15.10.2019

Peter 3 of Prussia. Brief biography of Peter III

Russian Emperor Peter III (Peter Fedorovich, born Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein Gottorp) was born on February 21 (10 old style) February 1728 in the city of Kiel in the Duchy of Holstein (now a territory of Germany).

His father is Duke of Holstein Gottorp Karl Friedrich, nephew of the Swedish king Charles XII, his mother is Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter I. Thus, Peter III was the grandson of two sovereigns and could, under certain conditions, be a contender for both the Russian and Swedish thrones .

In 1741, after the death of Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden, he was chosen to succeed her husband Frederick, who received the Swedish throne. In 1742, Peter was brought to Russia and declared heir to the Russian throne by his aunt.

Peter III became the first representative of the Holstein-Gottorp (Oldenburg) branch of the Romanovs on the Russian throne, which ruled until 1917.

Peter's relationship with his wife did not work out from the very beginning. All free time he spent his time engaged in military exercises and maneuvers. During the years spent in Russia, Peter never made any attempt to better know this country, its people and history. Elizaveta Petrovna did not allow him to participate in resolving political issues, and the only position in which he could prove himself was the position of director of the Gentry Corps. Meanwhile, Peter openly criticized the activities of the government, and during the Seven Years' War publicly expressed sympathy for the Prussian king Frederick II. All this was widely known not only at court, but also in wider layers of Russian society, where Peter enjoyed neither authority nor popularity.

The beginning of his reign was marked by numerous favors to the nobility. The former regent Duke of Courland and many others returned from exile. The Secret Investigation Office was destroyed. On March 3 (February 18, old style), 1762, the emperor issued a Decree on the liberty of the nobility (Manifesto “On the granting of liberty and freedom to the entire Russian nobility”).

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

Peter III became the first representative of the Holstein-Gottorp (Oldenburg) branch of the Romanovs on the Russian throne, which ruled until 1917.

Peter's relationship with his wife did not work out from the very beginning. He spent all his free time engaged in military exercises and maneuvers. During the years spent in Russia, Peter never made any attempt to better know this country, its people and history. Elizaveta Petrovna did not allow him to participate in resolving political issues, and the only position in which he could prove himself was the position of director of the Gentry Corps. Meanwhile, Peter openly criticized the activities of the government, and during the Seven Years' War publicly expressed sympathy for the Prussian king Frederick II. All this was widely known not only at court, but also in wider layers of Russian society, where Peter enjoyed neither authority nor popularity.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

This article will talk about mysterious death deposed Russian emperor Peter III- grandson of Peter the Great, husband Catherine II and father Paul I.
There are still two main versions about the death of Emperor Peter III:
the main one - claims that a murder was committed in Ropsha (A.G. Orlov and F.S. Baryatinsky are traditionally considered the main murderers);
secondary - does not exclude the death of Peter III due to illness.
The lack of sources still does not allow us to fill the gap about what happened in Ropsha and it is filled with the conjectures of one or another author, however, the mysterious death of Peter III gives reason to suspect Catherine II of the murder of her husband...
So, everything in order...
June 29, 1796, the day after palace coup, Peter III signed a renunciation, after which he was taken to Peterhof.
On the way, he fainted. This is how the French diplomat Ruliere describes this event: “As soon as the army saw him, there were unanimous cries: “Long live Catherine!” - were heard from different sides, and among these new exclamations, frantically repeated, having passed all the regiments, he lost his memory. 4
Danish diplomat Andreas Schumacher adds: “The Emperor barely escaped the danger of being blown to pieces by a shot from one Shuvalov howitzer.” 6
The officer hit the gunner on the hand with his sword and he dropped the fuse, which saved the overthrown emperor from death...
Already in Peterhof, when Peter III’s favorite Vorontsova was leaving the carriage, the soldiers tore off the signs orders Saint Catherine. The emperor himself, when he was left alone, was ordered by the soldiers to undress and he “... tore off his ribbon, sword and dress, saying: “Now I am in your hands.” For several minutes he sat in his shirt, barefoot, to the ridicule of the soldiers...” 4
“The officers who were assigned to guard him insulted him in the most rude manner...
They assure me that the unbridled soldiers with particular malice took it out on the prisoner for all the stupidities and absurdities that Peter III had done,” this is from the report to Paris of the French diplomat Laurent Beranger.
Nikita Panin, one of the conspirators and tutor of Tsarevich Paul, personally selected “a battalion of three hundred people” to guard the deposed emperor, “in order to ward off drunken and tired soldiers from the possibility of an assassination attempt.”

The deposed Emperor Peter III, almost on his knees, begged Panin to leave his favorite Elizaveta Vorontsova with him, but he was denied this...
Why was the deposed Peter III sent from Peterhof to Ropsha and why did Catherine II not see him?
This can be explained by the situation that reigned in Peterhof after the coup, as Catherine herself clearly testifies in one of her letters. former friend hearts to Stanislav Poniatowski.
Here's what she writes: "Since it was the 29th, St. Peter's Day, a formal dinner at noon was necessary." However, while it was being cooked and served festive tables, it seemed to the soldiers that one of the nobles was trying to reconcile Catherine II with her husband brought to the residence. Suspicion fell on the old field marshal Nikita Yuryevich Trubetskoy, whom the guards did not like.
“They began to pester everyone passing by - the hetman, the Orlovs” and demand the empress. The soldier’s logic was very simple: Prince Trubetskoy is trying “so that you die - and you and I, but we will tear him to pieces.”
Catherine emphasized that these were “their true words” and she ordered the field marshal to leave immediately while she herself “got around the troops on foot,” and he “rushed off into the city in horror” 3 .
What is important is that Trubetskoy had no doubt that the threat would be carried out, and Catherine II herself considered it feasible, since she went to personally calm the regiments. Who knows how events would have developed if the guards had found out that “Mother” was meeting with the deposed emperor?
The soldiers can be understood: peace could still be reborn in the august couple, and those who violated the oath would have to pay with their heads. Therefore, one rumor would be enough to provoke the drunken mass, “dying with fear,” to reprisal.
Then it would no longer be Trubetskoy who would be “torn into pieces”...
To prevent reprisals against the deposed emperor, Catherine sent Peter, accompanied by Alexei Orlov, four officers and a detachment of carefully selected soldiers to Ropsha, as she herself wrote, “to a place... secluded and very pleasant”...
However, the situation in Peterhof was not the only reason, there was another reason for the empress’s refusal to meet her husband. Before his abdication, Pyotr Fedorovich was given specific promises regarding his future.
“Peter, giving himself voluntarily into the hands of his wife, was not without hope,” 3 noted the secretary of the French embassy, Claude Ruliere.
In particular, Peter III believed that he would be released to Holstein, but the empress herself did not make any promises and already on June 29 in Peterhof she decided not to let her husband go to Germany, but to imprison him in Shlisselburg...
Therefore, Catherine II was in no hurry to meet her husband, since she would have to either confirm the obligations or refuse. A refusal could have aroused a storm of emotions in Peter, and he should have been sent out of the residence as quickly as possible and without scandal, where the safety of the monarch was not guaranteed in any way.
At this time, the deposed Emperor Peter III was in extremely difficult condition, since the coup had a terrible impact on the faint-hearted and very sensitive Peter.
None of the observers, no matter how he felt about what was happening, reported that the collapsed emperor behaved courageously or at least with dignity.

The Austrian ambassador Count Marcy d'Argenteau reported the following to Vienna: “In the world stories there is no example where a sovereign, deprived of his crown and scepter, showed so little courage and good spirits as he, the king, who always tried to speak so arrogantly; When he was deposed from the throne, he acted so softly and cowardly that it is impossible even to describe.” 2
The Ropsha manor, which Catherine II chose to support her deposed husband, belonged to Hetman Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky. The house was small and consisted of an elongated suite of rooms on both sides of the central hall. Two of them were assigned to the prisoner, placing a pair of officers in his chambers - one at each door.
The external security of the building was carried out by soldiers.
There is every reason to believe that Catherine, sending the accompanying guard team, gave instructions to its commander and officers about the need for civilized treatment of the prisoner. eleven

On the evening of June 29, 1762, the deposed emperor arrived at his place of imprisonment. Only one chamberlain, Alexey Maslov, remained with him, and the other two, so as not to accompany the deposed master, said they were sick.
On June 30, the emperor, due to nervousness, began to experience hemorrhoidal colic, which he had suffered from for a long time.
Added to this was an upset stomach. The day before, he ate practically nothing; in Peterhof, according to Schumacher, he only drank a glass of wine mixed with water.
“When he appeared in Ropsha, he was already weak and pitiful. He immediately stopped cooking food, which usually occurred several times a day, and he began to suffer from almost continuous headaches” 6 .
Peter had a very strict regime of detention: he was not allowed to walk in the garden or even look into the yard. The windows remained curtained at all times, and access to the adjacent room was also prohibited.
The prisoner even had to relieve himself in the presence of a sentry, which was especially difficult and humiliating when he had diarrhea...
Further, Schumacher reports on another case of bullying of Peter III.
“One evening... he was playing cards with Orlov. Having no money, he asked Orlov to give him some. Orlov took out an imperial coin from his wallet and handed it to the emperor, adding that he could have as many of them as he needed.
The Emperor... immediately asked if he could take a little walk in the garden to breathe fresh air. Orlov answered “yes” and went forward, as if to open the door, but at the same time he blinked at the guards, and they immediately drove the emperor back into the room with bayonets.
This brought the sovereign into such excitement that he cursed the day of his birth and the hour of his arrival in Russia, and then began to weep bitterly” 6.
Official version the death of Peter III was set out in the Manifesto on July 7, 1762: “We announce through this to all faithful subjects. On the seventh day after accepting Our All-Russian Throne, We received the news that the former Emperor Peter the Third fell into severe colic from an ordinary and often previously experienced hemorrhoidal attack...
To Our extreme sorrow and confusion of heart, yesterday We received another [news] that he died by the will of the Almighty God. Why did We order his body to be transferred to the Nevsky Monastery for burial.”
What happened in Ropsha?
“Mother gracious Empress. How can I explain, describe what happened: you won’t believe your faithful servant, but before God I will tell the truth.
Mother! I’m ready to die, but I don’t know how this disaster happened. We perished when you are not merciful.
Mother, he is not in the world.
But no one thought of this, and how can we think of raising our hands against the Emperor!
But, Empress, disaster has happened. We were drunk and so was he. He got into an argument at the table with Prince Fyodor, and before we had time to separate him, he was already gone.
We ourselves don’t remember what we did; but every single one of them is guilty, worthy of execution.
Have mercy on me, though for my brother.
I brought my confession to you, and there is nothing to look for.
Forgive me or tell me to finish soon.
The light is not kind, they have angered you and ruined your souls forever” 7 .
This letter, allegedly written by Alexei Orlov to Catherine II of Ropsha and preserved only in a copy, was considered a description for a very long time the real reason death of Peter III.
After all, in fact, this is a very emotional text and Orlov described the accident itself, clearly not understanding how it happened...
A. B. Kamensky, the biographer of Catherine II, reconstructed the course of events as follows: during lunch, a quarrel and a fight broke out between the tipsy guards and the prisoner. By nature, Peter was cowardly and the attack on him by the hefty guards should have mortally frightened him, which resulted in an apoplexy.
Most likely, Catherine herself internally followed precisely this version, noting in her letter to Poniatovsky that on the fourth day Peter III “drank continuously, because he had everything except freedom.”

Perhaps angry complaints about his imprisonment, and then attacks on the officers: why they didn’t let him walk and harassed him, served as a pretext for the fight.
In 1768, Catherine II, in a letter to Denis Diderot, made the following conclusion about what happened: “There was no deceit in all this, but bad behavior was the cause.” famous person, without which, of course, nothing could have happened to him.”
But there is one episode in this story that does not fit into this description of what happened. From the second, previous to the last, letter from Alexei Orlov dated July 3, we can conclude that Peter did not get up: “And he himself is now so sick that I don’t think he will live until the evening, and is almost completely unconscious.”
And then suddenly there was a feast, “continuous” drinking. With whom, with a person in a state of unconsciousness?
Therefore, quite rightly, the question arises: was there a meal?
And this is where Ruliere’s version, which explains everything, comes to the rescue: Alexei Orlov and State Councilor Grigory Nikolaevich Teplov, a close associate of Hetman Razumovsky, first tried to poison Peter III, and then strangled him.
It happened like this: they “came together to the unfortunate sovereign and announced that they intended to dine with him. As usual, the Russian was given a glass of vodka before dinner, and the one offered to the emperor was filled with poison.
Whether it was because they were in a hurry to deliver their news, or because the horror of the crime forced them to hurry, a minute later they poured him another.
Already the flame had spread through his veins, and the villainy depicted on their faces aroused suspicion in him - he refused the other; they used violence, and he defended himself against them...
Having tied and tied a napkin around the neck of this unfortunate emperor (while Orlov pressed on his chest with both knees and blocked his breath), they thus strangled him, and he gave up the ghost in their hands” 4 .
This description became known earlier than other sources and was used much more often.
Andreas Schumacher in his Notes insisted on his version. According to it, it turned out that “one Swede from the former life-company who accepted the Russian faith, Schwanowitz, a very large and strong man, with the help of some other people, brutally strangled the emperor with a gun belt.
The fact that this unfortunate sovereign died just such a death was evidenced by the appearance of a lifeless body, whose face was black, as is usually the case with those who are hanged or strangled...
It is safe to say that other means were used to drive him away from the world, but they failed. So, State Councilor Dr. Kruse prepared a poisoned drink for him, but the emperor did not want to drink it. It is unlikely that I am mistaken in considering this state councilor and the current cabinet secretary of the Empress Grigory Teplov to be the main initiators of this murder...
On July 3, this vile man went to Ropsha to prepare everything for the already decided murder of the emperor.
On July 4, early in the morning, Lieutenant Prince Baryatinsky arrived from Ropsha and informed Chief Chamberlain Panin that the emperor was dead." 6
As a result of the hypothesis of the deliberate murder of the deposed Emperor Peter III, the question arose about Catherine’s involvement in what happened. After all, being afraid of restoring the deposed autocrat to the throne and giving the order to kill him are two different things.
In addition, the murder of Peter III cast a shadow not only on Catherine, but also on the Orlovs, her closest assistants, whose guilt deprived them of love and trust, and, consequently, the support of the soldiers...
And already on July 31, the Dutch resident Meinertzhagen reported to his homeland that during another night of unrest, Alexey Orlov, who went out to calm the raging soldiers, was scolded and almost beaten. They called him “a traitor and swore that they would never allow him to put on the royal cap.”
Although the Dutchman was mistaken - Alexei’s brother Grigory dreamed of marriage - this is still an illustrative example of the attitude towards the Orlovs after the assassination of Peter III: from yesterday’s idols they turned into “traitors”...
“I don’t believe,” Beranger wrote on July 23, “that this princess is so evil-hearted as to be involved in the death of the king. But since the deepest secret will always hide from society the true inspirer of this terrible assassination attempt, suspicions will remain on the empress, who received the fruits of the deed.” 8
Gold words...
Schumacher made an attempt to hint at the “mastermind”: “There is, however, not the slightest probability that it was the empress who ordered the murder of her husband. His strangulation, no doubt, was the work of some of those who had entered into a conspiracy against the emperor and now wanted to insure themselves forever against the dangers that promised them and all new system his life, if it had lasted" 6.
According to many of Catherine II’s contemporaries, Peter’s death was beneficial to her, since it once and for all removed the issue of a potential coup in his favor.
However, as mentioned above, simple and safe way to destroy the former emperor was during the coup, especially on June 29, after his abdication, upon his arrival in Peterhof. After all, a drunken crowd of soldiers could easily tear apart the deposed emperor, and in this case there would be no one to blame - the subjects rebelled...
Why didn’t Catherine take advantage of such a convenient and natural opportunity in terms of writing off responsibility for the murder, but, on the contrary, sent her deposed husband away from the angry crowd?
Perhaps Catherine hoped to get rid of Peter later, when time will pass, the troops will calm down, and she will strengthen her position on the throne?
Everything could be attributed to the poor health of the deposed husband, who could not stand his imprisonment in Shlisselburg...
There is also a version that Peter III was killed in a situation that threatened his release.
Instructions for the content of Peter III have not been preserved, but similar documents of that time were created in the likeness of previous ones with the same content. The only royal prisoner before Peter III was Ivan Antonovich, and as a result, Catherine’s decrees to Alexei Orlov regarding the prisoner in Ropsha should have at least partially repeated the instructions for supervising the “nameless convict” Ivan Antonovich...
In the personal decree of Peter III, Captain Prince Churmanteev was directly told to put an end to Ivan during an attempt to capture him: “If, beyond our aspirations, anyone would dare to take a prisoner from you, in this case, resist as much as possible and not give the prisoner alive into your hands "
It seems that a similar point was provided for in the instructions to Alexei Orlov regarding Peter III...
A. B. Kamensky reasoned: “Killing him... would make sense only in one case - in the case of an acute danger of a counter-coup, but there was clearly no such danger” 9.
However, many researchers do not agree with him: unrest among the regiments at that time continued and sometimes took on threatening forms.
Ruliere wrote: “Six days had already passed since the revolution: and this great incident seemed over so that no violence left any unpleasant impressions...
But the soldiers were surprised at their action and did not understand what led them to dethrone the grandson of Peter the Great and placed his crown on a German woman...
The sailors, who were not tempted by anything during the riot, publicly reproached the guards in the taverns for selling their emperor for beer...
One night, a crowd of soldiers loyal to the empress rioted out of empty fear, saying that their mother was in danger. She had to be woken up so they could see her.
The next night there was a new indignation, even more dangerous - in a word, while the life of the emperor gave rise to riots, they thought that peace could not be expected” 4.
Schumacher also reported on disagreements in the guards units during the coup itself: “Strong rivalry already reigned between the Preobrazhensky and Izmailovsky regiments” 6 .
Returning to the capital, many cooled down. The Preobrazhensky Regiment was pushed away from its usual leadership; army units, naval crews and, as it soon turned out, the Artillery Corps did not speak out at all.
The situation was full of surprises...

Beranger, in a report on August 10, reported the decision to eliminate Peter III: “This last decision was made due to the discovery of the conspiracy and especially because the Preobrazhensky Regiment had to rescue Peter III from prison and restore him to the throne.” 10
Today we have no information whether the diplomat’s information corresponded to reality, but it is known that at that time the capital continued to be in a fever.
Mere suspicion of the intention of the Preobrazhentsy or another regiment to free the emperor was enough to decide his fate...
Perhaps the conspirators decided the matter among themselves without informing the empress. After all, there was obvious excitement in the regiments, and in hand there were instructions with clear instructions.
Teplov went with Kruse and Shvanvich to Ropsha, where he informed Alexei Orlov about the situation in St. Petersburg, which corresponded to the point of the instruction “not to hand over a living person.”
The information that the Preobrazhensky Regiment is supposedly ready to free the sovereign pushed us to a denouement...
But it was not appropriate for an officer of noble birth to understand the tsar’s hand and Orlov had to ask who would carry out the deed. Kruse and Shvanvich were ready. Alexey let them see the prisoner, and that was his fault.
Probably, from the point of view of the killers, it would have been easier to give the prisoner a slow-acting poison under the guise of medicine, and then leave themselves, leaving Alexei to deal with the consequences. But, apparently, they were in a hurry, because when the instant poison did not work, they strangled the emperor.
Such haste speaks of a threat, and perhaps the danger of an attack on Ropsha seemed real at that time.
Beranger writes that he believed that Catherine did not know about what happened for 24 hours, Schumacher - for three days. Immediately after returning from Peterhof, Catherine II took part in meetings of the Senate on July 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6. Perhaps her absence at the meetings on July 5th is confirmed by the fact that on July 4th she learned of Peter’s death, and on July 5th she did not find the strength to appear before the Senate...
On July 4, Hetman Razumovsky was appointed to command the St. Petersburg garrison, from which we can conclude that Catherine continued to consider Kirill Grigorievich a reliable and personally devoted person to her.
On August 9, in a letter to Stanislav Poniatovsky, Catherine reported about her new secretaries of state: “Teplov serves me well,” and on September 12 about Razumovsky and Nikita Ivanovich: “The Hetman is with me all the time, and Panin is my most dexterous, most reasonable, most zealous courtier."
And then briefly: “Everyone is at peace, forgiven, showing their devotion to their homeland.”
Consequently, Empress Catherine II did not consider Teplov, Razumovsky and Panin to be malicious scoundrels.
The situation at that moment served as a justification for their actions.
Catherine II gained valuable experience in this story - not all documents can be marked with your name...
Several versions have been recorded in historical literature outlining the circumstances of the murder of the sovereign, but the most curious thing is that none of the memoirists was an eyewitness to the murder scene.
A copy of A. Orlov’s letter appeared 34 years after the death of Peter III, but not a word was said about the original itself during Catherine’s life.
For more than two centuries, A. Orlov was credited with the arbitrary villainous murder of the deposed Emperor Peter III, but publications recent years O.A. Ivanov, as well as the manuscript of the 19th century historian M. Korff, published for the first time under the title “Braungschweisskoe family,” allow us to take a completely different look not only at the copy of A. Orlov’s letter used as a historical document, in which he reported on the murder of Peter III, but also for the last minutes of the emperor's life.
In the historical study of O.L. Ivanov, which is based on authentic archival materials, notes, letters and memoirs of contemporaries, is given a large number of arguments allowing us to assert that, contrary to the traditional point of view, the famous letter of A. Orlov, allegedly kept in the casket of Catherine II all her life, is nothing more than a fake...
Here are the main arguments of O.L. Ivanova:
1. The primary source (a letter from A. Orlov to Catherine II with a message about the murder of the emperor) was allegedly destroyed immediately after the death of Catherine II, and a copy of the letter taken by F. Rostopchin was also not found (there are lists from it, accepted as Rostopchin’s copy).
2. The commentary that accompanies the “Rostopchin copy” is silent about two previous letters from Alexei Orlov, the authenticity of which is beyond doubt.
3. Between June 29 and July 2 different sources They report Peter's growing sickness.
4. The extremely knowledgeable Danish envoy Schumacher, whose words were listened to by eminent historians and who was a very interested person in the isolation of Peter III, because military actions against his country, by the will of Peter, were about to begin, claims that on July 3 in Ropsha Goff surgeon Paulsen was sent. But what’s most interesting is that he had no medicine, but he had “tools and items necessary for opening and embalming a dead body”!
5. The spelling of the “copy of Rostopchin” is fundamentally different from the two original previous letters of A. Orlov. In the “copy” the unacceptable familiar way of addressing the empress as “you” is puzzling.
This fake, which was composed by F. Rostopchin, allowed Paul I, on the eve of his own coronation, to cleanse the crown of the Russian Empire, stained with the blood of his father.
What actually caused the death of the deposed Emperor Peter III now could hardly be determined by special medical research, since no documents on the results of the autopsy have been preserved, and it is not known whether there were such documents at all...
The body of the former sovereign was brought for farewell and veneration and exhibited in the chambers, which had previously served for the same purpose at the funeral of Anna Leopoldovna and the stillborn Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna, Catherine’s daughter.
The late Emperor Peter III, who did not even have time to accept the coronation ceremony necessary for all who ascended the Russian kingdom, was dressed “in a light blue uniform of Holstein dragoons with white lapels,” his hands were hidden in leggings, orders They decided not to show it to the public.
Some of the eyewitnesses claimed that traces of strangulation were visible on Peter’s body, but it was forbidden to stop near the coffin; the officers on duty urged: “Come in, come in.”
The funeral service took place in the Annunciation Church of the monastery on July 10, and here Peter’s remains were interred, “opposite the royal doors, immediately behind the grave of Anna Leopoldovna.”
Catherine II followed the persistent advice of the Senate, which was concerned about her health, and was not present at the burial of Peter III...

Information sources:
1. Eliseeva “Everyone is at peace, forgiven...”
2. Brickner “The History of Catherine the Second”
3. Poniatowski “Memoirs”
4. Ruliere “History and anecdotes of the revolution in Russia in 1762”
5. Website “Kaleidoscope of the secret, unknown and mysterious”
6. Schumacher “The History of the Deposition and Death of Peter III”
7. “Letters from Count A.G. Orlov to Catherine II”
8. Turgenev “Russian court in the 18th century”
9. Kamensky “Under the canopy of Catherine...”
10. RIO collection
11. Polushkin “Eagles of the Empress”

Peter III Fedorovich Romanov

Peter III Fedorovich Romanov

Peter III (Pyotr Fedorovich Romanov, birth nameKarl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp; February 21, 1728, Kiel - July 17, 1762, Ropsha - Russian emperor in 1761-1762, the first representative of the Holstein-Gottorp (or rather: Oldenburg dynasty, Holstein-Gottorp branches, officially bore the name "Imperial House of Romanov") on the Russian throne, husband of Catherine II, father of Paul I

Peter III (in the uniform of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment, 1762)

Peter III

The short reign of Peter III lasted less than a year, but during this time the emperor managed to turn almost all influential forces in Russian noble society against himself: the court, the guard, the army and the clergy.

He was born on February 10 (21), 1728 in Kiel in the Duchy of Holstein (northern Germany). The German prince Karl Peter Ulrich, who received the name Peter Fedorovich after accepting Orthodoxy, was the son of Duke Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp and eldest daughter Peter I Anna Petrovna.

Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp

Anna Petrovna

Having ascended the throne, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna summoned the son of her beloved sister to Russia and appointed him as her heir in 1742. Karl Peter Ulrich was brought to St. Petersburg in early February 1742 and on November 15 (26) was declared her heir. Then he converted to Orthodoxy and received the name Peter Fedorovich

Elizaveta Petrovna

Academician J. Shtelin was assigned to him as a teacher, but he was unable to achieve any significant success in the prince’s education; He was only interested in military affairs and playing the violin.

Pyotr Fedorovich when he was Grand Duke. Portrait of work

In May 1745, the prince was proclaimed the ruling Duke of Holstein. In August 1745 he married Princess Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst, the future Catherine II.

Petr Fedorovich ( Grand Duke) and Ekaterina Alekseevna (Grand Duchess

Tsarevich Peter Fedorovich and Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna. 1740s Hood. G.-K. Groot.

The marriage was unsuccessful, only in 1754 their son Pavel was born, and in 1756 their daughter Anna, who died in 1759. He had a relationship with the maid of honor E.R. Vorontsova, niece of Chancellor M.I. Vorontsova. Being an admirer of Frederick the Great, he publicly expressed his pro-Prussian sympathies during the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763. Peter's open hostility to everything Russian and his obvious inability to engage in state affairs caused concern for Elizaveta Petrovna. In court circles, projects were put forward to transfer the crown to the young Paul during the regency of Catherine or Catherine herself.

Portrait of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich as a child ( , )

Peter and Catherine were granted possession of Oranienbaum near St. Petersburg

However, the empress did not dare to change the order of succession to the throne. The former Duke, who was prepared from birth to take the Swedish throne, since he was also the grandson of Charles XII, taught Swedish language, Swedish legislation and Swedish history, from childhood I was accustomed to treat Russia with prejudice. A zealous Lutheran, he could not come to terms with the fact that he was forced to change his faith, and at every opportunity he tried to emphasize his contempt for Orthodoxy, the customs and traditions of the country that he was to govern. Peter was neither an evil nor a treacherous person; on the contrary, he often showed gentleness and mercy. However, his extreme nervous imbalance made the future sovereign dangerous, as a person who concentrated absolute power over a huge empire in his hands.

Peter III Fedorovich Romanov

Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova, favorite of Peter III

Having become the new emperor after the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, Peter quickly angered the courtiers against himself, attracting foreigners to government positions, the guard, abolishing Elizabethan liberties, the army, concluding a peace unfavorable for Russia with defeated Prussia, and, finally, the clergy, ordering the removal of all icons from churches , except for the most important ones, shave their beards, take off their vestments and change into frock coats in the likeness of Lutheran pastors.

Empress Catherine the Great with her husband Peter III of Russia and their son, the future Emperor Paul I

On the other hand, the emperor softened the persecution of the Old Believers and signed a decree on the freedom of the nobility in 1762, abolishing compulsory service for representatives of the noble class. It seemed that he could count on the support of the nobles. However, his reign ended tragically.

Peter III is depicted on horseback among a group of soldiers. The Emperor wears the orders of St. Andrew the First-Called and St. Anne. Snuff box decorated with miniatures

Many were not happy that the emperor entered into an alliance with Prussia: shortly before, under the late Elizabeth Petrovna, Russian troops won a number of victories in the war with the Prussians, and Russian empire could count on considerable political benefits from the successes achieved on the battlefields. An alliance with Prussia crossed out all such hopes and violated good relations with Russia's former allies - Austria and France. Even more dissatisfaction was caused by Peter III's involvement of numerous foreigners in Russian service. There were no influential forces at the Russian court whose support would ensure the stability of rule for the new emperor.

Portrait of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich

Unknown Russian artist PORTRAIT OF EMPEROR PETER III Last third of the 18th century.

Taking advantage of this, a strong court party, hostile to Prussia and Peter III, in alliance with a group of guards, carried out a coup.

Pyotr Fedorovich was always wary of Catherine. When, after the death of Empress Elizabeth, he became Russian Tsar Peter III, the crowned spouses had almost nothing in common, but much separated them. Catherine heard rumors that Peter wanted to get rid of her by imprisoning her in a monastery or taking her life, and declare their son Paul illegitimate. Catherine knew how harshly Russian autocrats treated hateful wives. But she had been preparing to ascend the throne for many years and was not going to give it up to a man whom everyone disliked and “slandered out loud without trembling.”

Georg Christoph Groot. Portrait of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich (later Emperor Peter III

Six months after Peter III ascended the throne on January 5, 1762, a group of conspirators led by Catherine’s lover Count G.G. Orlov took advantage of Peter’s absence from the court and issued a manifesto on behalf of the imperial guard regiments, according to which Peter was deprived of the throne and Catherine was proclaimed empress. She was crowned by the Bishop of Novgorod, while Peter was imprisoned Vacation home in Ropsha, where he was killed in July 1762, apparently with the knowledge of Catherine. According to a contemporary of those events, Peter III “allowed himself to be overthrown from the throne, like a child who is sent to bed.” His death soon finally cleared the path to power for Catherine.

in the Winter Palace the coffin was placed next to the coffin of Empress Catherine II (the hall was designed by the architect Rinaldi)

After the official ceremonies, the ashes of Peter III and Catherine II were transferred from Winter Palace to the cathedral Peter and Paul Fortress

This allegorical engraving by Nicholas Anselen is dedicated to the exhumation of Peter III

Tombs of Peter III and Catherine II in the Peter and Paul Cathedral

Hat of Emperor Peter III. 1760s

Ruble Peter III 1762 St. Petersburg silver

Portrait of Emperor Peter III (1728-1762) and view of the monument to Empress Catherine II in St. Petersburg

Unknown Northern Russian carver. Plaque with a portrait of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich. St. Petersburg (?), ser. 19th century. Mammoth tusk, relief carving, engraving, drilling Peter III, his loved ones and his entourage":
Part 1 - Peter III Fedorovich Romanov

Years of life : 21 February 1 728 - June 28, 1762.

(Peter-Ulrich) Emperor of All Russia, son of Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl-Friedrich, son of the sister of Charles XII of Sweden, and Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great (born in 1728); He is, therefore, the grandson of two rival sovereigns and could, under certain conditions, be a contender for both the Russian and Swedish thrones. In 1741, after the death of Eleanor Ulrika, he was elected as the successor of her husband Frederick, who received the Swedish throne, and on November 15, 1742 he was declared by his aunt Elizaveta Petrovna heir to the Russian throne.

Weak physically and morally, Pyotr Fedorovich was raised by Marshal Brümmer, who was more of a soldier than a teacher. The barracks order of life, established by the latter for his pupil, in connection with strict and humiliating punishments, could not help but weaken Pyotr Fedorovich’s health and interfered with the development in him of moral concepts and a sense of human dignity. The young prince was taught a lot, but so ineptly that he received a complete aversion to science: Latin, for example, he was so tired of that that later in St. Petersburg he forbade placing Latin books in his library. They taught him, moreover, in preparation mainly for taking the Swedish throne and, therefore, raised him in the spirit of the Lutheran religion and Swedish patriotism - and the latter, at that time, was expressed, among other things, in hatred of Russia.

In 1742, after Pyotr Fedorovich was appointed heir to the Russian throne, they began to teach him again, but in the Russian and Orthodox way. However, frequent illnesses and marriage to the Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst (the future Catherine II) prevented the systematic implementation of education. Pyotr Fedorovich was not interested in Russia and superstitiously thought that he would find his death here; Academician Shtelin, his new teacher, despite all his efforts, could not instill in him love for his new fatherland, where he always felt like a stranger. Military affairs - the only thing that interested him - was for him not so much a subject of study as amusement, and his reverence for Frederick II turned into a desire to imitate him in small things. The heir to the throne, already an adult, preferred fun to business, which became more and more strange every day and unpleasantly amazed everyone around him.

"Peter showed all the signs of a stopped spiritual development", says S.M. Solovyov; "he was an adult child." The empress was struck by the underdevelopment of the heir to the throne. The question of the fate of the Russian throne seriously occupied Elizabeth and her courtiers, and they came to various combinations. Some wanted the empress, bypassing her nephew, to hand over the throne to his son Pavel Petrovich, and as regent, until he came of age, she appointed Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna, the wife of Peter Fedorovich. This was the opinion of Bestuzhev, Nik. I. Panin, I. I. Shuvalov. Others were in favor of proclaiming Catherine the heir to the throne. Elizabeth died , without having time to decide on anything, and on December 25, 1761, Peter Fedorovich ascended the throne under the name of Emperor Peter III. He began his activities with decrees that, under other conditions, could have brought him popular favor. This is the decree of February 18, 1762 ... on the freedom of the nobility, which removed compulsory service from the nobility and was, as it were, a direct predecessor of Catherine’s charter to the nobility of 1785. This decree could make the new government popular among the nobility; another decree on the destruction of the secret office in charge of political crimes should, it would seem, promote his popularity among the masses.

What happened, however, was different. Remaining a Lutheran at heart, Peter III treated the clergy with disdain, closed home churches, and addressed the Synod with offensive decrees; by this he aroused the people against himself. Surrounded by Holsteins, he began to remodel in the Prussian way Russian army and thus armed the guard against himself, which at that time was almost exclusively noble in composition. Prompted by his Prussian sympathies, Peter III immediately after ascending the throne renounced participation in the Seven Years' War and at the same time all Russian conquests in Prussia, and at the end of his reign he began a war with Denmark over Schleswig, which he wanted to acquire for Holstein . This incited the people against him, who remained indifferent when the nobility, represented by the guard, openly rebelled against Peter III and proclaimed Catherine II empress (June 28, 1762). Peter was removed to Ropsha, where he died on July 7.

Russian Biographical Dictionary / www.rulex.ru / Wed. Brickner “The History of Catherine the Great”, “Notes of Empress Catherine II” (L., 1888); "Memoirs of the princesse Daschcow" (L., 1810); "Notes of Shtelin" ("Reading of the Society of Russian History and Antiquities", 1886, IV); Bilbasov "The History of Catherine II" (vol. 1 and 12). M. P-ov.

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