In 1754, an heir was born to Empress Catherine Alekseevna . In 1796, he became king and went down in history as Paul 1.
Biography
His first teacher was a friend of the Bekhteev family, who was very strict with Pavel. He even started a special newspaper in which he printed information about all the actions of his pupil.
The next mentor was Nikita Panin, a middle-aged man who shared the ideas of the Enlightenment. It was he who determined the list of numerous items that, in his opinion, the future emperor should study. Among them are the Law of God, natural history, dancing, music and many others. This study began back in the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna and continued under Peter the Third and Catherine the Second.
In the circle of his communication, mostly highly educated people were present, for example, Grigory Teplov. Among peers, only immigrants from famous clans were present. One of his closest friends was Alexander Kurakin.
Catherine, the mother of the heir, acquired a collection of books by academician Korf for his son to study. Pavel the First studied geography, history, astronomy, arithmetic, the Law of God, various languages - German, French, Italian, Latin; In addition, the training program included Russian, drawing, dancing, and fencing. But all subjects related to military affairs were excluded, although this did not prevent young Paul from getting carried away with them.
Youth
In 1773, Paul the First married Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt. This marriage did not last long - she cheated on him, and only two years later died in childbirth. Then the young man married a second time, to Sofia-Dorothea of Württemberg (after baptism - Maria Fedorovna). One of the European traditions of that time was a trip abroad, which took place after the wedding. Pavel and his wife traveled incognito under the names of the Nordic spouses.
Politics
On November 6, 1796, at the age of forty-two, Emperor Paul ascended the throne, and on April 5 of the following year, his coronation took place. Immediately after this, he began to abolish most of the orders and customs instituted by Catherine. For example, he freed the Radishchev and Kosciuszko radicals from prison. In general, his entire reign passed under the sign of "anti-Catherine" reforms.
On the day of the coronation, the new emperor introduced a new law - now women could not inherit the Russian throne, and the rights of regency were established. Other reforms include administrative, national, and military.
The main direction of the emperor’s foreign policy is the struggle with the First French Republic. Almost all efforts were directed at this, among others - an alliance with Prussia, Denmark and Sweden. After Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in France, the countries had common interests, and Paul the First began attempts to conclude a military-strategic alliance with France, but this was not destined to take place.
Paul the First impressed an unpredictable tyrant with grotesque manners and annoying habits. He wanted to carry out many reforms, but their direction and content were constantly changing, subject to the mood of the unpredictable autocrat. As a result, Paul had neither the support of the courtiers, nor the love of the people.
Death of the king
Throughout the reign of the emperor, several conspiracies were discovered, the purpose of which was the murder of Paul. In 1800, a conspiracy of high dignitaries formed, and Paul the First was treacherously killed by officers in his bedchamber on the night of March 12, 1801. His reign lasted only five years.
The news of death caused a barely restrained glee of both the people and the nobility. The official reason was called an apoplexy stroke.
Paul’s son, Alexander, was well aware of the emerging conspiracy, but was frightened and did not stop him, so he indirectly became responsible for the death of his father. This event tormented Emperor Alexander the First all his life.