The reign of Peter 3, if my memory serves me, was the shortest in the history of Russia. Even the impostors in the Time of Troubles ruled even more! The years of his reign: from December 1761 to June 1762. Nevertheless, under him many innovations were adopted, which went both in line with the policy of his predecessors and not. In this article, we will briefly analyze his reign and characterize the emperor himself.
Peter the Third
About personality
The real name of Peter III Fedorovich is Karl Peter Ulrich. He, like his wife, Sophia Augusta Frederic Anhalt Zerbskaya, is a native of an impoverished North German family. Some people subscribe to newspapers or magazines, but Elizaveta Petrovna subscribed to herself an heir - himself! At that time, Northern Germany "supplied" noble princes to all of Europe!
Karl was crazy about Prussia (Germany), from its emperor Frederick. While he was the heirs - all the game of war games, like his grandfather - Peter the Great. Yes Yes! Moreover, Karl Peter was also a relative of Charles XII, the Swedish emperor, with whom Peter the Great fought in the years. How did it happen? The fact is that Karl's mother was the daughter of Peter Anna Petrovna, who was married off to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. And the husband of Anna Petrovna, Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp, was the nephew of Charles XII. In such an amazing way, two opponents found their continuation in him!
Meanwhile, you can call him a fool. Well, judge for yourself: he forced his wife, Sophia Augusta (the future Catherine the Great), to carry a gun at the ready so that she would guard the castle in his amusing games! Moreover, he told her about all his love affairs - his wife! It is clear that she did not take him seriously, and, in general, predetermined his fate, probably even during the life of Elizabeth Petrovna.
Karl Peter Ulrich (future Peter the Third) with his wife Sophia Augusta Frederika Anhalt of Zerbskaya (future Catherine the Great)
It is precisely because of his eccentricity and tomfoolery that many researchers believe that he was not the initiator of all those decrees, perhaps, except for the first, that followed in his reign.
Board milestones
A summary of the reign of Peter III is reduced to the following points.
In the field of foreign policy, you should know that Russia under Elizaveta Petrovna was at war with Prussia (Seven Years' War). And since the new emperor was a fan of this country, he himself issued a decree on the immediate cessation of the military conflict. He returned all the lands richly watered with the blood of Russian soldiers to the German emperor and made an alliance with him against the rest of the world.
It is clear that such news was extremely negatively received by the guard, which, as we remember, became a political force in.
In the field of domestic policy, you need to know the following points:
- Peter III issued a manifesto on the freedom of the nobility. According to one historical myth, this document appeared in the following piquant way. The fact is that the tsar announced to his mistress E.R. Vorontsova, which is locked with D.V. Volkov and will be immersed in state affairs. In fact, Volkov personally wrote the manifesto while the emperor was having fun with his second mistress!
- Under this emperor, the secularization of church lands was prepared. This step was a natural phenomenon of the rise and victory of secular power over church power. By the way, the confrontation between these authorities is an excellent cross-cutting topic, which is analyzed in. By the way, secularization was carried out this way only during the reign of Catherine the Great.
- It was Peter the Third who stopped the persecution of the Old Believers, which had begun since. In general, the emperor's plans were to equalize all confessions. Of course, no one would let him realize this truly revolutionary step.
- It was this emperor who liquidated the Secret Chancellery, which was created during the reign of Anna Ioannovna.
Deposition of Peter
The coup of 1762 can be briefly described as follows. In general, a conspiracy to remove Peter the Third to his wife had been ripe for a long time, since 1758. The founder of the conspiracy was Alexei Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin, chancellor of the empire. However, he fell into disgrace, and Ekaterina Alekseevna herself did not want to go to the monastery, so she did nothing.
However, as soon as Peter reigned, the conspiracy began to mature with renewed vigor. Its organizers were the Orlov brothers, Panin, Razumovsky and others.
The reason was that on June 9 the tsar publicly called his wife a fool, and told everyone that he would divorce her and marry his mistress Vorontsova. The conspirators simply could not allow such an intention to materialize. As a result, on June 28, when the emperor left for Peterhof on the occasion of his namesake, Ekaterina Alekseevna left with Alexei Orlov for Petersburg. There, the Senate, the Synod, the Guards and other state bodies swore allegiance to her.
But Peter the Third was out of work, and was soon arrested and strangled. Of course, everyone was told that the king de died of apoplexy. But we know the truth =)
That's all. Share this article with your friends on social networks! Write what you think about this emperor in the comments!
Sincerely, Andrey Puchkov
The Russian Emperor Peter III (Peter Fedorovich, born Karl Peter Ulrich Holstein of Gottorp) was born on February 21 (10 old style) 1728 in the city of Kiel in the Duchy of Holstein (now - the territory of Germany).
His father is Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein of Gottorp, 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 pretender to 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 by his aunt to be the heir to the Russian throne.
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 doing military exercises and maneuvers. During the years 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 solving 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 he publicly expressed sympathy for the Prussian king Frederick II. All this was widely known not only at court, but also in the wider strata of Russian society, where Peter did not enjoy either authority or popularity.
The beginning of his reign was marked by numerous favors to the nobility. Returned from exile, the former regent Duke of Courland and many others. 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 All the Russian Nobility").
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
Charles XII and was first brought up as heir to the Swedish throne.Mother of boy named at birth Carl Peter Ulrich, died shortly after his birth, catching a cold during fireworks in honor of the birth of her son. At the age of 11, he also lost his father. After his death, he was brought up in the house of his paternal cousin, Bishop Adolf of Eiten (later King Adolf Fredrik of Sweden). His educators O. F. Brummer and F. V. Berkhholz were not distinguished by high moral qualities and more than once severely punished the child. The crown prince of the Swedish crown was repeatedly flogged; many times the boy was put on peas with his knees, and for a long time - so that his knees swelled and he could hardly walk; subjected to other sophisticated and humiliating punishments. His educators cared little for his education: by the age of 13, he had only a limited command of French.
Peter grew up timid, nervous, impressionable, loved music and painting and at the same time adored everything military (however, he was afraid of cannon fire; this fear remained with him for the rest of his life). It was with military comforts that all his ambitious dreams were connected. He did not differ in good health, rather the opposite: he was sickly and frail. By nature, Peter was not evil; often acted rudely. Peter's penchant for lies and absurd fantasies is also noted. According to some reports, already in childhood he was addicted to wine.
Heir
At the first meeting, Elizabeth was struck by the ignorance of her nephew and upset by her appearance: thin, sickly, with an unhealthy complexion. Academician Jacob Shtelin became his tutor and teacher, who considered his student quite capable, but lazy, at the same time noting in him such features as cowardice, cruelty to animals, and a tendency to boast. The education of the heir in Russia lasted only three years - after the wedding of Peter and Catherine, Shtelin was dismissed from his duties (however, he forever retained Peter's disposition and trust). Neither during his studies, nor subsequently, did Pyotr Fedorovich ever learn to properly speak and write in Russian. The tutor of the Grand Duke in Orthodoxy was Simon Todorsky, who also became a teacher of the law for Catherine.
The wedding of the heir was played on a special scale - so that before the ten-day celebrations, "all the tales of the East faded." Peter and Catherine were granted the possession of Oranienbaum near St. Petersburg and Lyubertsy near Moscow.
Peter's relationship with his wife did not work out from the very beginning: she was intellectually more developed, and he, on the contrary, was infantile. Catherine in her memoirs noted:
(In the same place, Catherine, not without pride, mentions that she read The History of Germany in eight large volumes in four months. Elsewhere in her memoirs, Catherine writes about the enthusiastic reading of Madame de Sevigne and Voltaire. All memories are about the same time.)
The mind of the Grand Duke was still occupied by children's games, military exercises, and he was not at all interested in women. It is believed that until the beginning of the 1750s there was no marital relationship between husband and wife, but then Peter underwent some kind of operation (presumably circumcision to eliminate phimosis), after which in 1754 Catherine gave birth to his son Paul (future Emperor Paul I) . The heir-baby was taken away from his parents immediately after birth, and Empress Elizaveta Petrovna herself took up his upbringing. However, Pyotr Fedorovich was never interested in his son and was quite satisfied with the permission of the Empress to see Paul once a week. Peter became more and more distant from his wife; his favorite was Elizaveta Vorontsova (sister of E. R. Dashkova). Nevertheless, Catherine noted that for some reason the Grand Duke always had an involuntary trust in her, all the more strange that she did not strive for spiritual intimacy with her husband. In difficult situations, financial or economic, he often turned to his wife for help, calling her ironically Madame la Resource("Lady Help").
Peter never hid his hobbies for other women from his wife; Catherine felt humiliated by this state of affairs. In 1756, she had an affair with Stanisław August Poniatowski, at that time the Polish envoy to the Russian court. For the Grand Duke, his wife's passion also did not become a secret. There is evidence that Peter and Catherine more than once arranged dinners with Poniatovsky and Elizaveta Vorontsova; they took place in the chambers of the Grand Duchess. After, leaving with the favorite for his half, Peter joked: “Well, children, now you don’t need us anymore.” Both couples lived on very good terms with each other. In 1757, the grand ducal couple had another child - Anna (she died of smallpox in 1759). Historians cast great doubt on the paternity of Peter, calling S. A. Poniatovsky the most probable father. However, Peter officially recognized the child as his own.
In the early 1750s, Peter was allowed to discharge a small detachment of Holstein soldiers (by 1758 their number was about one and a half thousand), and he spent all his free time doing military exercises and maneuvers with them. Another hobby of his was playing the violin.
During the years spent in Russia, Peter never made any attempts to get to know the country, its people and history better, he neglected Russian customs, behaved inappropriately during church services, did not observe fasts and other rituals.
It is noted that Peter III was energetically engaged in state affairs (“Already in the morning he was in his office, where he listened to reports<…>, then hurried to the Senate or collegiums.<…>In the Senate, he himself took on the most important cases energetically and assertively. His policy was quite consistent; he, in imitation of his grandfather Peter I, proposed a series of reforms.
Among the most important cases of Peter III are the abolition of the Secret Office (Office of Secret Investigative Affairs; Manifesto of February 16, 1762), the beginning of the process of secularization of church lands, the promotion of commercial and industrial activities by creating the State Bank and issuing banknotes (Nominal Decree of May 25), adoption of the decree on freedom of foreign trade (Decree of March 28); it also contains a demand for a careful attitude to forests as one of the most important wealth of Russia. Among other measures, researchers note a decree that allowed factories for the production of sailing fabric in Siberia, as well as a decree that qualified the murder of peasants by landlords as "tyrannical torment" and provided for life exile for this. He also stopped the persecution of the Old Believers. Peter III is also credited with the intention to reform the Russian Orthodox Church according to the Protestant model (In the Manifesto of Catherine II on the occasion of her accession to the throne of June 28, 1762, Peter was blamed for this: “Our Greek Church was already extremely exposed to its last danger of changing the ancient Orthodoxy in Russia and the adoption of an infidel law).
Legislative acts adopted during the short reign of Peter III, in many ways became the foundation for the subsequent reign of Catherine II.
The most important document of the reign of Peter Fedorovich is the “Manifesto on the Liberty of the Nobility” (Manifesto of February 18, 1762), thanks to which the nobility became the exclusive privileged class of the Russian Empire. The nobility, being forced by Peter I to obligatory and total duty to serve the state all his life, under Anna Ioannovna, who received the right to retire after 25 years of service, now received the right not to serve at all. And the privileges, initially granted to the nobility as a service class, not only remained, but also expanded. In addition to being exempted from service, the nobles received the right to leave the country virtually unhindered. One of the consequences of the Manifesto was that the nobles could now freely dispose of their land holdings, regardless of their attitude to service (the Manifesto passed over in silence the rights of the nobility to their estates; while the previous legislative acts of Peter I, Anna Ioannovna and Elizaveta Petrovna, concerning noble service, linked service duties and landownership rights). The nobility became as free as a privileged estate in a feudal country can be.
The reign of Peter III was marked by the strengthening of serfdom. The landlords got the opportunity to arbitrarily move the peasants who belonged to them from one county to another; there were serious bureaucratic restrictions on the transition of serfs to the merchant class; during the six months of Peter's reign, about 13 thousand people were distributed from state peasants to serfs (in fact, there were more of them: only men were included in the audit lists in 1762). During these six months, peasant riots arose several times, suppressed by punitive detachments. Noteworthy is the Manifesto of Peter III of June 19 regarding the riots in the Tver and Cannes districts: “We intend to inviolably preserve the landowners with their estates and possessions, and keep the peasants in due obedience to them.” The riots were caused by a spreading rumor about the granting of "liberties to the peasantry", a response to the rumors and served as a legislative act, which was not accidentally given the status of a manifesto.
The legislative activity of the government of Peter III was extraordinary. During the 186-day reign, judging by the official "Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire", 192 documents were adopted: manifestos, nominal and Senate decrees, resolutions, etc. (They do not include decrees on awards and rank production, monetary payments and on specific private issues).
However, some researchers stipulate that measures useful for the country were taken as if “by the way”; for the emperor himself, they were not urgent or important. In addition, many of these decrees and manifestos did not appear suddenly: they were prepared under Elizabeth by the “Commission for the drafting of a new Code”, but were adopted at the suggestion of Roman Vorontsov, Pyotr Shuvalov, Dmitry Volkov and other Elizabethan dignitaries who remained at the throne of Pyotr Fedorovich.
Peter III was much more interested in the internal affairs of the war with Denmark: out of Holstein patriotism, the emperor decided, in alliance with Prussia, to oppose Denmark (yesterday's ally of Russia), in order to return Schleswig taken away from her native Holstein, and he himself intended to go on a campaign at the head of the guard.
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Ivan Nikitich
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Immediately upon accession to the throne, Pyotr Fedorovich returned to court most of the disgraced nobles of the previous reign, who were languishing in exile (except for the hated Bestuzhev-Ryumin). Among them was Count Burchard Christopher Munnich, a veteran of palace coups. The Holstein relatives of the emperor were summoned to Russia: Princes Georg of Holstein-Gottorp and Peter August Friedrich of Holstein-Beck. Both were promoted to field marshals in view of the war with Denmark; Peter August Friedrich was also appointed governor-general of the capital. Alexandre Vilboa was appointed Feldzeugmeister General (i.e. commander of the artillery). These people, as well as the former tutor Jacob Stehlin, who was appointed personal librarian, formed the emperor's inner circle.
Once in power, Peter III immediately stopped hostilities against Prussia and concluded the Peace of Petersburg with Frederick II on extremely unfavorable terms for Russia, returning the conquered East Prussia (which had been an integral part of the Russian Empire for four years); and abandoning all acquisitions in the course of the effectively won Seven Years' War. Russia's exit from the war again saved Prussia from complete defeat (see also "The Miracle of the Brandenburg House"). Peter III easily sacrificed the interests of Russia for the sake of his German duchy and friendship with the idol Frederick. The peace concluded on April 24 caused bewilderment and indignation in society, it was naturally regarded as a betrayal and national humiliation. The long and costly war ended in nothing, Russia did not derive any benefits from its victories.
Despite the progressiveness of many legislative measures, the unprecedented privileges of the nobility, Peter's poorly thought out foreign policy acts, as well as his harsh actions against the church, the introduction of the Prussian order in the army not only did not add to his authority, but deprived him of any social support; in court circles, his policy only gave rise to uncertainty about the future.
Finally, the intention to withdraw the guard from Petersburg and send it to an incomprehensible and unpopular Danish campaign served as a powerful catalyst for a conspiracy that arose in the guard in favor of Ekaterina Alekseevna.
Palace coup
The first beginnings of the conspiracy date back to 1756, that is, by the time the Seven Years' War began and the health of Elizabeth Petrovna worsened. The all-powerful chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin, knowing full well about the pro-Prussian sentiments of the heir and realizing that under the new sovereign he was threatened at least by Siberia, hatched plans to neutralize Pyotr Fedorovich upon his accession to the throne, declaring Catherine an equal co-ruler. However, Alexei Petrovich fell into disgrace in 1758, hastening to implement his plan (the intentions of the chancellor remained undisclosed, he managed to destroy the dangerous papers). The Empress herself had no illusions about her successor on the throne and later thought about replacing her nephew with Paul's great-nephew:
Over the next three years, Catherine, who also fell under suspicion in 1758 and almost ended up in a monastery, did not take any noticeable political actions, except that she stubbornly increased and strengthened personal ties in high society.
In the ranks of the guard, a conspiracy against Pyotr Fedorovich took shape in the last months of Elizaveta Petrovna's life, thanks to the activities of the three Orlov brothers, the officers of the Izmailovsky regiment, the brothers Roslavlev and Lasunsky, the Preobrazhenians Passek and Bredikhin, and others. Among the highest dignitaries of the Empire, the most enterprising conspirators were N. I. Panin, educator of the young Pavel Petrovich, M. N. Volkonsky and K. G. Razumovsky, Little Russian hetman, president of the Academy of Sciences, favorite of his Izmailovsky regiment.
Elizaveta Petrovna died without daring to change anything in the fate of the throne. Catherine did not consider it possible to carry out a coup immediately after the death of the Empress: she was at the end of her fifth month of pregnancy (from Grigory Orlov; in April 1762 she gave birth to her son Alexei). In addition, Catherine had political reasons not to rush things, she wanted to attract as many supporters as possible to her side for a complete triumph. Knowing well the character of her husband, she rightly believed that Peter would set the entire metropolitan society against him soon enough. To carry out the coup, Catherine chose to wait for the right moment.
The position of Peter III in society was precarious, but the position of Catherine at court was also fragile. Peter III openly said that he was going to divorce his wife in order to marry his favorite Elizaveta Vorontsova. He treated his wife rudely, and on April 30, during a gala dinner on the occasion of the conclusion of peace with Prussia, there was a public scandal. The emperor, in the presence of the court, diplomats and foreign princes, shouted to his wife across the table "folle"(stupid); Catherine wept. The reason for the insult was Catherine's unwillingness to drink while standing, proclaimed by Peter III toast. The hostility between the spouses reached its climax. On the evening of the same day, he gave the order to arrest her, and only the intervention of Field Marshal Georg of Holstein-Gottorp, the emperor's uncle, saved Catherine.
Peterhof. Cascade "Golden Mountain". 19th century photolithography
By May 1762, the change of mood in the capital became so obvious that the emperor was advised on all sides to take measures to prevent a catastrophe, there were denunciations of a possible conspiracy, but Pyotr Fedorovich did not understand the seriousness of his situation. In May, the court, led by the emperor, as usual, left the city, to Oranienbaum. There was a calm in the capital, which greatly contributed to the final preparations of the conspirators.
The Danish campaign was planned for June. The emperor decided to postpone the march of the troops in order to celebrate his name day. On the morning of June 28, 1762, on the eve of Peter's Day, Emperor Peter III with his retinue set off from Oranienbaum, his country residence, to Peterhof, where a gala dinner was to be held in honor of the emperor's name day. On the eve of St. Petersburg, there was a rumor that Catherine was being held under arrest. The strongest turmoil began in the guard; one of the conspirators, Captain Passek, was arrested; the Orlov brothers feared that there was a threat of disclosure of the conspiracy.
In Peterhof, Peter III was supposed to be met by his wife, who, on the duty of the empress, was the organizer of the celebrations, but by the time the court arrived, she had disappeared. After a short time, it became known that Catherine fled to St. Petersburg early in the morning in a carriage with Alexei Orlov (he arrived in Peterhof to Catherine with the news that events had taken a critical turn and it was no longer possible to delay). In the capital, the guards, the Senate and the Synod, the population swore allegiance to the "Empress and Autocrat of All Russia" in a short time.
The guards marched towards Peterhof.
Peter's further actions show an extreme degree of confusion. Rejecting Minich's advice to immediately head to Kronstadt and fight, relying on the fleet and the army loyal to him stationed in East Prussia, he was going to defend himself in Peterhof in a toy fortress built for maneuvers with the help of a Holstein detachment. However, having learned about the approach of the guards led by Catherine, Peter abandoned this thought and sailed to Kronstadt with the whole court, ladies, etc. But by that time Kronstadt had already sworn allegiance to Catherine. After that, Peter completely lost heart and, again rejecting Minich's advice to go to the East Prussian army, returned to Oranienbaum, where he signed the abdication.
The events of June 28, 1762 have significant differences from previous palace coups; firstly, the coup went beyond the "walls of the palace" and even beyond the boundaries of the guards barracks, gaining hitherto unprecedented broad support from various segments of the capital's population, and secondly, the guards became an independent political force, and not a protective, but a revolutionary force that overthrew the legitimate emperor and Catherine, who supported the usurpation of power.
Doom
Palace in Ropsha. Snapshot of the early 1970s
The circumstances of the death of Peter III have not yet been finally clarified.
Immediately after the coup, the deposed emperor, accompanied by a guard of guards led by A. G. Orlov, was sent to Ropsha, 30 miles from St. Petersburg, where he died a week later. According to the official (and most likely) version, the cause of death was an attack of hemorrhoidal colic, aggravated by prolonged alcohol consumption, and accompanied by diarrhea. An autopsy (which was carried out on the orders of Catherine) revealed that Peter III had a pronounced dysfunction of the heart, inflammation of the intestines, and there were signs of apoplexy.
However, the common version calls Alexei Orlov the killer. Three letters from Alexei Orlov to Catherine from Ropsha have been preserved, the first two are in the original. The third letter unambiguously refers to the violent nature of the death of Peter III:
The third letter is the only (today known) documentary evidence of the murder of the deposed emperor. This letter has come down to us in a copy made by F. V. Rostopchin; the original letter was allegedly destroyed by Emperor Paul I in the first days of his reign. Recent historical and linguistic studies refute the authenticity of the document (the original, apparently, never existed, and Rostopchin is the true author of the fake). Rumors (unreliable) were also called the killers of Peter G. N. Teplov, Catherine’s secretary, and guards officer A. M. Shvanvich (son of Martin Schwanwitz; A. M. Shvanvich’s son, Mikhail, went over to the side of the Pugachevites and became the prototype of Shvabrin in the Captain’s daughter" of Pushkin), who allegedly strangled him with a gun belt. Emperor Paul I was convinced that his father was forcibly deprived of his life, but he apparently failed to find any evidence of this.
Orlov's first two letters from Ropsha usually attract less attention, despite their undeniable authenticity:
From the letters it follows only that the abdicated sovereign suddenly fell ill; the guards did not need to forcibly take his life (even if they really wanted to) due to the transience of a serious illness.
Already today, a number of medical examinations have been carried out on the basis of surviving documents and evidence. Experts believe that Peter III suffered from manic-depressive psychosis in a weak stage (cyclothymia) with a mild depressive phase; suffered from hemorrhoids, which is why he could not sit in one place for a long time; A "small heart" found at autopsy usually suggests dysfunction of other organs as well, making it more likely to have poor blood circulation, which means there is a risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Alexei Orlov personally reported to the Empress on the death of Peter. Catherine, according to N.I. Panin, who was at the same time, burst into tears and said: “My glory has died! Posterity will never forgive me this involuntary crime. Catherine II, from a political point of view, was unfavorable for the death of Peter ("too early for her glory", E. R. Dashkova). The coup (or “revolution”, as the events of June are sometimes defined), which took place with the full support of the guards, the nobility and the highest ranks of the empire, protected it from possible encroachments on power by Peter and excluded the possibility of any opposition forming around him. In addition, Catherine knew her husband well enough to seriously fear his political aspirations.
Chimes of the Peter and Paul Cathedral
Initially, Peter III was buried without any honors in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, since only crowned heads were buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the imperial tomb. The full Senate asked the Empress not to attend the funeral.
But, according to some reports, Catherine decided in her own way; came to the Lavra incognito and paid her last debt to her husband. In, immediately after the death of Catherine, by order of Paul I, his remains were transferred first to the house church of the Winter Palace, and then to the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Peter III was reburied simultaneously with the burial of Catherine II; At the same time, Emperor Paul personally performed the ceremony of crowning the ashes of his father.
The headstones of the buried have the same date of burial (December 18, 1796), which gives the impression that Peter III and Catherine II lived together for many years and died on the same day.
Life after death
Imposters in the world community have not been a novelty since the time of the False Nero, who appeared almost immediately after the death of his "prototype". In Russia, false tsars and false princes of the Time of Troubles are also known, but among all other domestic rulers and members of their families, Peter III holds the absolute record for the number of impostors who tried to take the place of the untimely deceased tsar. In Pushkin's time there were rumors of five; according to the latest data, in Russia alone there were about forty false Peters III.
Shortly thereafter, the name of the late emperor was appropriated by a fugitive recruit Ivan Evdokimov, who tried to raise an uprising in his favor among the peasants of the Nizhny Novgorod province and a Ukrainian Nikolay Kolchenko in the Chernihiv region.
In the same year, shortly after the arrest of Kremnev, in Sloboda Ukraine, in the settlement of Kupyanka, Izyumsky district, a new impostor appears. This time it turned out to be Chernyshev Pyotr Fedorovich, a runaway soldier of the Bryansk regiment. This impostor, unlike his predecessors, turned out to be smart and eloquent. Soon captured, convicted and exiled to Nerchinsk, he did not leave his claims there either, spreading rumors that the "father-emperor", who incognito inspected the soldiers' regiments, was mistakenly captured and beaten with whips. The peasants who believed him tried to organize an escape by bringing the "sovereign" a horse and providing him with money and provisions for the road. However, the impostor was not lucky. He got lost in the taiga, was caught and severely punished in front of his admirers, sent to Mangazeya for eternal work, but died on the way there.
In the Iset province, a Cossack masons, previously convicted of many crimes, was sentenced to cutting out his nostrils and eternal exile to work in Nerchinsk for spreading rumors that the emperor was alive, but imprisoned in the Trinity Fortress. At the trial, he showed as his accomplice the Cossack Konon Belyanin, who was allegedly preparing to act as emperor. Belyanin escaped with whips.
An extraordinary personality turned out to be Fedot Bogomolov, a former serf who fled and joined the Volga Cossacks under the name Kazin. Strictly speaking, he himself did not pretend to be the former emperor, but in March-June 1772 on the Volga, in the Tsaritsyn region, when his colleagues, due to the fact that Kazin-Bogomolov seemed to them too quick-witted and smart, suggested that in front of them hiding emperor, Bogomolov easily agreed with his "imperial dignity." Bogomolov, following his predecessors, was arrested, sentenced to tearing out his nostrils, branding and eternal exile. On the way to Siberia, he died.
In the same year, a certain Don Cossack, whose name has not been preserved in history, decided to extract monetary benefits for himself from the widespread belief in the "hiding emperor." Perhaps, of all the applicants, this was the only one who spoke in advance with a purely fraudulent purpose. His accomplice, posing as the secretary of state, traveled around the Tsaritsyn province, taking oaths and preparing the people for the reception of the "father-tsar", then the impostor himself appeared. The couple managed to profit enough at someone else's expense before the news reached the other Cossacks and they decided to give everything a political aspect. A plan was developed to capture the town of Dubrovka and arrest all the officers. However, the plot became known to the authorities and one of the high-ranking military showed sufficient decisiveness to radically suppress the plot. Accompanied by a small convoy, he entered the hut where the impostor was, hit him in the face and ordered him to be arrested along with his accomplice (“secretary of state”). The Cossacks present obeyed, but when the arrested were brought to Tsaritsyn for trial and reprisals, rumors immediately spread that the emperor was in custody and dull unrest began. To avoid an attack, the prisoners were forced to be kept outside the city, under heavy escort. During the investigation, the prisoner died, that is, from the point of view of the inhabitants, he again "disappeared without a trace." In 1774, the future leader of the peasant war Emelyan Pugachev, the most famous of the false Peters III, skillfully turned this story to his advantage, assuring that he himself was the "disappeared emperor" from Tsaritsyn - and this attracted many to his side. .
The Lost Emperor appeared at least four times abroad and enjoyed considerable success there. For the first time he appeared in 1766 in Montenegro, which at that time was fighting for independence against the Turks and the Venetian Republic. Strictly speaking, this man, who appeared from nowhere and became a village healer, never declared himself emperor, but a certain captain Tanovich, who had previously been in St. from Orthodox monasteries and came to the conclusion that the original is very similar to its image. A high-ranking delegation was sent to Stephen (that was the name of the stranger) with requests to take power over the country, but he flatly refused until internal strife was stopped and peace was made between the tribes. Such unusual demands finally convinced the Montenegrins of his "royal origin" and, despite the resistance of the churchmen and the intrigues of the Russian general Dolgorukov, Stefan became the ruler of the country. He never revealed his real name, giving Yu. V. Dolgoruky, who sought the truth, a choice of three versions - “Raichevich from Dalmatia, a Turk from Bosnia and finally a Turk from Ioannina”. Openly recognizing himself as Peter III, he, however, ordered to call himself Stephen and went down in history as Stephen the Small, which is believed to come from the signature of the impostor - “ Stefan, small with small, kind with good, evil with evil". Stefan turned out to be an intelligent and knowledgeable ruler. In the short time that he remained in power, internecine strife ceased; after short frictions, good-neighborly relations with Russia were established and the country defended itself quite confidently against the onslaught of both the Venetians and the Turks. This could not please the conquerors, and Turkey and Venice repeatedly attempted on Stephen's life. Finally, one of the attempts was successful: after five years of reign, Stefan the Small was stabbed to death in his sleep by his own doctor, a Greek by nationality, Stanko Klasomunya, who was bribed by the Skadar Pasha. The things of the impostor were sent to Petersburg, and his associates even tried to get themselves a pension from Catherine for "valiant service to her husband."
After the death of Stefan, the ruler of Montenegro and Peter III, once again "miraculously escaped from the hands of the murderers," a certain Zenovich tried to declare himself, but his attempt was not crowned with success. Count Mocenigo, who at that time was on the island of Zante in the Adriatic, wrote about another impostor in a report to the Doge of the Venetian Republic. This impostor operated in Turkish Albania, in the vicinity of the city of Arta. What ended his epic - is unknown.
The last foreign impostor, having appeared in 1773, traveled all over Europe, corresponded with monarchs, kept in touch with Voltaire and Rousseau. In 1785 in Amsterdam, finally, the swindler was arrested and opened his veins.
The last Russian "Peter III" was arrested in 1797, after which the ghost of Peter III finally leaves the historical scene.
Notes
- Peskov A. M. Pavel I. The author refers to:
Kamensky A. B. Life and fate of Empress Catherine the Great. - M.: 1997.
Naumov V.P. An amazing autocrat: the mysteries of his life and reign. - M.: 1993.
Ivanov O. A. The mystery of Alexei Orlov's letters from Ropsha // Moscow magazine. - 1995. - № 9. - http://vivovoco.astronet.ru/VV/PAPERS/NYE/CENTURY/CHAPT06.HTM#1
- http://festival.1september.ru/articles/502976/
- http://www.mbnews.ru/content/view/3178/85/
- http://www.simech.ru/index.php?id=1793
- http://www.rustrana.ru/article.php?nid=22182
- Alexey Golovnin. The word is infallible. Samizdat magazine (2007). - Application of methods of structural hermeneutics to the text "Words about Igor's Campaign". Retrieved December 17, 2008.
In 1761 Emperor Peter 3 Fedorovich ascended the Russian throne. His reign lasted only 186 days, but during this time he managed to do a lot of evil for Russia, leaving a memory in history about himself as a cowardly person.
For history, the path to the power of Peter is interesting. He was the grandson of Peter the Great and the nephew of Empress Elizabeth. In 1742, Elizabeth named Peter her heir, who after her death would lead Russia. Young Peter was engaged to the German princess Sophia of Tserbskaya, who, after the rite of baptism, received the name Catherine. As soon as Peter became an adult, a wedding was played. After that, Elizabeth was disappointed in her nephew. He, loving his wife, spent almost all the time with her in Germany. He was more and more saturated with the German character and love for everything German. Pyotr Fedorovich literally idolized the German king, the father of his wife. In such circumstances, Elizabeth was well aware that Peter would be a bad emperor for Russia. In 1754, Peter and Catherine had a son, who was named Pavel. Elizaveta Petrovna, in infancy, demanded Pavel to come to her and personally took up his upbringing. She instilled in the child a love for Russia and prepared him to rule a great country. Unfortunately, in December 1761, Elizabeth died and, according to the will, Emperor Peter 3 Fedorovich was placed on the Russian throne. .
At this time, Russia took part in the Seven Years' War. The Russians fought with the Germans, before whom Peter bowed so much. By the time he came to power, Russia had literally destroyed the German army. The Prussian king was in a panic, he tried several times to flee abroad, and his attempts to renounce power were also known. The Russian army by this time had almost completely occupied the territory of Prussia. The German king was ready to sign peace, and he was ready to do it on any terms, if only to save at least partially his country. At this time, Emperor Peter 3 Fedorovich betrayed the interests of his country. As mentioned above, Peter bowed to the Germans, and adored the German king. As a result, the Russian emperor did not sign a pact on the surrender of Prussia, and not even a peace treaty, but concluded an alliance with the Germans. Russia received nothing for winning the Seven Years' War.
The signing of the shameful alliance with the Germans played a cruel joke on the emperor. He saved Prussia (Germany), but at the cost of his life. Returning from the German campaign, the Russian army was indignant. For seven years they fought for the interests of Russia, but the country gained nothing because of the actions of Pyotr Fedorovich. These sentiments were shared by the people. The emperor was called none other than "the most insignificant of people" and "a hater of the Russian people." On June 28, 1762, Emperor Peter 3 Fedorovich was dethroned and arrested. One week later, a certain Orlov A.G. in the heat of a drunken brawl, he killed Peter.
The bright pages of this period have also been preserved in the history of Russia. Peter tried to restore order in the country, took care of the monasteries and churches. But this is not able to block the betrayal of the emperor, for which he paid with his life.
The reign of Peter III (briefly)
The reign of Peter 3 (short story)
There are many sharp turns in the biography of Peter III. He was born on February 10, 1728, but very soon lost his mother, and eleven years later, his father. From the age of eleven, the young man was prepared to rule Sweden, but everything changed when the new ruler of Russia, Empress Elizabeth, announced him in 1742 as her successor. Contemporaries note that Peter III himself was not very educated for a ruler and knew only a little of the Latin, French and Lutheran catechism.
At the same time, Elizabeth insisted on the re-education of Peter and he persistently studied the Russian language and the foundations of the Orthodox faith. In 1745, he was married to Catherine II, the future Empress of Russia, who bore him a son, Paul the First, the future heir. Immediately after the death of Elizabeth, Peter was declared the Russian emperor without coronation. However, he was destined to rule only one hundred and eighty-six days. During his reign, Peter the Third openly expressed sympathy for Prussia in the era of the Seven Years' War and for this reason was not very popular in Russian society.
With his most important manifesto of February 18, 1762, the monarch abolishes the obligatory service of the nobility, dissolves the Secret Chancellery, and also issues permission for the schismatics to return to their homeland. But even such innovative bold orders could not bring Peter popularity in society. During the short period of his reign, serfdom was significantly strengthened. In addition, according to his decree, the clergy were to shave their beards, leaving only the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God in the churches, and also to dress from now on like Lutheran shepherds. Also, Tsar Peter the Third tried to remake the charter and life of the Russian army in the Prussian manner.
Admiring Frederick the Second, who at that time was the ruler of Prussia, Peter the Third leads Russia out of the Seven Years' War on unfavorable terms, returning to Prussia all the lands conquered by the Russians. This caused general outrage. Historians believe that it was after this important decision that most of the tsar's entourage became participants in a conspiracy against him. In the role of the initiator of this conspiracy, which was supported by the guards, was the wife of Peter the Third herself - Ekaterina Alekseevna. It is from these events that the palace coup of 1762 begins, which ends with the overthrow of the tsar and the accession of Catherine II.
