With their support, Catherine was proclaimed empress. After half a year of the reign of Peter III, Catherine was raised by the guards officers to the throne. Male members of the Romanov dynasty (that is, Peter’s grandsons Peter II and Peter III, the sons of his son Alexis and of his daughter Anna of Holstein-Gottorp, respectively) were frail and feeble of mind. Henceforth, the crucial factor for obtaining the throne was the support of the elite pal… While the former wanted to be included in the ruling oligarchy (and Golitsyn seemed to have been ready to concede them this right), the latter opposed any limitation on the autocratic power of the sovereign. Designed 1754-62 by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli the Younger. Introduction. On the political plane, the most significant development was the restoration of the Senate to its earlier function of chief policy-making and supervising body. Soon, however, he was forced to share his power with other dignitaries of Peter’s reign. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, The reign of Peter I (the Great; 1689–1725), The reign of Catherine II (the Great; 1762–96), Government administration under Catherine, Education and social change in the 18th century, The Civil War and War Communism (1918–21), The Gorbachev era: perestroika and glasnost, Ethnic relations and Russia’s “near-abroad”, Consolidation of power, Syria, and campaign against the West. Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great, seemed like a logical successor to the throne; a person who would be able to reverse the course of the country. M. Solovief, ‘Public Lectures on Peter the Great,’ Moscow, 1872. The women—both Peter’s niece Anna (Ivan V’s daughter) and his daughter Elizabeth—were stronger in mind and body, but they shared their power with favourites, and their choices were not always happy. Alexis, detail of an engraving by K. Vortman after a painting by J.P. Lüdden, 1729. In 1722 Peter reserved for the monarch the right to designate his successor. At the end of her reign, Elizabeth also established a kind of permanent council or cabinet for planning and coordination—the Special Conference at the Imperial Court. Elizabeth joined Austria, France, Sweden, and Saxony in a coalition against Prussia, under Frederick II, Great Britain, and Hanover; this led to Russia’s involvement in the Seven Years’ War. She was married to Peter III, who was Peter the Great’s grandson. Catherine I’s death in 1727 reopened the question of succession; Peter’s grandson (the son of Alexis, who had perished in prison) was proclaimed Emperor Peter II by the council. His nieces by his half-brother Ivan, Catherine and Anna (the “Ivanovnas”). She succeeded him as Empress Catherine II. It looked as if the Dolgorukys would rule in fact because Peter II was to wed the chamberlain’s sister, but Peter’s sudden death on January 18 (January 29, New Style), 1730—on the day set for the wedding—crossed the plans of that ambitious family. With the help of the guard regiments and high officers and with the financial support of foreign diplomats (in particular the French envoy), Elizabeth overthrew the infant Ivan VI and the regent Anna Leopoldovna in 1741. General education became accessible to a large stratum of the rank-and-file nobility with the founding of the Moscow State University in 1755, although the lack of automatic preferment for its graduates kept it from being popular among the wealthier nobles until the end of the century. On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John... Eusebius of Caesarea. Peter I’s successors (1725–62) Peter’s unexpected death in 1725 at age 52 left unresolved two major institutional problems. That demand was fulfilled in 1731 with the creation of the Corps of Cadets. He thus depended on the ruler for additional income, either in the form of a salary or as grants of land (and serfs) in reward for service. The German-born Peter could hardly speak Russian and pursued a strongly pro-Prussian policy, which made him an unpopular leader. As fast as he lost Russian sympathy by his open aversion to everything Russian, Catherine ingratiated herself by exactly opposite behaviour. However, direct male descendants of Michael Romanov came to an end in 1730 with the death of Peter II of Russia, grandson of Peter the Great. The first was the succession to the throne, which remained unsettled not only because Peter did not choose his own successor but also because during the remainder of the century almost any powerful individual or group could disregard the choice of the preceding ruler. It is the successor to the first Russian state public museum, the famous Kunstkamera, established by Peter The Great in 1714. He was no mate for her, however. The personal element, bolstered by family and marriage ties, came to play an important role in the formal system of promotion; most significantly, it determined the makeup of the very top echelon of the administrative and military hierarchies (which were interchangeable). Those who consider the position of the Catholic Church seriously sometimes have difficulty in understanding how Peter’s authority is continued in the Church through the succession of the popes. The future Peter III was born Karl Peter Ulrich in 1728, in Kiel, Germany. Paul I(Russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич; Pavel I Petrovich) (1 October [O.S.20 September] 1754 – 23 March [O.S.11 March] 1801) was Emperor of Russiafrom 1796 until his assassination. A Supreme Privy Council was established as the central governing body, displacing the Senate in political influence and administrative significance. Balls, theatrical plays, musical entertainments—chiefly by foreign artists—became regular pastimes. I found this to be not only an outstanding book about Russian history but also an … His reign was fraught with struggle between the two factions, but Anna Ivanovna, the widowed duchess of Courland (daughter of Ivan V), had a claim to the throne. The Corps of Cadets and similar public and private institutions also acted as substitutes for local and family bonds; these schools were also the seedbeds for an active intellectual life, and their students played a leading role in spreading the literature and ideas of western Europe in court circles and in the high society of the capitals. However, he failed to do so before he died on February 8 (January 28, Old Style), 1725. Indeed, the first fruits of Peter’s reforms ripened during Elizabeth’s reign (1741–62): national poetry, a theatre, and the first Russian university (Moscow, 1755), all auguring a deeper culture and knowledge for the next generation. The country was badly ruled; foreign policy was venal. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. At Peter’s death his chief collaborators, who were headed by Prince Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov and were assisted by the guard regiments (the offshoots of the play regiments of Peter’s youth), put on the throne Peter’s widow—his second wife, Catherine I, the daughter of a Lithuanian peasant. The traditionally held view of Peter as a person of weak character and many vices is mainly drawn from the memoirs of his wife and successor. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Peter’s immediate successors. Russia's greatest Tsar, Peter the Great (ruled 1686-1725) succeeded in giving a huge boost to Russian art despite enormous military concerns. The tsarship would no longer be a hereditary position The tsarship would no longer be a hereditary position H owever, Peter died without nominating an heir and at his death the question of ascension to the throne was left unanswered. Peter and His Successors. The Supreme Privy Council was abolished upon Anna’s accession in 1730, and the functions of coordination, supervision, and policy planning were vested in a cabinet of ministers composed of three experienced high officials, all Russians. I’m a Big Tsar Now. Russian armies were successful in conquering East Prussia and occupied Berlin briefly. The Table of Ranks became the framework for a class of servicemen whose lives were devoted to the interests of the state. The Successors of Peter the Great 18:59 The Options Catherine (formerly Marfa), Peter the Great’s wife. Cyprian of Carthage. Peter the Great was a Russian czar in the late 17th century, who is best known for his extensive reforms in an attempt to establish Russia as a great nation (1672–1725) Person. Thus the peasant girl of Livonia, who was made a captive in war and a servant, rose by her genius and courage to be the sole ruler of a great empire--the first woman who ever reigned over Russia. “Peter the Great” is one of the best-written history books I’ve encountered. For the first time since the reign of Peter the Great his policy got a serious successor. Peter the Great decided that the ruler should nominate his successor. His grandson by Alexis (from first marriage), Peter. He began to dismantle the system of internal tariffs, so that local trade could develop; he strengthened the landlord’s control over all the resources on his estate; and he gave the nobles the right to distill alcohol. Anna, who was childless, appointed as successor her infant nephew, Ivan Antonovich (Ivan VI), under the regency of his mother, Anna Leopoldovna. Officially, Russia would be ruled by the Romanov dynasty until the Russian Revolution of 1917. Thanks to these ties, she soon found herself engaged to the heir to the Russian throne: Peter, nephew of the reigning empress, Elizabeth, and grandson … Recent scholarship has modified this image and shown that Biron’s bad reputation rested on his inflexibility in applying the law and collecting taxes, rather than on malevolence. Moreover, Russia was interfering more and more in the domestic politics of Poland and in the diplomatic game of central and western Europe. As a consequence, cultural policy became a major concern of the government and the nobility alike; the members of the service class demanded that institutions of learning be set up to prepare the nobility for better careers, permitting them to skip the lowest ranks. The Kunstkamera was dedicated to collecting and researching natural and human curiosities and rarities. Elizabeth’s reign also witnessed Russian victories over Turkey that expanded and consolidated the empire’s control in southwestern Ukraine, between the Bug (Buh) and Dniester rivers, and promoted settlement in Ukraine. Ardently supported by the nobility and the guards, Elizabeth organized a military coup and seized the throne in … The Winter Palace, St Petersburg. The Russian throne, as Voltaire said, became “not hereditary and not elective, but occupative.” The period from Peter’s death to Catherine II’s accession (1725–62) was an eclipse. When noblemen established factories or secured estates in newly conquered border areas, they transferred their serfs to them without regard for family or village ties. The majority of them, however, were quite poor for a number of reasons, chief among which were the low productivity of Russian agriculture, absentee management, and the scattered and splintered character of the landholdings. At the same time, Golitsyn tried to circumscribe Anna’s power by having her accept a set of conditions that left to the council the decisive voice in all important matters. In the decades that followed, the absence of clear rules of succession left the monarchy open to intrigues, plots, coups, and countercoups. Peter, for his part, was eager to set aside Alexis, a child of his first wife, Eudoxia, in favour of the children of his second wife, Catherine. Peter’s unexpected death in 1725 at age 52 left unresolved two major institutional problems. The reign of Catherine the Great (1762-1796) is sometimes characterized as the Enlightened absolutism, referring to the empress’ interest in the ideas of Voltaire and Diderot. The service noblemen were also landlords and serf owners. Peter met with opposition in his own family: his son Alexis grew up under the influence of the clergy and obviously disapproved of Peter’s reform. The salary was not very large, it was often in kind (furs), and it was paid out rather irregularly; lands and serfs could be obtained only from the ruler, and most went to favourites, courtiers, or high dignitaries. Thus, he remained in service and took little direct interest in his estates and serfs. Grigory Grigoryevich, Count Orlov, portrait by Vigilius Eriksen; in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. He was deposed by troops loyal to his wife, Catherine, the former Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, who despite her own German origins was a Russian nationalist. Her 20-year reign saw the rise of certain trends and patterns in public life, society, and culture that were to reach their culmination under Catherine the Great. The aristocrats offered her the throne on the condition of limiting her power by the supreme council (created under Catherine I) in questions of her marriage, succession, war and peace, taxation, and military appointments. The full weight of these powers fell on the household serfs, whose number increased because their masters used them as domestics and craftsmen in their town houses to make the Western-style objects with which they surrounded themselves. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Peter I "the Great" was the son of Tsar Alexei of Russia and Alexei's second wife Natalya. Peter I was the first Tsar of Russia to … The ruler’s autocratic power could not be infringed, however, because his authority was needed not only to settle special cases but also to promote, protect, and reward members of the ruling group and their clients. The operation of most estates was, in the absence of the landlord, left to the peasants. The failure to solve these problems produced a climate of instability and led to a succession of crises in St. Petersburg and Moscow that make it difficult to give unity to the period from 1725 until the accession of Catherine II (the Great) in 1762. This alliance permitted successful palace coups against favourites. The only son of the second marriage of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia (r. 1645–1676) to Nathalie Kirillovna Naryshkina, Peter succeeded his half-brother Tsar The average small or middling estate yielded only the bare necessities for the survival of the serviceman’s family. This move toward oligarchy was foiled by top-level officials (the generalitet—i.e., those with the service rank of general or its equivalent), in alliance with the rank-and-file service nobility. Peter III was the grandson of two emperors. In fact, however, promotion in the Table of Ranks was possible only if the individual’s merit and performance were recognized by the ruler or, more likely, by high officials and dignitaries who had access to the ruler. Peter II, painting by an unknown artist, c. 1728; in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Elizabeth wished to secure the throne for the lineage of her sister Anna of Holstein-Gottorp, and she invited her nephew Peter, educated in the Lutheran religion and in the ideas of Prussian drill, to come to St. Petersburg to learn Orthodoxy and Russian habits. Peter was brought to Russia by his aunt, Empress Elizabeth, who had chosen him as her successor. The continuing domination of a few favourites—many of whom were Germans—much displeased the high officials, whose position was threatened by the personal caprices of ruler or favourite, and incensed even more the rank and file of the service nobility, who could not obtain rewards or favours from the sovereign without the approval and help of the favourites. Alexis fled abroad from Peter’s menaces, was brought back by fraud, imprisoned on suspicion of a conspiracy against his father’s life, and died by torture in 1718. Under the leadership of Prince Dmitry Golitsyn—scion of an old Muscovite boyar family and himself a prominent official under Peter I—the Supreme Privy Council elected to the throne Anna, dowager duchess of Courland and niece of Peter I (daughter of his co-tsar, Ivan V). At the same time, the landlords were obtaining still greater power over their serfs. The empress’s death saved the king of Prussia from total disaster. Much to Peter’s chagrin, however, his eldest son and heir apparent, the tsarevich Alexei, grew up thinking differently. On Alexei's death when Peter was not quite four, Alexei's oldest son Fyodor III, who had been designated the heir by his father, became Tsar.Feodor's death in 1682 without any designated heirs made things more difficult. Read description. Peter I (the “Great”) ruled as czar, or king, of Russia from 1682 to 1725. This only perpetuated the traditional patterns of agriculture and made the modernization and improvement of agricultural productivity impossible. Peter changed the rules of succession to the throne after the death of his son Aleksey, who had opposed his father's reforms and served as a rallying figure for anti-reform groups. Quite naturally, Menshikov ruled in her name. In principle, entry to this class of officials was open to anyone with the required ability and education, including the sons of priests and non-Russian landowners. The system rested on the availability to all nobles of the minimum education necessary for entrance and promotion in service. Anna Ivanovna, enameled miniature by an unknown artist, 18th century; in the collection of Mrs. Merriweather Post, Hillwood, Washington, D.C. Elizabeth, empress of Russia, detail of a portrait by an unknown artist, 18th century; in the collection of Mrs. Merriweather Post, Hillwood, Washington, D.C. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Catherine was the first woman to rule Imperial Russia, opening the legal path for a century almost entirely dominated by women. The brother of her favourite Count Grigory Orlov, Aleksey, killed Peter on July 18 (New Style; July 6, Old Style), 1762. Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography is one of the largest and oldest ethnographic museums in the world. Catherine I (1725–27) was followed by the rightful heir, Peter II (1727–30), thanks to a compromise between Menshikov and the representatives of the old nobility. She tried to secure the succession in the lineage of her sister, the deceased Catherine Ivanovna, by designating as successor under the regency of Biron the baby Ivan VI, just born to her niece, Anna Leopoldovna, duchess of Brunswick. Peter the Great implemented sweeping reforms in education. The Little Labyrinth. Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov, monument in Kolpino, Russia. Unlike in the show, Peter III was not the son of Peter the Great, but rather his grandson. In the course of the following decades, the original corps was expanded, and other special institutions for training the nobility were added. Elizaveta Petrovna Romanova Empress Elizaveta Petrovna was the daughter of Peter the Great, and ruled the Russian Empire for twenty years. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, Foreign policy and the Russo-Japanese War, Revolution of 1905 and the First and Second Dumas. Indeed, the ordinary service nobles feared that an oligarchy, however broad its membership, would shut them off from access to the ruler and thus limit their opportunity to rise in the hierarchy of the Table of Ranks. The second problem was the lack of firm central direction, planning, and control of imperial policy; closely related to it was the question of who would have the determining role in shaping policy (i.e., what would be the nature of the “ruling circle” and its relationship to the autocrat). A few years later Peter crowned her as Empress of Russia, and when he died he named her as the fittest person to be his successor on the throne. The first was the succession to the throne, which remained unsettled not only because Peter did not choose his own successor but also because during the remainder of the century almost any powerful individual or group could disregard the choice of the preceding ruler. During his reign, Russian territory was expanded, the military modernized, manufacturing bolstered, and the government strengthened. Peter, for his part, was eager to set aside Alexis, a child of his first wife, Eudoxia, in favour of the children of his second wife, Catherine. While Peter died without naming a successor, his manipulations led to the death of his only male heir and the crowning of his second wife, Catherine, the Empress. Service, it is true, provided the nobleman with some extras, such as uniforms, sometimes lodgings, and—most important—greater accessibility to court, cultural life, and education for his children. Thus there remained only two surviving children of Peter the Great: Anna and Elizabeth, both from his marriage to Catherine. His two daughters by Catherine: Anne and Elizabeth who were both teenage girls when he died. What the Early Church Believed: Peter’s Successors Irenaeus. Peter met with opposition in his own family: his son Alexis grew up under the influence of the clergy and obviously disapproved of Peter’s reform. Normal and peaceful succession to the throne was thwarted by a combination of biological accidents and palace coups. The successors of Peter the Great: From Catherine I to the reign of Nicholas I, (History of Russia) Unknown Binding – January 1, 1968 by P. N Mili, u,¡kov (Author) See all formats and editions Special offers and product promotions At the age of … The malcontents banded together around Peter I’s daughter Elizabeth, whose easygoing and open ways had gained her many friends; she was also popular because of her Russian outlook, which she emphasized, and because she shared the aura of her great father. A new law provided that the tsar would choose his own successor, but Peter failed to do so before his death in 1725. Biron, who had at first retained his influence, was overthrown by Burkhard Christoph, count von Münnich, who had made his fortune in Russia. Anna Leopoldovna herself succeeded Biron as regent on November 20 (New Style), 1740, but on December 6 (New Style), 1741, the guards showed their hatred of the rule of the “Germans” by overthrowing her regency and enthroning Elizabeth, Peter the Great’s daughter, who was expected to return to Peter’s national policy. Peter’s creatures, like Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov, who had everything to fear from the survivors of old nobility, enlisted the aid of the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Guards—Peter’s imperial household regiments. Peter died in captivity soon after his overthrow, perhaps with … During this period Peter’s administrative reforms began to bear fruit. The legitimate heir, the son of Alexis, Peter, was thus put aside. Despite the title, this is not a biography — it is an incredible narrative history of the times of Peter the Great. Anna signed, but, profiting by the dissensions of the gentry and nobility, tore up the signed charter and reigned as an autocrat (1730–40), aided by her favourite, Ernst Johann, Reichsgraf von Biron. This group constituted an almost permanent ruling elite, co-opting its own membership and promoting the interests of the families most directly connected with it; in order to solidify its influence and function, it aimed at bringing as many routine government operations as possible under a system of regulations that would make appeal to the ruler unnecessary. The greatest threat to the system was the interference or interposition of favourites—“accidental people”—and, to guard against this, the oligarchy entered into an alliance with the rank-and-file service nobles who wanted to join its ranks and could hope to do so with the help of the dignitaries’ patronage. But for all the noblesse of his intellect and curiosity, Peter the Great’s personal conduct wasn’t what was expected of a leader. Peter the Great made a plethora of sweeping changes with his reforms in Russia and ultimately, the country profited from his unorthodox approach., He established reforms in a systematic manner ... After Fedor’s death, with no successor to take the throne, the Time of Troubles ensued. Empress Elizabeth arranged for Peter to marry his second cousin, Sophia Augusta Frederica (later Catherine the Great). Court life flourished under the reign of these women, and it became very luxurious and expensive. A special school was founded by Empress Anna to teach the noble guards foreign languages, dances, and good manners. Catherine II the Great Recognized worldwide as a noteworthy historical figure, Catherine the Great made such progress in political power that it is hard to find similar examples in world history. An immature youngster, Peter II fell under the influence of his chamberlain, Prince Ivan Alekseyevich Dolgoruky, whose family obtained a dominant position in the Supreme Privy Council and brought about the disgrace and exile of Menshikov. They married in 1745 but the union was unhappy. As long as he remained in service, away from the estate, and without capital, he could do little to improve his property, especially since any change in the agrarian routine would have to be accepted by his peasant-serfs and the noble neighbours among whose lands his own lay scattered in an inextricable patchwork. Elizabeth’s chief adviser, Pyotr Shuvalov, had the government grant exclusive privileges and monopolies to some of the nobility, hoping to involve them in the development of mining and manufacturing. Despite this prosperity, the czar struggled with the problem of who would rule Russia after him. The system worked well enough to allow the consolidation of Peter’s reforms, some success in foreign policy, and a general increase in the power and wealth of the state, despite the low calibre of the rulers and the mismanagement of favourites. M. Guerrier, ‘The Last of the Varangians’ in ‘Old and New Russia.’ Bytchkof, ‘Letters of Peter the Great,’ St. Petersburg, 1872. Pékarski, ‘Science and Literature under Peter the Great.’ Successors of Peter the Great.— Shuvalov also initiated a gradual loosening of state controls over economic life in general. Anna left most of her authority to be exercised by her Baltic German favourite, Ernst Johann Biron, who acquired a reputation for corruption, cruelty, tyranny, and exploitation and who was felt to have set up a police terror that benefited the Germans in Russia at the expense of all loyal and patriotic Russians. From reign to reign the noble guards gained in influence, as they practically disposed of the throne. Eventually, Peter got sick of playing second-Tsar to his big sister. Officially, he was the only son of Peter IIIand Catherine the Great, although Catherine hinted that he was fathered by her lover Sergei Saltykov. Peter the Great: His Life and World. Russia took part in European wars with little benefit for itself. 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