“The emperor was short, his features were ugly, except for the eyes, which were very beautiful, and their expression, when he was not in anger, had an attractiveness and infinite gentleness ... He had excellent manners and was very kind to women; he possessed literary erudition and a lively and open mind, was inclined to jokes and merriment, loved art; knew the French language and literature perfectly; his jokes were never of bad taste, and it is difficult to imagine anything more elegant than short gracious words with which he addressed those around him in moments of complacency. " This description of Pavel Petrovich, penned by His Highness Princess Daria Lieven, like many other reviews of people who knew him, does not fit too well into the image of an unintelligent, hysterical and cruel despot we are used to. And here is what, ten years after Pavel's death, one of the most thoughtful and impartial contemporaries, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, wrote: about that in the whole state there was a message of redemption: in houses, on the streets, people cried for joy, hugging each other, as on the day of the bright Resurrection. "
Many other equally conflicting testimonies could be cited. Of course, we are used to the fact that historical figures rarely receive unanimous admiration or unconditional condemnation. The assessments of contemporaries and descendants are too dependent on their own predilections, tastes and political convictions. But the case with Paul is different: as if woven from contradictions, he does not fit well into ideological or psychological schemes, turning out to be more complex than any labels. Perhaps that is why his life aroused such deep interest in Pushkin and Leo Tolstoy, Klyuchevsky and Khodasevich.
Fruit of dislike
He was born on September 20, 1754 into a family ... But it was very difficult to name the couple of Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst and Karl Peter Ulrich Holshtinsky, who became Ekaterina Alekseevna and Peter Fedorovich in Russia, as a family. The couple were so hostile to each other and had so little desire to demonstrate mutual loyalty that historians still argue who was Paul's true father - Grand Duke Peter or Chamberlain Sergei Saltykov, the first of a long line of Catherine's favorites. However, the then Empress Elizaveta Petrovna waited so long for the appearance of the heir that she left all doubts to herself.
Immediately after the birth, the baby was unceremoniously taken away from the mother: the empress did not intend to risk, entrusting her unloved daughter-in-law with the upbringing of the future Russian monarch. Catherine was only occasionally allowed to see her son - every time in the presence of the Empress. However, even later, when his mother got the opportunity to engage in his upbringing, she did not become closer to him. Deprived of not only parental warmth, but also communication with peers, but overly patronized by adults, the boy grew up very nervous and fearful. Displaying remarkable ability to learn and a lively, agile mind, he was sometimes sensitive to tears, sometimes capricious and self-willed. According to the notes of his beloved teacher Semyon Poroshin, Paul's impatience is well known: he was constantly afraid to be late somewhere, was in a hurry and therefore became even more nervous, swallowed food without chewing, constantly looking at his watch. However, the day regimen of the little grand duke was really harsh in the barracks: getting up at six and classes until the evening with short breaks for lunch and rest. Then - not at all children's court entertainment (masquerade, ball or theatrical performance) and sleep.
Meanwhile, at the turn of the 1750s-1760s, the atmosphere of the Petersburg court thickened: Elizaveta Petrovna's health, undermined by stormy amusements, was rapidly deteriorating, and the question of a successor arose. It seemed that he was there: was it not for this that the empress wrote out her nephew, Pyotr Fedorovich, from Germany, in order to hand over the reins of government to him? However, by that time she recognized Peter as incapable of ruling a huge country and, moreover, imbued with a spirit of admiration for Prussia, with which Russia was waging a difficult war, which she hated. This is how the project for the enthronement of little Paul arose during the regency of Catherine. However, it never materialized, and on December 25, 1761, power passed into the hands of Emperor Peter III.
During the 186 days of his reign, he managed to do a lot. To conclude an inglorious peace with Prussia with the concession to her of all conquered and to abolish the Secret Chancellery, which for decades terrified all inhabitants of the empire. Demonstrate to the country a complete disregard for its traditions (first of all, for Orthodoxy) and free the nobility from compulsory service. Freaky and trusting, hot-tempered and stubborn, devoid of any diplomatic tact and political flair - with these features he surprisingly anticipated the character of Paul. On June 28, 1762, a conspiracy led by Catherine and the Orlov brothers ended the short reign of Peter III. According to the apt remark of the Prussian king Frederick the Great, so beloved by him, "he allowed himself to be overthrown from the throne like a child who is sent to sleep." And on July 6, the empress read the long-awaited news with bated breath: her husband is no longer alive. Peter was strangled to death by the drunken guards officers who were guarding him, led by Fyodor Baryatinsky and Alexei Orlov. They buried him imperceptibly, and not in the imperial tomb - the Peter and Paul Cathedral, but in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Formally, this was justified by the fact that Peter was never crowned. 34 years later, having become emperor, Paul shocks everyone with the order to remove the decayed remains of his father from the grave, crown and solemnly bury him along with the remains of his mother. So he will try to restore the violated justice.
Raising a prince
The order of succession to the throne in the Russian Empire was extremely confused by Peter I, according to whose decree the reigning sovereign should appoint an heir. It is clear that the legitimacy of Catherine's throne was more than doubtful. Many saw her not as an autocratic ruler, but only as a regent with a young son, sharing power with representatives of the noble elite. One of the staunch supporters of limiting autocracy in this way was the influential head of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs and educator of the heir, Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin. It was he who, until Paul's adulthood, played a decisive role in the formation of his political views.
However, Catherine was not going to compromise the fullness of her power, either in 1762 or later, when Paul grew up. It turned out that the son was turning into a rival, on whom all those dissatisfied with her would pin their hopes. He should be closely watched, warning and suppressing all his attempts to gain independence. His natural energy must be directed in a safe direction, allowing him to "play soldiers" and reflect on the best state structure. It would be nice to take his heart too.
Best of the day
In 1772, the Empress convinces the Grand Duke to postpone the celebration of his majority until the wedding. The bride has already been found - this is the 17-year-old princess Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt, who received the name of Natalia Alekseevna in baptism. Amorous Paul was crazy about her. In September 1773, the wedding is solemnly celebrated, at the same time Count Panin is removed from the Tsarevich with numerous awards and awards. Nothing else happens: the heir, as before, is almost completely removed from participation in public affairs. Meanwhile, he is eager to show his ability to be a worthy sovereign. In 1774, "Discourse on the state in general, regarding the number of troops required to defend it and regarding the defense of all limits," Paul proposes to abandon the conquest of new territories, reform the army on the basis of clear regulations and strict discipline and establish "a long peace, which brought we would have perfect peace. " The Empress, in whose minds a grandiose plan for the conquest of Constantinople was being formed at that time, such reasoning, at best, could only evoke a condescending smile ...
In his memoirs, the Decembrist M.A. Fonvizin sets out a family tradition about the conspiracy that was formed around Paul at this time. The conspirators allegedly wanted to elevate him to the throne and at the same time promulgate a "constitution" limiting autocracy. Among them, Fonvizin names Count Panin, his secretary - the famous playwright Denis Fonvizin, Panin's brother Peter, his cousin Prince N.V. Repnin, as well as Pavel's young wife, known for her independence and willfulness. Thanks to the informer, Catherine found out about the undertaking, and Pavel, who could not bear her reproaches, confessed everything and was forgiven by her.
This story does not look very reliable, but it undoubtedly reflects the mood that reigned in those years around the Grand Duke, the vague hopes and fears experienced by him and his loved ones. The situation became even more difficult after the death of the Grand Duchess Natalia during the first childbirth (there were rumors that she was poisoned). Paul was desperate. Under the pretext of consoling her son, Catherine showed him the love correspondence of her deceased wife with Count Andrei Razumovsky. It is easy to imagine what the Grand Duke went through then. However, the empire needed a continuation of the royal family, and the bride, as always, was found in the glorious abundance of the crowned heads of Germany.
"Private family"?
Sophia Dorothea Augusta of Württemberg, who became Maria Fedorovna, was the complete opposite of her predecessor. Soft, pliable and calm, she fell in love with Paul immediately and with all her heart. In the "instructions" specially written by him for his future wife, the Grand Duke openly warned: "She will have to first of all arm herself with patience and meekness in order to endure my ardor and changeable mood, as well as my impatience." Maria Fedorovna successfully fulfilled this task for many years, and later she even found an unexpected and strange ally in such a difficult task. The maid of honor Ekaterina Nelidova was not distinguished by her beauty and outstanding intelligence, but it was she who began to play the role of a kind of "psychotherapist" for Paul: in her society, the heir, and then the emperor, apparently received what allowed him to cope with the phobias and outbursts of anger that overwhelmed him.
Most of those who watched this unusual connection, of course, considered her an adulterer, which, of course, could hardly shock the battered court society of Catherine's times. However, the relationship between Paul and Nelidova, apparently, was platonic. The favorite and the wife probably appeared in his mind as two different sides of the feminine principle, which for some reason were not destined to unite in one person. At the same time, Maria Fedorovna was not at all delighted with her husband's relationship with Nelidova, but, having resigned herself to the presence of a rival, in the end she was even able to find a common language with her.
The "small" grand-ducal courtyard was initially located in Pavlovsk, a gift from Catherine to her son. The atmosphere here seemed to be saturated with peace and tranquility. “Never a single private family welcomed guests so casually, kindly and simply: at dinners, balls, performances, festivities - everything had an imprint of decency and nobility ...” - the French ambassador Count Segur was delighted, having visited Pavlovsk. The problem, however, was that Paul was not satisfied with the role of head of the "private family" imposed on him by his mother.
The fact that he himself does not at all fit into the "scenario of power" created by Catherine should have become completely clear to Paul after the birth of his son. The Empress unambiguously demonstrated that she connects far-reaching plans with the firstborn, in which there was simply no place for his parents. Named Alexander in honor of two great generals - Nevsky and Macedonian - the child was immediately taken away from the grand ducal couple. The same thing happened with the second son, named after Constantine, the founder of the Second Rome. The "Greek project" of the empress and Grigory Potemkin was to create a new Byzantine empire under the scepter of Constantine, which would be linked, according to the apt definition of the famous historian Andrei Zorin, "by bonds of fraternal friendship" with the "northern" empire of Alexander.
But what about Paul? Having coped with the task of "supplier of heirs", it turned out that he had already played his role in the play "staged" at the behest of Catherine. True, Maria Fedorovna was not going to stop there. “Right, madam, you are a master of children,” the empress told her with mixed feelings, amazed at the fertility of her daughter-in-law (in total, Pavel and Mary had ten children safely). Even in this case, the son turned out to be only the second ...
"Poor Pavel"
It is not surprising that it was vitally important for Paul to create his own, alternative “scenario” of what was happening and to establish himself as an indispensable link in the chain of rulers, as if revealing the providential meaning of the Russian Empire. The desire to be realized in this capacity gradually becomes for him a semblance of an obsession. At the same time, Paul opposes a different, baroque understanding of reality to the transparent enlightenment rationalism of Catherine, which prescribed to treat everything with irony and skepticism. She appeared before him complex, full of mysterious meanings and omens. It was a Book that had to be read correctly and rewritten at the same time.
In a world where Paul was deprived of everything that was due to him by right, he persistently sought and found signs of his chosenness. During a trip abroad in 1781-1782, where he was sent by his mother under the name of the Count of the North as some kind of compensation for everything taken and not received, the Grand Duke diligently cultivates the image of a "rejected prince", whom fate doomed to exist on the border between the visible and other worlds ...
In Vienna, according to rumors, the performance of "Hamlet", which he was supposed to attend, was hastily canceled. In France, when Louis XVI asked about the people devoted to him, Paul said: "Oh, I would be very annoyed if there was even a poodle in my retinue, faithful to me, because my mother would have ordered him to be drowned immediately after my departure from Paris." Finally, in Brussels, the Tsarevich told in a secular salon a story in which, like a drop of water, his mystical "search for himself" was reflected.
It happened once during a night walk in St. Petersburg with Prince Kurakin, Pavel told those who had gathered: “Suddenly, in the depths of one of the entrances, I saw a figure of a rather tall man, thin, in a Spanish cloak that covered his lower part of his face, and in a military hat pulled over our eyes ... When we passed him, he stepped out of the depths and silently walked to my left ... At first I was very surprised; then I felt that my left side was freezing, as if a stranger was made of ice ... ”Of course, it was a ghost invisible to Kurakin. "Paul! Poor Pavel! Poor prince! - he said "in a deaf and sad voice." “… Take my advice: do not get attached to anything earthly with your heart, you are a short-lived guest in this world, you will soon leave it. If you want a calm death, live honestly and justly, according to your conscience; remember that remorse is the worst punishment for great souls. " Before parting, the ghost revealed itself: it was not the father, but the great-grandfather of Paul - Peter the Great. He disappeared in the very place where Catherine a little later installed her Peter - the Bronze Horseman. “And I'm scared; it is scary to live in fear: this scene still stands before my eyes, and sometimes it seems to me that I am still standing there, on the square in front of the Senate, "the Tsarevich concluded his story.
It is not known whether Pavel was familiar with Hamlet (for obvious reasons this play was not staged in Russia at that time), but the poetics of the image was masterfully recreated by him. It should be added that the Grand Duke impressed sophisticated Europeans as an absolutely adequate, sophisticated, secular, intelligent and educated young man.
Gatchina hermit
He probably returned to Russia the way they return from a festive performance, where you unexpectedly got the main role and thunderous applause, into a familiar and hateful home environment. The next decade and a half of his life passed in gloomy anticipation in Gatchina, which he inherited in 1783 after the death of Grigory Orlov. Paul tried his best to be an obedient son and to act according to the rules set by his mother. Russia fought hard with the Ottoman Empire, and he was eager to fight even as a simple volunteer. But all that he was allowed was to participate in a harmless reconnaissance in a sluggish war with the Swedes. Catherine, at the invitation of Potemkin, made a solemn journey through the annexed to the empire of Novorossia, the participation of the crown prince was not provided for.
Meanwhile, in Europe, in France, which delighted him so much, a revolution was taking place and the king was executed, and he was trying to equip his little space in Gatchina. Justice, order, discipline - the less he noticed these qualities in the outside world, the more persistently he tried to make them the basis of his world. The Gatchina battalions, dressed in uniforms of the Prussian model, unusual for the Russians, and spending time on the parade grounds endlessly honing their drill training, became the object of irony on duty at the court of Catherine. However, ridicule over everything connected with Paul was almost part of the court ceremonial. The goal of Catherine, apparently, was to deprive the Tsarevich of that sacred halo, which, in spite of everything, was surrounded by the heir to the Russian throne. On the other hand, the empress's rejection of the oddities for which Paul was famous, his "non-political" growing up in seclusion from year to year, was completely unfeigned. Both mother and son remained hostages of their roles to the end.
In such conditions, the plan of Catherine to transfer the throne to her grandson Alexander had every chance to be embodied in real actions. According to some memoirists, the corresponding decrees were prepared or even signed by the empress, but something prevented her from promulgating them.
Prince on the throne
On the night before the death of his mother, the Tsarevich had the same dream many times: an invisible force picks him up and lifts him to heaven. The accession to the throne of the new emperor Paul I took place on November 7, 1796, on the eve of the memory day of the formidable Archangel Michael - the leader of the disembodied heavenly army. For Paul, this meant that the heavenly commander overshadowed his reign with his hand. The construction of the Mikhailovsky Palace on the site indicated, according to legend, by the Archangel himself, was carried out at a feverish pace throughout the entire short reign. The architect Vincenzo Brenna built (according to Paul's own sketches) a real fortress.
The emperor was in a hurry. So many ideas had accumulated in his head that they did not have time to line up. Lies, devastation, rot and covetousness - with all this he must end. How? To create order out of chaos can only be the strictest and unswerving observance by each of the assigned role in a grandiose ceremonial performance, where the role of the author is assigned to the Creator, and the role of the sole conductor is assigned to him, Pavel. Each wrong or unnecessary movement is like a false note destroying the sacred meaning of the whole.
Paul's ideal was least of all reduced to a soldier's drill. The daily parades held by him personally in any weather were only a private manifestation of the deliberately doomed attempt to improve the country's life in the same way as the mechanism for smooth operation is being adjusted. Paul got up at five o'clock in the morning, and at seven he could already visit any "public place". As a result, in all St. Petersburg offices, work began to begin three to four hours earlier than before. An unprecedented deal: the senators have been sitting at the tables since eight in the morning! Hundreds of unsolved cases, many of which had been waiting for their turn for decades, suddenly got going.
In military service, the changes were even more dramatic. “Our way of life, as an officer, has completely changed,” recalled one of the brilliant Catherine's guardsmen. “Under the empress, we thought only about going to theaters and societies, we wore tailcoats, and now we sat in the regimental yard from morning till night and taught us as recruits.” But all this was perceived by the elite as a gross violation of the "rules of the game"! “To turn the guards officers from courtiers into army soldiers, to introduce strict discipline, in a word, to turn everything upside down, meant to despise the general opinion and suddenly violate the whole existing order,” another memoirist asserts.
It was not in vain that Paul claimed the laurels of his great great-grandfather. His policy largely repeated the “general mobilization” of the times of Peter I, and it was based on the same concept of “common good”. Just like Peter, he strove to do and control everything himself. However, at the end of the 18th century, the nobility was much more independent, and the heir had much less charisma and intelligence than his ancestor. And despite the fact that his idea turned out to be akin to a utopia, it was not devoid of any kind of grandeur or consistency. Paul's intentions were initially met with far more sympathy than one might think. The people treated him as a kind of "deliverer". And it was not about symbolic benefits (like the rights granted to them by serfs to take the oath and complain about landowners) and not about dubious attempts to regulate relations between peasants and landowners from the point of view of "justice" (as manifested in the well-known three-day corvee law). The common people quickly realized that Paul's policies were inherently egalitarian towards everyone, but the “gentlemen,” as they were in plain sight, suffered the most from it. One of the representatives of the "enlightened nobility" recalled that somehow, hiding (just in case) from Paul passing by behind a fence, he heard a soldier standing nearby say: "Here's our Pugach going!" - “I, turning to him, asked:“ How dare you speak so about your Sovereign? ” He, looking at me without any embarrassment, replied: "Why, master, you, apparently, think so yourself, since you are hiding from him." There was nothing to answer. "
Paul found the ideal of disciplinary and ceremonial organization in medieval knightly orders. It is not surprising that he so enthusiastically agreed to accept the title of grandmaster offered to him by the Knights of Malta of the ancient order of John, without even being embarrassed by the fact that the order was Catholic. Discipline the lax Russian nobility, turning it into a semi-monastic caste - an idea that could not even be imagined by the rationalistic mind of Peter! However, it was such a clear anachronism that the officers dressed in knightly robes caused smiles even from each other.
Enemy of the revolution, friend of Bonaparte ...
Paul's chivalry was not confined to the sphere of ceremonial. Deeply hurt by the "unjust" aggressive policy of revolutionary France, offended, moreover, by the capture of Malta by the French, he could not stand his own peace-loving principles, getting involved with them in a war. However, his disappointment was great when it turned out that the allies - the Austrians and the British - were ready to enjoy the fruits of the victories of Admiral Ushakov and Field Marshal Suvorov, but they did not want to not only reckon with the interests of Russia, but simply abide by the agreements reached.
Meanwhile, on the 18th Brumaire of the VIII year according to the revolutionary calendar (October 29, 1799 - according to the Russian), as a result of a military coup, General Bonaparte came to power in Paris, who almost immediately began to look for ways of reconciliation with Russia. The Eastern Empire seemed to him a natural ally of France in the struggle with the rest of Europe, and above all with England. In turn, Paul quickly realized that revolutionary France was coming to an end, and "a king would soon be settled in this country, if not by name, then at least in substance." Napoleon and the Russian emperor exchange messages, and Pavel expresses an unexpectedly sober and pragmatic view of the situation: “I am not speaking and I am not going to discuss either the rights or different methods of government existing in our countries. Let's try to return peace and quiet to the world, which are so necessary for it and so consistent with the immutable laws of Providence. I am ready to listen to you ... "
The foreign policy turn was unusually abrupt - quite in the spirit of Paul. The emperor's mind is already being seized by plans to establish a kind of "European equilibrium" by the forces of Russia and France, within the framework of which he, Pavel, will play the role of the main and impartial arbiter.
By the end of 1800, relations between Russia and Britain were strained to the limit. Now the British are occupying the long-suffering Malta. Paul responded by prohibiting all trade with Britain and arresting all British merchant ships in Russia along with their crews. The British ambassador, Lord Whitworth, was expelled from St. Petersburg, who declared that the Russian autocrat was insane and, meanwhile, actively and without stinging money, rallied the opposition to Paul in the capital's society. The squadron of Admiral Nelson was preparing to march into the Baltic Sea, and the Don Cossacks were ordered to strike at the most vulnerable, as it seemed, place of the British Empire - India. In this confrontation, the stakes for foggy Albion were unusually high. It is not surprising that the "English trail" in the conspiracy organized against Paul is easily discernible. Still, regicide can hardly be considered a successful "special operation" of British agents.
"What I've done?"
“His head is smart, but it has some kind of machine that keeps on a thread. If this thread breaks - the machine will wrap itself up, and then the end of the mind and reason ”, - once said one of Pavel's educators. In 1800 and at the beginning of 1801, it seemed to many people around the emperor that the thread was about to break, if not already broken. “Over the past year, suspicion in the emperor has developed to monstrousness. Empty cases grew in his eyes into huge conspiracies, he drove people into retirement and exiled at will. Numerous victims were not transferred in the fortress, and sometimes all their fault was reduced to too long hair or too short a caftan ... ”- Princess Lieven recalled.
Yes, the character of Paul was skillfully played by a variety of people and for different purposes. Yes, he was quick-witted and often had mercy on the punished, and this trait was also used by his enemies. He knew his weaknesses and all his life he fought with them with varying degrees of success. But by the end of his life, this struggle clearly became unbearable for him. Pavel gradually gave up, and although he did not reach the point beyond which the “end of reason” begins, he quickly approached it. The fatal role was probably played by the rapid expansion of the familiar and from childhood very limited horizon of perception to the size of the real and infinite world. Paul's consciousness was never able to accept and order him.
Not without the influence of true conspirators, the emperor fell out with his own family. Even before that, Nelidova was replaced by the cute and dimwitted Anna Lopukhina. Paul's entourage was in constant tension and fear. Rumors spread that he was preparing to deal with his wife and sons. The country froze ...
Of course, there is a colossal distance from murmuring to regicide. But the latter would hardly be possible without the former. The real (and remained unnoticed by Pavel) conspiracy was led by people close to him - von Palen, N.P. Panin (the nephew of the educator Pavel), and his old enemies - the Zubov brothers, L. Bennigsen. The consent to the overthrow of his father from the throne (but not to murder) was given by his son Alexander. Forty days before the coup, the imperial family moved to the barely completed, still damp Mikhailovsky Palace. It was here that the final scenes of the tragedy were played out on the night of March 11-12, 1801.
The publishing house "AST-Press" has published the book "Russian Hamlet. Paul I, the rejected emperor. " In it, Elena Horvatova, the author of many interesting publications on Russian history, presents a new look at Paul I, refuting the established stereotypes and prevailing myths. "Private Correspondent" publishes excerpts from the book, kindly provided by the publisher.
Foreword
Emperor Paul I is one of the most mysterious and tragic figures on the Russian throne. Rare rulers were treated so prejudiced, rarely who were judged solely on the basis of gossip and speculation, without even trying to think about the true motives of his actions, and rare persons of such a high level were surrounded by a veil of secrecy for so long. And the wife of Pavel Petrovich (second wife, to be precise) Maria Fedorovna is a truly forgotten empress. Even connoisseurs of Russian history can tell little about this woman. Some kind of faded shadow behind the back of a nervous, eccentric husband, poorly controlled by his emotions - that's a widespread opinion. Not knowing about the real role of Empress Maria in politics, court life, intrigues of the Romanovs' house, many deny her intelligence, bright passions, strength of personality.
In March 1801, it so happened that Paul had to fall, Alexander - to reign. In the conspiracy that killed Paul I, his son did not participate, but he knew about the plans of the conspirators and did nothing to save the father-sovereign. Emperor Paul tried to take away the privileges granted by Catherine from the nobility. And by subjecting the demoted officers to corporal punishment, the tyrant violated the sacred principle of the inviolability of the noble back!
A state-of-the-art German princess, taken out of favor as the wife of the widowed heir to the Russian throne ... What interests did she have? To give birth to children in order to ensure the continuation of the royal family, and to please those on whom her life depends - first the omnipotent mother-in-law, Empress Catherine II, then her husband, whose character has become more and more complex over the years. Meanwhile, Maria Fedorovna, or, as she was called in girlhood, Sophia Dorothea Augusta of Württemberg, was an extraordinary person - a beauty, an intellectual, she had a subtle mind, was distinguished by diplomatic abilities, her own ideas about the good of Russia and often held in her hands secret threads that forced the flow of history to change its usual course.
Did love bind Paul and Mary? Without a doubt. But like any long feeling, their love experienced ups and downs, and sometimes betrayal. However, this love remained in spite of everything and glowed even in the last, tragic days of the reign and the very life of Emperor Paul.
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin called Paul I "the romantic emperor" and was going to write the history of his reign. Alexander Herzen owns an even more vivid definition: "crowned Don Quixote." Leo Tolstoy spoke about Paul in one of his personal letters: “I have found my historical hero. And if God had given life, leisure and strength, I would try to write his story. " Unfortunately, these plans were never realized. But an attentive and unbiased look at the events of the life and reign of Emperor Paul could change the attitude towards this person and open such pages of history that have remained unknown to this day ...
Chapter first
Emperor Pavel was born into the family of the heir to the Russian throne, Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, grandson of Peter I, and the Anhalt-Zerbst princess Sophia Augusta Frederica. In 1745, shortly before the wedding, Sophia Augusta Frederica converted to Orthodoxy and received the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna. A dynastic marriage, built on dubious benefits, was initially doomed to become unhappy, so it was difficult to call the union of these two people a family. According to the famous historian V.O. Klyuchevsky, young Catherine went to Russia with dreams of the Russian crown, and not of family happiness: "She decided that in order to realize an ambitious dream that has sunk deep into her soul, she needs to be liked by everyone, above all the empress, her husband and the people." Therefore, the young wife of the heir tried not to contradict anyone, did not show her ambitious character in any way and showed only humility and benevolence. Catherine herself confirmed this in her memoirs. “I cannot say that I liked him or did not like him,” she wrote about her husband, Peter III, “I only knew how to obey. It was my mother's business to marry me off. But in truth, I think that I liked the Russian crown more than his personage ... We never spoke to each other in the language of love: it was not for me to start this conversation. "
In the first years of her stay in Russia, Catherine lived under strict control and had no influence either on political events or on court intrigues. Lonely, unloved, devoid of loved ones and friends, she found solace in books. Tacitus, Voltaire, Montesquieu became her favorite authors.
Relationship with her husband, despite all her efforts, did not work out: rude and ignorant, Grand Duke Peter humiliated and insulted her in every possible way. The birth of their son Paul in 1754 did not make any changes in their family life. By order of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, the newborn son was immediately taken away from Catherine - the empress, like a great-aunt, wished to take care of raising the boy herself.
Childbirth and all subsequent events remained one of the most bitter memories of Catherine. The barely born boy, washed and wrapped in clothes, ended up in the hands of Elizabeth Petrovna, who solemnly placed the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called on the baby on a blue moire ribbon. The baby was not shown to the mother. The Empress, the Grand Duke and the courtiers who were present at the birth immediately left to present the newborn Grand Duke to the representatives of high society who filled the halls of the palace. The woman in labor, who needed help, was simply forgotten, abandoned in a cold and damp room. With her there was only one lady of the court, a rather callous person who was too obsequious to the empress to show even a drop of independence in relation to the unfortunate Catherine. The young mother lost a lot of blood, became weak, suffered from thirst, but no one cared about this. “I remained lying on a terribly uncomfortable bed,” Ekaterina recalled. - I was sweating a lot and begged Madame Vladislavleva to change the bedclothes and help me get on the bed. She replied that she did not dare to do it without permission. "
For three hours the weakening woman in labor was tormented in bed, soaked with blood and sweat, under a thin, thorny blanket that did not protect from the piercing cold. She was chilled, her dry lips cracked, and her tongue barely tossed in her mouth when State Lady Shuvalova accidentally looked through the door.
Fathers-lights! - she exclaimed. - So after all, and not to die for long!
Servants with warm water and clean linen appeared near Catherine, a bustle began ... But the Grand Duchess managed to catch a hard cold, for several days she was between life and death and could not even be present at the baptism of her son. The name of the boy was chosen by Elizaveta Petrovna. However, she did not intend to consult with anyone either about the name or about the upbringing of the boy, announcing to her parents that the son did not belong to them, but to the Russian state.
A week after giving birth, Catherine received a package with gifts from the Empress. It contained a necklace, earrings, a couple of rings and a check for one hundred thousand rubles. The amount seemed fantastic to the unspoiled princess, but Catherine was not pleased with either money or jewelry. She had already understood that, having given birth to an heir, she had fulfilled her main mission and was no longer needed by anyone; now she can be discarded at any time ...
Paul's childhood was very sad, orphaned, although it proceeded in the luxury of the royal palaces. He did not know parental love. The father was not particularly interested in the life of his son, and Paul was separated from his mother. Elizaveta Petrovna had no children of her own, at least no official children, whom she herself would be raising (there were a variety of rumors about the Empress's illegitimate children). She had very rough ideas about how to raise babies. But Elizabeth enthusiastically took up playing with a living doll, which was her grand-nephew. The people assigned to little Paul for leaving, considered the main task to be the fulfillment of all the instructions, orders, whims and whims of the empress, without reasoning or even thinking whether it would go for the good of the child or for evil. Elizaveta Petrovna once mentioned that the boy, in order to avoid colds, should be wrapped up warmly. The unhappy baby lay in a well-heated room, dressed up in a pile of clothes and caps, tightly wrapped, covered with a thick quilt on cotton wool and another brocade lined with fur of black foxes ... He was drenched in sweat, cried and gasped from the heat, unable move neither the handle nor the leg.
Catherine, who was rarely allowed to see her son, on special occasions, recalled this picture with horror and it was with such a "hothouse" upbringing that she explained Paul's further inclination to colds from the slightest draft. No one listened to the requests of his own mother to remove at least the fur from the baby and to undress him. Would the servants dare to violate the order of the empress in order to please the German upstart Catherine, out of favor taken to the Russian court?
And so it went on. If Elizaveta Petrovna, busy with the next celebration, forgot to order the child to be fed, Pavel remained hungry. But if the order came to feed the boy, he was stuffed with food to the fullest and heavily overfed. If the highest order was not received to take Paul out for a walk, he sat in a stuffy atmosphere, without fresh air.
They began to teach him at the age of four - too early for such a kid. The Empress did not think that this great stress for a fragile child's psyche could subsequently lead to a nervous breakdown. It seemed to Elizabeth that it was high time, because at the age of four the boy was quite smart. So she ordered in between times - to teach reading and writing and other subjects for Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, let him grow up educated. Since then, throughout his childhood, Paul was only engaged in assimilating various sciences.
The teachers had to show a lot of ingenuity so that their little student could overcome the teaching. For example, the letters of the alphabet were written on the backs of toy soldiers, and Paul had to build his army in such a way that words, and then phrases, were obtained. It was a study, but at the same time a game that reconciled the baby with life. Meanwhile, the living toy began to annoy the empress.
The older Pavel got, the less funny he seemed. He was moved from Elizaveta Petrovna's chambers to a separate wing. The visits of the Empress to Grand Duke Paul became less and less frequent. The boy was given only to nannies and educators. The mother, torn away from the child, yearned and suffered, but she was forbidden to openly demonstrate even suffering. As a result, her feelings for her son, locked in some distant corner of her consciousness, cooled down and somehow faded. The impossibility of everyday communication deprived them of real warmth and cordiality.
In 1761, after the death of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and the accession to the throne of Peter III, Catherine's position at court not only worsened, but became dangerous. The husband did not hide his hatred for her and openly lived with his mistress. The issue of divorce and the subsequent sending of the disgraced wife to the monastery was practically resolved. And Peter did not have any warm feelings for his son, although Empress Elizabeth, before her death, took from her nephew the word to love little Paul. But Peter III did not want to recognize his son as his heir, and even in the manifesto on his accession to the throne, in violation of all traditions, he did not mention his name.
However, the position of Peter III was not so strong: the new emperor, who ineptly took the first steps in the state arena, irritated the higher circles and the army. He had almost no sincere adherents. Catherine, sensitively catching the smallest changes in mood at court, realized that fate gave her a chance to change her fate. She immediately had other concerns besides defective motherhood - political intrigues, preparation of a coup, the removal of her husband from power, and then the physical removal of him from the historical arena ... At first, she hoped only to defend the interests of her own and her son, but the struggle for power so captivated her that the original goals in the process of this struggle were forgotten.
On June 28, 1762, Catherine, with the help of the guards regiments led by brothers Alexei and Grigory Orlov, carried out a coup d'etat, concentrating power in her hands. Peter III was deposed, placed under house arrest in a deserted country estate and soon killed by supporters of the new ruler of Russia.
On September 22, 1762, the coronation ceremony of Empress Catherine II took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. At the time of these events, Paul was an eight-year-old child, and no one took into account his interests, including in the sphere of succession to the throne, although it was he who was to become the successor of his father on the throne. Indeed, the legitimate sovereign Peter III (no matter how his subjects relate to his personality, but Elizabeth gave the royal crown to him) had a legitimate heir, Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich.
Empress Dowager Catherine (whose widowhood, as everyone understood, was arranged by her own diligence), at best, could become regent with a young son and rule until Paul's majority. But the eighteenth century was the age of adventurers ...
IN. Klyuchevsky noted: “The June coup of 1762 made Catherine II the autocratic Russian empress. From the very beginning of the 18th century, the bearers of supreme power in our country were either extraordinary, like Peter the Great, or accidental, what were his successors and successors, even those who were appointed to the throne by virtue of the law of Peter I by a previous accident, as it was. .. with Peter III. Catherine II closes a number of these exceptional phenomena of our not in all ordered 18th century: she was the last accident on the Russian throne and spent a long and extraordinary reign, created an entire era in our history. "
Paul in 1762, as a young man, could not understand what was happening in his family and state. But over time, he will return to these events more than once in his thoughts. And the older Paul gets and the more he learns about the recent past, the deeper the breakdown in his soul will go ...
There was a version that Paul was not at all the son of Peter III. The boy's father was allegedly Sergei Saltykov, who "consoled" the Grand Duchess Catherine when her husband showed her complete disdain. A well-known historical anecdote (which could well be a real fact) says that the great-grandson of Paul I, Emperor Alexander III, was concerned with the issue of his own origin and invited prominent historians to his place in order to clarify the matter.
Do you think, gentlemen, - he turned to the learned men, - could Saltykov be the father of Paul I?
No doubt, Your Majesty, ”one of the historians replied. - After all, Empress Catherine herself hints at this in her memoirs. But what is there hinting, simply says that her husband was not capable of fulfilling his marital duty ... So, Pavel's father is Saltykov.
Thank God, - Emperor Alexander crossed himself, - it means that we have Russian blood in us! one
Your Majesty, I completely disagree with this, ”objected another scientist, an expert in the 18th century. - Compare the portraits of Peter III and Paul I. The family resemblance is simply striking. It is clear that Paul is the son of his father. And Catherine, due to historical circumstances, was interested in denigrating her deposed husband in every possible way in order to prove his worthlessness. Forgive me generously, but she slandered Peter!
Thank God, - the emperor crossed himself, - that means we are legal!
Chapter thirty-seven
When the fatal hour struck, a crowd of drunken guards led by Nicholas and Platon Zubovs, inciting each other, went to the emperor's bedroom.
In practice, he was doomed - the conspirators no longer thought about saving the sovereign's life. Pushkin wrote about Paul and the events of the fateful night in the Mikhailovsky Castle:
- He sees: in ribbons and stars,
Intoxicated with wine and malice,
Secret killers are coming,
On the faces of insolence, in the heart of fear ...
But Paul did not see, but rather felt their approach, perhaps he heard the clatter of boots, the clink of spurs and voices screaming shamelessly in the emperor’s chambers when he was resting. In the half-empty halls of the new castle, sounds carried far away ... Paul's worst nightmares were coming true. He was afraid of death, but was inwardly prepared for this to happen, he even waited for a denouement, but ... as it turned out, he was not able to take the proper measures to protect himself.
And yet it is difficult to get rid of the thought that the Troubles was arranged by the Romanovs in order to ascend to the Russian throne. And since the winners write history, sometimes even suspicions creep in that Tsarevich Dmitry was ordered by the Romanov clan, and not the Godunov clan. And one can imagine that if the Godunov dynasty had strengthened on the throne, Pushkin could well have written the tragedy Fyodor Romanov. Approximately the same text that we study at school, only the words "Yes, the one in whom the conscience is unclean is pathetic" would have been pronounced by Fyodor Nikitich.
The steps are getting closer. Run away? Where? Towards the killers? This will only speed up the denouement. To the adjoining bedroom to the Empress? He himself locked the door, and in the confusion you won't find the key soon ... On the secret staircase to the upper chambers to Annushka? There was no entrance directly from the bedroom, the door to the stairs was too far away, and the enemies were close, cut off the path ... And not a single faithful person was near. Not everything was foreseen by the emperor. The castle would have withstood the siege of the rebels, from its cannons it was possible to shoot enemy units at distant approaches, but Pavel did not expect to be in his own bedroom alone with the crowd that was thirsting for his death. And yet I didn’t want to believe that this was the end. Maybe there is at least one tiny chance of salvation left?
Pavel jumped up from his bed (it was a narrow folding camp bed, under which you couldn't hide) and darted about the bedroom. Where to hide? There were almost no such places, except perhaps behind a screen ... The shelter is unreliable, but what if a miracle happens and they won't find it? He ran behind an elegant low screen, which stood by the fireplace, bent down and fell silent, trying to hardly breathe.
The conspirators burst into the room. Platon Zubov was the first to rush through the door. He slipped through and immediately backed away - in his soul there was more fear and uncertainty than determination. Bennigsen, who followed him, pushed the former Tsarina's favorite into Pavel Petrovich's bedroom again. Zubov saw that the bed was empty and the emperor was nowhere to be found. If Paul got used to the idea that murderers might attack him, then Platon Zubov, for his part, was also internally ready for the fact that nothing of the undertaking with a coup would work out and would have to answer for everything. However, Zubov tried not to show his own fear to others. Swearing, Plato casually said in French:
The bird flew away!
He was scared to search the emperor's chambers, he wanted to escape as soon as possible, then maybe it will still cost ... If all the conspirators were like Zubov, Pavel Petrovich would really have a chance to survive. Even a pitiful screen could save his life. But others were determined to go all the way. Among them there were many military officers with military experience different from that of Zubov, who received his ranks in Catherine's bedroom. The cold-blooded Bennigsen immediately guessed where he could hide here, and threw the screen aside. The emperor, in a nightgown and a cap, appeared before the conspirators.
Voila 2! Bennigsen exclaimed.
Despite the large number of participants in the murder, they did not give a single picture of what was happening in their memories. Their accounts of Paul's murder vary greatly in detail. Who exactly said: "Sovereign, you are under arrest!" - Platon Zubov or Bennigsen? Who proposed not to limit ourselves to arrest, but to immediately kill Pavel Petrovich? Who delivered that famous fatal blow with a snuffbox to the emperor's temple? Who choked him with a scarf and where did this scarf come from? Some claimed that one of the guardsmen had taken it off his neck (but the guards uniform did not allow wearing any frivolous scarves), others thought that the scarf had been removed from the back of Pavel's bed (although the cot did not have a back, and the scarf is an inappropriate item in bedroom and in general in the wardrobe of the emperor, who did not recognize such excesses) ... All reconstructions of the crime agree on the whole, but differ in small details. Probably, these details are not so important for the final denouement. Each of those who burst into the bedroom was ready to go to the murder, just one of them turned out to be cunning.
The conspirators were not themselves from horror and alcohol fumes, and later they simply could not reliably tell about what they experienced in a state of nervous frenzy; besides, everyone tried to portray himself as nobly as possible in this drama ... For example, Bennigsen recalled how some of the conspirators frightened their own comrades to death: “At that moment other officers noisily entered the hallway, who got lost in the chambers of the palace; the noise they made frightened those who were with me in the bedroom. They thought that the guards were coming to the aid of the king, and they fled to escape along the stairs. I was left alone with the tsar, and with my determination and sword did not let him move. My fugitives, meanwhile, met their allies and returned to Paul's room; there was a terrible crush, so that the screens fell on the lamp, which went out. I went out to bring fire from another room; in this short period of time Paul was gone. "
There is so much in these few phrases - both the panic fear of the conspirators, and their inability to come to an agreement at least with each other and behave with dignity, and Bennigsen's desire to “cleanse himself” from accusations of spilled blood at any cost and at the same time emphasize his own important role in the coup. After all, it was he with his sword, by his own admission, who did everything to make things take the worst turn. So what difference does it make - did he hit the emperor among the direct assassins, and then fiercely trampled and kicked the dead body, or just at that moment "went out to bring fire"? Count Palen, the acknowledged leader of the conspirators, cleverly took measures not to end up in the fateful moment either in Paul's bedroom or nearby, shifting responsibility to others. Initially, it was assumed that he, at the head of a battalion of guardsmen, together with Count Uvarov 3, would penetrate the main staircase of the palace into the emperor's chambers and join the assassins. But Pahlen, as everyone noticed, was marching too slowly, as if he was in no hurry to go anywhere. Uvarov had to constantly urge him on ... And yet Palen with the guards arrived at the Mikhailovsky Castle too late to take a personal part in the assassination of the emperor. But just in time to reap the benefits of a coup ...
As soon as it became clear that the conspiracy was a success and Pavel Petrovich was no longer alive, Count Palen returned to the role of leader, again seizing the initiative. The other conspirators, tired and devastated after the murder, took it for granted at that moment. When they sobered up and pulled themselves together enough to analyze what had happened, some began to make claims of double dealing with Palen. But it was already too late, events continued to develop without their participation.
Von Palen's first brief order after the assassination read:
For family members and subjects: the sovereign has an apoplectic stroke.
This version was announced to the people. Petersburg witches immediately started a "black" joke that the sovereign died of an apoplectic blow to the temple with a snuffbox ...
Grand Duke Alexander, who, according to the conspirators' plan, was to immediately take over the power, after the death of his father was confused and frightened. It's one thing to abstractly talk about Pavel Petrovich's abdication from the throne and remind, keeping face, that papa needs to save his life in any case, and quite another thing is to ascend the throne by blood, stepping over the torn body of his own father ... Alexander's nerves surrendered. He was hysterical, he seemed miserable and weak.
But Palen was on the lookout.
Stop being a boy! - he sharply threw to Alexander. - Go to reign!
Alexander obeyed. Count Palen did not yet know that the desire to turn the young king into an obedient puppet would never be forgiven for him and would soon have to pay for his intrigues. However, the price will not be too high for him.
On the fateful night, Alexander instructed Count Palen to inform the Empress about the death of her husband. Pahlen shifted this responsibility to the chief-equestrian Mukhanov. He, also wishing to evade a difficult mission, decided to involve the teacher of the royal daughters Countess Lieven in the case.
The unhappy countess, awakened in the middle of the night, could not understand what they wanted from her, then for a long time she refused such an ambiguous assignment. But the courtiers forced the Countess to go to the Empress with a message of mourning. Maria Fyodorovna, despite the proximity of her quarters to her husband's bedroom, was so unaware of what was happening that at first she thought that it was the death of her eldest daughter Alexandra, married to Austria. But when the countess, carefully choosing her words, began to say that the emperor was ill, he had a stroke and now he is completely bad, slowly getting to the bottom of the matter, Maria Fedorovna understood everything and interrupted the lady of the court.
He died, he was killed! she screamed.
Jumping out of bed, the empress rushed barefoot into her husband's rooms. Soldiers stood on the clock at the door, crossing their bayonets in front of her. The rank-and-file grenadiers did not allow her, the Russian empress, to see her husband's body! This did not fit into the head of Maria Fedorovna. She shouted at the soldiers, demanded, cried, and finally fell to the floor and began hugging their knees, begging to let Paul into the bedroom. The soldiers themselves wiped away their tears, pitying the widow, but did not violate the order. One of the grenadiers brought her a glass of water to calm her down.
These words hit the Empress even more painfully. And the grenadier himself drank from the glass, showing that there was no poison in it, and again handed the glass to the empress ...
She was taken away from the scene of the tragedy, and then the widow fell into a daze. She sat silently, motionless, "pale and cold as a marble statue." To hide the traces of the crime, Paul's body was “put in order” for almost thirty hours before Maria Fyodorovna was allowed to say goodbye to her husband. This was not an easy test for the poor woman. Seeing the face of the emperor, she immediately realized how terrible the death of Pavel Petrovich was.
Those courtiers who had previously been critical of the empress now felt particular displeasure with her behavior. Everything irritated them - and the fact that, at last approaching the deceased, she, still having not overcome the shock, froze and did not shed a tear; and the fact that she sobbed for too long and kissed his hands, and the fact that she cut off a lock of the emperor's hair (probably to hide it in her medallion) ... I did not like the people involved in the conspiracy and her courage, because she openly threatened the murderers with terrible punishments. Bennigsen, a man "smeared" in a criminal conspiracy from head to toe, led
himself with the empress completely unceremoniously, throwing in her face in French: "Madame, no comedies are played here!"
The most terrible thing for Maria Feodorovna was the thought that her son, the heir to the throne, was involved in the death of his father. In the first days after the tragedy, she did not want to recognize Alexander as emperor and even fleetingly noticed that she would rule herself, at least until the question of Alexander's guilt in the death of his father was clarified (“Until he gives me an account of his behavior in this deeds "- this is how Bennigsen conveys her words). However, the empress did not insist on her own rights to the throne; she had four sons, each of whom could inherit the royal crown. It was important for Maria Fedorovna to know the truth. She was tormented by terrible and unfounded suspicions.
Congratulations, you are now the emperor! - she threw to Alexander at the body of Pavel Petrovich. It was said in such a tone and was accompanied by such a look that Alexander fainted. The mother just glanced at the defeated son and left the room without making any attempt to help him ... Waking up, Alexander hurried to his mother with tears in his eyes - to explain and beg forgiveness.
A few days after the death of Paul, another bitter news came from Austria - about the death of Alexandra Pavlovna. What the mother had dreamed of in a nightmare on the night of the murder suddenly turned into a terrible reality. This almost finished off Maria Fedorovna. Only the support of her daughter Maria helped her to cope with mental pain. The Grand Duchess was in her sixteenth year, but after all the misfortunes that befell the imperial family, she immediately matured and literally did not leave her mother, taking care of her.
Maria Feodorovna's nephew, Prince Eugene of Württemberg, said about his cousin Maria: “She had a sympathetic and tender heart” ... marriage with one of the European princes was achieved by Pavel Petrovich. Only in the summer of 1804, the Grand Duchess married her fiancé Karl Friedrich of Saxe-Weimar.
Daughters grew up and one after another left their home. Maria Feodorovna stayed with her sons. Alexander became more and more accustomed to his new role of autocrat and felt more and more confident in it. The empress loved her son very much and over time convinced herself of his complete innocence and innocence of the conspiracy against Paul. But before that, she took Alexander and Constantine to the chapel of St. Michael and there forced her sons in front of the icon to swear that they knew nothing about the intention of the conspirators to take their father's life. Alexander was hardly sincere in his oaths. But Constantine, for all his frivolity and foolishness, was truly grieving. He confessed to Sablukov: “After what happened, let my brother reign if he wants; but if the throne went to me, then I probably would have renounced it. "
Konstantin kept his word. In 1825, he could have inherited the throne after his older brother, but abdicated. And the third brother Nicholas, who was still a foolish kid at the time of the tragedy of 1801, became the Russian emperor.
_______________________________
1 Peter III was the son of a German duke and in Europe was considered not so much a representative of the Romanov dynasty as the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty.
2 That's it! (fr.)
3 Count Fyodor Petrovich Uvarov in his youth participated in suppressing the uprising in Warsaw, in 1794 at the age of twenty-one he was promoted to adjutant general. Uvarov became one of the participants in the conspiracy, but did not play a significant role in the events. Subsequently he took part in the Patriotic War of 1812. In the Battle of Borodino, due to his own mistakes, he could not complete the command assignment and turned out to be one of the few generals who were not nominated for a reward for the battles at Borodino. His star, which flashed brightly during the reign of Catherine and Paul, went down.
Emperor Paul I is one of the most mysterious and tragic figures on the Russian royal throne. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a character in the tragic play of the same name by William Shakespeare, which brought fame to its creator. But what is common between the Russian emperor and the Danish prince, the hero of the play banned in the Russian Empire? Why was Paul I called the Russian Hamlet?
Upon closer examination, the fates of these individuals are not only similar, but sometimes repeat each other with precision. Even the education of the two heroes was equally impeccable. Pavel was fluent in French, Italian, Latin and German, Hamlet received an excellent military education, and was impeccable in his sword.
It all started with the palace coup of Catherine II in real life, which ended with the death of Peter III, Paul's father, and with the brutal murder of the Danish king, Hamlet's father, by the handiwork of his uncle.
Our experts can check your essay against the USE criteria
Experts of the site Kritika24.ru
Teachers of leading schools and acting experts of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
To the events of 1762, which then Paul I was not yet able to grasp, the young emperor will return time after time, thereby irrevocably crippling his soul and creating a starting point for talking about his "madness".
Pavel Petrovich longed to find out the secrets that enveloped the death of his father and the coup staged by his own mother and wanted only one thing - the restoration of justice, the purification of the name of Peter III and the reduction of the merits of Catherine II. These aspirations make him akin to the hero of the English playwright, who desired the same with regard to his murdered father.
What brings these two personalities closer together is the terrible losses they had to endure. In the life of the young emperor, such a blow was the death of his beloved, Natalya Alekseevna. The Grand Duchess died in childbirth, giving birth to a stillborn prince. Pavel was left alone, having no more a lady close to his heart, no parents, no associates. The death of Ophelia, the beloved of the Danish prince, echoes the same pain in the soul of Hamlet himself. The life of the young girl was carried away by the waters of the unfortunate river: “... She tried to hang her wreaths on the branches; the treacherous bough broke, and the grasses and she fell into the sobbing stream. Her clothes, spread out, carried her like a nymph; meanwhile, she sang fragments of songs, as if she did not sense trouble or was a creature born in the element of waters; it could not last, and the clothes, heavily drunk, carried the unfortunate woman away from the sounds into the quagmire of death. "
Always being a "black sheep" among the depraved servants of Catherine II, the future emperor forever formed for himself one of the goals of his reign - to destroy all the privileges of the nobility, whatever they may be. It was in the pillar of power of his mother, the nobility, that Pavel saw the guilt of the unstable social system of the Russian Empire. But he did not agree not only with the "noble" policy of the All-Russian Empress, but also with her attitude to faith and its place in the life of the state. Ever since childhood, brought up by a devout child, he could not understand a woman who "is alien to all that is sacred." The inability to come to terms with the policy of the ruling mother, the countless attempts of the deprived favorites of Catherine to involve Paul in a conspiracy against her - all this influenced the psyche of the future emperor. "Nervous irritability, - points out S. Platonov, led him to painful fits of severe anger." And Pavel Lopukhin assured: "Paul's irritability did not come from nature, but was the result of one attempt to" poison "him." Pavel, like Hamlet, managed to avoid the first reprisal against himself, but they could not change their fate - they both faced a violent death at the hands of selfish traitors.
But let us return again to "madness" - one of the connecting links between Paul I and Hamlet. But if the Danish prince played a son who had lost his mind, then Pavel literally balanced on the brink of insanity, so his behavior was different from the generally accepted norms of that time. It was easier for the nobility to recognize him as insane than to understand and accept his principles. I must admit that separation and misunderstanding with his mother, deprivation of parental love and warmth, a lonely life at the court of his grandmother left their mark on the soul of little Paul! But even though the emperor was subject to the passions and emotions that raged in his soul, his character was based on a steel rod - chivalrous, noble feelings that were noticed by all the courtiers. Later, De Sanglen wrote in his memoirs: "Paul was a knight of the past."
In this era, it differs significantly from previous periods, which is primarily associated with the personality of Paul I, the son of Catherine II and Peter III, in many of whose actions it is difficult to find continuity; his actions were at times completely unpredictable and devoid of any logic. Russian policy in those years was quite consistent with the personality of the emperor - a capricious man, changeable in his decisions, easily changing from anger to mercy, moreover, suspicious and suspicious.
Catherine II did not love her son. He grew up in distance and alienation from her, entrusted with the upbringing of N.I. Panin. When he grew up and in 1773 married the princess of Hesse-Darmstadt Wilhelmina, who took the name of Natalia Alekseevna, Catherine gave him the right to live in Gatchina, where under his command was a small detachment of the army, which he trained according to the Prussian model. This was his main occupation. In 1774, Paul tried to get closer to the affairs of state administration, having submitted to Catherine a note "Discourse on the state in general regarding the number of troops required to defend it and regarding the defense of all limits", which did not receive the approval of the empress. In 1776, during childbirth, his wife died and Pavel remarried to the Virtemberg princess Sophia-Dorothea, who took the name of Maria Feodorovna. In 1777, they had a son, the future emperor Alexander I, and in 1779 the second, Constantine. Catherine II took both grandchildren for her upbringing, which further complicated their relationship. Removed from business and removed from the court, Pavel became more and more imbued with feelings of resentment, irritation and direct hostility towards his mother and her entourage, wasting the strength of his mind on theoretical considerations about the need to correct the state of the Russian Empire. All of this made Paul a broken and embittered man.
From the first minutes of his reign, it became clear that he would rule with the help of new people. The former favorites of Catherine have lost all meaning. Previously humiliated by them, Paul now expressed his complete disdain for them. Nevertheless, he was filled with the best intentions, strove for the good of the state, but the lack of management skills prevented him from acting successfully. Dissatisfied with the system of government, Paul could not find people around him to replace the previous administration. Wanting to establish order in the state, he rooted out the old, while he planted the new with such cruelty that it seemed even more terrible. This unpreparedness for governing the country was combined with the unevenness of his character, which resulted in his addiction to external forms of subordination, and his irascibility often turned into cruelty. Pavel transferred his casual moods to politics. Therefore, the most important facts of his domestic and foreign policy cannot be presented in the form of a coherent and correct system. It should be noted that all Paul's measures to establish order in the country violated only the harmony of the previous government, without creating anything new and useful. Filled with a thirst for activity, wanting to understand all state problems, he set to work at six o'clock in the morning and forced all government officials to follow this schedule. At the end of the morning, Pavel, dressed in a dark green uniform and boots, accompanied by his sons and adjutants, went to the parade. He, as the commander-in-chief of the army, made promotions and appointments at his own discretion. A strict drill was imposed in the army and a Prussian military uniform was introduced. The circular of November 29, 1796, the main principles of military affairs were elevated to the accuracy of the formation, the verification of intervals and the goose step. He chased away honored, but not pleasing to him generals and replaced them with unknown, often completely mediocre, but ready to fulfill the most absurd whim of the emperor (in particular, he was sent into exile). The appeal was made publicly. According to a well-known historical anecdote, somehow, angry with the regiment, which could not clearly fulfill the command, Pavel ordered him to march to Siberia right from the parade. Those close to the king begged him to have mercy. The regiment, which, following this order, had already managed to move quite far from the capital, was returned back to St. Petersburg.
In general, two lines can be traced in the policy of the new emperor: to eradicate what was created by Catherine II, and to remake Russia after the model of Gatchina. The strict order introduced in his personal residence near St. Petersburg, Paul wanted to extend to the whole of Russia. He used the first reason to demonstrate hatred of his mother at the funeral of Catherine II. Paul demanded that the funeral ceremony be performed simultaneously over the body of Catherine and Peter III, who was killed by her order. On his instructions, the coffin with the body of her husband was removed from the crypt of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and placed in the throne room of the Winter Palace next to Catherine's coffin. After they were solemnly transferred to the Peter and Paul Cathedral. This procession was opened by Alexei Orlov, the main culprit of the murder, who carried the crown of the emperor he had killed on a golden pillow. His accomplices, Passek and Baryatinsky, held the brushes of the mourning cover. They were followed on foot by the new emperor, empress, grand dukes and princesses, and generals. In the cathedral, the priests, dressed in mourning vestments, performed the funeral service for both at the same time.
Paul I freed N.I. Novikov, returned Radishchev from exile, showered favors on T. Kostyushko and allowed him to emigrate to America, giving him 60 thousand rubles, received with honors in St. Petersburg the former Polish king Stanislav Ponyatovsky.
"HAMLET AND DON-QUIXOTE"
In Russia, in front of the eyes of the whole society, for 34 years, a real, and not a theatrical tragedy of Prince Hamlet took place, the hero of which was the heir to the Tsarevich Pavel the First.<…>In European higher circles it was he who was called "Russian Hamlet". After the death of Catherine II and his accession to the Russian throne, Paul was more often compared to Don Quixote Cervantes. V.S. Zhilkin: “Two of the greatest images of world literature in relation to one person - one Emperor Paul was honored in the whole world.<…>Both Hamlet and Don Quixote act as bearers of the highest truth in the face of vulgarity and lies reigning in the world. This is what makes them both related to Paul. Like them, Paul was at odds with his age, like them, he did not want to "keep up with the times."
In the history of Russia, the opinion that the emperor was a stupid ruler has taken root, but this is far from the case. On the contrary, Paul did a lot, or at least tried to do a lot for the country and its people, especially the peasantry and clergy. The reason for this state of affairs is that the tsar tried to limit the power of the nobility, which received almost unlimited rights and the abolition of many duties (for example, military service) under Catherine the Great, fought against embezzlement. The guards did not like the fact that they were trying to "drill" it. Thus, everything was done to create the myth of the "tyrant". Herzen's words are noteworthy: "Paul I was a disgusting and ridiculous spectacle of the crowned Don Quixote." Like literary heroes, Paul I dies as a result of treacherous murder. Alexander I ascends to the Russian throne, who, as you know, all his life felt guilty for the death of his father.
"ESTABLISHMENT OF THE IMPERIAL NAME"
During the days of the coronation celebrations, in 1797, Paul announced the first government act of great importance - the "Institution of the Imperial Family". The new law restored the old, pre-Petrine custom of the transfer of power. Paul saw what the violation of this law had led, and had an adverse effect on himself. This law again restored inheritance only through the male line by birthright. From now on, the throne could be transferred only to the eldest of the sons, and in their absence to the eldest of the brothers, "so that the state would not be without an heir, so that the heir was always appointed by the law itself, so that there would be no doubt about whom to inherit." For the maintenance of the imperial family, a special department of "appanages" was formed, which managed specific properties and peasants living on specific lands.
SOSLOVNAYA POLICY
The opposition to the actions of his mother was also manifested in the class policy of Paul I - his attitude towards the nobility. Paul I liked to repeat: "A nobleman in Russia is only the one with whom I speak and while I am talking to him." As a defender of unrestricted autocratic power, he did not want to allow any class privileges, significantly limiting the validity of the Letter of Charter to the nobility of 1785. In 1798, the governors were ordered to attend the elections of the leaders of the nobility. The next year, another restriction followed - the provincial assemblies of nobles were canceled and the provincial leaders were to be elected by the district leaders. Nobles were prohibited from submitting collective representations of their needs, and they could be subjected to corporal punishment for criminal offenses.
ONE AND HUNDRED THOUSANDS
What happened between Paul and the nobility in 1796-1801? The nobility, whose most active part we conditionally divided into "enlighteners" and "cynics" who agreed on the "benefits of enlightenment" (Pushkin) and had not yet diverged far enough in the dispute over the abolition of slavery. Didn't Paul have the opportunity to satisfy a number of general or particular desires, the needs of this class and its individual representatives? Published and unpublished archival materials leave no doubt that a considerable percentage of Pavlov's "rapid-fire" plans and orders fell on his class "according to his heart." 550-600 thousand new serfs (yesterday's state, appanage, economic, etc.) were transferred to the landowners along with 5 million acres of land - a particularly eloquent fact when compared with the decisive statements of Paul the heir against mother's distribution of serfs. However, a few months after his accession to the rebellious Oryol peasants, troops will move; at the same time, Pavel will ask the commander-in-chief about the expediency of the tsar's departure to the scene of action (this is already a "chivalrous style"!).
The service advantages of the nobles during these years were preserved and strengthened, as before. A raznochinets could become a non-commissioned officer only after four years of service in the rank and file, a nobleman - after three months, and in 1798 Pavel generally ordered not to introduce raznochinets into officers from now on! It was by order of Paul in 1797 that the Auxiliary Bank for the Nobility was established, which issued huge loans.
Let's listen to one of the enlightened contemporaries: “Agriculture, industry, trade, arts and sciences had in him (Paul) a reliable patron. To promote education and upbringing, he founded a university in Dorpat, in St. Petersburg a school for military orphans (Pavlovsky corps). For women - the Institute of the Order of St. Catherine and the institution of the department of Empress Mary. " Among the new institutions of Pavlov's time, we will find a number of those that never aroused noble objections: the Russian-American Company, the Medical-Surgical Academy. Let us also mention the soldiers' schools, where 12 thousand people were taught under Catherine II, and 64 thousand people under Paul I.<…>The Tula nobleman, rejoicing at the beginning of the Pavlovian changes, at the same time poorly hides some fear: “Nothing so worried all the Russian nobility during the change of government, as the fear that Tsar Peter III would not be deprived of the freedom granted to him by Tsar Peter III, and the retention of that privilege in order to serve everyone at ease and as long as anyone wishes; but, to everyone's delight, the new monarch, at his very accession to the throne, namely on the third or fourth day, by dismissing some of the guards officers from service, on the basis of a decree on the freedom of the nobility, and proved that he did not intend to deprive the nobles of this precious right and make them serve out of bondage. It is impossible to quite depict how everyone rejoiced when they heard this ... ”They did not rejoice for long.
N. Ya. Edelman. Edge of the centuries
AGRARIAN POLICY
Paul's inconsistency also manifested itself in the peasant question. By law of April 5, 1797, Paul established the standard of peasant labor in favor of the landowner, appointing three days of corvee per week. This manifesto is usually called "the decree on the three-day corvee", however, this law contained only a prohibition to force peasants to work on Sundays, establishing only a recommendation for landowners to adhere to this norm. The law stated that "the remaining six days in a week, divided by an equal number of them," "with good disposition, will be sufficient" to meet the economic needs of the landlords. In the same year, another decree was issued, according to which it was forbidden to sell household people and landless peasants under the hammer, and in 1798 a ban was established on the sale of Ukrainian peasants without land. In the same 1798, the emperor restored the right of the owners of manufactures to buy peasants to work in factories. However, during his reign, serfdom continued to spread widely. During the four years of his reign, Paul I handed over 500,000 state peasants to private hands, while Catherine II, over thirty-six years of reign, distributed about 800,000 souls of both sexes. The sphere of action of serfdom was also expanded: the decree of December 12, 1796 prohibited the free passage of peasants who lived on private lands in the Don region, the northern Caucasus and Novorossiysk provinces (Yekaterinoslav and Taurida).
At the same time, Paul strove to settle the situation of the state peasants. A number of Senate decrees were ordered to satisfy them with sufficient land plots - 15 dessiatines per male head in the multi-land provinces, and 8 dessiatines in the rest. In 1797, the rural and volost self-government of the state peasants was regulated - elected village heads and "volost heads" were introduced.
THE ATTITUDE OF PAUL I TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Paul was also relentlessly pursued by the specter of the revolution. Overly suspicious, he saw the subversive influence of revolutionary ideas even in fashionable clothes and, by decree of January 13, 1797, forbade the wearing of round hats, long pantaloons, shoes with bows, and boots with cuffs. Two hundred dragoons, divided into pickets, ran through the streets of St. Petersburg and caught passers-by, mainly belonging to high society, whose costume did not correspond to the order of the emperor. Their hats were ripped open, their vests were cut open, and their shoes were confiscated.
Having established such supervision over the dressing of his subjects, Paul took on the way of their thoughts. By decree of February 16, 1797, he introduced secular and ecclesiastical censorship, ordered private printing houses to be sealed. The words "citizen", "club", "society" were deleted from the dictionaries.
Paul's tyrannical rule, his inconsistency both in domestic and foreign policy, caused more and more displeasure in noble circles. The hearts of young guardsmen from noble families seethed with hatred for the Gatchina order and Paul's favorites. There was a conspiracy against him. On the night of March 12, 1801, the conspirators entered the Mikhailovsky Castle and killed Paul I.
S.F. PLATONOV ABOUT PAUL I
“A distracted sense of legitimacy and fear of being attacked by France forced Paul to fight the French; personal resentment forced him to retreat from this war and prepare for another. The element of chance was just as strong in foreign politics as in domestic politics: both here and there Paul was guided by a feeling rather than an idea. "
IN. KLYUCHEVSKY ABOUT PAUL I
“Emperor Paul the First was the first tsar, in some of whose acts a new direction, new ideas seemed to appear. I do not share the rather common disregard for the significance of this brief reign; it is in vain that they consider it to be some random episode of our history, a sad whim of an unfriendly fate to us, which has no internal connection with the previous time and did not give anything further: no, this reign is organically connected as a protest - with the past, but as the first unsuccessful experience of a new policy as an edifying lesson for successors - with the future. The instinct of order, discipline and equality was the guiding impetus of the emperor's activities, the fight against class privileges was his main task. Since the exclusive position acquired by one estate had its source in the absence of fundamental laws, Emperor Paul 1 began to create these laws. "
The years of the reign of Catherine II were far from the darkest era in the history of Russia. Sometimes they are even called the "golden age", although the empress's reign took less than half of the eighteenth century. Ascending the throne, she outlined the following tasks for herself, as for the Empress of Russia:
« It is necessary to educate the nation, which must be governed.
It is necessary to introduce good order in the state, to support society and force it to comply with the laws.
It is necessary to establish a good and accurate police force in the state.
It is necessary to promote the flourishing of the state and make it abundant.
It is necessary to make the state formidable in itself and inspiring respect for its neighbors.
Every citizen should be brought up in the consciousness of his duty to the Supreme Being, to himself, to society and he needs to be taught some arts, without which he almost cannot do in everyday life».
Catherine tried to pursue a policy of "enlightened absolutism", corresponded with Voltaire and Diderot. However, in practice, her liberal views were bizarrely combined with cruelty and increased serfdom. Serfdom, inhuman in its essence, was so convenient both for the empress herself and for the highest circles of society that it was perceived as something natural and unshakable. Even a slight indulgence for the peasants would affect the interests of all those on whom Catherine relied. Therefore, arguing a lot about the welfare of the people, the Empress not only did not alleviate the situation of the peasantry, but also worsened it by introducing discriminatory decrees, in particular, prohibiting the peasants from complaining about the landowners.
Nevertheless, under the rule of Catherine II, Russia changed. Reforms were carried out in the country, favorable conditions for entrepreneurship were created, new cities were built. Catherine established educational homes and women's institutes, opened public schools. She initiated the creation of the Academy of Russian Literature. Literary and art magazines began to be published in St. Petersburg. Medicine developed, pharmacies appeared. To stop the spread of epidemics, Catherine II was the first in the country to vaccinate herself and her son with smallpox, setting an example for her subjects.
Catherine's foreign policy and the major military victories of the generals of Catherine's time raised Russia's prestige in the world. Through the efforts of P. A. Rumyantsev, A. V. Suvorov, F. F. Ushakov, Russia established itself on the Black Sea, annexed Taman, Crimea, Kuban, Western Ukrainian, Lithuanian and Belarusian lands to its possessions. The development of the distant outskirts of the Russian Empire continued. The Aleutian Islands were conquered; Russian settlers landed in Alaska.
Catherine had a strong character, she knew how to influence people. IN. Klyuchevsky wrote: “Catherine's mind was not particularly subtle and deep, but flexible and cautious, quick-witted. She did not have any outstanding ability, one dominant talent that would give all the other powers, upsetting the balance of the spirit. But she had one happy gift that made the strongest impression: memory, observation, quick-wittedness, a sense of position, the ability to quickly grasp and summarize all available data in order to choose the tone in time ”.
Catherine II was a keen connoisseur of art: she encouraged artists, architects, collected a unique collection of art objects, representing a significant part of the treasures of the Hermitage, and patronized theaters. She herself was gifted with literary abilities, wrote comedies, librettos for comic operas, children's fairy tales, and historical works. The autobiographical Notes of the Empress are the most valuable source of study of the early period of her reign.
Catherine's courtly adventures were legendary. She was very loving, although she was critical of her appearance: "To tell you the truth, I never considered myself extremely beautiful, but I liked me, and I think that this was my strength."... With age, the empress gained weight, but did not lose her attractiveness. Possessing a passionate temperament, she retained the ability to be carried away by young men until old age. When another favorite swore an oath of love and dedicated enthusiastic verses to her:
If you take an ivory whiteness,
Cover with the finest color of roses,
Then you can be your most tender flesh
In beauty to portray.., - the empress's heart fluttered, and to herself she seemed a gentle nymph, worthy of the most sincere admiration.
Maybe her unhappy youth and memories of her marriage to an unloved person made her look for “the joys of the heart,” or maybe she, like every woman, simply needed the love of a loved one. And what to do if she had to look for this love in the society of men dependent on the royal favor? Not all of them were disinterested in this love ...
It is known that she had illegitimate children from Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Among the favorites of the empress at different times were listed: the future (and last) king of Poland Stanislav-August Poniatowski, officer Ivan Korsakov, horse guard Alexander Lanskoy, captain of the guard Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov ... Alexander Vasilievich Khrapovitsky, there were 17 boys. The last favorite of the aging empress was the 22-year-old captain Platon Zubov, who was immediately awarded the rank of colonel and appointed aide-de-camp. After meeting with Zubov, Catherine confessed in a letter to Georgy Potemkin, who preserved her friendship: "I came back to life like a fly after hibernation ... I am happy and healthy again.".
With such a varied and very intense activity, Catherine had almost no time to communicate with her son Pavel. Having ascended the throne, she watched from afar the upbringing of the boy, whom strangers were engaged in, and regularly communicated with Count Nikita Panin, the chief-gofmeister at the person of the young Grand Duke and his main teacher, in order to keep abreast of the news. But that love that she could not give her son, when there were artificial barriers between them, now that these barriers had collapsed, was no longer found in her soul.
Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin, Pavel's educator and his main adviser
The boy suffered from severe headaches, which could not but affect the state of his nervous system, but his mother practically did not pay attention to such "little things". Meanwhile, by adolescence, Paul himself learned to understand his own condition and take measures to alleviate it. One of the grand duke's teachers, Semyon Poroshin, left this testimony: “His Highness woke up at six o'clock, complained of a headache and stayed in bed until ten ... Later we talked with him about the classification that the Grand Duke made for his migraines. He distinguished four migraines: circular, flat, ordinary and crushing. "Circular" is the name he gave to the pain in the back of the head; "Flat" - one that caused pain in the forehead; "Regular" migraines are mild pain; and "crushing" - when the whole head ached badly. "
How the poor fellow needed the attention and help of his mother at such moments! But Catherine was always busy, and the courtiers around Paul were too indifferent even to the "crushing" headaches of the heir ...
The Empress and the Grand Duke were first of all notable figures on the political scene, and then mother and son. Moreover, the mother took the throne without any special right and was not going to free him. The heir, the Tsarevich, sooner or later could remember his own rights to power. From this perspective, many contemporaries considered everything that happened in the royal family, and looked for the seeds of future conflict. Sir George McCartney, who had served as the English envoy in St. Petersburg since 1765, informed London: “Now it is clear from everything that the Empress is firmly seated on the throne; I am convinced that her government will hold out unchanged for at least several years, but it is impossible to foresee what will happen when the Grand Duke approaches maturity. "... The fact that the Grand Duke, having matured, would not want to settle scores with his mother seemed to European politicians simply incredible. They were expecting a new coup d'etat in Russia.
Paul was far from such thoughts. Growing up, he reached out to his mother, listened to her advice, meekly carried out her orders. In the early 1770s, those close to them were sure that the relationship between mother and son would finally improve and become kindred warm. To her foreign friend Madame Bjolke, Catherine, who celebrated in Tsarskoe Selo in the summer of 1772, the anniversary of Paul's accession to the throne and the name day of Paul, wrote: “We have never rejoiced at Tsarskoe Selo more than during these nine weeks, which I spent with my son. He becomes a handsome boy. In the morning we had breakfast in a nice saloon located by the lake; then, laughing, they dispersed. Each went about his own business, then we dined together; at six o'clock they went for a walk or attended a performance, and in the evening they arranged tram-tararam - to the joy of all the violent brothers who surrounded me and of which there were quite a few. "
This idyll, like the tender friendship between mother and son, was spoiled by the unpleasant news of the officers' conspiracy in the Preobrazhensky regiment. The purpose of the conspirators was the removal of Catherine from power and the enthronement of Paul. The plot was not well prepared; he generally looked more like a child's play ... But the empress was shocked. The Prussian envoy, Count Solms, described this event in a letter to Frederick II: “A few young rowdy nobles ... got bored with their existence. Imagining that the shortest path to the zenith would be the device of the revolution, they drew up an absurd plan for the enthronement of the Grand Duke. "
Catherine, who knew from her own experience that the most ridiculous conspiracy of several guards officers in Russia could lead to unpredictable consequences, thought about the strength of her power and the fact that a competitor was growing up in the person of Paul. The same Count Solms noticed that the empress's relationship with her son had become not so sincere: "I cannot believe that this demonstrative adoration does not contain some pretense - at least on the part of the Empress, especially when discussing the topic of the Grand Duke with us foreigners.".
Peter III, Paul's father, deposed by Catherine II and subsequently killed
On September 20, 1772, Grand Duke Paul turned eighteen. The heir's birthday was not pompously celebrated (Catherine, for all her love of celebrations, did not want to emphasize once again that her son "Entered the age"), and the holiday passed completely unnoticed in court circles. Paul received one important gift - the right to manage his estate in Holstein. His father Peter III was the son of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and now Paul entered the inheritance right in a straight line. Catherine delivered a speech in front of her son about the rights and duties of sovereigns in the lands under their control, although the ceremony was held in private and besides the Empress, the Grand Duke and Count Panin, only two people were present at it.
However, Paul's joy was premature - he could not rule even in his tiny state. A year later, in the fall of 1773, Catherine handed over the Holstein-Gottorp Duchy of Denmark, depriving her son of power in these lands. But in the empress's soul, various feelings fought, the son remained a son, and she considered the arrangement of Paul's personal destiny as a matter of necessity ...
Tsarskoe Selo. Walk of Catherine II
Pavel, whose training began at the age of four, did not lose his taste for learning over time, loved to read, spoke several foreign languages fluently and demonstrated special talents in the exact sciences. Semyon Andreevich Poroshin, who taught mathematics to the heir to the throne, said this about his student: "If His Highness was a particular person and could completely devote himself to mathematical teaching alone, then in its acuteness it would be very convenient to be our Russian Pascal."
But Catherine was worried about something else. From the time Paul was fourteen years old, his mother indulged in thoughts that eventually the heir would have to marry. Being a pedantic person, she could not let things go by themselves, and decided to choose a bride for her son herself. For this, it was necessary to get to know better those princesses who in the future could enter the family of the Russian empress. However, the frequent visits of the Russian empress to the courts of foreign monarchs would cause great commotion in Europe. A reliable person was needed who would conduct an initial study of the dynastic "bride fair". And such a person was found. The diplomat Asseburg, who had served for many years as an envoy of the Danish king in Russia, lost his post as a result of political intrigues and offered services to the Russian court.
Achaz Ferdinand Asseburg managed to visit different countries, where he made useful acquaintances at the royal and ducal courts. Catherine gave the retired diplomat a delicate assignment - under a worthy pretext to visit the European sovereign houses, in which there were young princesses, and to look at potential brides. Having received the rank of actual privy councilor and a considerable sum for travel and hospitality expenses, the empress's agent set to work with enthusiasm. True, Mr. Asseburg was one of the "servants of two masters" and on his journey simultaneously carried out the orders of not only the Russian Empress, but also the King of Prussia Frederick.
King Frederick of Prussia, nicknamed the Great
Frederick the Great, who was primarily a great intriguer, saw his political interest in the marriage of the heir to the throne of the Russian Empire. How glorious it would be to introduce an agent of influence into the highest court circles of Russia under the guise of the heir's wife! The story of Catherine II (who was once given a similar role by Frederick when she was the fiancee of the Russian Tsarevich) did not teach him anything. Mr Asseburg, "A foreign snake that Russia has warmed on its chest"(according to the figurative expression of one of the experts on the issue), in the matter of choosing a bride for Paul, he was primarily guided by the instructions received from the Prussian king. But for Catherine, it was necessary to create the appearance of the "breadth of coverage" of the marriage market and get to know as many princesses as possible, so that Asseburg's reports on the works of the righteous would not cause complaints in Russia.
One of the first places where he stopped, fulfilling his secret mission, was the house of Prince Friedrich Eugene of Württemberg. It was a formal visit - Friedrich Eugene, having two older brothers, at that time could not even count on the title of duke, served for a salary in the army of the Prussian king and commanded a garrison in the provincial Stettin. He had twelve children, and the descendant of a noble ducal family had to lead the life of a poor provincial officer, burdened with a large family, debts and at the same time excessively busy with drill on the garrison parade ground. No one could have imagined that Frederick Eugene was destined to outlive his brothers, who claimed the ducal crown, and to become the Duke of Württemberg himself, having entered the circle of European monarchs on equal terms.
Princess Sofia Dorothea of Württemberg (future second wife of Pavel Petrovich) in childhood
The secret ambassador of Catherine, finding himself in the house of the future duke in Treptow near Stettin, nevertheless looked closely at the daughters of the family. And little Sophia Dorothea completely won his heart. Contrary to his own plans and, most importantly, the plans of his high patron, the Prussian king, Asseburg sent an enthusiastic report to Russia, highly appreciating the inclinations of a nine-year-old girl who promised to turn into a real beauty. But his path lay in another house - the castle of the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, whose daughter Wilhelmina, in the opinion of the Prussian king, was much more suitable for the role of the bride of Tsarevich Paul. King Frederick Asseburg was instructed to convince Empress Catherine at any cost that girls could not be better than Wilhelmina of Hesse. But the matter had to be done subtly and diplomatically so that Catherine II did not suspect that she was being manipulated.
For three years, Mr. Asseburg traveled to the capitals of European states, visited the houses of representatives of noble dynasties and looked closely at little princesses - how they grow up, what they get sick with, how much they have become prettier and wiser. He asked people close to the court about the characters and inclinations of the girls, regularly sending reports to Russia. The Empress received not only descriptions, but also portraits of those princesses who attracted the special attention of the former diplomat. The image of Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt was the main one in the collection, but the portrait of Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg also found a place in it.
Catherine, despite all the arguments of her messenger, leaned rather in favor of Sophia Dorothea. She even thought that the little princess should be invited to the Russian court, while she was still small and able to easily learn new things. The girl will have the best teachers, she will be brought up in the Russian spirit, in love for Russia and the Orthodox faith, and most importantly, they will help to get rid of the squalid habits of her parents' poor home and sympathy for everything Prussian. Then Sofia Dorothea in the future will be able to become a worthy wife of the heir to the throne of the Russian Empire. True, the empress did not want to receive numerous relatives of the princess at her court - the invitation could only be addressed to Sophia Dorothea. In May 1771, Catherine wrote to Asseburg: “ I am returning to my favorite Princess of Württemberg, who will be twelve next October. The opinion of her doctor about her health and strong constitution attracts me to her. She also has a disadvantage, namely the fact that she has eleven brothers and sisters.…»
Mother Sophia Dorothea, Duchess Frederica of Württemberg
The crafty diplomat, at the instigation of Frederick of Prussia, did everything to prevent the arrival of the Princess of Württemberg in St. Petersburg. It was impossible to invite a little girl without being accompanied by relatives, and Catherine did not want friendly contacts with them and, moreover, their long stay in Russia. Asseburg described the habits of the little princess's parents as "philistine", and their estate in Montbéliard, on the border with France, as extremely poor. Catherine was not surprised. For her, who knew the German dukes and kings well in a relative way, it was no secret that the girl's grandfather, the sovereign Duke Karl Alexander of Württemberg, had a penchant for a riotous life and during the three years of his reign managed to squander more than a million thalers, devastating the already poor treasury of the duchy and completely undermining the well-being of the family. So what do you want to do with these Württemberg ones? Invite another group of beggars to St. Petersburg, who will eagerly look into her hands? No, it's useless! Catherine and her relatives did not greet; even her brother, Prince Wilhelm Christian Friedrich of Anhalt-Zerbst, received neither an invitation to move to Russia, nor help, nor even significant gifts, after his sister became the empire of the largest empire in the world. He still languished as an ordinary general in the service of the king of Prussia.
Contrary to gossip, the father of Princess Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg did everything to give his children a decent life and a decent education. For children near Montbéliard, in the picturesque place of Etup, magnificent parks and gardens were laid out with gazebos of roses, bamboo walkways and the Temple of Flora, a pavilion richly decorated with plants in honor of the goddess of flowers. The princesses were taught music, singing, painting, stone carving, and most importantly, the ability to understand and appreciate beauty. True, the parks required maintenance, and the duke could not afford to keep a large staff of gardeners. Therefore, the duke himself, and his wife, daughter of the Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwerin, and their children themselves were engaged in ornamental gardening - they dug the ground, planted flowers and looked after them according to all the rules of science. From childhood, Sofia Dorothea knew botany and the basics of agronomic rules well, applying them in practice. Each of the children was assigned their own section of the park, and Sophia Dorothea, who was distinguished by such a rare quality for a princess as hard work, was considered the main assistant of her father, and her kindergarten surpassed in beauty everything that the other children of the duke could raise.
Montbéliard
People who knew Princess Sophia Dorothea noted not only her intelligence, but also her extraordinary kindness. She often visited the poor and sick, and took care of orphans. Thinking about the future, she wrote: “I will become very economical, not being, however, stingy, because I think that stinginess is the most terrible vice for a young lady, it is the source of all vices».
In Russia, the desire of the potential bride of the heir to be "Very economical" was perceived rather as a disadvantage ... Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt, who did not think about saving, seemed preferable, besides, she was older, and therefore, more suitable for a bride. Asseburg's policy has borne fruit. After a whole year of deliberation, Catherine wrote to Count Nikita Panin: “I despair to see the Princess of Württemberg, because to show here the father and mother in the state in which they are, according to the report of Asseburg, are impossible: it would mean, from the very first step, to put the girl in an indelibly funny position; and then, she is only 13 years old, and then another blowjob in eight days ".
The rest of the brides, for one reason or another, did not suit the Russian empress at all. Willy-nilly, Catherine had to choose Princess Wilhelmina, although she did not feel much sympathy for the girl. “The Princess of Darmstadt is described to me, especially from the side of kindness of heart, as the perfection of nature, but besides the fact that perfection, as I know, does not exist in the world, you say that she has a rash mind, prone to discord,- not without irony she wrote to Asseburg. - This, in conjunction with the mind of her sir-father and with a large number of sisters and brothers, some of them are already attached, and some are still waiting to be attached, encourages me to be careful in this respect ... "
Coat of arms of the Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt on the palace in Darmstadt
The Russian empress did not hide from the interested participation of King Frederick in choosing a bride for Paul. And yet she invited Wilhelmina and her three sisters, along with her mother, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt Carolina, to a bride in St. Petersburg. The princesses from this family were given an equal chance to win the heart of the heir to the Russian throne. In early October 1772, the Empress wrote to Count Panin: “... The Landgrave, thank God, has three more daughters to be married; we will ask her to come here with this swarm of daughters ... Let's look at them, and then we will decide ... I do not particularly trust the praises lavished by the eldest of the Hessian princesses, the King of Prussia, because I know how he chooses, and what he needs, and that , which he likes, could hardly please us. In his opinion, those who are more stupid are better: I have seen and known those chosen by him. ".
While the empress was occupied with the personal problems of her son, and her own (she just changed her intimate friend Grigory Orlov, convicted of treason, for a new favorite, the young prince Alexander Vasilchikov, which cost her mental confusion and tears), in the Urals there were problems of a different kind ... A certain Cossack named Emelyan Pugachev declared himself Tsar Peter III, who miraculously escaped the conspirators, wandered in a foreign land and has now returned to Russia to restore justice. Dissatisfied with life, Cossacks, deserters, fugitive peasants, Old Believers and other people offended during the reign of Catherine began to gather under his arm.
At first, Catherine did not know about the maturing danger - the local authorities believed that they themselves would easily cope with the rioters. This was not the first case of imposture - by the time the "sovereign" Pugachev appeared, there were already nine imaginary tsars Peter III, "Defenders of the people from the German devil", and all of them were either killed or went to Siberia in shackles ... But, unlike his predecessors, Pugachev turned out to be too smart and strong adversary, who was clearly underestimated.
Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, where Princess Wilhelmina and her sisters were supposed to be brought, preparations for the bride were in full swing. Catherine decided to generously pay the Hessian ladies the travel expenses, and even provided them with funds to amend their wardrobe - not to be them, poor things, to the luxurious Russian court as dirty tricks.
Princess Augusta Wilhelmina Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt (Mimi)
The Hessian family from Russia was transferred 80,000 guilders "lifting", and in early June 1773, the princesses, together with their mother and brother Ludwig, set off on the road. Three Russian frigates were sent from St. Petersburg to Lubeck for them. Among the nobles of the honorary escort was the young Count Andrei Razumovsky (nephew of the beloved and secret spouse of the late Empress Elizabeth Petrovna Alexei Razumovsky). Since the reign of Elizabeth, the Razumovskys occupied a prominent place at the court, and Count Andrew, who grew up with the heir, Paul considered a friend and simply idolized. The Tsarevich was for a long time under the influence of the young count, although by nature from his youth he was not inclined to trust people. In one of his letters to Razumovsky, Pavel admitted: “Your friendship has worked a miracle in me: I am beginning to abandon my former suspicion. But you are fighting a ten-year habit, and you are fighting what fearfulness and ordinary shyness have ingrained in me. Now I have made it a rule for myself to live as harmoniously as possible with everyone. Away from chimeras, away from troubling concerns! Behaving smoothly and consistent with the circumstances - that's my plan. I restrain, as far as I can, my liveliness: every day I choose objects in order to make my mind work and develop my thoughts, and I draw a little from books. "
Count Andrey Razumovsky
Considering Count Andrei such a close person that he would not betray, Paul allowed himself to be completely frank with him, even talking about the Empress Mother. Outraged by Catherine's desire that everyone and always unquestioningly obey her will, Paul reasoned: “This misfortune very often befalls monarchs in their personal lives; elevated above the sphere where you need to reckon with other people, they imagine that they have the right to constantly think about their pleasures and do whatever they want, and do not restrain their desires and whims and force others to obey them; but these others, who, on their part, have eyes to see, and who, moreover, have their own will, can never, out of a sense of obedience, become so blind as to lose the ability to discern that will is will, and whim is whim ... "(Needless to say, this young man had amazing inclinations and he promised to become a wise ruler; how long it took to break his character so that the reign of Pavel Petrovich turned out to be one of the most unhappy in the history of Russia!).
Such frankness could have cost the heir to the throne dearly if the letter had caught the eyes of the empress. However, Andrei Razumovsky in this case did not betray his friend. But seeing Paul's possible bride Princess Wilhelmina, Andrei found her pretty and saw fit to flirt. In the end, the issue of the Tsarevich's marriage had not yet been finally resolved, so his conscience did not prevent the young count from giving vent to his heart.
Upon arrival in Revel (Tallinn), the Hessian family continued their journey to the Russian capital by land. The mutual interest of Princess Wilhelmina, or Mimi, as her relatives called her, and Andrei Razumovsky, not only did not go out, but continued to grow ...
The romance of Mimi and Andrei broke out even before arriving in St. Petersburg.
Loading...
