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Pavel petrovich romanov son of catherine 2. Literary and historical notes of a young technician

Pavel I Petrovich (1754-1801)

The ninth All-Russian Emperor Pavel I Petrovich (Romanov) was born on September 20 (October 1), 1754 in St. Petersburg. His father was Emperor Peter III (1728-1762), who was born in the German city of Kiel, and was named Karl Peter Ulrich Holstein-Gottorp at birth. By coincidence, Karl Peter simultaneously had the rights to two European thrones - Swedish and Russian, since, in addition to kinship with the Romanovs, the Holstein dukes were in direct dynastic connection with the Swedish royal house. Since the Russian empress Elizaveta Petrovna had no children of her own, in 1742 she invited her 14-year-old nephew Karl Peter to Russia, who was baptized into Orthodoxy under the name of Peter Fedorovich.

Having come to power in 1861 after the death of Elizabeth, Pyotr Fedorovich spent 6 months in the role of all Russian emperor... Activity Peter III characterizes him as a serious reformer. He did not hide his Prussian sympathies and, having taken the throne, immediately put an end to Russia's participation in the Seven Years War and entered into an alliance against Denmark, the longtime offender of Holstein. Peter III liquidated the Secret Chancellery - a grim police institution that kept the whole of Russia at bay. In fact, no one canceled the denunciations, it was just that from now on they had to be submitted in writing. And then he took the land and peasants from the monasteries, which even Peter the Great could not do. However, the time allotted by history for the reforms of Peter III was not long. Only 6 months of his reign, of course, cannot be compared with the 34-year reign of his wife, Catherine the Great. As a result palace coup Peter III was dethroned on June 16 (28), 1762 and killed in Ropsha near St. Petersburg 11 days after that. During this period, his son, the future Emperor Paul I, was not even eight years old. The wife of Peter III, who proclaimed herself Catherine II, came to power with the support of the Guards.

The mother of Paul I, the future Catherine the Great, was born on April 21, 1729 in Stettin (Szczecin) in the family of a general of the Prussian service and received a good education for that time. When she was 13 years old, Frederick II recommended her to Elizabeth Petrovna as a bride for Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich. And in 1744 the young Prussian princess Sophia-Friderica-Augusta-Anhalt-Zerbst was brought to Russia, where she received Orthodox name Ekaterina Alekseevna. The young girl was smart and ambitious, from the first days of her stay on Russian soil she diligently prepared to become a Grand Duchess, and then the wife of the Russian emperor. But the marriage with Peter III, concluded on August 21, 1745 in St. Petersburg, did not bring happiness to the spouses.

It is officially believed that Paul's father is Catherine's legal husband, Peter III, but her memoirs contain indications (however, indirect) that Paul's father was her lover Sergei Saltykov. This assumption is supported by the well-known fact of extreme hostility that Catherine always felt for her husband, and against the significant portrait likeness of Paul to Peter III, as well as the persistent hostility of Catherine and Paul. An examination of the DNA of the remains of the emperor, which has not yet been carried out, could completely discard this hypothesis.

On September 20, 1754, nine years after the wedding, Catherine gave birth to Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. It was major event, after all, after Peter I, Russian emperors did not have children, confusion and turmoil reigned at the death of each ruler. It was under Peter III and Catherine that there was hope for stability. state structure... During the first period of her reign, Catherine was worried about the legitimacy of her power. After all, if Peter III was still half (by his mother) a Russian person and, moreover, was the grandson of Peter I himself, then Catherine was not even a distant relative of the legitimate heirs and was only the wife of the heir. Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich was the legitimate but unloved son of the empress. After the death of his father, he, as the only heir, was supposed to take the throne with the establishment of a regency, but this, at the behest of Catherine, did not happen.

Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich spent the first years of his life surrounded by nannies. Immediately after his birth, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna took him to her. In her notes, Catherine the Great wrote: "They had just swaddled him when, at the order of the empress, her confessor appeared and named the child Paul's name, after which the empress immediately ordered the midwife to take him and carry him, and I remained on the maternity bed." The whole empire rejoiced at the birth of the heir, but they forgot about his mother: "Lying in bed, I cried and groaned incessantly, there was one in the room."

Paul's baptism took place in a magnificent setting on September 25th. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna expressed her favor to the mother of the newborn by the fact that after the christening she herself brought her a decree to the cabinet on a gold platter on the issue of 100 thousand rubles to her. After the christening at the court, solemn holidays began - balls, masquerades, fireworks on the occasion of Paul's birth lasted for about a year. Lomonosov, in an ode written in honor of Pavel Petrovich, wanted him to compare with his great great-grandfather.

Catherine had to see her son for the first time after giving birth only after 6 weeks, and then only in the spring of 1755. Ekaterina recalled: “He was lying in an extremely hot room, in flannel swaddling clothes, in a bed upholstered with black fox fur, they covered him with a quilted satin blanket, and on top of that, a pink velvet blanket ... sweat appeared on his face and all over his body When Paul grew up a little, the slightest breath of wind inflicted a cold on him and made him sick. In addition, many stupid old women and mothers were assigned to him, who, with their excessive and inappropriate zeal, caused him incomparably more physical and moral harm than good. " Improper care led to the fact that the child was distinguished by increased nervousness and impressionability. Also in early childhood Paul's nerves were upset to the point that he hid under the table when the doors slammed somewhat violently. There was no system in caring for him. He went to bed either very early, at about 8 pm, or in the first hour of the night. It happened that he was allowed to eat when "if he pleases," there were cases of simple negligence: "Once he fell out of the cradle, so no one heard it. rests soundly. "

Paul received an excellent education in the spirit of the French enlighteners. He knew foreign languages, possessed knowledge of mathematics, history, applied sciences. In 1758, Fedor Dmitrievich Bekhteev was appointed his tutor, who immediately began to teach the boy to read and write. In June 1760, Nikita Ivanovich Panin was appointed Chief Hofmeister under the Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, Semyon Andreevich Poroshin, the former adjutant of Peter III, was the tutor and teacher of mathematics for Pavel, and Archimandrite Platon, Hieromonk Trinity, was his teacher of law (from 1763). Sergius Lavra, later Moscow Metropolitan.

On September 29, 1773, 19-year-old Pavel marries, having married the daughter of the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, Princess Augustine-Wilhelmina, who received the name of Natalia Alekseevna in Orthodoxy. Three years later, on April 16, 1776, at 5 o'clock in the morning, she died in childbirth, and the child died with her. The medical report, signed by doctors Kruse, Arsh, Bok and others, speaks of the difficult birth of Natalya Alekseevna, who suffered from a curvature of the back, and " big kid"was incorrectly located. Catherine, however, not wanting to waste time, begins a new matchmaking. This time the queen chose the Württemberg princess Sophia-Dorothea-Augusta-Louise. The courier delivers a portrait of the princess, which Catherine II offers to Paul, saying that she is “meek, pretty, lovely, in a word, a treasure.” The heir to the throne falls more and more in love with the image, and already in June goes to Potsdam to match the princess.

Seeing the princess for the first time on July 11, 1776 in the palace of Frederick the Great, Paul writes to his mother: “I have found my bride as I could mentally wish: not ugly, large, slender, answers intelligently and promptly. As for her heart, then she has his very sensitive and gentle ... Likes to be at home and practice reading and music, greedy to study in Russian ... "Having met the princess, Grand Duke passionately fell in love with her, and after parting, already on the way he wrote tender letters to her with a declaration of love and devotion.

In August, Sophia-Dorothea arrives in Russia and, following the instructions of Catherine II, on September 15 (26), 1776, receives Orthodox baptism under the name of Maria Feodorovna. Soon the wedding took place, a few months later she writes: "My dear husband is an angel, I love him to madness." A year later, on December 12, 1777, the young couple had their first son, Alexander. On the occasion of the birth of the heir in St. Petersburg, 201 cannon shots were fired, and the sovereign grandmother Catherine II gave her son 362 dessiatines of land, which laid the foundation for the village of Pavlovskoye, where the palace-residence of Paul I was later built. 1778. The construction of the new palace, designed by Charles Cameron, was carried out mainly under the supervision of Maria Feodorovna.

With Maria Fedorovna, Pavel found true family happiness. Unlike mother Catherine and great-aunt Elizabeth, who family happiness did not know, and whose personal life was far from the generally accepted norms of morality, Pavel appears as an exemplary family man who set an example for all subsequent Russian emperors - his descendants. In September 1781, the grand ducal couple under the name of the Count and Countess of the North went to big Adventure across Europe, which lasted for a whole year. During this trip, Pavel did more than just sightseeing and acquiring works of art for his palace under construction. The journey was also great political significance... Having escaped from the care of Catherine II for the first time, the Grand Duke had the opportunity to personally meet the European monarchs and paid a visit to Pope Pius VI. In Italy, Paul, following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, Emperor Peter the Great, is seriously interested in the achievements of European shipbuilding and gets acquainted with the organization of naval affairs abroad. During his stay in Livorno, the Tsarevich finds time to visit the Russian squadron located there. As a result of assimilating new trends in European culture and art, science and technology, style and way of life, Pavel largely changed his own worldview and perception of Russian reality.

By this time, Pavel Petrovich and Maria Fedorovna already had two children after the birth of their son Konstantin on April 27, 1779. And on July 29, 1783, their daughter Alexandra was born, in connection with which Catherine II presented Pavel with the Gatchina manor, bought from Grigory Orlov. The number of Paul's children, meanwhile, is constantly increasing - on December 13, 1784, his daughter Elena was born, on February 4, 1786 - Maria, on May 10, 1788 - Catherine. Pavel's mother, Empress Catherine II, rejoicing for her grandchildren, wrote to her daughter-in-law on October 9, 1789: "Right, madam, you are a master of children to produce."

Catherine II personally took care of the upbringing of all the older children of Pavel Petrovich and Maria Feodorovna, in fact, taking them away from their parents and not even consulting them. It was the empress who invented the names for the children of Paul, naming Alexander in honor of the patron saint of St. Petersburg, Prince Alexander Nevsky, and she gave this name to Constantine because she intended her second grandson for the throne of the future Constantinople Empire, which was to be formed after the expulsion of the Turks from Europe. Catherine personally was looking for a bride for Paul's sons - Alexander and Constantine. And both of these marriages did not bring family happiness to anyone. Emperor Alexander only at the end of his life will find a devoted and understanding friend in his wife. And the Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich will violate the generally accepted norms and divorce his wife, who will leave Russia. As the governor of the Warsaw principality, he will fall in love with the beautiful Polish woman - Ioanna Grudzinskaya, Countess Lovich, in the name of preserving family happiness he will renounce the Russian throne and will never become Constantine I, the emperor of all Russia. In total, Pavel Petrovich and Maria Fedorovna had four sons - Alexander, Konstantin, Nikolai and Mikhail, and six daughters - Alexandra, Elena, Maria, Ekaterina, Olga and Anna, of whom only 3-year-old Olga died in infancy.

It would seem that, family life Pavel developed happily. Loving wife, a lot of children. But the main thing that every heir to the throne aspires to was lacking - there was no power. Paul patiently awaited the death of his unloved mother, but it seemed great empress, possessing a domineering character and good health, is never going to die. In previous years, Catherine wrote more than once about how she would die surrounded by friends, to the sound of gentle music among flowers. The blow suddenly overtook her on November 5 (16), 1796 in a narrow passage between two rooms of the Winter Palace. She suffered a severe stroke, and several servants with difficulty managed to pull the empress's heavy body out of narrow corridor and put it on a mattress spread on the floor. Couriers rushed to Gatchina to inform Pavel Petrovich of the news of his mother's illness. The first was Count Nikolai Zubov. The next day, in the presence of her son, grandchildren and close courtiers, the empress died without regaining consciousness, at the age of 67, of which she spent 34 years on the Russian throne. Already on the night of November 7 (18), 1796, everyone was sworn in to the new emperor - 42-year-old Paul I.

By the time of accession to the throne, Pavel Petrovich was a man with established views and habits, with a ready-made, as it seemed to him, program of action. Back in 1783, he broke off all relations with his mother; rumors circulated among the courtiers about Paul's deprivation of the right of succession to the throne. Pavel plunges into theoretical considerations about the urgent need to change the governance of Russia. Far from the courtyard, in Pavlovsk and Gatchina, he creates a kind of model of a new Russia, which he saw as a model for governing the entire country. At the age of 30, he received a large list from his mother. literary works for deep learning. There were books by Voltaire, Montesquieu, Corneille, Hume and other famous French and English authors. Paul considered the goal of the state to be "the bliss of each and all." He recognized only monarchy as a form of government, although he agreed that this form "is associated with the inconveniences of mankind." However, Paul argued that autocratic power is better than others, since "it combines the power of the laws of power of one."

Of all the occupations, the new tsar had the greatest passion for military affairs. Combat General P.I. Panin and the example of Frederick the Great drew him to the military path. During the reign of his mother, Paul, removed from work, filled his long hours of leisure with training military battalions. It was then that Paul formed, grew and strengthened that "corporal spirit", which he sought to instill in the entire army. In his opinion, the Russian army of Catherine's times was rather a disorderly crowd than a properly organized army. The embezzlement of the state, the use of soldiers 'labor in the landowners' estates of commanders, and much more flourished. Each commander dressed the soldier to his liking, sometimes trying to save money in his favor, allocated for uniforms. Pavel considered himself to be the successor of the work of Peter I on the transformation of Russia. The ideal for him was the Prussian army, by the way, the strongest in Europe at that time. Paul introduced a new uniform form, regulations, weapons. The soldiers were allowed to complain about the abuse of their commanders. Everything was strictly controlled and, in general, the situation, for example, of the lower ranks became better.

At the same time, Paul was distinguished by a certain peacefulness. During the reign of Catherine II (1762-1796), Russia participated in seven wars, which in total lasted more than 25 years and caused heavy damage to the country. Having ascended the throne, Paul declared that Russia under Catherine had the misfortune to use its population in frequent wars, and that inside the country the affairs were started. Nevertheless, foreign policy Paul was inconsistent. In 1798, Russia entered an anti-French coalition with England, Austria, Turkey and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. At the insistence of the allies, the disgraced A.V. was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian troops. Suvorov, in whose jurisdiction the Austrian troops were transferred. Under the leadership of Suvorov, Northern Italy was liberated from French rule. In September 1799, the Russian army made the famous crossing of the Alps. For the Italian campaign, Suvorov received the rank of Generalissimo and the title of Prince of Italy. However, in October of the same year, Russia broke the alliance with Austria, and Russian troops were withdrawn from Europe. Not long before the assassination, Pavel sent the Don army on a campaign against India. These were 22,507 people without a convoy, supplies and any strategic plan. This adventurous campaign was canceled immediately after Paul's death.

In 1787, going to the first and last time in the army, Paul left his "Order", in which he outlined his thoughts on government. Listing all the estates, he dwells on the peasantry, which "contains by itself and by its labors all the other parts, therefore, worthy of respect." Pavel tried to enforce a decree that serfs should work no more than three days a week for the landowner, and on Sunday they would not work at all. This, however, led to their further enslavement. Indeed, before Paul, for example, the peasant population of Ukraine did not know corvee at all. Now, to the delight of the Little Russian landowners, a three-day corvee was introduced here. In Russian estates, it was very difficult to follow the execution of the decree.

In the field of finance, Paul believed that state revenues belonged to the state, and not to the sovereign personally. He demanded that the costs be coordinated with the needs of the state. Pavel ordered that part of the Winter Palace's silver services be melted down into coins, and up to two million rubles in banknotes be destroyed to reduce the state debt.

Attention was also paid to public education. A decree was issued on the restoration of the university in the Baltic States (it was opened in Dorpat already under Alexander I), a Medical-Surgical Academy, many schools and colleges were opened in St. Petersburg. At the same time, in order to prevent the idea of a "depraved and criminal" France from entering Russia, the study of Russians abroad was completely prohibited, imported literature and notes were censored, and it was even forbidden to play cards. It is curious that, for various reasons, the new tsar drew attention to the improvement of the Russian language. Soon after accession to the throne, Paul ordered in all official papers "to speak in the purest and simplest syllable, using all possible accuracy, and pompous expressions that have lost their meaning should always be avoided." At the same time, strange, arousing distrust of mental capacity Paul, there were decrees prohibiting the use of certain types of clothing. So, it was impossible to wear tailcoats, round hats, vests, silk stockings; instead, a German dress with an exact definition of the color and size of the collar was allowed. According to A.T. Bolotov, Pavel demanded that everyone perform their duties honestly. So, driving through the city, writes Bolotov, the emperor saw an officer walking without a sword, and behind an orderly carrying a sword and a fur coat. Pavel approached the soldier and asked whose sword he was carrying. He replied: "The officer who is in front." "Officer! So, it is difficult for him to carry his sword? So put it on yourself, and give him your bayonet!" So Pavel promoted the soldier to the officer, and demoted the officer to the rank and file. Bolotov notes that this made a tremendous impression on the soldiers and officers. In particular, the latter, fearing a repetition of this, have become more responsible for the service.

In order to control the life of the country, Pavel hung a yellow box at the gates of his palace in St. Petersburg for filing petitions in his name. Similar reports were received by mail. This was new to Russia. True, they immediately began to use this for false denunciations, libels and caricatures of the king himself.

One of the important political acts of Emperor Paul after accession to the throne was the reburial on December 18, 1796 of his father Peter III, who was killed 34 years ago. It all began on November 19, when "by order of Emperor Pavel Petrovich, the body of the deceased Emperor Pyotr Fedorovich was taken out in the Nevsky Monastery, and the body was laid in a new magnificent coffin, covered with a golden eyelet, with the emperor's emblems, with the old coffin." On the evening of the same day, "His Majesty, Her Majesty and Their Highnesses were pleased to arrive at the Nevsky Monastery, in the Lower Annunciation Church, where the body stood, and upon arrival, the coffin was opened; the body of the deceased sovereign was deigned to kiss ... and then it was closed." ... Today it is difficult to imagine what the tsar "adhered to" and forced his wife and children to "kiss". According to eyewitnesses, there was only bone dust and parts of clothing in the coffin.

On November 25, according to the ritual developed by the emperor in the smallest details, the burial of the ashes of Peter III and the corpse of Catherine II was performed. Russia has never seen anything like this. In the morning at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, Paul laid the crown on the tomb of Peter III, and at 2 pm, Maria Feodorovna in the Winter Palace placed the same crown on the deceased Catherine II. There was one ghastly detail in the ceremony in the Winter Palace - the cadet's chamberlain and the empress's valets, during the laying on of the crown, "lifted the body of the deceased." Obviously, it was imitated that Catherine II was, as it were, alive. In the evening of the same day, the body of the Empress was transferred to a splendidly arranged funeral tent, and on December 1, Pavel solemnly transferred the imperial regalia to the Nevsky Monastery. The next day, at 11 o'clock in the morning, a funeral cortege slowly set off from the Lower Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. In front of the coffin of Peter III, the hero of Chesma, Alexei Orlov, carried the imperial crown on a velvet pillow. Behind the hearse, the entire august family marched in deep mourning. The coffin with the remains of Peter III was transported to Winter Palace and installed next to Catherine's coffin. Three days later, on December 5, both coffins were transported to Peter and Paul Cathedral... For two weeks they were exhibited there for worship. Finally, on December 18, they were interred. On the tombs of the hated spouses, the same date of burial was indicated. On this occasion, N.I. Grech remarked: "You would think that they spent their entire lives on the throne, died and were buried in the same day."

This whole phantasmagoric episode struck the imagination of contemporaries who tried to find at least some reasonable explanation for it. Some argued that all this was done in order to refute rumors that Paul was not the son of Peter III. Others saw in this ceremony a desire to humiliate and insult the memory of Catherine II, who hated her husband. Having crowned the already crowned Catherine at the same time as Peter III, who did not manage to be crowned during his lifetime, with the same crown, and almost simultaneously, Paul, as it were, posthumously married his parents, and thereby nullified the results of the palace coup of 1762. Paul forced the killers of Peter III to bear the imperial regalia, thereby exposing these people to public ridicule.

There is evidence that the idea of a secondary burial of Peter III was suggested to Paul by the freemason S.I. Pleshcheev, who wanted to take revenge on Catherine II for the persecution of "free masons". One way or another, the ceremony of reburial of the remains of Peter III was performed even before the coronation of Paul, which followed on April 5, 1797 in Moscow, - the new tsar devoted so much importance to the memory of his father, emphasizing once again that his filial feelings for his father were stronger than feelings for the imperious mother. And on the very day of his coronation, Paul I issued a law on succession to the throne, which established a strict order in the succession to the throne in a direct male downline, and not at the arbitrary will of the autocrat, as before. This decree was in effect throughout the 19th century.

Russian society ambiguous about the government events of Pavlovsk time and personally to Paul. Sometimes historians said that under Paul, the Gatchins became the head of state - ignorant and rude people. Of these, A.A. Arakcheev and others like him. The words of F.V. Rostopchin, that "the best of them deserves a wheel." But we should not forget that among them were N.V. Repnin, A.A. Bekleshov and others honest and decent people... Among Paul's associates we see S.M. Vorontsova, N.I. Saltykova, A.V. Suvorov, G.R. Derzhavin, a brilliant statesman MM. Speransky.

Relations with the Order of Malta played a special role in Paul's politics. The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, which appeared in the 11th century, long time was associated with Palestine. Under the onslaught of the Turks, the Johannites were forced to leave Palestine, settle first in Cyprus and then on the island of Rhodes. However, the struggle with the Turks, which lasted more than one century, forced them to leave this refuge in 1523. After seven years of wandering, the Johannites received Malta as a gift from King Charles V of Spain. This rocky island became impregnable fortress Order, which became known as the Maltese. By the convention of January 4, 1797, the Order was allowed to have a great priority in Russia. In 1798, Paul's manifesto "On the Establishment of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem" appeared. The new monastic order consisted of two priors - Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox with 98 commanders. There is an assumption that Paul wanted thereby to unite two churches - Catholic and Orthodox.

On June 12, 1798, Malta was taken by the French without a fight. The knights suspected the great master Gompesh of treason and defrocked him. In the autumn of the same year, Paul I was elected to this post, who willingly accepted the insignia of the new dignity. In front of Paul, an image of a knightly union was drawn, in which, in contrast to the ideas French revolution the principles of the order would flourish - strict Christian piety, unconditional obedience to elders. According to Paul, the Order of Malta, which had fought the enemies of Christianity for so long and successfully, must now gather all the "best" forces of Europe and serve as a mighty bulwark against the revolutionary movement. The residence of the Order was moved to St. Petersburg. In Kronstadt, a fleet was equipped to expel the French from Malta, but in 1800 the island was occupied by the British, and Paul soon died. In 1817, it was announced that the Order no longer existed in Russia.

At the end of the century, Pavel moved away from his family, and relations with Maria Feodorovna deteriorated. There were rumors about the empress's infidelity and reluctance to recognize the younger boys as their sons - Nicholas, born in 1796, and Mikhail, born in 1798. Gullible and straightforward, but at the same time suspicious, Paul, thanks to the intrigues of von Palen, who became his closest courtier, begins to suspect all people close to him of hostility towards him.

Pavel loved Pavlovsk and Gatchina, where he lived while awaiting the throne. Having ascended the throne, he began to build a new residence - Mikhailovsky Castle, designed by the Italian Vincenzo Brenna, who became the chief court architect. Everything in the castle was adapted to protect the emperor. Canals, drawbridges, secret passages, it seemed, should have made Paul's life long. In January 1801, the construction of the new residence was completed. But many plans of Paul I remained unfulfilled. It was in the Mikhailovsky Palace that Pavel Petrovich was killed on the evening of March 11 (23), 1801. Having lost the sense of reality, he became manic suspicious, removed from himself loyal people, and he himself provoked the disaffected in the guard and high society to a conspiracy. The conspiracy was attended by Argamakov, Vice-Chancellor P.P. Panin, favorite of Catherine P.A. Zubov, Governor-General of St. Petersburg von Palen, the commanders of the Guards regiments: Semenovsky - N.I. Depreradovich, Kavalergardsky - F.P. Uvarov, Preobrazhensky - P.A. Talyzin. Thanks to treason, a group of conspirators entered the Mikhailovsky Castle, went up to the emperor's bedroom, where, according to one version, he was killed by Nikolai Zubov (Suvorov's son-in-law, Platon Zubov's older brother), who hit him in the temple with a massive gold snuffbox. According to another version, Paul was strangled with a scarf or crushed by a group of conspirators who pounced on the emperor. "Have mercy! Air, air! What have I done wrong to you?" - these were his last words.

The question of whether Alexander Pavlovich knew about the conspiracy against his father for a long time remained unclear. According to the memoirs of Prince A. Czartoryski, the idea of a conspiracy arose almost in the first days of Paul's reign, but the coup became possible only after it became known about the consent of Alexander, who signed a secret manifesto, in which he pledged not to pursue the conspirators after accession to the throne. And most likely, Alexander himself perfectly understood that without murder, a palace coup would be impossible, since Paul I would not voluntarily renounce. The reign of Paul I lasted only four years, four months and four days. His funeral took place on March 23 (April 4), 1801 in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The rest of her life Maria Feodorovna devoted to her family and perpetuating the memory of her husband. In Pavlovsk, almost on the edge of the park, in the middle of the wilderness, above the ravine, the Mausoleum was erected to the benefactor spouse according to the project of Tom de Thomon. Like an ancient temple, it is majestic and silent, all nature around seems to grieve along with a porphyry-bearing widow sculpted from marble, weeping over the ashes of her husband.

Paul was ambivalent. A knight in the spirit of the outgoing century, he could not find his place in the XIX century, where the pragmatism of society and the relative freedom of representatives of the top of society could no longer coexist. The society, which for a hundred years before Paul tolerated any antics of Peter I, did not tolerate Paul I. "Our romantic tsar", as A.S. Paul I called him. Pushkin, could not cope with the country, which was waiting not only for the strengthening of power, but, above all, various reforms in domestic policy... The reforms that Russia has been waiting for from every ruler. However, from Paul, due to his upbringing, education, religious principles, experience of relationships with the father and, especially, with the mother, it was in vain to wait for such reforms. Paul was a dreamer who wanted to transform Russia and a reformer who displeased everyone. The unfortunate sovereign who died during the last palace coup in the history of Russia. An unhappy son who repeated the fate of his father.

Madam dear mother!

Distract, please, please, for a moment from your important occupations, to accept the congratulations that my heart, humble and obedient to your will, brings on the birthday of Your Imperial Majesty. May Almighty God bless your precious days for the whole fatherland until the most remote times of human life, and may Your Majesty never run out of tenderness for me as a mother and a ruler, always dear and revered by me, the feelings with which I remain for you, your Imperial Majesty, the most obedient and most devoted son and subject Paul.

He could not have children due to chronic alcoholism and, interested in the birth of an heir, turned a blind eye to the closeness of her daughter-in-law, first with Choglokov, and then with the chamberlain of the grand ducal court Saltykov. A number of historians consider the paternity of Saltykov to be an undeniable fact. Later it was even argued that Paul was not the son of Catherine either. In "Materials for the biography of Emperor Paul I" (Leipzig, 1874) it is reported that a dead child was allegedly born from Saltykov, who was replaced by a Chukhonsky boy, that is, Paul I is not only not the son of his parents, but not even Russian.

In 1773, before reaching 20 years old, he married the Hesse-Darmstadt princess Wilhelmina (in Orthodoxy - Natalya Alekseevna), but three years later she died in childbirth, and in the same 1776 Paul married again, to the princess of Württemberg Sophia - Dorothea (in Orthodoxy - Maria Fedorovna). Catherine II tried not to allow the Grand Duke to participate in the discussion of state affairs, and he, in turn, began to more and more critically evaluate the policy of the mother. Paul believed that this policy was based on popularity and pretense, dreamed of establishing in Russia under the aegis of the autocracy a strictly legal rule, restricting the rights of the nobility, introducing the strictest, according to the Prussian model, discipline in the army.

Biography of Empress Catherine II the GreatThe reign of Catherine II lasted more than three and a half decades, from 1762 to 1796. It was filled with many events in internal and external affairs, the implementation of plans that continued what was done under Peter the Great.

In 1794, the empress decided to remove her son from the throne and hand him over to her eldest grandson, Alexander Pavlovich, but did not meet with the sympathy of the highest state dignitaries. The death of Catherine II on November 6, 1796 opened the way for Paul to the throne.

The new emperor immediately tried to cross out what had been done in the thirty-four years of the reign of Catherine II, and this became one of the most important motives of his policy.

The emperor sought to replace the collegial principle of organizing government with a sole one. Important legislative act Paul, the law on the order of succession to the throne, issued in 1797, was in effect in Russia until 1917.

In the army, Paul strove to introduce the Prussian military order. He believed that the army is a machine and the main thing in it is the mechanical coordination of troops and diligence. In the area of class policy, the main goal was to transform the Russian nobility into a disciplined, polls serving class. Paul's policy towards the peasantry was contradictory. During the four years of his reign, he gave away about 600 thousand serfs, sincerely believing that they would live better behind the landowner.

V Everyday life banned certain styles of clothing, hairstyles, dances, in which the emperor saw manifestations of free thought. Tough censorship was introduced, and the import of books from abroad was prohibited.

The foreign policy of Paul I was notable for its haphazard nature. Russia constantly changed allies in Europe. In 1798 Paul joined the second coalition against France; at the insistence of the allies, he put Alexander Suvorov at the head of the Russian army, under whose command the heroic Italian and Swiss campaigns were carried out.

The capture of Malta by the British, which Paul took under his protection, accepting in 1798 the title of Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Order of Malta), quarreled him with England. Russian troops were withdrawn, and in 1800 the coalition finally disintegrated. Not content with this, Paul began to draw closer to France and planned a joint struggle with her against England.

On January 12, 1801, Pavel sent the ataman of the Don army, General Orlov, an order to go with the entire army on a campaign against India. A little over a month later, the Cossacks began a campaign in the number of 22507 people. This event, accompanied by terrible hardships, was not, however, brought to an end.

Paul's policies, combined with his oppressive nature, unpredictability and eccentricity, caused discontent in a wide variety of social strata. Soon after his accession to the throne, a conspiracy began to ripen against him. On the night of 11 (23) March 1801, Paul I was strangled to death in his own bedroom in the Mikhailovsky Castle. The conspirators burst into the chambers of the emperor demanding to abdicate the throne. As a result of the skirmish, Paul I was killed. It was announced to the people that the emperor had died of a stroke.

The body of Paul I was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

Childhood, education and upbringing

Pavel was born on September 20 (October 1), 1754 in St. Petersburg, in the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna. Subsequently, this palace was demolished, and in its place the Mikhailovsky Castle was built, in which Pavel was killed on March 11 (23), 1801.

On September 20, 1754, in her ninth year of marriage, Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Catherine Alekseevna finally had her first child. The birth was attended by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, Grand Duke Peter and the Shuvalov brothers. Elizaveta Petrovna immediately took the newborn baby washed and sprinkled with holy water in her arms and carried it into the hall to show the future heir to the courtiers. The Empress baptized the baby and ordered to give him the name Paul. Catherine, like Peter III, was completely removed from the upbringing of her son.

Deprived of his parents in essence, due to the vicissitudes of the merciless political struggle Paul was deprived of the love of those close to him. Of course, this affected the child's psyche and his perception of the world. But, we should pay tribute to the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, she ordered to surround him with the best, in her opinion, teachers.

The first educator was the diplomat FD Bekhteev, who was obsessed with the spirit of all kinds of regulations, clear orders, military discipline, comparable to drill. This created, in the impression of an impressionable boy, that this is what happens in everyday life. And he didn’t think about anything other than soldiers' marches and battalions fighting. Bekhteev came up with a special alphabet for the little prince, the letters of which were cast from lead in the form of soldiers. He began to publish a small newspaper in which he talked about all, even the most insignificant actions of Paul.

Paul's birth was reflected in the many odes written by the then poets.

In 1760 Elizaveta Petrovna appointed a new teacher to her grandson. It was, by her choice, Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin. He was a forty-two-year-old man who occupied a very prominent place at court. Possessing extensive knowledge, he had previously spent several years in a diplomatic career in Denmark and Sweden, where his worldview was formed. Having very close contacts with the Freemasons, he gained from them the ideas of the Enlightenment, and even became a supporter constitutional monarchy... His brother Peter Ivanovich was a great local master of the Masonic order in Russia.

The first alertness to the new teacher soon faded away, and Pavel quickly became attached to him. Panin opened Russian and Western European literature to young Pavel. The young man was very willing to read, and in the next year he read quite a few books. He was well acquainted with Sumarokov, Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Racine, Corneille, Moliere, Werther, Cervantes, Voltaire and Rousseau. He was fluent in Latin, French and German, loved math.

His mental development went on without any deviations. One of Pavel's younger mentors, Poroshin, kept a diary in which he noted all the actions of little Pavel day after day. It does not indicate any deviations in the mental development of the personality of the future emperor, about which numerous haters of Pavel Petrovich loved to talk about.

On February 23, 1765 Poroshin wrote: “I read to His Highness Vertotov a story about the Order of the Knights of Malta. He deigned, then, to amuse himself and, having tied the admiral's flag to his cavalry, to present himself as a cavalier of Malta. "

Already in early years Paul became interested in the idea of chivalry, the idea of honor and glory. And in the military doctrine presented at the age of 20 by his mother, which by that time was already the Empress of All Russia, he refused to offensive war, explained his idea by the need to observe the principle of reasonable sufficiency, while all the efforts of the Empire should be aimed at creating internal order.

The confessor and mentor of the Tsarevich was one of the best Russian preachers and theologians, Archimandrite, and later Metropolitan Platon (Levshin) of Moscow. Thanks to his pastoral work and instructions in the Law of God, Pavel Petrovich for the rest of his short life became a deeply believing, true an Orthodox person... In Gatchina, until the 1917 revolution, they kept the rug, rubbed by the knees of Pavel Petrovich during his long night prayers.

Thus, we can notice that in childhood, adolescence and adolescence, Paul received an excellent education, had a broad outlook, and even then came to chivalrous ideals, piously believed in God. All this is reflected in his future policy, in his ideas and actions.

Relationship with Catherine II

Immediately after his birth, Paul was resettled from his mother by Empress Elizabeth. Catherine could see him very rarely and only with the permission of the empress. When Paul was eight years old, his mother, Catherine, relying on the guards, carried out a coup, during which Paul's father, Emperor Peter III, was killed. Paul was to ascend the throne.

Catherine II removed Paul from interfering in the decision of any state affairs, he, in turn, condemned the whole way of her life and did not accept the policy that she pursued.

Paul believed that this policy was based on popularity and pretense, dreamed of establishing in Russia under the aegis of the autocracy a strictly legal rule, restricting the rights of the nobility, introducing the strictest, according to the Prussian model, discipline in the army. In the 1780s he became interested in Freemasonry.

All the time, the aggravated relationship between Pavel and his mother, whom he suspected of complicity in the murder of his father, Peter III, led to the fact that Catherine II presented her son to the Gatchina estate (that is, “resettled” him from the capital). Here Paul introduced customs that were sharply different from those in St. Petersburg. But in the absence of any other concerns, he concentrated all his efforts on the creation of the "Gatchina army": several battalions, given under his command. Officers in full form, wigs, tight uniforms, impeccable build, punishment with gauntlets for the slightest omission and the prohibition of civilian habits.

He significantly narrowed the rights of the nobility in comparison with those that were granted by Catherine II, and the orders established in Gatchina were transferred to the entire Russian army. The harsh discipline and unpredictability of the emperor's behavior led to massive dismissals of nobles from the army, especially the officers of the guard (out of 182 officers who served in the Horse Guards regiment in 1801, only two had not resigned). Also, all officers on the staff who did not appear by decree in military college to confirm your service.

It should be noted, however, that Paul I started a military one, like other reforms, not only out of his own whim. The Russian army was not at its peak, discipline in the regiments suffered, the ranks were handed out not deservedly - so, noble children from birth were assigned to a rank, to a particular regiment. Many, having a rank and receiving a salary, did not serve at all (apparently, it was mainly these officers who were dismissed from the state). For negligence and laxity, rude mistreatment of soldiers, he personally tore epaulettes from officers and even generals and sent them to Siberia. Paul I especially pursued the theft of generals and embezzlement in the army. As a reformer, Paul I decided to follow his favorite example - Peter the Great - like his famous ancestor, he decided to take as a basis the model of a modern European army, in particular the Prussian, and what, if not German, can serve as an example of pedantry, discipline and perfection. Generally military reform was not stopped even after Paul's death.

During the reign of Paul I, the Arakcheevs, Kutaisov, Obolyaninov, who were personally loyal to the emperor, rose to prominence.

Fearing the spread of the ideas of the French Revolution in Russia, Paul I banned the departure of young people abroad to study, the import of books, including sheet music, was completely prohibited, and private printing houses were closed. The regulation of life reached the point that the time was set when it was supposed to extinguish the lights in the houses. By special decrees, some words of the Russian language were withdrawn from official use and replaced by others. Thus, among those seized were the words “citizen” and “fatherland” with a political connotation (replaced by “inhabitant” and “state”, respectively), but a number of Paul's linguistic decrees were not so transparent - for example, the word “detachment” was changed to “detachment” or “command”, “execute” to “execute”, and “doctor” to “doctor”.

Foreign policy

Paul's foreign policy was notable for its inconsistency. In 1798, Russia entered the anti-French coalition with Great Britain, Austria, Turkey, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. At the insistence of the allies, the disgraced A.V. Suvorov was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian troops. The Austrian troops were also transferred to his jurisdiction. Under the leadership of Suvorov, Northern Italy was liberated from French rule. In September 1799, the Russian army made the famous passage of Suvorov across the Alps. However, in October of the same year, Russia broke off the alliance with Austria due to the failure of the Austrians to fulfill their allied obligations, and Russian troops were withdrawn from Europe.

Not long before the assassination, Pavel sent the Don army 22,507 people on a campaign against India. The campaign was canceled immediately after the death of Paul by the decree of Emperor Alexander I.

Conspiracy and death

Mikhailovsky Castle - the place of death of the emperor

All-Russian emperors,
Romanovs
Holstein-Gottorp branch (after Peter III)

Paul I

Maria Fedorovna

Nicholas I

Alexandra Fedorovna

Alexander II

Maria Alexandrovna

Paul I was strangled to death in his own bedroom on March 11, 1801 at the Mikhailovsky Castle. The conspiracy was attended by Agramakov, N.P. Panin, the vice-chancellor, L.L. Benningsen, the commander of the Izyuminsky light-knit regiment P.A.Zubov (Catherine's favorite), Palen, the governor-general of St. I. Depreradovich, Kavalergardsky - F.P. Uvarov, Preobrazhensky - P.A.Talyzin.), And according to some sources - the emperor's adjutant, Count Pyotr Vasilyevich Golenishchev-Kutuzov, immediately after the coup, appointed commander of the Cavalry regiment.

Initially, it was planned to overthrow Paul and the accession of the English regent. Perhaps the denunciation to the tsar was written by V.P. Meshchersky, in the past the chief of the St. Petersburg regiment, stationed in Smolensk, perhaps - Prosecutor General P. Kh. Obolyaninov. In any case, the conspiracy was discovered, Lindener and Arakcheev were summoned, but this only accelerated the execution of the conspiracy. According to one version, Pavel was killed by Nikolai Zubov (Suvorov's son-in-law, Platon Zubov's older brother), who hit him with a massive gold snuffbox (a joke later circulated at court: “The Emperor died with an apoplectic blow to the temple with a snuffbox”). According to another version, Paul was strangled with a scarf or crushed by a group of conspirators, who, leaning on the emperor and each other, did not know exactly what was happening. Taking one of the murderers for the son of Constantine, he shouted: “Your Highness, are you here too? Have mercy! Air, Air! .. What have I done wrong to you? " These were his last words.

The question of whether Alexander Pavlovich knew and gave sanction for a palace coup and the murder of his father remained unclear for a long time. According to the memoirs of Prince A. Czartoryski, the idea of a conspiracy arose almost in the first days of Paul's reign, but the coup became possible only after it became known about the consent of Alexander, who signed the corresponding secret manifesto, in which he recognized the need for a coup and pledged not to pursue conspirators after accession to the throne. One of the organizers of the conspiracy, Count Palen, wrote in his memoirs: “The Grand Duke Alexander did not agree to anything without demanding from me a preliminary oath promise that they would not attempt on the life of his father; I gave him my word: I was not so devoid of meaning to internally undertake an obligation to fulfill an impossible thing, but I had to calm the scrupulousness of my future sovereign, and I reassured his intentions, although I was convinced that they would not be fulfilled. " Most likely, Alexander himself, like Count Palen, was well aware that without murder, a palace coup would be impossible, since Paul I would not voluntarily abdicate the throne.

The conspirators got up from supper after midnight. According to the plan worked out, the signal for the invasion of the inner apartments of the palace and into the very office of the emperor was to be given by Argamakov, adjutant of the grenadier battalion of the Preobrazhensky regiment, whose duty was to report to the emperor about the fires taking place in the city. Agramakov ran into the front hall of the sovereign's office and shouted: "fire!"

At this time, the conspirators, numbering up to 180 people, rushed through the door a (see fig.). Then Marin, who commanded the internal infantry guard, removed the faithful to the grenada of the Preobrazhensky life battalion, placing them as sentries, and those of them who had previously served in the life grenadier regiment, placed in the front of the sovereign's cabinet, thus preserving this important post in the hands conspirators.

Two camera hussars, standing at the door of a, bravely defended their post, one of them was stabbed, and the other was wounded *. Having found the first door a, leading to the bedroom, unlocked, the conspirators at first thought that the emperor had disappeared into the inner staircase (and this could easily have been done), as Kuytasov did. But when they came to the second door in, they found it locked from the inside, which proved that the emperor was undoubtedly in the bedroom.

Having broken open the door to, the conspirators rushed into the room, but the emperor was not in it. The search began, but unsuccessfully, despite the fact that the door with, leading to the Empress's bedchamber, was also locked from the inside. The search continued for several minutes, when Generalo Bennigsen entered, he went up to the fireplace d, leaned against it and at that time saw the emperor hiding behind the screen.

Pointing at him with a finger, Bennigsen said "le voila" in French, after which Pavel was immediately pulled out of his cover.

Prince Platon Zubov **, who acted as an orator and chief leader of the conspiracy, addressed the emperor with a speech. Usually distinguished by great nervousness, Paul, this time, however, did not seem particularly agitated, and, retaining his full dignity, asked what they all wanted?

Platon Zubov replied that his despotism had become so difficult for the nation that they came to demand his abdication from the throne.

The emperor, full of a sincere desire to bring happiness to his people, to keep the laws and regulations of the empire intact and to institute justice everywhere, entered into a dispute with Zubov, which lasted about half an hour, and which, in the end, took on a stormy character. At this time, those of the conspirators who drank too much champagne began to express impatience, while the emperor spoke louder and louder and began to gesticulate strongly. At this time, the equestrian, Count Nikolai Zubov ***, a man of enormous stature and extraordinary strength, being completely drunk, hit Pavel on the arm and said: "Why are you shouting like that!"

________________

This was the chamber hussar Kirilov, who later served as valet for the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.
- Zubov, Prince Platon Alexandrovich. 1767 - 1822 General-from. info, chief 1 cadet corps... Subsequently, a member of the state. advice.
  - Zubov, Count Nikolai Alexandrovich, Ober-equestrian. 1763 - 1805 He was married to the only daughter of Field Marshal Suvorov, Prince Natalia Alexandrovna, known as "Suvorochka".

At this insult, the emperor indignantly pushed aside left hand Zubov, to which the latter, clutching a massive gold snuffbox in his fist, struck with his right hand with his right hand on the left temple of the emperor, as a result of which he fell senseless to the floor. At the same moment, Zubov's French valet jumped up with his feet on the emperor's stomach, and Skaryatin, an officer of the Izmailovsky regiment, heeded the emperor's own scarf hanging over the bed and strangled him with it. Thus he was killed.

On the basis of another version, Zubov, being very drunk, seemed to have thrust his fingers into the snuff-box that Pavel was holding in his hands. Then the emperor struck Zubov first, and thus began a quarrel himself. Zubov seemed to have snatched the snuffbox from the hands of the emperor and knocked him off his feet with a strong blow. But this is hardly plausible when you consider that Paul jumped right out of bed and wanted to hide. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that the snuff-box played a well-known role in this event.

So, the words, uttered by Pahlen during the dinner: "qu" il faut commencer par casser les ocufs ", were not forgotten, and, alas, were carried out. *

They called the names of some persons who expressed in this case a lot of cruelty, even atrocities, wanting to take out the insults received from the emperor on his lifeless body so that it was not easy for doctors and make-up artists to bring the body into such a form so that it could be exposed for worship, according to existing customs. I saw the late emperor lying in a coffin. ** On his face, despite his diligent make-up, black and blue spots were visible. His triangular hat was pulled down over his head so as, if possible, to hide his left eye and temple, which was hurt.

So died on March 12, 1801, one of the sovereigns, whom history speaks of as a monarch filled with many virtues, distinguished by tireless activity, who loved order and justice.

________________

This must be done now so as not to break later.
- They say (from a source) that when the diplomatic corps was admitted to the body, the French ambassador, passing, bent over the coffin and touched the emperor's tie with his hand, found a red mark around the neck, made by a scarf.

Versions of the origin of Paul I

Due to the fact that Pavel was born almost ten years after the wedding of Peter and Catherine, when many were already convinced of the sterility of this marriage (and also under the influence of the empress's free personal life in the future), persistent rumors circulated that the real father Paul I was not Peter III, but the first favorite of the Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna, Count Sergei Vasilyevich Saltykov.

Historical anecdote

The Romanovs themselves belonged to this legend
(that Paul I was not the son of Peter III)
with great humor. There is a memoir about
how Alexander III, having learned about her,
crossed himself: "Thank God, we are Russians!"
And having heard a refutation from historians, again
crossed himself: "Thank God we are legal!"

The memoirs of Catherine II contain an indirect indication of this. In the same memoirs, one can find a hidden indication of how the desperate Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, so that the dynasty did not die out, ordered the wife of her heir to give birth to a child, no matter who his genetic father would be. In this regard, after of this instruction the courtiers assigned to Catherine began to encourage her adultery. Nevertheless, Catherine in her memoirs is quite cunning - she also explains there that a long-term marriage did not bear offspring, since Peter had "some kind of obstacle", which, after the ultimatum given to her by Elizabeth, was eliminated by her friends, who performed a violent surgery on Peter. , in connection with which he nevertheless turned out to be able to conceive a child. The paternity of other children of Catherine, born during her husband's life, is also doubtful: Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna (b.) Was most likely the daughter of Ponyatovsky, and Alexei Bobrinsky (b.) Was the son of G. Orlov and was born secretly. More folklore and in line with traditional ideas about the "replaced baby" is the story that Ekaterina Alekseevna allegedly gave birth to a dead child and he was replaced by a certain "Chukhon" baby.

A family

Gerard von Kügelgen. Portrait of Paul I with his family. 1800. State Museum-Reserve "Pavlovsk"

Married twice:

1st wife: (from October 10, St. Petersburg) Natalia Alekseevna(1755-1776), nee. Princess Augusta-Wilhelmina-Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt, daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. She died in childbirth.

2nd wife: (from October 7, St. Petersburg) Maria Fedorovna(1759-1828), nee. Princess Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg, daughter of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. Had 10 children:
- Alexander I(1777-1825), Russian emperor
- Konstantin Pavlovich(1779-1831), Grand Duke.
- Alexandra Pavlovna (1783-1801)
- Elena Pavlovna (1784-1803)
- Maria Pavlovna (1786-1859)
- Ekaterina Pavlovna (1788-1819)
- Olga Pavlovna (1792-1795)
- Anna Pavlovna (1795-1865)
- Nicholas I(1796-1855), Russian emperor
- Mikhail Pavlovich(1798-1849), Grand Duke.

Military ranks and titles

Colonel of the Life-Cuirassier Regiment (July 4) (Russian Imperial Guard) Admiral General (December 20) (Russian Imperial Navy)

Name: Paul I (Pavel l)

Age: 46 years old

Place of Birth: St. Petersburg

A place of death: St. Petersburg

Activity: Russian emperor

Family status: was married

Biography of Emperor Paul I

If not for the constant humiliation and insults, it is possible that Emperor Paul I became a ruler equal in greatness to Peter. However, his domineering mother thought otherwise. At the mention of Paul, the image of a short-sighted soldier-"Prussian" arises in my thoughts. But was he really like that?

Paul I - childhood

Paul was born under very mysterious circumstances. Emperor Peter III and Catherine II for ten years could not give birth to an heir. The explanation for this was simple: Peter was a chronic alcoholic. Nevertheless, the Empress became pregnant. Few considered Peter III the father of the baby, but they preferred to keep quiet about this.

The long-awaited child who was born did not become happiness for the parents. The father was ripening that the son was not his, and the mother considered the appearance of the baby, rather, “ state project"Rather than a desired child. Strangers took up the upbringing of the newborn. The whole horror of the saying: "V of seven nannies is a child without an eye" Paul experienced on himself. They often forgot to feed him, repeatedly dropped him, left him alone for a long time. He hadn't seen his parents for years! The boy grew up shy, withdrawn and deeply unhappy ...

Paul I: Far from the throne

In 1762, Peter III was overthrown, and for a long 34 years, his wife Catherine II took the Russian throne. She treated her son coldly and with suspicion: he was the direct heir to the throne, and the empress was not going to share power with anyone.

On September 20, 1772, Paul turned 18 years old - the very time for accession to the throne. However, all he received from his mother was the post of admiral-general of the Russian fleet and colonel of the cuirassier regiment. For the prince, this was the first serious humiliation. Others followed him: he did not earn a seat either in the Senate or in the Imperial Council. On April 21, on her birthday, the empress gave Pavel a cheap watch, and an expensive watch to Count Potemkin, her favorite, for 50 thousand rubles. And the whole yard saw it!

Paul I_- two wives, two worlds

To distract her son from thoughts of power, Catherine decided to marry him. The choice fell on the Prussian princess Wilhelmina. In the fall of 1773, the young people got married. Contrary to expectations, Paul's marriage did not bring happiness. His wife turned out to be an imperious woman - she actually subdued her husband and began to cheat on him. It did not last long - after three years Wilhelmina died in childbirth. The empress consoled Paul, heartbroken, in a peculiar way: she personally handed over to her son the love correspondence of his wife with Razumovsky, a close friend of the tsarevich. The double betrayal made Paul even more gloomy and closed person.

The emperor did not remain single for long. In the same 1776, he left for Berlin to meet the 17-year-old princess Sophia-Dorothea. Prussia made a strong impression on Paul: unlike Russia, the Germans reigned order and exemplary morality. Paul's love for a foreign country quickly grew into sympathy for his bride; the German woman reciprocated. The wedding took place in October 1776. In Russia, Sophia-Dorothea received the name Maria Fedorovna.

For many years Paul lived in two worlds - in his personal life he enjoyed happiness, and in his public life he suffered from universal contempt. If in Europe he had long been revered as a full-fledged emperor, then in Russia every courtier looked at him with a squeamish grin - the country was ruled by Catherine II and her lover Count Potemkin.

When Paul's sons grew up. the empress personally took care of their upbringing, demonstrating that she would rather agree to give the throne to one of her grandchildren than to her son. The Tsarevich's nerves surrendered ... On May 12, 1783, a final disagreement took place between Catherine and Paul. In August of the same year, Pavel received an estate near St. Petersburg as a gift from his mother. This meant only one thing - an invitation to voluntary exile.

Paul I - Prisoner of Gatchina

Pavel's new estate became for him both a place of secret confinement and an island of long-awaited freedom.

First of all, the tsarevich defended the right to have three personal battalions of 2,399 men in Gatchina. They lived and served according to Prussian laws; the daily teachings were commanded by Paul himself.

Having inflicted a blast on the soldiers, the tsarevich set off to supervise numerous construction projects. In Gatchina, under his leadership, a hospital, a school, porcelain and glass factories, four churches (Orthodox, Lutheran, Catholic and Finnish) and a library were erected. Its funds numbered 36 thousand volumes.

Paul forgot his harshness and unsociability only in the evenings in the circle of loved ones. He spent all the evenings with his wife Maria Fedorovna. Dinner was modest - a glass of burgundy claret and sausage with cabbage. It seemed that until the end of his days he would lead this measured and calm life.

Paul I - Great and terrible

Catherine II died unexpectedly - on November 6, 1796 from an apoplectic stroke. If the empress had lived six months longer, the throne would have gone to Alexander. All the papers with the order on his inheritance were ready.

The suddenly acquired power became for Paul not only a long-awaited gift, but also a real curse: he got the country in a terrible state. The ruble was depreciating, corruption and theft reigned everywhere, up to 12 thousand unsolved cases accumulated in the Senate. Three-quarters of the officer corps of the Russian army existed only on paper. Many received ranks without serving, desertion became the norm, and the fleet was still equipped with cannons from the time of Peter I.

Paul fought hard against lawlessness and decline in morals. Arrests, trials and exile began throughout the country. Neither connections nor past merits saved the senior officials from punishment. The officers also had a hard time: Pavel forbade revels and trips to balls, they were replaced by early wakes and exhausting exercises. Ordinary officials also expressed dissatisfaction with Paul's reforms - already at 5 in the morning they were obliged to be at the service.

Paul I reigned for only four years and four months. During this time, he demoted 7 marshals and more than 300 senior officers, distributed 600 thousand peasants to landowners and issued 2,179 laws.

Despite Paul's tough disposition, his eldest son Alexander always sided with his father. But the emperor managed to lose this ally too. Once he called his son a fool in front of everyone, and this turned the heir against himself.

Blood feast

The emperor had a presentiment of his doom. In any case, this is evidenced by the numerous memoirs of his contemporaries.

Here S.M. Golitsyn writes about last evening: “It was established that after supper everyone would go out into another room and say goodbye to the sovereign. That evening he did not say goodbye to anyone and said only: "What will be, that will not escape."

Another eyewitness said: “After supper, the emperor looked at himself in the mirror, which had a flaw and made faces crooked. He laughed at this and said: "Look what a funny mirror; I see myself in it, with my neck to the side." It was an hour and a half before his death .. "

The last meeting of the conspirators took place on the night of March 12, 1801. All were commanded by General Bennigsen, the Zubov princes, and also Count Palen. Dissatisfaction with the policies of Paul I was discussed over champagne and wine. Having reached the required condition, the men moved to the chambers of the emperor.

Having overcome the barrier of two sentries, the conspirators rushed to Paul. Zubov invited the emperor to sign an act of abdication. Paul's refusal infuriated the visitors. According to one version, they strangled the unfortunate with a pillow, and then cut up the body with sabers.

Even before dawn, St. Petersburg learned that Pavel had died suddenly of "apoplectic stroke", and Alexander took his place. V Northern capital great fun began ...

Several years later, General Ya.I. Sanglen, chief of the secret police under Alexander I, wrote: “Paul will forever remain a psychological challenge. With a kind, sensitive heart, an exalted soul, an enlightened mind, a fiery love of justice ... he was an object of horror for his subjects. " The nature of Paul I could not be fully understood by either his contemporaries or descendants-historians.

Pavel I Petrovich (1754-1801)

Having come to power in 1861 after the death of Elizabeth, Pyotr Fedorovich spent 6 months in the role of the All-Russian emperor. Peter III's activities characterize him as a serious reformer. He did not hide his Prussian sympathies and, having taken the throne, immediately put an end to Russia's participation in the Seven Years War and entered into an alliance against Denmark, the longtime offender of Holstein. Peter III liquidated the Secret Chancellery - a grim police institution that kept the whole of Russia at bay. In fact, no one canceled the denunciations, it was just that from now on they had to be submitted in writing. And then he took the land and peasants from the monasteries, which even Peter the Great could not do. However, the time allotted by history for the reforms of Peter III was not long. Only 6 months of his reign, of course, cannot be compared with the 34-year reign of his wife, Catherine the Great. As a result of a palace coup, Peter III was dethroned on June 16 (28), 1762 and killed in Ropsha near St. Petersburg 11 days after that. During this period, his son, the future Emperor Paul I, was not even eight years old. The wife of Peter III, who proclaimed herself Catherine II, came to power with the support of the Guards.

The mother of Paul I, the future Catherine the Great, was born on April 21, 1729 in Stettin (Szczecin) in the family of a general of the Prussian service and received a good education for that time. When she was 13 years old, Frederick II recommended her to Elizabeth Petrovna as a bride for Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich. And in 1744 the young Prussian princess Sophia-Friderica-Augusta-Anhalt-Zerbst was brought to Russia, where she received the Orthodox name of Ekaterina Alekseevna. The young girl was smart and ambitious, from the first days of her stay on Russian soil she diligently prepared to become a Grand Duchess, and then the wife of the Russian emperor. But the marriage with Peter III, concluded on August 21, 1745 in St. Petersburg, did not bring happiness to the spouses.

On September 20, 1754, nine years after the wedding, Catherine gave birth to Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. This was an important event, because after Peter I, Russian emperors had no children, confusion and turmoil reigned at the death of each ruler. It was under Peter III and Catherine that there was hope for the stability of the state structure. During the first period of her reign, Catherine was worried about the legitimacy of her power. After all, if Peter III was still half (by his mother) a Russian person and, moreover, was the grandson of Peter I himself, then Catherine was not even a distant relative of the legitimate heirs and was only the wife of the heir. Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich was the legitimate but unloved son of the empress. After the death of his father, he, as the only heir, was supposed to take the throne with the establishment of a regency, but this, at the behest of Catherine, did not happen.

Catherine had to see her son for the first time after giving birth only after 6 weeks, and then only in the spring of 1755. Ekaterina recalled: “He was lying in an extremely hot room, in flannel swaddling clothes, in a bed upholstered with black fox fur, they covered him with a quilted satin blanket, and on top of that, a pink velvet blanket ... sweat appeared on his face and all over his body When Paul grew up a little, the slightest breath of wind inflicted a cold on him and made him sick. In addition, many stupid old women and mothers were assigned to him, who, with their excessive and inappropriate zeal, caused him incomparably more physical and moral harm than good. " Improper care led to the fact that the child was distinguished by increased nervousness and impressionability. Even in early childhood, Pavel's nerves were upset to the point that he hid under the table when the doors slammed somewhat violently. There was no system in caring for him. He went to bed either very early, at about 8 pm, or in the first hour of the night. It happened that he was allowed to eat when "if he pleases," there were cases of simple negligence: "Once he fell out of the cradle, so no one heard it. rests soundly. "

Paul received an excellent education in the spirit of the French enlighteners. He knew foreign languages, had knowledge of mathematics, history, applied sciences. In 1758, Fedor Dmitrievich Bekhteev was appointed his tutor, who immediately began to teach the boy to read and write. In June 1760, Nikita Ivanovich Panin was appointed Chief Hofmeister under the Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, Semyon Andreevich Poroshin, the former adjutant of Peter III, was the tutor and teacher of mathematics for Pavel, and Archimandrite Platon, Hieromonk Trinity, was his teacher of law (from 1763). Sergius Lavra, later Moscow Metropolitan.

On September 29, 1773, 19-year-old Pavel marries, having married the daughter of the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, Princess Augustine-Wilhelmina, who received the name of Natalia Alekseevna in Orthodoxy. Three years later, on April 16, 1776, at 5 o'clock in the morning, she died in childbirth, and the child died with her. The medical report, signed by doctors Kruse, Arsh, Bok and others, speaks of the difficult birth of Natalya Alekseevna, who suffered from a curvature of the back, and the "large child" was in the wrong position. Catherine, however, not wanting to waste time, begins a new matchmaking. This time, the queen chose the Württemberg princess Sophia-Dorothea-Augusta-Louise. A portrait of the princess is delivered by courier, which Catherine II offers to Paul, saying that she is "meek, pretty, lovely, in a word, a treasure." The heir to the throne falls more and more in love with the image, and in June he goes to Potsdam to match the princess.

Seeing the princess for the first time on July 11, 1776 in the palace of Frederick the Great, Paul writes to his mother: “I have found my bride as I could mentally wish: not ugly, large, slender, answers intelligently and promptly. she has his very sensitive and gentle ... She loves to be at home and practice reading and music, greedy to study in Russian ... "Having met the princess, the Grand Duke fell passionately in love with her, and after parting, he wrote her tender letters from the road with a declaration of love and devotion.

In August, Sophia-Dorothea arrives in Russia and, following the instructions of Catherine II, on September 15 (26), 1776, she receives Orthodox baptism under the name of Maria Feodorovna. Soon the wedding took place, a few months later she writes: "My dear husband is an angel, I love him to madness." A year later, on December 12, 1777, the young couple had their first son, Alexander. On the occasion of the birth of the heir in St. Petersburg, 201 cannon shots were fired, and the sovereign grandmother Catherine II gave her son 362 dessiatines of land, which laid the foundation for the village of Pavlovskoye, where the palace-residence of Paul I was later built. 1778. The construction of the new palace, designed by Charles Cameron, was carried out mainly under the supervision of Maria Feodorovna.

With Maria Fedorovna, Pavel found true family happiness. Unlike mother Catherine and great-aunt Elizabeth, who did not know family happiness, and whose personal life was far from generally accepted moral norms, Pavel appears as an exemplary family man who gave an example to all subsequent Russian emperors - their descendants. In September 1781, the grand ducal couple, under the name of the Count and Countess of the North, set off on a long journey across Europe, which lasted a whole year. During this trip, Pavel did more than just sightseeing and acquiring works of art for his palace under construction. The trip was also of great political importance. Having escaped from the care of Catherine II for the first time, the Grand Duke had the opportunity to personally meet the European monarchs and paid a visit to Pope Pius VI. In Italy, Paul, following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, Emperor Peter the Great, is seriously interested in the achievements of European shipbuilding and gets acquainted with the organization of naval affairs abroad. During his stay in Livorno, the Tsarevich finds time to visit the Russian squadron located there. As a result of assimilating new trends in European culture and art, science and technology, style and way of life, Pavel largely changed his own worldview and perception of Russian reality.

It would seem that Paul's family life was developing happily. A loving wife, many children. But the main thing that every heir to the throne aspires to was lacking - there was no power. Pavel patiently awaited the death of his unloved mother, but it seemed that the great empress, who had an imperious character and good health, was never going to die. In previous years, Catherine wrote more than once about how she would die surrounded by friends, to the sound of gentle music among flowers. The blow suddenly overtook her on November 5 (16), 1796 in a narrow passage between two rooms of the Winter Palace. She suffered a severe stroke, and several servants with difficulty managed to pull the heavy body of the empress out of the narrow corridor and put it on a mattress spread on the floor. Couriers rushed to Gatchina to inform Pavel Petrovich of the news of his mother's illness. The first was Count Nikolai Zubov. The next day, in the presence of her son, grandchildren and close courtiers, the empress died without regaining consciousness, at the age of 67, of which she spent 34 years on the Russian throne. Already on the night of November 7 (18), 1796, everyone was sworn in to the new emperor - 42-year-old Paul I.

By the time of accession to the throne, Pavel Petrovich was a man with established views and habits, with a ready-made, as it seemed to him, program of action. Back in 1783, he broke off all relations with his mother; rumors circulated among the courtiers about Paul's deprivation of the right of succession to the throne. Pavel plunges into theoretical considerations about the urgent need to change the governance of Russia. Far from the courtyard, in Pavlovsk and Gatchina, he creates a kind of model of a new Russia, which he saw as a model for governing the entire country. At the age of 30, he received from his mother a large list of literary works for in-depth study. There were books by Voltaire, Montesquieu, Corneille, Hume and other famous French and English authors. Paul considered the goal of the state to be "the bliss of each and all." He recognized only monarchy as a form of government, although he agreed that this form "is associated with the inconveniences of mankind." However, Paul argued that autocratic power is better than others, since "it combines the power of the laws of power of one."

At the same time, Paul was distinguished by a certain peacefulness. During the reign of Catherine II (1762-1796), Russia participated in seven wars, which in total lasted more than 25 years and caused heavy damage to the country. Having ascended the throne, Paul declared that Russia under Catherine had the misfortune to use its population in frequent wars, and that inside the country the affairs were started. However, Paul's foreign policy was notable for its inconsistency. In 1798, Russia entered an anti-French coalition with England, Austria, Turkey and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. At the insistence of the allies, the disgraced A.V. was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian troops. Suvorov, in whose jurisdiction the Austrian troops were transferred. Under the leadership of Suvorov, Northern Italy was liberated from French rule. In September 1799, the Russian army made the famous crossing of the Alps. For the Italian campaign, Suvorov received the rank of Generalissimo and the title of Prince of Italy. However, in October of the same year, Russia broke the alliance with Austria, and Russian troops were withdrawn from Europe. Not long before the assassination, Pavel sent the Don army on a campaign against India. These were 22,507 people without a convoy, supplies and any strategic plan. This adventurous campaign was canceled immediately after Paul's death.

In 1787, setting off for the first and last time in the army, Paul left his "Order", in which he outlined his thoughts on government. Listing all the estates, he dwells on the peasantry, which "contains by itself and by its labors all the other parts, therefore, worthy of respect." Pavel tried to enforce a decree that serfs should work no more than three days a week for the landowner, and on Sunday they would not work at all. This, however, led to their further enslavement. Indeed, before Paul, for example, the peasant population of Ukraine did not know corvee at all. Now, to the delight of the Little Russian landowners, a three-day corvee was introduced here. In Russian estates, it was very difficult to follow the execution of the decree.

Attention was also paid to public education. A decree was issued on the restoration of the university in the Baltic States (it was opened in Dorpat already under Alexander I), a Medical-Surgical Academy, many schools and colleges were opened in St. Petersburg. At the same time, in order to prevent the idea of a "depraved and criminal" France from entering Russia, the study of Russians abroad was completely prohibited, imported literature and notes were censored, and it was even forbidden to play cards. It is curious that, for various reasons, the new tsar drew attention to the improvement of the Russian language. Soon after accession to the throne, Paul ordered in all official papers "to speak in the purest and simplest syllable, using all possible accuracy, and pompous expressions that have lost their meaning should always be avoided." At the same time, the decrees prohibiting the use of certain types of clothing were strange, arousing distrust of the mental abilities of Paul. So, it was impossible to wear tailcoats, round hats, vests, silk stockings; instead, a German dress with an exact definition of the color and size of the collar was allowed. According to A.T. Bolotov, Pavel demanded that everyone perform their duties honestly. So, driving through the city, writes Bolotov, the emperor saw an officer walking without a sword, and behind an orderly carrying a sword and a fur coat. Pavel approached the soldier and asked whose sword he was carrying. He replied: "The officer who is in front." "Officer! So, it is difficult for him to carry his sword? So put it on yourself, and give him your bayonet!" So Pavel promoted the soldier to the officer, and demoted the officer to the rank and file. Bolotov notes that this made a tremendous impression on the soldiers and officers. In particular, the latter, fearing a repetition of this, have become more responsible for the service.

On November 25, according to the ritual developed by the emperor in the smallest details, the burial of the ashes of Peter III and the corpse of Catherine II was performed. Russia has never seen anything like this. In the morning at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, Paul laid the crown on the tomb of Peter III, and at 2 pm, Maria Feodorovna in the Winter Palace placed the same crown on the deceased Catherine II. There was one ghastly detail in the ceremony in the Winter Palace - the cadet's chamberlain and the empress's valets, during the laying on of the crown, "lifted the body of the deceased." Obviously, it was imitated that Catherine II was, as it were, alive. In the evening of the same day, the body of the Empress was transferred to a splendidly arranged funeral tent, and on December 1, Pavel solemnly transferred the imperial regalia to the Nevsky Monastery. The next day, at 11 o'clock in the morning, a funeral cortege slowly set off from the Lower Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. In front of the coffin of Peter III, the hero of Chesma, Alexei Orlov, carried the imperial crown on a velvet pillow. Behind the hearse, the entire august family marched in deep mourning. The coffin with the remains of Peter III was transported to the Winter Palace and installed next to the coffin of Catherine. Three days later, on December 5, both coffins were transported to the Peter and Paul Cathedral. For two weeks they were exhibited there for worship. Finally, on December 18, they were interred. On the tombs of the hated spouses, the same date of burial was indicated. On this occasion, N.I. Grech remarked: "You would think that they spent their entire lives on the throne, died and were buried in the same day."

There is evidence that the idea of a secondary burial of Peter III was suggested to Paul by the freemason S.I. Pleshcheev, who wanted to take revenge on Catherine II for the persecution of "free masons". One way or another, the ceremony of reburial of the remains of Peter III was performed even before the coronation of Paul, which followed on April 5, 1797 in Moscow, - the new tsar devoted so much importance to the memory of his father, emphasizing once again that his filial feelings for his father were stronger than feelings for the imperious mother. And on the very day of his coronation, Paul I issued a law on succession to the throne, which established a strict order in the succession to the throne along a direct male descending line, and not at the arbitrary will of the autocrat, as before. This decree was in effect throughout the 19th century.

Russian society was ambivalent about the government events of Pavlovsk time and personally to Paul. Sometimes historians said that under Paul, the Gatchins became the head of state - ignorant and rude people. Of these, A.A. Arakcheev and others like him. The words of F.V. Rostopchin, that "the best of them deserves a wheel." But we should not forget that among them were N.V. Repnin, A.A. Bekleshov and other honest and decent people. Among Paul's associates we see S.M. Vorontsova, N.I. Saltykova, A.V. Suvorov, G.R. Derzhavin, a brilliant statesman M.M. Speransky.

Relations with the Order of Malta played a special role in Paul's politics. The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, which appeared in the 11th century, was associated with Palestine for a long time. Under the onslaught of the Turks, the Johannites were forced to leave Palestine, settle first in Cyprus and then on the island of Rhodes. However, the struggle with the Turks, which lasted more than one century, forced them to leave this refuge in 1523. After seven years of wandering, the Johannites received Malta as a gift from King Charles V of Spain. This rocky island became an impregnable fortress of the Order, which became known as the Maltese one. By the convention of January 4, 1797, the Order was allowed to have a great priority in Russia. In 1798, Paul's manifesto "On the Establishment of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem" appeared. The new monastic order consisted of two priors - Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox with 98 commanders. There is an assumption that Paul wanted thereby to unite two churches - Catholic and Orthodox.

On June 12, 1798, Malta was taken by the French without a fight. The knights suspected the great master Gompesh of treason and defrocked him. In the autumn of the same year, Paul I was elected to this post, who willingly accepted the insignia of the new dignity. Before Paul was drawn the image of a knightly union, in which, in contrast to the ideas of the French Revolution, the principles of the order would flourish - strict Christian piety, unconditional obedience to elders. According to Paul, the Order of Malta, which had fought the enemies of Christianity for so long and successfully, must now gather all the "best" forces of Europe and serve as a mighty bulwark against the revolutionary movement. The residence of the Order was moved to St. Petersburg. In Kronstadt, a fleet was equipped to expel the French from Malta, but in 1800 the island was occupied by the British, and Paul soon died. In 1817, it was announced that the Order no longer existed in Russia.

Pavel loved Pavlovsk and Gatchina, where he lived while awaiting the throne. Having ascended the throne, he began to build a new residence - Mikhailovsky Castle, designed by the Italian Vincenzo Brenna, who became the chief court architect. Everything in the castle was adapted to protect the emperor. Canals, drawbridges, secret passages, it seemed, should have made Paul's life long. In January 1801, the construction of the new residence was completed. But many plans of Paul I remained unfulfilled. It was in the Mikhailovsky Palace that Pavel Petrovich was killed on the evening of March 11 (23), 1801. Having lost the sense of reality, he became manically suspicious, removed from himself loyal people, and himself provoked the disaffected in the guards and high society into a conspiracy. The conspiracy was attended by Argamakov, Vice-Chancellor P.P. Panin, favorite of Catherine P.A. Zubov, Governor-General of St. Petersburg von Palen, the commanders of the Guards regiments: Semenovsky - N.I. Depreradovich, Kavalergardsky - F.P. Uvarov, Preobrazhensky - P.A. Talyzin. Thanks to treason, a group of conspirators entered the Mikhailovsky Castle, went up to the emperor's bedroom, where, according to one version, he was killed by Nikolai Zubov (Suvorov's son-in-law, Platon Zubov's older brother), who hit him in the temple with a massive gold snuffbox. According to another version, Paul was strangled with a scarf or crushed by a group of conspirators who pounced on the emperor. "Have mercy! Air, air! What have I done wrong to you?" - these were his last words.

Paul was ambivalent. A knight in the spirit of the outgoing century, he could not find his place in the XIX century, where the pragmatism of society and the relative freedom of representatives of the top of society could no longer coexist. The society, which for a hundred years before Paul tolerated any antics of Peter I, did not tolerate Paul I. "Our romantic tsar", as A.S. Paul I called him. Pushkin, failed to cope with the country, which was waiting not only for the strengthening of power, but, above all, various reforms in domestic politics. The reforms that Russia has been waiting for from every ruler. However, it was in vain to expect such reforms from Paul, due to his upbringing, education, religious principles, experience of relationships with his father and, especially, with his mother. Paul was a dreamer who wanted to transform Russia and a reformer who displeased everyone. The unfortunate sovereign who died during the last palace coup in the history of Russia. An unhappy son who repeated the fate of his father.

Madam dear mother!

Distract, please, please, for a moment from your important occupations, to accept the congratulations that my heart, humble and obedient to your will, brings on the birthday of Your Imperial Majesty. May Almighty God bless your precious days for the whole fatherland until the most distant times of human life, and may Your Majesty never run out of tenderness for me, the mother and ruler, always dear and revered by me, the feelings with which I remain for you, Your Imperial Majesty , the most obedient and most devoted son and subject Paul.