How Elizaveta Petrovna took power
The Preobrazhenians proclaim Elizaveta Petrovna Empress. Painting by E. E. Lancere
A mess on the Russian throne
The palace coup was caused by a long dynastic crisis in the Russian state. It is interesting that Tsar Peter Alekseevich himself summoned him, when in 1718 he allowed his legitimate son Alexei to be tortured. The son of Peter from his semi-legal wife Catherine (Martha Skavronskaya) Peter Petrovich died in 1719. Then Peter changed the law on succession, and now he himself could appoint his heir. But he could not (or did not have time) to do this and died in 1725. At the same time, before his death, Peter clearly lost interest in the stupid Catherine.
Peter's legal heir was his grandson Peter Alekseevich, the son of the unfortunate Tsarevich Alexei and his wife Charlotte Christina Sophia of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. But he was only 10 years old and there was no powerful court party behind him. Therefore, with the help of the closest "chicks of Petrov's nest" the powerful nobleman Menshikov, the head of the Secret Chancellery of Tolstoy, General-Admiral Apraksin and Chancellor Golovkin, who enlisted the support of the guard, the "cook" Catherine was elevated to the throne. The actual ruler under her was Menshikov.
Soon after the death of Peter the Great, the wedding of his eldest daughter Catherine, Princess Anna, to the Duke of Holstein Karl Friedrich took place in St. Petersburg. Formally, both Anna and Elizabeth were illegitimate daughters of Peter, since they were born before his official marriage to Catherine. But at that time they preferred to keep silent about this, so as not to end up in Siberia or not to end up in a torture basement. Karl Friedrich was the nephew of King Charles XII of Sweden and had the right to claim the throne of Sweden. He did not have land: his fiefdom Schleswig was taken by the Danes. Karl Peter Ulrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (future Emperor Peter III Fedorovich) was born from the marriage of Karl Friedrich and Anna. On the female side, he was the heir to two thrones at once - Russian and Swedish.
Catherine did not sit on the throne for a long time. She died in 1727, endless balls, feasts and holidays undermined her health. Even before her death, the upper world was inclined in favor of Pyotr Alekseevich. Catherine herself wanted to appoint her daughter Anna or Elizabeth as heiress, but she feared unrest. Menshikov went over to the side of Peter's camp and obtained the empress's consent to the marriage of his daughter Maria with Peter Alekseevich. Therefore, after the death of Catherine, Peter II became emperor. In fact, he was the only legitimate heir to Peter the Great throughout the XNUMXth century. The origin of all the others was highly controversial.
In 1730, Pyotr Alekseevich died of smallpox, he did not leave any heirs. Therefore, Russian nobles and guards officers chose Anna Ioannovna, the daughter of the feeble-minded Tsar Ivan V (brother and co-ruler of Tsar Peter I), to the throne. Peter the Great in 1710 married his niece to the Duke of Courland, Friedrich Wilhelm. Her husband died quickly, but Anna remained to live in Mitava, finding consolation in the arms of Biron. At first, the St. Petersburg nobles tried to limit Anna's power, but she quickly became an unlimited ruler. The actual ruler of Russia was Biron ("Bironovschina").
The Russian state at this time was in oblivion. The courtyard was concerned about holidays, feasts and revelry. The nobles were engaged in intrigue, the struggle for power. The rulers were weak and worthless. The treasury, army and navy were in decline. The embezzlement, arbitrariness and abuse flourished.
Braunschweig dynasty
Empress Anna needed an heir. She remembered her niece - daughter of Ekaterina Ivanovna and Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Karl Leopold. At birth, she was baptized according to the Protestant rite and named Elizabeth Christina. The couple quickly parted, and Anna returned to Russia, where Elizabeth was baptized according to the Orthodox rite, and she became Anna Leopoldovna.
In 1739, Anna married Anton Ulrich, Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. In 1740 they had a son, Ivan (Ioann Antonovich). Soon the sick Anna Ioannovna issued a manifesto, in which she declared Ivan the Grand Duke with the title of Imperial Highness and heir to the throne of Russia. Biron was appointed regent of Ivan.
On October 17, 1740 Anna Ioannovna died. The next day, the capital swore allegiance to the new infant emperor and regent. Biron became the unrestricted ruler of Russia. But he overestimated his strength. Everyone hated him, he had no support in the capital, and they tolerated Biron as the favorite of the empress. Biron tried to strengthen his position through repression, but these actions had the opposite effect. On the night of November 8-9, 1740, Field Marshal Minich, having received the approval of Anna Leopoldovna, arrested Biron at the head of a small group of guardsmen. The coup was bloodless, no one stood up for Biron. The former all-powerful favorite was sentenced to death, but at the behest of Anna Leopoldovna, the death sentence was replaced with a link to the Northern Urals.
Anna Leopoldovna became the ruler of Russia. Anton Ulrich was proclaimed Generalissimo. Anna was not particularly smart and immediately began an "offensive" against Minich, who elevated her family to the throne. Minich could not stand the pressure and resigned. That is, the most talented commander and manager at that time was removed from the throne.
Anton Ulrich was a very narrow-minded person. He was proclaimed generalissimo, but the duke had no military or administrative talents. The country was left at the mercy of rogues like Osterman, the Saxon envoy of Count Linard, Anna's favorite. Anna herself spent all the time with her favorite Julia Mengden.
Anna Leopoldovna with her son Ivan VI
War and army discontent
The collapse of the control system, the degradation of the Russian fleet and the armies were no secret to foreigners in Petersburg. It was on the chaos in the Russian capital that Sweden was counting, which decided to take revenge for the defeat in the Northern War and return the Baltic states. The Swedes believed that there would be no serious war, it was enough to start a war and the regime of Anna Leopoldovna would collapse. In the summer of 1741, Stockholm declared war on Russia (How the Swedes tried to take revenge for the Northern War).
At this time, a conspiracy matured in the Russian capital, which was not a secret for Sweden and France (the French were allies of the Swedes). Russian officers, bureaucrats and just society are tired of the German party, which ruled on behalf of worthless monarchs. The most real figure who could ascend the throne instead of the Brunswick dynasty was Elizaveta Petrovna. Quite a lot of time has passed and mostly bright memories remain about the era of Peter the Great. Now only Peter's victories and achievements were recalled. His daughter was seen as the rebirth of a great power and the liberation from the hated German party. No one recalled that she was an illegitimate daughter.
Elizabeth did not receive a good education. She only knew French well (Francopophilism in Russia began with her). She was not interested in enlightenment, did not read, spent all her time in entertainment. At the same time, Elizabeth was kind, friendly and hospitable, she tried to please people. She possessed a "worldly mind", was prone to intrigue and hypocrisy. Realizing the danger of her position, Elizabeth tried to avoid interference in state affairs, portraying a complete fool. She loved hunting, round dances and games, constantly changing her favorite lovers. She loved to go to weddings and christenings, preferring soldiers and officers of the guards regiments.
Elizabeth's "revolution"
As a result, in St. Petersburg there were already two conspiracies in favor of Elizabeth. One spontaneous among the guards. Another conspiracy was prepared by the French envoy, the Marquis Jacques-Joachim de Chetardie, and the Swedish ambassador, Erich Nolcken. The Frenchman acted at the behest of his government, which wanted to destroy the alliance between Russia and Austria, to weaken the position of the German party. France sought to push Russia back to the East. It was believed that Elizaveta Petrovna was inclined towards antiquity, and would return the capital to Moscow. Also, Paris was allied with Stockholm and sought to support the allied Sweden. The interests of other allies of France - Poland and Turkey - were also taken into account. Swedish Ambassador Nolken acted mostly on a proactive basis. The mediator between foreign diplomats and Elizabeth was her personal physician Lestok.
Chetardie suggested that Elizabeth sign an appeal to the Russian army in Finland not to resist the Swedes and give written guarantees of territorial concessions to Sweden. Elizabeth was smart enough not to give written obligations, but in words, apparently, she agreed to everything. Chetardie and Nolken financed the palace coup. French and Swedish money was used to pay off Elizabeth's large debts and to favor the guards.
The ruler Anna Leopoldovna, as well as her ministers, were repeatedly warned about the danger of Elizabeth. Spies reported about it, friendly-minded foreigners reported. There was information that all the threads of the conspiracy were drawn to Lestock. Anna Leopoldovna took this lightly, limiting herself to a "family" conversation with Elizabeth.
On November 24 (December 5), 1741, the government issued an order to send the Guards to Finland to help the active army. There was information that the Swedish army was preparing an attack on Vyborg. But the conspirators took this order at their own expense. That the government specifically wants to remove the guards regiments. Elizabeth's entourage - Vorontsov, Razumovsky, Shuvalov and Lestok, offered to speak immediately. It was reported that the guard would support the "revolution".
Elizabeth hesitated, but in the end she made up her mind. On the night of November 25 (December 6), she put on a cuirass over her dress, got into the sleigh and went to the barracks of the Preobrazhensky regiment. Arriving at the grenadier company, Elizabeth said: “Guys! You know whose daughter I am, follow me!"The soldiers and officers shouted:"Mother! We are ready, we will kill them all!"The Tsesarevna took the cross, knelt down and exclaimed:"I swear by this cross to die for you! Do you swear to die for me? - We swear, we swear!"- the soldiers answered. The crowd headed towards the Winter Palace. On the way, separate units were sent to arrest Minich, Golovkin, Mengden, Osterman and other adherents of the ruling dynasty.
Meeting no resistance, the conspirators entered the Winter Palace. The guards went over to Elizabeth's side. The soldiers woke up and arrested Anna Leopoldovna and her husband Anton Ulrich. In the morning, a manifesto was proclaimed, according to which Elizaveta Petrovna ascended the throne "by legal right, by the closeness of blood to autocratic parents". Those summoned to the Winter Palace took the oath. On November 28, the second manifesto was issued, in which Elizabeth's right to the Russian throne was supported by a reference to the will of Catherine I. Ivan Antonovich was declared an illegal sovereign.
Osterman, Minich, Levenwold and other officials of the Braunschweig government were sent into exile in Siberia. Elizabeth did not know what to do with the Brunswicks. At first they wanted to send them to Western Europe, but they abandoned this idea. The family of Anna Leopoldovna ended up in a prison in Dunamunde, then in Kholmogory. Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich died in exile. Ivan died under dark circumstances in captivity in Shlisselburg in 1764.
Elizabeth, through the mediation of Chetardie, tried to make peace with Sweden. But the negotiations fell through. The Russian army defeated the Swedes to smithereens and occupied the whole of Finland. Sweden had to ask for peace. Elizabeth "forgave" Sweden, returning Finland, and annexing insignificant territories to Russia (How Elizaveta Petrovna returned Finland, conquered by Russian weapons to Sweden).
The oath of the Preobrazhensky regiment to Elizaveta Petrovna. F. Moskvitin
- Alexander Samsonov
- https://ru.wikipedia.org/
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