For Russian weapons, 1709 was a year full of glorious victories. Near Poltava, Peter the Great defeated the army of the Swedish king Charles the Twelfth - Russian troops successfully knocked them out of the territory of the Baltic. To consolidate his influence on the conquered lands, Peter the Great decided to extradite one of his many relatives to the Duke of Courland, Friedrich Wilhelm.
The sovereign turned to the widow of his brother Praskovya Fedorovna for advice: which of her daughters did she want to pass off as a prince? And since she was terribly displeased with the stranger, she chose the unloved seventeen-year-old daughter Anna. This was the future Empress Anna Ioannovna.
Children and teenagers of the future sovereign
Anna was born on January 28, 1693 in Moscow, in the family of the elder brother of Peter the Great,
Ivan the Fifth. She spent her childhood in Izmailovo with her mother and her sisters. As contemporaries noted, Anna Ioannovna was a closed, silent and uncommunicative child. From an early age she was taught literacy, German and French. She learned to read and write, but the princess never mastered the dances and secular manners.
Anna’s wedding was celebrated on October 31, 1710 in the unfinished Petersburg Palace of Menshikov. At the beginning of next year, Anna Ioannovna and the Duke of Courland left for the capital Mitau. But on the way, William died unexpectedly. So the princess became a widow a few months after the wedding.
The years before Anna
Peter the Great ordered Anna to remain in power in Courland. Realizing that his not-so-smart relative could not serve the interests of Russia in this duchy, he sent Peter Bestuzhev-Ryumin with her. In 1726, when Bestuzhev-Ryumin was recalled from Courland, Ernst Johann Biron, a nobleman who had not studied at Koenigsberg University, appeared at the court of Anna.
After the death of Peter the Great, a thing happened in the Russian Empire until then was completely unheard of - a woman ascended the throne of Russian tsars ! The widow of Peter I, Empress Catherine. She ruled for almost two years. Shortly before her death, the Privy Council decided to choose Peter the Great, Peter Alekseevich as the emperor. He ascended the throne at the age of eleven, but died of smallpox at fourteen.
Condition, or Execution of members of the Secret Society
The Supreme Privy Council decided to call Anna to the throne, while limiting her autocratic power. They made up "Condition", which formulated the conditions under which Anna Ioannovna was invited to take the throne. According to this paper, without the permission of the Privy Council, she could not declare war on anyone, conclude peace agreements, command an army or guard, raise or impose taxes, and so on.
On January 25, 1730, representatives of a secret society brought "Condition" to Metava, and the duchess, agreeing to all restrictions, signed them. Soon, the new Empress Anna Ioannovna arrived in Moscow. There on February 25, representatives of the metropolitan nobility filed a petition to her with requests not to accept the condition, but to rule autocratic. And the empress listened to them. She publicly tore the document and dispersed the Supreme Privy Council. Its members were exiled and executed, and Anna was crowned in the Assumption Cathedral.
Anna Ioannovna: years of rule and the influence of a favorite favorite on politics
During the reign of Anna Ioannovna, a cabinet was created in which the main role was played by one of the
associates of Peter the Great, Vice-Chancellor Andrei Osterman. Favorite of the Empress
Ernst Biron did not interfere in politics. Although Anna Ioannovna reigned alone, the years of her reign in Russian historiography are known as Bironism.
In January 1732, the imperial court moved to St. Petersburg. Here Anna, who had lived in Europe for a long time, felt more comfortable than in Moscow. Foreign policy under the reign of Anna Ioannovna was a continuation of the policy of Peter the Great: Russia is fighting for the Polish inheritance and entering the war with Turkey, during which Russian troops lost one hundred thousand people.
Merits of the Empress to the Russian State
What else did Anna Ioannovna do for Russia? Her years of rule were marked by the development of new territories. The state conquered the fortress of Azov, the steppe between the Bug and the Dniester, but without the right to keep ships on the Black Sea. The great Northern Expedition begins to work, Siberia and the coast of the Arctic Ocean and Kamchatka are explored.
By decree of the empress, one of the most ambitious construction projects in the history of the Russian Empire begins - the construction of a colossal system of fortifications along the southern and southeastern borders of European Russia. This large-scale construction, which began during the reign of Anna Ioannovna, can be called the first cultural and social project of the Russian Empire in the Volga region. The Orenburg expedition operates on the eastern borders of the European part of the empire, before which the government of Anna Ioannovna posed numerous tasks.
Sovereign's disease and death
While guns thundered at the borders of the empire and soldiers and nobles died for the glory of the empress, the capital lived in luxury and entertainment. The weakness of Anna was hunting. In the rooms of the Peterhof Palace there were always loaded guns, from which the Empress shot at flying birds. She loved to surround herself with court jesters.
But Anna Ioannovna was able to not only shoot and have fun, her reign years are connected with very serious state affairs. The empress ruled for ten years, and all these years Russia built, fought and expanded borders. On October 5, 1740, at dinner, the Empress lost consciousness and, having been ill for twelve days, died.