Peter III (Pyotr Fedorovich, born Carl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp; February 21, Kiel - July 17, Ropsha) - Russian emperor in -, the first representative of the Holstein-Gottorp (Oldenburg) branch of the Romanovs on the Russian throne. From 1745 - Sovereign Duke of Holstein.
After a six-month reign, he was overthrown as a result of a palace coup that enthroned his wife, Catherine II, and soon lost his life. The personality and activities of Peter III for a long time were regarded by historians unanimously negatively, but then a more balanced approach appeared, noting a number of state merits of the emperor. During the reign of Catherine, many impostors pretended to be Pyotr Fedorovich (about forty cases were recorded), the most famous of which was Emelyan Pugachev.
Childhood, education and upbringing
Peter grew up timid, nervous, impressionable, loved music and painting and at the same time adored everything military (however, he was afraid of cannon fire; this fear remained with him for the rest of his life). It was with military comforts that all his ambitious dreams were connected. He did not differ in good health, rather the opposite: he was sickly and frail. By nature, Peter was not evil; often acted rudely. Peter's penchant for lies and absurd fantasies is also noted. According to some reports, already in childhood he was addicted to wine.
Heir
At the first meeting, Elizabeth was struck by the ignorance of her nephew and upset by her appearance: thin, sickly, with an unhealthy complexion. Academician Jacob Shtelin became his tutor and teacher, who considered his student quite capable, but lazy, at the same time noting in him such features as cowardice, cruelty to animals, and a tendency to boast. The education of the heir in Russia lasted only three years - after the wedding of Peter and Catherine, Shtelin was dismissed from his duties (however, he forever retained Peter's disposition and trust). Neither during his studies, nor subsequently, did Pyotr Fedorovich ever learn to properly speak and write in Russian. The tutor of the Grand Duke in Orthodoxy was Simon Todorsky, who also became a teacher of the law for Catherine.
The wedding of the heir was played on a special scale - so that before the ten-day celebrations, "all the tales of the East faded." Peter and Catherine were granted the possession of Oranienbaum near St. Petersburg and Lyubertsy near Moscow.
Peter's relationship with his wife did not work out from the very beginning: she was intellectually more developed, and he, on the contrary, was infantile. Catherine in her memoirs noted:
(In the same place, Catherine, not without pride, mentions that she read The History of Germany in eight large volumes in four months. Elsewhere in her memoirs, Catherine writes about the enthusiastic reading of Madame de Sevigne and Voltaire. All memories are about the same time.)
The mind of the Grand Duke was still occupied by children's games, military exercises, and he was not at all interested in women. It is believed that until the beginning of the 1750s there was no marital relationship between husband and wife, but then Peter underwent some kind of operation (presumably circumcision to eliminate phimosis), after which in 1754 Catherine gave birth to his son Paul (future Emperor Paul I) . However, the letter of the Grand Duke to his wife, dated December 1746, testifies to the inconsistency of this version:
Baby heir, future Russian emperor Paul I, was immediately taken away from his parents after his birth, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna herself took up his upbringing. However, Pyotr Fedorovich was never interested in his son and was quite satisfied with the permission of the Empress to see Paul once a week. Peter became more and more distant from his wife; his favorite was Elizaveta Vorontsova (sister of E. R. Dashkova). However, Catherine noted that Grand Duke for some reason, he always had an involuntary trust in her, all the more strange because she did not strive for spiritual intimacy with her husband. In difficult situations, financial or economic, he often turned to his wife for help, calling her ironically Madame la Resource("Lady Help").
Peter never hid his hobbies for other women from his wife; Catherine felt humiliated by this state of affairs. In 1756, she had an affair with Stanisław August Poniatowski, at that time the Polish envoy to the Russian court. For the Grand Duke, his wife's passion also did not become a secret. There is evidence that Peter and Catherine more than once arranged dinners with Poniatovsky and Elizaveta Vorontsova; they took place in the chambers of the Grand Duchess. After, leaving with the favorite for his half, Peter joked: “Well, children, now you don’t need us anymore.” Both couples lived on very good terms with each other. In 1757, the grand ducal couple had another child - Anna (she died of smallpox in 1759). Historians cast great doubt on the paternity of Peter, calling S. A. Poniatovsky the most probable father. However, Peter officially recognized the child as his own.
In the early 1750s, Peter was allowed to write a small detachment of Holstein soldiers (by 1758 their number was about one and a half thousand), and that’s it. free time he spent by doing military exercises and maneuvers with them. Some time later (by 1759-1760) these Holstein soldiers formed the garrison of the amusing fortress Peterstadt, built in the residence of the Grand Duke Oranienbaum. Another hobby of Peter was playing the violin.
During the years spent in Russia, Peter never made any attempts to get to know the country, its people and history better, he neglected Russian customs, behaved inappropriately during church services, did not observe fasts and other rituals.
It is noted that Peter III was energetically engaged in state affairs (“Already in the morning he was in his office, where he listened to reports<…>, then hurried to the Senate or collegiums.<…>In the Senate, he took on the most important cases himself energetically and assertively. His policy was quite consistent; he, in imitation of his grandfather Peter I, proposed a series of reforms.
Among the most important cases of Peter III are the abolition of the Secret Office (Office of Secret Investigative Affairs; Manifesto of February 16, 1762), the beginning of the process of secularization of church lands, the promotion of commercial and industrial activities by creating the State Bank and issuing banknotes (Nominal Decree of May 25), adoption of the freedom decree foreign trade(Decree of March 28); it also contains a demand for a careful attitude to forests as one of the most important wealth of Russia. Among other measures, researchers note a decree that allowed factories for the production of sailing fabric in Siberia, as well as a decree that qualified the murder of peasants by landlords as "tyrannical torment" and provided for life exile for this. He also stopped the persecution of the Old Believers. Peter III is also credited with the intention to reform the Russian Orthodox Church according to the Protestant model (In the Manifesto of Catherine II on the occasion of her accession to the throne of June 28, 1762, Peter was blamed for this: “Our Greek Church was already extremely exposed to its last danger of changing the ancient Orthodoxy in Russia and the adoption of an infidel law).
Legislative acts adopted during the short reign of Peter III, in many ways became the foundation for the subsequent reign of Catherine II.
The most important document of the reign of Peter Fedorovich is the “Manifesto on the Liberty of the Nobility" (Manifesto of February 18, 1762), thanks to which the nobility became an exclusive privileged estate Russian Empire. The nobility, being forced by Peter I to obligatory and total duty to serve the state all his life, under Anna Ioannovna, who received the right to retire after 25 years of service, now received the right not to serve at all. And the privileges, initially granted to the nobility as a service class, not only remained, but also expanded. In addition to being exempted from service, the nobles received the right to leave the country virtually unhindered. One of the consequences of the Manifesto was that the nobles could now freely dispose of their land holdings, regardless of their attitude to service (the Manifesto passed over in silence the rights of the nobility to their estates; while the previous legislative acts of Peter I, Anna Ioannovna and Elizaveta Petrovna, concerning noble service, linked service duties and landownership rights). The nobility became as free as a privileged estate in a feudal country can be.
The reign of Peter III was marked by the strengthening of serfdom. The landlords got the opportunity to arbitrarily move the peasants who belonged to them from one county to another; there were serious bureaucratic restrictions on the transition of serfs to the merchant class; during the six months of Peter's reign, about 13 thousand people were distributed from state peasants to serfs (in fact, there were more of them: only men were included in the audit lists in 1762). During these six months, peasant riots arose several times, suppressed by punitive detachments. Noteworthy is the Manifesto of Peter III of June 19 regarding the riots in the Tver and Cannes districts: “We intend to inviolably preserve the landowners with their estates and possessions, and keep the peasants in due obedience to them.” The riots were caused by a spreading rumor about the granting of "liberties to the peasantry", a response to the rumors and served as a legislative act, which was not accidentally given the status of a manifesto.
The legislative activity of the government of Peter III was extraordinary. During the 186-day reign, judging by the official "Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire", 192 documents were adopted: manifestos, nominal and Senate decrees, resolutions, etc. (They do not include decrees on awards and rank production, monetary payments and on specific private issues).
However, some researchers stipulate that measures useful for the country were taken as if “by the way”; for the emperor himself, they were not urgent or important. In addition, many of these decrees and manifestos did not appear suddenly: they were prepared under Elizabeth by the “Commission for the drafting of a new Code”, but were adopted at the suggestion of Roman Vorontsov, Pyotr Shuvalov, Dmitry Volkov and other Elizabethan dignitaries who remained at the throne of Pyotr Fedorovich.
Peter III was much more interested in the internal affairs of the war with Denmark: out of Holstein patriotism, the emperor decided, in alliance with Prussia, to oppose Denmark (yesterday's ally of Russia), in order to return Schleswig taken away from her native Holstein, and he himself intended to go on a campaign at the head of the guard.
| Romanov dynasty (before Peter III) | |||||||
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| Nikita Ivanovich |
Immediately upon accession to the throne, Pyotr Fedorovich returned to court most of the disgraced nobles of the previous reign, who were languishing in exile (except for the hated Bestuzhev-Ryumin). Among them was Count Burchard Christopher Munnich, a veteran palace coups. The Holstein relatives of the emperor were summoned to Russia: Princes Georg Ludwig of Holstein-Gottorp and Peter August Friedrich of Holstein-Beck. Both were promoted to field marshals in view of the war with Denmark; Peter August Friedrich was also appointed governor-general of the capital. Alexandre Vilboa was appointed Feldzeugmeister General. These people, as well as the former tutor Jacob Stehlin, who was appointed personal librarian, formed the emperor's inner circle.
Once in power, Peter III immediately ceased hostilities against Prussia and concluded the Peace of Petersburg with Frederick II on extremely unfavorable terms for Russia, returning the conquered East Prussia (which had been integral part Russian Empire); and abandoning all acquisitions in the course of the effectively won Seven Years' War. Russia's exit from the war again saved Prussia from complete defeat (see also "The Miracle of the Brandenburg House"). Peter III easily sacrificed the interests of Russia for the sake of his German duchy and friendship with the idol Frederick. The peace concluded on April 24 caused bewilderment and indignation in society, it was naturally regarded as a betrayal and national humiliation. The long and costly war ended in nothing, Russia did not derive any benefits from its victories.
Despite the progressive nature of many legislative measures and the unprecedented privileges of the nobility, Peter's poorly thought out foreign policy acts, as well as his harsh actions against the church, the introduction of the Prussian order in the army not only did not add to his authority, but deprived him of any social support; in court circles, his policy only gave rise to uncertainty about the future.
| Society felt in the actions of the government prank and whim, the lack of unity of thought and a certain direction. It was obvious to everyone that the governmental mechanism was in disorder. All this caused a friendly murmur, which poured down from the higher spheres and became popular. Tongues loosened, as if not feeling the policeman's fear; on the streets they openly and loudly expressed discontent, without any fear blaming the sovereign. |
Finally, the intention to withdraw the guard from Petersburg and send it to an incomprehensible and unpopular Danish campaign served as a powerful catalyst for a conspiracy that arose in the guard in favor of Ekaterina Alekseevna.
Palace coup
The first beginnings of the conspiracy date back to 1756, that is, by the time the Seven Years' War began and the health of Elizabeth Petrovna worsened. The all-powerful chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin, knowing full well about the pro-Prussian sentiments of the heir and realizing that under the new sovereign he was threatened at least by Siberia, hatched plans to neutralize Pyotr Fedorovich upon his accession to the throne, declaring Catherine an equal co-ruler. However, Alexei Petrovich fell into disgrace in 1758, hastening to implement his plan (the intentions of the chancellor remained undisclosed, he managed to destroy the dangerous papers). The Empress herself had no illusions about her successor on the throne and later thought about replacing her nephew with Paul's great-nephew:
| During illness<…>Elisaveta Petrovna I heard that<…>everyone is afraid of her heir; that he is neither loved nor honored by anyone; that the empress herself complains about whom to entrust the throne; that they find a tendency in her to dismiss the incapable heir, from whom she herself had annoyance, and take his seven-year-old son and entrust me [that is, Catherine] with management. |
Over the next three years, Catherine, who also fell under suspicion in 1758 and almost ended up in a monastery, did not take any noticeable political actions, except that she stubbornly increased and strengthened personal ties in high society.
In the ranks of the guard, a conspiracy against Pyotr Fedorovich took shape in the last months of Elizaveta Petrovna's life, thanks to the activities of the three Orlov brothers, the officers of the Izmailovsky regiment, the brothers Roslavlev and Lasunsky, the Preobrazhenians Passek and Bredikhin, and others. Among the highest dignitaries of the Empire, the most enterprising conspirators were N. I. Panin, educator of the young Pavel Petrovich, M. N. Volkonsky and K. G. Razumovsky, Little Russian hetman, president of the Academy of Sciences, favorite of his Izmailovsky regiment.
Elizaveta Petrovna died without daring to change anything in the fate of the throne. Catherine did not consider it possible to carry out a coup immediately after the death of the Empress: she was at the end of her fifth month of pregnancy (from Grigory Orlov; in April 1762 she gave birth to her son Alexei). In addition, Catherine had political reasons not to rush things, she wanted to attract as many supporters as possible to her side for a complete triumph. Knowing well the character of her husband, she rightly believed that Peter would set the entire metropolitan society against him soon enough. To carry out the coup, Catherine chose to wait for the right moment.
The position of Peter III in society was precarious, but the position of Catherine at court was also fragile. Peter III openly said that he was going to divorce his wife in order to marry his favorite Elizaveta Vorontsova. He treated his wife rudely, and on April 30, during a gala dinner on the occasion of the conclusion of peace with Prussia, there was a public scandal. The emperor, in the presence of the court, diplomats and foreign princes, shouted to his wife across the table "folle"(stupid); Catherine wept. The reason for the insult was Catherine's unwillingness to drink while standing, proclaimed by Peter III toast. The hostility between the spouses reached its climax. On the evening of the same day, he gave the order to arrest her, and only the intervention of Field Marshal Georg of Holstein-Gottorp, the emperor's uncle, saved Catherine.
Peterhof. Cascade "Golden Mountain". 19th century photolithography
By May 1762, the change of mood in the capital became so obvious that the emperor was advised on all sides to take measures to prevent a catastrophe, there were denunciations of a possible conspiracy, but Pyotr Fedorovich did not understand the seriousness of his situation. In May, the court, led by the emperor, as usual, left the city, to Oranienbaum. There was a calm in the capital, which greatly contributed to the final preparations of the conspirators.
The Danish campaign was planned for June. The emperor decided to postpone the march of the troops in order to celebrate his name day. On the morning of June 28, 1762, on the eve of Peter's Day, Emperor Peter III with his retinue set off from Oranienbaum, his country residence, to Peterhof, where a gala dinner was to be held in honor of the emperor's name day. On the eve of St. Petersburg, there was a rumor that Catherine was being held under arrest. The strongest turmoil began in the guard; one of the conspirators, Captain Passek, was arrested; the Orlov brothers feared that there was a threat of disclosure of the conspiracy.
In Peterhof, Peter III was supposed to be met by his wife, who, on the duty of the empress, was the organizer of the celebrations, but by the time the court arrived, she had disappeared. After a short time, it became known that Catherine fled to St. Petersburg early in the morning in a carriage with Alexei Orlov (he arrived in Peterhof to Catherine with the news that events had taken a critical turn and it was no longer possible to delay). In the capital, the guards, the Senate and the Synod, the population swore allegiance to the "Empress and Autocrat of All Russia" in a short time.
The guards marched towards Peterhof.
Peter's further actions show an extreme degree of confusion. Rejecting Minich's advice to immediately head to Kronstadt and fight, relying on the fleet and the army loyal to him stationed in East Prussia, he was going to defend himself in Peterhof in a toy fortress built for maneuvers with the help of a Holstein detachment. However, having learned about the approach of the guards led by Catherine, Peter abandoned this thought and sailed to Kronstadt with the whole court, ladies, etc. But by that time Kronstadt had already sworn allegiance to Catherine. After that, Peter completely lost heart and, again rejecting Minich's advice to go to the East Prussian army, returned to Oranienbaum, where he signed the abdication.
| Somewhere they got wine, and a general binge began. The rampant guard was clearly going to inflict reprisals on their former emperor. Panin forcibly gathered a battalion of reliable soldiers to surround the pavilion. It was hard to look at Peter III. He sat powerless and weak-willed, constantly crying. Seizing a moment, he rushed to Panin and, catching his hand for a kiss, whispered: “I ask for one thing - leave Lizaveta [Vorontsova] with me, I conjure in the name of the Merciful Lord!” . |
The events of June 28, 1762 have significant differences from previous palace coups; firstly, the coup went beyond the "walls of the palace" and even beyond the boundaries of the guards barracks, gaining hitherto unprecedented broad support from various segments of the capital's population, and secondly, the guards became an independent political force, and not a protective force, but a revolutionary one that overthrew the legitimate emperor and Catherine, who supported the usurpation of power.
Death
Palace in Ropsha, built during the reign of Catherine II
The circumstances of the death of Peter III have not yet been finally clarified.
Immediately after the coup, the deposed emperor, accompanied by a guard of guards led by A. G. Orlov, was sent to Ropsha, 30 miles from St. Petersburg, where he died a week later. According to the official (and most likely) version, the cause of death was an attack of hemorrhoidal colic, aggravated by prolonged alcohol consumption, and accompanied by diarrhea. An autopsy (which was carried out on the orders of Catherine) revealed that Peter III had a pronounced dysfunction of the heart, inflammation of the intestines, and there were signs of apoplexy.
However, the common version considers the death of Peter violent and calls Alexei Orlov the killer. This version is based on Orlov's letter to Ekaterina from Ropsha, which has not been preserved in the original. This letter has come down to us in a copy made by F. V. Rostopchin; the original letter was allegedly destroyed by Emperor Paul I in the first days of his reign. Recent historical and linguistic studies refute the authenticity of the document (the original, apparently, never existed, and Rostopchin is the true author of the fake).
Already today, a number of medical examinations have been carried out on the basis of surviving documents and evidence. Experts believe that Peter III suffered from manic-depressive psychosis in a weak stage (cyclothymia) with a mild depressive phase; suffered from hemorrhoids, which is why he could not sit in one place for a long time; A “small heart” found at autopsy usually suggests dysfunction of other organs as well, making it more likely to have poor blood circulation, which means there is a risk of a heart attack or stroke.
The funeral
Chimes of the Peter and Paul Cathedral
Initially, Peter III was buried without any honors in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, since only crowned heads were buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the imperial tomb. The full Senate asked the Empress not to attend the funeral.
But, according to some reports, Catherine decided in her own way; came to the Lavra incognito and paid her last debt to her husband. In, immediately after the death of Catherine, by order of Paul I, his remains were transferred first to the house church of the Winter Palace, and then to the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Peter III was reburied simultaneously with the burial of Catherine II; At the same time, Emperor Paul personally performed the ceremony of crowning the ashes of his father.
The headstones of the buried have the same date of burial (December 18, 1796), which gives the impression that Peter III and Catherine II lived together for many years and died on the same day.
Life after death
Impostors in the world community have not been a novelty since the time of the False Nero, who appeared almost immediately after the death of his "prototype". In Russia, false tsars and false princes of the Time of Troubles are also known, but among all other domestic rulers and members of their families, Peter III holds the absolute record for the number of impostors who tried to take the place of the untimely deceased tsar. In Pushkin's time there were rumors of five; according to the latest data, in Russia alone there were about forty false Peters III.
Shortly thereafter, the name of the late emperor was appropriated by a fugitive recruit Ivan Evdokimov, who tried to raise an uprising in his favor among the peasants of the Nizhny Novgorod province and a Ukrainian Nikolai Kolchenko in Chernihiv /
In the same year, shortly after the arrest of Kremnev, in Sloboda Ukraine, in the settlement of Kupyanka, Izyumsky district, a new impostor appears. This time it turned out to be Chernyshev Pyotr Fedorovich, a runaway soldier of the Bryansk regiment. This impostor, unlike his predecessors, turned out to be smart and eloquent. Soon captured, convicted and exiled to Nerchinsk, he did not leave his claims there either, spreading rumors that the "father-emperor", who incognito inspected the soldiers' regiments, was mistakenly captured and beaten with whips. The peasants who believed him tried to organize an escape by bringing a horse to the "sovereign" and supplying him with money and provisions for the road. However, the impostor was not lucky. He got lost in the taiga, was caught and severely punished in front of his admirers, sent to Mangazeya for eternal work, but died on the way there.
An extraordinary personality turned out to be Fedot Bogomolov, a former serf who fled and joined the Volga Cossacks under the name Kazin. Strictly speaking, he himself did not pretend to be the former emperor, but in March-June 1772 on the Volga, in the Tsaritsyn region, when his colleagues, due to the fact that Kazin-Bogomolov seemed to them too quick-witted and smart, suggested that in front of them hiding emperor, Bogomolov easily agreed with his "imperial dignity." Bogomolov, following his predecessors, was arrested, sentenced to tearing out his nostrils, branding and eternal exile. On the way to Siberia, he died.
In the same year, a certain Don Cossack, whose name has not been preserved in history, decided to extract monetary benefits for himself from the widespread belief in the "hiding emperor." Perhaps, of all the applicants, this was the only one who spoke in advance with a purely fraudulent purpose. His accomplice, posing as the secretary of state, traveled around the Tsaritsyn province, taking oaths and preparing the people for the reception of the "father-tsar", then the impostor himself appeared. The couple managed to profit enough at someone else's expense before the news reached the other Cossacks and they decided to give everything a political aspect. A plan was developed to capture the town of Dubrovka and arrest all the officers. However, the plot became known to the authorities and one of the high-ranking military showed sufficient decisiveness to radically suppress the plot. Accompanied by a small convoy, he entered the hut where the impostor was, hit him in the face and ordered him to be arrested along with his accomplice (“secretary of state”). The Cossacks present obeyed, but when the arrested were brought to Tsaritsyn for trial and reprisals, rumors immediately spread that the emperor was in custody and dull unrest began. To avoid an attack, the prisoners were forced to be kept outside the city, under heavy escort. During the investigation, the prisoner died, that is, from the point of view of the inhabitants, he again "disappeared without a trace." In 1774, the future leader peasant war Emelyan Pugachev, the most famous of the false Peters III, skillfully turned this story to his advantage, assuring that he himself was the “emperor who disappeared from Tsaritsyn” - and this attracted many to his side. .
The Lost Emperor appeared at least four times abroad and enjoyed considerable success there. For the first time he appeared in 1766 in Montenegro, which at that time was fighting for independence against the Turks and the Venetian Republic. Strictly speaking, this man, who appeared from nowhere and became a village healer, never declared himself emperor, but a certain captain Tanovich, who had previously been in St. from Orthodox monasteries and came to the conclusion that the original is very similar to its image. A high-ranking delegation was sent to Stephen (that was the name of the stranger) with requests to take power over the country, but he flatly refused until internal strife was stopped and peace was made between the tribes. Such unusual demands finally convinced the Montenegrins of his "royal origin" and, despite the resistance of the churchmen and the intrigues of the Russian general Dolgorukov, Stefan became the ruler of the country. He never revealed his real name, giving Yu. V. Dolgoruky, who sought the truth, a choice of three versions - “Raichevich from Dalmatia, a Turk from Bosnia and finally a Turk from Ioannina”. Openly recognizing himself as Peter III, he, however, ordered to call himself Stephen and went down in history as Stephen the Small, which is believed to come from the signature of the impostor - “ Stefan, small with small, kind with good, evil with evil". Stefan turned out to be an intelligent and knowledgeable ruler. In the short time that he remained in power, internecine strife ceased; after short frictions, good-neighborly relations with Russia were established and the country defended itself quite confidently against the onslaught of both the Venetians and the Turks. This could not please the conquerors, and Turkey and Venice repeatedly attempted on Stephen's life. Finally, one of the attempts was successful: after five years of reign, Stefan the Small was stabbed to death in his sleep by his own doctor, a Greek by nationality, Stanko Klasomunya, who was bribed by the Skadar pasha. The things of the impostor were sent to Petersburg, and his associates even tried to get themselves a pension from Catherine for "valiant service to her husband."
After the death of Stefan, the ruler of Montenegro and Peter III, once again "miraculously escaped from the hands of the murderers," a certain Zenovich tried to declare himself, but his attempt was not crowned with success. Count Mocenigo, who at that time was on the island of Zante in the Adriatic, wrote about another impostor in a report to the Doge of the Venetian Republic. This impostor operated in Turkish Albania, in the vicinity of the city of Arta. What ended his epic - is unknown.
The last foreign impostor, having appeared in 1773, traveled all over Europe, corresponded with monarchs, kept in touch with Voltaire and Rousseau. In 1785 in Amsterdam, finally, the swindler was arrested and opened his veins.
The last Russian "Peter III" was arrested in 1797, after which the ghost of Peter III finally leaves the historical scene.
Notes
- Biographies of the cavalry guards: N. Yu. Trubetskoy
- Iskul S.N. Year 1762. - St. Petersburg: Information and Publishing Agency "Lik", 2001, p. 43.
- Peskov A. M. Pavel I. The author refers to:
Kamensky A. B. Life and fate of Empress Catherine the Great. - M., 1997.
Naumov V.P. An amazing autocrat: the mysteries of his life and reign. - M., 1993.
Ivanov O. A. The mystery of Alexei Orlov's letters from Ropsha // Moscow magazine. - 1995. - № 9. - VIVOS VOCO: N. Ya. Eidelman, “YOUR XVIII CENTURY…” (Chapter 6)
- Integrated lesson on the course of Russian history and literature in the 8th… :: Open Lesson Festival
- Murmansk MBNEWS.RU - Polar truth number 123 dated 24.08.06
- SHIELD and SWORD | A long time ago
- http://www.rustrana.ru/article.php?nid=22182 (unavailable link - story)
- Alexey Golovnin. The word is infallible. Samizdat magazine (2007). - Application of methods of structural hermeneutics to the text "Words about Igor's Campaign". Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2008.
- Count Benevsky. Part four. Runaway Noah's Ark
- http://window.edu.ru/window_catalog/files/r42450/r2gl12.pdf
- :: Russian torture. Political investigation in Russia of the 18th century - Evgeny Anisimov - Page: 6 - Read - Free download txt fb2:: (unavailable link - story)
- Sergey Kravchenko. Crooked Empire. My day is my year!┘
- Pugachev on the Volga | History of Tsaritsyn | History of Volgograd
- Selivanov Kondraty
- How Stephen the Small came to save Montenegro and afterwards | Spectator, The | Find Articles at BNET (unavailable link)
- Stepan (Stefan) Small. Impostor. He posed as Peter III in Montenegro. Books in the 100 One Hundred Great series
- Doubles, impostors or historical figures who lived twice
References
- Klyuchevsky V. O. historical portraits. - M .: "Pravda", 1990. - ISBN 5-253-00034-8
- Burovsky A. M. Russia that could be. - M .: OLMA-PRESS, 2005. -
(Peter-Ulrich) - Emperor of All Russia, son of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorn Karl-Friedrich, son of the sister of Charles XII of Sweden, and Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great (born 1728); he was thus the grandson of two rival sovereigns and could, under certain conditions, be a contender for both the Russian and Swedish thrones.
In 1741, after the death of Eleonora Ulrika, he was elected the successor of her husband Frederick, who received the Swedish throne, and on November 15, 1742, he was declared by his aunt Elizaveta Petrovna the heir to the Russian throne.
Weak physically and morally, P. Fedorovich was brought up by Marshal Brummer, who was more of a soldier than a teacher. “The barracks order of life, established by the latter for his pupil, in connection with severe and humiliating punishments, could not but weaken the health of P. Fedorovich and interfered with the development in him of moral concepts and a sense of human dignity.
The young prince was taught a lot, but so clumsily that he got a complete disgust for the sciences: Latin, for example, he got tired of so much that later in St. Petersburg he forbade placing Latin books in his library. They taught him, moreover, preparing him mainly for the occupation of the Swedish throne and, therefore, brought him up in the spirit of the Lutheran religion and Swedish patriotism - and the latter at that time was expressed, by the way, in hatred of Russia.
In 1742, after the appointment of P. Fedorovich as heir to the Russian throne, they began to teach him again, but in a Russian and Orthodox way. However, frequent illnesses and marriage to the princess of Anhalt-Zerbst (the future Catherine II) prevented the systematic conduct of education.
P. Fedorovich was not interested in Russia and superstitiously thought that he would find his death here; Academician Shtelin, his new tutor, despite all efforts, could not inspire him with love for his new fatherland, where he always felt like a stranger. Military affairs - the only thing that interested him - was for him not so much a subject of study as fun, and his reverence for Frederick II turned into a desire to imitate him in small things.
The heir to the throne, already an adult, preferred fun to business, which every day became more and more strange and unpleasantly amazed everyone around him. "P. showed all the signs of a stopped spiritual development," says S. M. Solovyov, "he was an adult child." The empress was struck by the underdevelopment of the heir to the throne.
The question of the fate of the Russian throne seriously occupied Elizabeth and her courtiers, and they came up with various combinations.
Some wished that the empress, bypassing her nephew, would pass the throne to his son Pavel Petrovich, and appoint the leader as regent until he came of age. Princess Ekaterina Alekseevna, wife of P. Fedorovich.
That was the opinion of Bestuzhev, Nick. Iv. Panina, Iv. Iv. Shuvalov.
Others stood for the proclamation of Catherine the heir to the throne.
Elizabeth died without having time to decide on anything, and on December 25, 1761, P. Fedorovich ascended the throne under the name of Emperor P. III. He began his activity by decrees, which, under other conditions, could have brought him popular favor.
Such is the decree of February 18, 1762, on the liberty of the nobility, which removed compulsory service from the nobility and was, as it were, the direct predecessor of Catherine's letter of commendation to the nobility of 1785. This decree could make the new government popular among the nobility; another decree, on the destruction of the secret office that was in charge of political crimes, it would seem, should have contributed to its popularity among the masses.
It happened, however, differently. Remaining a Lutheran in his soul, P. III treated the clergy with disdain, closed home churches, addressed insulting decrees to the Synod; by this he aroused the people against him. Surrounded by the Holsteiners, he began to remake in the Prussian way Russian army and thus armed the guard against him, which at that time was almost exclusively noble in composition.
Prompted by his Prussian sympathies, immediately after accession to the throne, P. III refused to participate in the seven-year war and, at the same time, from all Russian conquests in Prussia, and at the end of his reign he began a war with Denmark because of Schleswig, which he wanted to acquire for Holstein.
This aroused the people against him, who remained indifferent when the nobility in the person of the guards openly rebelled against P. III and proclaimed Empress Catherine II (June 28, 1762). P. was removed to Ropsha, where he died on July 7; details of this event are in a letter to Catherine II by Alexei Orlov.
Wed Brikker, "History of Catherine the Great", "Notes of Empress Catherine II" (L., 1888); "Memoirs of the princesse Daschcow" (L., 1840); "Shtelin's Notes" ("Thurs. General. Ist. and Drev. Ros.", 1886, IV); Bilbasov, "History of Catherine II" (vols. 1 and 12). M. P-v. (Brockhaus) Peter III Fedorovich is the grandson of Peter the Great, the son of his daughter Anna, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (born February 10, 1728), Emperor of All Russia (from December 25, 1761 to June 28, 1762). 14 l. P. was summoned from Holstein to Russia by the Emperor Elizaveta Petrovna and declared Heir to the Throne. Aug 21 In 1745, his marriage to the prince took place. Sophia-Frederike of Anhalt-Zerbst, named Vel. Book. Ekaterina Alekseevna (later Emperor Catherine II). Imperial Elizabeth soon became disillusioned with P., because he clearly did not like Russia, surrounded himself with people from Holstein and did not at all show the abilities necessary for the future Emperor. countries.
All the time it was occupied by the military. fun with the sky. Holstein detachment. troops trained in the Prussian. charter of Friedrich W., sincere. whose admirer P. openly showed himself.
Appreciating her nephew, Elizabeth lost all hope of changing him for the better and by the end of her reign "felt sincere hatred for him" (N.K. Schilder.
Imp. Pavel I. S. 13). Choose a friend. she didn’t dare, because those close to her inspired her that “it’s impossible to change without rebellion and disastrous means, that 20 years has been approved by all oaths” (ibid., p. 14), and after her death, P. III was freely proclaimed Imp. It started short, but the original. period 6 months Board P. Of the measures relating to ext. policies were carried out: a) 18 Feb. In 1762, a manifesto on the freedom of the nobility was published: each nobleman can serve or not serve at his own discretion; b) February 21 1762 - Manifesto for the abolition of secrets. Chancellery and the prohibition to continue to pronounce the terrible "word and deed" that has weighed on Russia for so many years.
As far as these two acts should have evoked the gratitude of moderns and posterity, so much has everything remained. activities P. III caused strong. the murmur of the people and prepared the success of the state. coup on June 28, 1762. These events deprived him of support from two important. support of the state authorities: churches and troops. Feb 16 a decree was promulgated on the establishment of a collegium of economy, to which the management of all bishops was to be transferred. and monastic. estates, and the spirit-stvo and monasteries should have been issued according to the approval. states the content is already out of this board.
This decree, depriving the clergy of enormous material. funds, aroused great displeasure among him.
In addition, the Emperor issued an order to close the houses. churches, and then, calling to himself the archbishop.
Novgorod Dmitry Sechenov, the leading member of the Holy Synod, personally ordered him that all images, except for the images of the Savior and the Mother of God, be taken out of the churches and that the priests were ordered to shave their beards, and the priest's cassocks should be replaced by pastors. frock coats.
In the national the consciousness began to penetrate the masses that the Emperor was not Russian, but the throne was occupied by a "German" and a "Luthor". The white clergy, moreover, were irritated by the command to take them into the military. priestly service. and deacon. sons.
Having lost the support of the spirit, P. equally aroused displeasure in the army.
Back in the reign of the Imperial Elizabeth, Holstein appeared in Oranienbaum. troops, and P. was given full. freedom to show their exercising talents and prepare the transformation of Russian. armies to the Prus. sample.
With the accession to the throne, P. set to work with his usual unreasonable enthusiasm.
The label company was dissolved; in the guard, the former, given to her by Peter V., was changed to a Prus. and introduced Prus. exercises, with which the troops were trained from morning to evening. Started daily. watch parades in the presence of the Emperor. A decree followed on the renaming of cavalry and infantry. pp. by the names of the chiefs. Appeared in St. Petersburg, among others Holstein. relatives, uncle Gos-rya, pr. Georg, who acquired a paramount importance in the guard, was made feldm-scrap and, having no merits and talents behind him, aroused the general against himself. hatred.
Preference given generally to Holstein. officers and soldiers, offended the entire Russian. army: not only the guard was humiliated, but the feeling of the people was trampled in her face. pride.
As if in order to finally arouse the Russian against himself. societies. opinion, P. III and external. policy made anti-national.
By the time of the death of the Empress Elizabeth, Prussia was languishing in unequal. fight, and Friedrich W. had to prepare for the full and inevitable. crushing their ambitions. ideas.
P. III immediately upon accession, neglecting Russia's allies and existing treaties, made peace with Prussia and not only returned to her, without any reward, all the conquests obtained by the Russians. blood, but also our foreign. gave the army at the disposal of Frederick.
In addition, he began to intensively prepare for war with Denmark in order to win back Schleswig from her for his beloved Holstein.
T. arr., threatened Russia new war, which did not promise the Empire any benefits. In vain did Friedrich W. warn his friend against pernicious. hobbies and pointed out the need to quickly be crowned in order to strengthen the position.
The emperor replied that he had given his ill-wishers so much work that they had no time to engage in a conspiracy and that he was completely calm.
Meanwhile, the conspiracy was ripening, and at the head of the movement aimed at the overthrow of P. III, by the force of events, Imp-tsa Ekaterina Alekseevna stood up, insulted like a woman, worried about the fate and future of the Empire, from which she did not separate herself, and her son, to whom The emperor showed contempt. disposition and to which he did not pay any attention.
To the guard. there were already many on the shelves who sympathized with the coup and expressed their readiness to defend the rights of her and the Heir to the Throne, but most. the Orlov brothers were active figures.
After 3 days celebrations. which marked the conclusion of peace with Prussia, P. III with more. yard moved on June 12 to Oranienbaum.
After spending several days alone in the city, on June 17, Ekaterina went to Peterhof, leaving Tses-cha with Hoffm-rom Panin in St. Petersburg. in Letn. palace.
In Oranienbaum, P. III continued his former revelry. a life. In the mornings there were watch parades of Holstein. troops, interrupted by outbreaks of unreasonable. anger, and then drinking bouts began, during which the Emperor quite definitely said that he had decided to get rid of Catherine and marry his favorite Elizaveta Vorontsova.
random events hastened the denouement.
The support of the Imp-tsy, the guard, received an order to march against Denmark: not wanting to leave the Imp-tsu defenseless, her adherents began to divulge that her life and usl-ka were in danger; at the same time, on June 27, one of the prominent participants in the conspiracy, capt. Life Guards Transfiguration. Passek shelf.
Assuming that the conspiracy was discovered, they decided not to hesitate any longer.
On the night of June 28, Catherine was awakened by Alexei Orlov, who had galloped to Peterhof, and brought to St. Petersburg, to the Izmail barracks. who swore allegiance to her. From there, joining Semenovsk. Ekaterina arrived in Kazansk. the cathedral, where it was proclaimed the autocratic Empire; then she went to Zimn. the palace, to which the Preobrazhensky and K.-Guards regiments soon concentrated, and here the senate and synod swore allegiance to her. At the head of 14 thousand. troops of the Imperial about 10 o'clock in the evening. moved to Oranienbaum, dressed in the uniform of Transfiguration. p-ka. Meanwhile, in the morning, at the very time when Catherine was proclaimed the autocratic Imperial of All Russia in Kazansk. Cathedral, P. III in Oranienbaum did the usual. Holstein parade. troops, and at 10 o'clock in the morning went with his retinue to Peterhof, intending to dine with the Imperials in Monplaisir.
Having learned here about what happened in St. Petersburg. state coup, P. in desperation did not know what to do; at first he wanted with his Holstein. army to move against Catherine, but, realizing the recklessness of this enterprise, at 10 pm. went to Kronstadt on a yacht, hoping to lean on the fortress.
But here he commanded in the name of the Imperial Catherine adm. Talyzin, who did not allow P. to land on the shore under the threat of opening fire. Finally, having lost his presence of mind, P. after several chimeric. projects (for example, the Minich project: sail to Revel, transfer there to a military ship and go to Pomerania, from where to go to St. Petersburg with an army) decided to return to Oranienbaum and enter into negotiations with the Empire. When P.'s proposal to share power with him was left unanswered by Catherine, he signed the abdication, asking only to let him go to Holstein, but was sent to live in the suburbs. palace in Ropsha. Golshtinsk. the troops were disarmed.
P. III, according to Friedrich W., "allowed himself to be overthrown from the throne, like a child who is sent to sleep." On July 6, the former Emperor died suddenly and, apparently, violently in Ropsha from "severe colic", as was said in the manifesto on this occasion. (Military enc.) Peter III Fedorovich (Karl-Peter Ulrich), Duke of Holstein, imp. All-Russian; R. Feb 10 1728, † July 6, 1762 (Polovtsov)
On January 5, 1762, Peter III became Russian Emperor. He made faces during ceremonies, played with soldiers and declared that he would rather rule civilized Sweden than wild Russia. Under his name, Yemelyan Pugachev will "rake up Russia".
Alien among their own
At birth, Pyotr Fedorovich received the name Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp. His mother was the daughter of Peter I, Tsesarevna Anna Petrovna. She died almost immediately after the birth of her son, having caught a cold during the celebrations in honor of little Peter. At the age of 11, he also lost his father, the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl Friedrich. On the paternal side, Peter III was the great-nephew of the King of Sweden Charles XII and for a long time was brought up as the heir to the Swedish throne in the house of his uncle, Bishop Adolf of Eitinsky, who later became the Swedish king Adolf Fredrik. At the age of 14, the boy was taken by his aunt from Russia, Empress Elizabeth, who was trying to secure the throne for the Romanovs.
Main enemy
After the death of Elizabeth Petrovna in 1762, Peter III was proclaimed emperor. Contemporaries painted an impartial portrait of the new ruler. With his antics, he led the whole court into confusion. It was said that from his grandfather he inherited only a passion for strong drinks, which he began to drink, supposedly, in early childhood. In front of foreign ministers, he behaved familiarly and spoke such absurdity and nonsense that "his heart bled with shame." It was believed that the main enemy of the new sovereign is himself.
Developmental delay?
The strange behavior of the emperor gave rise to rumors about his inferiority. In his youth, he had been ill with a severe form of smallpox, which could cause developmental disabilities. At the same time, Petr Fedorovich received an excellent technical education. He was well versed in the exact sciences, geography and fortification, spoke German, French and Latin. The only problem is that he hardly knew Russian, and, apparently, he did not really want to master it - the prospect of ruling Russia irritated him in general. However, many educated nobles spoke Russian no better. However, he was not an evil person, but rather a simple-minded one. He liked to lie or fantasize. Especially "strangeness" "overcame" Pyotr Fedorovich in the temple. During worship, he could giggle, turn around, talk loudly. He forced the ladies of the court to bow instead of bowing.
"Fever"
As soon as Peter III ascended the throne, he enthusiastically plunged into state affairs. During the 186 days of his reign, he signed 192 documents. He abolished the Secret Chancellery, banned denunciations and torture, announced an amnesty, returning 20 thousand people from exile, issued a decree on freedom of religion and a ban on the persecution of Old Believers. Pyotr Fedorovich transferred the lands seized from the monasteries to the state, declared the forest a national wealth, established the State Bank and put into circulation the first banknotes. He issued a manifesto on the freedom of the nobility, according to which the nobles were exempted from compulsory military service and from corporal punishment. Among the important, and, at times, progressive laws, there were both not very relevant (the emperor ordered babies to be baptized only in heated water), and really frightening - there were rumors that the new emperor wanted to carry out a church reform along the Protestant model.
Unloved wife
At the age of 17, Peter was married to Princess Anhalt-Zerbst, the future Empress Catherine II. Probably, Pyotr Fedorovich tried to “make friends” with his 16-year-old wife, but they were too different: she is lively and curious, he is infantile and maniacally passionate about playing soldiers, hunting, wine. After 10 years of marriage, their son Pavel, the future emperor, was born. The outward resemblance of father and son, meanwhile, did not interfere with the gossip that the real father of the heir is Catherine's favorite, Sergei Saltykov. They no longer argued that the father of Catherine’s subsequent children was definitely not her lawful spouse, because the emperor himself stated that he did not know where his wife’s “pregnancies come from”. However, the emperor himself was not distinguished by marital fidelity. He seriously intended to marry his favorite, Elizaveta Vorontsova, for which it was necessary to eliminate his unloved wife. For Catherine and her son Pavel, special chambers were already prepared in the Shlisselburg fortress. But the Empress will get ahead of her slow husband.
Do not make yourself an idol!
The idol and object of imitation for Pyotr Fedorovich was the Prussian king Frederick II - an unfortunate choice, given that for several years Russia had been at war with Prussia. To everyone's amazement, Peter III not only concluded a peace unfavorable for Russia with Prussia, but also introduced the Prussian uniform into the Russian army. The popularity of the emperor was not promoted by the introduced cane system of punishments in the Prussian manner. Soon the guards began to openly express their displeasure.
A helpless victim of circumstance
It is the guards who will help Catherine ascend the throne: the Senate, troops and fleet will swear allegiance to the new ruler, and Peter will agree to sign the abdication. Catherine will be able to give the coup a decent look, so that everything looks like the fulfillment of the people's will. The manifesto will say so: "at the request of all our loyal subjects." Meanwhile, the deposed emperor was awaiting his fate in the Ropsha Palace, 30 kilometers from St. Petersburg. A week later, Ekaterina Alekseevna received a letter stating that her husband had died. What happened in Ropsha is still unknown. It was announced to the people that the emperor had died of hemorrhoidal colic. However, there is a well-known version that Pyotr Fedorovich was killed by Alexei Orlov, a faithful man of the Empress. The mysterious death of the emperor will allow the most famous false tsar, Emelyan Pugachev, to enter Russian history.
In 1761 Emperor Peter 3 Fedorovich ascended the Russian throne. His reign lasted only 186 days, but during this time he managed to do a lot of evil for Russia, leaving a memory in history about himself as a cowardly person.
For history, the path to the power of Peter is interesting. He was the grandson of Peter the Great and the nephew of Empress Elizabeth. In 1742, Elizabeth named Peter her heir, who after her death would lead Russia. Young Peter was engaged to German princess Sophia of Tserbskaya, who after the rite of baptism received the name of Catherine. As soon as Peter became an adult, a wedding was played. After that, Elizabeth was disappointed in her nephew. He, loving his wife, spent almost all the time with her in Germany. He was more and more saturated with the German character and love for everything German. Pyotr Fedorovich literally idolized the German king, the father of his wife. In such circumstances, Elizabeth was well aware that Peter would be a bad emperor for Russia. In 1754, Peter and Catherine had a son, who was named Pavel. Elizaveta Petrovna, in infancy, demanded Pavel to come to her and personally took up his upbringing. She instilled in the child a love for Russia and prepared him to rule a great country. Unfortunately, in December 1761, Elizabeth died and, according to the will, Emperor Peter 3 Fedorovich was placed on the Russian throne. .
At this time, Russia took part in the Seven Years' War. The Russians fought with the Germans, before whom Peter bowed so much. By the time he came to power, Russia had literally destroyed the German army. The Prussian king was in a panic, he tried several times to flee abroad, and his attempts to renounce power were also known. The Russian army by this time had almost completely occupied the territory of Prussia. The German king was ready to sign peace, and he was ready to do it on any terms, if only to save at least partially his country. At this time, Emperor Peter 3 Fedorovich betrayed the interests of his country. As mentioned above, Peter bowed to the Germans, and adored the German king. As a result, the Russian emperor did not sign a pact on the surrender of Prussia, and not even a peace treaty, but concluded an alliance with the Germans. Russia received nothing for winning the Seven Years' War.
The signing of the shameful alliance with the Germans played a cruel joke on the emperor. He saved Prussia (Germany), but at the cost of his life. Returning from the German campaign, Russian army resented. For seven years they fought for the interests of Russia, but the country gained nothing because of the actions of Pyotr Fedorovich. These sentiments were shared by the people. The emperor was called none other than "the most insignificant of people" and "a hater of the Russian people." On June 28, 1762, Emperor Peter 3 Fedorovich was dethroned and arrested. One week later, a certain Orlov A.G. in the heat of a drunken brawl, he killed Peter.
The bright pages of this period have also been preserved in the history of Russia. Peter tried to restore order in the country, took care of the monasteries and churches. But this is not able to block the betrayal of the emperor, for which he paid with his life.
Having married the Duke of Holstein Karl-Friedrich, daughter Anna Petrovna lost her rights to the Russian throne. Her son, who was named Karl-Peter-Ulrich at birth, was more fortunate - he, however, for a very short time, became the Russian emperor under the name Peter III (10.02.1728-06.07.1762). His wife, who overthrew him in 1762, an impostor on the Russian throne, Catherine II, did everything to present her husband as a narrow-minded and petty person, largely slandering his memory.
Biography of Peter III
The boy lost both parents early: his mother died in childbirth, his father when the child was only 11 years old. With caregivers he did not find common language and did not receive formal education. Despite the high origin, the future Russian emperor was subjected to cruel corporal punishment, which, in many ways, shaped his character, in which good nature and gentleness alternated with fits of anger. He was fond of playing the violin and achieved almost perfection in performance. In 1742, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna remembered her nephew and ordered him to be brought to Russia. Shortly after his arrival, he was proclaimed heir to the throne. The young man was obliged to Elizabeth by the transition to the Orthodox faith under the name of Peter Fedorovich. Soon he was married to Princess Sophia Augusta-Frederick of Angelt-Tserbskaya. This is how the future rulers of Russia, Peter III and Catherine II, met. The marriage cannot be called successful, each in it was on its own. Moreover, Peter was deliberately cold with his wife, and she, in turn, sought solace in the arms of other gentlemen. No wonder it keeps so stubbornly in national historiography version that the father of the future Emperor Paul I was not Peter III at all, but Count Alexei Saltykov, one of Catherine's many lovers. However, a simple glance at the portraits of both is enough to easily detect a direct relationship, not to mention similar character traits. Peter became emperor after the death of Elizabeth Petrovna. His short reign left an ambiguous impression on his contemporaries and an ambiguous memory on his descendants. Peter did a lot, if not everything, contrary to, in spite of the memory of the late empress. For too long, his pride and lust for power had been infringed, and now nothing and no one held them back. In the end, Peter restored the guard against himself, which turned out to be like death in the literal sense. The deposed emperor was taken to a hunting lodge in Ropsha, where he was kept under guard. There he was, most likely, killed during lunch by one of the Orlov brothers.
Domestic policy of Peter III
Six months - exactly so much was released to Peter to implement his own plans. However, it is very difficult to say that he had any specific program for the reorganization of Russia. The emperor was in a fever and was thrown from one extreme to another. Among the most significant events of that time, one can single out the granting of liberties to the nobility through the Imperial Manifesto, the weakening of church land tenure, the cessation of persecution for the faith (this was especially true of schismatic Old Believers), as well as the liquidation of the Secret Chancellery hated by many. At the same time, Peter began to zealously rebuild the army in the Prussian manner, which was, in the end, a fatal step for him.
Foreign policy of Peter III
If called internal politics Peter's consistent, as noted above, is difficult, then the external, on the contrary, was quite definite. All the successes of Russia in the seven-year war with Prussia were, in fact, nullified by an alliance with the Prussian Emperor Frederick, Peter's idol from his youth.
- The body of the emperor was originally buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, but the son of Peter, Emperor Paul I, who came to power in 1796, ordered that the remains of both parents rest together in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. In retaliation, Pavel ordered one of the alleged murderers, Count Alexei Orlov, to accompany the coffin of his parent.
- The people did not have time to fall in love or hate Peter III, unlike the guards.
- Some refused to consider him killed, and on this wave of sentiment, such a phenomenon as imposture revived again. The most famous impostor who took the name of Peter III, of course, was the Yaik Cossack Emelyan Pugachev.