The great emperors of Russia were alpha and omega, as well as the well-being of their people. As God is the ruler of the universe, so they were the rulers of their lands. And much was subject to them. The very first representative of this title was Peter the Great. And, probably, it’s not in vain that the history of the Russian Empire begins with this greatest personality.
Future great emperor
Peter was born in Moscow in 1672, on the ninth of June. It was the fourteenth child of Alexei Mikhailovich and his second wife Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. After the death of the king, Peter inherited a country that was very undeveloped compared to the culturally prosperous European countries. While the Renaissance and Reformation swept Europe, Russia rejected Westernization and remained isolated from modernization.
Peter the Great is the first emperor of Russia who became famous thanks to his numerous reforms and attempts to make a great power out of his state. He created a strong fleet, reorganized the army according to Western standards. Under him, new administrative and territorial divisions of the country were introduced; he initiated a series of changes that affected all spheres of Russian life.
Radical change and overall development
The first emperor of Russia directed particular attention to the development of science. He hired several foreign experts to train his people in all kinds of technological advances. He focused on the development of trade and industry, modernized the Russian alphabet, introduced the Julian calendar, and also the first Russian newspaper was created with it.
Pyotr Alekseevich was a visionary and skillful diplomat who abolished archaic forms of government and created the Governing Senate. It was the supreme body of state power, which regulated all branches of the administration, as well as decisions and innovative achievements in Russia's foreign policy.
New territorial holdings
During the reign of Peter the Great, the state acquired numerous territories, such as Estonia, Latvia and Finland. After battles with Turkey, he gained access to the Black Sea. And in one thousand seven hundred and twelfth year, Pyotr Alekseevich transferred the capital to a new city on the Neva - Petersburg, which he instituted and which soon became a "window to Europe."
In accordance with the rules and changes of Peter, Russia became a great European power. And in 1721 he proclaimed it an empire, respectively, Peter Alekseevich himself was awarded the title of Emperor of All-Russian, Great Father of the Fatherland.
Peter was twice married and had eleven children, many of whom died in infancy. The eldest son from his first marriage, Alexei, was convicted of high treason and secretly executed in 1718. Peter Alekseevich died on February 8, 1725, without the nomination of an heir.
Another Peter Alekseevich
Naturally, not only the emperors of Russia ruled the Russian state , the chronology also indicates the presence of the four empresses. One of them was Catherine the First. She sat on the throne after Peter the Great. And then the grandson of Peter the Great came to power. He was born on October 12, 1715. His mother died ten days after he was born. And three years later, his father followed his mother.
In 1727, Menshikov urged Catherine the First to sign a will in Peter's favor. And when the empress died, Peter the Second continued the list of emperors of Russia.
Actual Board of the Supreme Council
Menshikov settled the boy in his house and began to control all his actions. Little Peter was a lively, intelligent, skillful and stubborn child and was very much like his great-grandfather. Despite this similarity, he, unlike Peter the Great, did not want to study.
Being too young, Peter the Second could not manage the empire and almost did not participate in the activities of the Privy Council. This quickly led to a violation of the state system, as officials were afraid of Peter's unmotivated actions and did not want to take responsibility for any important decisions.
On November 30, one thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine, Peter the Second was engaged to eighteen-year-old beauty Ekaterina Alekseevna Dolgorukova. But already in the following year, on January 6, he caught a cold during a military review and fell ill with smallpox. He died on the nineteenth of January 1730.
After the death of Peter the Great, the woman again sits on the throne - Anna Ioannovna. And the subsequent emperors of Russia - the chronology shows the ten-year term of her reign - await their place in the history of the state.
Baby Emperor or Power Struggle
Ivan Sixth was born in St. Petersburg on August 12, 1740. He was the son of Prince Anton Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and Anna Leopoldovna. Twelve days before her death, the empress declared the two-month-old Ivan his heir. And Ernst Johann Biron had to serve as regent with the boy until he reached the age of seventeen.
But Ivan's mother in 1740 overthrew Biron and the regent declared herself. And a year later, she herself was overthrown by Elizabeth Petrovna, who was supported by the grenadiers and officers of the Preobrazhensky regiment. The daughter of Peter the Great, Anna, with the whole family and the baby emperor, was arrested and imprisoned in a fortress near Riga. Then Emperor Ivan Sixth was transferred to Kholmogory. There, the bishop's empty house was transformed into a prison. There the boy lived for the next twelve years, not seeing anyone but his jailer.
The mysterious prisoner or death of another emperor
A difficult fate was for many representatives of the royal family, who were to take their place on the throne. And, perhaps, this was one of the reasons why some emperors of Russia (the chronology indicates their names) voluntarily renounced power in favor of one of their relatives.
But what happened next with the matured Ivan Six? Rumors about his imprisonment in Kholmogory are spreading more and more, and the reigning Elizaveta Petrovna transfers him to the Shlisselburg fortress, where he was placed in solitary confinement. The identity of the prisoner was kept in deep secrecy. Even the jailers did not know who was being guarded. Ivan was kept in terrible conditions. The only source of light for him was candles.
The guards reported that the boy’s mental abilities were impaired, Ivan lost his memory and had no idea who he was. His stuttering was so strong that it became almost impossible to understand what the prisoner was talking about, nevertheless, Ivan Shestoy remembered his real name.
The ousted emperor was dangerous for the German princess who seized the Russian throne, and she ordered him to be guarded very carefully, and in case of an attempt to free the prisoner, to kill him. And soon after that, on the night of the fourth to the fifth of July 1764, the second lieutenant of the Smolensk Infantry Regiment, Vasily Mirovich, at the head of the rebel soldiers, tried to save Ivan, and the prisoner was immediately executed. So the list of emperors of Russia replenished with another name. The unfortunate Ivan Sixth, who was never able to take his rightful place.
Grandson of two emperors of Russia and Sweden
All emperors of Russia, who inherited the throne according to the order of succession or through palace coups , are somehow indicated in the historical archives. And one cannot but mention here Peter the Third, who ruled Russia for only six months. He was born on the twenty-first of February in one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eighth year in northern Germany. This was the only son of Anna Petrovna and Karl Friedrich. The grandson of two emperors - Peter the Great and Charles the Twelfth.
The boy showed interest in art, loved military parades and dreamed that he would once become a world famous warrior. At the age of fourteen he was brought to Russia to his aunt, reigning Elizabeth. On August 21, 1745, Peter married the Princess of Anhalt-Zerbs, who took the name Catherine. Political marriage organized by Aunt Peter was a disaster from the very beginning.
The emperor who hated the Russian state and its people
Catherine was a woman of tremendous intelligence, and Peter remained a child in the body of an adult man. They had one son - Paul, the future emperor, and daughter Anna, who dies in childhood. All the emperors of Russia, who in order occupy the throne and govern the state, basically tried to bring the country maximum benefit. But Peter the Third was an exception. He hated Russia. He did not care about the Russian people, and could not stand the Orthodox Churches.
After Peter the Third took his place on the throne, he abolished the foreign policy of his aunt, pulled Russia out of the Seven Years War, and contemporaries considered this step as a betrayal of the Russian victims of the war. But at the same time, experts who are interested in the history of the emperors of Russia suggest that perhaps this decision of Peter III was part of a pragmatic plan for the influence of the Russian state in the west.
Reforms or services to the state
Nevertheless, Peter the Third during the reign organized a series of internal reforms, which today seem very democratic. He proclaimed freedom of religion, abolished the secret police, and forbade the killing of serfs by their owners. And also created the first state bank.
The reign of many emperors in Russia ended in tragic death. It also happened to Peter the Third. There are many assumptions about his death, but in fact he was the victim of a conspiracy of his own wife Catherine, who wanted to get rid of him in order to take the throne. On June 28, 1762, Peter was arrested and soon killed.
Tyrannical reign of Paul
Some names of Russian emperors cannot be mentioned with special gratitude or pride. So, for example, Paul the First, who ruled the country for five tyrannical years before he was killed. He was born in St. Petersburg in 1754. His parents are the future emperor Peter the Third and Catherine the Second. His mother did not consider him as the future ruler and sent him to live in an estate in Gatchina. And in place of the future emperor, Catherine was preparing his son Alexander.
But after the death of the empress, Paul seized the throne, and his first decree was to establish the birthright for the throne, and not the choice of a successor by the emperor himself. Believing that Russia needed an absolute monarchy, he began to reduce the power and privileges of the nobility. So that the ideals of the French Revolution do not spread in the country, he outlaws foreign books and travels outside the state.
Numerous changes in Paul’s domestic and foreign policy, combined with his despotic attitude and bouts of rage, caused rumors to spread about his mental imbalance. And on March twenty-third, 1801, Paul the Third was killed. And his son Alexander came to the throne.
Pupil of grandmother Catherine
Alexander was born in Petersburg on December 12, 1777. He was brought up by Catherine the Great, who absolutely did not love her son Paul and did not think that he was able to rule the country. The future emperor, she saw her grandson. He was well versed in European culture, history and politics and brought up in the free-thinking spirit of the Empress’s court.
But the hatred between Pavel and Catherine made him play two different roles. Under his grandmother, he adhered to the principles of human rights and civil liberty, enjoyed opera and philosophy. And next to his father was strict military discipline and endless training. Soon, Alexander turned into a natural chameleon, became secretive and easily changed his views in accordance with the circumstances.
In 1801, at the age of twenty-three, Alexander was crowned. The beautiful and charming emperor was extremely popular. True to the ideals of his liberal school, he embarked on a series of social reforms. Torture was prohibited, and the new law allowed peasants to redeem themselves from serfdom. Administrative, financial and educational changes followed.
The triumph of the great monarch
During the reign of the emperors of Russia there were many different wars and battles. But one of the most important, even called Patriotic, was the war with Napoleon. For Alexander, it was a divine mission, something more than just a war between the two countries. It was a battle between good and evil. And when Alexander, after the victory, drove to Paris at the head of his troops, he turned into one of the most powerful monarchs. It was a triumph of his reign.
In the last years of his reign, the emperor becomes especially obsessed with God and Christianity. And when he died on November 19, 1825, there were many rumors that the king secretly abdicated and became a monk. What emperors of Russia were in reality and what kind of thoughts their great minds visited, not even history knows.
Childhood and the reign of Nicholas
Nikolai the First was the ninth child of Paul the First and Maria Fedorovna. Born on June 25, alone, 1796. In childhood, he was rude and mischievous. He received his education first from a Scottish nanny, and then from General Gustav Lamsdorff. Not possessing a wide and inquiring mind, Nikolai did not like to study. The young prince was revived only when the lessons were drawing to a close and he was allowed to wear military uniforms and participate in military games.
Nicholas was not raised as a future emperor and at the beginning of his reign he was faced with an event that shocked him. This is the revolt of the Decembrists. Five leaders were executed and about one hundred and twenty were exiled to Siberia. Realizing the need for reform, the king was nevertheless afraid that the changes would shock the foundations of the empire, which he had to pass on to his descendants. There were other obstacles to reform - these are the immediate relatives of the emperor, whose views had a huge impact on his actions.
The slogans of Nicholas were Orthodoxy, autocracy and nationality. His rule marked the heyday of an absolute monarchy in Russia. He died on the eighteenth of February, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-fifth of pneumonia. And finally, the last emperors of Russia. The timeline marks their reign. These were Alexander the Second and Alexander the Third, as well as Nikolai the Second. This is where the story of the Russian emperors ends.
The reign of the son of Nicholas
Alexander II, the eldest son of Nicholas I, was born on April 17, 1818. He received a wonderful education. He knew several languages, studied military art, finance and diplomacy. He traveled a lot from an early age.
Having become emperor, Alexander issued a law on the liberation of peasants. Serfs have now received a more dignified life. And since they became free citizens, it was necessary to reform the entire local management system. During the reign of Alexander, the judicial system was reformed, all social classes became equal before the law. The pressure on censorship was weakened, and people began to have more freedom of speech.
Despite numerous reforms to improve the life of the Russian people, Alexander the Second became a target for revolutionaries. A member of a terrorist group killed the emperor in 1881.
Avatar of the Russian bear
Alexander the Third was born on February 26, 1845 alone. A strong, formidable, desperate patriot, he became the embodiment of the legendary Russian bear. He came to power at a critical moment for the empire. One half of society was unhappy with the slow pace of reform, the second was afraid of change. The economy has not yet recovered from the war with Turkey. The widespread spread of terror unleashed by the revolutionaries led to the formation of a counter-revolutionary group of monarchists.
The emperor did not like foreigners and pursued a policy of Russification. This led to outbreaks of Russian nationalism and Jewish pogroms. He firmly adhered to the principle of “Russia for the Russians” and strengthened the authority of the administration. Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov died of jade in 1894. And the last emperor of Russia, Nikolai II, came to power.
The tragic finale of the imperial family
Interesting fact! Of the three different structural formations are royal titles. The emperor of Russia title also has its own forms, one of which is full. And such a title of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II consisted of one hundred and thirteen words.
Nicholas II was born in 1868. In 1894, Nicholas became emperor. Despite his deep education, he felt that he was not ready for the responsibility that was imposed on him. And many contemporaries say that he looked bewildered and bewildered.
For most of his reign, he followed his father's policies. He was stubborn and very slowly recognized the need for change in connection with the events of 1901. Despite the fact that his powers became limited, the last emperor of Russia tried to act as if he was still autocrat. Nikolai wanted to go back to the past and restore the power of his ancestors.
After the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, the position of the imperial family became very difficult, and a year later, early in the morning of July 17, Nikolai II, his wife and children were shot. Thus ended the reign of emperors in Russia, and in the history of the country another point of reference began.