equal in rank with the head of the Holy Roman Empire. Gradually, however, the chancelleries had to withdraw their protests, for it came to be generally recognized that the semi-barbarian, who died at the early age of fifty-three, had transformed the oriental tsardom of Muscovy into a state of the Western type and had made it a powerful member of the European family of nations (see Peter I.).
IV. The Modern Empire.—On the death of Peter (1725) the internal tranquillity and progress of the empire were again seriously threatened by the uncertainty of the order of succession, and the autocratic power which he had wielded so vigorously passed into the hands of a series of weak, indolent sovereigns who were habitually guided by personal caprice and the advice of intriguing favourites rather than by serious political considerations. During this period, which lasted from 1725 to 1762, the male line of the Romanov dynasty became extinct, and the succession passed to various members of the female line, which intermarried with German princes. In this way German influence was enormously increased, and was represented by men of considerable capacity holding the highest official positions, such as Biren, Münnich and Ostermann. The main events of the period may be summarized very briefly. Peter, by his first marriage, had a son, the unhappy cesarevich Alexius (q.v.), who figures more largely in imaginative literature than in history—a narrow-minded, obstinate, pious youth, who had no sympathy with his father's violent innovations, and was completely under the influence of the old Muscovite reactionary faction. Intimidated by the paternal anger and threats he took refuge in Austria, and when he had been induced by illusory promises to return to Russia he was tried for high treason by a special tribunal, and after being subjected to torture died in prison (1718). To avert the danger of a man of this type succeeding to the throne Peter made a law by which the reigning sovereign might choose his successor according to his own judgment, and two years later he caused his second wife, Catherine I., 1725-27. Catherine, the daughter of a Lithuanian peasant, to be crowned with all due solemnity, “in recognition of the courageous services rendered by her to the Russian Empire.” This gave Catherine a certain right to the throne at her husband's death, and her claims were supported by Peter's most influential coadjutors, especially by Prince Menshikov, an ambitious man of humble origin who had been raised by his patron to the highest offices of state. On the other hand the great nobles of more conservative tendencies wished to get the young son of the cesarevich Alexius made emperor under their own control. The former faction triumphed, and Catherine reigned for about a year and a half, after which the son of the cesarevich Alexius, Peter II., Peter II., 1727-30. occupied the throne from 1727 to 1730. At first he was under the tutelage of Menshikov, who wished him to marry his daughter, but he soon contrived, with the aid of the Dolgorukis and other old families, to get his imperious tutor arrested and exiled to Siberia. The Dolgorukis and their friends thus came into power, and on the death of Peter II. in 1750 they offered the throne to Anne, duchess of Courland, a daughter of Ivan V., elder brother of Peter the Great, on condition of her signing a formal document by which the seat of government should be transferred from St Petersburg to Moscow, and the autocratic power should be limited and controlled by a grand council composed of their Anne, 1730-40. own faction. Anne accepted the condition and became empress, but when she discovered that the attempt to limit her powers in favour of a small conservative oligarchy was extremely unpopular among all classes, she submitted the question to an assembly of 800 ecclesiastical and lay dignitaries, and at their request the unlimited autocratic rule was re-established. Her reign (1730-40) was a régime of methodical German despotism on the lines laid down by her uncle, Peter the Great, and as she was naturally indolent and much addicted to frivolous amusements, the administration was directed by her favourite Biren (q.v.) and other men of German origin. Having no male issue, she chose as her successor the infant son of her niece, Anna Leopoldovna, duchess of Brunswick, and at her death the child was duly proclaimed emperor, under the name of Ivan VI., but in little more than a year he was dethroned by the partisans of the Princess Elizabeth, a daughter of Peter the Great and Elizabeth, 1741-61. Catherine I. As a true daughter of the great Russian reformer, Elizabeth (1741-61) relegated the German element to a subordinate position in the administration and gave her confidence to genuine Russians like Bestuzhev, Vorontsov, Razumovski (her morganatic husband) and the Shuvalovs. Her hatred of Germans showed itself likewise in her persistent struggle with Frederick the Great, which cost Russia 300,000 men and 30 millions of roubles—an enormous sum for those days—but in the choice of a successor she could not follow her natural inclinations, for among the few descendants of Michael Romanov there was no one, even in the female line, who could be called a genuine Russian. She proclaimed, therefore, as heir-apparent the son of her deceased elder sister Anna, Charles Peter Ulrich, duke of Holstein-Gottorp, a German in character, habits and religion, and tried to Russianize him by making him adopt the Eastern Orthodox faith and live in St Petersburg during the whole of her reign; but her well-meant efforts were singularly unsuccessful. Impervious to Russian influence, he remained true to his original nationality, and by his undisguised aversion to everything in his adopted country and his passionate, childish admiration of Frederick the Great, he made himself so unpopular that within a few months of his accession, in December 1761, he was dethroned and assassinated by the partisans of his ambitious and able consort, the famous Catherine II.[1]
During the long reign of Catherine II. (1762-96) Russia made rapid progress in civilization, and came to be fully recognized Catherine II., 1762-96. as one of the Great Powers. Coming after a series of incompetent rulers, the German princess proved herself a worthy successor to Peter the Great both in home and in foreign affairs; but she was not a mere imitator. Peter had endeavoured to import from western Europe the essentials of good government and such of the useful arts as were required for the development of the natural resources of the country; Catherine did likewise, but she did not restrict herself to purely utilitarian aims in the narrower sense of the term. She strove to impart also something of the refinement and ornamental attributes of Western civilization, and aspired to raise her adopted fatherland intellectually and artistically to the west-European level. This new departure she lost no time in proclaiming to the world. Within a few months of her accession, having heard that the publication of the famous French Encyclopédie was in danger of being stopped by the French government on account of its irreligious spirit, she proposed to Diderot that he should complete his great work in Russia under her protection. Four years later she endeavoured to embody in a legislative form the principles of enlightenment which she had imbibed from the study of the French philosophers. A Grand Commission, which might be called a consultative parliament, composed of 652 members of all classes—officials, nobles, burghers and peasants—and
- ↑ To assist the reader in threading the genealogical maze briefly described above, the following tabular statement is inserted:— (I.) Michael, founder of the Romanov dynasty (1613-45). (II.) Alexius (1645-76). (III.) Theodore (1676-82). (IV.) Ivan V. (1682-). Sophia (Regent 1682-89). (IV.) Peter I. (1682-1725). + (V.) Catherine I. (1725-27). Catherine, duchess of Mecklenburg. (VII.) Anne (1730-40). Cesarevich Alexius Anna, duchess of Holstein. (IX.) Elizabeth (1741-61). Anna Leopoldovna, duchess of Brunswick. (VI.) Peter II. (1727-30). (X.) Peter III. (1761-62). + (XI.) Catherine II. (1762-96). (VIII.) Ivan VI. (1740-4l).
