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Peter III - biography, information, personal life. Peter III - short biography Burial of Peter 3

Peter III Fedorovich


Coronation:	Not crowned
Predecessor:	Elizaveta Petrovna
Successor:	Catherine II
Birth:

Buried:	Alexander Nevsky Lavra, in 1796 reburied in the Peter and Paul Cathedral
Dynasty:	Romanovs (Holstein-Gottorp branch)
	Karl Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp
	Anna Petrovna
	Ekaterina Alekseevna (Sofia Frederika Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst)
Autograph:	Pavel, Anna

Heir

Sovereign

Palace coup

Life after death

Peter III (Pyotr Fedorovich, born Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp; February 21, 1728, Kiel - July 17, 1762, Ropsha) - Russian emperor in 1761-1762, the first representative of the Holstein-Gottorp (Oldenburg) branch of the Romanovs on the Russian throne. Since 1745 - sovereign Duke of Holstein.

After a six-month reign, he was overthrown as a result of a palace coup that brought his wife, Catherine II, to the throne, and soon lost his life. Personality and activities of Peter III for a long time historians unanimously regarded them negatively, but then a more balanced approach appeared, noting a number of the emperor’s public services. During the reign of Catherine, many impostors pretended to be Pyotr Fedorovich (about forty cases were recorded), the most famous of whom was Emelyan Pugachev.

Childhood, education and upbringing

Grandson of Peter I, son of Tsarevna Anna Petrovna and Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl Friedrich. On his father's side, he was the great-nephew of the Swedish King Charles XII and was initially raised as heir to the Swedish throne.

Mother of a boy named at birth Karl Peter Ulrich, died shortly after his birth, having caught a cold during fireworks in honor of the birth of her son. At the age of 11, he lost his father. After his death, he was brought up in the house of his paternal great-uncle, Bishop Adolf of Eiten (later King Adolf Fredrik of Sweden). His teachers O.F. Brummer and F.V. Berkhgolts were not distinguished by high moral qualities and more than once cruelly punished the child. The Crown Prince of the Swedish Crown was flogged several times; many times the boy was placed with his knees on the peas, and for a long time - so that his knees swollen and he could hardly walk; subjected to other sophisticated and humiliating punishments. The teachers cared little about his education: by the age of 13, he only spoke a little French.

Peter grew up fearful, 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 throughout his life). All his ambitious dreams were connected with military pleasures. He was not in good health, rather the opposite: he was sickly and frail. By character, Peter was not evil; often behaved innocently. Peter's penchant for lies and absurd fantasies is also noted. According to some reports, already in childhood he became addicted to wine.

Heir

Having become empress in 1741, Elizaveta Petrovna wanted to secure the throne through her father and, being childless, in 1742, during the coronation celebrations, declared her nephew (the son of her older sister) heir to the Russian throne. Karl Peter Ulrich was brought to Russia; he converted to Orthodoxy under the name Peter Fedorovich, and in 1745 he was married to Princess Catherine Alekseevna (née Sophia Frederik August) of Anhalt-Zerbst, the future Empress Catherine II. His official title included the words "Grandson of Peter the Great"; when these words were omitted from the academic calendar, Prosecutor General Nikita Yuryevich Trubetskoy considered this “an important omission for which the academy could be subject to a great response.”

At their first meeting, Elizabeth was amazed at her nephew’s ignorance and was upset appearance: thin, sickly, with an unhealthy complexion. His tutor and teacher was academician Jacob Shtelin, who considered his student quite capable, but lazy, while noting in him such traits as cowardice, cruelty towards animals, and a tendency to boast. The heir's training in Russia lasted only three years - after the wedding of Peter and Catherine, Shtelin was relieved of his duties (however, he forever retained Peter's favor and trust). Neither during his studies, nor subsequently, Pyotr Fedorovich never really learned to speak and write in Russian. The Grand Duke's mentor in Orthodoxy was Simon of Todor, who also became a teacher of the law for Catherine.

The heir's wedding was celebrated on a special scale - so that before the ten-day celebrations, “all the fairy tales of the East faded.” Peter and Catherine were granted 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 noted in her memoirs:

(In the same place, Catherine mentions, not without pride, that she read the “History of Germany” in eight large volumes in four months. Elsewhere in her memoirs, Catherine writes about her enthusiastic reading of Madame de Sevigne and Voltaire. All memories are from about the same time.)

The Grand Duke's mind was still occupied with children's games and military exercises, and he was not at all interested in women. It is believed that until the early 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 (the future Emperor Paul I) . However, the inconsistency of this version is evidenced by a letter from the Grand Duke to his wife, dated December 1746:

The infant heir, the future Russian Emperor Paul I, was immediately taken away from his parents after birth, and Empress Elizaveta Petrovna herself took up his upbringing. However, Pyotr Fedorovich was never interested in his son and was quite satisfied with the empress’s permission to see Paul once a week. Peter was increasingly moving away from his wife; Elizaveta Vorontsova (sister of E.R. Dashkova) became his favorite. Nevertheless, Catherine noted that Grand Duke for some reason I always had an involuntary trust in her, all the more strange since 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"(“Mistress 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, then the Polish envoy to the Russian court. For the Grand Duke, his wife’s passion was also no secret. There is information that Peter and Catherine more than once hosted dinners together with Poniatovsky and Elizaveta Vorontsova; they took place in the chambers of the Grand Duchess. Afterwards, leaving with his favorite to his half, Peter joked: “Well, children, now you don’t need us anymore.” “Both couples lived on very good terms with each other.” The grand ducal couple had another child in 1757, Anna (she died of smallpox in 1759). Historians cast great doubt on the paternity of Peter, calling S. A. Poniatovsky the most likely father. However, Peter officially recognized the child as his own.

In the early 1750s, Peter was allowed to write out a small detachment of Holstein soldiers (by 1758 their number was about one and a half thousand), and that’s all free time he spent time doing military exercises and maneuvers with them. Some time later (by 1759-1760), these Holstein soldiers formed the garrison of the amusement fortress Peterstadt, built at the residence of the Grand Duke Oranienbaum. Peter's other hobby was playing the violin.

When in 1751 the Grand Duke learned that his uncle had become king of Sweden, he said:

Elizaveta Petrovna did not allow Peter to participate in resolving political issues, and the only position in which he could somehow prove himself was the position of director of the gentry corps. Meanwhile, the Grand Duke openly criticized the activities of the government, and during Seven Years' War publicly expressed sympathy for the Prussian king Frederick II. Moreover, Peter secretly helped his idol Frederick, passing on information about the number of Russian troops in the theater of military operations.

Chancellor A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin explained the manic passion of the heir to the throne as follows:

The defiant behavior of Peter Fedorovich was well known not only at court, but also in wider layers of Russian society, where the Grand Duke enjoyed neither authority nor popularity. In general, Peter shared his condemnation of anti-Prussian and pro-Austrian policies with his wife, but expressed it much more openly and boldly. However, the empress, despite her growing hostility towards her nephew, forgave him a lot as the son of his beloved sister who died early.

Sovereign

After the death of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna on December 25, 1761 (January 5, 1762 according to the new style), he was proclaimed emperor. Ruled for 186 days. Didn't get crowned.

In assessments of the activities of Peter III, two things usually collide: different approaches. The traditional approach is based on the absolutization of his vices and blind trust in the image that is created by the memoirists who organized the coup (Catherine II, E. R. Dashkova). He is characterized as ignorant, weak-minded, and his dislike for Russia is emphasized. Recently, attempts have been made to examine his personality and activities more objectively.

It is noted that Peter III was energetically involved in state affairs (“In the morning he was in his office, where he heard reports, then hurried to the Senate or collegiums. In the Senate, he took on the most important matters himself energetically and assertively”). His policy was quite consistent; he, in imitation of his grandfather Peter I, proposed to carry out a series of reforms.

Among the most important affairs of Peter III are the abolition of the Secret Chancellery (Chancellery of Secret Investigative Affairs; Manifesto of February 16, 1762), the beginning of the process of secularization of church lands, the encouragement of commercial and industrial activities through the creation of the State Bank and the issuance of banknotes (Name Decree of May 25), adoption of a decree on freedom of foreign trade (Decree of March 28); it also contains a requirement to respect forests as one of the most important resources of Russia. Among other measures, the researchers note a decree that allowed the establishment of factories for the production of sailing fabric in Siberia, as well as a decree that qualified the murder of peasants by landowners as “tyrant torture” and provided for lifelong exile for this. He also stopped the persecution of the Old Believers. Peter III is also credited with the intention to carry out a reform of the Russian Orthodox Church along the Protestant model (In the Manifesto of Catherine II on the occasion of her accession to the throne dated June 28, 1762, Peter was blamed for this: “Our Greek Church is already extremely exposed to its last danger, the change of ancient Orthodoxy in Russia and the adoption of a law of other faiths").

Legislative acts adopted during the short reign of Peter III largely became the foundation for the subsequent reign of Catherine II.

The most important document of the reign of Pyotr Fedorovich is the “Manifesto on the Freedom of the Nobility” (Manifesto of February 18, 1762), thanks to which the nobility became an exclusive privileged class of the Russian Empire. The nobility, having been forced by Peter I to compulsory and universal conscription to serve the state all their lives, and under Anna Ioannovna, having 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 exempt from service, nobles received the right to virtually unhindered exit from the country. 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 regarding noble service, linked official duties and landownership rights). The nobility became as free as a privileged class could be free in a feudal country.

The reign of Peter III was marked by the strengthening of serfdom. The landowners were given the opportunity to arbitrarily resettle the peasants who belonged to them from one district to another; serious bureaucratic restrictions arose 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 and were 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 on their estates and possessions, and to maintain the peasants in due obedience to them.” The riots were caused by a rumor spreading about the granting of “liberty to the peasantry”, a response to the rumors and 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 “ To the full meeting laws of the Russian Empire,” 192 documents were adopted: manifestos, personal and Senate decrees, resolutions, etc. (These do not include decrees on awards and ranks, monetary payments and on specific private issues).

However, some researchers stipulate that measures useful for the country were taken “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 Drawing up of a New Code”, and 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 internal affairs in 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, which it had taken from his native Holstein, and he himself intended to go on a campaign at the head of the guard.

Immediately upon his accession to the throne, Peter Fedorovich returned to the court most of the disgraced nobles of the previous reign, who had languished in exile (except for the hated Bestuzhev-Ryumin). Among them was Count Burchard Christopher Minich, a veteran of palace coups. The Emperor's Holstein relatives were summoned to Russia: Princes Georg Ludwig of Holstein-Gottorp and Peter August Friedrich of Holstein-Beck. Both were promoted to field marshal general in the prospect of war with Denmark; Peter August Friedrich was also appointed governor-general of the capital. Alexander Vilboa was appointed Feldzeichmeister General. These people, as well as the former teacher Jacob Shtelin, who was appointed personal librarian, formed the emperor's inner circle.

Heinrich Leopold von Goltz arrived in St. Petersburg to negotiate a separate peace with Prussia. Peter III valued the opinion of the Prussian envoy so much that he soon began to “run the whole foreign policy Russia."

Once in power, Peter III immediately stopped military operations against Prussia and concluded the St. Petersburg Peace Treaty with Frederick II on conditions extremely unfavorable for Russia, returning the conquered East Prussia (which had already been an integral part of the Russian Empire for four years); and abandoning all acquisitions during the actually won Seven Years' War. Russia's exit from the war once again saved Prussia from complete defeat (see also “The Miracle of the House of Brandenburg”). Peter III easily sacrificed the interests of Russia for the sake of his German duchy and friendship with his 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 progressiveness of many legislative measures, the unprecedented privileges for the nobility, Peter’s poorly thought-out foreign policy actions, as well as his harsh actions towards the church, the introduction of Prussian orders in the army not only did not add to his authority, but deprived him of any social support; in court circles, his policy only generated uncertainty about the future.

Finally, the intention to withdraw the guard from St. Petersburg and send it on an incomprehensible and unpopular Danish campaign served as a powerful catalyst for the 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, to the time of the beginning of the Seven Years' War and the deterioration of Elizabeth Petrovna's health. 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 with at least Siberia, hatched plans to neutralize Peter 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 chancellor’s intentions remained undisclosed; he managed to destroy dangerous papers). The Empress herself had no illusions about her successor to the throne and later thought about replacing her nephew with her great-nephew Paul:

Over the next three years, Catherine, who also came under suspicion in 1758 and almost ended up in a monastery, did not take any noticeable political actions, except that she persistently multiplied and strengthened her personal connections in high society.

In the ranks of the guard, a conspiracy against Pyotr Fedorovich took shape in recent months the life of Elizaveta Petrovna, thanks to the activities of the three Orlov brothers, officers Izmailovsky Regiment brothers Roslavlev and Lasunsky, Preobrazhensky brothers Passek and Bredikhin and others. Among the highest dignitaries of the Empire, the most enterprising conspirators were N.I. Panin, teacher 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 deciding 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 five months pregnant (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 complete triumph. Knowing well the character of her husband, she rightly believed that Peter would soon turn the entire metropolitan society against himself. To carry out the coup, Catherine preferred to wait for an opportune moment.

He treated his wife rudely, and on April 30, during a gala dinner on the occasion of the conclusion of peace with Prussia, a public scandal occurred. The Emperor, in the presence of the court, diplomats and foreign princes, shouted to his wife across the table "foll"(stupid); Catherine began to cry. The reason for the insult was Catherine’s reluctance to drink while standing the toast proclaimed by Peter III. 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.

By May 1762, the change of mood in the capital became so obvious that the emperor was advised from all sides to take measures to prevent a disaster, 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 and his retinue set off from Oranienbaum, his country residence, to Peterhof, where a gala dinner was to take place in honor of the emperor's namesake. The day before, a rumor spread throughout St. Petersburg that Catherine was being held under arrest. A great turmoil began in the guard; one of the participants in the conspiracy, Captain Passek, was arrested; the Orlov brothers feared that a conspiracy was in danger of being discovered.

In Peterhof, Peter III was supposed to be met by his wife, who, in 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 see Catherine with the news that events had taken a critical turn and it was no longer possible to delay). In the capital, the Guard, the Senate and the Synod, and the population swore allegiance to the “Empress and Autocrat of All Russia” in a short time.

The guard moved 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 detachment of Holsteins. However, having learned about the approach of the guard led by Catherine, Peter abandoned this thought and sailed to Kronstadt with the entire court, ladies, etc. But by that time Kronstadt had already sworn allegiance to Catherine. After this, Peter completely lost heart and, again rejecting Minich’s advice to go to the East Prussian army, returned to Oranienbaum, where he signed his abdication of the throne.

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 unprecedented widespread support from various layers of the capital’s population, and secondly, the guard became an independent political force, and not a protective force, but a revolutionary one, which overthrew the legitimate emperor and supported the usurpation of power by Catherine.

Death

The circumstances of the death of Peter III have not yet been fully clarified.

The deposed emperor immediately after the coup, accompanied by a guard of guards led by A.G. Orlov, was sent to Ropsha, 30 versts from St. Petersburg, where he died a week later. According to the official (and most probable) version, the cause of death was an attack of hemorrhoidal colic, worsened by prolonged alcohol consumption, and accompanied by diarrhea. During the autopsy (which was carried out by order of Catherine), it was discovered that Peter III had severe cardiac dysfunction, inflammation of the intestines, and there were signs of apoplexy.

However, the generally accepted version names Alexei Orlov as the killer. Three letters from Alexei Orlov to Catherine of Ropsha have survived, the first two are in the originals. The third letter clearly states the violent nature of the death of Peter III:

Recent historical and linguistic studies disprove the authenticity of the document (the original, apparently, never existed, and the real author of the fake is Rostopchin). Rumors (unreliable) also called the killers Peter G.N. Teplov, Catherine’s secretary, and guards officer A.M. Shvanvich (son of Martin Shvanvits; A.M. Shvanvich’s son, Mikhail, went over to the Pugachev side and became the prototype of Shvabrin in “ The captain's daughter"Pushkin), who allegedly strangled him with a gun belt. Emperor Paul I was convinced that his father was forcibly deprived of his life, but apparently he was unable to find any evidence of this.

Orlov's first two letters from Ropsha usually attract less attention, despite their undoubted authenticity:

From the letters it only follows that the abdicated sovereign suddenly fell ill; The guards did not need to forcibly take his life (even if they really wanted to) due to the transience of the serious illness.

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 made him unable to sit in one place for a long time; A “small heart” found at autopsy usually suggests dysfunction of other organs and makes circulatory problems more likely, that is, creates a risk of heart attack or stroke.

Alexey Orlov personally reported to the Empress about the death of Peter. Catherine, according to the testimony of N.I. Panin, who was present, burst into tears and said: “My glory is lost! My posterity will never forgive me for this involuntary crime.” Catherine II, from a political point of view, was unprofitable by the death of Peter (“too early for her glory,” E.R. Dashkova). The coup (or “revolution”, as the events of June 1762 are sometimes defined), which took place with the full support of the guard, nobility and the highest ranks of the empire, protected it from possible attacks on power by Peter and excluded the possibility of any opposition forming around him. In addition, Catherine knew her husband well enough to be seriously wary of his political aspirations.

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; She arrived at the Lavra incognito and paid her last debt to her husband. In 1796, 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 coronation of the ashes of his father.

The head slabs of the buried bear 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 have not been a new thing in the world community since the time of the False Nero, who appeared almost immediately after the death of his “prototype.” False tsars and false princes of the Time of Troubles are also known in Russia, but among all other domestic rulers and members of their families, Peter III is the absolute record holder for the number of impostors who tried to take the place of the untimely deceased tsar. During Pushkin's time there were rumors about five; According to the latest data, in Russia alone there were about forty false Peter III.

In 1764, he played the role of false Peter Anton Aslanbekov, a bankrupt Armenian merchant. Detained with a false passport in the Kursk district, he declared himself emperor and tried to rouse the people in his defense. The impostor was punished with whips and sent to eternal settlement in Nerchinsk.

Soon after, 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 Nikolay Kolchenko in Chernihiv region.

In 1765, a new impostor appeared in the Voronezh province, publicly declaring himself emperor. Later, arrested and interrogated, he “revealed himself as a private of the Lant-militia Oryol regiment Gavrila Kremnev.” Having deserted after 14 years of service, he managed to get himself a horse under saddle and lure two serfs of the landowner Kologrivov to his side. At first, Kremnev declared himself “a captain in the imperial service” and promised that from now on, distilling would be prohibited, and the collection of capitation money and recruitment would be suspended for 12 years, but after some time, prompted by his accomplices, he decided to declare his “royal name.” For a short time, Kremnev was successful, the nearest villages greeted him with bread and salt and the ringing of bells, and a detachment of five thousand people gradually gathered around the impostor. However, the untrained and unorganized gang fled at the first shots. Kremnev was captured and sentenced to death, but was pardoned by Catherine and exiled to eternal settlement in Nerchinsk, where his traces were completely lost.

In the same year, shortly after Kremnev’s arrest, a new impostor appeared in Slobodskaya Ukraine, in the settlement of Kupyanka, Izyum district. This time it turned out to be Pyotr Fedorovich Chernyshev, a fugitive soldier of the Bryansk regiment. This impostor, unlike his predecessors, turned out to be smart and articulate. Soon captured, convicted and exiled to Nerchinsk, he did not abandon his claims there either, spreading rumors that the “father-emperor,” who incognito inspected the soldier’s regiments, was mistakenly captured and beaten with whips. The peasants who believed him tried to organize an escape by bringing the “sovereign” a horse and providing him with money and provisions for the journey. However, the impostor was unlucky. He got lost in the taiga, was caught and cruelly punished in front of his admirers, sent to Mangazeya to eternal work, but died on the way there.

In the Iset province, a Cossack Kamenshchikov, previously convicted of many crimes, was sentenced to have his nostrils cut out and eternal exile to work in Nerchinsk for spreading rumors that the emperor was alive, but imprisoned in the Trinity Fortress. At the trial, he showed as his accomplice the Cossack Konon Belyanin, who was allegedly preparing to act as emperor. Belyanin got off with whippings.

In 1768, a second lieutenant of the Shirvan army regiment, held in the Shlisselburg fortress Josaphat Baturin in conversations with the soldiers on duty, he assured that “Peter Fedorovich is alive, but in a foreign land,” and even with one of the guards he tried to deliver a letter for the allegedly hiding monarch. By chance, this episode reached the authorities and the prisoner was sentenced to eternal exile to Kamchatka, from where he later managed to escape, taking part in the famous enterprise of Moritz Benevsky.

In 1769, a fugitive soldier was caught near Astrakhan Mamykin, publicly announcing that the emperor, who, of course, managed to escape, “will take over the kingdom again and will give benefits to the peasants.”

An extraordinary person turned out to be Fedot Bogomolov, a former serf who fled and joined the Volga Cossacks under the name Kazin. Strictly speaking, he did not impersonate himself 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 too smart and intelligent, suggested that the emperor was hiding in front of them, Bogomolov easily agreed with his “imperial dignity " Bogomolov, following his predecessors, was arrested and sentenced to have his nostrils pulled out, branded and eternal exile. On the way to Siberia he died.

In 1773, a robber ataman, who had escaped from Nerchinsk hard labor, tried to impersonate the emperor. Georgy Ryabov. His supporters later joined the Pugachevites, declaring that their deceased chieftain and the leader of the peasant war were one and the same person. The captain of one of the battalions stationed in Orenburg tried unsuccessfully to declare himself emperor. Nikolay Kretov.

In the same year, a certain Don Cossack, whose name has not been preserved in history, decided to benefit financially 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 to receive the “Father Tsar”, then the impostor himself appeared. The couple managed to profit enough at someone else’s expense before the news reached 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 authorities became aware of the plot and one of the high-ranking military men showed sufficient determination to completely suppress the plot. Accompanied by a small escort, he entered the hut where the impostor was, hit him in the face and ordered his arrest along with his accomplice (“Secretary of State”). The Cossacks present obeyed, but when the arrested were taken to Tsaritsyn for trial and execution, rumors immediately spread that the emperor was in custody and muted 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 ordinary people, he again “disappeared without a trace.” In 1774, the future leader of the peasant war, Emelyan Pugachev, the most famous of the false Peter 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.

In 1774, another candidate for emperor came across, a certain Panicle. Same year Foma Mosyagin, who also tried to try on the “role” of Peter III, was arrested and exiled to Nerchinsk following the rest of the impostors.

In 1776, the peasant Sergeev paid for the same thing, gathering a gang around himself that was going to rob and burn the landowners' houses. The Voronezh governor Potapov, who managed to defeat the peasant freemen with some difficulty, determined during the investigation that the conspiracy was extremely extensive - at least 96 people were involved in it to one degree or another.

In 1778, a soldier of the Tsaritsyn 2nd battalion, Yakov Dmitriev, drunk, in a bathhouse, told everyone who would listen to him that “He is with the army in the Crimean steppes former third Emperor Peter Feodorovich, who was previously kept under guard, from where he was kidnapped by the Don Cossacks; under him, the Iron Forehead is leading that army, against whom there was already a battle on our side, where two divisions were defeated, and we are waiting for him like a father; and on the border Pyotr Aleksandrovich Rumyantsev stands with the army and does not defend against it, but says that he does not want to defend from either side.” Dmitriev was interrogated under guard, and he stated that he heard this story “on the street from unknown people.” The Empress agreed with Prosecutor General A. A. Vyazemsky that there was nothing behind this except drunken recklessness and stupid chatter, and the soldier punished by the batogs was accepted into his former service.

In 1780, after the suppression of the Pugachev rebellion, the Don Cossack Maxim Khanin in the lower reaches of the Volga he again tried to raise the people, posing as “the miraculously saved Pugachev” - that is, Peter III. The number of his supporters began to grow rapidly, among them were peasants and rural priests, and a serious commotion began among those in power. However, on the Ilovlya River the challenger was captured and taken to Tsaritsyn. Astrakhan Governor-General I.V. Jacobi, who specially came to conduct the investigation, subjected the prisoner to interrogation and torture, during which Khanin admitted that back in 1778 he had met in Tsaritsyn with his friend named Oruzheinikov, and this friend convinced him that Khanin was “exactly “exactly” looks like Pugachev-“Peter”. The impostor was shackled and sent to Saratov prison.

His own Peter III was also in the scopal sect - it was its founder Kondraty Selivanov. Selivanov wisely neither confirmed nor denied rumors about his identity with the “hidden emperor.” A legend has been preserved that in 1797 he met with Paul I and when the emperor, not without irony, inquired, “Are you my father?” Selivanov allegedly replied, “I am not the father of sin; accept my work (castration), and I recognize you as my son.” What is thoroughly known is that Paul ordered that the osprey prophet be placed in a nursing home for the insane at the Obukhov hospital.

"The Lost Emperor" appeared at least four times abroad and enjoyed considerable success there. For the first time it emerged in 1766 in Montenegro, which at that time was fighting for independence against the Turks and the Venetian Republic. Strictly speaking, this man, who came from nowhere and became a village healer, never declared himself emperor, but a certain captain Tanovich, who had previously been in St. Petersburg, “recognized” him as the missing emperor, and the elders who gathered for the council managed to find a portrait of Peter in one from Orthodox monasteries and came to the conclusion that the original is very similar to its image. A high-ranking delegation was sent to Stefan (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 concluded between the tribes. Such unusual demands finally convinced the Montenegrins of his “royal origin” and, despite the resistance of the clergy and the machinations of the Russian general Dolgorukov, Stefan became the ruler of the country. He never revealed his real name, giving Y. V. Dolgoruky, who was seeking the truth, a choice of three versions - “Raicevic from Dalmatia, a Turk from Bosnia, and finally a Turk from Ioannina.” Openly recognizing himself as Peter III, he, however, ordered to call himself Stefan and went down in history as Stefan the Small, which is believed to come from the impostor’s signature - “ Stefan, small with small, good with good, evil with evil" Stefan turned out to be an intelligent and knowledgeable ruler. During the short time that he remained in power, civil strife ceased; after short friction, good neighborly relations with Russia were established and the country defended itself quite confidently against the onslaught from both the Venetians and the Turks. This could not please the conquerors, and Turkey and Venice made repeated attempts on Stephen’s life. Finally, one of the attempts was successful: after five years of rule, Stefan Maly was stabbed to death in his sleep by his own doctor, a Greek by nationality, Stanko Klasomunya, bribed by the Skadar Pasha. The impostor’s belongings were sent to St. Petersburg, and his associates even tried to obtain a pension from Catherine for “valiant service to her husband.”

After the death of Stephen, a certain Zenovich tried to declare himself the ruler of Montenegro and Peter III, who once again “miraculously escaped from the hands of murderers,” but his attempt was unsuccessful. Count Mocenigo, who was at that time 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. How his epic ended is unknown.

The last foreign impostor, appearing in 1773, traveled all over Europe, corresponded with monarchs, and kept in touch with Voltaire and Rousseau. In 1785, in Amsterdam, the swindler was finally arrested and his veins were opened.

The last Russian “Peter III” was arrested in 1797, after which the ghost of Peter III finally disappeared from the historical scene.

Peter III Fedorovich (born Karl Peter Ulrich, German Karl Peter Ulrich). Born on February 10 (21), 1728 in Kiel - died on July 6 (17), 1762 in Ropsha. Russian Emperor (1762), the first representative of the Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov dynasty on the Russian throne. Sovereign Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (1745). Grandson of Peter I.

Karl Peter, the future Emperor Peter III, was born on February 10 (21 according to the new style) 1728 in Kiel (Holstein-Gottorp).

Father - Duke Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp.

Mother - Anna Petrovna Romanova, daughter.

In the marriage contract concluded by his parents back under Peter I in 1724, they renounced any claims to the Russian throne. But the king reserved the right to appoint as his successor “one of the princes born by Divine blessing from this marriage.”

In addition, Karl Friedrich, being the nephew of the Swedish king Charles XII, had rights to the throne of Sweden.

Shortly after Peter's birth, his mother died, catching a cold during a fireworks display in honor of her son's birth. The boy grew up in the provincial surroundings of a tiny North German duchy. The father loved his son, but all his thoughts were aimed at returning Schleswig, which Denmark occupied at the beginning of the 18th century. Without having any military force, nor financial capabilities, Karl Friedrich pinned his hopes on either Sweden or Russia. Marriage to Anna Petrovna was a legal confirmation of Karl Friedrich's Russian orientation. But after Anna Ioannovna ascended the throne of the Russian Empire, this course became impossible. The new empress sought not only to deprive her cousin Elizaveta Petrovna of the rights to the inheritance, but also to assign it to the Miloslavsky line. Growing up in Kiel, the grandson of Peter the Great was a constant threat to the dynastic plans of the childless Empress Anna Ioannovna, who repeated with hatred: “The little devil still lives.”

In 1732, by a demarche of the Russian and Austrian governments, with the consent of Denmark, Duke Karl Friedrich was asked to renounce the rights to Schleswig for a huge ransom. Karl Friedrich categorically rejected this proposal. The father placed all hopes for restoring the territorial integrity of his duchy on his son, instilling in him the idea of revenge. From an early age, Karl Friedrich raised his son in a military way - in the Prussian way.

When Karl Peter was 10 years old, he was awarded the rank of second lieutenant, which made a huge impression on the boy; he loved military parades.

At the age of eleven he lost his father. After his death, he was brought up in the house of his paternal cousin, Bishop Adolf of Eitinsky, later King Adolf Fredrik of Sweden. His teachers O.F. Brummer and F.V. Berkhgolts were not distinguished by high moral qualities and more than once cruelly punished the child. The Crown Prince of the Swedish Crown was repeatedly flogged and subjected to other sophisticated and humiliating punishments.

The teachers cared little about his education: by the age of thirteen he only spoke a little French.

Peter grew up fearful, 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 throughout his life). All his ambitious dreams were connected with military pleasures. He was not in good health; on the contrary, he was sickly and frail. By character, Peter was not evil; he often behaved simple-mindedly. Already in childhood he became addicted to wine.

Elizabeth Petrovna, who became Empress in 1741, wanted to secure the throne through her father and ordered her nephew to be brought to Russia. In December, soon after the accession of Empress Elizabeth to the throne, she sent Major von Korff (husband of Countess Maria Karlovna Skavronskaya, cousin of the Empress) and with him G. von Korff, the Russian envoy to the Danish court, to Kiel to take the young duke to Russia .

Three days after the Duke's departure, they learned about this in Kiel; he was traveling incognito, under the name of the young Count Duker. At the last station before Berlin they stopped and sent the quartermaster to the Russian envoy (minister) von Brakel there, and began to wait for him at postal station. But the night before, Brakel died in Berlin. This accelerated their further journey to St. Petersburg. In Keslin, in Pomerania, the postmaster recognized the young duke. Therefore, they drove all night to quickly leave the Prussian borders.

On February 5 (16), 1742, Karl Peter Ulrich arrived safely in Russia, to the Winter Palace. There was a large crowd of people to see the grandson of Peter the Great. On February 10 (21), the 14th anniversary of his birth was celebrated.

At the end of February 1742, Elizaveta Petrovna went with her nephew to Moscow for her coronation. Karl Peter Ulrich was present at the coronation in the Assumption Cathedral on April 25 (May 6), 1742, in a specially arranged place, next to Her Majesty. After his coronation, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky Guard and wore the uniform of this regiment every day. Also colonel of the First Life Cuirassier Regiment.

At the first meeting, Elizabeth was struck by the ignorance of her nephew and upset by his appearance: thin, sickly, with an unhealthy complexion. Academician Jacob Shtelin became his tutor and teacher, who considered his student quite capable, but lazy. The professor noticed his inclinations and tastes and organized his first classes based on them. He read picture books with him, especially those depicting fortresses, siege weapons, and engineering weapons; He made various mathematical models in small form and arranged complete experiments from them on a large table. From time to time he brought ancient Russian coins and, while explaining them, told ancient Russian history, and about the medals of Peter I recent history states. I read him newspapers twice a week and quietly explained to him the basis of the story. European countries, while occupying it with land maps of these states and showing their position on the globe.

In November 1742, Karl Peter Ulrich converted to Orthodoxy under the name Peter Fedorovich. His official title included the words “Grandson of Peter the Great.”

Peter III ( documentary)

Height of Peter III: 170 centimeters.

Personal life of Peter III:

In 1745, Peter married Princess Ekaterina Alekseevna (née Sophia Frederica Augusta) of Anhalt-Zerbst, the future empress.

The heir's wedding was celebrated on a special scale. Peter and Catherine were granted possession of palaces - Oranienbaum near St. Petersburg and Lyubertsy near Moscow.

After the Holstein heir Brummer and Berchholtz were removed from the throne, his upbringing was entrusted to the military general Vasily Repnin, who turned a blind eye to his duties and did not prevent the young man from devoting all his time to playing toy soldiers. The heir's training in Russia lasted only three years - after the wedding of Peter and Catherine, Shtelin was relieved of his duties, but forever retained Peter's favor and trust.

The Grand Duke's immersion in military fun caused increasing irritation of the Empress. In 1747, she replaced Repnin with the Choglokovs, Nikolai Naumovich and Maria Simonovna, in whom she saw an example of a married couple who sincerely loved each other. In accordance with the instructions drawn up by Chancellor Bestuzhev, Choglokov tried to limit his ward’s access to games and replaced his favorite servants for this.

Peter's relationship with his wife did not work out from the very beginning. Catherine noted in her memoirs that her husband “bought himself German books, but what books? Some of them consisted of Lutheran prayer books, and the other - of the stories and trials of some highwaymen who were hanged and wheeled.”

It is believed that until the early 1750s there was no marital relationship between husband and wife at all, but then Peter underwent some kind of operation (presumably circumcision to eliminate phimosis), after which in 1754 Catherine gave birth to his son Paul. At the same time, the Grand Duke’s letter to his wife, dated December 1746, suggests that the relationship between them was immediately after the wedding: “Madam, I ask you this night not to bother yourself at all to sleep with me, since it is too late to deceive me , the bed has become too narrow, after a two-week separation from you, this afternoon your unfortunate husband, whom you never honored with this name. Peter".

Historians cast great doubt on the paternity of Peter, calling S. A. Poniatovsky the most likely father. However, Peter officially recognized the child as his own.

The infant heir, the future Russian Emperor Paul I, was immediately taken away from his parents after birth, and Empress Elizaveta Petrovna herself took up his upbringing. Pyotr Fedorovich was never interested in his son and was quite satisfied with the empress’s permission to see Paul once a week. Peter increasingly moved away from his wife; Elizaveta Vorontsova, E.R.’s sister, became his favorite. Dashkova.

Elizaveta Vorontsova - mistress of Peter III

Nevertheless, Catherine noted that for some reason the Grand Duke always had an involuntary trust in her, all the more strange since 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 Ressource” (“Lady Help”).

Peter never hid his hobbies for other women from his wife. But Catherine did not at all feel humiliated by this state of affairs, having by that time a huge number of lovers. For the Grand Duke, his wife’s hobbies were also no secret.

After Choglokov’s death in 1754, General Brockdorff, who arrived incognito from Holstein and encouraged the militaristic habits of the heir, de facto became the manager of the “small court.” In the early 1750s, he was allowed to write out a small detachment of Holstein soldiers (by 1758 their number was about one and a half thousand). Peter and Brockdorff spent all their free time doing military exercises and maneuvers with them. Some time later (by 1759-1760), these Holstein soldiers formed the garrison of the amusing fortress of Peterstadt, built at the residence of the Grand Duke Oranienbaum.

Peter's other hobby was playing the violin.

During the years spent in Russia, Peter never made any attempt to better know the country, its people and history; he neglected Russian customs, behaved inappropriately during church services, and did not observe fasts and other rituals. When in 1751 the Grand Duke learned that his uncle had become the king of Sweden, he said: “They dragged me to this damned Russia, where I must consider myself a state prisoner, whereas if they had left me free, now I would be sitting on the throne civilized people."

Elizaveta Petrovna did not allow Peter to participate in resolving political issues, and the only position in which he could somehow prove himself was the position of director of the gentry corps. Meanwhile, the Grand Duke openly criticized the activities of the government, and during the Seven Years' War publicly expressed sympathy for the Prussian king Frederick II.

The defiant behavior of Peter Fedorovich was well known not only at court, but also in wider layers of Russian society, where the Grand Duke enjoyed neither authority nor popularity.

Personality of Peter III

Jacob Staehlin wrote about Peter III: “He is quite witty, especially in disputes, which was developed and supported in him from his youth by the grumpiness of his chief marshal Brümmer... By nature he judges quite well, but his attachment to sensual pleasures frustrated him more than it developed him judgments, and therefore he did not like deep thinking. Memory is excellent down to the last detail. He willingly read travel descriptions and military books. As soon as a catalog of new books came out, he read it and noted for himself many books that made up a decent library. He ordered his late parent’s library from Kiel and bought Melling’s engineering and military library for a thousand rubles.”

In addition, Shtelin wrote: “Being a Grand Duke and not having room for a library in his St. Petersburg palace, he ordered it to be transported to Oranienbaum and kept a librarian with it. Having become emperor, he instructed State Councilor Shtelin, as his chief librarian, to build a library on the mezzanine of his new winter palace in St. Petersburg, for which four large rooms were assigned and two for the librarian himself. For this, in the first case, he assigned 3,000 rubles, and then 2,000 rubles annually, but demanded that not a single Latin book be included in it, because pedantic teaching and coercion had disgusted him with Latin from an early age...

He was not a hypocrite, but he also did not like any jokes about faith and the word of God. He was somewhat inattentive during external worship, often forgetting the usual bows and crosses and talking to the ladies-in-waiting and other persons around him.

The Empress did not like such actions very much. She expressed her disappointment to Chancellor Count Bestuzhev, who, on her behalf, on similar and many other occasions, instructed me to give the Grand Duke serious instructions. This was carried out with all care, usually on Monday, regarding such indecency of his actions, both in church and at court or at other public meetings. He was not offended by such remarks, because he was convinced that I wished him well and always advised him how to please Her Majesty as much as possible and thus create his own happiness...

Alien to all prejudices and superstitions. Thoughts regarding faith were more Protestant than Russian; therefore, from an early age, I often received admonitions not to show such thoughts and to show more attention and respect for worship and the rites of faith.”

Shtelin noted that Peter “always had with him a German Bible and a Kiel prayer book, in which he knew by heart some of the best spiritual songs.” At the same time: “I was afraid of thunderstorms. In words he was not at all afraid of death, but in reality he was afraid of any danger. He often boasted that he would not be left behind in any battle, and that if a bullet hit him, he was sure that it was intended for him,” wrote Shtelin.

Reign of Peter III

On Christmas Day, December 25, 1761 (January 5, 1762), at three o'clock in the afternoon, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna died. Peter ascended the throne of the Russian Empire. Imitating Frederick II, Peter was not crowned, but planned to be crowned after the campaign against Denmark. As a result, Peter III was posthumously crowned Paul I in 1796.

Peter III did not have a clear political program of action, but he had his own vision of politics, and, imitating his grandfather Peter I, planned to carry out a number of reforms. On January 17, 1762, Peter III, at a meeting of the Senate, announced his plans for the future: “The nobles will continue to serve of their own free will, as much and where they wish, and when war time If it happens, then they must all appear on the same basis as in Livonia they deal with the nobles.”

Several months in power revealed the contradictory nature of Peter III. Almost all contemporaries noted such character traits of the emperor as a thirst for activity, tirelessness, kindness and gullibility.

Among the most important reforms of Peter III:

Abolition of the Secret Chancellery (Chancery of Secret Investigative Affairs; Manifesto of February 16, 1762);
- the beginning of the process of secularization of church lands;
- encouragement of commercial and industrial activities through the creation of the State Bank and the issuance of banknotes (Nominal Decree of May 25);
- adoption of a decree on freedom of foreign trade (Decree of March 28); it also contains a requirement to respect forests as one of the most important resources of Russia;
- a decree that allowed the establishment of factories for the production of sailing fabric in Siberia;
- a decree that qualified the murder of peasants by landowners as “tyrant torture” and provided for lifelong exile for this;
- stopped the persecution of the Old Believers.

Peter III is also credited with the intention to carry out the reform of the Russian Orthodox Church according to the Protestant model (In the Manifesto of Catherine II on the occasion of her accession to the throne dated June 28 (July 9), 1762, Peter was blamed for this: “Our Greek Church is already extremely exposed to its last danger of change ancient Orthodoxy in Russia and the adoption of a heterodox law").

Legislative acts adopted during the short reign of Peter III largely became the foundation for the subsequent reign of Catherine II.

The most important document of the reign of Peter Fedorovich - “Manifesto on the freedom of the nobility” (Manifesto of February 18 (March 1), 1762), thanks to which the nobility became the exclusive privileged class of the Russian Empire.

The nobility, having been forced by Peter I to compulsory and universal conscription to serve the state all their lives, and under Anna Ioannovna, having 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 serving class, not only remained, but also expanded. In addition to being exempt from service, nobles received the right to virtually unhindered exit from the country. 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 regarding noble service, linked official duties and landownership rights).

The nobility became as free as a privileged class could be free in a feudal country.

Under Peter III, a broad amnesty was carried out for persons who had been subjected to exile and other punishments in previous years. Among those returned were the favorite of Empress Anna Ioannovna E.I. Biron and Field Marshal B.K. Minich, close to Peter III.

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, personal and Senate decrees, resolutions, etc.

Peter III was much more interested in internal affairs in the war with Denmark: the emperor decided, in alliance with Prussia, to oppose Denmark in order to return Schleswig, which it had taken from his native Holstein, and he himself intended to go on a campaign at the head of the guard.

Immediately upon his accession to the throne, Peter Fedorovich returned to the court most of the disgraced nobles of the previous reign, who had languished in exile (except for the hated Bestuzhev-Ryumin). Among them was Count Burchard Christopher Minich, a veteran of palace coups and a master of engineering of his time. The Emperor's Holstein relatives were summoned to Russia: Princes Georg Ludwig of Holstein-Gottorp and Peter August Friedrich of Holstein-Beck. Both were promoted to field marshal general in the prospect of war with Denmark; Peter August Friedrich was also appointed governor-general of the capital. Alexander Vilboa was appointed Feldzeichmeister General. These people, as well as the former teacher Jacob Shtelin, who was appointed personal librarian, formed the emperor's inner circle.

Bernhard Wilhelm von der Goltz arrived in St. Petersburg to negotiate a separate peace with Prussia. Peter III valued the opinion of the Prussian envoy so much that he soon began to “direct the entire foreign policy of Russia.”

Among the negative aspects of the reign of Peter III, the main one is his actual annulment of the results of the Seven Years' War. Once in power, Peter III, who did not hide his admiration for Frederick II, immediately stopped military operations against Prussia and concluded the Peace of St. Petersburg with the Prussian king on extremely unfavorable terms for Russia, returning the conquered East Prussia (which by that time had already been a constituent part of part of the Russian Empire) and abandoning all acquisitions during the Seven Years' War, which was practically won by Russia. All the sacrifices, all the heroism of the Russian soldiers were crossed out in one fell swoop, which looked like a real betrayal of the interests of the fatherland and high treason.

Russia's exit from the war once again saved Prussia from complete defeat. The peace concluded on April 24 was interpreted by the ill-wishers of Peter III as a true national humiliation, since the long and costly war, by the grace of this admirer of Prussia, ended in literally nothing: Russia did not derive any benefits from its victories. However, this did not prevent Catherine II from continuing what Peter III had started, and the Prussian lands were finally liberated from the control of Russian troops and given to Prussia by her. Catherine II concluded a new treaty of alliance with Frederick II in 1764. However, Catherine’s role in ending the Seven Years’ War is usually not advertised.

Despite the progressive nature of many legislative measures and unprecedented privileges for the nobility, Peter’s poorly thought-out foreign policy actions, as well as his harsh actions towards the church, the introduction of Prussian orders in the army not only did not add to his authority, but deprived him of any social support. In court circles, his policy only generated uncertainty about the future.

Finally, the intention to withdraw the guard from St. Petersburg and send it on an incomprehensible and unpopular Danish campaign served as the “last straw”, a powerful catalyst for the conspiracy that arose in the guard against Peter III in favor of Ekaterina Alekseevna.

Death of Peter III

The origins of the conspiracy date back to 1756, that is, to the time of the beginning of the Seven Years' War and the deterioration of Elizabeth Petrovna's health. 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 with at least Siberia, hatched plans to neutralize Peter 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 chancellor’s intentions remained undisclosed; he managed to destroy dangerous papers). The Empress herself had no illusions about her successor to the throne and later thought about replacing her nephew with her great-nephew Paul.

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 three Orlov brothers, officers of the Izmailovsky regiment brothers Roslavlev and Lasunsky, Preobrazhensky soldiers Passek and Bredikhin and others. Among the highest dignitaries of the Empire, the most enterprising conspirators were N. I. Panin, teacher of the young Pavel Petrovich, M. N. Volkonsky and K. G. Razumovsky, Ukrainian hetman, president of the Academy of Sciences, favorite of his Izmailovsky regiment.

Elizaveta Petrovna died without deciding 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 five months pregnant (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 complete triumph. Knowing well the character of her husband, she rightly believed that Peter would soon turn the entire metropolitan society against himself.

To carry out the coup, Catherine preferred to wait for an opportune moment.

Peter III's position in society was precarious, but Catherine's position at court was also precarious. 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 June 9, during a gala dinner on the occasion of the conclusion of peace with Prussia, a public scandal occurred. The Emperor, in the presence of the court, diplomats and foreign princes, shouted “folle” (fool) to his wife across the table. Catherine began to cry. The reason for the insult was Catherine’s reluctance to drink while standing the toast proclaimed by Peter III. 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.

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 (July 9), 1762, on the eve of Peter's Day, Emperor Peter III and his retinue set off from Oranienbaum, his country residence, to Peterhof, where a gala dinner was to take place in honor of the emperor's name day.

The day before, a rumor spread throughout St. Petersburg that Catherine was being held under arrest. Violent unrest began in the guard; one of the participants in the conspiracy, Captain Passek, was arrested. The Orlov brothers feared that the conspiracy was in danger of being exposed.

In Peterhof, Peter III was supposed to be met by his wife, who, in 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 see Catherine with the news that events had taken a critical turn and it was no longer possible to delay).

In the capital, the Guard, the Senate and the Synod, and the population swore allegiance to the “Empress and Autocrat of All Russia” in a short time. The guard moved towards Peterhof.

The circumstances of the death of Peter III have not yet been fully clarified.

The deposed emperor on June 29 (July 10), 1762, almost immediately after the coup, accompanied by a guard of guards led by A.G. Orlov was sent to Ropsha, 30 versts from St. Petersburg, where a week later, on July 6 (17), 1762, he died. By official version The cause of death was an attack of hemorrhoidal colic, aggravated by prolonged alcohol consumption and diarrhea. During the autopsy, which was carried out by order of Catherine, it was discovered that Peter III had severe cardiac dysfunction, inflammation of the intestines and signs of apoplexy.

However, according to another version, Peter’s death is considered violent and Alexei Orlov is called the murderer. This version is based on Orlov’s letter to Catherine from Ropsha, which was not preserved in the original. This letter has reached us in a copy taken 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 and name Rostopchin himself as the author of the forgery.

A number of modern medical examinations, based on surviving documents and evidence, revealed that Peter III suffered from bipolar disorder with a mild depressive phase, suffered from hemorrhoids, which is why he could not sit in one place for a long time. Microcardia discovered at autopsy usually suggests a complex of congenital developmental disorders.

Initially, Peter III was buried without any honors on July 10 (21), 1762 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. According to some reports, Catherine nevertheless arrived at the Lavra incognito and paid her last debt to her husband.

In 1796, 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 coronation of the ashes of his father. The head slabs of the buried bear 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.

On June 13, 2014, the world's first monument to Peter III was erected in the German city of Kiel. The initiators of this action were the German historian Elena Palmer and the Kiel Royal Society (Kieler Zaren Verein). The sculptor of the composition was Alexander Taratynov.

Impostors under the name of Peter III

Peter III became the absolute record holder for the number of impostors who tried to take the place of the untimely deceased king. According to the latest data, in Russia alone there were about forty false Peter III.

In 1764, Anton Aslanbekov, a bankrupt Armenian merchant, played the role of false Peter. Detained with a false passport in the Kursk district, he declared himself emperor and tried to rouse the people in his defense. The impostor was punished with whips and sent to eternal settlement in Nerchinsk.

Soon after this, the name of the late emperor was appropriated by the fugitive recruit Ivan Evdokimov, who tried to raise an uprising in his favor among the peasants of the Nizhny Novgorod province, and Nikolai Kolchenko in the Chernigov region.

In 1765, a new impostor appeared in the Voronezh province, publicly declaring himself emperor. Later, arrested and interrogated, he called himself Gavrila Kremnevoy, a private in the Lant-militia Oryol Regiment. Having deserted after 14 years of service, he managed to get himself a horse and lure two serfs of the landowner Kologrivov to his side. At first, Kremnev declared himself “a captain in the imperial service” and promised that from now on, distilling would be prohibited, and the collection of capitation money and recruitment would be suspended for 12 years, but after some time, prompted by his accomplices, he decided to declare his “royal name.” For a short time, Kremnev was successful, the nearest villages greeted him with bread and salt and the ringing of bells, and a detachment of five thousand people gradually gathered around the impostor. However, the untrained and unorganized gang fled at the first shots. Kremnev was captured and sentenced to death, but was pardoned by Catherine and exiled to eternal settlement in Nerchinsk, where his traces were completely lost.

In the same year, shortly after Kremnev’s arrest, in Sloboda Ukraine, in the settlement of Kupyanka, Izyum district, a new impostor appears - Pyotr Fedorovich Chernyshev, a fugitive soldier of the Bryansk regiment. This impostor, unlike his predecessors, was captured, convicted and exiled to Nerchinsk, did not abandon his claims, spreading rumors that the “father-emperor,” who incognito inspected the soldier’s regiments, was mistakenly captured and beaten with whips. The peasants who believed him tried to organize an escape by bringing the “sovereign” a horse and providing him with money and provisions for the journey. The impostor got lost in the taiga, was caught and cruelly punished in front of his admirers, sent to Mangazeya for eternal work, but died on the way there.

In the Iset province, the Cossack Kamenshchikov, previously convicted of many crimes, was sentenced to have his nostrils cut out and eternal exile to work in Nerchinsk for spreading rumors that the emperor was alive, but imprisoned in the Trinity Fortress. At the trial, he showed as his accomplice the Cossack Konon Belyanin, who was allegedly preparing to act as emperor. Belyanin got off with whippings.

In 1768, a second lieutenant of the Shirvan army regiment, Josaphat Baturin, who was kept in the Shlisselburg fortress, in conversations with the soldiers on duty, assured that “Peter Fedorovich is alive, but in a foreign land,” and even with one of the guards he tried to convey a letter for the allegedly hiding monarch. By chance, this episode reached the authorities, and the prisoner was sentenced to eternal exile to Kamchatka, from where he later managed to escape, taking part in the famous enterprise of Moritz Benevsky.

In 1769, near Astrakhan, the fugitive soldier Mamykin was caught, publicly announcing that the emperor, who, of course, managed to escape, “will take over the kingdom again and will give benefits to the peasants.”

An extraordinary person turned out to be Fedot Bogomolov, a former serf who fled and joined the Volga Cossacks under the name Kazin. In March-June 1772 on the Volga, in the Tsaritsyn region, when his colleagues, due to the fact that Kazin-Bogomolov seemed too smart and intelligent to them, suggested that the emperor was hiding in front of them, Bogomolov easily agreed with his “imperial dignity.” Bogomolov, following his predecessors, was arrested and sentenced to have his nostrils pulled out, branded and eternal exile. On the way to Siberia he died.

In 1773, the robber ataman Georgy Ryabov, who had escaped from the Nerchinsk penal servitude, tried to impersonate the emperor. His supporters later joined the Pugachevites, declaring that their deceased chieftain and the leader of the peasant war were one and the same person. The captain of one of the battalions stationed in Orenburg, Nikolai Kretov, unsuccessfully tried to declare himself emperor.

In the same year, a Don Cossack, whose name has not been preserved in history, decided to benefit financially from the widespread belief in the “hiding emperor.” His accomplice, posing as a secretary of state, traveled around the Tsaritsyn district of the Astrakhan province, taking oaths and preparing the people to receive the “father-tsar”, then the impostor himself appeared. The duo 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 Dubovka and arrest all the officers. The authorities became aware of the plot, and one of the high-ranking military men, accompanied by a small convoy, arrived at the hut where the impostor was located, hit him in the face and ordered his arrest along with his accomplice. The Cossacks present obeyed, but when the arrested were taken to Tsaritsyn for trial and execution, rumors immediately spread that the emperor was in custody, and muted 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 ordinary people, he again “disappeared without a trace.”

In 1773, the future leader of the peasant war, Emelyan Pugachev, the most famous of the false Peter III, skillfully turned this story to his advantage, asserting that he himself was the “emperor who disappeared from Tsaritsyn.”

In 1774, another candidate for emperor came across, a certain Metelka. In the same year, Foma Mosyagin, who also tried to try on the “role” of Peter III, was arrested and deported to Nerchinsk along with the other impostors.

In 1776, the peasant Sergeev paid for the same thing, gathering a gang around himself that was going to rob and burn the landowners' houses. Voronezh governor Ivan Potapov, who managed to defeat the peasant freemen with some difficulty, determined during the investigation that the conspiracy was extremely extensive - at least 96 people were involved in it to one degree or another.

In 1778, a drunken soldier of the Tsaritsyn 2nd battalion, Yakov Dmitriev, told everyone in the bathhouse that “in the Crimean steppes the former third emperor Peter Feodorovich is with the army, who was previously kept on guard, from where he was kidnapped by the Don Cossacks; under him, the Iron Forehead is leading that army, against whom there was already a battle on our side, where two divisions were defeated, and we are waiting for him like a father; and on the border Pyotr Aleksandrovich Rumyantsev stands with the army and does not defend against it, but says that he does not want to defend from either side.” Dmitriev was interrogated under guard, and he stated that he heard this story “on the street from unknown people.” The Empress agreed with Prosecutor General A.A. Vyazemsky that there was nothing more than drunken recklessness and stupid chatter behind this, and the soldier punished by the batogs was accepted into his former service.

In 1780, after the suppression of the Pugachev rebellion, the Don Cossack Maxim Khanin in the lower reaches of the Volga again tried to raise the people, posing as “the miracle of Pugachev’s escape.” The number of his supporters began to grow rapidly, among them were peasants and rural priests, and panic began among the authorities. On the Ilovlya River, the challenger was captured and taken to Tsaritsyn. Astrakhan Governor-General I.V., who came specially to conduct the investigation. Jacobi subjected the prisoner to interrogation and torture, during which Khanin confessed that back in 1778 he had met in Tsaritsyn with his friend named Oruzheinikov, and this friend convinced him that Khanin was “exactly” like Pugachev-“Peter”. The impostor was shackled and sent to Saratov prison.

The scopal sect had its own Peter III - it was its founder, Kondraty Selivanov. Selivanov wisely neither confirmed nor denied rumors about his identity with the “hidden emperor.” A legend has been preserved that in 1797 he met with Paul I and when the emperor, not without irony, inquired, “Are you my father?” Selivanov allegedly replied, “I am not the father of sin; accept my work (castration), and I recognize you as my son.” What is thoroughly known is that Paul ordered that the osprey prophet be placed in a nursing home for the insane at the Obukhov hospital.

The Lost Emperor appeared abroad at least four times and enjoyed considerable success there. The first time it emerged was in 1766 in Montenegro, which at that time was being fought for independence against the Turks by the Venetian Republic. This man named Stefan, who came from nowhere and became a village healer, never declared himself emperor, but a certain captain Tanovich, who had previously been in St. Petersburg, “recognized” him as the missing emperor, and the elders who gathered for the council managed to find a portrait of Peter in one from Orthodox monasteries and came to the conclusion that the original is very similar to its image. A high-ranking delegation was sent to Stefan with requests to take power over the country, but he flatly refused until internal strife was stopped and peace was concluded between the tribes. Unusual demands finally convinced the Montenegrins of his “royal origin” and, despite the resistance of the Church and the machinations of the Russian general Dolgorukov, Stefan became the ruler of the country.

He never revealed his real name, leaving Yu.V. Dolgoruky has three versions to choose from - “Raicevic from Dalmatia, a Turk from Bosnia and finally a Turk from Ioannina.” Openly recognizing himself as Peter III, he, however, ordered to be called Stefan and went down in history as Stefan the Small, which is believed to come from the impostor’s signature - “Stephen, small with small ones, good with good, evil with evil.” Stefan turned out to be an intelligent and knowledgeable ruler. In the short time he remained in power, civil strife ceased. After short friction, friendly relations were established with Russia, and the country defended itself quite confidently against the onslaught from both the Venetians and the Turks. This could not please the conquerors, and Turkey and Venice made repeated attempts on Stephen’s life. Finally, one of the attempts succeeded and after five years of rule, Stefan Maly was stabbed to death in his sleep by his own doctor, Stanko Klasomunya, bribed by the Skadar Pasha. The impostor's belongings were sent to St. Petersburg, and his associates tried to receive a pension from Catherine for “valiant service to her husband.”

After the death of Stefan, a certain Stepan Zanovich tried to declare himself the ruler of Montenegro and Peter III, who once again “miraculously escaped from the hands of murderers,” but his attempt was unsuccessful. After leaving Montenegro, Zanovich corresponded with monarchs from 1773 and kept in touch with Voltaire and Rousseau. In 1785 in Amsterdam, the swindler was arrested and his veins were cut.

Count Mocenigo, who was at that time 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.

The last impostor was arrested in 1797.

The image of Peter III in the cinema:

1934 - The Loose Empress (actor Sam Jaffe as Peter III)
1934 - The Rise of Catherine the Great (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.)
1963 - Catherine of Russia (Caterina di Russia) (Raoul Grassili)

Funeral of Peter III

On July 7, a manifesto was published about the upcoming coronation of Catherine II. Noteworthy was the extraordinary haste of the ceremony, which was to take place in Moscow in less than two months, which had no precedent in Russian history. It was also eloquent that Grigory Orlov was appointed the main manager of all celebrations. But the funeral of Peter III turned out to be even more hasty.

The place of his burial was not the Peter and Paul Cathedral, but the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, which also added confidence in the violent death of Peter III.

At the suggestion of N.I. Panin, the Senate “slavishly asked Catherine not to participate in the funeral,” since “this procedure would be unbearable for her.” Catherine agreed and did not participate in the funeral.

There is little evidence of the funeral of Peter III. One of them was left by the aide-de-camp of Peter III, Colonel David Reingold Sivers, a cousin of Karl Sivers, who was close to Elizabeth Petrovna, who has already been mentioned in this book. Quite interesting “Notes” belong to his pen. He was in Oranienbaum when Peter III was arrested, and he himself was arrested by Vasily Suvorov. Thanks to the intercession of his cousin before Catherine II, he was released and left for St. Petersburg.

There he heard about the death of Peter III. Sivers reports: “On the night of July 7-8, his body was transported from the place of his imprisonment to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery and stood until the 10th in a coffin, upholstered in red satin with a few gold decorations. He was lying in his favorite Holstein uniform, but without any orders, without a sword and without a guard. His guard was a low-ranking officer and several soldiers.”

The former emperor was dressed in the light blue uniform of the Holstein dragoons with white lapels. The deceased's hands were wearing large leather gloves with elbow-length gauntlets, such as were worn by Swedish officers from the time of Charles XII.

Ordinary people walked to the emperor's tomb continuously, and there were many thousands of them. They saw the relative poverty of the funeral decorations, the small number of guards, but what struck them most of all was that in the coffin lay a man with a black face: due to great loss of blood and suffocation, the face of the deceased became unusually dark.

From this, a rumor immediately spread in St. Petersburg that Pyotr Fedorovich had escaped, and the Tsar’s blackamoor, who had been killed in his place, was placed in the coffin. However, it was forbidden to stop, and people quickly passed by the deceased.

On Wednesday, July 10, many military and civil generals and a huge crowd of common people arrived at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. After a short funeral liturgy in the Church of the Annunciation, the body of the deceased was interred here in the church, next to the former ruler Anna Leopoldovna.

The coffin was lowered into the grave without a gun salute and without bell ringing. But this was not the only thing that distinguished his funeral from the funerals of other Russian monarchs: he was to lie in this grave for only 33 years. And on December 18, 1796, by order of his son Peter Paul, he was buried a second time with and next to Catherine II, who had died the day before.

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Plan
Introduction
1 Versions about the murder
1.1 Orlov
1.2 Teplov, Volkov and Shvanvich

2 Version about natural death
3 Catherine's reaction
4 Funeral
Bibliography

Introduction

Palace in Ropsha. Photo from the early 1970s

Overthrown as a result of the palace coup of 1762, Emperor Peter III died on July 6 (17), 1762 in Ropsha near St. Petersburg under unclear circumstances. There are several versions of his death. Official version in Russian Empire more than a hundred years (up to late XIX century) there was death from illness due to natural causes: “from hemorrhoidal colic.”

1. Versions about the murder

For a long time, the widespread version of the violent death of Peter III names Alexei Orlov as the murderer. Three letters from Alexei Orlov to Catherine of Ropsha are usually mentioned, but only the first two exist in the originals.

The third letter clearly states the violent nature of the death of Peter III:

The third letter is the only (known to date) documentary evidence of the murder of the deposed emperor. This letter has reached us in a copy taken 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 disprove the authenticity of the document (the original, apparently, never existed, and the real author of the fake is Rostopchin).

The story of Alexei's letters is very mysterious. Despite the fact that in popular opinion he is forever branded as a murderer, from the point of view of historical fact this version seems very doubtful. Numerous descriptions of the reburial of Peter and his posthumous coronation carried out by Paul mention that Alexey Orlov carried the crown on a pillow on December 3, 1796 at the head of the procession transporting the emperor’s ashes to the Winter Palace for farewell. And he cried with fear. Obviously, this is how Pavel tried to publicly punish Orlov. But for what exactly - murder? But if Pavel knew for sure that Alexey was a murderer, then why didn’t he arrest him and try him as an officer? Maybe Pavel punished Alexei only for participating in the coup? Then everything starts to fall into place.

1.2. Teplov, Volkov and Shvanvich

Rumors also called the killer of Peter the guards officer A. M. Shvanvich (son of Martin Shvanvits; A. M. Shvanvich’s son, Mikhail, went over to the side of the Pugachevites and became the prototype of Shvabrin in Pushkin’s “The Captain’s Daughter”), who allegedly strangled him with a gun belt.

The German historian E. Palmer believes that no matter how dashing the guards were, it was still not easy for them, Russian soldiers, to raise their hands against the emperor to whom they swore allegiance. Arresting and executing openly is one thing. Adding poison or strangling is completely different. This would be against their code of honor. It is also very possible that Alexei himself experienced certain moral difficulties: although his comrade-in-arms in the coup Dashkova later called him a “non-human,” he was still a Russian officer. Obviously, Grigory Orlov, who himself knew the guards code of honor firsthand, understood that there was unlikely to be a volunteer among his guards. This was a serious problem. This is how the idea arose to involve two civilists Grigory Teplov and Fyodor Volkov in this essentially military action. Who were they, how did they become participants in the events, and what role were they assigned to play? The assumption that it was Teplov who was tasked with physically destroying the emperor was expressed by both researchers and contemporaries of the events more than once.

Teplov Grigory Nikolaevich, went down in history as statesman, composer, full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Arts. However, his main field was secretarial work at court, as he had a brilliant command of the pen and the word. Thanks to this skill, he earned the sympathy and patronage of the illiterate favorite of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna Alexei Razumovsky. He drafted decrees and letters to the empress, in fact he was her secretary. Taking advantage of his closeness to the ruling couple, he carried out dirty deals, intrigued, stole, and became famous for his immorality. “Recognized by everyone as the most insidious deceiver of the entire state, however, he is very clever, insinuating, selfish, flexible, and allows himself to be used for all things because of money,” - this is how the Austrian Ambassador to Russia, Count Mercy d'Argento (A. von Arneth and J. Flammermont. Correspondance secrete de Mercy avec Joseph II et Kaunitz. Paris 1889-1891). In 1757, Teplov, who considered himself a great musician, turned to Peter with a request to allow him to participate in opera productions in Oranienbaum. Peter did not allow it, since the professional level of musicians and actors in the Oranienbaum Theater was extremely high, and the amateur Teplov had nothing to do there. Teplov was extremely offended and was rude to the Grand Duke, for which he was even subjected to a 3-day arrest.

Fyodor Grigorievich Volkov, an actor and director, received the same refusal for creative reasons. Arriving in Moscow in 1752 with his theater from Yaroslavl, Empress Elizabeth liked him and received an invitation to stay and work as a director of the court theater troupe. The Oranienbaum opera was extremely popular during these years, and Volkov was very vain. Perhaps he perceived the Grand Duke as his direct competitor on stage, or perhaps he simply wanted to take control of the Oranienbaum Theater. The fact is that Pyotr Volkov did not allow him near his theater and Volkov could not forgive him for this. He openly denigrated Peter's productions and Peter himself. The entire court knew about Volkov's hatred of the Grand Duke.

The inclusion of the actor Volkov from the very beginning in the Ropshin Guards group can only be explained if we assume that it was he who was given the task of killing the deposed emperor. The situation in Ropsha gradually escalated. One of the guards warned Peter that an order had been received to poison him, and he began to go out to get water in the garden, where there was a stream. On July 3, the court surgeon Paulsen arrives in Ropsha, with various surgical instruments, including a saw for opening corpses - Peter could not help but notice this. With the same carriage, on July 3, Petrovsky's footman Maslov was sent from Ropsha back to St. Petersburg - this is how they got rid of the witness. And yet the soldiers hesitate. The moral atmosphere is clearly not heroic. The whole operation is on the verge of collapse. And then Grigory Orlov sends Teplov to Ropsha, a man who, as mentioned above, knew how to speak well, and whose concepts of morality and honor were not particularly strict. It is unlikely that Teplov was tasked with strangling the emperor. He was an extremely gentle man, with a fragile, feminine build. Not to kill, but to persuade him to kill - that was his task. And apparently he coped with this delicate job. Considering all these factors, the assumption that actor Fyodor Volkov was Peter’s direct killer seems quite legitimate. The German historian E. Palmer, who first substantiated this version, writes: “The participation of the actor Volkov in the tragedy of Peter gives the whole drama Shakespearean depth.”

Emperor Paul I was convinced that his father was forcibly deprived of his life, but apparently he was unable to find any evidence of this.

2. Version of natural death

According to the official and little probable version), the cause of death was an attack of hemorrhoidal colic, worsened by prolonged alcohol consumption, and accompanied by diarrhea. During the autopsy (which was carried out on the orders and under the control of Catherine) it was discovered that Peter III had severe cardiac dysfunction, inflammation of the intestines, and there were signs of apoplexy.

Already today, a number of medical examinations have been carried out on the basis of surviving documents and evidence. For example, there is an assumption that Peter III suffered from manic-depressive psychosis in a weak stage (cyclothymia) with a mild depressive phase. Considering that this “diagnosis” is based on secondary sources, such as the Memoirs of Catherine the Second, and historical books copied from them, it is hardly possible to take it seriously. It is difficult to say how reliable the results of the autopsy carried out on Catherine’s orders are, which diagnosed hemorrhoids as a possible cause of death, or a “small heart”, which usually implies dysfunction of other organs, making circulatory disorders more likely, that is, creating the risk of a heart attack or stroke . The only primary and therefore reliable source of information about the state of health of Peter, as well as other members of the imperial family, that has come down to us, are the original records of the court physicians Condoidi and Sanchez, stored in state archive in Moscow. According to these records, Peter suffered from smallpox and pleurisy. No other ailments are mentioned.

Thus, it is almost impossible to accept the version of Peter’s natural death on faith. Firstly, Peter never had medical problems of this nature. Secondly, the emperor did not drink alcohol. Peter and alcohol are Catherine’s invention. Not a single other person from his immediate circle mentions his addiction to alcohol. Thirdly, as history teaches us, overthrown and arrested rulers do not die a natural death. It would be too convenient for those who overthrew them. So even if we assume that Peter really died from colic, then the most likely cause can only be poison. The fact that the plan to poison the prisoner certainly existed and was even discussed with the court doctors is mentioned by the same Mercy d’Argento (see above), a very punctual and reliable witness. However, the generally accepted version among the people says that Peter was strangled. Those who came to say goodbye to him noticed the blueness of his face - a sign of strangulation.

The relationship between Catherine and Peter III did not work out from the very beginning. The husband not only took numerous mistresses, but also openly declared that he intended to divorce his wife for the sake of Elizaveta Vorontsova. There was no need to expect support from Catherine.

Peter III and Catherine II

A conspiracy against the emperor began to be prepared even before his ascension to the throne. Chancellor Alexei Bestuzhev-Ryumin harbored the most hostile feelings towards Peter. He was especially irritated by the fact that the future ruler openly sympathized with the Prussian king. When Empress Elizaveta Petrovna became seriously ill, the chancellor began to prepare the ground for a palace coup and wrote to Field Marshal Apraksin to return to Russia. Elizaveta Petrovna recovered from her illness and deprived the chancellor of her ranks. Bestuzhev-Ryumin fell out of favor and did not finish his work.

During the reign of Peter III, Prussian rules were introduced in the army, which could not but cause indignation among the officers. It is worth noting that the emperor made no attempts to become acquainted with Russian customs and ignored Orthodox rituals. The conclusion of peace with Prussia in 1762, according to which Russia voluntarily gave up East Prussia, became another reason for dissatisfaction with Peter III. In addition, the emperor intended to send the guard on a Danish campaign in June 1762, the goals of which were completely unclear to the officers.

Elizaveta Vorontsova

The conspiracy against the emperor was organized by guard officers, including Grigory, Fedor and Alexei Orlov. Due to the controversial foreign policy of Peter III, many officials joined the conspiracy. By the way, the ruler received reports of an impending coup, but he did not take them seriously.

Alexey Orlov

On June 28, 1762 (old style), Peter III went to Peterhof, where his wife was supposed to meet him. However, Catherine was not there - early in the morning she left for St. Petersburg with Alexei Orlov. The guard, the senate and the synod swore allegiance to her. In a critical situation, the emperor was confused and did not follow sound advice to flee to the Baltic states, where units loyal to him were stationed. Peter III signed the abdication of the throne and, accompanied by guards, was taken to Ropsha.

On July 6, 1762 (old style) he died. Historians are unanimous in the opinion that Catherine did not give the order to kill Peter, while at the same time experts emphasize that she did not prevent this tragedy. According to the official version, Peter died of illness - during the autopsy, signs of heart dysfunction and apoplexy were allegedly discovered. But most likely his killer was Alexey Orlov. Peter was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Subsequently, several dozen people pretended to be the escaped emperor, the most famous of them became the leader Peasant War Emelyan Pugachev.

Peter III - biography, information, personal life. Peter III - short biography Burial of Peter 3

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