Peter 3 male Peter III - unknown Russian emperor

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Pyotr Fedorovich and Ekaterina Alekseevna. In 1742, Elizabeth declared her nephew, the natural grandson of Peter the Great (and the grandson of the sister of Charles XII of Sweden), the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein Karl-Peter-Ulrich, to be his heir. For the Russian people, he was the same German prince as those from whom he was freed in 1741 Russian society and which he was so disgusted with. This choice of hers, or, rather, the necessity of this choice, Elizabeth soon began to consider a serious misfortune. The fourteen-year-old orphaned duke was transported from Holstein to Russia, found a second mother in Elizabeth, converted to Orthodoxy and, instead of a German upbringing, began to receive Russian. In 1745 they hurried to marry him. The issue of the bride was discussed at court for a very long time, because marriage was given political significance and they were afraid to make a mistake. Finally, Elizabeth settled on the person pointed out, in contrast to Bestuzhev, by the French-Prussian party, which Friedrich of Prussia also pointed out - Princess Sophia-August-Frederike of Anhalt-Zerbst. Her father was only a general in the Prussian service, commandant of Stetin; mother, in caring for a rather poor household, managed to lose her sense of tact and good character, acquiring a tendency to acquisitions and gossip. The bride and her mother came to Russia, converted to Orthodoxy and was named Ekaterina Alekseevna; On August 25, 1745, the wedding of 17-year-old Peter and 16-year-old Catherine took place. But everyone noticed that the groom was cold to the bride and directly quarreled with the future mother-in-law. However, Catherine's mother showed her quarrelsome character in relation to everyone and therefore was sent from Russia in the same 1745. The young couple remained, as it were, alone in the large Elizabethan palace, being cut off from the German environment, from the atmosphere of their childhood. Both husband and wife had to determine their own personality and their relationships at court.

Grand Duke Pyotr Fedorovich (future Peter III) and Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna (future Catherine II)

Pyotr Fedorovich was a weakly gifted man both physically and mentally, he lost his mother and father early and remained in the hands of Marshal Brummer, who was more a soldier than an educated person, more a groom than a teacher. Peter's childhood passed in such a way that nothing good could remember him. His upbringing was neglected, as was his education. Brummer established such an order of life for his pupil, which could not but upset his health, which was already weak: for example, during long studies, the boy did not have exercise and did not eat until two in the afternoon. And at lunchtime, the sovereign duke often only looked from the corner as his servants ate dinner, which he himself was denied by teachers. Poorly feeding the boy, he was not allowed to develop, which is why he became lethargic and weak. Moral education was neglected: kneeling on peas, decorating with donkey ears, hitting with a whip and even beating with anything were the usual means of pedagogical persuasion. A series of moral humiliations in front of the courtiers, Brummer's rude shouts and his impudent antics, of course, could not develop in the prince either sound moral concepts or a sense of human dignity. Mental education was also bad. Peter studied many languages, many subjects, but they taught him through force, not in accordance with his weak abilities, and he learned little and received an aversion to teaching. Latin, which at that time was obligatory for every educated person, got tired of him to the point that he forbade placing Latin books in his library in St. Petersburg. When he came to Russia and Elizabeth met him, she was surprised at the paucity of his knowledge. They began to teach him again, already in the Orthodox Russian way. But science was hindered by Peter's illness (in 1743-1745 he was seriously ill three times), and then his marriage. Having learned the Orthodox catechism hastily, Peter remained with the views of a German Protestant. Getting acquainted with Russia from the lessons of Academician Shtelin, Peter was not interested in her, he missed his lessons and remained a very ignorant and undeveloped person with German views and habits. He did not like Russia and thought superstitiously that he would be unhappy in Russia. He was only interested in "entertainment": he loved to dance, play pranks like a child and play soldiers. He was interested in the military the highest degree, but he did not study him, but amused himself with him and, like a German, was in awe of King Frederick, whom he wanted to imitate always and in everything and never knew how to do anything.

Marriage did not bring him to reason and could not bring him to reason because he did not feel his oddities and had a very good opinion of himself. He looked down on his wife, who was immeasurably taller than him. Since they stopped teaching him, he considered himself an adult and, of course, did not want to learn from his wife either her tact, or her restraint, or, finally, her efficiency. He didn’t want to know the cases, on the contrary, he expanded the repertoire of fun and strange tricks: either for whole hours he slapped the rooms with a coachman’s whip, then he unsuccessfully practiced the violin, then he gathered palace lackeys and played soldiers with them, then he reviewed toy soldiers, arranged toy fortresses, bred guards and did toy military exercises; and once, in the eighth year of his marriage, he judged according to military laws and hanged a rat that ate his starched soldier. All this was done with serious interest, and it was clear from everything that these games of toy soldiers interested him extremely. He woke his wife at night so that she ate oysters with him or stood on the clock at his office. To her, he described in detail the beauty of the woman who had fascinated him and demanded attention to such an insulting conversation for her. Being tactless towards Catherine and insulting her, he had no tact in relation to strangers and allowed himself various vulgarities: for example, in the church during the service, behind his aunt, he mimicked the priests, and when the ladies-in-waiting looked at him, he showed them his tongue , but in such a way that the aunt would not see it: he was still very afraid of his aunt. Sitting at the table, he mocked the servants, poured water on her dresses, pushed dishes on the neighbors and tried to get drunk as soon as possible. So behaved the heir to the throne, an adult and the father of the family (in 1754 his son Pavel was born). "Peter showed all the signs of a stopped spiritual development, - says S. M. Soloviev, - he was an adult child. "Empress Elizabeth understood the properties of Peter and often cried, worrying about the future, but did not dare to change the order of succession, because Peter III was a direct descendant of Peter the Great.

However, they did not lose hope to win over and accustom Peter to business. Shtelin continued to acquaint him with state affairs theoretically, and in 1756 Peter was appointed a member of the Conference, established, as we have seen, for especially important matters. At the same time, as Duke of Holstein, Peter every week "on Monday and Friday, with his Holstein ministers, the council held and managed the affairs of his duchy." All these concerns had some result. Peter became interested in affairs, but not in Russia, but in Holstein. It is unlikely that he knew them well, but he learned Holstein's views, wanting to win the Holstein lands from Denmark and was very busy with the Holstein soldiers and officers, whom he was allowed to bring to Russia from 1755. He lived with them in the summer in the camps at Oranienbaum, adopted their soldierly manners and foppishness, learned from them to smoke, drink like a soldier, and dream of Holstein conquests.

Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. Portrait by V. Eriksen

Over time, Peter's attitude to Russia and Russian affairs was also determined. He told his wife that "he was not born for Russia, that he was unsuitable for the Russians and the Russians were unsuitable for him, and he was convinced that he would perish in Russia." When the Swedish throne was vacated and Peter could not take it, although he had the right, he spoke out loud with malice: “They dragged me into this accursed Russia, where I must consider myself a state prisoner, would sit on the throne of a civilized people." When Peter was present at the Conference, he submitted his opinions and in them revealed a complete ignorance of the political situation in Russia; he talked about Russian interests from the point of view of his love for the Prussian king. Thus, ignorance of Russia, contempt for her, the desire to leave her, Holstein sympathies and the absence of a mature personality distinguished the future Russian emperor. Chancellor Bestuzhev seriously thought about either completely removing Peter from power, or in some other way protecting the interests of Russia from his influence.

A completely different kind of person was Peter's wife, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna. Growing up in a modest family of an insignificant prince, a strict Protestant father, Catherine received some education, enhanced by her own powers of observation and receptivity. As a child, she traveled a lot in Germany, saw and heard a lot. Even then, with her liveliness and abilities, she attracted the attention of observant persons: in Brunswick, a canon who was engaged in predictions remarked to her mother: "I see at least three crowns on your daughter's forehead." When Catherine and her mother were summoned to Russia, the purpose of the trip was no secret to her, and the lively girl managed to take her first steps at the Russian court with great tact. Her father wrote to her guide a series of rules of prudent restraint and modesty. Catherine added her own to these rules. own beat and a wonderful practical flair and enchanted Elizabeth, won the sympathy of the court, and then the people. No older than 15 years old, she behaved better and smarter than her supervisor mother. When the mother quarreled and gossiped, the daughter tried to acquire a common disposition. She diligently took up the Russian language and Orthodox dogma. Brilliant abilities allowed her to make great progress in a short time, and at the baptismal ceremony she recited the creed so firmly that she surprised everyone. But the news survived that the change of religion for Catherine was not as easy and joyful as she showed the empress and the court. In pious embarrassment before this step, Catherine wept a lot and, they say, sought consolation from the Lutheran pastor. However, the lessons of the Orthodox teacher of the law did not stop there. "Ambition takes its toll," one diplomat remarked on this occasion. And Catherine herself admitted that she was ambitious.

Catherine II after her arrival in Russia. Portrait by L. Caravaca, 1745

Not loving either her husband or Elizabeth, Catherine nevertheless behaved very well towards them. She tried to correct and cover up all the antics of her husband and did not complain about him to anyone. She treated Elizabeth with respect and, as it were, sought her approval. In the court environment, she was looking for popularity, finding for everyone sweet Nothing, trying to adapt to the mores of the court, trying to seem like a purely Russian pious woman. At a time when her husband remained a Holsteiner and despised the Russians, Catherine wished to stop being a German and, after the death of her parents, renounced all rights to her Anhalt-Zerbst. Her intelligence and practical prudence made others see in her great power, foresee a great court influence behind her. And indeed, over the years, Catherine occupied a prominent position at court; she was well known even among the masses of the people. For everyone, she became more visible and prettier than her husband.

But Catherine's personal life was unenviable. Placed far from work and left for whole days by her husband, Catherine did not know what to do, because she had no company at all: she could not get close to the ladies of the court, because "she dared to see only maids in front of her," in her own words; she could not get close to the circle of court men because it was inconvenient. It remained to read, and Catherine's "reading" continued for the first eight years of her married life. At first she read novels: a casual conversation with the Swedish Count Gyllenborg, whom she knew back in Germany, directed her attention to serious books. She read a lot historical writings, travels, classics and, finally, remarkable writers of French philosophy and publicistic literature of the 18th century. During these years, she received that mass of information that surprised her contemporaries, that philosophical liberal way of thinking that she brought with her to the throne. She considered herself a student of Voltaire, worshiped Montesquieu, studied the Encyclopedia and, thanks to constant voltage Thought has become an exceptional person in the Russian society of his time. The degree of its theoretical development and education reminds us of the strength of the practical development of Peter the Great. And they were both self-taught.

In the second half of Elizabeth's reign, Grand Duchess Catherine was already a well-established and very prominent person at court. A lot of attention has been paid to her by diplomats, because, as they find, "no one has so much firmness and determination" - qualities that give her many opportunities in the future. Catherine is more independent, clearly at odds with her husband, incurring the displeasure of Elizabeth. But the most prominent "seizure" people of Elizabeth, Bestuzhev, Shuvalov, Razumovsky, now do not ignore the Grand Duchess, but, on the contrary, try to establish good, but cautious relations with her. Catherine herself enters into relations with diplomats and Russians government officials , monitors the progress of affairs and even wants to influence them. The reason for this was the morbidity of Elizabeth: one could expect an imminent change on the throne. Everyone understood that Peter could not be a normal ruler and that his wife should play a big role with him. Elizabeth also understood this: fearing from Catherine any step in her favor against Peter, she began to treat her badly and even directly hostile; over time, Peter himself treats his wife in the same way. Surrounded by suspicion and enmity and driven by ambition, Catherine understood the danger of her position and the possibility of tremendous political success. Others also told her about this possibility: one of the envoys (Prussian) vouched for her that she would be empress; The Shuvalovs and Razumovskys considered Catherine a contender for the throne; Bestuzhev, together with her, made plans to change the succession to the throne. Catherine herself had to prepare to act both for her personal protection and to achieve power after the death of Elizabeth. She knew that her husband was attached to another woman (Eliz. Rom. Vorontsova) and wanted to replace her with her wife, in whom she saw a person dangerous to herself. And so, so that the death of Elizabeth does not take her by surprise, does not give her defenseless into the hands of Peter, Catherine seeks to make political friends for herself, to form her own party. She secretly interferes in political and court affairs, and is in correspondence with many prominent persons. The case of Bestuzhev and Apraksin (1757-1758) showed Elizabeth how great the importance of Grand Duchess Catherine was at court. Bestuzhev was accused of excessive respect for Catherine. Apraksin was constantly influenced by her letters. The fall of Bestuzhev was due to his closeness to Catherine, and Catherine herself suffered at that moment the disgrace of the empress. She was afraid that she would be expelled from Russia, and with remarkable dexterity she achieved reconciliation with Elizabeth. She began to ask Elizabeth for an audience in order to clarify her case. And Catherine was given this audience at night. During Catherine's conversation with Elizabeth, Catherine's husband Peter and Ivan Iv were secretly behind the screens in the same room. Shuvalov, and Ekaterina guessed it. The conversation was crucial to her. Under Elizabeth, Catherine began to assert that she was not to blame for anything, and in order to prove that she did not want anything, she asked the empress to let her go to Germany. She asked for it, being sure that they would do just the opposite. The result of the audience was that Catherine remained in Russia, although she was surrounded by surveillance. Now she had to play the game without allies and assistants, but she continued to play it with even more energy. If Elizabeth had not died so unexpectedly soon, then, probably, Peter III would not have had to take the throne, because the conspiracy already existed and a very strong party was already behind Catherine. Catherine could not reconcile with her husband, she could not bear him; he saw in her an evil, too independent and hostile woman. “We need to crush the snake,” said the Holsteiners surrounding Peter, conveying with this expression his thoughts about his wife. During Catherine's illness, he even directly dreamed of her death.

Yes, in last years Elizabeth discovered the complete inability of her heir and great importance and the mind of his wife. The question of the fate of the throne greatly occupied Elizabeth; According to Catherine, the empress "looked with trepidation at the hour of death and at what could happen after it." But she did not dare to dismiss her nephew directly. The court environment also understood that Peter could not be the ruler of the state. Many thought about how to eliminate Peter, and came up with various combinations. It was possible to eliminate it by transferring the rights to the minor Pavel Petrovich, and his mother Ekaterina would have received a big role. It would be possible to put Catherine directly in power. Without it, the issue could not be resolved in any case (then no one thought about the former emperor John). Therefore, Catherine, in addition to her personal qualities and aspirations, gained great importance and was the center of political combinations and the banner of the movement against Peter. We can say that even before the death of Elizabeth, Catherine became a rival to her husband, and a dispute began between them about the Russian crown.

Peter III Fedorovich Romanov

Peter III (Pyotr Fyodorovich Romanov , birth nameCarl 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 bearing the name "Imperial House of the Romanovs")on the Russian throne, husband of Catherine II, father of Paul I

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

Peter III

The short reign of Peter III lasted less than a year, but during this time the emperor managed to set against himself almost all the influential forces in Russian noble society: the court, the guards, 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 the adoption of Orthodoxy, was the son of Duke Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp and eldest daughter Peter I Anna Petrovna.

Karl Friedrich Holstein-Gottorp

Anna Petrovna

Having ascended the throne, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna summoned the son of her beloved sister to Russia and appointed 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 of Peter Fedorovich

Elizaveta Petrovna

As a teacher, Academician J. Shtelin was assigned to him, who could not achieve any significant success in the education of the prince; he was fascinated only by military affairs and playing the violin.

Pyotr Fedorovich when he was the Grand Duke. Job portrait G. H. Groot

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 Pyotr 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 connection with the maid of honor E.R. Vorontsova, niece of Chancellor M.I. Vorontsov. 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 apparent inability to deal with state affairs caused Elizabeth Petrovna to worry. 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 ( Rokotov F. S., )

Peter and Catherine were granted the possession of Oranienbaum near 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 throne of Sweden, since he was also the grandson of Charles XII, taught Swedish language, Swedish law and Swedish history, from childhood I was used to treating Russia with prejudice. A zealous Lutheran, he could not reconcile himself to being forced to change his faith, and at every opportunity tried to emphasize his contempt for Orthodoxy, the customs and traditions of the country he was to rule. Peter was neither evil nor treacherous; 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 vast 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, the guards to government posts, canceling the Elizabethan liberties, the army, making a peace unfavorable for Russia with defeated Prussia, and, finally, the clergy, ordering all the icons to be removed from the churches , except for the most important ones, to 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, signed in 1762 a decree on the freedom of the nobility, abolishing the 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.Snuffbox decorated with miniatures

Many were not happy that the emperor made 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 the Russian Empire could count on considerable political benefits from the successes achieved on the battlefields. The alliance with Prussia crossed out all such hopes and violated good relations with Russia's former allies - Austria and France. Even greater dissatisfaction was caused by the involvement of numerous foreigners in the Russian service by Peter III. At the Russian court there were no influential forces whose support would ensure the stability of the reign of 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 afraid of Catherine. When, after the death of Empress Elizabeth, he became the Russian Tsar Peter III, almost nothing connected the crowned spouses, but they shared a lot. Rumors reached Catherine that Peter wanted to get rid of her by imprisoning her in a monastery or depriving her of her life, and declare their son Paul illegitimate. Catherine knew how harshly the Russian autocrats treated hateful wives. But for many years she had been preparing to ascend the throne and was not going to give it up to a man whom everyone did not like 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 at court and issued a manifesto on behalf of the imperial guard regiments, according to which Peter was deprived of his throne, and Catherine was proclaimed empress. She was crowned Bishop of Novgorod, while Peter was imprisoned in 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 sleep." His death soon finally freed Catherine the way to power.

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 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 Anselin 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 of Peter III 1762 St. Petersburg silver

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

Unknown North Russian carver. Plaquette with a portrait of Grand Duke Pyotr Fedorovich. St. Petersburg (?), Ser. 19th century. Mammoth tusk, relief carving, engraving, drilling

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Part 1 - Peter III Fedorovich Romanov

Peter III Fedorovich Romanov

Peter III (Pyotr Fyodorovich Romanov, birth nameCarl 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 bearing the name "Imperial House of the Romanovs") on the Russian throne, husband of Catherine II, father of Paul I

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

Peter III

The short reign of Peter III lasted less than a year, but during this time the emperor managed to set against himself almost all the influential forces in Russian noble society: the court, the guards, 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 the adoption of Orthodoxy, was the son of Duke Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp and the eldest daughter of Peter I Anna Petrovna.

Karl Friedrich Holstein-Gottorp

Anna Petrovna

Having ascended the throne, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna summoned the son of her beloved sister to Russia and appointed 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 of Peter Fedorovich

Elizaveta Petrovna

As a teacher, Academician J. Shtelin was assigned to him, who could not achieve any significant success in the education of the prince; he was fascinated only by military affairs and playing the violin.

Pyotr Fedorovich when he was the Grand Duke. Job portrait

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.

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

Tsarevich Pyotr 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 connection with the maid of honor E.R. Vorontsova, niece of Chancellor M.I. Vorontsov. 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 apparent inability to deal with state affairs caused Elizabeth Petrovna to worry. 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 the 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 trained from birth to take the Swedish throne, since he was also the grandson of Charles XII, studied the Swedish language, Swedish law and Swedish history, was accustomed from childhood to treat Russia with prejudice. A zealous Lutheran, he could not reconcile himself to being forced to change his faith, and at every opportunity tried to emphasize his contempt for Orthodoxy, the customs and traditions of the country he was to rule. Peter was neither evil nor treacherous; 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 vast 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, the guards to government posts, canceling the Elizabethan liberties, the army, making a peace unfavorable for Russia with defeated Prussia, and, finally, the clergy, ordering all the icons to be removed from the churches , except for the most important ones, to 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, signed in 1762 a decree on the freedom of the nobility, abolishing the 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. Snuffbox decorated with miniatures

Many were not happy that the emperor made 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 the Russian Empire could count on considerable political benefits from the successes achieved on the battlefields. The alliance with Prussia crossed out all such hopes and violated good relations with Russia's former allies - Austria and France. Even greater dissatisfaction was caused by the involvement of numerous foreigners in the Russian service by Peter III. At the Russian court there were no influential forces whose support would ensure the stability of the reign of 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 afraid of Catherine. When, after the death of Empress Elizabeth, he became the Russian Tsar Peter III, almost nothing connected the crowned spouses, but they shared a lot. Rumors reached Catherine that Peter wanted to get rid of her by imprisoning her in a monastery or depriving her of her life, and declare their son Paul illegitimate. Catherine knew how harshly the Russian autocrats treated hateful wives. But for many years she had been preparing to ascend the throne and was not going to give it up to a man whom everyone did not like 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 at court and issued a manifesto on behalf of the imperial guard regiments, according to which Peter was deprived of his throne, and Catherine was proclaimed empress. She was crowned bishop of Novgorod, while Peter was imprisoned in a country house 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 sleep." His death soon finally freed Catherine the way to power.

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

This allegorical engraving by Nicholas Anselin 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 of Peter III 1762 St. Petersburg silver

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

Unknown North Russian carver. Plaquette with a portrait of Grand Duke Pyotr Fedorovich. St. Petersburg (?), Ser. 19th century. Mammoth tusk, relief carving, engraving, drilling Peter III, his relatives and his entourage ":
Part 1 - Peter III Fedorovich Romanov

Holstein Prince

The future Emperor Peter III was born on February 10 (21 - according to the new style) February 1728 in the German city of Kiel. His father was Duke Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp, the ruler of the North German land of Holstein, and his mother was the daughter of Peter I, Anna Petrovna. Even as a child, Prince Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp (that was the name of Peter III) was declared heir to the Swedish throne.

Emperor Peter III

However, at the beginning of 1742, at the request of the Russian Empress Elizeveta Petrovna, the prince was taken to St. Petersburg. As the only descendant of Peter the Great, he was declared heir to the Russian throne. The young Duke of Holstein-Gottorp converted to Orthodoxy and was named Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich.

In August 1745, the Empress married the heir to the German princess Sophia Frederick Augusta, daughter of the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, who was in military service with the Prussian king. Having converted to Orthodoxy, the Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst began to be called Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna.

Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna - future Empress Catherine II

The heir and his wife could not stand each other. Pyotr Fedorovich had mistresses. His last passion was Countess Elizaveta Vorontsova, daughter of General-in-Chief Roman Illarionovich Vorontsov. Ekaterina Alekseevna had three constant lovers - Count Sergei Saltykov, Count Stanislav Poniatovsky and Count Chernyshev.

Soon, the officer of the Life Guards Grigory Orlov became the favorite of the Grand Duchess. However, she often had fun with other guards officers.
September 24, 1754 Catherine gave birth to a son, who was named Paul. It was rumored at court that the real father of the future emperor was Catherine's lover, Count Saltykov.

Pyotr Fyodorovich himself smiled bitterly:
- God knows where my wife gets her pregnancy from. I don't really know if this is my child or if I should take it personally...

Short reign

On December 25, 1761, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna reposed in the Bose. Peter Fedorovich - Emperor Peter III came to the throne.

First of all, the new sovereign stopped the war with Prussia and withdrew Russian troops from Berlin. For this, Peter was hated by the guards officers, who craved military glory and military awards. Dissatisfied with the actions of the emperor and historians: pundits complain that de Peter III "brought to naught the results of Russian victories."
It would be interesting to know what kind of results the respected researchers have in mind?

As you know, the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763 was caused by the intensification of the struggle between France and England for overseas colonies. By different reasons seven more states were drawn into the war (in particular, Prussia, which was in conflict with France and Austria). But what interests the Russian Empire pursued, speaking in this war on the side of France and Austria, is completely incomprehensible. It turned out that Russian soldiers died for the right of the French to rob the colonial peoples. Peter III stopped this senseless slaughter. For which he received a "severe reprimand with an entry" from grateful descendants.

Soldiers of the army of Peter III

After the end of the war, the emperor settled in Oranienbaum, where, according to historians, he "indulged in drunkenness" with his Holstein companions. However, judging by the documents, from time to time Peter was also involved in state affairs. In particular, the emperor wrote and published a number of manifestos on the transformation of the state system.

Here is a list of the first events that Peter III outlined:

Firstly, the Secret Chancellery was abolished - the famous secret state police, which terrified all the subjects of the empire without exception, from commoners to high-born nobles. According to one denunciation, agents of the Secret Chancellery could seize any person, imprison him in casemates, betray him to the most terrible torture, and execute him. The emperor freed his subjects from this arbitrariness. After his death, Catherine II restored the secret police - under the name "Secret Expedition".

Secondly, Peter declared freedom of religion for all his subjects: "let them pray to whom they want, but - do not have them in reproach or in a curse." It was an almost unthinkable step for that time. Even in enlightened Europe there was still no complete freedom of religion.

After the death of the emperor, Catherine II, a friend of the French enlighteners and a "philosopher on the throne", canceled the decree on freedom of conscience.
Thirdly, Peter abolished church supervision over the personal lives of subjects: "for the sin of adulterous not to have condemnation for anyone, for even Christ did not condemn." After the death of the king, church espionage was revived.

Fourth, realizing the principle of freedom of conscience, Peter stopped the persecution of the Old Believers. After his death government renewed religious persecution.

Fifthly, Peter announced the release of all monastic serfs. He subordinated the monastic estates to civil collegiums, gave arable land to the former monastic peasants for perpetual use and overlaid them with only ruble dues. For the maintenance of the clergy, the king appointed "his own salary."

Sixth, Peter allowed the nobles to freely travel abroad. After his death, the "iron curtain" was restored.

Seventh, Peter announced the introduction of Russian Empire public court. Catherine canceled the publicity of legal proceedings.

Eighth, Peter issued a decree on the "silverness of service", forbidding senators and government officials to present gifts to senators and government officials with peasant souls and state lands. Only orders and medals were supposed to be signs of encouragement for senior officials. Having ascended the throne, Catherine first of all endowed her associates and favorites with peasants and estates.

One of the manifestos of Peter III

In addition, the emperor prepared a host of other manifestos and decrees, including on limiting the personal dependence of peasants on landlords, on the optionality of military service, on the optionality of observing religious fasts, etc.

And all this was done in less than six months of the reign! Knowing this, how can one believe the fables about the "unrestrained drunkenness" of Peter III?
Obviously, the reforms that Peter intended to implement were far ahead of their time. Could their author, who dreamed of establishing the principles of freedom and civic dignity, be a "spiritual nonentity" and a "Holstein martinet"?

So, the emperor was engaged in state affairs, in between which, according to historians, he smoked in Oranienbaum.
And what was the young empress doing at that time?

Ekaterina Alekseevna with her numerous lovers and hangers-on settled in Peterhof. There she actively intrigued against her husband: she gathered supporters, spread rumors through her lovers and their drinking companions, and attracted officers to her side. By the summer of 1762, a conspiracy arose, the soul of which was the empress.

Influential dignitaries and commanders were involved in the conspiracy:

Count Nikita Panin, actual Privy Councilor, chamberlain, senator, tutor of Tsarevich Pavel;
his brother Count Pyotr Panin, General-in-Chief, hero of the Seven Years' War;
Princess Ekaterina Dashkova, nee Countess Vorontsova, Ekaterina's closest friend and companion;

her husband, Prince Mikhail Dashkov, one of the leaders of the St. Petersburg Masonic organization; Count Kirill Razumovsky, marshal, commander of the Izmailovsky regiment, hetman of Ukraine, president of the Academy of Sciences;
Prince Mikhail Volkonsky, diplomat and commander of the Seven Years' War;
Baron Korf, head of the St. Petersburg police, as well as numerous officers of the Life Guards, led by the Orlov brothers.

According to a number of historians, influential Masonic circles were involved in the conspiracy. In Catherine's inner circle, the "freemasons" were represented by a certain mysterious "Mr. Odar". According to an eyewitness to the events of the Danish envoy A. Schumacher, under this name the famous adventurer and adventurer Count Saint-Germain was hiding.

Events were accelerated by the arrest of one of the conspirators, Captain-Lieutenant Passek.

Count Alexei Orlov - the murderer of Peter III

On June 26, 1762, the Orlovs and their friends began to solder the soldiers of the capital's garrison. With the money that Catherine borrowed from the English merchant Felten, allegedly to buy jewelry, more than 35 thousand buckets of vodka were bought.

On the morning of June 28, 1762, Catherine, accompanied by Dashkova and the Orlov brothers, left Peterhof and headed for the capital, where everything was already ready. The dead drunken soldiers of the guard regiments swore an oath to "Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna", a heavily drunken crowd of townsfolk greeted the "dawn of a new reign".

Peter III with his retinue was in Oranienbaum. Upon learning of the events in Petrograd, the ministers and generals betrayed the emperor and fled to the capital. Only the old Field Marshal Munnich, General Gudovich and a few close associates remained with Peter.
On June 29, the emperor, struck by the betrayal of the most trusted people and having no desire to get involved in the struggle for the hateful crown, abdicated. He wanted only one thing: to be released to his native Holstein with his mistress Ekaterina Vorontsova and faithful adjutant Gudovich.

However, by order of the new ruler, the deposed king was sent to the palace in Ropsha. On July 6, 1762, the brother of the Empress' lover, Alexei Orlov, and his drinking buddy, Prince Fyodor Baryatinsky, strangled Peter. It was officially announced that the emperor "died of inflammation in the intestines and apoplexy" ...

St. Petersburg poet Viktor Sosnora decided to look into this problem. First of all, he was interested in the question: from what sources did the researchers scoop (and continue to scoop!) Dirty gossip about the "dementia" and "insignificance" of the emperor?
And this is what was discovered: it turns out that the sources of all the characteristics of Peter III, all these gossip and fables are the memoirs of the following persons:

Empress Catherine II - who hated and despised her husband, who was the inspirer of a conspiracy against him, who actually directed the hand of Peter's murderers, who, finally, as a result of a coup, became an autocratic ruler;

Princess Dashkova - a friend and like-minded person of Catherine, who hated and despised Peter even more (contemporaries gossip: because Peter preferred her to her older sister- Ekaterina Vorontsova), who was the most active participant in the conspiracy, who after the coup became the "second lady of the empire";
Count Nikita Panin, a close associate of Catherine, who was one of the leaders and the main ideologist of the conspiracy against Peter, and soon after the coup became one of the most influential nobles and headed the Russian diplomatic department for almost 20 years;

Count Pyotr Panin, brother of Nikita, who was one of the active participants in the conspiracy, and then became a commander trusted and favored by the royal grace (it was Peter Panin that Catherine instructed to suppress the uprising of Pugachev, who, by the way, declared himself "Emperor Peter III").

Even without being a professional historian and not being familiar with the intricacies of source study and criticism of sources, it can be safely assumed that the above-mentioned persons are unlikely to be objective in assessing the person they betrayed and killed.

It was not enough for the Empress and her "accomplices" to overthrow and kill Peter III. To justify their crimes, they had to slander their victim!
And they zealously lied, heaping vile gossip and dirty fiction.

Catherine:

"He spent his time in childishness unheard of ...". "He was stubborn and quick-tempered, was weak and frail in build."
"From the age of ten he was addicted to drunkenness." "He mostly showed disbelief ...". "His mind was childish..."
"He despaired. It often happened to him. He was a cowardly heart and weak in head. He loved oysters..."

In her memoirs, the empress portrayed her murdered husband as a drunkard, a reveler, a coward, a fool, an idler, a tyrant, an imbecile, a debauchee, an ignoramus, an atheist...

"What kind of slop does she pour over her husband just because she killed him!" exclaims Viktor Sosnora.

But, oddly enough, pundits who wrote dozens of volumes of dissertations and monographs did not doubt the veracity of the killers' memories of their victim. Until now, in all textbooks and encyclopedias, one can read about the "insignificant" emperor, who "brought to naught the results of Russian victories" in the Seven Years' War, and then "drunk with the Holsteiners in Oranienbaum."
At lies - long legs...
: https://www.softmixer.com

Peter III (Peter Fedorovich, Karl Peter Ulrich) (1728-1762), Russian emperor (since 1761).

Born February 21, 1728 in the city of Kiel (Germany). Son of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl Friedrich and Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter I.

Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, who ascended the throne, appointed her nephew as her heir. little prince brought from Germany to Russia and began to educate at the Russian court. Mentors and many nobles paid attention to his rudeness, uncouthness, poor physical development, childishness and extreme stubbornness. Peter did not love his new homeland, he despised the Russian people and, although he converted to Orthodoxy, he secretly continued to adhere to Lutheranism. These qualities could not but play a fatal role in the future.

In 1745, Peter married Princess Sophia Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst (future Empress Catherine II). Family life was not happy, the spouses did not love each other, and even a son born nine years later (the future Emperor Paul I) did not bring the grand ducal couple together. Peter openly expressed doubts that he was his father, and having ascended the throne, he refused to recognize Paul as heir.

After the death of Elizabeth Petrovna (1761), Peter became emperor. He immediately took a number of unpopular measures in Russian noble society. An admirer of the Prussian king Frederick II, the new sovereign emerged from the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763, in which Russia participated together with France and Austria against Prussia. Peace with Frederick and the return of all the conquered lands to him nullified the victory of Russian weapons.

The strong court groups of the Vorontsovs and Shuvalovs, who supported Peter, managed to carry out a number of important reforms. In 1761, the Decree on the Liberty of the Nobility was signed, which allowed representatives of the noble class not to serve the state. In 1762, the Secret Chancellery was abolished - an organ of political investigation. However, other actions of Peter caused a wave of discontent in the army, the Church and at court.

Preparations for the secularization of monastic lands were perceived in society as the beginning of a transformation Orthodox Church to Lutheran. Disregard for national customs, unpopular foreign policy, the introduction of the Prussian order in the army led to a conspiracy in the guard. At the head of the conspirators was the emperor's wife, Catherine. Peter was deposed from the throne, arrested and sent to the Ropsha manor near St. Petersburg, where he died on July 18, 1762 under unclear circumstances.