"Bironovshchina"

• Anna's era is often referred to as "Bironism", arguing that key posts in Russia were seized by foreigners led by Biron, and that Anna's reign was distinguished by exceptional cruelty.

Empress Anna Ioannovna

• Anna came to the throne at the age of 37.

• The Empress was brought up in the old Moscow spirit. However, after the dramatic events of 1730, Anna seemed dangerous to Moscow.

Empress Anna Ioannovna

• Anna was an uneducated, limited, petty person.

• She was more interested in gossip about the life of the courtiers than in affairs of state.

Anna and Biron

• Anna's favorite in Mitau was a Courland nobleman E.I. Byron .

• After Anna's accession, he came to Russia, where in 1737 he received the title of Duke of Courland.

• According to a number of historians, Anna gave birth to the youngest son Biron.

Guard Update

• After the events of 1730, Anna Ioannovna did not trust the old guard regiments.

• In 1731, she created a new guards regiment - Izmailovsky.

• In the guards regiments, along with the nobles, they began to recruit recruits from the peasants, hoping in this way to deprive the guards of a political role.

Cabinet of Ministers

• Anna created Cabinet of Ministers , which replaced the dissolved Supreme Privy Council.

• It included A.M. Cherkassky (chancellor), P.I. Yaguzhinsky and A.I. Osterman.

• After the death of Yaguzhinsky in 1736, he was replaced by A.P. Volynsky.

Cabinet of Ministers

• Anna equated the signatures of the three cabinet ministers with her own, which allowed her not to bother herself with public affairs.

• The leading role in the Cabinet was not played by the apathetic and lack of initiative Chancellor Prince A.M. Cherkassky, and the energetic and quirky Vice-Chancellor A.I. Osterman.

• However, Osterman had to reckon with Biron, who kept a close eye on the Vice Chancellor not gaining too much power.

• It was to counteract Osterman that Biron brought Volynsky into the Cabinet.

Foreigners in Russia under Anna

• Foreigners in the Russian army and navy

Foreigners in Russia under Anna

• There were many Germans in Anna's entourage, but almost all of them began serving in Russia under Peter I.

• In addition, among them there were many immigrants from the Ostsee region (Baltic states), i.e. subjects of the Russian Empire.

• Foreigners did not constitute a single "party", on the contrary, they fought with each other, entering into alliances with Russian nobles.

• Numerous Germans came from different German states, often hostile to each other, and realized themselves not as “Germans”, but as Westphalians, Württembergers, Oldenburgers, Courlanders ...

secret office

• The most terrible person of the Annenskaya era, the main executioner-whip fighter was not a German, but a Russian nobleman A.I. Ushakov, who headed the body of political investigation - secret office .

• This was, perhaps, the only department in whose affairs Anna constantly delved into personally.

• In the secret office, they tortured opponents of the regime and simply those who, through negligence, blurted out something unflattering about the Empress or Biron, or didn't inform about the "blameful" words heard.

Dolgoruky case

• Anna Ioannovna never forgot her enemies and never forgave her.

• In 1730 A.G. Dolgoruky and his children were exiled to Berezov and settled in the same house where Menshikov was serving his exile, V.L. Dolgoruky - to the Solovki. Field Marshal V.V. Dolgoruky was thrown into prison in 1733.

• D.M. Golitsyn was imprisoned in 1737 (he died in the casemate 4 months later).

• Relatives of D.M. Golitsyn were disgraced and exiled.

Dolgoruky case

• In 1738 the investigation against the Dolgorukis was resumed.

• A.G. Dolgoruky died in 1734. The main defendant was his son Ivan.

• Under torture, Ivan told about the manufacture of a fake will of Peter II.

• On charges of conspiracy to seize the throne, I.A. Dolgoruky was wheeled,

• his uncle S.G. and I.G. Dolgoruky, as well as V.L. Dolgoruky beheaded,

• sisters, incl. "ruined bride" Catherine, tonsured as a nun.

Volynsky case

• The court struggle for power also underlay another major process - the so-called. Volynsky case.

• A.P. Volynsky, having become the Cabinet Minister, began to intrigue against Osterman.

• However, soon, having imagined himself omnipotent, he behaved independently in relation to Biron.

Volynsky case

• It was established that Volynsky spoke disrespectfully of the Empress.

• An investigation began against Volynsky and his entourage.

• A sketch was found in Volynsky's papers "General project on the amendment of internal state affairs", according to which it was supposed to limit the power of the monarch in favor of the Senate, composed of representatives of the "ancient families", and to create a "lower government" from representatives of the gentry.

Volynsky case

• Volynsky was accused of plotting to seize the throne.

• Together with him, his "confidants" were tried: the architect P. Eropkin, the president of the College of Commerce P. Musin-Pushkin, the secretary of the Cabinet I. Eichler and others.

Bironovshchina

• Thus, both major political cases of the era of Anna Ioannovna, which culminated in cruel sentences and death penalties, were caused not by the confrontation between Russians and Germans, but by court intrigues that were not related to the national origin of their participants.

• The era of Anna Ioannovna was actually cruel, but only in comparison with the later times of Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II, but far inferior in cruelty to the times of Peter I.

• When and why was the myth about the cruelty of "Bironism" and foreign dominance created?

Testament of Anna Ioannovna

• Anna Ioannovna had no direct heirs.

• Her closest relative was her niece, Anna Leopoldovna, who grew up in Russia.

Ivan Antonovich

• Anna Ioannovna died on October 17, 1740, at the age of 47.

• Her great-nephew, the son of Anna Leopoldovna Ivan VI Antonovich, was only 4 months old.

• According to Anna's will, Biron was appointed regent, bypassing the parents of the infant emperor.

Coup of 1740

• Biron failed to retain his hard-won power.

• The temporary worker was hated by both the guard and most of the dignitaries; he had no support.

• November 9, 1740 Field Marshal B.Kh. Minich arrested Biron and proclaimed Anna Leopoldovna regent. Biron, stripped of his titles, was exiled to Pelym.

• But the field marshal, who became the first minister, received his resignation on March 3, 1741, because. Anna Leopoldovna was afraid of his lust for power.

Regency of Anna Leopoldovna

• Anna Leopoldovna was benevolent and romantic, but withdrawn, unsociable and capricious.

• Inexperienced in public affairs, she did not like to appear in public, limiting her social circle to her family and a few friends.

• The popularity of the ruler and her husband, Prince and Generalissimo Anton-Ulrich of Brunswick, among the nobility and in the guard was extremely low.

• The guardsmen increasingly remembered the daughter of Peter the Great - Princess Elizabeth.

Tsesarevna Elizaveta Petrovna

• What attracted the sympathy of the guards Tsesarevna Elizabeth, alien to politics and interested only in dresses and entertainment?

• In the name of his father, Peter the Great.

• A series of insignificant rulers awakened a longing for the formidable emperor, whose cruelties were somewhat forgotten in 15 years, and whose merits began to seem even more majestic.

• They hoped for Elizabeth, "daughter of Petrova", as a restorer of the glory and greatness of Russia.

Palace coup of 1741

• The support of Elizabeth was the guards soldiers, who, despite their different origins, felt themselves to be members of a single corporation, a privileged military caste. It was in the "lower classes" of the guard that the desire to see the "rightful heiress" on the throne was especially strong.

• 308 guardsmen participated in the coup arranged by Elizabeth.

• Among them were only 54 nobles and not a single officer.

Palace coup of 1741

• The coming to power of Elizabeth was also desired by the diplomats of France and Sweden.

• They were ready to help Elizabeth, who had no means, with money.

• In exchange for support, France sought to achieve Russia's abandonment of the pro-Austrian foreign policy pursued by both Biron and Anna Leopoldovna, Sweden counted on territorial concessions in the Baltic states.

• Could Elizabeth agree to such claims?

Palace coup of 1741

• The ruler became aware of the suspicious meetings of the princess with foreign diplomats. Although Elizabeth managed to convince her niece of her innocence, she could not hesitate.

Palace coup of 1741

• The company overcame the Palace Square on the run.

• Elizabeth, who did not keep up with the soldiers, was carried into the palace on their shoulders by the grenadiers.

• According to legend, Elizabeth woke the ruler with the words "it's time to get up, sister!"

• The arrest of Anna Leopoldovna, Anton-Ulrich and Ivan VI passed without resistance.

• The 20-year reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna began.

Palace coup of 1741

• What were the features of the palace coup of 1741?

• 1. During the coup of 1741, the lawfully reigning emperor was overthrown for the first time

• 2. The coup of 1741 was carried out by the guardsmen without the participation of the guards officers.

• 3. Unlike other coups, the coup of 1741 had a certain ideological design: the winners explained their actions by the desire to restore the rights of “Petrov’s daughter”, to revive the greatness of Russia achieved under Peter I and to rid Russia of the domination of foreigners.

The origins of the Biron myth

• In order to look like a Russian patriot and savior of the Fatherland, Elizaveta Petrovna had to compromise the previous reign as a time of cruel foreign dominance.

• This is how the myth of "Bironism" arose.

• At the same time, the organizers of Elizabeth's accession to the throne were such "patriots" of Russia as the Saxons H.-J. Schwartz and Yu. Gryunshtein and her French doctor A. Lestok.

The origins of the Biron myth

• Why did the myth of Bironism turn out to be so stable that it survived more than two centuries?

• The myth of the cruel foreign temporary workers who plundered Russia both in the 19th and 20th centuries. often used by the authorities and conservative forces to whip up anti-Western sentiments in society.

Illustration sources

• Slide number 2. http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/3439390/post127468847/ ; http://shkolazhizni.ru/archive/0/n-23459/ ; http://tavrida.in.ua/history/?section=shanc ; http://www.peoples.ru/state/statesmen/osterman/osterman_372663249_tonnel.shtml ; http://www.emc.komi.com/03/19/010.htm

• Anna Ioannovna

  Anna Ioannovna - Russian Empress. The second, middle daughter of the half-brother of Peter the Great and Praskovia Fedorovna Saltykova, that is, Peter the Great was a niece. Ruled by Russia from 1730 to 1740

  “Tsar Ivan Alekseevich died in 1696. To the widowed queen…Peter allowed me to choose any of the palace villages. Praskovya stopped at Izmailovsky. Praskovya willingly and cordially accepted Peter's violent companies, helped him in private affairs. At the same time, patriarchy ... left its mark on the life of the queen. The house was filled with holy fools who hid when visiting the palace and his riotous companions ... In the conditions of the most difficult Northern War, Peter disposed of the fate of the princesses (Praskovya's daughters) as a bargaining chip in diplomatic bargaining. Seventeen-year-old Anna in 1710 was married off to the Duke of Courland Friedrich-Wilhelm (Courland is a duchy in the western part of modern Latvia, the capital of Mitava (now Jelgava). consumption of strong drinks". Anna came to Courland already a widow" (Apollo Kuzmin "Tatishchev")

  Brief biography of Anna Ionnovna

  • 1693, January 28 - birth in Moscow
  • 1696 - death of his father, Tsar Ivan V Alekseevich
  • 1710, October 31 - marriage to Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Courland
  • 1711, January 9 - death of Friedrich Wilhelm
  • 1712–1730 - life in Mitau, the capital of Courland
  • 1723, October 13 - death of Anna's mother, Empress Praskovya Feodorovna
  • 1727, autumn - the beginning of the favor of E. I. Biron

  “The voice of the sources claims that Anna Ivanovna was under the influence, the power of her favorite. It is customary to attribute to Biron and the Germans grouped around him the entire cruel nature of her reign, which is called Bironism. But if this question is subjected to criticism, it turns out that there are no grounds for such an accusation of Biron and the Germans in general. It is impossible to ascribe the whole character of reigning indiscriminately to the Germans just because the Germans did not constitute a consensual corporation and each of them pursued his own personal interests, one envied the other, one was at enmity with the other.

  Biron himself did not manage affairs in the state mechanism, and did not at all show any inclination to deal with affairs, just like the empress; he did not like Russia and had little interest in what was being done in it. There is no indication that the mass of those cruelties that marked the reign of Anna Ivanovna came from Biron and were committed on his initiative ... the cruelties that distinguished the era of Anna Ivanovna were not her exclusive properties; it was not with her that they began to appear in Russia, and it was not with her that they stopped. The reign of Peter the Great was marked by even more cruel persecution of everything contrary to the highest authorities ... the same traits of cruelty and contempt for human dignity appear after Anna Ivanovna, with.

  Therefore, we will not hesitate to say that to attribute everything that revolts us in the reign of Anna Ivanovna should not be the empress herself, not her favorite, the Duke of Courland, but the whole century in which the events took place ”(S. M. Solovyov. “History of Russia with ancient times")

  • 1728, October 11 - the birth of Karl Ernst Biron, the alleged son of Anna Ioannovna
  • 1730, January 19 - accession to the Russian throne
  • February 25, 1730 - Anna declared herself autocrat
  • 1730, April 28 - coronation in Moscow
  • 1740, October 17 - the death of Anna Ioannovna

  Accession to the throne

  “Peter II fell ill and died at the age of 14, on the night of January 18-19, 1730, without leaving a will ... On the night of January 18-19, the Supreme Privy Council, some senators and senior military officials, a total of 10-15 people ... began to reason about the fate of the throne, and here it was revealed how little they were prepared for the upcoming business ... Among the disturbing and contradictory rumors, finally, the voice of Prince D. M. Golitsyn was heard: he named the lonely familyless person of the royal house Anna Ioannovna, a childless and devoid of political weight widow Duke of Courland. Golitsyn's proposal met with general sympathy ... Indeed, both with personal restraint and her loneliness, Anna could seem like an excellent candidate for the crown: she was the legitimate daughter of the eldest of the king brothers - and therefore, of course, she had more rights to be elected than the daughters of Peter

  — — — — —

  “When the issue of succession to the throne was resolved, Prince Dmitry Golitsyn unexpectedly spoke out. “We should relieve ourselves, so relieve ourselves, in order to add will ... It is necessary, having written, to send points to Her Majesty” ... The “points” of the restrictions were edited right there and communicated in secret to some dignitaries who were in the palace that night ...

  1) the empress must promise not to marry and not to appoint an heir;
  2) Top. secrets. advice to always contain in eight persons and without his consent not to declare war and not to make peace; not to impose taxes and not to spend public revenues; not to grant estates and not to take away property and honor from the nobility; do not favor anyone in the court and general ranks;
  3) Guards and all other troops to be in charge of the Top. secrets. council, not the empress. Terms have been edited as if Anna gave them on her own initiative.

  When a rumor spread around Moscow about secret restrictions in favor of the Supreme Privy Council ... all the middle and lower nobility became indignant ... “God forbid that instead of one autocratic sovereign, ten autocratic and strong families do not become,” the contemporary Artemy Volynsky timidly remarked.

  On February 3, it was announced to the highest ranks that Anna Ioannovna had accepted the throne and herself was pleased to make restrictive obligations, which were read to the audience. Everyone was silent: it is obvious that no one liked the conditions. (Details about the projects of the state reorganization of Russia are described in the description of the life and work of V. N. Tatishchev in the ZhZL series, author A. Kuzmin)

  From February 3 to 15, when the Empress arrived in Moscow, passions flared up even more; general dissatisfaction with the leaders increased to open resistance: the Preobrazhensky regiment refused to take the oath in the form of the oath, which was most convenient for the VT Council.

  The "invention" of the V. T. Council was destroyed not by Anna, but by the gentry. On February 25, part of the nobility (namely, guards officers) unexpectedly turned to Anna with a noisy and persistent request to accept autocracy. On the same day, the guards and other gentry presented Anna with a formal request for the restoration of autocracy, the destruction of the V.T. Anna broke her restrictive clauses and "received sovereignty".

  The leaders did not have any opportunity to prevent the coup d'état that took place before their eyes, because the guard was against them and all the gentry were against the oligarchic Council, and the Council under such conditions became childishly weak and helpless "(S. Platonov" Complete course of lectures on Russian history " )

  Affairs of the Government of Anna Ioannovna

  • 1730, March 4 - the liquidation of the Supreme Privy Council and the restoration of the powers of the Senate
  • 1730, December 9 - the abolition of the law on single inheritance (majorate), adopted by Peter the Great in 1714

  Since the death of Peter the Great, the government could look at the harmful consequences of this law for many years. Parents, wanting to give equally to all their sons, weighed down the peasants in order to extract more income from their estates, or resorted to various twists and turns: others wrote on themselves unprecedented debts and obliged their eldest son, their successor in possession, to pay their younger brothers and sisters, from where anger and family quarrels arose; others, according to the law, left all immovable property to the eldest son, and gave all movable property to younger sons; - and it turned out that one side with cattle and agricultural tools did not know what to do without land, while the other was at a loss with land without cattle and without tools. Such and such phenomena and similar ones prompted the government of Anna Ivanovna to abolish the majoratism.

  • 1730 - Nobles who had several adult sons were allowed to leave one of them on the estate to save money, however, by all means teaching him to read and write
  • 1730 - the office of confiscations, created during the last reign, was launched, but only under Anna Ioannovna received instructions. This office, in addition to arrears, was in charge of all movable and immovable property confiscated for any reason, as well as escheat estates.
  • 1731 - a decree on the collection by the landowners themselves of the poll tax from the peasants

  Upon the accession to the throne of the empress, the arrears of the entire capitation salary, amounting to four million rubles, were accumulated in the state; in 1735, due to a large crop failure, a half-year arrears of the entire capitation salary were added up throughout the state, and in those parts where hunger was felt more palpably, it was ordered to lend grain to the peasants.

  But in 1739 the government came to the conclusion that there should be no arrears, because through such favors only those who were in no hurry to pay taxes benefited; but those who were in service could not take advantage of these favors. Many landowners ran into arrears on their estates; of such landlords who were not in the public service, they were obliged to pay arrears within six weeks, and employees - within three months, under pain of a double fine

  • 1731, March - the legal merger of the estate and patrimonial land ownership, they merged into one concept of noble real estate
  • 1731, November 6 - the establishment of the Cabinet of Ministers (instead of the Supreme Privy Council), which in 1735 was approved by the highest authority, whose decrees in the absence of the empress acquired the force of law
  • 1731 - instead of the Transfiguration Order, abolished on April 4, 1729, the Office of Secret Investigation Affairs was created, subordinate to the Senate
  • 1731, July 29 - decree on the establishment of a cadet corps in St. Petersburg "under the general command of Count von Minich"
  • 1731 - Anna Ionnovna's manifesto, in which Anna Leopoldovna, the granddaughter of Ivan the Fifth, was appointed heir to the throne
  • 1731 - it is forbidden for serfs to take farms and contracts, for people of "servile" origin to receive the positions of governor, they are also ordered to sell property illegally acquired in the last kingdom within six months and henceforth not to acquire anything like that
  • 1732 - the court and the highest authorities of the country returned to St. Petersburg

  “The construction and settlement of St. Petersburg, carried out by Peter the Great, remained neglected after his death, and so it continued in the first years of the reign of Anna Ivanovna, when the queen lived in Moscow and the whole court was there. The landlords, who were brought to Petersburg by Peter the Great, left their places of residence assigned to them in the capital and dispersed to their estates. On Vasilyevsky Island, either foundations or half-built stone walls without windows or roofs protruded; some houses were already rebuilt, but their owners, having left Petersburg themselves, left their servants in their houses without any means of maintenance, and the government had to force these gentlemen to give their people maintenance.

  When Anna Ivanovna moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg, the northern capital began to get crowded again, and apartment prices, which had previously fallen significantly, suddenly rose so high that the government, by its decrees, had to restrain the arbitrariness of homeowners. In 1737, Petersburg was divided into five city parts, several new bridges were made, new squares were opened, trees were planted in empty places, and a new Gostiny Dvor was built on Admiralteysky Island.

  • 1732 - A change was made to the recruiting system. One recruit for 350 peasants with the possibility of redemption
  • 1732 - The Academy of Sciences sent Professor Miller to Siberia to study the region there. He stayed on a business trip for ten years, and upon his return for many years, until the end of his life, he put in order the materials he had collected related to the geography, history, ethnography and natural science of Russia
  • 1733 - V. Bering was ordered to carry out plans for exploring the northeastern coast of Russian Asia, reconnaissance of the sea route to the mouth of the Amur and the Japanese Islands, as well as to the American continent. This second Kamchatka expedition began in 1734
  • 1733 - the establishment of the police in the cities. It was ordered to establish police departments in twenty-three large cities. Until that time, police departments existed only in the capitals.
  • 1733, June 14 - death of sister Anna Ekaterina Ioannovna
  • 1733 - Baptism of Anna Leopoldovna according to the Orthodox rite. The Tsar Bell is cast.
  • 1735 - after false imperial decrees spread, with which, in the face of total illiteracy in all strata of society, it was not difficult for competent rogues to deceive the people, in 1735 it was indicated to consider only those that would be signed by the empress and her three cabinet ministers as genuine imperial decrees
  • 1736 - Decree on the attachment to the manufactories of artisans who previously worked for free hire. Limitation of the period of compulsory military service for nobles
  • 1735-1740 - fight against robbery

  In 1735, after two years of crop failures, the people everywhere became impoverished and bands of robbers multiplied everywhere: on the Volga, on the Oka, they robbed the merchants who sailed along these rivers, attacked the landowners' estates and tormented the owners and their courtyards with cruel tortures, and also did not give descent to state customs and taverns, they killed kissers and heads and took state fees.

  In 1739 their gangs appeared in the counties of Keksgolmsky and Olonetsky; in 1740, already before the death of the empress, thefts, robberies and murders spread in St. Petersburg itself - a sentry was killed in the Peter and Paul Fortress and several hundred state rubles were stolen

  • 1735, August 31 - Orenburg fortress was founded at the mouth of the Ori River
  • 1735-1738 - the struggle of power with fires in St. Petersburg

  “They began in 1735 and continued for the following years. In 1736 there was a severe fire in St. Petersburg. Then a crowd of people, under the pretext of extinguishing the fire, carried out robberies and abductions. Exposed arsonists were executed by burning at the scene of the crime, and robbers and thieves were severely punished with a whip and exiled to hard labor.

  In 1737, in order to prevent fires, guards and patrols were arranged throughout the city, and the police began to keep stove workers and chimney sweeps; both those and others were obliged to look after the serviceability of the stoves and clean the chimneys in every house once a month. So that everyone always had water ready to extinguish the fire, it was ordered to build a well in every yard. For the poor, devastated by the fire and deprived of shelter, state-owned buildings and confiscated houses were allotted free of charge.

  In 1738, all stone buildings were ordered to be covered with tiles or iron, and gzymzas and cornices must be made of stone or brick. All flammable substances are indicated to be kept only in sheds specially built for this purpose on Petrovsky Island, and it was forbidden to light candles, smoke tobacco and cook food on ships that were on the Neva; in general, it was possible to make fire, in case of need, only on special ships designated for that (S.M. Solovyov “History of Russia from ancient times”)

  • 1735, November 25 - the casting of the Tsar Bell was completed, the decree on the creation of which, in honor of her reign, Anna issued on July 26, 1730
  • 1735 - a seminary for thirty-five young nobles was opened at the Academy of Sciences and, in addition, it was ordered from the Moscow school monastery to send young people there to study sciences
  • 1736 - The service duty was reduced to 25 years for the nobles, those who had several adult sons were allowed to leave one of them on the estate to save money, however, by all means teaching him to read and write
  • 1736 - a decree throughout Russia to collect manuscripts and documents related to the reign, and, and send them to the senate, and the senate was supposed to send them to the academy of sciences, which related to history proper
  • 1736 - an expedition was sent from the Academy of Sciences under the command of Muravyov and Ovtsyn to find ways along the Arctic Sea from Arkhangelsk to the mouth of the Ob
  • 1737 - creation of a fire service in Moscow
  • 1737 - indicated in Pskov, Novgorod, Tver, Yaroslavl and other significant cities to get doctors from the old military doctors, and the townsfolk were to give them a free apartment and pay a salary of 12 rubles a month. Pharmacies were also established in these cities, where it was possible to receive medicines for a fee.
  • 1737 - a decree according to which the nobles had to bring their sons, who had reached seven years old, in the capitals to the king of arms in the senate, and in the provinces to the governor, to send them to training, and at the age of 16, the young men themselves had to appear in the senate in St. Petersburg or Moscow for an exam in arithmetic and geometry. Those minors who, being represented in the Senate, showed neither the desire nor the ability for military service and could not be accepted either into the cadet corps or the naval academy, they were left at the Senate to prepare for civil service. They came to the chamber of the senate two days a week for instruction in arithmetic, geodesy, geometry, geography, and grammar; they were not supposed to visit "free houses" (taverns) and play cards and dice; Every day they were obliged to powder their hair and on certain holidays, together with the Cadets, to go to the Court. If one of them did not have any desire for teaching, he was given to the soldiers
  • 1737, June 20 - the foundation of the fortress of Stavropol on the Volga (today the city of Tolyatti)
  • 1738 - in order to preserve public health, the inhabitants of the cities were strictly ordered not to throw the corpses of fallen cattle through the streets, but to bury them in the ground without removing their skin at all, officers with doctors were sent everywhere so that where meat was sold, poor people would not be sold thin and unhealthy meat
  • 1739 - decree on the transfer of state-owned mining plants to private hands
  • 1740 - the Academy of Sciences sent Professor Delisle for astronomical observations to Obdorsk

  The French astronomer Joseph-Nicolas Delisle made a great contribution to the organization of astronomical science in Russia. According to his project, an academic astronomical observatory was built and equipped with instruments in the building of the Kunstkamera. In 1726, he organized systematic meteorological observations and observations of the aurora in Russia, and in 1735 put forward the idea of ​​creating the first time service in Russia. He headed the astronomical work necessary for the mapping of the territory of Russia carried out under the leadership of the Academy of Sciences

  • 1740 - decree on the establishment of post offices throughout the empire between provinces and provinces

  “The post device has been widely developed due to circumstances. At the beginning, it was indicated to arrange postal camps from Moscow to those places where the active army would be located; then, along the same path, a permanent regular post was established from Moscow to Kyiv through Kaluga, Sevsk and Glukhov. The stations were located at a distance of about 25 versts from one another; 25 horses were to be kept at each station. But this order was not fully observed; there - the station house was not built, in another place - it was difficult to bring the number of horses to the legal number. AT

  In 1740, a decree was followed on the establishment of post offices throughout the empire between provinces and provinces. When the war ended, it was considered sufficient to keep five horses at each station on the way from Moscow to Kyiv, and only four horses on the Voronezh way. At first, two circumstances prevented the postal business: the first was bad roads, which the government laid on the owners of the lands where the road went to fix, the second was the arrogance and self-will of those who traveled on official business, drove post horses to death, beat and maimed coachmen and postal commissioners. »

  • 1740, winter - the so-called - one of the amusements of Empress Anna Ioannovna, connected with the amusing marriage of the court jester of the Empress, Prince Mikhail Alekseevich Golitsyn and one of her accustomers, Kalmyk girl Avdotya Ivanovna, who bore the surname Buzheninova, was built in St. Petersburg. The wedding took place on February 6, 1740. In April, the Ice House melted
    1740, October 5 - Anna Ioannovna's manifesto on the appointment of Anna Leopoldovna's son Ivan, born on August 2, heir to the Russian throne
  • 1732, January 21 - Resht agreement with Persia on the return of the southern coast of the Caspian Sea to it. Russia was going to fight with Turkey, and she needed Persia as an ally.
  • 1733, September - Russian troops entered Poland after Stanislav Leshchinsky was elected king by the Polish Sejm, while Russia supported another candidate - Augustus III. Beginning of Russia's participation in the War of Polish Succession, continued until 1753
  • 1734 - Anna Ioannovna's letter of acceptance into Russian citizenship of the Cossacks of the so-called Aleshkovskaya Sich. Novaya Sich - the administrative and military center of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks in 1734-1775. was located on a large peninsula washed by the Podpolnaya River (a tributary of the Dnieper). To monitor the activities of the Cossacks, the tsarist government built 2 km. from Novaya Sech fortification with two half-bastions and a permanent garrison, the so-called Novosechensky retrenchment. The new Zaporizhzhya Sich was state-owned. She was granted fishing and craft privileges, but diplomatic activity was prohibited.
  • 1734 - the hetmanship in Ukraine was again abolished. Management of Little Russia is entrusted to the Temporary Commission
  • 1735, March 21 - Ganja Treaty - an agreement between the Russian Empire and Persia. According to it, Russia undertook to return Baku and Derbent to Persia with the adjacent lands in exchange for the obligation of Persia not to transfer them under the rule of other powers and continue the war with Turkey
  • 1735-1739 —

  The reign of Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740) is called "Bironovshchina". This name is logical, since the favorite of the Empress Ernst Johann Biron ran all the affairs in the country. "Bironovshchina" is characterized by increased investigation, repression, reprisals, inept government of the country, and so on. Was it really that bad? Indeed, the regime of Anna's rule was much tougher compared to what was happening under Catherine 1 and Peter 2. But it is impossible to say that there was tyranny in Russia at that time and a bloody regime. In many ways, this topic was promoted by Catherine 2, and under her reign, Anna Ioannovna began to be viewed from an extremely negative point of view. In fact, the reality was not as terrible and not as unambiguous as it is customary to talk about it.

  Any modern history textbook reduces the essence of Bironism to the following:

  1. Bloody regime with tougher police investigation.
  2. Waste, bribery and embezzlement, as a result of which Russia did not have a budget.
  3. Biron negatively influenced Anna.
  4. The terrible dominance of Russia by the Germans. The Germans are to blame for all the troubles of the regime.

  Let's take a step-by-step look at how things really were, and what happened in the Russian Empire from 1730 to 1740.

  Byron's bloody regime

  Biron, for all his shortcomings, did not like blood and resorted to violence only in case of emergency. Indeed, executions, repressions and punishments of various levels have increased in Russia. But to say that this is the ideas of Bironovism, and that the Germans are to blame for this, is impossible. Suffice it to say that Ushakov, not Biron, was responsible for the police investigation, repressions and executions. Let me remind you that Ushakov is a man of Peter 1, whose regime was really bloody and merciless. And in terms of the volume of repressions, the reign of Anna Ioannovna did not even come close to what happened in the Petrine era. After all, even Peter 1 himself was a terrible connoisseur of executions of torture and violence. An illustrative example - he tortured his own son, Tsarevich Alexei, with his own hands, and tortured him to death.

  Therefore, it is impossible to say that Biron's regime was bloody and merciless. Everything is relative. Just 10-15 years before him, the regime was much more dangerous and bloodthirsty, but in the textbooks Biron is a tyrant, and Peter 1 is an advanced person. But this is not even the point - Biron had a mediocre attitude to repressions and executions. Direct fault on Ushakov (not German - Russian).

  The situation in the economy

  By the end of 1731 the treasury was empty. The main reason is a luxurious life at court, theft, lack of management in the country, bribes. The question of finding money arose. Biron solved it together with Anna due to 3 sources:

  1. They began to squeeze out arrears from peasants and ordinary townspeople. In general, it is interesting that as soon as money ran out in the Russian Empire, the rulers immediately began to look for ways to get it from the peasants.
  2. Increase in the number of repressions. After the repression, all the property of a person was transferred to the treasury. For 10 years, 20 thousand people were repressed.
  3. Sale of rights to use (extract) natural resources.

  Only 5 years passed between the reign of Peter 1 and the "Bironovshchina" (the reign of Anna Ioannovna). During this time, the cost of maintaining the yard has grown almost 6 times.! The French ambassador wrote about this: “For all the luxury of the Court, no one else is paid money.” To no one does this mean the army, navy, officials, scientists, and so on. The money was barely enough to keep the Court in luxury. The main point of their attraction is arrears. For example, in 1732 they planned to collect 2.5 million rubles in taxes, but in reality they collected 187 thousand. That is, the arrears were terrible. To seize them from the population, the Empress, at the suggestion of Biron, organized "finishing raids." This is a regular army, which knocked out arrears from people by any means. This was the essence of "Bironism" - a tough, bloody regime, merciless to its people. The response of the population is a bad attitude towards the Germans. It was believed that all the troubles were due to the fact that there were a lot of Germans at the court (the same Biron), who did not care about the Russian people. Regarding the "finishing raid" - the idea of ​​setting the army on the population is not an invention of Anna and her entourage. This is a smooth continuation of the policy of Peter 1.

  
  

  Foreigners (mostly Germans) did not spare the Russian treasury. In my opinion, an illustrative example of why there was not enough money in Russia is unreasonable spending. For 10 years, Biron bought jewelry (for himself and relatives) at the expense of the treasury in the amount of 2 million rubles. For comparison, during the same time, 470 thousand rubles were spent on the maintenance of the Academy of Sciences.

  Another problem is bribes. Biron was very fond of bribes, but then everyone took bribes. The most famous bribe received by Biron is 1 million rubles from the British for the right to transport goods through Russia without duty. As a result, the treasury annually lost 5 million rubles.

  Are the Germans to blame for everything?

  The Germans occupied many key positions under Anna: the favorite - Biron, diplomacy - Osterman and Levendom, the army - Minich, industry - Schemberg, colleges - Mengden and so on. But there is also a downside, which is often forgotten - there were a large number of Russian people who held high positions, and they should fully share the responsibility for the Bironovshchina regime. Suffice it to say that the head of the secret office was Andrei Ushakov, who was one of the five most influential people of his time. Nevertheless, only the Germans are blamed for all the troubles of the era.

  An important fact showing that no one pushed the Russian nobility is the number of generals in the army. In 1729 (before Anna's accession), there were 71 generals in the army, of which 41 were foreigners (58%). In 1738 there were 61 generals and 31 foreigners (51%). Moreover, it was during the period of "Bironism" that the rights of foreign and Russian officers were equalized in the army. This inequality was introduced by Peter 1, obliging to pay double salaries to foreign officers. Burchard Munnich, who commanded the army, canceled this decree and equalized salaries in the army. Moreover, it was Minich who in 1732 forbade the recruitment of foreign officers into the army.

  Biron's influence on Anna or Anna on Biron?

  One of the main myths of Russian history - Biron negatively influenced Anna, awakening base feelings in her, under which the "Bironism" regime was feasible. It is difficult to check who influenced whom and how (after all, if someone is able to influence the Russian empress to such an extent that she began to arrange mass executions, then such a person, in principle, should not be in power). Another thing is that the negative character traits were inherent in Anna herself much more than in Biron. A few examples will suffice to prove this:

  1. The Empress reveled in cruelty. This was partly reflected in her passion for hunting. But for Anna, hunting was not a sporting interest, but a manic desire to kill. Judge for yourself. Only for 1 summer season of 1739, Anna personally killed: 9 deer, 1 wolf, 374 hares, 16 wild goats, 16 gulls, 4 wild boars, 608 ducks. 1028 killed animals in just 1 season!
  2. Anna Ioannovna's favorite pastime, from which she laughed to tears, was the fights of jesters. They fought among themselves, attacked those who came to the Court, threw feces at them, and so on. The Empress was delighted.

  Biron himself was a poorly educated, arrogant, rude person. But he did not share Anna's weakness. Biron had another hobby - horses. At that time they knew - if you want to please Biron - you must be well versed in horses. The favorite spent almost all his time in the stables and arenas.

  With horses he is a man, and with people he is a horse.

  
  

  Today it is customary to blame Biron for deciding almost all state issues in the stable. But this is nothing more than a habit. Why is this habit worse than the habit of Count Shuvalov (Mikhail Lomonosov's patron), who conducted the reception at the moments when he was cut, curled, dyed, and so on?

  A much more telling example in the difference between the characters of Anna and Ernest is the reaction to the opinions of others. Anna literally demanded that Ushakov (the head of the secret police) daily report what others were saying about her. She was extremely concerned about this. Biron, on the other hand, stopped any reports of Ushakov, since he was absolutely indifferent to what was said about him behind his back. Psychologically, this is a sign of a strong personality, unlike Anna.

  On the way to favoritism

  Many historians say that Anna herself became a German, therefore Russia is a foreign country for her and therefore she did not even rule her. These are nothing more than words, but the fact is that Anna Ioannovna, despite living in Courland, never learned the German language!

  In 1710, Peter 1 gave Anna in marriage to Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Courland. The marriage turned out to be short-lived: on October 31, 1710 they played a wedding, and on January 10, 1711 Friedrich-Wilhelm died. So Anna became the Duchess of Courland. At her court in 1718, a provincial German nobleman, Ernst Biron, appeared. Further among historians there are 2 versions:

  1. An affair begins between Anna and Ernst.
  2. In 1718, Bestuzhev-Ryumin was Anna's favorite, and only in 1727 did Biron become the favorite.

  It is impossible to say which version is true. The official story converges on the second option. Here I would like to make one more point. The word “favorite” sounds very beautiful, and many people can hardly imagine what is hidden behind it. The really favorite is the lover. Nevertheless, in the era of palace coups, the favorites played an even greater role at court than the emperors themselves.

  For a long time Anna was dependent on Biron, especially when she lived in Courland. Biron, although he was not of the most noble origin, was still his own. Anna was a stranger. The local nobles listened to Biron, but not to Anna. Let me remind you, by the way, that Anna never learned German. In those years, they became very close, and in the future Anna could no longer live without Biron.

  Anna Ivanovna was the Dowager Duchess of Courland and lived in Mitau.

  In the conditions of a political crisis and timelessness, the Supreme Privy Council, 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 extradited by Peter for Duke of Courland, widowed early, 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 took the initiative to draw up "conditions" that really limited the autocracy, in accordance with which:

  1) Anna undertook to rule together with the Supreme Privy Council, which actually turned into the highest governing body of the country.

  2) Without the approval of the Supreme Privy Council, she 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 Supreme Privy Council.

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

  A rumor spread throughout Moscow about secret restrictions in favor of the Supreme Privy Council. No matter how hard the leaders tried to hide their plan to limit the royal power, this became known to the broad layers of the nobility, which had already received so much from this power and hoped to receive even more. A broad opposition movement unfolded among the nobility and clergy. Conditions limited the autocracy, but not in the interests of the nobility, but in favor of its aristocratic elite, which sat in the Supreme Privy Council. The mood of the ordinary gentry was well conveyed in one of the notes that went from hand to hand: “God save that instead of one autocratic sovereign ten autocratic and strong families do not become!” At a grand reception at the Empress's on February 25, 1730, the oppositionists directly turned to Anna with a request "to accept autocracy such as your glorious and laudable ancestors had, and to destroy those sent ... from the Supreme Council ... points to destroy." Strong noble opposition to the leaders was evident, after which, feigning indignation at the fact that the conditions of the leaders were not approved by the nobility, the empress publicly tore the document and threw it on the floor. The guards were on the alert here too, expressing their full approval of the preservation of autocratic tsarist power. The Manifesto of February 28 announced its “acceptance” of “autocracy”.

  The leaders had no opportunity to prevent the coup d'état that was taking place before their eyes, because the guards were against them and willingly left their command, because the entire gentry was against the oligarchic Soviet, and the Soviet under such conditions became childishly weak and helpless. With all the disagreement of the gentry's views and projects, in the absence of a strictly developed plan of action against the Council, the nobility easily defeated the Council, as soon as the empress went to meet the desires of the nobility. It is not known to what extent the union of the supreme power and the nobility on February 25 was prepared and agreed in advance (there were rumors that Anna knew what was being prepared), - in any case, the coup was carried out by the nobility, its forces, its authority.

  Naturally, it was expected that, having become autocrat, Anna would pay tribute to the estate for its service. But at the same time, it should be remembered that the gentry, making a coup on February 25, first appeared in the palace not to restore the autocracy, but to change the content of the restrictions in their favor. It was not the nobility that restored the autocracy, but the guards, that is, only a part of the nobility. That is why Anna, caressing the guards, establishing new guards regiments (for example, Izmailovsky), at the same time observed the common interests of the entire nobility, not always and not at all.

  She immediately destroys the Supreme Privy Council and restores the former importance of the Senate, as requested by the nobles; it destroys Peter's law on uniform inheritance of 1714, hated by the gentry, establishes a noble school - the gentry corps - and gives some official relief to the gentry. But the nobility's request for participation in the election of the administration remains unfulfilled, and Anna's entire policy is not only not noble, but not even national. Fearing the Russian nobility, who brought her items, exposing her to persecution and even humiliation, fearing, on the other hand, political movements among the gentry and remembering that in Holstein there is a grandson of Peter the Great (the future Peter III), whom Anna in anger called "devil in Holstein" and which could become the banner of a movement against her - Anna did not find a better way out for herself, how to organize her government from people of German origin. This circumstance, caused by the inability to find support in one's own people, in one part or another of it, led to sad results. Anna's reign is a sad era of Russian life in the 18th century, the time of temporary workers alien to Russia. Being under the influence of her favorites, Anna did not leave a good memory of herself either by state activities or by her personal life.

  The reign of Anna Ioannovna.

  The reign of Empress Anna lasted 10 years (1730-1740).

  From the outside, it might seem that Anna's government was continuing to follow in the footsteps of Peter the Great, but in reality it was not so. The first person in Russia, who held in his hands all the threads of state life, was the favorite of Anna Biron. The empress herself did not delve into affairs a little. She was more interested and amused by all kinds of masquerades and fun, which took huge sums of money.

  Osterman and Munnich, who under Peter the Great were only executors of his plans, became sovereign administrators and very often went against the basic principles of the reforms of the first emperor. The disciples of Peter the Great, Russian people devoted to him, such as Tatishchev, Neplyuev, Prince Kantemir, A.P. Volynsky, followed his precepts, but met obstacles on their way, sometimes insurmountable, and were persecuted by the German rulers. In matters of internal central administration, the collegial principle of Peter the Great began to be gradually superseded by the principle of bureaucratic and individual administration, which Osterman was the conductor. According to him, the Cabinet of Ministers was established in 1731, "for the best and most decent administration of all state affairs subject to consideration by the empress." The Cabinet was placed above the Senate. In addition to the collegiums that already existed, a number of separate offices, offices and expeditions arose, and in Moscow two orders were established to complete unresolved cases: a court order for civil cases and a search order for criminal cases. In the same 1731, the Siberian Prikaz arose, and in 1733 the activities of the Doim Prikaz, originally established by the Supreme Privy Council in 1727, were expanded. One of the major shortcomings of Russian statehood was the lack of a systematic legislative Code. The government commissions established under Peter the Great and his successors to draw up a new Code did nothing, and therefore, by decree on June 1, 1730, it was ordered "to immediately complete the Code that had begun and to identify good and knowledgeable people, upon consideration by the Senate, choosing from nobility and spiritual and merchants". The hopes placed on the deputies did not come true; elected from the nobility came sluggishly, and the Senate, convinced that the deputies could not bring any benefit, decided by decree on December 10, 1730 to let them go home, and entrust the work on the Code to a special commission of knowledgeable people. However, the work of this bureaucratic commission progressed slowly. The Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, continuing to be the only judicial code, was issued a new edition.

  The Synod was dominated by its leading member, Feofan Prokopovich, this truly "supreme leader" in the spiritual department, who, skillfully freeing himself from his enemies, the bishops, fellow members of the Synod, directed the activities of the "spiritual collegium" on the path outlined by him in the "Spiritual Regulations" . The Manifesto of March 17, 1730, instructed the Synod, on behalf of the Empress, to strive for the observance by Orthodox Christians of the law of God and church traditions, for the renewal of churches and hospices, for the establishment of religious schools, for the correction of established church requirements, ceremonies and prayers. From 1730 to 1736, six hierarchs who were in unfriendly relations with Feofan Prokopovich were brought to the wanted list, stripped and exiled to prison; after 1736 three more bishops suffered the same fate. Officially, most of them were accused of either taking an oath on behalf of the Supreme Privy Council, or of "non-existence" at the second oath. On the initiative of the same Feofan Prokopovich and thanks to the care of the diocesan bishops from the South Russians, Slavic-Latin schools called seminaries were established. But the teaching in these seminaries was not going well, and the students almost had to be driven into the schools by force. The position of the white clergy was very difficult: for "non-existence at the oath" during the accession of Anna Ioannovna or for her late taking, priests, deacons and deacons were attracted to the Secret Chancellery, where they were beaten with whips and recruited; their children, except for those studying in theological schools, were recorded in the capitation salary. By 1740 there were 600 churches without clergy. Simultaneously with the oppression of the white clergy and the suspicion of monks in superstition and heresies, the government took care of the spread of Orthodoxy among the Eastern, mainly Volga, foreigners, as well as the eradication of the split of the Old Believers. Particularly successful was the missionary activity of two Kazan archbishops from the South Russians: Illarion Rogalevsky (1732 - 1735) and Luka Kanashevich (1738 - 1753), as well as Dmitry Sechenov, Archimandrite of the Bogoroditsky Sviyazhsky Monastery, later the famous Metropolitan of Novgorod. As for the split of the Old Believers, the measures that were taken against it achieved the opposite results, and the split became more and more intensified.

  In the 1730s, according to some gentry projects, various benefits were granted to the gentry. So, on October 25, 1730, a decree followed, according to which the inhabited estates were allowed to be bought exclusively by the gentry, who were allowed to move peasants from one estate to another; the difference between the patrimony and the estate, which received the general name of "immovable estates", was finally smoothed out. On March 17, 1731, the law of Peter the Great on single inheritance was repealed and the laws on inheritance were restored according to the Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. On July 29, 1731, the Gentry Cadet Corps was established in St. Petersburg to educate the nobility and prepare them not only for military, but also for civil service. By decrees of 1736 - 1737, the nobles were granted education at home, with the obligation to periodically appear at reviews and undergo examinations. In 1733, in order to facilitate credit, mainly to the nobility, it was allowed to issue loans from the mint secured by gold and silver, for a period of three years, at 8% per annum. In 1736, the Cabinet of Ministers received a submission from an unknown person (apparently, from A.P. Volynsky) about the need for the nobles to manage their estates, which were deserted due to their mandatory and lengthy military service. In the submission, it was proposed to double the number of chief officers and, dividing them into two queues, alternately release one of them, without salary, to go home to farm on the estates. As a result of this submission, on December 31, 1736, the Supreme Decree was issued on the right of the nobles to retire after 25 years; but there were so many who wanted to exercise this right that in August 1740 the law was repealed. All the benefits granted to the gentry, however, did not strengthen the position that it sought in 1730 for it. The destruction of the law on single inheritance led to the fragmentation of estates; nobles began to seek salvation in serfdom, thinking through its development to keep an unstable position in society and the state.

  The position of the peasantry in the reign of Anna Ioannovna was very difficult. In 1734, famine struck Russia, and in 1737 there were terrible fires in many places; consequently, the prices of all necessities of life and building materials rose, and there was a real disaster in the villages and villages. Taxes and arrears were extorted in a cruel way, often by means of "right"; recruiting was annual. The government considered it harmful to teach ordinary people to read and write, since learning could distract them from menial work (decree of December 12, 1735). However, a decree on October 29 of the same year ordered the establishment of schools for the children of factory workers. Trade in rye and flour was entirely dependent on the degree of harvest and was either constrained or expanded.

  Referring superficially to the indigenous branch of Russian industry - agriculture, the government patronized factories and plants, especially those that produced the items necessary for it. It put a lot of effort into improving the factories of woolen and silk fabrics and tanneries. One of the incentive measures was to ensure sales: individual manufacturers and trading "companies" received a constant supply of these goods to the court and to the treasury. With regard to factories, the decree of January 7, 1736, was of great importance, allowing the purchase of serfs without land for factories and the employment of vagabonds and beggars as workers. Fisheries in the White and Caspian Seas and saltpeter and potash production were given to trading companies. The treasury reserved the sale of wine, the trade in rhubarb and the purchase of hemp. Domestic trade was sluggish due to restrictive rules for merchants, which did not give them the opportunity to expand retail sales. Foreign trade, import and export, was carried out almost exclusively by foreign trading companies subsidized by the government; the most important of these companies were Spanish, English, Dutch, Armenian, Chinese and Indian. New trade agreements were concluded and the old ones were confirmed with Spain, England, Sweden, China and Persia. Regulations and "regulations" on maritime trade and customs fees were issued, and Persian merchants who bought goods for the Shah were exempted from customs duties.

  The "companion workers" of the merchants generally played a large role in the reign of Anna Ioannovna. So, for example, taking care of streamlining monetary circulation, the president of the coin office, Count M.G. Golovkin, gave the minting of silver rubles and fifty kopecks to the companions of a lower standard than before (the 77th test) and introduced a copper small change for the convenience of the lower classes, prohibiting the export of old copper five-kopeck coins abroad. By decree of October 8, 1731, the manufactory office and the Berg College were merged with the College of Commerce. On the question of the management of mining, commissions were established in 1733 and 1738; this issue was resolved in such a way that mining was left to private enterprise.

  The government of Anna Ioannovna took care of facilitating and improving communications, and the improvement of provincial cities. A regular postal chase was established between Moscow and Tobolsk; in 1733, police were established in provincial, district and provincial cities, and in 1740 it was ordered to arrange proper communication between them. Measures were taken to populate the steppe spaces in the southeast and south: Kirillov founded Orenburg, Tatishchev continued and developed colonization activities, being the head of the so-called "Orenburg expedition". Major-General Tarakanov was in charge of the settlements of the landmilitsky regiments on the Ukrainian and Tsaritsyn lines. In Little Russia, after the death of the hetman Apostol (1734), there was no election of a new hetman. Under the supervision of the Senate, a special collegiate institution was established: the "Board of the Hetman's Order", which consisted half of Great Russians and Little Russians.

  In 1730, two new guards regiments were formed - Izmailovsky and Cavalry, and a commission founded under Peter II to streamline the army, artillery and military engineering began to work. This commission was chaired by Munnich (in 1732 he was also appointed president of the military collegium); soon another commission was established, under the chairmanship of Osterman, to study the state of the fleet and to find means to improve it. The Munnich Commission drew up new states of the ground forces and increased them so much in comparison with the states of Peter the Great that it was necessary to resort to annual recruitment sets. Under Anna Ioannovna, recruitment duty was a monetary duty for the tax-paying classes: eager people were hired as recruits with money collected from a certain number of revision souls. As far as the recruits were fit for military service, the employers did not care about this, and therefore the ranks of the troops - as I.N. Kushnerev in "Russian military force" - "in greater numbers contained the worst, immoral and often criminal part of the population." The officers, mostly Germans, dealt mercilessly with the soldiers, constantly resorting to sticks, rods and gauntlets. The perpetuity of service, due to ill-treatment, encouraged the soldiers to desert, and due to poor accommodation and nutrition, as well as due to the lack of medical care, epidemic diseases and mortality developed in the troops. To raise the morale of the troops, on April 17, 1732, a decree was issued on the production of soldiers for military merit into officers not only from the nobility, but also from taxable estates, including peasants, and on the education of soldiers' children in special schools, at public expense .

  The fleet was not in the best position: out of 60 warships, 25 were completely unsuitable for sea navigation, and 200 galleys stood in the shipyards without any use.

  Meanwhile, as can be seen from the list of the state budget of 1734, the army and navy spent the most: with 8 million annual expenditure, 6,478,000 rubles went to them. Almost the same sums were allocated for the maintenance of the yard (260 thousand) and for government buildings (256 thousand). Then followed: the central administration 180 thousand; collegium of foreign affairs 102 thousand; court stable department 100 thousand; salary to the highest state dignitaries 96 thousand; the issuance of pensions to the relatives of the late husband of Anna Ioannovna, the Duke of Courland Friedrich-Wilhelm, the living of the niece of the Empress, Anna Leopoldovna, and the maintenance of the Mecklenburg corps 61 thousand. The most modest place was occupied by public education: for two academies - sciences and maritime - 47 thousand were released together, and 4.5 thousand for the salaries of secondary school teachers and surveyors. Due to the poor state of industry, trade and agriculture, many arrears accumulated; so, for example, in 1732 there were 15.5 million arrears, and this amount was equal to almost two years of state income.

  The Academy of Sciences was developing mainly mathematical and natural knowledge. In the field of Russian history, the works of G.F. Miller and V.N. Tatishchev. In 1733, the Academy of Sciences organized the so-called second Kamchatka expedition, which had the goal of studying Siberia in natural history, geographical, ethnographic and historical terms. The expedition included academicians: Miller, Delil, Gmelin, Fisher, Steller, student Krasheninnikov. In literature, the outstanding figures were the princes Kantemir and Tredyakovsky. The beginning of the literary activity of Lomonosov belongs to the same era.

  Leaving the government mainly to Biron, Osterman and Munnich, Anna Ioannovna gave free rein to her natural inclinations. She seemed to want to reward herself for the embarrassment she experienced during her almost twenty years of stay in Courland, and she spent huge sums on various festivities, balls, masquerades, solemn receptions of ambassadors, fireworks and illuminations. Even foreigners were amazed at the luxury of her court. The wife of the English resident, Lady Rondo, was delighted with the splendor of the court holidays in St. Petersburg, which carried her with their magical atmosphere to the land of fairies and reminded her of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". They were admired by the spoiled marquis of the court of Louis XV de la Chétardie, and the French officers taken prisoner near Danzig. Partly her own taste, partly, perhaps, the desire to imitate Peter the Great, prompted Anna Ioannovna to arrange sometimes comic processions. The most remarkable of these processions was the "curious" wedding of the buffoon Prince Golitsyn with the Kalmyk buffoon Buzheninova in the Ice House on February 6, 1740. A.P. Volynsky. He strained all the forces of his skill and ingenuity so that the wedding train, which presented a live ethnographic exhibition, would amuse both the empress and the people. The peculiar spectacle gave great pleasure to Anna Ioannovna, and she again began to favor Volynsky, who had fallen out of favor before. Being a lover of various "curiosities", Anna Ioannovna kept people, animals and birds outstanding in their external features at the court. She had giants and dwarfs, there were tricksters and jesters who entertained her in moments of boredom, as well as storytellers who told her fairy tales at night. There were also monkeys, learned starlings, white peahens.

  Anna Ioannovna was fond of horses and hunting, and therefore it is not surprising that Volynsky, who was in charge of the court stables in 1732 and took the position of Chief Jägermeister in 1736, became close to Anna Ioannovna. But in 1740, Volynsky and his confidants were accused of "villainous plans", of striving for a coup d'état. The verdict was distinguished by medieval cruelty: "... to impale the living, first cutting out the tongue." On June 27, 1740, at eight o'clock in the morning, Volynsky's tongue was cut out, his mouth was tied with a rag, and he was executed on the market square along with other convicts involved in this case. True, Anna Ioannovna at the end "softened": Volynsky was first cut off his hand, and then, in order not to prolong the torment, his head.

  Volynsky's trial excited his contemporaries and aroused the sympathy of subsequent generations for him. Both those and others looked at the execution of Volynsky and his "confidants" as the desire of the German rulers to get rid of a well-born and, moreover, an educated Russian statesman who had become in their way. The Volynsky trial, outstanding for its exaggeration of the crimes of its participants, completes a series of political cases, very numerous in the reign of Anna Ioannovna. All the rest concern well-born people who sought to limit the autocracy of the empress during her election, who were slow to recognize her autocracy, or who did not recognize her right to occupy the Russian throne. In total, more adversity fell upon the princes Dolgoruky. The Golitsyn princes suffered less: none of them was subjected to the death penalty. In 1734, the political case of Prince Cherkassky arose. Considering the legitimate heir to the Russian throne of the Holstein prince Peter Ulrich, the Smolensk governor, Prince Cherkassky, started the transfer of the Smolensk province under his protectorate and was exiled to Siberia for this. Interrogations of persons suspected of political crimes were carried out in the Secret Investigation Office. This office was renewed in 1731 and entrusted to the management of A.I. Ushakov, nicknamed the "shoulder master" for his cruelty. The branch of this office was located in Moscow, under the general command of a relative of the empress, S.A. Saltykov, and bore the name of the office. The Secret Chancellery and its office were inhabited by many people of various social positions, from the highest secular and spiritual authorities to soldiers, philistines and peasants. Having got there on any, often false denunciation, a person was subjected to torture: beating with a whip, twisting his arms on the rack, etc. Ushakov's executioners were famous for their ability to force the victim to admit the most incredible guilt. During the reign of Anna, about 10 thousand people passed through the office.

  In foreign policy, the government of Anna Ioannovna sought to maintain relations that had developed under Peter the Great.

  The Polish question came up first. King August II of Poland died on February 1, 1733; he had to choose a successor. On March 14 of the same year, the Russian government sent Count Karl-Gustav Levenwolde to Warsaw as a plenipotentiary ambassador, with instructions to resist the election to the Polish throne of the father-in-law of the French king Louis XV, Stanislav Leshchinsky, who was nominated by France. Stanislav was also supported by the national Polish party, with Prince Theodor Potocki at the head. Russia, Austria and Prussia preferred to all other candidates the son of the dead king, Elector Augustus of Saxony; but Russia demanded at the same time that, upon accession to Poland, Augustus should renounce his claims to Livonia and recognize the independence of Courland. On August 25, 1733, an electoral Sejm opened in Warsaw, and on September 11, Stanislav Leshchinsky, who arrived there secretly, was elected by a majority of votes to the King of Poland. A minority protested. On September 20, 20,000 Russian troops appeared on the right bank of the Vistula under the command of Lassi. On September 22, Stanislav Leshchinsky fled to Danzig, thinking to wait there for help from France and intercession from Sweden, Turkey and Prussia. On the same day, a confederation was formed in Warsaw from his opponents, and on September 24, the Saxon elector Augustus was elected king. At the end of 1733, Lassi received an order to march from the vicinity of Warsaw to Danzig against Stanislav Leshchinsky, and at the beginning of 1734 Minich was sent to replace Lassi. Stanislav fled from Danzig; Danzig surrendered to the Russians, with an obligation to be loyal to the new Polish king Augustus III. France took the side of Stanislaus and went to war with Emperor Charles VI, who was defeated. By virtue of the treaty concluded by Levenvolde with the emperor in 1732, Anna Ioannovna was obliged to help him and sent, in June 1735, an auxiliary corps under the command of Lassi; but Russian troops came to the banks of the Rhine already at the time when France recognized August III as the Polish king and expressed a desire to reconcile with Charles VI.

  Relations with Persia were settled in 1732 by the conclusion of peace in Ryashcha, according to which Russia renounced all the conquests of Peter the Great on the southern and western coasts of the Caspian Sea. Polish affairs relegated to the background the question of the war with Turkey. In 1735 he was again on the waiting list. Turkey was at that time at war with Persia and could not help the Crimean Tatars, and Russia, under the treaty of 1726, hoped for support from Charles VI. An army was sent against the Crimean Tatars, who constantly disturbed the southern Russian outskirts with their raids. Both this expedition, led by General Leontiev, and the campaign of 1736 under the command of Minich and Lassi ended very sadly for the Russians: due to lack of water and food, half of the army died, and the surviving part was forced to return for wintering within Russia.

  In 1737, the imperial troops under the command of their commanders also participated in the campaigns of Minich and Lassi, who, one after another, suffered a severe defeat in Serbia, Bosnia and Wallachia. The Turkish sultan made peace with Persia and hoped to defend the Crimea, but he did not succeed; Despite the huge loss in the troops, Generals Leontiev, Minikh and Lassi, who had previously devastated the entire Crimea, captured Azov, Kinburn and Ochakov. It was especially difficult to take Ochakov by storm, but Minich himself led the Izmailovsky regiment to storm and captured this stronghold on July 12, 1737. On August 5, 1737, at the initiative of the emperor, peace negotiations with Turkey began in Nemirov. On the part of Russia, Volynsky, Shafirov and Neplyuev, who served 14 years in Constantinople, were appointed delegates to the Nemirovsky Congress. The negotiations came to nothing. Wishing to make peace with Turkey, Charles VI turned in 1738 to the mediation of the French king Louis XV. On September 1, 1739, a peace treaty was signed in Belgrade, shortly after Minich won a brilliant victory over the seraskir Veli Pasha at the town of Stavucany and captured Khotyn. Charles VI gave Turkey the parts of Wallachia and Serbia that belonged to him, with Belgrade and Orsova; Russia returned Ochakov and Khotin to Turkey and pledged not to threaten the Crimean Khan. The wars with Turkey cost Russia huge sums and killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers, mainly due to lack of food and crossings on the Ukrainian and Bessarabian steppes.

  As a reward for all the losses, Russia received the steppe between the Bug and the Donets and the right to send its goods to the Black Sea, but not otherwise than on Turkish ships. The Sultan agreed to tear down the fortifications of Azov and recognized it as belonging neither to Turkey nor Russia. Russia, in general, lost more than won, but Anna Ioannovna achieved her goal, forcing people to talk in Europe about "glorious victories" over the Turks. The Peace of Belgrade was solemnly celebrated in St. Petersburg on February 14, 1740. On August 12, 1740, the niece of the Empress, Anna Leopoldovna, who was married in 1739 to Prince Anton-Ulrich of Brunswick, had a son, John, whom Anna Ioannovna declared heir to the Russian throne. The question of succession to the throne worried Anna Ioannovna from her very accession. She knew that the clergy, the people and the soldiers were very fond of Tsarina Elizaveta Petrovna, who lived in the village of Pokrovsky, in the circle of people close to her. Anna Ioannovna did not want the Russian throne to go to Elizabeth Petrovna or the grandson of Peter the Great, Holstein Prince Peter Ulrich after her death. She wanted to strengthen the succession to the throne in the offspring of her father, Tsar Ivan Alekseevich, and back in 1731 she published a manifesto on the administration of a nationwide oath of allegiance to the heir to the Russian throne, whom she would later appoint. This heir was John Antonovich.

  Having become the All-Russian Empress, Anna Ioannovna in 1737, after the death of the last Duke of Courland from the Ketler dynasty, tried to deliver the crown of the Duke of Courland to her favorite Biron; to please her, he was recognized in this dignity by both the Polish king and the emperor. Shortly after the birth of Ivan Antonovich, the empress fell seriously ill, and then a new question arose before her: whom to appoint as regent? She considered Biron the most suitable for this position, but, knowing the hostile attitude of the nobles towards him, she was afraid to turn them even more against her favorite. Biron, for his part, dreamed of a regency and very cleverly managed to get statesmen who enjoyed the confidence of the empress, like Minich, Osterman, Golovkin, Levenvolde, Prince Cherkassky and many others, to speak out for him, and Osterman brought the empress to sign a manifesto on appointment of Biron as regent until the age of John Antonovich. After long hesitation, Anna Ioannovna agreed to this. The next day, October 17, she died, and the two-month-old John Antonovich was proclaimed Russian emperor, under the regency of the Duke of Courland Biron.

  Most historians of the XIX and XX centuries. in. represented the decade of the reign of Anna Ioannovna as the darkest period in the history of Russia. They did not like everything: she herself, her rise to power, the manners and customs of the court, foreign and domestic policy. Meanwhile, a contemporary of Anna Ioannovna, historian M.M. Shcherbatov wrote about her: “Limited mind, no education, but clarity in views and fidelity in judgments; constant search for the truth; no love for praise, no higher ambition, therefore no desire to do great things, to create, establish new laws; but a well-known methodical mind, great love of order, constant concern never to do anything hastily and without consulting knowledgeable people, to always make reasonable and motivated decisions; businesslike enough for a woman, a rather strong love of representation, but without exaggeration.

  The overthrow of Biron and Anna Leopoldovna.

  Anna Ioannovna issued a manifesto in which she appointed the prince as the legitimate heir to the imperial throne. The infant John was declared emperor John VI, and the all-powerful close associate of Anna Ioannovna Biron was declared regent. Anton Ulrich tried to assert his right to become ruler with his young son. However, at a meeting of the Privy Council, Biron publicly accused him of encroaching on power.

  Anton and Anna's relationship with Biron was never friendly or even respectful. The couple wanted to get rid of the regent's announcer at any cost. Anna Leopoldovna plotted with Field Marshal Munnich, and he arrested Biron with his entire family.

  So Anna Leopoldovna was at the head of the state with the title of ruler.

  As before, she spent most of her time in the palace. Surrounded by confidants, lying on a sofa, the ruler discussed the smallest details of her own costumes, outfits for the one-year-old Ivan Antonovich and his newborn sister, Princess Catherine.

  At this time, a strong fermentation of minds began in St. Petersburg. The so-called national party announced its existence. The dominance of the Germans, which had been dutifully endured for ten years, suddenly became unbearable. Biron was hated by everyone without exception, Munnich and Osterman were not loved. Anton of Brunswick was despised. Anna Leopoldovna was not respected. In these circumstances, the name of Elizabeth somehow came to mind by itself, especially since she was very well known in the guards. They asked why on earth to accept the German emperor and his relatives when the native daughter of Peter the Great is alive and well. The fact that she was born before marriage and was therefore considered illegal did not bother anyone.

  Talk of a possible coup began as early as February 1741.

  Anna clearly did not know how to govern the country. This was taken advantage of by her closest relative, Tsesarevna Elizaveta Petrovna. On the night of November 24-25, 1741, a coup d'état was carried out. Anna Leopoldovna and her family were arrested. Elizabeth, supported by the guards, was proclaimed empress. She reigned for 20 years (1741-1761).

  Bironovshchina Ernst Joga nn Biron (1690 -1772) - regent of the Russian Empire and Duke of Courland and Semigallia. Biron's task is to report everything. Biron's task is to report. In Anna's letters: "Biron is the only person I can trust."

  “Insidious letters, how I came to the throne. » Anna Ioannovna Conditions (from lat. condicio - agreement) - an act, sometimes considered as a document of constitutional content, proposed for signing by Empress Anna Ioannovna upon her accession to the throne by members of the Supreme Privy Council (the so-called "supreme leaders") in 1730.

  She had no right: Start a war, make peace Introduce new taxes Appoint senior officials Arbitrarily spend state. money, etc. D. M. Golitsyn

  Projects for the reorganization of the state Abolition of the law on uniform inheritance Determining the terms of service Do not appoint nobles to soldiers and sailors, the creation of a “Supreme Government” of 21 people and introduce the election of members of this government, senators, governors and presidents of colleges The projects did not provide for the preservation of absolutism

  After the break in the conditions, the Manifesto on March 4, 1730 - the abolition of the Supreme Privy Council. The creation of the Cabinet of Ministers.

  Cabinet of Ministers Gavriil Golovkin President of the Board of Foreign Affairs. Alexei Cherkassky Chancellor of the Russian Empire Andrey Osterman Vice Chancellor and First Cabinet Minister.

  Domestic policy of 1733 - the abolition of the decree on single inheritance The Shlyakhetsky Cadet Corps was established (initiative of P. Yaguzhinsky) the service of the nobles was limited to 25 years, new guards regiments were formed - the Life Guards Izmailovsky Regiment (infantry) and the Life Guards Cavalry (cavalry)

  § Like her formidable uncle, she appointed bishops, ignoring the presentation of the Synod. New theological seminaries were opened under her, and the death penalty for blasphemy was established (1738). § New enterprises are being built. In the 1930s, iron smelting amounted to 25,000 tons. (Russia has overtaken England!) § Recruitment sets continue to be carried out, taxes are collected § The military began to collect arrears. Executions are sent to villages with arrears.

  1740 - the nobles could choose between civil and military services Landlord peasants lost the right to acquire land as property The salary of foreigners was reduced or equated to the salary of Russian employees

  Cultural innovations By order of Anna Ivanovna, a theater for 1000 seats was built, and in 1737 the first ballet school in Russia was opened. 1740 - the clownish wedding of Prince M. Golitsyn-Kvasnik with the Kalmyk girl A. Buzheninova in a specially built Ice House.

  Foreign policy § 1733-1735 - War of the Polish Succession between the coalitions of Russia, Austria and Saxony on the one hand and France, Spain and the Kingdom of Sardinia on the other. § 1735 -1739 - Russian-Turkish war § In the summer of 1736, the fortress of Azov was successfully taken by the Russians. (Field Marshal General Peter Lassi) § In 1737, they managed to take the fortress of Ochakov. (Field Marshal Minich)

  § In 1736-1738 the Crimean Khanate was defeated. Twisting the river Tatar blood, What flowed between them; Not daring to go into battle again, In some places the enemy runs empty, Forgetting the sword, and the camp, and shame, And presents a terrible view In the blood of his friends lying. Mikhail Lomonosov