the Dolgoruky and Golitsyn), decided to invite the niece of Peter I, the Duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna, to the throne, since back in 1710 she was married off by Peter to the Duke of Courland , early widowed, lived in cramped material conditions, largely at the expense of the Russian government.

It was also extremely important that she had no supporters and no connections in Russia. As a result, this made it possible, beckoning with an invitation to the brilliant St. Petersburg throne, to impose their own conditions and get her consent to limit the power of the monarch.

D.M. Golitsyn came up with the initiative to draw up really limiting autocracy " conditions ", according to which:

1) Anna undertook to rule together with the military-technical cooperation, which actually turned into the highest governing body of the country.

2) Without the approval of the military-technical cooperation, it could not legislate, impose taxes, dispose of the treasury, declare war or make peace.

3) The empress did not have the right to grant estates and ranks above the rank of colonel, to deprive her of estates without trial.

4) The Guard was subordinate to the military-technical cooperation.

5) Anna undertook not to marry and not to appoint an heir, but in case of non-fulfillment of any of these conditions, she was deprived of the "crown of Russia".

There is no consensus among scientists in assessing the nature and significance of the "invention of the leaders." Some see in the "conditions" a desire to establish, instead of autocracy, an "oligarchic" form of government that would meet the interests of a narrow layer of noble nobility and lead Russia back to the era of "boyar self-will." Others believe that it was the first constitutional draft to limit the arbitrary rule of the despotic state created by Peter, from which all segments of the population, including the aristocracy, suffered.

Anna Ioannovna after meeting in Mitava with V.L. Dolgoruky, sent by the military-technical cooperation for negotiations, accepted these conditions without any hesitation. However, despite the desire of members of the military-technical cooperation to hide their plans, their contents became known to the guards and the general masses " nobility ".

From this environment, new projects for the political reorganization of Russia began to emerge (the most mature one belonged to the V.N. Tatishchev ), which gave the nobility the right to elect representatives of the highest authorities and expanded the composition of the military-technical cooperation. Specific requirements were also put forward aimed at facilitating the conditions of service of the nobles. D.M. Golitsyn, realizing the danger of isolating the military-technical cooperation, met these wishes and developed a new project, which envisaged limiting autocracy by a system of elected bodies. The highest of them remained the military-technical cooperation of 12 members. Previously, all issues were discussed in the Senate of 30 people, the Noble Chamber of 200 ordinary nobles and the chamber of townspeople, two representatives from each city. In addition, the nobility was exempted from compulsory service.

The supporters of the inviolability of the principle of autocracy, led by A. Osterman and F. Prokopovich, who attracted the guards, managed to take advantage of the disagreements between the adherents of the constitutional restriction of the monarchy. As a result, having found support, Anna Ioannovna broke the "conditions" and restored the autocracy in full.

The reasons for the failure of the "supreme leaders" were the short-sightedness and selfishness of the majority of the MTC members, who sought to limit the monarchy not for the sake of the interests of the whole country, or even the nobility, but for the sake of preserving and expanding their own privileges. The inconsistency of actions, political inexperience and mutual suspicion of individual noble groups, who were supporters of the constitutional order, but feared by their actions to strengthen the military-technical cooperation, also contributed to the restoration of autocracy. The bulk of the nobility was not ready for radical political change.

The decisive word belonged to the Guard, which, after some hesitation, finally supported the idea of ​​an unlimited monarchy.

Finally, the far-sightedness and unscrupulousness of Osterman and Prokopovich, the leaders of the party of supporters of the preservation of the autocracy, played an important role.

5. Board of Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740)

From the very beginning of her reign, Anna Ioannovna tried to erase even the memory of "conditions" from the consciousness of her subjects. She liquidated the military-technical cooperation, creating instead the Cabinet of Ministers headed by Osterman. Since 1735, the signature of the 3rd cabinet of ministers, according to her decree, was equated with the signature of the empress. Dolgoruky, and later Golitsyn were repressed.

Gradually, Anna went to satisfy the most urgent requirements of the Russian nobility: their service life was limited to 25 years; that part of the Decree on Single Inheritance, which limited the right of the nobles to dispose of the estate when it was inherited, was canceled; easier to get an officer's rank. For these purposes, a cadet noble corps was created, at the end of which an officer rank was awarded; it was allowed to enlist the nobles for service from infancy, which gave them the opportunity, upon reaching the age of majority, to receive an officer's rank "by length of service."

An accurate description of the personality of the new empress was given by V.O. Klyuchevsky: "Tall and obese, with a face more masculine than feminine, callous by nature and even more hardened by early widowhood ... among court adventures in Courland, where she was pushed around like a Russian-Prussian-Polish toy, she, having already 37 years , brought to Moscow an evil and poorly educated mind with a fierce thirst for belated pleasures and gross entertainment".

Amusements of Anna Ioannovna cost the treasury very dearly, and although she, unlike Peter, could not stand alcohol, the maintenance of her court cost 5-6 times more. Most of all, she loved to watch jesters, among whom were representatives of the most noble families - Prince M.A. Golitsyn, Count A.P. Apraksin, Prince N.F. Volkonsky. It is possible that in this way Anna continued to take revenge on the aristocracy for her humiliation with "conditions", especially since the military-technical cooperation at one time did not allow entry into Russia to her Courland favorite - E. Biron.

Not trusting the Russian nobility and not having the desire, and even the ability to delve into state affairs herself, Anna Ioannovna surrounded herself with people from the Baltic states. The key role at court passed into the hands of her favorite E. Biron.

Some historians call the period of Anna Ioannovna's reign "Bironism", believing that its main feature was the dominance of the Germans, who neglected the interests of the country, demonstrated contempt for everything Russian and pursued a policy of arbitrariness in relation to the Russian nobility.

However, the government course was determined by Biron's enemy, A. Osterman, and arbitrariness was rather repaired by representatives of the domestic nobility, headed by the head of the Secret Chancellery, A.I. Ushakov. Yes, and the damage to the treasury of the Russian nobles inflicted no less than foreigners.

Favorite, hoping to weaken the vice-chancellor's influence A. Osterman , managed to introduce his protege into the Cabinet of Ministers - A. Volynsky . But the new minister began to pursue an independent political course, developed a "Project for the Correction of Internal State Affairs", in which he advocated the further expansion of the privileges of the nobility and raised the issue of the dominance of foreigners. By this he aroused the discontent of Biron, who, having teamed up with Osterman, managed to get Volynsky accused of "insulting her imperial majesty" and lead him to the chopping block in 1740.

Soon Anna Ioannovna died, appointing her niece's son as his successor. Anna Leopoldovna , Duchess of Brunswick, baby Ivan Antonovich under Biron's regency.

In the context of general dissatisfaction of the nobility and especially the guard, which the regent tried to disband, the head of the military collegium, field marshal Minich staged another coup d'état. But Minich himself, famous for the words: "Russian state has the advantage over others that it is controlled by God himself, otherwise it is impossible to explain how it exists", soon did not calculate his own strength and was retired, missing Osterman in first place.

6. The reign of Elizabeth Petrovna (1741-1761)

On November 25, 1741, the "daughter" of Peter the Great, relying on the support of the guards, carried out another coup d'état and seized power. The peculiarities of this coup were that Elizaveta Petrovna had broad support ordinary people of the city and the lower guards (only 17.5% of the 308 guards participants were nobles), who saw in her the daughter of Peter, all the hardships of whose reign had already been forgotten, and her personality and deeds began to be idealized. The coup of 1741, unlike the others, had a patriotic overtone, because. was directed against the dominance of foreigners.

Foreign diplomacy tried to take part in the preparation of the coup, seeking political and even territorial dividends through its assistance to Elizabeth. But all the hopes of the French ambassador Chétardie and the Swedish ambassador Nolken, in the end, were in vain. The implementation of the coup was accelerated by the fact that the ruler Anna Leopoldovna became aware of Elizabeth's meetings with foreign ambassadors, and the threat of forcible tonsure as a nun loomed over the lover of balls and entertainment.

Having seized power, Elizaveta Petrovna proclaimed a return to her father's politics, but it was hardly possible for her to rise to such a level. She managed to repeat the era of the reign of the great emperor rather in form than in spirit. Elizabeth began with the restoration of the institutions created by Peter 1 and their status. Having abolished the Cabinet of Ministers, she returned the Senate to the importance of the highest state body, restored Berg - and the Manufactory Collegium.

Under Elizabeth, the German favorites were replaced by Russian and Ukrainian nobles, who were more interested in the affairs of the country. So, with the active assistance of her young favorite I.I. Shuvalova was opened in 1755 Moscow University. At the initiative of his cousin, from the late 1740s. de facto head of government P.I. Shuvalova , in 1753 a decree was issued "on the abolition of internal customs and petty fees", which gave impetus to the development of trade and the formation of an internal all-Russian market. By decree of Elizabeth Petrovna in 1744, the death penalty was actually abolished in Russia.

At the same time, its social policy was aimed at the transformation of the nobility from the service to the privileged class and fortification. She instilled luxury in every possible way, which led to a sharp increase in the expenses of the nobles for themselves and the maintenance of their court.

These expenses fell on the shoulders of the peasants, who in the era of Elizabeth finally turned into "baptized property", which, without the slightest remorse, could be sold, exchanged for a thoroughbred dog, etc. The attitude of the nobles towards the peasants as "talking cattle" was caused and ended by that time a cultural split in Russian society, as a result of which the Russian nobles, who spoke French, no longer understood their peasants. The strengthening of serfdom was expressed in the landlords obtaining the right to sell their peasants as recruits (1747), and also to exile them without trial to Siberia (1760).

In its inner and foreign policy Elizaveta Petrovna in more took into account the national interests. In 1756, Russia, on the side of a coalition of Austria, France, Sweden and Saxony, entered the war with Prussia, supported by England. Russia's participation in " Seven Years' War "1756-1763 put the army of Frederick II on the brink of disaster.

In August 1757, in the battle of Gross-Egersdorf, the Russian army of S.F. Apraksin as a result of the successful actions of the detachment of General P.A. Rumyantseva achieved the first victory. In August 1758, General Fermor at Zorndorf, having suffered significant losses, managed to achieve a "draw" with the army of Friedrich, and in August 1759, at Kunersdorf, the troops of P.S. Saltykov defeated her.

In the autumn of 1760, Russian-Austrian troops captured Berlin, and only the death of Elizaveta Petrovna on December 25, 1761 saved Prussia from complete catastrophe. Her heir, Peter III, who idolized Frederick II, left the coalition and concluded a peace treaty with him, returning to Prussia everything lost in the war.

Despite the fact that Elizaveta Petrovna, unlike her father, used her unlimited power not so much in the interests of the state, but to satisfy her own needs and whims (after her death, 15 thousand dresses remained), she voluntarily or unwittingly prepared the country and society for next era of change. During the 20 years of her reign, the country managed to "rest" and accumulate strength for a new breakthrough, which came in the era of Catherine II.

7. The reign of Peter III

Elizabeth Petrovna's nephew, Peter III (the son of Anna's elder sister and the Duke of Holstein) was born in Holstein and from childhood was brought up in hostility to everything Russian and reverence for German. By 1742 he was an orphan. The childless Elizabeth invited him to Russia and soon appointed him her heir. In 1745 he was married to an unfamiliar and unloved Anhalt-Zerbst Princess Sophia Frederica Augusta (in Orthodoxy named Ekaterina Alekseevna).

The heir had not outlived his childhood, continuing to play tin soldiers, while Catherine was actively engaged in self-education and longed for love and power.

After the death of Elizabeth, Peter turned against himself the nobility and the guards with his pro-German sympathies, unbalanced behavior, the signing of peace with Frederick II, the introduction of Prussian uniforms, and his plans to send the guards to fight for the interests of the Prussian king in Denmark. These measures showed that he did not know, and most importantly, did not want to know the country he headed.

At the same time, on February 18, 1762, he signed a manifesto "On the granting of liberty and freedom to all the Russian nobility", freeing the nobles from compulsory service, canceling for them Physical punishment and turned into a truly privileged class. Then the terrifying Secret Investigative Office was abolished. He stopped the persecution of schismatics and decided to secularize church and monastic land ownership, prepared a decree on the equalization of all religions. All these measures met the objective needs of Russia's development and reflected the interests of the nobility. But his personal behavior, indifference and even dislike for Russia, mistakes in foreign policy and an insulting attitude towards his wife, who managed to gain respect from the nobility and guards, created the prerequisites for his overthrow. Preparing the coup, Catherine was guided not only by political pride, a thirst for power and the instinct of self-preservation, but also by the desire to serve her new homeland.

8. The results of the era of palace coups

Palace coups did not entail changes in the political, and even more so the social system of society and boiled down to the struggle for power of various noble groups pursuing their own, most often selfish interests. At the same time, the specific policy of each of the six monarchs had its own characteristics, sometimes important for the country. In general, socio-economic stabilization and foreign policy successes achieved during the reign of Elizabeth created the conditions for more accelerated development and new breakthroughs in foreign policy that would occur under Catherine II.

The focus of attention of Russian diplomats was the traditional Black Sea problem and the active protection of the conquests in the Baltic.

Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774

April 1769 - the first two campaigns under the command of A.M. Golitsyn were unsuccessful, although before his departure he nevertheless took Khotyn (September 10) and Iasi (September 26). Then the Russian troops took Bucharest. Soon Moldova swore allegiance to Russia.

After a series of victories by I.F. Medem, Kabarda swore allegiance to Russia.

In 1770 Russia scored even greater victories over Turkey. Russian troops occupied Izmail, Kiliya, Akkerman and others.

1770, June 25-26; July 7 and July 21 - the victory of the Russian fleet at Chesme and the troops of P.A. Rumyantsev at Larga and Cahul.

July 1771 - Yu.V. Dolgoruky was announced the approval of eternal friendship with Russia, as a result, Russia formed its own peace conditions that did not suit Austria.

In June 1774 Russian troops again raided the Danube. The Turks suffered several defeats at once.

§ The Crimean Khanate was declared independent;

§ The fortresses of Kerch, Yenikale and Kinburn pass to Russia;

§ The Black and Marmara Seas are declared free for merchant ships of Russian citizens;

§ Georgia is freed from the heaviest tribute by young men and girls sent to Turkey;

§ Turkey pays Russia 4.5 million rubles. for military expenses.

1783 – liquidation Crimean Khanate, the entry of its territory into Russia. Foundation of Sevastopol.

Russian-Turkish war 1787-1791.

August 21, 1787 the Turkish fleet attacked the Russian guards near Kinburn. The defeat of the Turks, the failure of their attempt to seize the Crimea from the sea and destroy Sevastopol.

1788 - the actions of the Russian army focused on the assault on the Turkish fortress Ochakov, since the main forces of the Turkish fleet were stationed in the harbor. In the battle near Serpent's Island, under the command of F.F. Ushakov, the Russians won. December - successful assault on Ochakov;

§ Turkey ceded to Russia all the lands of the Black Sea up to the Dniester River, gave Ochakov;

§ Turkey was obliged to pay damages for the raids in the North Caucasus;

§ Moldavia, Bessarabia and Wallachia were still in the hands of the Porte, and the issue of the protectorate of Georgia was not resolved.

Russian-Swedish war 1788-1790.

In the summer of 1788 the Tripartite Alliance was created against Russia (England, Prussia, Holland), finally, Prussia, England and Turkey achieved an attack on Russia by Sweden.

June 1788 - Swedish troops besieged the fortresses of Neishlot and Friedrichsgam, the Swedish fleet entered the action and entered the Gulf of Finland;

July 1788 - the battle near the island of Hogland, the victory of the Russians, thereby the Russians stopped the attempt of Gustav III to capture St. Petersburg;

1789 - Russian troops launched an offensive in Finland, the victory of Russia;

1772 - the first partition of Poland, according to which Russia received Eastern Belarus with borders along the Western Dvina, Druti and Dnieper.

1793 - the second partition of Poland, according to which Russia received Belarus and Right-Bank Ukraine;

1794 - uprising in Poland under the leadership of T. Kosciuszko;

1795 - the third partition of Poland, according to which Russia received Western Belarus, Lithuania, Courland and part of Volhynia;

The era of palace coups is the period from 1725 to 1762, when several rulers changed in Russia after the death of Peter I as a result of state conspiracies and the actions of the guard, headed either by the aristocracy or by Peter's closest associates. Ekaterina I, Peter II, Anna Ioannovna, Anna Leopoldovna with her son Ivan Antonovich VI, Elizabeth Petrovna, and, finally, Peter III came to power in succession. They ruled with varying degrees of awareness, involvement in the state process and unequally in time. In this lesson, you will learn about all these events in more detail.

In the case of a palace coup, there are no qualitative changes in the political, socio-economic, or cultural structure of the state.

Causes of palace coups

1. Expansion of powers of the state apparatus
2. Greater financial, political and cultural independence for nobles
3. Creation of the guard
4. Decree of Peter I on the succession to the throne
5. Absence of a legitimate heir to Peter I

In 1725 the Russian emperor Peter diedIGreat. Before the imperial entourage, the question arose of who would ascend the throne. It turned out that Peter's inner circle was divided into two parts. One part is the aristocracy: Golitsyn, Dolgoruky, etc.; the other part are those people who came to power thanks to their skills and knowledge from the very bottom: HELL. Menshikov (Fig. 2), P.A. Tolstoy (Fig. 3), A.I. Osterman (Fig. 4) and other nobles and people from abroad. The aristocracy supported the grandson of PeterI, the son of the murdered Tsarevich Alexei - Peter. The natives of the "Petrov's nest" wanted to see the wife of Peter the Great - Catherine - on the Russian throne.

Rice. 2. A.D. Menshikov - the main favorite of Catherine I ()

Rice. 3. P.A. Tolstoy - favorite of Catherine I ()

Rice. 4. A.I. Osterman - favorite of Catherine I ()

When the Governing Senate was discussing who to put on the throne of the Russian Empire, Menshikov asked the guards for her opinion, and she replied that she wanted to see Catherine the ruler of RussiaI(Fig. 5). Thus, the guard decided the fate of the throne, and from 1725 to 1727. Russian Empire Ekaterina's rulesI. On the one hand, Catherine was a wonderful person, a wise wife. But, on the other hand, during her reign, she did not show herself as an empress in any way. important event was that she, together with Peter I, opened the Academy of Sciences; she herself created the Supreme Privy Council. The actual ruler of the country under Catherine I was her favorite A.D. Menshikov, who headed the Supreme Privy Council.

Rice. 5. Catherine I - Russian Empress ()

In 1727 CatherineI died. The opinions of the highest aristocracy, guards, "chicks of Peter's nest" agreed that the next ruler was to be Peter II(Fig. 6), who became the emperor of the Russian Empire at the age of less than 12 years. HELL. Menshikov decided that it was he who could control the teenager. At first, Peter II was under the actual influence of Menshikov. He planned to marry Peter to his daughter M.A. Menshikova and thus intermarry with the royal power.

Rice. 6. Peter II - Russian emperor ()

But at the peak of his fame, Alexander Danilovich fell ill, and power passed from his hands to the old tribal aristocracy. The Golitsyns and Dolgorukis quickly persuaded Peter II not to study, but to lead a wild life. After Menshikov recovered and tried to influence Peter, he was sent into exile in Siberia, in the city of Berezov. PeterIIuntil 1730 remained under the control of the aristocratic nobility. They tried to marry him for the second time to E.A. Dolgoruky. But some time before the wedding, Peter II fell ill and died very quickly.

After Peter's deathIIThe Supreme Privy Council met for a meeting to decide to whom to give power. There were no direct heirs to the throne, but Peter the Great had two daughters - Elizabeth and Anna, but they were not considered as heirs. Then the Supreme Privy Council remembered that the brother of Peter I, Ivan, had three daughters, one of whom, Anna Ioannovna, lived in Courland and was a widow.

The Supreme Privy Council decided to elect Anna Ioannovna (Fig. 7) the Empress of Russia, having previously drawn up “conditions” for her that limited her power. First she signed these conditions in order to get out of Courland and get a place as empress in Russia. But when the empress arrived in Russia, she saw that the guards and broad circles of the nobility were opposed to the country being ruled by the "supreme leaders", she, with all the highest entourage, tore the conditions, thereby showing that she was refusing the restrictions imposed on her by the Supreme Privy Council. Thus, she ruled, like previous emperors, autocratically.

Rice. 7. Anna Ioannovna - Russian Empress ()

Anna Ioannovna ruled the Russian Empire from 1730 to 1740. She dealt with the Supreme Privy Council and abolished it. Golitsyn and Dolgoruky were repressed. Characteristic for the time of Anna's reign was the so-called "Bironism" - the dominance of the Germans in public administration (after the favorite of the Empress E.I. Biron (Fig. 8), who was her co-ruler). They occupied all the main government posts: B.K. Minich (Fig. 9) was at the head of the army, A.I. Osterman was at the head of the Cabinet of Ministers. The Empress was very fond of having fun with her German favorites. For all these entertainments, large taxes were collected from the Russian population.

Rice. 8. E.I. Biron - the main favorite of Anna Ioannovna ()

Rice. 9. B.K. Munnich - favorite of Anna Ioannovna ()

During the reign of Anna Ioannovna in Russia, such transformations were made as:

1. The introduction of fashion for balls
2. Completion of the construction of Peterhof
3. Introduction of the European lifestyle

A.P. Volynsky tried to somehow limit the dominance of the Germans in Russia, but he could not. For him, it ended in death.

Anna Ioannovna left the Russian throne to her niece Anna Leopoldovna(Fig. 10). But Anna Leopoldovna at the end of Anna Ioannovna's life did not please her, so power passed to Anna Leopoldovna's son, the recently born Ivan Antonovich VI (Fig. 11). Ivan VI became regent E.I. Biron.

Rice. 10. Anna Leopoldovna - mother of Ivan VI ()

Rice. 11. Ivan VI - young Russian emperor ()

Further, events developed rapidly - in one year there were three palace coups. Almost immediately after the death of Anna Ioannovna, the once omnipotent Biron was overthrown by Osterman's coup, which briefly seized the supreme state power in Russia. But soon Osterman was overthrown from the throne by Minich, who brought Anna Leopoldovna to power, who did not care about government controlled. She, like Anna Ioannovna, relied on the Germans in governing the country. Meanwhile, a new conspiracy has grown up behind her.

As a result, Anna Leopoldovna and Ivan VI ruled Russia only from 1740 to 1741.

Elizaveta Petrovna ( rice. 12), the daughter of Peter the Great, was involved in a conspiracy, and with the participation of foreigners, against Anna Leopoldovna and Ivan VI. Relying on the guardsmen, having their powerful support, Elizaveta Petrovna easily carried out a coup d'état and overthrew Anna Leopoldovna And IvanaVI.

Elizabeth I reigned from 1741 to 1761 She loved balls and entertainment. Her favorite favorites were A.G. Razumovsky (Fig. 13) and I.I. Shuvalov (Fig. 14). Under Elizabeth, there were wars, victories, attempts at some reforms, and at the same time, in the last years of her life, the empress, who was often ill, could not meet with diplomats, ministers and other government officials for months. Elizaveta Petrovna got rid of the “Bironism” and expelled all the Germans from the top of the government, opened the way there again for the Russian nobility, which made her a heroine in their eyes.

In 1761 Elizaveta Petrovna died, and her nephew, the son of Anna, the second daughter of Peter the Great, Peter III (Fig. 15) ascended the Russian throne, since the empress had no legitimate husband and children. This emperor ruled the country for less than six months. Contradictory, but most often negative reviews have been preserved about Peter III. In Russia, he was considered not a patriot, since he relied on the Germans, a stupid person. After all, in early childhood, Peter was brought up as a pretender to the throne of Sweden, not the Russian Empire.

Rice. 15. Peter III - Russian emperor ()

In June 1762, Peter III was overthrown by his own wife, the future Empress Catherine II. With her, a new era of Russian history began.

Bibliography

1. Alkhazashvili D.M. The struggle for the legacy of Peter the Great. - M.: Gardariki, 2002.
2. Anisimov E.V. Russia in the middle of the eighteenth century. (Struggle for the legacy of Peter I). - M., 1986.
3. Zagladin N.V., Simonia N.A. The history of Russia and the world from ancient times to late XIX century. Textbook for grade 10. - M .: TID " Russian word- RS", 2008.
4. Danilov A.A., Kosulina L.G., Brandt M.Yu. Russia and the world. Antiquity. Middle Ages. New time. Grade 10. - M.: Education, 2007.
5. Pavlenko N.I. Chicks of Petrov's nest. - M., 1994.
6. Pavlenko N.I. Passion at the throne. - M., 1996.

1. Allstatepravo.ru ().
2. Encyclopaedia-russia.ru ().
3. Grandars.ru ().

Homework

1. List the causes of palace coups.
2. Describe the course of palace coups and its political aspect.
3. What were the results of palace coups for Russia?