Anna Ioannovna (01/28/1693 – 10/17/1740) – Russian empress (Romanov dynasty), daughter of Ivan V, niece of Peter I. Years of reign: 1730-1740, the period was called “Bironovschina”.

Childhood

Anna was born in the Moscow Kremlin, her father is Tsar John V, her mother is Tsarina Praskovya Feodorovna. After the death of the Tsar in 1696, the widow with three daughters: Ekaterina, Anna and Praskovya, moved to the Izmailovo estate near Moscow. The two eldest daughters, Maria and Theodosia, died in infancy.

The family had an impressive staff of courtiers. Life in Izmailovo was calm and far from innovation. The residence consisted of two dozen ponds, numerous orchards, vineyards, and greenhouses with overseas flowers. The little princesses studied mathematics, geography, German and French, dancing. Praskovya Fedorovna cherished only her eldest daughter; her relationship with Anna did not work out.

When Peter in 1708 decided to move all members of the royal family to the capital, Anna with her mother and sisters came to St. Petersburg, where the tsar gave a grand reception. However, they soon returned to Moscow due to the threat from the Swedish army. The family finally moved to St. Petersburg only after the Battle of Poltava; a palace was built especially for them in the capital.

Marriage

During the Northern War, Peter needed to take care of strengthening the influence of his country in the international arena. The Duchy of Courland, to which Russian possessions had approached, was weakened, and after the appearance of the Russian army in Courland, Peter decided to marry a representative of the Russian royal family to the young duke. Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna chose Anna from her daughters.

Despite the fact that in the surviving letter Anna joyfully declares her love to the groom, there is a version that the girl opposed this marriage. The people even have a song about poor Anna, who is given to a foreign land. The marriage did not last long. After the wedding, which took place at the end of 1710 in St. Petersburg, on the way to Courland, Duke Friedrich Wilhelm died in January 1711 from excessive alcoholic libation. The day before, the young husband competed with the king in the art of drinking. Anna returned to her mother.

Duchess of Courland

In 1712, at the behest of Peter, she nevertheless went to Courland, where, according to the marriage contract, she was supposed to live and be provided for accordingly. However, upon arrival in Mitava, the young widow and the diplomat P. Besstuzhev-Ryumin accompanying her discovered complete ruin, the castle was completely plundered. Anna was forced to independently restore the entire situation in order to make it suitable for living.

Later, rumors reached Russia about the connection between the duchess and her assistant Bestuzhev. Praskovya Fedorovna was angry and demanded that he be recalled from Courland. The queen's brother V. Saltykov went to understand the situation, but he could not find a compromise with Bestuzhev and only worsened the already strained relationship between Anna and her mother.

Then the young duchess was supported and protected by Tsarina Catherine, Peter’s wife.

In 1726, Anna received a marriage proposal from the son of the Polish king, Count Moritz, who decided to become the owner of the ducal title. She liked the ambitious and charming Moritz, and she agreed. Having also won over the Courland nobility to his side, he was going to become a duke. This behavior of the count caused alarm on the part of Russia. Prince A. Menshikov, who also had a dukedom in his plans, was sent to Courland. Disappointed Anna tried to gain support from the empress, but nothing worked. Moritz was expelled from Courland, but Menshikov also did not achieve the throne.

Biron - a Courland nobleman of low origin who became regent Russian Empire

This situation worsened the situation of the Dowager Duchess, and the angry nobility reduced the already modest expenses for the maintenance of her court. In 1727, Bestuzhev-Ryumin was summoned from Courland to Russia thanks to the efforts of Prince Menshikov, upset by the failure. Anna was very attached to her assistant, and in desperation she wrote more than twenty letters with unsuccessful pleas to leave him.

Soon Ernst Biron, a nobleman serving in the duchess’s office, appears in her life. He completely replaced Besstuzhev. According to rumors, he younger son Karl, born in 1928, was Anna's child, but there is no exact information on this issue. It is only known that the duchess was strongly attached to Karl Ernst, brought him with her to Russia, and until the age of ten the boy slept in her bedroom.

Coronation of Anna Ioannovna, Assumption Cathedral

Russian Empress

In January 1730, Peter II died, who was going to marry Princess Dolgoruky, but did not have time. The princess's relatives forged the emperor's will, deciding to elevate her to the throne. But the Supreme Privy Council, which met after the death of Peter, did not believe such a will and approved Anna as Empress. At the same time, members of the Council wrote Conditions that significantly limited the possibilities of the future empress in her favor. Anna signed the documents, but by the time she arrived in Moscow, rumors had spread in society about the idea of ​​the Supreme Council. Anna had enough supporters, including the imperial guard.

At the end of February, Prince Cherkassky submitted a petition to the Empress with the signatures of nobles asking to revise the Conditions. In addition, Prince Trubetskoy came with a petition for the restoration of autocracy, and the guard insured the palace and the empress from unrest. As a result, Anna was proclaimed autocratic empress. However, Anna Ioannovna's position remained uncertain. She still did not have a strong political support; various noble groups fought for influence on the empress for two years.

Anna Ioannovna breaks her condition (I. Charlemagne)

The empress herself made few political decisions. Anna's closest adviser was Vice-Chancellor Osterman. Later Biron, Levenwolde, and Minich were called to the imperial court. The Russian aristocracy was dissatisfied with the “German” influence and wanted to remove Osterman. After a two-year confrontation, the “German party” gained the upper hand, but internal disagreements prevented it from becoming a unified political force. Minich and Levenwolde were sent to Poland, and the Empress’s favorite Biron began to promote representatives of his own entourage to the court.

The program of Anna Ioannovna's reign included previously unrealized projects and solutions to pressing problems: reforming the army, restoring the power of the Senate, finalizing the Code, revising the staff of officials, and reforming the fleet. The Supreme Privy Council was dissolved. In 1730, the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs was created, with the goal of preventing conspiracies and coups. As a result of the active work of this body, more than 20 thousand people were sent into exile in Siberia, and about a thousand were executed. The nobles who posed a threat to power were also subjected to cruel executions: the princes Dolgoruky, the cabinet minister Volynsky.

Jesters at the Court of the Empress (W. Jacobi, 1872)

Perhaps, more than state affairs, Anna loved entertainment and beautiful outfits. She was constantly surrounded by jesters, and the expenses for balls, entertainment events and maintenance of the court were enormous. Anna's appearance was pleasant: dark-haired with blue eyes and a large figure. Behavior was appropriate to the position, and actions demonstrated dignity and solemnity. Contemporaries characterize her as generous, power-hungry and capricious. The Empress died in 1740 from gout, bequeathing the throne to the grandson of her sister Catherine, Ivan Antonovich, whose mother, Anna Leopoldovna, was treated as her own daughter. Biron was appointed regent.

Main milestones of Anna Ioannovna's reign

The reign of Anna Ioannovna (briefly)

The reign of Anna Ioannovna (briefly)

The future Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna was born into the family of Ivan the Fifth Alekseevich and Praskovya Fedorovna Saltykova on January twenty-eighth, 1693. Until the girl’s seventeenth birthday, Peter the Great himself supervised her upbringing. Already in the fall of 1710, she married the Duke of Courland, Friedrich Wilhelm, who died shortly after the wedding. At Peter's insistence, the young widow decided to stay in Courland.

After the death of Peter the Second, who is the last representative of the Romanov dynasty, in 1730, members of the Secret Supreme Council invite Anna to rule. At the same time, they significantly limited the power and powers of the newly elected empress. Thus, virtually all power was concentrated in the hands of the Council. However, after the Conditions of the young Empress were signed, it was not necessary to wait long. In the winter (February) 1730, Anna Ioannovna, supported by the noble class and the guard, tore up the Conditions and thereby proclaimed herself the autocratic Empress of Russia.

The first thing Anna did upon ascending the throne was the abolition of the power of the Secret Supreme Council and its subsequent replacement by the Cabinet of Ministers. At the same time, the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs was supposed to protect the empress from various conspiracies and for this reason her power was significantly expanded.

In foreign policy, Anna Ioannovna tried to adhere to the same line that was previously laid out by her grandfather Peter the Great. Thus, by remaining faithful to this course, the state was able to maintain its authority on the world stage. The period of Anna's reign was characterized not only by military campaigns that ended in success, but also by large-scale failures (for example, the signing of the Belgrade Peace).

During the reign of this ruler, police were formed in the provinces, and postal services in the state were significantly improved. The situation with public higher education has also improved slightly. A lot of finance was written off for the development of the army and navy.

At the same time, the lion's share of important state issues was decided not by Anna herself, but by her trusted Germans, the most famous of whom, without a doubt, is Biron. This man looked for and saw the opportunity for his own profit in every major state matter. Contemporaries also note the empress’s scope of entertainment.

February 7 marks the 320th anniversary of his birth

4th Russian Empress, Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740)

Anna Ioannovna was born on February 7, 1693 in Moscow. The daughter of Tsar Ivan V Alekseevich, until she was 17 years old, she spent most of her time under the supervision of her uncle Peter I, who oversaw her upbringing. In the fall of 1710, for political reasons, he married Anna to Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Courland, who died shortly after the wedding. At Peter's insistence, the young widow remained in Courland, although she did not break ties with Russia.

After the sudden death of Peter II in January 1730, there were no direct descendants of the Romanov dynasty in the male line. Members of the Supreme Privy Council invited Anna to the royal throne, but as a monarch with limited powers. She signed the “Conditions” proposed to her, according to which real power in Russia passed to the Council, and the role of the monarch was reduced to representative functions.

All this caused a protest among the clergy and nobility, who handed Anna a petition asking for the restoration of autocracy. Upon arrival in Moscow in February 1730, she tore up the “Conditions” and was proclaimed autocratic Empress. Its support was the nobility and the guard. Despite this, from the very first minutes of Anna's reign, persecution of the Russian nobility began. Its representatives - the Dolgorukys, Golitsyns, Volynsky and others - gradually lost their court importance, were subjected to exile and even executions.

Having come to power, Anna liquidated the Supreme Privy Council, replacing it with the Cabinet of Ministers, which, in essence, ruled the country. The Office of Secret Investigative Affairs was also established, which in a short time gained enormous strength. Anna was constantly afraid of conspiracies, so the abuses of this department were great.

Government activities under Anna Ioannovna were generally aimed at continuing the course of Peter I. Quite active measures were taken in foreign policy, thanks to which Russia further strengthened its global position. Successful wars were fought for the Polish inheritance, against Turkey, and the Crimean Khanate was defeated. But there were also miscalculations, especially the so-called Belgrade Peace, which historians consider the most shameful in Russian history.

In the internal transformations of the country, the era of Anna Ioannovna was remembered for the improvement of postal communications between cities, the creation of police in the provinces, and the resumption of construction in St. Petersburg. Positive developments have occurred in higher education and science, especially thanks to M. Lomonosov and foreign scientists. A number of measures were taken to improve the army and navy and grant various benefits to the nobility.

Jesters in Anna Ioannovna's bedroom. Artist Jacoby V.I..1872

The Empress herself was little involved in state affairs; she was absorbed in the minutiae of court life, entrusting the management of the country to her advisers, mostly Germans. The greatest influence was enjoyed by Biron, who interfered in all matters of government, exploiting the country for his own personal gain.

Anna Ioannovna. Engraving by Ivan Sokolov, 1740

Also, the era of Anna Ioannovna’s reign is famous for its catastrophic lack of money. There was not enough money for anything except imperial entertainment and feeding the royal court, which moved back to St. Petersburg in 1731. Anna's court was distinguished by unprecedented luxury and fun, which, however, often put up with bad taste and poorly covered up the dirt.

Silver ruble with a portrait of Anna Ioannovna. 1732

On October 28, 1740, Anna Ioannovna died in St. Petersburg, where she was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Shortly before her death, she proclaimed her great-nephew, young Ivan Antonovich, as heir to the Russian throne, and Duke of Courland Biron as his regent. But soon after Anna's death, the throne passed to Elizabeth, daughter of Peter I.

Portrait of Empress Anna Ioannovna

Appearance and character

Judging by the surviving correspondence, Anna Ioannovna was a classic type of landowner lady. She loved to be aware of all the gossip, the personal lives of her subjects, and gathered around her many jesters and talkers who amused her. In a letter to one person, she writes: “You know our character, that we favor people who would be forty years old and as talkative as that Novokshchenova.” The Empress was superstitious, enjoyed shooting birds (and judging by the reviews of her contemporaries and foreign diplomats, she shot very accurately, which was unusual for a Russian woman of that time), and loved bright outfits. State policy was determined by a narrow group of trusted persons, among whom there was a fierce struggle for the favor of the empress.

Artist V.I. Surikov. Empress Anna Ioannovna shoots deer in the Peterhof Temple. 19 00

Anna Ioannovna's reign was marked by huge expenses for entertainment events, the costs of holding balls and maintaining the courtyard were tens of times higher than the costs of maintaining the army and navy, during her reign an ice town with elephants at the entrance appeared for the first time, from whose trunks burning oil flowed like a fountain, later during the the clownish wedding of her court jester Prince M.A. Golitsyn with A.I. Buzheninova, the newlyweds spent their wedding night in an ice house.

Lady Jane Rondeau, the wife of the English envoy to the Russian court, described Anna Ioannovna in 1733:
She is almost my height, but somewhat thicker, with a slender figure, a dark, cheerful and pleasant face, black hair and blue eyes. Her body movements show a kind of solemnity that will amaze you at first glance, but when she speaks, a smile plays on her lips, which is extremely pleasant. She talks a lot to everyone and with such affection that it seems as if you are talking to someone equal. However, she does not lose the dignity of a monarch for a single minute; It seems that she is very merciful and I think that she would be called a pleasant and subtle woman if she were a private person. The Empress's sister, the Duchess of Mecklenburg, has a gentle expression, good physique, black hair and eyes, but is short, fat and cannot be called a beauty; She has a cheerful disposition and is gifted with a satirical look. Both sisters speak only Russian and can understand German.

The Spanish diplomat Duke de Liria is very delicate in his description of the Empress:
Empress Anna is fat, dark-skinned, and her face is more masculine than feminine. In her manner she is pleasant, affectionate and extremely attentive. Generous to the point of extravagance, she loves pomp excessively, which is why her courtyard surpasses all other European ones in splendor. She strictly demands obedience to herself and wants to know everything that is happening in her state, does not forget the services rendered to her, but at the same time she remembers well the insults inflicted on her. They say that she has a tender heart, and I believe it, although she carefully hides her actions. In general, I can say that she is a perfect empress...
The Duke was good diplomat- I knew that in Russia letters from foreign envoys are opened and read.

There is also a legend that in addition to Biron, she had a lover, Karl Wegele.

Anna Ivanovna

Empress Anna Ioannovna.
Portrait of L. Caravaque. 1730. Fragment.

Anna Ivanovna (28.I.1693 - 17.X.1740) - Russian empress from 25.I. 1730. Daughter of Ivan V Alekseevich, niece of Peter I. In 1710, married to Duke Frederick William of Courland. Soon widowed, she lived in Courland. She was invited to the throne by the “sovereigns” on the terms (“Conditions”) of limiting the autocracy in favor of the feudal aristocracy (not declaring war, not making peace, not introducing new taxes, etc. without the consent of the Supreme Privy Council). Relying on the nobility and guards officers, on February 25, 1730, Anna Ivanovna abandoned the previously signed “Conditions”. The Supreme Privy Council was liquidated. The nobility received significant benefits (exclusive right of ownership of populated estates, limiting the period of civil and military service to 25 years, abolition of the law on single inheritance, etc.). Small-minded, lazy and poorly educated, Anna Ivanovna paid little attention to state affairs, indulging in feasts and entertainment. Anna Ivanovna’s main support was the Baltic German nobles, who, led by the favorite E.I. Biron, occupied a dominant position in the government.

Soviet historical encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 1. AALTONEN – AYANY. 1961.

Literature: Essays on the history of the USSR. Russia in the second quarter. XVIII century, M., 1957; Korsakov D. A., Accession of the Imperial Anna Ioannovna, Kaz., 1880; Stroev V., Bironovschina and the Cabinet of Ministers. Essay on internal politics of the Imperial Anna, parts 1-2, M. - St. Petersburg, 1909-10; Kostomarov N., Rus. history in the biographies of its main figures, 5th ed., book. 3, St. Petersburg, 1913; Bondarenko V.N., Essays on finance. politics of the Cabinet of Ministers of Anna Ioannovna, M., 1913.

ANNA IOANNOVNA (Ivanovna) (01/28/1693-10/17/1740), Russian empress (from 1730) from the dynasty Romanovs. King's daughter Ivan V Alekseevich And Praskovya Fedorovna Saltykova. She was married (1710-11) to the Duke of Courland, Friedrich Wilhelm. Having been widowed, Anna lived in Mitau. After death Peter II was invited on January 25, 1730 to the Russian throne by the Supreme Privy Council at the suggestion of D. M. Golitsyn and V. L. Dolgorukov.

The leaders tried to limit the autocracy, which was reflected in the “Conditions”, the conditions for accession to the Russian throne, and other documents related to the reform of public administration. Anna signed the “Conditions”, according to which, without the Supreme Privy Council, she could not declare war, make peace, introduce new taxes and taxes, promote to ranks higher than colonel, grant estates, deprive a nobleman of life, honor and property without a trial, enter into marriage, appoint an heir to the throne. Arriving in Moscow, Anna received support from the opposition (A. I. Osterman, Feofan Prokopovich, P. I. Yaguzhinsky, A. D. Kantemir). Convinced of the loyalty of the nobility, who handed her a petition on February 25, 1730 asking for the restoration of autocratic power, Anna tore up the “Conditions”.

Having come to power, Anna dissolved the Supreme Privy Council (1730), restored the importance of the Senate, and established the Cabinet of Ministers (1731), which included A. I. Osterman, G. I. Golovkin, A. M. Cherkassky. During Anna's reign, the decree on single inheritance was canceled (1731), the Gentry Cadet Corps was established (1731), and the service of nobles was limited to 25 years. Anna's closest circle consisted of foreigners (E.I. Biron, K.G. Levenwolde, B.X. Minich, P.P. Lassi). Under Anna, a ruler who was not distinguished by either intelligence or education, her favorite E.I. Biron had enormous influence. “Bironovshchina,” which personified political terror, embezzlement, loose morals, and disrespect for Russian traditions, became a dark page in Russian history. Pursuing a pro-noble policy, Anna was irreconcilable with manifestations of noble opposition. Golitsyn and Dolgoruky, whose speeches in January - February 1730 Anna did not forgive, were later imprisoned, exiled, and executed. In 1740, Anna and her entourage dealt with the cabinet minister L. P. Volynsky and his supporters, who sought to limit the influence of foreigners on Russia’s domestic and foreign policy. In the army, under the leadership of B. Kh. Minikh, military reform was carried out, the Izmailovsky and Horse Guards regiments were formed. In 1733 - 35, Russia contributed to the establishment of the Elector of Saxony Stanislav August (August III) on the Polish throne. The war with Turkey (1735 - 39) ended with the Peace of Belgrade, which was unfavorable for Russia. Before her death, Anna appointed the infant Ivan VI Antonovich as her heir under the regency of E.I. Biron.

L. N. Vdovina

Empress Anna Ioannovna.
Portrait of L. Caravaque. 1730.

Anna Ivanovna, (28.1.1693, Moscow - 17.10.1740, St. Petersburg), empress (from 1730). The middle daughter of Tsar Ivan V Alekseevich and Praskovya Fedorovna, nee Saltykova, niece of Peter I. Anna Ivanovna’s childhood was spent in the village of Izmailovo near Moscow, where she lived with her mother and sisters after the death of her father, surrounded by many pilgrims, holy fools, fortune tellers, cripples, freaks and wanderers , who found permanent shelter at the court of Queen Praskovya. The princesses were taught the Russian language, history, geography and calligraphy. Peter wanted them to know foreign languages and dancing, and therefore was assigned to them as a tutor and teacher German language A.I. Osterman (the elder brother of the later famous vice-chancellor), and in 1703 the Frenchman Ramburch was invited to teach French and dance. In 1708, Tsarina Praskovya and her daughters moved from Izmailovo to St. Petersburg. In July 1710, Anna's matchmaking began, and on October 31 of the same year she was married to the nephew of the Prussian king, Duke of Courland Friedrich Wilhelm, as young as her: both the bride and groom were seventeen years old. This marriage was concluded against Anna’s wishes, due to the political considerations of the king, who considered it useful to enter into an alliance with Courland. On the occasion of Anna's marriage, feasts and celebrations in St. Petersburg lasted two months. On the way to Mitava, on January 9, 1711, Friedrich Wilhelm died at the Duderhof manor. Despite the death of the Duke, the seventeen-year-old widow was, according to the will of Peter, to settle in Mitau and surround herself with Germans; he intended to install Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna with the princesses Ekaterina and Praskovya there, but this did not happen. Subsequently, Anna sometimes visited her mother, either in St. Petersburg or in Izmailovo, but Peter also ruled autocratically, finding it necessary for her to stay in Courland. The chamberlain at the court of Anna Ivanovna and the manager of her estates was P.I. Bestuzhev. For political reasons, Peter I more than once negotiated with foreign princes regarding Anna Ivanovna’s new marriage, but the negotiations did not lead to anything, and Anna Ivanovna remained without any material means, completely dependent on Peter I. In 1718-1719, the tsar sent to Mitava to be with Duchess Anna Ivanovna her uncle, Vasily Fedorovich Saltykov, a rude and even cruel man. Anna Ivanovna's letters not only to Peter, to his wife Catherine and to Tsarevna Elizabeth, but even to some courtiers, such as Prince Menshikov and Vice-Chancellor Osterman, were filled with complaints about fate, about lack of money and were written in an ingratiating, humiliated tone . The same thing continued under Catherine I and Peter II. In 1726, in Courland, the question arose about the election of Moritz, Count of Saxony (the illegitimate son of the Polish king Augustus II), to the duke, subject to his marriage to Anna Ivanovna; but the implementation of this plan, which Anna Ivanovna would have willingly agreed to, was prevented by A.D. Menshikov, who himself sought the ducal crown of Courland. Anna Ivanovna's last hope for marriage was destroyed, and she began to pay more and more attention to one of her courtiers, the chamber cadet E.I. Birona. The unexpected death of Peter II radically changed the fate of Anna Ivanovna: the Supreme Privy Council at a meeting in the Lefortovo Palace (19. 1.1730) decided to invite Anna Ivanovna to the throne on the condition that she signed “clauses” (the so-called conditions) limiting autocratic power. It was decided to send these conditions to Anna to Migawa with three deputies from the Supreme Privy Council, the Senate and the generals. Prince V.I. was elected to the deputation. Dolgoruky, brother of Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn, senator Prince Mikhail Mikhailovich (Younger) and General Leontyev. They had to hand Anna a letter from the Supreme Privy Council and received instructions from him on how to act in Mitau. At the same time, a messenger arrived in Mitava to Anna Ivanovna with a notification from Reinhold Levenwolde that not all the people wanted to limit her autocracy; later the messenger Sumarokov arrived with advice to Anna not to believe everything that the deputies of the Supreme Privy Council would present to her. Archbishop of Novgorod Feofan Prkopovich, being a staunch supporter of unlimited autocracy, also hastened to send a messenger to Anna. Despite these warnings, on January 28, 1730 Anna Ivanovna signed the conditions, which were announced in the Kremlin on February 2, 1730 at a meeting of senior military, civil and court officials. The conditions consisted of eight points, according to which the empress had to take care of the preservation and spread of the Orthodox Christian faith in the Russian state; promised not to enter into marriage and not to appoint an heir to the throne - neither during her lifetime, nor according to her spiritual will; without the consent of the Supreme Privy Council, which she undertook to maintain as a composition of 8 members, she did not have the right to declare war and make peace, impose new taxes on her subjects, promote employees in both the military and civil service above colonel and VI rank, distribute court positions, make government expenses, grant estates and villages. In addition, the “gentry” (nobles) could only be subject to deprivation of honor and property, and for important crimes - the death penalty. 15.2.1730 Anna Ivanovna arrived in Moscow, where on February 25 in the Kremlin she received representatives of the opposition to the Supreme Privy Council (A.M. Cherkassky, V.N. Tatishchev, A.D. Kantemir, etc.), who handed her a petition from the nobility for the restoration of autocratic power, and tore apart the conditions. Already on March 4, she destroyed the Supreme Privy Council and restored the Governing Senate in the form in which it existed under Peter I. According to Minich’s plan, the Senate was divided into five departments: 1) affairs relating to the clergy, 2) military, 3 ) finance, 4) justice, 5) industry and trade. On April 28, 1730, the solemn coronation of the Empress took place in Moscow (the wedding and anointing to the throne were performed by Feofan Prokopovich). In Moscow, Anna Ivanovna lived in a small wooden palace - “Annenhof”, built in the Kremlin on her orders next to the Arsenal, and loved to visit the Slobodsky Palace and Izmailovo. In Lefortovo, on the banks of the Yauza River, a wooden palace was built in 1731 - the “summer Annenhof” (architect V.V. Rastrelli; the palace burned down in 1746), behind which a park was laid out. In the “summer Annenhof” Anna Ivanovna often organized balls and masquerades, and in the park there were fireworks displays that overshadowed the “fiery fun” of Peter I. By order of Anna Ivanovna, the Tsar Bell was cast. Unprepared for the role that befell her in adulthood, Anna Ivanovna found herself far from the concerns of the board. Others thought and worked for her. Foreign policy throughout her reign was under the control of A.I. Osterman; Feofan Prokopovich was in charge of church affairs; Russian troops won thanks to the military talents of Minich and Lassi; The internal management was first headed by Osterman, and then by Biron. Alexander Lvovich Naryshkin, the famous diplomat of the era of Peter the Great, Baron P.P., tried, although they could not act completely independently, to develop industry and trade. Shafirov, Cabinet Minister and President of the Commerce Board, Count P.I. Musin-Pushkin. According to reviews of all contemporaries, Anna Ivanovna had a sound mind; some found that her heart was not devoid of sensitivity; but from childhood neither her mind nor her heart received the proper direction. Despite her outward piety, she showed not only rough morals and severity, but even cruelty. It would be unfair to attribute solely to Biron’s influence all the persecutions, exiles, tortures and painful executions that took place during her reign: they were also determined by Anna Ivanovna’s personal qualities. All power during the reign of Anna Ivanovna was in the hands of E.I., a native of Courland. Biron and his henchmen. In 1731, the empress issued a manifesto on the nationwide oath to the heir and established the Cabinet of Ministers. The central body of political investigation was restored - the Secret Investigation Office headed by A.I. Ushakov, where cruel torture was used during the investigation of “the words and deeds of the sovereign.” In 1732 Anna Ivanovna, together with the court and higher government agencies moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg. By decrees of Anna Ivanovna, many of the princes Dolgorukovs, Golitsyns and others were exiled, imprisoned and executed. In 1730-1736, 9 bishops were defrocked. In 1740 A.P. was executed. Volynsky, P.M. Eropkin, A.F. Khrushchev, exiled A.F. Soimonov and P.I. Musin-Pushkin. In 1730, by decree of Anna Ivanovna, an inventory of all state-owned protected forests was compiled. The grain trade was regulated, especially during the famine of 1734. A new mining charter was promulgated - the Berg Regulation (1739). In 1730, Anna Ivanovna issued a manifesto to the Synod demanding compliance with the purity of the Orthodox faith, the eradication of heresies, schisms and superstitions; ordered the burning of sorcerers (1731); in 1738 the death penalty for blasphemy was established. Theological seminaries were opened in 16 cities of the empire. Under the leadership of Minich, military reform was carried out; The Izmailovsky and Horse Guards regiments were formed. In 1733-1735, Russian troops participated in the expulsion of S. Leszczynski from Saxony, which helped the election of the Polish king Stanislav Augustus, Elector of Saxony (August III). Biron was elected Duke of Courland and Semigalsky. Having shown an inability to resist the expansion of the Persian Nadir Shah, the government of Anna Ivanovna abandoned the Caspian territories conquered by Peter I (the Treaty of Rasht was concluded in 1732). The result of the Russian-Turkish war of 1735-1739 was the Peace of Belgrade of 1739, which was unfavorable for Russia. As if wanting to reward herself for the embarrassment she experienced during her almost twenty-year stay in Courland, Anna Ivanovna spent huge sums on various festivities, balls, masquerades, and ceremonial receptions for ambassadors , fireworks and illuminations. Even foreigners were amazed at the luxury of her court. The wife of the English resident, Lady Rondo, was delighted with the splendor of the court holidays in St. Petersburg, which, with their magical setting, transported her to the land of fairies and reminded her of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” They were admired by both the spoiled marquis of the court of Louis XV de la Chetardie and the French officers captured near Danzig. Partly her own taste, partly, perhaps, the desire to imitate Peter the Great, prompted Anna Ivanovna to sometimes organize comic processions. The most remarkable of these processions was the “curious” wedding of the jester Prince Golitsyn with the Kalmyk firecracker Buzheninova in the Ice House on 6.2.1740. The chairman of the “masquerade commission” established to organize this fun was A.P. Volynsky. He exerted all his strength and ingenuity so that the wedding train, which presented a live ethnographic exhibition, would amuse both the empress and the people. This peculiar spectacle brought great pleasure to Anna Ivanovna, and she again began to favor Volynsky, who had previously fallen out of favor. Being a lover of various “curiosities,” Anna Ivanovna kept at her court people, animals and birds distinguished by their external features. She had giants and dwarfs, crackers and jesters who entertained her in moments of boredom, as well as storytellers who told her bedtime stories. There were also monkeys, learned starlings, and white peahens. Anna Ivanovna was fond of horses and hunting, and therefore it is not surprising that Volynsky, who was in charge of the court stables in 1732 and took the position of Chief Jägermeister in 1736, became a person close to Anna Ivanovna. But in 1740 Volynsky and his confidants were accused of “villainous plans”, of striving for a coup d’etat. In 1734, the political cause of Prince Cherkassky arose. Considering the Holstein prince Peter-Ulrich to be the legitimate heir to the Russian throne, the Smolensk governor, Prince Cherkassky, started transferring the Smolensk province under his protectorate and was exiled to Siberia for this. In an effort to secure the right to the Russian throne for the descendants of Ivan V, before her death, Anna Ivanovna appointed Ivan Antonovich as her successor, and Biron as regent until he came of age.

Book materials used: Sukhareva O.V. Who was who in Russia from Peter I to Paul I, Moscow, 2005

ANNA IVANOVNA (1693, Moscow - 1740, St. Petersburg) - Russian empress from 1730. Daughter of the Tsar Ivan V Alekseevich and Praskovya Fedorovna Saltykova. In 1710, Peter I, wanting to strengthen Russia's influence in the Baltic states, married Anna to the Duke of Courland, Friedrich Wilhelm. At the beginning of 1711, the Duke died unexpectedly on the way to Mitau, and his widow returned home. Courland (a state on the territory of modern Latvia) was a bone of contention between Russia, Sweden, Prussia and Poland. Peter I demanded that A. live in her residence in Mitau under the control of the Russian representative P.M. Bestuzhev-Ryumina. Her situation was not easy. On the one hand, the Courland nobles did not favor Anna, trying to survive her and limit her assignment of income, because they were afraid of the strengthening of Russia; on the other, Peter I, on whom she depended both politically and financially (“and with village income I can hardly support my house and table”). Living in her parents' mansion according to the laws of antiquity in "silence and coolness", finding herself abroad by the royal will, ugly, rude, masculine, mentally undeveloped, with a difficult character, capricious, suspicious, she felt lonely and out of place. She failed to get married in 1723, nor in 1726, because... the contenders for her hand did not suit the Russian government. In 1730 member of the Supreme Privy Council D. M. Golitsyn offered to elevate Anna to the Russian throne if she signed "condition"- conditions limiting autocracy in favor of aristocrats, the “supreme rulers.” This frightened the nobles, who did not want to have ten autocrats instead of one. A. signed the “points”, but upon arriving in Russia, she received a formal request from the guard to restore autocracy, broke the “conditions” and “committed herself to sovereignty.” Having no idea about the state. management and not trusting the Senate, where the “top leaders” were strong, A. in 1731 transferred all the work of managing the state to the Cabinet of Ministers: G.I. Golovkin, A.I. Osterman, A.M. Cherkassky, later P.I. Yaguzhinsky and A.P. Volynsky. A special place belonged to Ernst Johann Baron, A.’s favorite. In foreign policy, the struggle with Ottoman Empire for the Black Sea region and the Balkans, Russia sought to increase its influence in Poland and Germany. In 1736 - 1738 the Crimean Khanate was defeated. The government of A. bowed to the satisfaction of the interests of the nobility: the decree of the United People's Republic was canceled, limited; the term of the civil and-military service 25 years, which was a step towards the future “freedom” of the nobility. Having come to power, A. surrounded herself with her own people, brutally dealing with the political opponents Dolgoruky and D.M. Golitsyn. The execution of A.P. made a depressing impression on society. Volynsky. Theft of embezzlement, the aggravation of the situation of the peasants by almost constantly ongoing wars, the repressions of the Secret Chancellery, wasteful festivities and the rudeness of morals at court - all this was perceived as a dark period of the Russian Empire. stories. At this time, many Germans appeared in the empress’s circle. However, traditional ideas about the reign of A., as a time of dominance of foreigners (V.O. Klyuchevsky), are disputed by modern research. A. died after a short illness, bequeathing the throne to Ivan VI Antonovich during the regency of Biron.

Book materials used: Shikman A.P. Figures of Russian history. Biographical reference book. Moscow, 1997

Anna Ioannovna.
Engraving. Germany. XVIII century

Anna Ivanovna Romanova

Empress and Autocrat of All Russia in 1730-1740. Daughter of Tsar Ivan V Alekseevich and Praskovya Fedorovna Saltykova. Genus. 28 Jan 1693 Married 31 Oct. 1710 for the Duke of Courland Frederick William (+ January 9, 1711). She ascended the throne on January 19. 1730; 25 Feb declared herself an autocratic empress; crowned April 28 1730 Oct 17 1740

Anna's official father, Tsar Ivan Alekseevich, was, as you know, a powerless, idle and weak-minded man. His wife, Princess Praskovya, on the contrary, was distinguished by her energetic and domineering character. During her marriage, she gave birth to five daughters, about whose origins contemporaries had almost no doubt. The father of Anna, like her sister Catherine, was considered to be Vasily Yushkov, a nobleman of good family and a healthy fellow, who was introduced, not without a second thought, as the first sleeping bag for the Tsar’s wife.

After Ivan's death in 1696, Praskovya remained full-time mistress in his village of Izmailovo near Moscow. She lived here, surrounded by a huge number of servants. In addition, all kinds of holy fools, cripples and soothsayers constantly lived in Izmailovo. According to Bergoltz, there was constant bustle, noise and crowded conditions in the palace. At night, the ladies-in-waiting and maids slept interspersed anywhere. The simplicity and rudeness of morals were incredible.

In March 1708, at the behest of Peter 1, Praskovya and her daughters moved to St. Petersburg, where a special house was built for them on the St. Petersburg side: Immediately after the move, the sovereign began to bother about the marriage of his nieces. In 1709, it was agreed to marry Anna to the Duke of Courland. The wedding took place on October 31, 1710 in St. Petersburg, in the palace of Prince. Menshikov. The young Duke amazed even seasoned Russians with his incredible ability to drink. But at the wedding feast, which lasted until mid-November, he exceeded his limit and died on the way home from drinking.

Anna arrived in Mitava alone and, having taken a closer look at life there, she was soon convinced that she would have to settle down very modestly. At first we had to stay in a furnished house. There was not enough income to maintain the yard. Involuntarily, I had to limit myself in pleasures and become desperately bored. For entertainment, Anna went to St. Petersburg, where at that time it was much more fun. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the duchess was very tall, almost a head taller than her entire retinue. Despite the plumpness that distinguished her already in her early youth, she generally made a pleasant impression, was very amiable and lively. Anna inherited many character traits from her mother. She was superstitious, loved luxury, and was extremely fond of hunting. She was brought closer to Peter 1 by her strong inclination towards buffoonery and addiction to rough fun. Neither upbringing nor marriage contributed to her development. This woman was generally lazy, but with sudden bursts of energy, almost uneducated, cunning, but mentally limited and stingy. In Mitau she spent her days half-dressed, unkempt, lying on a bearskin, sleeping or dreaming. She showed no interest in business. The duchy was ruled by the Russian resident Bestuzhev, who was also her lover for a long time. From 1718 he was succeeded by Ernest-Johann Buren, who later assumed the noble name of Biron. This man immediately acquired enormous influence over Anna, which he retained until her death. Subsequently, she often thought and acted in accordance with how her favorite influenced her. In 1723, Anna married him to Beninga von Trotta-Truden, who was distinguished by her extraordinary ugliness and stupidity. Anna showed extreme tenderness towards Biron's children. But many assumed that Beninga only passed off these children as her own, that they were in fact Anna’s children, and that Madame Biron tied pillows to her stomach during the duchess’s pregnancy. *** Anna had already, apparently, become accustomed to her position as a petty empress, when suddenly a sudden change of fate opened up new horizons for her. In January 1730, Peter II died. It ended the male line of the Romanovs. None of the descendants and relatives of Peter 1 now had undisputed rights to the Russian throne, and the members of the Supreme Privy Council, who gathered on the day of the emperor’s death to discuss the issue of succession to the throne, had every opportunity to choose. Prince took the initiative into his own hands. Dmitry Golitsyn. The occasion seemed suitable to him for realizing the long-standing dream of the Russian aristocracy to limit the autocratic power of the emperor. Golitsyn offered to give the crown to Anna, but not in the old way, but on certain conditions. Council members supported this idea (although expressed somewhat unexpectedly, it fully corresponded to their sentiments). It was decided to send Anna the terms and conditions along with the invitation. They were compiled on the same day in deep secrecy and sent to Courland. Anna, upon accepting the Russian throne, had to promise throughout her life not to marry and not to appoint a successor, and also to rule together with the Supreme Privy Council and without its consent: 1) not to start a war; 2) do not make peace; 3) do not impose new taxes on subjects: 4) do not grant ranks higher than colonel; 5) do not take away life, property and honor from the nobility without trial; 6) estates and villages are not favored; 7) not to be promoted to court ranks; 8) do not use government revenues for personal needs. Anna's answer was drawn up in Moscow in advance in such a form that she herself, of her own free will, granted the Supreme Council the powers it asked for. Anna did not hesitate to agree to the conditions and sealed them with her signature. On February 1, General Leontyev brought the conditions signed by her to Moscow, and on the 10th the empress herself arrived and stayed in the village of Vsesvyatskoye. Until now, she has strictly fulfilled her obligations, but it has not escaped her that the leaders have no support either in the guard or in the nobility. The nobles were not all supporters of the ancient autocracy, but many were tormented by annoyance - why, against their will, some new government was reigning over them. They said that if the supreme power should be divided and someone other than the sovereign would still represent it, then certainly not a circle of noble boyars, but the entire nobility represented by their elected representatives. Particularly great was the hatred of the Dolgorukys, who, under the former sovereign, had taken all power into their own hands and were now encroaching on the same.

On February 12, Anna received guard officers at Vsesvyatsky. She brought each of them a glass of vodka, and then declared herself a colonel of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. On the 15th she solemnly entered Moscow. Vasily Lukich Dolgoruky tried to exclude any outside influence on her. Entry into the empress's apartments was strictly prohibited, but the dissatisfied had the opportunity to communicate with her through her sister, the Duchess of Mecklenburg, her mother, Princess Praskovya, as well as through the women of her court: Natalya Lopukhina, Mrs. Osterman, Yaguzhinskaya, Saltykova and Prince. Cherkasy. Anna was aware of all city events. Moscow was seething. The entire nobility was divided into supporters of autocratic power and supporters of reforms, who developed about a dozen projects for a new state structure. Neither one nor the other favored the supreme leaders.

On February 25, hundreds of eight senators, generals and nobles in the large palace hall submitted a petition to Anna with a request to form a commission to revise the projects presented to the Supreme Privy Council, so as to establish a form of government pleasing to all the people (by this formula was meant: all the nobility) . The Empress was called upon to become a mediator between the rulers and their opponents. Vasily Dolgoruky suggested that Anna, according to the rules, first discuss the petition together with the Supreme Privy Council. Anna was about to agree, but then her sister, the Duchess of Mecklenburg, came up to her, holding an inkwell with a feather, and said: “No, empress, there is no point in arguing now! Here is the pen - if you please sign it!” The Empress signed the petition: “Do this.” Then, having returned the petition, she instructed the deputation to discuss the draft of her petition immediately and on the same day to inform her about the result of her deliberations. At this time, the dispersed guards began to shout: “We will not allow laws to be attributed to the empress. She must be as autocratic as her ancestors were!” Anna tried to calm the screamers, but they continued to persuade her and at the same time threatened: “Order, and we will bring the heads of your villains to your feet!” The Empress pretended to be worried about her safety and, turning to Captain Preobrazhentsev, said: “Obey only General Saltykov and him alone.” Until now, the guard was controlled by Vasily Dolgoruky. Having taken away this important post from him, as if in passing, Anna deprived him of the opportunity to influence further events. Assembly of the Nobility went to the next room of the palace for a meeting, and Anna went to dinner with members of the Supreme Privy Council.

The nobility did not deliberate for long. There was no time to confer, and there was really nothing to discuss. The entire palace was filled with guards who continued to shout, make noise and proclaim Anna as an autocratic empress, and all opponents of the autocracy were threatened with being thrown out of the windows. It was all too clear that the assembly, which had been instructed to deliberate as if freely about its affairs, was under arrest.

After dinner, the nobility submitted another request to Anna with 150 signatures, in which the “most humble slaves” most submissively brought and most humbly asked to most graciously accept the autocracy of their glorious and illustrious ancestors, and to destroy the items sent from the Supreme Council and signed by her.

After listening to this petition, “Anna said: “My constant desire was to rule my subjects peacefully and fairly, but I signed the clauses and must know: do the members of the Supreme Privy Council agree that I accept what is now proposed by the people?” For the rulers, this was a painful moment. Finally, Chancellor Golovkin bowed his head in agreement, and Vasily Dolgoruky simply said: “Let the will of Providence be done!”

“It follows,” the empress continued, “the points presented to me in Mitau were not drawn up at the request of the people!” "No!" - several voices shouted. “So you deceived me, Vasily Lukich?” - Anna asked Dolgoruky.

She ordered the items signed in Mitau to be brought to her and immediately tore them up in front of everyone. Thus ended the ten-day constitutional-aristocratic Russian monarchy of the 18th century, created as a result of the four-week temporary rule of the Supreme Council. On the same day, Dmitry Golitsyn said to his comrades regarding the failure of the whole business: “The feast was ready, but those invited turned out to be unworthy of it. I know that I will fall as the first victim of the failure of this business; so be it, I will suffer for the fatherland; I have a little time left to live; but those who make me cry will cry longer than I.” His words turned out to be prophetic.

When assessing Anna's reign, one should strictly remain within historical frameworks. It makes us more forgiving. Of course, when compared with the time of Peter 1, one cannot help but see a decline in all matters, but when compared with the completely thoughtless reign of her two predecessors, one must also notice some positive changes. The Empress, according to Shcherbatov, had a naturally limited mind (the limitation was further aggravated by the fact that she had not received any education), but she was distinguished by clarity in her views and faithfulness in her judgments. There was no love of praise in her, no higher ambition, and therefore no desire to do great things, to establish new laws. But in Anna one must recognize a certain methodical nature, a great love of order, and a constant concern for not doing anything hastily and without consulting with experienced people. As the head of government, according to Catherine II, she stood above Elizabeth. If her reign seems less brilliant, it is due to the lack of efficient assistants.

While in Moscow, Anna got up between seven and eight o'clock, drank coffee and spent an hour or two looking at jewelry. At nine o'clock the ministers and secretaries entered. The Empress signed the papers, mostly without reading them, and went to Biron's arena, where she had a room. She examined the horses, gave an audience, then shot at the target. Her passion for shooting and hunting was extremely strong. In all corners of the palace she had loaded guns at hand, from which she fired at the birds flying past the windows. Returning home at noon, Anna had lunch with Biron without taking off her morning suit: a long homemade, oriental-cut dress, light blue or green, and a red scarf, tied in the fashion of Russian bourgeois women (she generally loved bright colors). Having left the table, she lay down to rest next to her favorite, and Madame Biron modestly retired with the children. Waking up, the empress opened the door behind which her ladies-in-waiting were doing needlework, and shouted to them: “Well, girls, sing!” The maids of honor began to sing a song, then another, and sometimes sang until they were completely exhausted. Then came the turn of storytellers of all kinds of adventures and storytellers. The Empress was a great hunter of gossip; her correspondence is very typical in this regard. Through close people, Anna found out about all sorts of lively talkers and tried to sign them all up. She found great pleasure in the incessant chatter. Quite a few of her ladies-in-waiting and closest confidantes made careers thanks to their tongue. Such was Anna Fedorovna Yushkova, a cheerful, witty lover of obscene conversations, formerly a kitchen girl who wandered barefoot among the lower servants of the palace. Anna made her the main lady of state and her great favorite. Another - the dishwasher Margarita Fedorovna Nun - together with Countess Shcherbatova, a cheerful and inventive companion, formed the most intimate circle of women of the empress.

After the coronation, Anna first lived in the Kremlin, in a fairly comfortable room in the ancient Amusement Palace. With the onset of summer, she moved to Izmailovo, and at that time in the Kremlin, next to the Arsenal, the Italian architect Rastrelli built a new wooden palace, called Annenhof. The Empress settled there in October 1730. But soon she liked the Golovinsky house with Petrovsky Park, where she sometimes held celebrations, so much that she ordered Rastrelli to build another, wooden Annenhof next door, which was ready by the summer of next year and where she even spent the winter before moving to St. Petersburg in 1732 . Later she never returned to Moscow. In St. Petersburg, Anna settled in the house of Count Apraksin, donated by the admiral to Peter II. She greatly expanded it and turned it into a palace called the New Winter Palace, and the Old was given to the court staff.

Both dwellings were soon filled with numerous inhabitants. In the first, most of the space was occupied by animals, especially birds, raised and trained by the German Warland. Cages were visible in almost all parts of the palace, and in one of the inner gardens, the “menagerie,” there were even more birds, which were sometimes released and at which the empress shot with a gun and a bow. Under the threat of hard labor, hunting was prohibited in the area of ​​30 versts in the vicinity of the capital. For court hunts, bears, wolves, wild boars, deer, and foxes were collected from all over Russia. Only in 1740, Moscow sent 600 live hares to St. Petersburg, and in the same year Prince. Kantemir bought 34 pairs of dachshunds in Paris for the empress, while Prince. Shcherbatov purchased 63 pairs of hounds, greyhounds and pointing dogs in London. From June 10 to August 23 of the same year, the lists of prey killed by Her Majesty alone included 9 deer, 16 roe deer, 4 wild boars, a wolf, 374 hares, 68 wild ducks and 16 seabirds. The empress's favorite, the bitch Tsitrinka, was courted by the well-born Prince Nikita Volkonsky, one of the jesters, and the court regulations determined the quality and quantity of dishes prepared for her by the royal kitchen.

The courtyard was filled with people belonging to all walks of life. Dwarfs and dwarves, hunchbacks and cripples of both sexes lived in large numbers next to jesters and firecrackers, fools and fools, Kalmyks, Cheremis and blacks. All these people behaved with great swagger. One of the most common pranks, which enjoyed constant success with the empress, was to squat down and cluck like a hen that had laid an egg. Another fun thing was that half of the fools stood facing the wall, and the other rewarded them with kicks. There were other amusements that Anna indulged in with true Petrovsky passion. One of the most famous is the wedding in the ice palace of her jester Prince. Mikhail Golitsyn on Buzheninova’s cracker. The wedding was celebrated on an imperial scale. Suffice it to say that a state commission headed by Volynsky worked on the implementation of the idea.

Peter 1 destroyed the old royal court, but did not create a new one. Neither Catherine 1 nor Peter II had their own court in the literal sense of the word, with its complex organization and decorative pomp common in Western countries. With the exception of a few chamberlain positions, everything had to be created anew, and Anna set about it. She appointed many court officials and established receptions on certain days; she gave balls and set up a theater like the French king's. For the festivities on the occasion of her coronation, Augustus II sent her several Italian actors from Dresden, and she realized that she needed to have a permanent Italian troupe. She discharged her in 1735, and twice a week “interludes” alternated with ballet. They were attended by students of the cadet corps, who studied under the guidance of the French dance teacher Lande. Then the Italian opera appeared with 70 singers and female singers, under the direction of the French composer Araglia. Since the empress did not understand Italian, Tredyakovsky translated the text for her, and the empress watched the performance with a book in her hands. But even this help did not make her interested in the theater. Her head, like her upbringing, was little suited to artistic forms of entertainment. At that time, a troupe of German comedians, performing crude farces, enjoyed much greater success at court.

But be that as it may, what was born Russian society(in the European sense of the word) continued to develop. Fashion appeared under Anna. It was officially forbidden to come to court twice in the same dress. The Spartan simplicity of previous reigns gave way to ruinous luxury. Spending three thousand a year on a dress, the man looked miserable, and Madame Biron’s dress was valued at five hundred thousand rubles. The table also adopted a hitherto unseen sophistication. The usual rough drunken revelry under Peter I, when everyone indiscriminately, including ladies, had to get drunk on vodka, is now a thing of the past. The Empress did not like people to get drunk in her presence. Scenes of drunkenness at court became relatively rare. Along with the delicacies, French wines - champagne and Burgundy - were served on the table. The houses were gradually made larger and furnished English furniture Luxurious carriages and gilded carriages with velvet upholstery began to appear more often.

State affairs under Anna remained in decline, although they acquired some order compared to previous times. Immediately upon her accession to the throne, she abolished the Supreme Privy Council. But the old organs appear again only under new names. In 1730, the Office of Secret Investigation Cases was established, replacing the Preobrazhensky Order, which was destroyed under Peter II. In a short time it gained extraordinary strength and soon became one of the most important institutions and a kind of symbol of the era. Anna was constantly afraid of conspiracies that threatened her reign. Therefore, the abuses of this department were enormous even by Russian standards. Espionage became the most encouraged government service. An ambiguous word or a misunderstood gesture was often enough to end up in a dungeon, or even disappear without a trace. All those exiled to Siberia under Anna were considered to be over 20 thousand people; Of these, more than 5 thousand were of whom no trace could be found, since they were often exiled without any recording in the proper place and with a change in the names of the exiles, without even informing the Secret Chancellery. Up to 1,000 people were counted as executed, not including those who died during the investigation and those executed secretly. And there were quite a few of them too. In total, more than 30 thousand people were subjected to various types of repression.

In 1731, the Cabinet of Ministers was established, which had previously functioned as the personal secretariat of the Empress. 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 Council.

All affairs under Anna were run by three main Germans - Biron, Osterman and Minich, who were constantly at odds with each other. Besides them, there were many other smaller Germans who seized all the profitable places and positions and pushed the Russian aristocracy out of control. German dominance was so sensitive that it became, as it were, a second symbol of the era. All this caused strong displeasure among the Russian nobility and especially among its advanced part, which was then the guard. But while Anna was alive, indignation did not break out. However, it appeared immediately after she was gone.

The Empress died unexpectedly. Her ten-year reign was crowned by two high-profile events - the wedding of her jester in the ice palace and the execution of Volynsky. On October 5, 1740, Anna, as usual, sat down to dine with Biron. Suddenly she felt sick and fell unconscious. She was picked up and put to bed. It became clear to everyone that Anna had fallen ill and would not get up again. The issue of succession to the throne was resolved long ago. The Empress appointed a nine-month-old child as her successor - the son of her niece, Duchess of Brunswick Anna Leopoldovna. It remained to decide who would be regent until he came of age. In the end, after much hesitation, Anna declared Biron regent. The decree on this was signed only on October 16 after the second seizure. On the 17th Anna died and was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

All the monarchs of the world. Russia. 600 short biographies. Konstantin Ryzhov. Moscow, 1999

Read further:

Literature:

Anisimov E.V. Anna Ivanovna // Questions of history. 1993. No. 4.

Essays on the history of the USSR. Russia in the second quarter. XVIII century, M., 1957;

Korsakov D. A., Accession of the Imperial Anna Ioannovna, Kaz., 1880; Stroev V., Bironovschina and the Cabinet of Ministers. Essay on internal politics of the Imperial Anna, parts 1-2, M. - St. Petersburg, 1909-10;

Kostomarov N., Rus. history in the biographies of its main figures, 5th ed., book. 3, St. Petersburg, 1913;

Bondarenko V.N., Essays on finance. politics of the Cabinet of Ministers of Anna Ioannovna, M., 1913.

The middle of the three daughters of Tsar Ivan V and Praskovya Fedorovna was born on January 28 (February 7), 1693. Anna lost her father early. Ivan Alekseevich, ill since childhood, died at the age of 29. After his death, the court of the dowager queen moved to the Izmailovo residence. At that moment, the princesses were five, three and two years old. In this “magical refuge,” as the German traveler Korb called the estate at the end of the 17th century, the girls spent 12 years. Everything changed when, in 1708, Tsar Peter I ordered his daughter-in-law’s courtyard to be moved to St. Petersburg. As a gift, he presented her with a house on the banks of the Neva, located not far from Petrovsky House, and a 200-square-foot plot of land on the Peterhof Road. On the day of his relatives’ arrival, according to historians’ recollections, Peter organized a large sea excursion from Shlisselburg to St. Petersburg, and then to Kronstadt.

Daughters - mothers

In St. Petersburg, the Dowager Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna developed very warm relations with Peter’s relatives. As the Dutch artist Cornelis de Bruin wrote, she was greatly respected by the emperor's son, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, who often visited her and the three young princesses. By the way, in his memoirs he also described the appearance of the royal nieces, the middle of whom, Anna, was 10 years old at that time.

“They are all beautifully built. The middle one is blond, has an extremely delicate and white complexion, the other two are beautiful dark-skinned. The youngest was distinguished by her special natural liveliness, and all three were generally courteous and affable,” he wrote.

Portrait of Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna in old age, dressed in new European fashion, painting by Ivan Nikitin. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

It is worth noting that the relationship between mother and daughters was not easy. The Dowager Queen adhered to the rules of the ancient pre-reform life, kept the girls in strictness, although she allowed them to spend their leisure time in entertainment. She had the most trusting relationship with her eldest daughter Catherine, who, at the request of Peter I, married the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Karl Leopold. For a long time, the queen had conflicts with Anna.

The mother herself proposed Anna's candidacy when Peter proposed marrying one of his nieces to the Duke of Courland and Semigallia, Friedrich Wilhelm. Despite the fact that the daughter obeyed the will of her mother, a song about the difficult fate of a 17-year-old girl who was forcibly married to a “busurman” was popular among the people in those years. True, her marriage did not last long. On October 31, 1710, the wedding of the newlyweds took place in the palace of Prince Menshikov, and already on January 10, 1711, Anna was widowed.

Her husband died at Duderhof Manor, without even taking his young wife to his estate. According to one version, his death was due to alcoholic libations, which he indulged in with Peter the Great, celebrating the conclusion of a successful marriage.

Despite the death of the Duke, the imperious uncle ordered his widowed niece to still go to Courland. He sent Pyotr Bestuzhev with Anna as an assistant, with whom the young lady soon began an affair that shocked Praskovya Fedorovna. She even asked Peter for permission to come to her and set her on the right path. But as a result, Vasily Saltykov, the queen’s brother, went to Mitava instead. Instead of reconciling the parties, he only achieved an aggravation of the family conflict, telling his sister about the “shameful” connection between his niece and Bestuzhev.

It was not possible to find mutual understanding between mother and daughter for many years. According to the recollections of those close to Praskovya, over the years her health deteriorated greatly, she abused alcoholic beverages and often suffered from pain in her legs. All this affected her character: she was irritable and harsh in her communication. Before her death, she even wrote a rude letter to Anna, which greatly saddened her daughter. Anna had to seek support in this situation from Empress Catherine, who put in a good word about her with her relative. As a result, she forgave Anna, writing to her: “I forgive you everything for the aforementioned Her Majesty, my most kind lady-in-law, and forgive you in everything, even though you have sinned before me.”

For many years Anna was unable to find mutual understanding with her mother. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

“Viva our Empress, Anna Ioannovna!”

Anna Ioannovna had to return to Russia in the winter of 1730. After the death of Emperor Peter II, a fierce struggle between clans began in St. Petersburg, seeking to seize power. All methods were used: from lying to forging the emperor’s signature. As a result, the only legitimate decision was the announcement of a document in which Empress Catherine I, handing over the throne to 12-year-old Peter, stipulated what would happen if he died before he came of age. It clearly stated that the right of inheritance would pass to Anna and her heirs.

Members of the Supreme Privy Council liked this idea, since they had a chance to influence the new queen, who had no influence in Russia. They greeted her candidacy with shouts of “Vivat our empress, Anna Ioannovna!” At a meeting of the same council, Prince Dmitry Golitsyn made a revolutionary proposal for those years - to limit her power to “Conditions”. Soon a document was developed that stated that the empress could not promote to ranks higher than colonel, spend the treasury at her own discretion, appoint an heir and marry, as well as declare war and introduce new taxes. Not everyone liked this idea. Having learned about the existence of the “Conditions,” secret gatherings of nobles began in the city.

When Anna arrived in the Moscow region in early February, her sisters, Duchess of Mecklenburg Ekaterina Ioannovna and Princess Praskovya Ioannovna, came to meet her. They told her about the mood in the capital and helped her begin correspondence with members of influential noble families. A few days later in Moscow, in the Assumption Cathedral, the troops and the highest ranks of the state took the oath to her. In the text of the document, phrases about the tsarina’s autocracy were crossed out.

The denouement of the story came on February 25. Supporters of the autocracy submitted a petition to Anna, signed by the nobles, in which they asked to “tear up” the “Conditions,” which Anna did.

Already on March 1, a repeated oath to Anna Ioannovna took place, only on the terms of complete autocracy.

Anna Ioannovna breaks the Standard. Photo: Public Domain

The time of jesters and minions

The reign of Anna Ionovna went down in history as a period when policy in the country was determined by people close to her. According to historians, a huge role in governing the state at that time was played by Vice-Chancellor Osterman, the closest adviser to the Empress, Chief Chamberlain of the Court Biron, Count Karl Löwenwolde and Burkhart Minich.

The Empress spent huge amounts of money on entertainment and fun. During her reign, an ice town with elephants was built for the first time. The wedding of the jester Prince Golitsyn went down in history, when in February 1740 an ice house was built for this purpose between the Admiralty and the Winter Palace on the Neva. For the amusement of noble gentlemen, about three hundred were brought to the city different nations in national costumes, who sang and amused the audience.

Jesters in Anna Ioannovna’s bedroom (Jacobi V. I., 1872) Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

In the same year, Anna Ioannovna’s health noticeably deteriorated. In October, she had a seizure, after which it became clear to the doctors that there was no point in expecting a cure. On October 28, the Empress died. She was 47 years old.