History of Russia
Heads of the stateTHE ROMANOVS
Emperor Pavel I(1754-1801)
Reign
1796-1801.Parents: Emperor Peter III Fedorovich and Empress Catherine II Alexeyevna.
Wifes:
Natalia Alexeyevna, Princess Auguste Wilhelmine Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt (1755-1776).
Married: 29 September 1773.
Maria Fedorovna, Princess Sophie Dorothea Auguste Luise of Wurttemberg (1759-1828).
Married: 26 September 1776.
Children of Paul and Maria Fedorovna:
Alexander (see Alexander I)
Konstantin (1779-1831). Catherine II hoped that one day he would reclaim Constantinople from the Turks. Ruler of the kingdom of Poland and commander-in-chief of the Polish army (1814). Known for his harshness and unbalanced character. Coined the expression "war spoils a soldier". Married a Polish countess, Johanna Grudna-Grudczinska, who became known as the Most serene Princess Lowicka. This morganatic marriage deprived Konstantin of his right to the Russian throne, a fact never made public, leading to confusion in 1825 and the December Revolution. Died of cholera in Vitebsk on 15 June 1831. Buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Had two illegitimate children with French actresses.
Alexandra (1783-1801). When she was thirteen, Catherine II decided to marry her to King Gustav IV of Sweden. The king agreed, then changed his mind, enraging the empress.
Elena (1784 - 1803). Married Grand Duke Friedrich Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Maria (1784-1859). Married Grand Duke Carl Fredrich of Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach. Friend of Goethe.
Ekaterina (1788-1819). Rejected Napoleon's offer of marriage (1807). Married Duke Peter Friedrich Georg of Oldenburg.
Olga (1792-1795).
Anna (1795-1865). Rejected Napoleon's offer of marriage (1809). Married the future King William II of Holland (1816). Queen Beatrice of Holland is her great-great-granddaughter.
Nikolai (see Nicholas I)
Mikhail (1798-1849). Married Princess Friederike Charlotte Marie of Wurttemberg (1806-1873), a great-niece of empress Maria Fedorovna, who converted to Orthodoxy as Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna. Elena gave birth to five daughters.
Important events:
......1754 Throughout his life, Paul was haunted by rumours that his father was Count Saltykov, that Catherine II was not his mother or that Elizabeth Petrovna had substituted a Finnish peasant child for Catherine's still-born baby. These rumours were inspired by Catherine herself, in order to consolidate her own hold on the throne. Portraits of Peter III and Paul clearly reveal the physical similarities between father and son.
......1762 Paul had a vexed relationship with his mother, whose coup had led to the death of his father. He became the heir to the throne at the age of seven and remained so for the next thirty-five years.
......1796-1799 Paul passed a series of reforms designed to improve the Russian army. He introduced individual frontline training and attempted to combat abuses by commanders. Russian military historian Sergei Panchulidze writes: "Many of Paul's innovations still survive today, with great benefit to the army. Talking a dispassionate look at his military reforms, one cannot deny that the Russian army is greatly indebted to him".
Paul was born in St Petersburg on 20 September 1754. In 1760, Paul began his education under Nikita Panin. One of the best minds in Russia, Panin had studied all the latest teaching methods. His mother deprived him of the rights and privileges normally associated with this title. She kept him well away from the throne, in a state of virtual banishment. He sat and bided his time, observing the surrounding lawlessness. On 29 September 1773, Paul married Princess Auguste Wilhelmine Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt, who converted to Orthodoxy on 14 August 1773 as Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeyevna. She died giving birth in April 1776 and was buried in the St Alexander Nevsky Monastery. Paul married another German princess on 26 September 1776. This was Princess Sophie Dorothea Auguste Luise of Wurttemberg, who converted to Orthodoxy on 14 September 1776 as Grand Duchess Maria Fedorovna. She bore him four sons and six daughters, died in 1828 and was buried alongside her husband in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
When Paul eventually inherited the throne in 1796, he attempted to turn the country around. His first step was to summon all guardsmen to their regiments, which brought several surprising details to light. Most officers had deserted their regiments for their country estates or villages, where they had also enlisted their children, whose ages were often given as eighteen when they were in fact not even ten. The entire country was in a state of flummox. Thousands of officers hurried to their regimental headquarters, increasing transport costs and leading to further grumbling among the nobility. Guardsmen were banned from wearing fur coasts or muffs, as this was not part of their uniform. Paul introduced a new uniform costing twenty-two rubles. To avoid freezing in cold weather - the average temperature in St Petersburg in February 1799 was minus 37oC - officers wore woolen sweaters beneath their jackets or lined the jacket with fur.
Paul addressed other areas of Russian life, including the bureaucracy. Civil servants were expected to earn their pay honestly. As one contemporary wrote: " In the officers, departments and ministries, everywhere in the capital, the candles were already lit at five o'clock in the morning. All the chandeliers and fireplaces blazed in the vice chancellor's mansion opposite the Winter Palace, while the senators sat round their red table at eight o'clock". Corruption at the highest levels was harshly punished.
In an attempt to combat inflation, five million paper rubles were burnt outside the Winter Palace. The enormous palace services of silver were melted down and turned into coins. Loaves were sold from special crown storehouses in an attempt to reduce the cost of bread. The price of salt was lowered and decrees were issued on the protection of forests and the prevention of fires. The Russo-American Company was established to start trade with the United States. A school of medicine was founded in St Petersburg. Paul passed an incredible number of new laws - 595 in 1797, 509 in 1798, 330 in 1799, 469 in 1800.
The emperor was determined to dreg Russia out of the state of stagnation into which it had fallen during the "golden age of Catherine". Unlike his mother, however, he lacked the ability to choose the right people. Much progress was nevertheless made. The Credit Bank lent large sums of money to the nobility. Russia led the world in the production of pig iron, smelting 155,000 tons in 1800. The Old Believers were allowed to practise and build their own churches. Paul is often criticised for his decree of 18 April 1800 limiting the import of foreign literature. In the world of the new law, "corruption of the faith, civil laws and morality is being spread by various books imported from abroad. We therefore command, to the point of a decree, the prohibition of various imported books, no matter what language they are written in ... and works of music". Paul was no democrat. He was the sovereign of the country and regarded the morality of his subjects as his personal responsibility. This was not a complete ban, merely a recommendation "to the point of a decree". Russia was flooded with foreign literature, much of it of dubious content, and the emperor did not want his people to read or listen to works corrupting their minds and souls.
In international relations, Paul was forced to resolve a series of difficult problems. On his way to Africa, Napoleon landed on Malta, expelled the Russian ambassador and promised to sink any Russian ship daring to approach the island. As Paul had taken Malta under his personal protection, he regarded this hostile act as a declaration of war and joined the anti-French alliance in 1798. Under pressure from his allies, Austria and Britain, he placed Alexander Suvorov at the head of the Russian army. Suvorov hatched an ambitious plan to single-handedly defeat the two French armies in north Italy and to march from there on Paris.
Alexander Suvorov's plan was thwarted by the treachery of the Austrians. After defeating the French armies in north Italy, Austria demanded that Suvorov join up with the forces of General Alexamder Rimsky-Korsakov in Switzerland, despite the difficult climatic conditions and the lack of any help from Russia's ally. When Suvorov's army arrived in Switzerland, they found that Rimsky-Korsakov had already been defeated by the French. The Russian were without provisions or supplies and surrounded by a numerically superior French army. The French were better equipped and supplied and had the experience of mountain warfare. With great difficulty, Suvorov managed to extract himself from Switzerland by crossing through the Alps. He took ill on the road back to St Petersburg and died soon after his arrival in the Russian capital. The crossing of the Alps is nevertheless still regarded as one of the finest chapters in the history of the Russian army.
Angry at Austrian and British perfidy, Paul decided to change sides. Watching Napoleon destroy the last vestiges of the French Revolution in his desire to become emperor, he joined France in an anti-British alliance. Russia's talk was to march on the English colonies in India. In January 1801, Paul ordered Fedor Orlov-Denisov, hetman of the Cossacks, to prepare to invade India: "All the riches of India will be your reward ... My maps only go as far as Khiva and the River Amudarya. Beyond there it is your duty to get information from the English and their Indian subjects". Paul's murder two months later, however, meant that the planned invasion of India never took place.
Paul was murdered in his palace bedchamber on the night of 11/12 March 1801. The plot was led by two former favourites of Catherine, the Zubov brothers, with the alleged support of the British government, alarmed at the alliance between Russia and Napoleon. Paul was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
Wifes:
Natalia Alexeyevna, Princess Auguste Wilhelmine Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt (1755-1776).
Married: 29 September 1773.
Maria Fedorovna, Princess Sophie Dorothea Auguste Luise of Wurttemberg (1759-1828).
Married: 26 September 1776.
Children of Paul and Maria Fedorovna:
Alexander (see Alexander I)
Konstantin (1779-1831). Catherine II hoped that one day he would reclaim Constantinople from the Turks. Ruler of the kingdom of Poland and commander-in-chief of the Polish army (1814). Known for his harshness and unbalanced character. Coined the expression "war spoils a soldier". Married a Polish countess, Johanna Grudna-Grudczinska, who became known as the Most serene Princess Lowicka. This morganatic marriage deprived Konstantin of his right to the Russian throne, a fact never made public, leading to confusion in 1825 and the December Revolution. Died of cholera in Vitebsk on 15 June 1831. Buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Had two illegitimate children with French actresses.
Alexandra (1783-1801). When she was thirteen, Catherine II decided to marry her to King Gustav IV of Sweden. The king agreed, then changed his mind, enraging the empress.
Elena (1784 - 1803). Married Grand Duke Friedrich Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Maria (1784-1859). Married Grand Duke Carl Fredrich of Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach. Friend of Goethe.
Ekaterina (1788-1819). Rejected Napoleon's offer of marriage (1807). Married Duke Peter Friedrich Georg of Oldenburg.
Olga (1792-1795).
Anna (1795-1865). Rejected Napoleon's offer of marriage (1809). Married the future King William II of Holland (1816). Queen Beatrice of Holland is her great-great-granddaughter.
Nikolai (see Nicholas I)
Mikhail (1798-1849). Married Princess Friederike Charlotte Marie of Wurttemberg (1806-1873), a great-niece of empress Maria Fedorovna, who converted to Orthodoxy as Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna. Elena gave birth to five daughters.
Important events:
- 1796 - Creation of new guards regiments - Hussar Life Guards, Cossack Regiment and Artillery Battalion and the Cavalry Guards (1800). Reburial of Peter III.
- 1797 - Decree on the inheritance of the throne. Introduction of three-days husbandry service for serfs. Foundation of the Russian cavalier order.
- 1798 - Prohibition of the sale of landless house servants and serfs. Paul is elected grandmaster of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
- 1798-99 - War with France. Suvorov's campaigns in north Italy and Switzerland and Admiral Ushakov's victory in the Mediterranean Sea (1799).
- 1801 - Planned invasion of British India. Annexation of Georgia.
......1754 Throughout his life, Paul was haunted by rumours that his father was Count Saltykov, that Catherine II was not his mother or that Elizabeth Petrovna had substituted a Finnish peasant child for Catherine's still-born baby. These rumours were inspired by Catherine herself, in order to consolidate her own hold on the throne. Portraits of Peter III and Paul clearly reveal the physical similarities between father and son.
......1762 Paul had a vexed relationship with his mother, whose coup had led to the death of his father. He became the heir to the throne at the age of seven and remained so for the next thirty-five years.
......1796-1799 Paul passed a series of reforms designed to improve the Russian army. He introduced individual frontline training and attempted to combat abuses by commanders. Russian military historian Sergei Panchulidze writes: "Many of Paul's innovations still survive today, with great benefit to the army. Talking a dispassionate look at his military reforms, one cannot deny that the Russian army is greatly indebted to him".
Paul was born in St Petersburg on 20 September 1754. In 1760, Paul began his education under Nikita Panin. One of the best minds in Russia, Panin had studied all the latest teaching methods. His mother deprived him of the rights and privileges normally associated with this title. She kept him well away from the throne, in a state of virtual banishment. He sat and bided his time, observing the surrounding lawlessness. On 29 September 1773, Paul married Princess Auguste Wilhelmine Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt, who converted to Orthodoxy on 14 August 1773 as Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeyevna. She died giving birth in April 1776 and was buried in the St Alexander Nevsky Monastery. Paul married another German princess on 26 September 1776. This was Princess Sophie Dorothea Auguste Luise of Wurttemberg, who converted to Orthodoxy on 14 September 1776 as Grand Duchess Maria Fedorovna. She bore him four sons and six daughters, died in 1828 and was buried alongside her husband in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
When Paul eventually inherited the throne in 1796, he attempted to turn the country around. His first step was to summon all guardsmen to their regiments, which brought several surprising details to light. Most officers had deserted their regiments for their country estates or villages, where they had also enlisted their children, whose ages were often given as eighteen when they were in fact not even ten. The entire country was in a state of flummox. Thousands of officers hurried to their regimental headquarters, increasing transport costs and leading to further grumbling among the nobility. Guardsmen were banned from wearing fur coasts or muffs, as this was not part of their uniform. Paul introduced a new uniform costing twenty-two rubles. To avoid freezing in cold weather - the average temperature in St Petersburg in February 1799 was minus 37oC - officers wore woolen sweaters beneath their jackets or lined the jacket with fur.
Paul addressed other areas of Russian life, including the bureaucracy. Civil servants were expected to earn their pay honestly. As one contemporary wrote: " In the officers, departments and ministries, everywhere in the capital, the candles were already lit at five o'clock in the morning. All the chandeliers and fireplaces blazed in the vice chancellor's mansion opposite the Winter Palace, while the senators sat round their red table at eight o'clock". Corruption at the highest levels was harshly punished.
In an attempt to combat inflation, five million paper rubles were burnt outside the Winter Palace. The enormous palace services of silver were melted down and turned into coins. Loaves were sold from special crown storehouses in an attempt to reduce the cost of bread. The price of salt was lowered and decrees were issued on the protection of forests and the prevention of fires. The Russo-American Company was established to start trade with the United States. A school of medicine was founded in St Petersburg. Paul passed an incredible number of new laws - 595 in 1797, 509 in 1798, 330 in 1799, 469 in 1800.
The emperor was determined to dreg Russia out of the state of stagnation into which it had fallen during the "golden age of Catherine". Unlike his mother, however, he lacked the ability to choose the right people. Much progress was nevertheless made. The Credit Bank lent large sums of money to the nobility. Russia led the world in the production of pig iron, smelting 155,000 tons in 1800. The Old Believers were allowed to practise and build their own churches. Paul is often criticised for his decree of 18 April 1800 limiting the import of foreign literature. In the world of the new law, "corruption of the faith, civil laws and morality is being spread by various books imported from abroad. We therefore command, to the point of a decree, the prohibition of various imported books, no matter what language they are written in ... and works of music". Paul was no democrat. He was the sovereign of the country and regarded the morality of his subjects as his personal responsibility. This was not a complete ban, merely a recommendation "to the point of a decree". Russia was flooded with foreign literature, much of it of dubious content, and the emperor did not want his people to read or listen to works corrupting their minds and souls.
In international relations, Paul was forced to resolve a series of difficult problems. On his way to Africa, Napoleon landed on Malta, expelled the Russian ambassador and promised to sink any Russian ship daring to approach the island. As Paul had taken Malta under his personal protection, he regarded this hostile act as a declaration of war and joined the anti-French alliance in 1798. Under pressure from his allies, Austria and Britain, he placed Alexander Suvorov at the head of the Russian army. Suvorov hatched an ambitious plan to single-handedly defeat the two French armies in north Italy and to march from there on Paris.
Alexander Suvorov's plan was thwarted by the treachery of the Austrians. After defeating the French armies in north Italy, Austria demanded that Suvorov join up with the forces of General Alexamder Rimsky-Korsakov in Switzerland, despite the difficult climatic conditions and the lack of any help from Russia's ally. When Suvorov's army arrived in Switzerland, they found that Rimsky-Korsakov had already been defeated by the French. The Russian were without provisions or supplies and surrounded by a numerically superior French army. The French were better equipped and supplied and had the experience of mountain warfare. With great difficulty, Suvorov managed to extract himself from Switzerland by crossing through the Alps. He took ill on the road back to St Petersburg and died soon after his arrival in the Russian capital. The crossing of the Alps is nevertheless still regarded as one of the finest chapters in the history of the Russian army.
Angry at Austrian and British perfidy, Paul decided to change sides. Watching Napoleon destroy the last vestiges of the French Revolution in his desire to become emperor, he joined France in an anti-British alliance. Russia's talk was to march on the English colonies in India. In January 1801, Paul ordered Fedor Orlov-Denisov, hetman of the Cossacks, to prepare to invade India: "All the riches of India will be your reward ... My maps only go as far as Khiva and the River Amudarya. Beyond there it is your duty to get information from the English and their Indian subjects". Paul's murder two months later, however, meant that the planned invasion of India never took place.
Paul was murdered in his palace bedchamber on the night of 11/12 March 1801. The plot was led by two former favourites of Catherine, the Zubov brothers, with the alleged support of the British government, alarmed at the alliance between Russia and Napoleon. Paul was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
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