1730 1740 reign of Anna. Domestic politics during the period of palace coups and the reign of Catherine II. Merits of the Empress to the Russian State

Congratulations for Anna Ioannovna A unique 18th-century brochure in a large “tray” format has reached us. Its only surviving copy is in the Rare Editions Department of the Library of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (inv. No. 6625). The brochure has three

Anna Ioannovna (1693-1740) - Russian empress who reigned in 1730-1740. She was the daughter of Tsar Ivan (John) Alekseevich (1666-1696) - brother and co-ruler of Peter I. Mother - Praskovya Fedorovna (1664-1723) - after the death of her husband was considered the dowager queen. She lived with her three daughters in the Izmailovo residence near Moscow.

All girls received a good education. They studied mathematics, geography, dance, German and French. In 1708, the family, by the will of the Tsar, moved to St. Petersburg. In the new capital they were given a palace located near modern Smolny.

The Russian state needed to gain a foothold in Europe and establish friendly relations with Western countries. The marriages of crowned persons helped well in this matter. Russia was interested in the Duchy of Courland. Both the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Prussian king Frederick William I had their sights on him.

Duke of Courland Friedrich Wilhelm (1692-1711) was the nephew of the Prussian king. At the end of 1709, Peter I discussed with the king the issue of the young Duke’s marriage with one of the representatives of the Russian royal family.

The King of Prussia agreed, and the Russian Tsar decided to marry off one of the daughters of his former co-ruler Ivan. They approached Praskovya Fedorovna with this proposal, and she decided to marry her middle daughter Anna.

The wedding took place on October 31, 1710 in St. Petersburg, and on January 10, 1711, the young husband died on the way to Courland. The girl, at the age of 17, was left a widow and was forced to return to her mother.

However, the following year the king decided to send the young widow to Courland in accordance with the agreement concluded before the wedding. In Mitau (the capital of Courland) a residence was prepared for the girl, and so that the young lady would be under supervision, Pyotr Bestuzhev-Ryumin was sent with her. So in the summer of 1712 Anna ended up in Mitau.

Anna Ioannovna's favorite Ernst Johann Biron

The young woman and Pyotr Bestuzhev developed not only a business relationship, but also an intimate relationship. They continued until 1727, when the count was recalled to Russia. There they felt that the mentor was too pampered next to the duchess.

Soon, the Courland nobleman Ernst Johann Biron (1690-1772) took his place in the woman’s heart instead of Bestuzhev. From 1718 he served in the office of the Dowager Duchess.

Empress Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740)

The measured and calm life in Mitau ended for Anna on January 19, 1730. On this day, Russian Emperor Peter II died. The Supreme Secret Council, which actually ruled the empire, decided to call Anna Ioannovna to the throne. The initiator was Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn. It was he who named the woman's name. But power was given to her with numerous restrictions in order to maintain the dominant influence of the Supreme Privy Council.

However, the Dolgorukys and Golitsyns, who reigned supreme in the country, completely forgot about the other noble boyars, who no less wanted to rule and have their own piece of the common state pie. Therefore, when Anna Ioannovna, having agreed to all the conditions, came to Russia, she quickly realized that the Supreme Privy Council was not at all as powerful as it seemed at first glance.

On February 15, 1730, the former Duchess of Courland entered Moscow amid general popular rejoicing. She quickly won over the nobles and the guard, and on February 25, 1730, the historical denouement came. The Empress personally tore apart the regulations limiting her powers. On March 1, 1730, the entire Russian land swore an oath to Anna Ioannovna as the all-Russian autocrat. And on March 4 of the same year, the Supreme Secret Council was abolished and the powers of the Governing Senate were restored.

Silver ruble depicting the profile of Empress Anna Ioannovna

Years of reign

Empress Anna Ioannovna was a person of a transitional era. By nature, she was a Moscow queen of the 17th century. And therefore she loved the activities and entertainment with jesters characteristic of that time. However, the country demanded change. Therefore, in 1732, the woman moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg, and it again acquired the status of the capital of the Russian state.

Here theater and ballet appeared at the imperial court. A ballet school was created, which later became the world-famous Vaganova School. As for state affairs, Mother Empress did not like to deal with them due to her character. But she was afraid of coups and unrest, and therefore established the Office of Secret Investigation Cases.

People began to be exiled to Siberia for freethinking. In total, more than 20 thousand people were exiled. The office carried out reprisals against some of the Dolgoruky princes. Ivan Dolgorukov was wheeled in 1739. Other boyars had their heads chopped off, impaled, and their tongues cut out. People began to associate all these negative manifestations with the Empress’s favorite Ernest Johann Biron, and the time of his activity was called Bironovism.

However, the significance of this historical figure is greatly exaggerated. Biron was a favorite and occupied an exceptional position at court. Without his approval, government bodies rarely made serious decisions. But as for the dominance of foreigners and the plunder of the country, this did not happen.

Empress Anna Ioannovna was fond of hunting

There were many foreigners hanging around the empress. But they did not occupy key positions. Most of them settled in Russia under Peter the Great. Foreigners also served in the army and navy, but their numbers were negligible, and they did not have high command positions.

In general, under Empress Anna Ioannovna, a course was pursued to strengthen the empire. Industry and trade developed, and the nobles received relief in their service. Much attention was paid to the further development of the fleet. Several new large warships were built. The ships were built at the shipyards of St. Petersburg and Arkhangelsk.

Under Mother Empress, the imperial policy of Peter I continued. A successful war was fought in Poland (1733-1735). In 1735, the war with Turkey began. In 1736, the Russian army under the command of Minich captured the capital of the Crimean Tatars, Bakhchisarai. In 1736 the Azov fortress was taken, and in 1737 the Ochakov fortress. In 1738, the Russian army defeated the Crimean Khanate.

On September 18, 1739, the Belgrade Peace Treaty was signed in Belgrade, which became the final chord in the Russian-Turkish war of 1735-1739. According to it, Azov, part of the territories of Right Bank Ukraine, as well as territories in the North Caucasus and south of Azov were transferred to Russia.

The end of Anna Ioannovna's reign

At the end of Anna Ioannovna’s reign, two events happened that contemporaries remembered for a long time. In the freezing winter of 1740, the Ice House was built right on the ice of the Neva. The interior decoration, right down to the furniture and playing cards on the table, was also made of ice. They made trees from it and planted ice birds on them.

All this was organized for the clownish wedding of the jester Mikhail Golitsyn and the dwarf Buzheninova. They were brought to the Ice House and locked there overnight in an ice bedroom.

Jester's wedding in the Ice House

And the second event was the execution of the cabinet minister Artemy Volynsky in the summer of 1740. He was considered a skillful administrator, but did not please Biron. He turned the empress against Volynsky. As a result of this, the cabinet minister and his closest friends were arrested. They were accused of treason, tortured and executed. On the day of her execution, Empress Anna Ioannovna was hunting in Peterhof. And at the beginning of October, a misfortune happened to the ruler herself.

She was having lunch with Biron and suddenly felt bad. Doctors examined the woman and declared the disease dangerous. This caused a stir among the highest officials of the empire. However, the issue of succession to the throne had already been resolved.

Anna Ioannovna had no children, and she bequeathed the throne to her great-nephew Ivan Antonovich. His mother was Anna Leopoldovna - the daughter of Ekaterina Ioannovna, the elder sister of the All-Russian autocrat.

On October 16, the empress had a severe seizure, and after it she signed all the inheritance papers. And on the evening of October 17, 1740, Anna Ioannovna Romanova died at the age of 48. According to doctors, the cause of death was gout and urolithiasis. The deceased empress was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Alexey Starikov

After the death of Peter II in 1730, the highest ruling body, the Supreme Privy Council, chose Anna as the new empress.

Domestic policy.

The domestic and foreign policy of Russia during the time of Anna Ivanovna was generally aimed at continuing the line of Peter I. Having come to power, Anna dissolved the Supreme Privy Council, replacing it the next year with the Cabinet of Ministers, headed by A.I. Ushakov and which included A. I. Osterman, G. I. Golovkin, A. M. Cherkassky.

During the first year of her reign, Anna tried to carefully attend Cabinet meetings, but then she completely lost interest in business and already in 1732 she was here only twice. Gradually, the Cabinet acquired new functions, including the right to issue laws and decrees, which made it very similar to the Supreme Privy Council. The Cabinet of Ministers actually governed the country, and all cases that could be interpreted as treason, conspiracy, an attempt on the life and honor of the sovereign were transferred to the jurisdiction of this department.

Not trusting the former political elite and the guard, did the empress create new guard regiments? Life Guards Izmailovsky (infantry) and Life Guards Cavalry (cavalry). At the same time, a number of the most important demands of the nobility, put forward during the events of 1730, were satisfied. In 1731, Peter the Great’s Decree on Single Inheritance (1714) regarding the procedure for inheriting real estate was repealed, the Gentry Corps was established for the children of nobles, in 1732 the salary of Russian officers was doubled, 1736 established a 25-year service period, after which nobles could retire; it was allowed to leave one of their sons to manage the estate.

At the same time, the policy of enslavement of all categories of the population was continued: by decree of 1736, all workers of industrial enterprises were declared the property of their owners.

Anna Ivanovna's reign was marked by the rise of Russian industry, primarily metallurgy, which came out on top in the world in the production of cast iron. From the second half of the 1730s. The gradual transfer of state-owned enterprises into private hands began, which was enshrined in the Berg Regulations (1739), which stimulated private entrepreneurship.

Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740)

Since there was no direct heir in the male line, the conversation turned to inheritance through the female line. Peter I's daughters Anna (and therefore her son Peter) and Elizabeth were immediately rejected: according to the nobility, their mother, Empress Catherine I, was of vile origin. The Russian noble aristocracy did not forgive Peter I for his choice; now they dictated their will to the country.

The rulers chose the 37-year-old Dowager Duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna, the daughter of Peter’s co-ruler Ivan Alekseevich who died in 1698, who was completely dependent on the political and material support of Russia. “We need to make it easier for ourselves,” said Prince Golitsyn. “So lighten up so that you can increase your willpower.”

Golitsyn developed a program for the political reorganization of the country, its transition from an autocratic form of government to an oligarchic one. For Russia, this would be a step forward along the path of civilizational development.

The supreme leaders agreed with this program and immediately began to develop the conditions (conditions) for inviting Anna Ioannovna to the Russian throne.

They demanded that the ruler not enter into marriage and not appoint a successor for herself. This would mean that the hereditary monarchy would cease to exist in Russia. The ruler should not have made decisions on key issues without the consent of the Supreme Privy Council, i.e. autocratic power was limited. The empress did not have the right to declare war and make peace, to burden her subjects with new taxes, or to promote them to military ranks above the rank of colonel. The Guard and other army units came under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Privy Council. Without a trial, the ruler could not take away estates and property from the nobles and, at her own will, provide them with estates and lands inhabited by peasants. Anna Ioannovna was obliged not to elevate nobles to court ranks without the consent of the Council. In addition, the leaders wanted to put the country's budget under their control. The condition ended with the phrase: “If I don’t fulfill this promise and don’t keep it, then I will be deprived of the Russian crown.”

Anna Ioannovna signed the conditions and began to get ready for Moscow. It seemed that another palace coup had been a success and Russia had embarked on a new path of development, having received in the form of a Constitution that regulates relations between the monarch and the country.

However, Russia was not ready for such a turn of events. The project of the supreme leaders excited the entire noble class. The nobles who gathered in Moscow for the wedding of Peter II put forward counter projects for the reorganization of the country. They proposed expanding the composition of the Supreme Privy Council, enhancing the role of the Senate, and giving society the opportunity to elect the country's governing institutions and leading officials, in particular the presidents of the colleges. At the same time, the nobles demanded the abolition of the law on single inheritance and a limitation of service life. The nobility went further than the leaders; it wanted liberties for the whole class. However, there was not a word in the projects about the abolition of serfdom.

The leaders were confused and tried to maneuver in order to maintain the power they had seized. They tried to find a compromise between standards and noble projects. And at this time, a new formidable force was growing in the political life of Russia. Among the nobility, the autocratic party became increasingly stronger. Its mainspring was the guard regiments, the government bureaucracy, and part of the nobility, which hated presumptuous nobles. In this environment, they began to develop their own project for the state structure of Russia: the destruction of the Supreme Privy Council, the elimination of conditions, the restoration of unlimited autocracy, the revival of the power of the Senate as it was under Peter I. For this group of people, Peter’s absolutism was an ideal model for governing the country.

Anna Ioannovna had complete information about all this. When approaching Moscow, she stopped for several days in one of the villages, where a deputation from the Preobrazhensky regiment and cavalry guards vigorously welcomed her and demanded the restoration of autocracy.

Already in Moscow, Anna Ioannovna received a new petition, in which the nobles asked her to accept autocracy and destroy the standards. The Empress demanded that the condition be brought and, in front of the audience, tore them apart. Thus ended the attempt to limit autocracy in Russia.

Anna Ioannovna surrounded herself with people devoted and close to her. Her favorite, Chief Chamberlain Ernst Johann Biron, was summoned from Courland. Since then, he was constantly with the queen and directed her actions. A representative and educated man, Biron preferred to remain in the shadows, but held in his hands all the threads of governing the country. The fundamental interests of Russia were alien to Biron. Matching him were the head of government A.I. Osterman and the head of the army - Field Marshal B.H. Minikh. Immigrants from German lands were placed at the head of the guard regiments.

Anna Ioannovna destroyed the Supreme Privy Council. Instead, a Cabinet consisting of three people appeared. The leading role in it belonged to A.I. Osterman. The Secret Chancellery (a body of political investigation) was also recreated.

At the insistence of Biron and Osterman, Anna Ioannovna removed D.M. from power. Golitsyn, who ended up in the Shlisselburg fortress. The Dolgorukys were sent to their estates, and then sent to Berezov, where Menshikov had recently languished.

To strengthen her position, the empress carried out a number of measures. The service life was set at 25 years. The law on single inheritance was repealed, and now estates could be divided between sons; estates were finally equalized with estates and were to be called estate-votchina. A Cadet Corps was created, from which noble children immediately became officers and did not have to pull the soldier's burden, as under Peter. All this reconciled the nobility with the authorities.

The new government met the industrialists halfway: the old order of providing enterprises with serf labor was confirmed. Moreover, entrepreneurs were allowed to buy peasants without land. The scope of serf labor in the economy expanded.

The times of Anna Ioannovna are sometimes called the Bironovschina. However, Bironovism cannot be associated only with the dominance of people of German origin. Rather, it was a clan whose members were devoted to the queen, but this devotion was, as a rule, based on material interests - the key positions they received provided high incomes, the opportunity to enrich themselves through bribes and theft of the state treasury.

The concept of “Bironovism” includes the creation in Russia of a strong political investigation, a powerful repressive organization. The Secret Chancellery focused on persecuting those who opposed the empress and her favorite. The most high-profile case of the Secret Chancellery was the trial of administrator A.P. Volynsky, who opposed German dominance in the country. He was executed.

From the second half of the 1730s, Anna Ioannovna was less and less involved in government affairs. The empress's craving for entertainment and luxury blossomed in full bloom. Balls, masquerades, gala lunches and dinners, accompanied by illuminations and fireworks, replaced each other.

At the turn of the 1730s-1740s, Russia was in a state of deep economic, political and moral crisis. The country's finances could not withstand the extravagance of the court and ineffective wars. The situation was aggravated by a climate of fear, denunciations and repression. German dominance in ruling circles was felt more and more strongly, which outraged a significant part of the Russian nobility. Guards officers refused to obey foreign commanders.

Due to Anna Ioannovna's serious illness, the question of inheriting the throne arose. The empress had no children, and had to again choose heirs on the side. Anna Ioannovna settled on Ivan Antonovich, the two-month-old son of her niece Anna Leopoldovna, who married the Duke of Brunswick Anton Ulrich. The couple had already lived in Russia for a long time under the care of Anna Ioannovna.

Soon after this she began to feel ill. The doctor who treated her declared that the empress’s position was hopeless. Anna Ioannovna called Biron to her and, showing him the document according to which he became regent under the infant emperor, said that, in her opinion, this was his death sentence. On the morning of October 17, 1740, the Empress ordered the clergy to be called and asked to read the funeral service. “I’m sorry, everyone,” she said and breathed her last.