Peter 3 ruled for how many days. Peter III. Biography of the emperor. Personal life. Contemporaries about Peter

Peter III Fedorovich (born Karl Peter Ulrich, born 10 (21) February 1728 - death 6 (17) July 1762) - Russian emperor in 1762. The grandson of Peter I is the son of his daughter Anna.

Origin

The mother of Peter III, Anna Petrovna, died of consumption two months after his birth in the small Holstein town of Kiel. She was crushed by the life there and the unhappy family life. Peter's father, Duke of Holstein Karl Friedrich, nephew of the Swedish King Charles XII, was a weak, poor, ugly sovereign, of small stature and weak build. He died in 1739, and custody of his son, who was about 11 years old at that time, was taken over by his cousin Duke of Holstein and Bishop of Lübeck Adolf Friedrich, who later ascended the Swedish throne. Peter was by nature a weak, frail and plain-looking child.

Childhood, youth, upbringing

The main educators were the marshal of his court Brummer and the chief chamberlain Berchholtz. None of them fit the role. According to the testimony of the Frenchman Millais, Brummer was fit only to "bring horses, not princes." He treated his pupil extremely rudely, subjecting him to humiliating and painful punishments, forcing him to kneel on peas scattered on the floor, leaving him without dinner and even beating him up.

Humiliated and embarrassed in everything, the prince acquired bad tastes and habits, became irritable, absurd, stubborn and false, acquired a sad tendency to lie, believing with ingenuous enthusiasm in his own fiction. At the same time, Peter remained frail and unattractive, both physically and morally. He had a strange, restless soul, enclosed in a narrow, anemic, prematurely emaciated body. Even in childhood, he discovered a tendency to drunkenness, because of which the educators were forced to closely monitor him at all receptions.

Heir to the throne

At first, the prince was prepared for the accession to the Swedish throne, while forcing him to learn the Lutheran catechism, Swedish and Latin grammar. However, having become the Russian empress and wanting to ensure the inheritance through her father, she sent Major Korf with an order to take her nephew from Kiel at any cost and deliver it to St. Petersburg.

Arrival in Russia

Peter arrived in the Russian capital on February 5, 1742 and was soon declared Grand Duke and heir to the Russian throne. After talking with her nephew, Elizabeth was struck by his ignorance and ordered him to immediately start training. Little good came of this good intention. From the very beginning, the Russian language teacher Veselovsky rarely appeared, and then, having convinced himself of the complete inability of his ward, he completely stopped walking. Professor Shtelin, who was instructed to teach mathematics and history to the heir, showed great perseverance. And soon he realized that Grand Duke"Doesn't like deep thinking."

Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich

He brought picture books, ancient Russian coins to the lessons and told about them ancient history Russia. By medals Shtelin told about the history of his reign. Reading the newspapers to him, he went through universal history in this way.

However, it was much more important for the empress to introduce her nephew to Orthodoxy. On this side, they also met with considerable difficulties, because from childhood Peter learned the rules of the most strict and least tolerant Lutheranism. In the end, after many troubles for himself, he obeyed the will of the empress, but at the same time he said several times that it would be more pleasant for him to leave for Sweden than to remain in Russia.

One occupation, which the prince indulged in with selfless persistence, was the game of soldiers. He ordered to make for himself a lot of the most diverse soldiers: wax, lead and wood, and placed them in his office on tables with such devices that if you pull the strings stretched across the tables, then sounds were heard, similar to a quick rifle fire. On service days, Peter gathered his household, put on a general's uniform and made a parade review of his toy troops, pulling the laces and listening with pleasure to the sounds of battle. The Grand Duke kept his love for these childish games for a long time even after his marriage to Catherine.

Catherine about Peter

From Catherine's notes it is known what kind of fun he liked to indulge in soon after the wedding. In the village, he set up a doghouse for himself and began to train dogs himself.

“With amazing patience,” Catherine wrote, “he trained several dogs, punishing them with stick blows, shouting out hunting terms and walking from one end of his two rooms to the other. As soon as a dog got tired or ran away, he subjected it to cruel tortures, which made it howl even louder. When these exercises, unbearable to the ears and the tranquility of his neighbors, finally bored him, he took up the violin. Peter did not know music, but he had a strong ear and considered the main advantage of the game to lead the bow more strongly and to make the sounds as loud as possible. His playing tore apart the ear, and often the listeners had to regret that they did not dare to plug their ears.

Then again there was the training of dogs and their torture, which truly seemed to me extremely cruel. Once I heard a terrible, incessant squeal. My bedroom, where I sat, was near the room where the dog training took place. I opened the door and saw how the Grand Duke lifted one of the dogs by the collar, ordered the Kalmyk boy to hold her by the tail and beat the poor animal with a thick stick of his whip with all his strength. I began to ask him to spare the unfortunate dog, but instead he began to beat her even harder. I went to my room with tears in my eyes, unable to bear such a cruel sight. In general, tears and cries, instead of arousing pity in the Grand Duke, only made him angry. Pity was for his soul a painful and, one might say, unbearable feeling ... "

Through Madame Kruse, Peter got himself dolls and children's trinkets, for which he was a passionate hunter. “During the day, he hid them from everyone under my bed,” Catherine recalled. - The Grand Duke immediately after dinner went into the bedroom, and as soon as we were in bed, Madame Kruse locked the door, and the Grand Duke began to play until one and two in the morning. I, along with Madame Kruse, glad not glad, had to take part in this pleasant activity. Sometimes I amused myself with it, but much more often it tired me and even bothered me, because dolls and toys, others very heavy, filled and filled up the whole bed with them.

Contemporaries about Peter

Peter III and Catherine II

Is it any wonder that Catherine gave birth to a child only 9 years after the wedding? Although there were other explanations for this delay. Champeau, in a report drawn up for the Court of Versailles in 1758, wrote: “The Grand Duke, without suspecting it himself, was unable to produce children, due to an obstacle removed from the Eastern peoples by circumcision, but considered incurable by him. The Grand Duchess, who did not love him and was not imbued with the consciousness of having heirs, was not saddened by this.

For his part, Castera wrote: “He (the Grand Duke) was so ashamed of the misfortune that struck him that he did not even have the determination to admit it, and the Grand Duchess, who accepted his caresses with disgust and was at that time as inexperienced as he did not think to console him, nor to encourage him to seek means to return him to his arms.

If you believe the same Champeau, the Grand Duke got rid of his shortcoming with the help of Catherine's lover Sergei Saltykov. It happened like this. Once the whole court was present at a big ball. The Empress, passing by the pregnant Naryshkina, Saltykov's sister-in-law, who was talking to Saltykov, told her that she should have conveyed some of her virtue to the Grand Duchess. Naryshkina replied that it might not be as difficult to do as it seemed. Elizabeth began to question her and thus learned about the physical handicap of the Grand Duke. Saltykov immediately said that he enjoyed the trust of Peter and would try to persuade him to agree to the operation. The empress not only agreed to this, but made it clear that by doing so he would have rendered a great service. On the same day, Saltykov arranged a dinner, invited all of Peter's good friends to it, and in a merry moment they all surrounded the Grand Duke and asked him to agree to their requests. Immediately the surgeon came in - and in one minute the operation was done and was a great success. Peter was finally able to enter into normal communication with his wife and soon after that she became pregnant.

But if Peter and Catherine united to conceive a child, after his birth they felt absolutely free from marital obligations. Each of them knew about the love interests of the other and treated them with complete indifference. Catherine fell in love with August Poniatowski, and the Grand Duke began courting Countess Elizaveta Vorontsova. The latter soon took full power over Peter.

Contemporaries unanimously expressed bewilderment on this score, because they absolutely could not explain how she could bewitch the Grand Duke. Vorontsova was completely ugly and even more than that. “Ugly, rude and stupid,” Masson said of her. Another witness put it even harsher: "She swore like a soldier, mowed down, stank and spat when talking." There were rumors that Vorontsova encouraged all the vices of Peter, got drunk with him, scolded and even beat her lover. By all accounts, she was an evil and ignorant woman. Nevertheless, Peter wanted nothing more than to marry her, having previously divorced Catherine. But while Elizabeth was alive, one could only dream of this.

Everyone who more or less knew the Grand Duke had no doubt that with his coming to power, Russian policy would change dramatically. Peter's Prussian affections were well known, because he did not consider it necessary to hide them (and indeed, by his very nature, he could not keep secrets and immediately blurted them out to the first person he met; this vice, more than any others, later damaged him).

Accession to the throne of Peter III

1761, December 25 - Elizabeth died. On the very first night of his accession to the throne, Peter sent messengers to various corps of the Russian army with orders to stop hostile actions. On the same day, the brigadier and chamberlain Andrei Gudovich, the favorite of the new emperor, was sent to the prince of Anhalt-Zerbst with a notice of the accession to the throne of Peter III and took the emperor's letter to Frederick. In it, Peter III offered Frederick to renew harmony and friendship. Both were accepted with the greatest gratitude.

Foreign and domestic policy of Peter III

Friedrich immediately sent his adjutant Colonel Goltz to Petersburg. On April 24, peace was concluded, while on the most favorable terms for Frederick: the Prussian king was returned all his lands occupied by Russian troops in former war; a separate paragraph proclaimed the desire of both sovereigns to conclude a military alliance, which, obviously, was directed against the former ally of Russia, Austria.

Elizabeth Vorontsova

Peter behaved in the same radical way in domestic politics. February 18 published a manifesto on the freedom of the nobility. From now on, all the nobles, no matter what service they were in, military or civil, could continue it or retire. Prince Pyotr Dolgorukov tells an anecdote about how this famous manifesto was written. One evening, when Peter wanted to cheat on his mistress, he called the Secretary of State Dmitry Volkov to his place and turned to him with the following words: “I told Vorontsova that I would work with you part of the night on a law of extreme importance. Therefore, I need a decree tomorrow, which would be discussed at court and in the city. After that, Volkov was locked in an empty room with a Danish dog. The unfortunate secretary did not know what to write about; in the end, he remembered what Count Roman Larionovich Vorontsov often repeated to the sovereign - namely, about the freedom of the nobility. Volkov wrote a manifesto, which was approved by the sovereign the next day.

On February 21, a very important manifesto is issued, abolishing secret office, an agency notorious for its many abuses and outright atrocities. On March 21, a decree on the secularization of church properties appears. According to him, the monasteries were deprived of their numerous land holdings, and the monks and priests were given fixed state salaries.

Meanwhile, Goltz, who, even after the signing of the peace, continued to remain in St. Petersburg and had great influence on the sovereign in all matters, anxiously reported to Friedrich about the growing discontent against the emperor. Bolotov wrote about the same thing in his notes. Mentioning some of the decrees of the new reign, which aroused the pleasure of the Russians, he further writes:

“But other orders of the emperor that followed later aroused strong murmuring and indignation in the subjects, and most of all, that he intended to completely change our religion, to which he showed special contempt. He called on the leading Bishop (Novgorod) Dmitry Sechenov and ordered him that only the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God be left in the churches, and there would be no others, and that the priests shave their beards and wear dresses, like foreign pastors. It is impossible to describe how amazed Archbishop Dmitry was at this order. This prudent elder did not know how to proceed with the fulfillment of this unexpected command, and saw clearly that Peter had the intention of changing Orthodoxy to Lutheranism. He was forced to declare his will to the sovereign's most distinguished clergy, and although the matter stopped there for the time being, it produced strong displeasure in all the clergy.

Palace coup

To the displeasure of the clergy was added the displeasure of the troops. One of the first deeds of the new reign was the dissolution of the Elizabethan Life Company, in the place of which they immediately saw a new, Holstein, guard, who enjoyed the sovereign's clear preference. This aroused grumbling and indignation in the Russian guards. As Catherine herself later admitted, she was offered a plan to overthrow Peter III soon after the death of Elizabeth. But she refused to take part in the conspiracy until June 9th. On this day, when there was a celebration of peace with the Prussian king, the emperor publicly insulted her at dinner, and in the evening gave the order to arrest her. Uncle Prince George forced the sovereign to cancel this order. Catherine remained at large, but no longer excused herself and agreed to accept the help of her volunteer assistants. Chief among them were the guards officers, the Orlov brothers.

The coup was carried out on June 28, 1762, and was crowned with complete success. Upon learning that the guards unanimously supported Catherine, Peter was confused and abdicated the throne without further ado. Panin, who was instructed to convey to the deposed sovereign the will of his wife, found the unfortunate man in the most miserable condition. Peter tried to kiss his hands, begged him not to be separated from his mistress. He wept like a guilty and punished child. The favorite threw herself at the feet of Catherine's messenger and also asked that she be allowed not to leave her lover. But they were still separated. Vorontsova was sent to Moscow, and Petra was assigned as a temporary stay a house in Ropsha, "a very secluded area, but very pleasant," according to Catherine, and located 30 miles from St. Petersburg. Peter was supposed to live there until a suitable room was prepared for him in the Shlisselburg fortress.

Death

But, as it soon became clear, he did not need these apartments. On the evening of July 6, Ekaterina was handed a note from Orlov, written in an unsteady and hardly sober hand. Only one thing could be understood: that day Peter had an argument at the table with one of his interlocutors; Orlov and others rushed to separate them, but they did it so awkwardly that the frail prisoner turned out to be dead. “We didn’t have time to separate, but he was already gone; we don’t remember what we did,” wrote Orlov. Catherine, in her words, was touched and even amazed by this death. But none of the perpetrators of the murder was punished. The body of Peter was brought directly to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery and there they were modestly buried next to the former ruler Anna Leopoldovna.

Peter III (Karl Peter Ulrich) - Russian emperor. Father - Duke Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp, mother Anna Petrovna, second daughter of Catherine I (Martha Samuilovna Skavronskaya) and Emperor Peter the Great (First). Ruled Russia from December 25, 1761 (January 5, 1762) to June 28 (July 9), 1762

Rarely did contemporaries and descendants give such contradictory ... assessments to a sovereign. On the one hand - the "stupid martinet", "limited tyrant", "toon of Frederick II", "hater of everything Russian", "chronic drunkard", "idiot" and "incapable husband" of Catherine II. On the other hand, respectful judgments that belonged to prominent representatives of Russian culture who personally knew him - V. N. Tatishchev, M. V. Lomonosov, Ya. Ya. Shtelin. The freethinker F. V. Krechetov, imprisoned for life by Catherine II in Petropavlovka in 1793, intended to “explain the greatness of Peter Fedorovich’s deeds”, and the poet A. F. Voeikov at the beginning of 1801 put the name of Peter III “next to the names of the greatest legislators” (A. S. Mylnikov "Peter III"

Brief biography of Peter III

1728, February 10 (21) - was born in the city of Kiel (Holstein, Germany).
1737, June 24 - for accurate shooting at a target on Ivan's Day, he was awarded for this year the honorary title of the leader of the shooters of the Oldenburg Guild of St. Johann in Holstein
1738, February - the ruling Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl Friedrich awarded his son the rank of second lieutenant
1742, February 5 - arrived in St. Petersburg.
1742, November - after the adoption of Orthodoxy, Karl Peter received the name Peter Fedorovich, declared the All-Russian Grand Duke and heir to the throne.
1742–1745 - classes with teachers under the guidance of an educator - academician J. Shtelin
1743 - the Grand Duke received from Empress Elizabeth Petrovna as a gift Oranienbaum
1745, May 7 - polish king and the Saxon Elector Augustus III, in his capacity as Vicar of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, declared the Grand Duke as the coming of age as the reigning Duke of Holstein
1745, August 25 - marriage to Princess Sophie Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst (future Catherine II)

“Description of the scene of Catherine's acquaintance with Peter in 1739. In an early edition of her memoirs (“Notes of Catherine II”), even before her accession to the throne, Catherine wrote: “Then for the first time I saw the Grand Duke, who was really handsome, amiable and well-mannered. Miracles were told about an eleven-year-old boy. The coverage of the same scene changes decisively in the latest edition of the Notes: “Then I heard how the assembled relatives were talking among themselves that the young duke was prone to drunkenness, that those close to him did not allow him to get drunk at the table” (A. S. Mylnikov “Peter III "")

1746 - at the request of the Grand Duke, the library of his father Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp was transported to St. Petersburg
1746–1762 - took an active part in planning and carrying out construction work in Oranienbaum, collects books, art and musical objects, a friend of rarity
1755 - took part in the creation of a singing and ballet school in Oranienbaum to train Russian artists, opened the Picture House, which consisted of a theater hall, an art gallery, a library and a cabinet of curiosities.
1756–1757 - member of the Conference at the Supreme Court
February 12, 1759 - Elizaveta Petrovna appointed the Grand Duke Chief Director of the Land Gentry Corps in St. Petersburg.
1759, May 5 - as Chief Director, enters the Governing Senate with a petition to expand the range of publishing activities of the Corps and use the profits received for the needs of the printing house and library
1760, December 2 - applied to the Governing Senate with a plan to create geographical description of the Russian State and on the distribution of questionnaires for this purpose to local
1761, March 7 - submitted to the Governing Senate a project to create vocational school for the training of "national artisans".
1761, December 25 - the death of Elizabeth Petrovna and the accession of Pyotr Fedorovich to the Russian throne

“The emperor usually got up at 7 o’clock in the morning, listened to the reports of dignitaries from 8 to 10 o’clock. At 11 o'clock he personally conducted military exercises, and at one o'clock in the afternoon he dined - either in his apartment, where he invited people of interest to him, regardless of their position, or traveling to close or foreign diplomats.

The evening hours were reserved for court games and entertainment (he especially loved concerts, in which he himself willingly played the violin). After a late supper, to which sometimes up to a hundred people were called, he, together with his advisers, again engaged in state affairs until late at night. He often used the morning hours before the watch parade and the afternoon for inspection visits to government agencies and government institutions (for example, manufactories) ”(A. S. Mylnikov)

1762, March 22 - a secret trip to Shlisselburg to meet with the prisoner - the deposed Emperor Ivan Antonovich, then handed him over to him through the Adjutant General Baron K.K. Ungern gifts (clothes, shoes..)
1762, June 29 - arrest, signing of the abdication, imprisonment under heavy guard in the Ropsha Palace
1762, July 3 - killed (strangled) presumably on this day. (The official date of death is July 6)

Government of Peter III

1762, May 20 - decree on those closest to the emperor: “So that many of his emperors. for the benefit and glory of his empire and for the well-being of his loyal subjects, the accepted intentions could best and sooner be put into action, then they elected him emperor. in-stvo to work under his own empire. in the leadership and charity over many previously owned affairs of His Highness Duke George, His Grace Prince Holstein-Beksky, Field Marshal Minich, Field Marshal Prince Trubetskoy, Chancellor Count Vorontsov, Feldzeugmeister General Wilboa, Lieutenant General Prince Volkonsky, Lieutenant General Melgunov and acting. statsk, adviser to the secret secretary Volkov "

—

He went down in Russian history as an outstanding military and economic figure, an invincible field marshal, a successor to the cause of Peter the Great. Under the military leadership of Minich, the Russian army always won victories, in military history Field Marshal Munnich entered as the winner of the Turks and Crimeans.

Minich carried out colossal work on the qualitative improvement of the Russian army, serfdom and rear, also the huge creative activity of Minich concerned the strengthening state system Russian Empire. in 1741, with the accession of Elizabeth Petrovna, he was put on trial, sentenced to death on false charges of treason, aiding Biron, as well as bribery and embezzlement.

—

The activities of the government of Peter III

“On January 17, the emperor arrived at the Senate, where he remained from 10 to 12 hours. Here he signed decrees on the return from exile of Mengden, Lilienfeld, Minikhov, Lopukhina; then he deigned to point out: in the sale of salt, the price should be reduced and set moderate, if it is impossible to do it completely by free trade, about which the Senate should discuss. The Kronstadt harbor, which is very damaged, so that ships can land with difficulty, should be immediately repaired, deepening it and lining it with stone. The Senate should discuss how to complete the Rogerwitz harbor with free people, and transfer the convicts to Nerchinsk.

Immediately, Peter was informed of the proposal of the late Count Peter Iv. Shuvalov about water communication from the Volkhov River to Rybnaya Sloboda; the proposal said: from Rybnaya Sloboda through Tver, Borovitsky rapids, Novgorod to Novaya Ladoga ships go 1120 versts, and there is another water path from Rybnaya Sloboda to Novaya Ladoga, namely: from Rybnaya by the Volga, Mologa, Chagodoshcheyu, Goryun, Lake Sominsky , the Somino River, the Bolchinka River, Krupin Lake, the Tikhvin River, Syasya, and from Syasya there must be a canal to the Volkhov River and opposite the Ladoga Canal right at seven versts; this path is only 592 versts. At the same time, the Senate reported that Lieutenant General Ryazanov, who had already fulfilled his assignment, had been sent to examine and describe this tract. The emperor reviewed the plans, approved and ordered all this work to be carried out by free people ”(Soloviev "History of Russia from Ancient Times")

1762, January 28 - Personal decree on the dissolution of the court Conference with the transfer of its affairs to the Senate and the Foreign Collegium: "from now on there will be no special Council or Conference, but each collegium has to send its own affairs"
1762, January 29 - for the accelerated consideration of complaints and applications accumulated from the previous reign and newly received complaints and applications under the Senate, the Appellate Department and similar departments were created at the College of Justice, the Estates College and the Judicial Order, and on March 4, he repeated the ban for another 1700 to file petitions and petitions directly to the monarch
1762, January 29 - a decree that the sovereign allows the schismatics who fled to Poland and other foreign countries to return to Russia and settle in Siberia, in the Baraba steppe and other similar places, and they should not be hindered in the content of the law, according to their custom and old-printed books, for “within the All-Russian Empire, even those of other faiths, like Mohammedans and idolaters, are, and those schismatics are Christians, they are in the same old superstition and stubbornness, which should not be averted by coercion and upsetting them.
1762, February 12 - on the personal initiative of the emperor, the Declaration on the Establishment of Peace in Europe was sent to the European powers. In order to avoid "further shedding of human blood", the parties had to stop hostilities and voluntarily abandon the territorial acquisitions made during the Seven Years' War
(Declaration of peace was handed over to foreign diplomats)
1762, February 16, March 6 - decrees aimed at strengthening the army and navy
1762, February 16, March 21 - decrees on the secularization of the lands of the Russian Orthodox Church
1762, February 18 - a manifesto "On the granting of liberty and freedom to all Russian nobility" was announced

“All nobles, no matter what service they were in, military or civil, could continue it or retire; but the military could not ask to retire and take leave during the campaign and three months before it began. A non-serving nobleman could freely travel abroad and enter the service of foreign sovereigns, but was obliged to return with all possible speed at the first call of the government.

“We hope,” the manifesto said, “that all the noble Russian nobility, feeling so much of our generosity towards them and their descendants, in their all-submissive loyalty and zeal to us, will be prompted not to retire below to hide from service, but with zeal and desire in this to enter and, in an honest and shameless way, at least continue it, no less than to teach your children with diligence and diligence in decent sciences ”(Soloviev)

1762, February 21 - a manifesto was announced on the abolition of the Office of Secret Investigations and the transfer of its duties to the Senate

“The aforementioned Secret Investigation Office is destroyed forever from now on, and its affairs have to be taken to the Senate, but they will rely on the seal to eternal oblivion in the archive. The hateful expression, namely “word and deed”, should no longer mean anything, and we forbid: no one should use it.

1762, February 28, June 3 - Peter III approved the reports of the First Life Physician, archiatrist - head of the Medical Chancellery and all medical institutions of the Russian Empire J. Manzei on the reorganization of the medical service: all doctors and pharmacists in Russia received ranks that corresponded to their privileges and regularly salaries paid, retired doctors - pensions; to combat epidemics, the position of provincial and provincial doctors was established to help city, provincial and provincial doctors
1762, March 5 - decree prohibiting the construction of house churches

“The house church was then a permanent property of any prosperous estate, even a rich city yard. From ancient times this custom was carried on, and already in the Muscovite era, zealots of good church order complained about its abuse.

At Avr. Palitsyn, we find a description of what the house churches were: a small hut, a poor iconostasis, wooden utensils, linen vestments and half-starved; on the square hired for one service, or for one demand, a "placeless" priest ... The easier it was to start and the cheaper it was to maintain "one's own" church, the stronger and more widespread was the desire for "one's own" church. Against this deeply rooted desire in everyday life, Peter III became "(Platonov" Full course lectures on Russian history")

1762, April 24 (May 5) - a peace treaty was signed between Russia and Prussia (Petersburg peace)

“The plan of Peter the Third, prepared by a peace treaty with Prussia, was enshrined in three secret articles of the June treatise. According to the first of them, Frederick II recognized the validity of Peter III's claims to Schleswig and expressed his readiness to "really and in every way help."

In the event that further negotiations with Denmark (and they were planned for the beginning of July of that year) did not lead to the desired goal, the king pledged to “give to the disposition of His Imperial Majesty the All-Russian Corps of his troops, consisting of 15 thousand infantry and 5 thousand people cavalry", keeping it for Peter III until "until he imperial majesty The Danish court will be completely satisfied”

With the next two secret articles, Frederick II undertook to support the election of the emperor’s uncle, Prince George Ludwig, as the Duke of Courland (instead of the odious Biron), and a candidate friendly to Russia to the royal throne of the Commonwealth ”(Mylnikov)

1762, May 25 - decree "On the establishment of the State Bank"

The decree ordered to stop issuing copper money and limit their circulation, as well as to start issuing banknotes. The decree consisted of an introductory part and fourteen paragraphs, which outlined the plan for the creation and the basis for the activities of the State Bank.

The bank was supposed to consist of two branches, in St. Petersburg and in Moscow, and issue loans to persons of all classes, for which it was to issue its tickets into circulation "as the best and most known means in Europe by many examples."

The fixed capital of 2 million rubles was to be allocated from the state treasury, and in addition, up to 3 million rubles were supposed to be gradually deposited from the state treasury into the bank to form reserve capital; Accordingly, it was supposed to issue on “special and purposely made paper” for 5 million rubles “bank notes” in denominations of 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 rubles, which were given circulation “on a par with specie”, for which it was allowed it was to accept them when paying taxes, all kinds of government fees, not excluding customs.

In the 18th century in the Russian Empire, the stability of the transfer of power from monarch to monarch was seriously disrupted. This period went down in history as the “epoch of palace coups”, when the fate of the Russian throne was decided not so much by the will of the monarch as by the support of influential dignitaries and guards.

In 1741, as a result of another coup, the empress became daughter of Peter the Great Elizaveta Petrovna. Despite the fact that at the time of her accession to the throne, Elizabeth was only 32 years old, the question arose of who would become the heir to the imperial crown.

Elizabeth had no legitimate children, and therefore, the heir had to be sought among other members of the Romanov family.

According to the "Decree on the Succession to the Throne", issued by Peter I in 1722, the emperor received the right to choose his successor himself. However, it was not enough just to name the name - it was necessary to create a solid ground for the heir to be recognized by both the highest dignitaries and the country as a whole.

Bad experience Boris Godunov And Vasily Shuisky He spoke about the fact that a monarch who does not have a solid support can lead the country to confusion and chaos. Similarly, the absence of an heir to the throne can lead to confusion and chaos.

To Russia, Carl!

Elizaveta Petrovna, in order to strengthen the stability of the state, decided to act quickly. She was chosen as her heir sister's son, Anna Petrovna, Karl Peter Ulrich.

Anna Petrovna was married to Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl Friedrich and in February 1728 bore him a son. Karl Peter lost his mother just a few days after his birth - Anna Petrovna, who had not departed after a difficult birth, caught a cold during fireworks in honor of the birth of her son and died.

Who came as a great-nephew Swedish king Charles XII Karl Peter was originally seen as the heir to the Swedish throne. At the same time, no one was seriously involved in his upbringing. From the age of 7, the boy was taught marching, handling weapons and other military wisdom and traditions of the Prussian army. It was then that Karl Peter became a fan of Prussia, which subsequently had a detrimental effect on his future.

At the age of 11 Karl Peter lost his father. The boy's upbringing was taken up by his cousin, future king of Sweden Adolf Frederick. The caregivers assigned to educate the boy focused on cruel and humiliating punishments, which made Karl Peter nervous and fearful.

Pyotr Fedorovich when he was the Grand Duke. Portrait by G. H. Groot

The envoy of Elizabeth Petrovna, who arrived for Karl Peter, took him to Russia under a false name, secretly. Knowing the difficulties with the succession to the throne in St. Petersburg, the opponents of Russia could well prevent this in order to subsequently use Karl Peter in their intrigues.

Bride for a troubled teenager

Elizaveta Petrovna met her nephew with joy, but was struck by his thinness and sickly appearance. When it turned out that his training was purely formal, it was just right to grab his head.

The first months of Karl Peter were literally fattened and put in order. They began to train him almost anew, from the very beginning. In November 1742 he was baptized into Orthodoxy under the name Petr Fedorovich.

The nephew turned out to be completely different from what Elizaveta Petrovna expected to see him. However, she continued the line of strengthening the dynasty, deciding to marry the heir as soon as possible.

Considering the candidates for brides for Peter, Elizaveta Petrovna opted for Sophia Augusta Frederick, daughter of Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, a representative of an ancient princely family.

father fike, as the girl was called at home, there was nothing but a high-profile title. Like her future husband, Fike grew up in Spartan conditions, even though both her parents were in perfect health. Home schooling was caused by a lack of funds, noble entertainment for the little princess replaced street games with boys, after which Fike went to darn her own stockings.

The news that the Russian Empress chose Sophia Augusta Frederica as a bride for the heir to the Russian throne shocked Fike's parents. The girl herself very quickly realized that she had a great chance to change her life.

In February 1744 Sophia Augusta Frederica and her mother arrived in St. Petersburg. Elizaveta Petrovna found the bride quite worthy.

Ignorant and smart

On June 28, 1744, Sophia Augusta Frederica converted from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy and received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna. On August 21, 1745, 17-year-old Pyotr Fedorovich and 16-year-old Ekaterina Alekseevna were married. The wedding celebrations were held on a grand scale and lasted 10 days.

It seemed that Elizabeth achieved what she wanted. However, the result was rather unexpected.

Despite the fact that the phrase “grandson of Peter the Great” was included in the official name of Pyotr Fedorovich, it was not possible to instill in the heir a love for the empire created by his grandfather.

All efforts by educators to fill the gaps in education have failed. The heir preferred to spend time in entertainment, playing with soldiers, rather than in training sessions. He never learned to speak Russian well. His passion Prussian King Friedrich, which already did not add sympathy to him, became completely obscene with the beginning of the Seven Years' War, in which Prussia acted as an opponent of Russia.

Sometimes, annoyed, Peter threw phrases like: “They dragged me into this damned Russia.” And it also did not add to his supporters.

Catherine was the complete opposite of her husband. She studied Russian with such zeal that she almost died from pneumonia, earned while studying with the window wide open.

Having converted to Orthodoxy, she zealously observed church traditions, and the people soon started talking about the piety of the heir's wife.

Ekaterina was actively engaged in self-education, read books on history, philosophy, jurisprudence, essays Voltaire, Montesquieu, Tacitus, Bayle, a large number of other literature. The ranks of admirers of her mind grew as rapidly as the ranks of admirers of her beauty.

Fallback Empress Elizabeth

Elizabeth, of course, approved of such zeal, but did not consider Catherine as the future ruler of Russia. She was taken so that she would give birth to heirs for the Russian throne, and there were serious problems with this.

The marital relationship between Peter and Catherine did not go well at all. The difference in interests, the difference in temperaments, the difference in outlook on life alienated them from each other from the first day of marriage. It did not help that Elizabeth introduced to them as educators a married couple who had lived together for many years. IN this case example was not contagious.

Elizaveta Petrovna hatched a new idea - if it was not possible to re-educate her nephew, then it is necessary to properly educate her grandson, to whom power will then be transferred. But with the birth of a grandson, problems also arose.

Grand Duke Pyotr Fedorovich and Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna with a page. Source: Public Domain

Only on September 20, 1754, after nine years of marriage, Catherine gave birth to a son Paul. The Empress immediately took the newborn away, limiting the communication of parents with the child.

If Peter was not excited at all, then Catherine tried to see her son more often, which greatly annoyed the empress.

The plot that failed

After the birth of Paul, the cooling between Peter and Catherine only intensified. Pyotr Fedorovich made mistresses, Ekaterina - lovers, and both sides were aware of each other's adventures.

Pyotr Fedorovich, for all his shortcomings, was a rather simple-hearted man, unable to hide his thoughts and intentions. The fact that with accession to the throne he would get rid of his unloved wife, Peter began to talk a few years before the death of Elizabeth Petrovna. Catherine knew that in this case a prison awaits her, or a monastery that is no different from her. Therefore, she secretly begins to negotiate with those who, like herself, would not like to see Peter Fedorovich on the throne.

In 1757, during a serious illness of Elizabeth Petrovna Chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin prepared a coup with the aim of removing the heir immediately after the death of the empress, in which Catherine was also involved. However, Elizabeth recovered, the plot was revealed, and Bestuzhev-Ryumin fell into disgrace. Catherine herself was not touched, since Bestuzhev managed to destroy the letters compromising her.

In December 1761, a new aggravation of the disease led to the death of the Empress. Paul failed to implement plans to transfer power, since the boy was only 7 years old, and Pyotr Fedorovich became the new head of the Russian Empire under the name of Peter III.

Fatal world with an idol

The new emperor decided to start large-scale government reforms, many of which historians consider very progressive. The Secret Chancellery, which was an organ of political investigation, was liquidated, a decree on freedom of foreign trade was adopted, and the killing of peasants by landowners was prohibited. Peter III issued the "Manifesto on the Liberty of the Nobility", which abolished the compulsory military service for the nobles introduced by Peter I.

His intention to carry out the secularization of church lands and equalize the rights of representatives of all religious denominations alerted Russian society. Opponents of Peter spread a rumor that the emperor was preparing to introduce Lutheranism in the country, which did not add to his popularity.

But the biggest mistake of Peter III was the conclusion of peace with his idol, King Frederick of Prussia. During the Seven Years' War, the Russian army utterly defeated the vaunted army of Frederick, forcing the latter to think about renunciation.

And at this very moment, when the final victory of Russia was already actually won, Peter not only makes peace, but without any conditions returns to Frederick all the territories he has lost. The Russian army, and especially the guard, was offended by this step of the emperor. In addition, his intention, together with Prussia, to start a war against yesterday's ally, Denmark, did not find understanding in Russia.

Portrait of Peter III by artist A.P. Antropov, 1762.

The reign of Peter 3, if my memory serves me, was the shortest in the history of Russia. Even impostors in Time of Troubles ruled even more! The years of his reign: from December 1761 to June 1762. Nevertheless, under him many innovations were adopted, which went both in line with the policy of his predecessors and not. In this article, we will briefly analyze his reign and characterize the emperor himself.

Peter the Third

About personality

Real name Petra III Fedorovich— Carl Peter Ulrich. He, like his wife, Sophia Augusta Frederic Anhalt Zerbskaya, is a native of an impoverished North German family. Some people subscribe to newspapers or magazines, but Elizaveta Petrovna subscribed to herself an heir - himself! At that time, Northern Germany "supplied" noble princes to all of Europe!

Karl was crazy about Prussia (Germany), from its emperor Frederick. While he was the heirs - all the game of war games, like his grandfather - Peter the Great. Yes Yes! Moreover, Karl Peter was also a relative of Charles XII, the Swedish emperor, with whom Peter the Great fought in the years. How did it happen? The fact is that Karl's mother was the daughter of Peter Anna Petrovna, who was married off to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. And the husband of Anna Petrovna, Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp, was the nephew of Charles XII. In such an amazing way, two opponents found their continuation in him!

Meanwhile, you can call him a fool. Well, judge for yourself: he forced his wife, Sophia Augusta (the future Catherine the Great), to carry a gun at the ready so that she would guard the castle in his amusing games! Moreover, he told her about all his love affairs- to his wife! It is clear that she did not take him seriously, and, in general, predetermined his fate, probably even during the life of Elizabeth Petrovna.

Karl Peter Ulrich (future Peter the Third) with his wife Sophia Augusta Frederika Anhalt of Zerbskaya (future Catherine the Great)

It is precisely because of his eccentricity and tomfoolery that many researchers believe that he was not the initiator of all those decrees, perhaps, except for the first, that followed in his reign.

Board milestones

Summary the reign of Peter III is reduced to the following points.

In the field foreign policy, you should know that Russia under Elizabeth Petrovna fought with Prussia (Seven Years' War). And since the new emperor was a fan of this country, he himself issued a decree on the immediate cessation of the military conflict. He returned all the lands richly watered with the blood of Russian soldiers to the German emperor and made an alliance with him against the rest of the world.

It is clear that such news was extremely negatively received by the guard, which, as we remember, became a political force in.

In the region of domestic policy you need to know the following points:

Peter III issued a manifesto on the freedom of the nobility. According to one historical myth, this document appeared in the following piquant way. The fact is that the tsar announced to his mistress E.R. Vorontsova, which is locked with D.V. Volkov and will be immersed in state affairs. In fact, Volkov personally wrote the manifesto while the emperor was having fun with his second mistress!
Under this emperor, the secularization of church lands was prepared. This step was a natural phenomenon of the rise and victory of secular power over church power. By the way, the confrontation between these authorities is an excellent cross-cutting topic, which is analyzed in. By the way, secularization was carried out this way only during the reign of Catherine the Great.
It was Peter the Third who stopped the persecution of the Old Believers, which had begun since. In general, the emperor's plans were to equalize all confessions. Of course, no one would let him realize this truly revolutionary step.
It was this emperor who liquidated the Secret Chancellery, which was created during the reign of Anna Ioannovna.

Deposition of Peter

The coup of 1762 can be briefly described as follows. In general, a conspiracy to remove Peter the Third to his wife had been ripe for a long time, since 1758. The founder of the conspiracy was Alexei Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin, chancellor of the empire. However, he fell into disgrace, and Ekaterina Alekseevna herself did not want to go to the monastery, so she did nothing.

However, as soon as Peter reigned, the conspiracy began to mature with renewed vigor. Its organizers were the Orlov brothers, Panin, Razumovsky and others.

The reason was that on June 9 the tsar publicly called his wife a fool, and told everyone that he would divorce her and marry his mistress Vorontsova. The conspirators simply could not allow such an intention to materialize. As a result, on June 28, when the emperor left for Peterhof on the occasion of his namesake, Ekaterina Alekseevna left with Alexei Orlov for Petersburg. There, the Senate, the Synod, the Guards and other state bodies swore allegiance to her.

But Peter the Third was out of work, and was soon arrested and strangled. Of course, everyone was told that the king de died of apoplexy. But we know the truth =)

That's all. Share this article with your friends on social networks! Write what you think about this emperor in the comments!

Sincerely, Andrey Puchkov

During his short reign, Emperor Peter III managed to develop a vigorous activity. During his reign, he signed almost 200 decrees! Some of the laws were extremely important.

Peter III carried out decrees that, in general, continued the line of his predecessors, and sometimes he went even further than them. So, many of the undertakings conceived by the emperor are subsequently implemented by his wife - Ekaterina Alekseevna, who took the throne later.

Manifesto on the Liberty of the Nobility

Secularization Decree

They were in a difficult position in the 60s. XVIII century serfs of church and monastery lands. For 20 years, the number of peasant uprisings in the monastery lands has tripled. The peasants demanded to be transferred to the position of the state. Peter III signed a decree on secularization: the lands with the peasants inhabiting them were confiscated from churches and monasteries and transferred to the ownership of the state. This meant improving the situation of hundreds of thousands of peasants and strengthening the state treasury.

Pictures (photos, drawings)

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