The last of the Romanovs. The great tragedy of the little emperor. Anna Ioannovna - wasteful, cruel, unhappy Once Upon a Time in Russia - The President of America ended up in Russia

Read an extract from a historical source.

“The night of January 19 was terrible for Russia. The great-grandson of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the grandson of Peter the Great, the son of Tsarevich Alexei, died. Who will inherit the throne? - thought everyone who was that night in the Lefortovo Palace. In Russian history, it has happened more than once that after the death of a sovereign who left no direct heir, the horror of an interregnum was approaching the country. The memory of the terrible years of the beginning of the 17th century was still alive, when, after the death of the childless Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich and the mysterious death of the last of the sons of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry, a monstrous bacchanalia began at the throne, a civil war, ruin and robberies. According to a contemporary, the Russian people were then shackled by "crazy silence." It seemed to everyone that the sky was about to fall on the Russian land, mired in sins and crimes, and Russia would disappear.

The events of the spring of 1682, when the childless Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich died, were also memorable. Then the archers, skillfully warmed up and guided by Tsarevna Sophia, rushed to kill and rob the supporters of the family of the new, newly elected king ... ".

Using the passage and knowledge of history, select three correct judgments from the list provided. Write down the numbers under which they are indicated in the table.

1) The emperor, whose death is mentioned in the passage, was the last direct descendant of the Romanov dynasty in the male line.

2) The events of the end of the 17th century, which are mentioned in the passage, went down in history under the name "Troubles"

3) The passage refers to the death of Emperor Peter II.

4) After the death of the emperor, which is mentioned in the passage, Elizabeth Petrovna ascended the throne.

5) The fate of the Russian throne in the course of the events described in the passage was decided by the Supreme Privy Council.

6) After the death of the emperor, which is mentioned in the passage, a new dynasty begins in Russia.

Explanation.

The passage is about the death of Peter II in 1730.

1) The emperor, whose death is mentioned in the passage, was the last direct descendant of the Romanov dynasty in the male line - YES, right.

2) The events of the beginning of the 17th century, which are mentioned in the passage, went down in history under the name "Trouble" - NO, that's not true. The turmoil was at the beginning of the 17th century.

3) The passage refers to the death of Emperor Peter II - YES, right.

4) After the death of the emperor, which is mentioned in the passage, Elizabeth Petrovna ascended the throne - NO, that's not true.

5) The fate of the Russian throne during the events described in the passage was decided by the Supreme Privy Council - YES, right.

6) After the death of the emperor, which is mentioned in the passage, a new dynasty begins in Russia - NO, that's not true.

Answer: 135.

Igor Gladyshkevich 25.11.2016 13:40

I think the second option is correct. "the memory of the terrible years of the beginning of the 17th century was alive, when, after the death of the childless Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich" - the speech in the text is just about the Troubles. And the variant indicates the beginning of the 17th century, i.e. just Trouble.

Valentin Ivanovich Kirichenko

The passage is about the death of Peter II in 1730. And these are palace coups.

Irina Gostraya 25.11.2016 19:20

The explanation states: "2) The events of the beginning of the 17th century, which are mentioned in the passage, went down in history under the name "Troubles NO, wrong. These are palace coups," however, palace coups date back to the 18th century.

Valentin Ivanovich Kirichenko

In addition to the great emperors and empresses, in Russian history there were also such figures whose stay on the throne left an extremely small mark on history and was practically forgotten by their descendants.

Against the background of the era of great reforms Peter the Great the reign of his grandson and namesake looks like a real misunderstanding, a strange whim of fate. However, to a certain extent, Peter I himself is to blame for this whim.

The grandson of Peter the Great had an unenviable fate from birth. His father and mother, son of Peter I Tsarevich Alexei and German Princess Sophia-Charlotte of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel did not have affection for each other. Moreover, Sophia-Charlotte until the last hoped to avoid marriage with the "Muscovite", but her hopes did not come true.

The marriage of this couple was the result of high diplomacy and agreements between Peter I, Polish King August II and Austrian Emperor Charles VI.

Dynastic marriages did not surprise Europe in the 18th century, and therefore, Sophia-Charlotte, resigned to her fate, did what she was supposed to do - she began to give birth to her husband of princesses and princes. Born in the summer of 1714 Natalya Alekseevna, and on October 12 (23), 1715 - Petr Alekseevich, grandson and full namesake of the emperor.

The mother of the young prince died ten days after the birth of her son, and by the age of three, Peter Alekseevich remained an orphan - his father, Tsarevich Alexei, was sentenced to death by Peter the Great for treason.

Wine and curses for the Grand Duke

However, his father, who disappeared in the dungeons of his grandfather, managed to negatively affect the boy. Not experiencing warm feelings for a child from an unloved woman, Alexei Petrovich assigned two women who abused alcohol to his son as nannies. The nannies solved the issue with the whims of the baby simply - they gave him wine to drink so that he would fall asleep sooner. Thus began the soldering of the future emperor, which continued throughout his later life.

Peter the Great did not initially consider his grandson as the heir to the throne: in the same 1715, less than three weeks after the birth of Peter Alekseevich, Petr Petrovich son of the emperor. It was to him that Peter I intended to transfer the throne. But the boy was sickly, weak, and died in 1719.

Thus, after the death of his father and brother, Peter Alekseevich remained the only heir of the emperor in the male line. From birth, he bore the official title "Grand Duke" - starting from him, such an official name displaces the previously adopted "tsarevich" from the Russian tradition. Although in colloquial, and not official speech, the princes survived until the very end of the monarchy in Russia.

Peter the Great, having lost his son, began to pay more attention to his grandson, but still did not follow him too closely. Somehow, having decided to test his knowledge, he discovered the complete failure of the teachers assigned to him - the boy could not explain himself in Russian, knew a little German and Latin, and Tatar curses much better.

The emperor, who did not disdain assault, beat the teachers, but, oddly enough, the situation did not change - the training of Peter Alekseevich was conducted very badly.

The grandson of Peter I was in love with his daughter

In 1722, by the Decree on the succession to the throne, Peter the Great determined that the emperor himself had the right to appoint the heir. After this decree, the position of Peter Alekseevich as an heir was shaken.

But in 1725, Peter the Great died without leaving a will. A fierce struggle for the throne broke out between various factions, but in the end Prince Menshikov enthroned the wife of Peter the Great, Catherine I.

Her reign was short-lived, two years. At the end of it, the empress designated Peter Alekseevich as the heir, pointing out that in the absence of male descendants, his heiress, in turn, becomes Elizaveta Alekseevna, daughter of Peter I.

In 1727, the 11-year-old Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich became Emperor Peter II. There is a desperate struggle of political parties for influence on him, one of which is representatives of the ancient boyar families, the other is the associates of Peter the Great.

Peter II himself does not interfere in political passions - he spends time in the circle of "golden youth", where he falls under the influence of the princes Dolgorukov, one of whom, Ivan becomes his favourite.

In this cheerful circle, the 11-year-old emperor is soldered, introduced to debauchery, taken to hunt - entertainment that is not suitable for Peter Alekseevich in age replaces his studies.

Perhaps only two people maintained sincere and warm relations with him - his own sister Natalya Alekseevna and my aunt Elizaveta Petrovna. "Auntie" by that time was 17 years old.

The young emperor, however, felt not kindred, but loving feelings for Elizabeth, even intending to marry her, which confused the courtiers.

Fight for the emperor

However, the desires of Peter II were fulfilled only when they did not run counter to the intentions of those who influenced him. Almighty Menshikov managed to push the competitors away from the emperor, and he began to prepare his wedding with one of his daughters - Mary. By this marriage, the most illustrious prince hoped to further strengthen his own power. However, his enemies did not doze off, and, taking advantage of Menshikov's illness, which lasted several weeks, they managed to turn Peter II against the prince.

In September 1727, Menshikov was accused of treason and embezzlement, and exiled with his family to Berezov. Maria Menshikova, the former bride of Peter II, also went there.

But this was not a victory for the young emperor, but for the Dolgorukovs, who soon also controlled Peter II, as Menshikov had previously controlled him.

At the end of February 1728, the official coronation of Peter II took place in Moscow. Under the influence of the Dolgorukovs, the emperor intended to return the capital to Moscow. The Dolgorukovs received the most important government posts, thereby achieving enormous power.

In November 1728, Peter II suffered another blow - the 14-year-old died Natalya Alekseevna, one of the few who could still restrain the emperor, who devotes more and more time to entertainment, and not to study and state affairs.

After the death of his sister, Peter II spent more and more time at feasts and hunting fun.

betrothal

State affairs were left to chance, foreign ambassadors wrote that Russia now most of all resembles a ship that goes by the will of the wind and waves, with a drunken or sleeping crew on board.

Some of the state dignitaries, who were worried not only about stuffing their own wallets, expressed indignation that the emperor did not pay due attention to state affairs, but their voices did not influence what was happening in any way.

Princess Ekaterina Alekseevna Dolgorukova. 1798 Photo: Public Domain

The Dolgorukovs decided to implement the "Menshikov plan" - to marry Peter II to a representative of her family, a 17-year-old princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova. On November 30, 1729, they were betrothed. The wedding was scheduled for January 19, 1730.

The Dolgorukovs, continuing to take the emperor either to feasts or to hunts, triumphed. Meanwhile, against them, as earlier against Menshikov, the discontent of other representatives of the nobility was ripening. At the very beginning of January 1730, the emperor's educator tried to persuade him to refuse marriage to Ekaterina Dolgorukova and reconsider his attitude towards this family of Peter II. Andrey Ivanovich Osterman and Elizaveta Petrovna. Whether they succeeded in sowing doubts in the soul of Peter II is unknown. In any case, he did not officially express his intentions to abandon the marriage.

“I will go to my sister Natalia!”

January 6, 1730, in a very severe frost, Peter II, together with Field Marshal Minich and Osterman hosted a parade dedicated to the blessing of water on the Moscow River. Returning to the palace, he rode, standing on the heels of his bride's sleigh.

A few hours later, the emperor's palace began to have a strong fever. The doctors who examined Peter II made a terrible diagnosis for that time - smallpox.

The body of the 14-year-old monarch was by that time seriously undermined by endless drinking and other "adult" entertainment. The condition of the young emperor was deteriorating rapidly.

The Dolgorukovs made a desperate attempt to salvage the situation by persuading Peter II to sign a will in favor of his bride, but the emperor fell into unconsciousness.

The fading lasted about two weeks. On the night of January 19 (January 29, according to the new style), 1730, on the eve of the day of the appointed wedding, Peter II woke up and said: “Lay the horses. I will go to my sister Natalia. A few minutes later he was gone.

Together with the death of Peter II, the Romanov family was cut short in the male tribe.

The 14-year-old grandson of Peter the Great was the last of the Russian monarchs to be buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

The history of the city of Zmeinogorsk is inextricably linked with the development by Russian people of the underground riches of Zmeeva Gora. The discovery of the Zmeevskoye deposit and its decades-long but ultimately successful exploration created the prerequisites for the emergence of the Demidov mine here. The beginning of regular ore mining led to the formation in 1744 of a settlement, which eventually turned into a provincial city of Zmeinogorsk.
The city owes its fame and worldwide fame to the Zmeevsky mine, which in the second half of the 18th century was the main source of gold and silver for the Russian Empire. That is why it is possible to restore the initial history of the city only by studying in detail the events associated with the emergence of Russian mining production in Altai.

—

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Returning in 1926 from Altai, Roerich visited the city of Novosibirsk (since February 1926, Novonikolaevsk was officially called), where he stayed for exactly a week, from August 27 to September 3. The first paragraph of the chapter “Altai” of the well-known and more than once reprinted book “Altai-Himalayas” by N. Roerich ends with the following phrase: “The Great Ob is the birthplace of the wife and the snake.” Its meaning is obscure, but remembering the content of the "Revelation of John", he will see here a reminiscence of the apocalyptic story about the woman who fled from the serpent into the desert. The serpent launched water after it, but the earth cracked and swallowed it. The researcher of the Old Believer movements will remember that this story is persistently repeated in the lists of "Travelers" that tell about the journey to Belovodie. Two more places in the chapter "Altai" will attract our attention. Mention of the last battle of people predicted by no one knows who should happen on the banks of the Katun and Biya (sources of the Ob). And the casually mentioned mysterious disappearance of the painting by the author of "The Call of the Serpent", written shortly before the Trans-Asian trip. Leaving Novosibirsk, Nicholas Roerich promised to return. But only in the 60s, his son Yuri, handed over 60 paintings bequeathed to the city. And shortly before his death, Nicholas Roerich painted the painting “Doomed City”, depicting city walls entwined with a monstrous Serpent. There are cities founded by chance, by coincidence. There are those who have grown out of necessity.

The night of January 18-19, 1730 was sleepless for many in Moscow. In the imperial residence - the Lefortovo Palace, which was located on the Yauza River - the Russian autocrat Emperor Peter II Alekseevich was dying. Twelve days before, on January 6, he caught a bad cold while participating in the feast of the Blessing of the Waters on the ice of the Moskva River. Soon, smallpox, a frequent guest of our ancestors, was added to the cold. The king was delirious, the fever intensified, and on the night of January 19, the agony began. Doctors, priests, courtiers who did not leave the patient’s bed could no longer help their master: without regaining consciousness, Peter II died. According to contemporaries, his last words were: "Harness the sleigh, I want to go to my sister." The tsar's sister, Grand Duchess Natalya Alekseevna, died in the autumn of 1728.
The night of January 19 was terrible for Russia. Not just an emperor, an autocrat, a fourteen-year-old boy who would live and live, died. The last direct descendant of the male branch of the Romanov dynasty, dating back to the founder and first tsar of the dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich, died. The great-grandson of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the grandson of Peter the Great, the son of Tsarevich Alexei, died. "Who will inherit the throne?" - thought everyone who was that night in the Lefortovo Palace. In Russian history, it has happened more than once that after the death of a sovereign who left no direct heir, the horror of an interregnum was approaching the country. The memory of the terrible years of the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century was still alive, when, after the death of the childless Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich and the mysterious death of the last of the sons of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry, a monstrous bacchanalia began at the throne, a civil war, ruin and robberies. According to a contemporary, the Russian people were then shackled by "crazy silence." It seemed to everyone that the sky was about to fall on the Russian land, mired in sins and crimes, and Russia would disappear.
The events of the spring of 1682, when the childless Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich died, were also memorable. Then the archers, skillfully warmed up and guided by Tsarevna Sophia, rushed to kill and rob the supporters of the family of the new, newly elected tsar, ten-year-old Peter I. Memories of January were still alive.

1725. The death of Peter I, who also did not leave a will, almost led to an open clash between court factions. And now, five years later, the ghosts of the Troubles could again rise from their graves. On that winter night on January 19, 1730 in Moscow, in the Lefortovo Palace, the fate of Russia was being decided - a vast country that was sleeping and not yet aware of anything.
Peter II left neither heirs nor a will. Having come to power in May 1727 thanks to the efforts of Menshikov, he, a twelve-year-old boy, listening to the advice of the secret enemies of his Serene Highness, already in September of the same year got rid of Menshikov, deprived him of his ranks and exiled him to Siberia. Tall and physically developed beyond his years, young Peter quite early fell into the bad company of the then "golden youth", became friends with Prince Ivan Dolgoruky, who was famous as a young man alien to morality. After the court moved to Moscow in early 1728, Peter finally plunged into the world of entertainment, out-of-town hunting trips, which became his passion. It is difficult to say what would have awaited Russia if Peter II had not died at the age of fourteen, but had lived longer. Of course, personality transformations, character evolution are possible, but it is still difficult to get rid of the impression that in the person of Peter II, Russia would have received a tsar somewhat reminiscent of Louis XV - the French king, who became a symbol of debauchery and shamelessness.
But fate decreed otherwise, and therefore the people who found themselves in the palace on the night of January 19, 1730, painfully thought about one question: who would come to power? Will these be the descendants of Peter I from his marriage to Catherine I - his twenty-year-old daughter Elizaveta Petrovna or his two-year-old grandson Karl Peter Ulrich, the son of the then deceased Anna Petrovna and the Duke of Holstein Karl Friedrich? Or maybe, after the death of the last tsar from the ancient Rurik dynasty, a new dynasty will appear on the throne?
This is what the princes Dolgoruky passionately dreamed of. They also belonged to the Rurikovich, although to their side branch, and were almost always in the shadows. Only in the short reign of Peter II, they, thanks to the favor of Ivan Dolgoruky, advanced to the first roles in the state and achieved a lot: wealth, power, higher ranks. The father of the favorite, Prince Alexei, was especially successful.
Grigoryevich. He courted the young tsar for a long time until he got him engaged to his daughter and Ivan's sister, Princess Ekaterina Alekseevna Dolgoruky. The solemn engagement took place on November 30, 1729. The wedding was scheduled for January 19, 1730. It seemed that just about, a little more - and the Dolgoruky would intermarry with the reigning dynasty and become inaccessible to all their enemies and ill-wishers. What was their despair when it became known about the deadly illness of the tsar-groom! Something had to be done!
And on January 18, his relatives gathered at the house of Alexei Grigorievich Dolgoruky for a secret meeting. After some squabbling, a false will was drawn up, which they decided to announce as soon as Peter II closed his eyes forever. According to this will, the tsar allegedly handed over the throne to his bride, Princess Ekaterina Alekseevna Dolgoruky. Prince Ivan Dolgoruky even signed for the tsar on one of the copies of the will. How did the Dolgoruky dare to do this? After all, they were not at all naive simpletons who did not understand that, by preparing a fake, they were committing a terrible state crime, for which eternal exile to Siberia was the mildest punishment. We do not know what motivated them more - frivolity, impudence, confidence in impunity or despair. But the opinion of contemporaries reached us that none of the Dolgoruky clan was bright with intelligence. As you know, this quality is very important in politics.

Empress Anna Ioannovna of Russia was born in Moscow on January 28, 1693, but then only relatives noticed it. From that day on, it was necessary to live another 37 years to become part of history. The real day of her birth should be considered the night of January 18-19, 1730, when the emperor Peter II Alekseevich died in the imperial residence - the Lefortovo Palace on the Yauza River. And a few more days at the end of January, which again determined her fate.

French formula "The king is dead! Long live the king!" applicable to all countries and all eras. But that January night, when a 14-year-old boy was dying, was really terrible for Russia. The last direct descendant of the male branch of the Romanov dynasty, dating back to the founder and first tsar of the dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich, died. Great-grandson of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, grandson of Peter the Great, son of Tsarevich Alexei.

The ominous specter of an interregnum descended upon the country. People still remembered the terrible years of the Troubles of the early 17th century, when after the death of the childless Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich and the mysterious death of the last of the sons of Ivan the Terrible - Tsarevich Dmitry - a civil war and foreign intervention began. The accession of Peter I's sister Sophia in the spring of 1682 was also not without bloodshed. Yes, and Peter the Great himself died without leaving a will, which almost led to an open struggle for the throne and crown between court factions.

The supreme governmental body after the death of young Peter II was the Supreme Privy Council. Having gathered for a meeting, the four leaders and a number of people who joined them developed a common position on the choice of the ruler of Russia. They decided: “You need to choose from the famous Romanov family and no other. And since the male line of this house is now completely interrupted, we have no choice but to turn to the female line and choose one of the daughters of Tsar Ivan.

Ivan V - the elder brother and co-ruler of Peter the Great - was the son from the first marriage of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. After his death, three daughters remained: Catherine - Duchess of Mecklenburg; Anna - Duchess of Courland and Princess Praskovya.

At the suggestion of Golitsyn, with which all those present agreed, they chose the middle one - Anna. Why? Anna is already a widow, although still at a suitable age for marriage, therefore, she can give birth to an heir. But the main thing is that “she was born among us and from a Russian mother in an old good family, we know the kindness of her heart and her other wonderful virtues.” This also gave the cunning courtiers reason to hope that a woman who had no one to rely on, who had lived in a foreign land for a long time, would not squirm when they tried to shorten her power ...

The leaders, interrupting each other, began to dictate conditions to the clerk - the restriction of royal power with special conditions. In particular, they forbade the empress, without the permission of the Supreme Privy Council, to wage wars, impose taxes, spend public money, grant ranks and lands, command the guards and the army.

The conditions ended with a remarkable wording: “And if something is not fulfilled according to this promise, then I will be deprived of the Russian crown.”

A week later, on the evening of January 25, a Moscow delegation arrived in Mitava, the capital of the small German duchy of Courland (now in Latvia). After listening to the conditions, Anna signed the conditions with her own hand. Departure from Mitava was scheduled for 29 January.

The new empress returned to her historical homeland: Anna was born in the Kremlin chambers, and spent her childhood in Izmailovo, on an island surrounded by a ring of ponds in an intricately shaped wooden palace. There were greenhouses where tangerines, grapes and pineapples were ripened for the royal table. In the Izmailovo ponds there were pikes and sterlets with gold rings in their gills, worn back in the time of Ivan the Terrible. These tame fish surfaced to feed at the sound of a silver bell.

As a child, Anna studied French and German, literacy and dancing. But she wrote all her life clumsily and illiterately, she never learned French and even danced clumsily. Childhood ended when Anna was taken to a new city - Petersburg, which was only five years old. The girl turned out to be an unloved child in the family, and this subsequently significantly affected her character.

Before the wedding to the kingdom, the grown-up Anna still had to get married and settle in a foreign land for a long time. She was given in marriage to the Duke of Courland Friedrich Wilhelm. Not only was his war-ravaged duchy a vassal possession of the Commonwealth and smaller than our Tambov district, but the duke himself was a skinny young man, a bully and a drinker.

On January 8, 1711, the newly-married couple left for Mitava. Friedrich Wilhelm died at the very first Duderhof postal station, broken by the constant drinking bouts in St. Petersburg. So still young Anna remained a widow. At first, she continued to live either in Moscow or in St. Petersburg, until her uncle Peter Alekseevich finally sent her to Mitava ... Anna's position became even more unenviable. The Supreme Leaders called a woman of such a fate to be the ruler of Russia.

The subjects saw before them a capricious and suspicious person. But, as often happens, intelligent men miscalculated the abilities of this unfortunate and seemingly harmless woman...

On February 25, 1730, Empress Anna Ioannovna, without hesitation, broke the conditions that took away power from her. The empress was greatly assisted in this by her relative Semyon Andreevich Saltykov, who called on her to support the Preobrazhenians and cavalry guards. Guardsmen of the 18th century often decided the fate of the throne and the Fatherland. A yellowed document with conditions torn by a woman’s pen is still kept in the museum.

"Vivat our Empress Anna Ioannovna!" Field Marshal Dolgoruky was the first to exclaim. The old soldier could not even imagine that in the near future he would be accused of insulting the honor of Her Majesty ... Anna would deprive him of all ranks and titles and imprison him in a fortress for eight years.

The first attempt to create parliamentarism in Russia stumbled over a lady's heel. And almost three hundred years did not make itself felt. Throughout her reign, Anna was not too interested in state affairs. She entrusted them to her favorite, chamber junker Ernest-Joganun Biron. He, as well as a narrow group of people who fought for the mercy of the empress, began to determine the policy of the country.

In 1732, the Empress ordered the opening of the 1st Cadet Corps, which trained the nobles for military and public service. But already in 1736 she issued a decree that the nobles were given the right to receive education at home and only periodically "appear for reviews and undergo examinations." Needless to say, such people greatly corrupted the military and bureaucratic class ...

Anna considered it harmful to teach ordinary people to read and write. "Learning can distract him from menial work," she wrote in a decree of 1735.

Judging by the evidence of that era, Empress Anna Ioannovna was something like a typical lady-landowner. She loved bright clothes, hunting, entertainment and gossip, and did not disdain gossip about the personal lives of her subjects. She kept a whole regiment of jesters at court.

“She is almost my height, but somewhat thicker, with a slender figure, a swarthy, cheerful and pleasant face, black hair and blue eyes. In body movements he shows some kind of solemnity that will amaze you at first glance; but when she speaks, a smile plays on her lips, which is extremely pleasant,” describes the Empress Lady Jane Rondo, wife of the English ambassador.