Pavel I Petrovich

Paul I (1754–1801) – Grand Duke, Emperor.
Born on September 20, 1754 in the Summer Palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. The only son of Grand Duke Peter Feodorovich, then Emperor Peter III, in marriage to Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseyevna, then Empress Catherine II.
In 1761, upon the accession to the throne of his father Peter III, he was declared heir to the throne and Tsarevich.
On November 7, 1796, he ascended the throne after the death of Catherine II and was crowned in Moscow on April 5, 1797.
In the area of ​​domestic policy, Paul I carried out serious reforms of the army and navy, which affected all aspects of the armed forces - organization, management, weapons, uniforms, supplies.
In the area of ​​cultural policy, much has been done for the development of theatre.
In the area of ​​foreign policy, Paul I abruptly changed his political course and moved towards rapprochement with Napoleon Bonaparte, agreeing to a joint campaign in India with the aim of weakening England. This was one of the reasons for the death of the emperor.

Basic principles
• Peacefulness and non-interference in European affairs at the beginning of his reign. Paul I declared that Russia needed peace for its internal order, and recalled the troops that had participated in the war against Persia.
• The fight against revolutionary France. The Emperor considered the French Revolution a threat to the monarchical system and actively fought against it.
• Strengthening Russia’s position in the Black Sea and the struggle for control over the Black Sea straits.
• Protection of Orthodox Christians – Paul I declared himself the protector of Orthodox Christians and provided them with support.

Main Events
• Participation in the Second Anti-French Coalition (1798–1800). Russia joined the coalition under pressure from European powers, but soon contradictions arose with the allies.
• Italian and Swiss campaigns of A. V. Suvorov (1799). The Russian army under the command of Field Marshal Suvorov won victories over French troops in Northern Italy, then crossed the Alps into Switzerland.
• Mediterranean expedition of the squadron of F. F. Ushakov (1798–1800). The Russian fleet under the command of Admiral Ushakov successfully operated in the Mediterranean Sea: the Ionian Islands were liberated, the fortress of Corfu was taken by storm.
• Rapprochement with France and anti-English orientation (1800–1801). After breaking with former allies, Paul I began an active rapprochement with France, where Napoleon Bonaparte came to power.
• Creation of the League of Armed Neutrality (Russia, Prussia, Sweden, Denmark) - it was directed against England's naval dominance and its practice of seizing neutral ships.
Results and Outcomes
• Positive aspects: the victories of Suvorov and Ushakov demonstrated Russia’s military power and strengthened its international prestige.
• Negative aspects: the inconsistency and harshness of Paul I’s foreign policy steps led to the loss of reliable allies and the creation of tension in relations with leading European powers, especially England.
• Plans for an alliance with Napoleon and a campaign in India were adventurous and did not meet Russia’s national interests.

• The sharp turn in foreign policy and rapprochement with Napoleon caused serious discontent in court circles and among the senior officers oriented towards England.
The domestic policy of Paul I (1796–1801) included reforms in the sphere of governance, changes in social policy and military
Reforms in the field of management
• Strengthening the centralization of power. Elective noble positions were replaced by appointed officials, and governance was built on the military-police principle.
• Reform of the Senate. Its powers were expanded, its structure was complicated, and its composition was increased. According to Pavel, the Senate should have become an exclusively judicial body, but this did not happen.
• Transformations in local government. The number of provinces was reduced from 50 to 41, the position of representative of the supreme authority in the provinces was abolished, and government was concentrated in the person of the governor, who was subordinate to the Senate.
• Reform of the judicial system. The chambers of the criminal and civil courts were transformed into departments of one chamber of the court, the judicial instances were liquidated
Social policy
• Limitation of privileges of the nobility. Nobles who did not serve in the state or military service lost the right to participate in noble elections and hold elective positions
• Improving the situation of the peasants. The Manifesto “On the three-day work of landowners’ peasants...” of April 5, 1797 limited corvee work to three days a week and prohibited forcing peasants to work on Sundays.
• Ban on the sale of peasants. Banned the sale of servants and peasants without land, and the separation of families during sale
• Introduction of volost peasant self-government. Rural (communal) peasant self-government in state and appanage villages was streamlined. Military reform
• Updating military regulations. In November 1796, new regulations for infantry and cavalry service were adopted, which established criminal liability of officers for the lives of the soldiers subordinate to them.
• The service life of recruits is limited to 25 years.

• The service term for recruits was limited to 25 years. Those discharged from service were given a pension and maintenance in a disabled company.
• Introduction of uniforms in the Prussian style. New warm overcoats for soldiers appeared.
• Creation of new services. A cartographic map depot, an engineering pioneer regiment, and a military courier corps were created in the army
domestic policy
• The contradictory nature of the reforms. On the one hand, Paul I sought to strengthen the autocracy and restore order in the country, on the other hand, his policy of limiting the freedoms and privileges of the nobility and military reforms caused discontent among the guards and nobles
• Discontent led to conspiracy. In March 1801, Paul I was assassinated in a plot to force the emperor to abdicate the throne

The character of Paul I is characterized by contradictions
Some positive traits: generosity, justice, magnanimity, piety, devotion, chivalrous romanticism, sensitive and sentimental heart. Paul highly valued truth and hated lies.
Some negative traits: tyranny, despotism, pathological sense of fear, haste in any matter, lack of patience, extreme irritability and irascibility. proza.ru
Pavel could not always control himself and his emotions. He often behaved very unrestrainedly, not caring at all about the impression he made on people. kulturologia.ru
As a result, a contradictory image of Paul I was formed: some consider him a tyrant and a mentally ill tyrant, while others call him a great and wise ruler with a heightened sense of justice.
Alienation with his mother. Pavel saw her very rarely, from early childhood he grew up without maternal care and affection. This affected the negative traits of his character: he was extremely irritable, suspicious, experienced bouts of uncontrollable anger and fear.
tragic events associated with the overthrow and murder of his father. The death of Elizabeth, the sudden disappearance of Peter, vague rumors of his violent death shook the eight-year-old boy. Later, pity for his murdered father grew into worship.
Discord with his mother. In May 1783, Pavel was invited to a meeting where foreign policy regarding Crimea and Poland was discussed. Pavel and Catherine's opinions diverged. After this, the empress did not allow her son to be involved in matters of governing the state at all. This instilled in Pavel a lack of self-confidence, suspicion, and hostility towards Catherine II and her inner circle.
Removal from all affairs. Paul was not satisfied with his removal from all affairs, there was nowhere to apply his energy and intelligence, this increased his irritability and dissatisfaction. Even the empress's favorites, who succeeded each other, had greater opportunities than he, the legitimate heir to the throne, who should already be ruling.

• Pavel Petrovich did not give his son any indulgences - he was strict with him and demanded the fulfillment of all duties and assignments, despite their large volume. Alexander felt that his father was dissatisfied with him, and was very worried about this. The father, having ascended the throne, "invaded" the personal circle of his eldest son, removing the people closest to him from him. The relationship between Paul I and his son Alexander began to deteriorate after Paul ascended the throne. Paul was strict not only with the nobles, whom he drove out of service "for laziness and negligence", drunkenness and bad behavior, but also with the heir. Alexander's father made him chief of the Semenovsky Guards Regiment, military governor of the capital, a member of the Senate, as well as inspector of the St. Petersburg cavalry and infantry and head of the Military Collegium.

The relationship between Paul and Alexander remained very warm at first, but soon deteriorated sharply.
As a boy, the son visited Gatchina, where {{char}} lived, very rarely – on weekends

The couple's family idyll turned out to be short-lived, Pavel quickly lost interest in his wife, his mind was occupied by his favorite Ekaterina Nelidova, to whom he belonged entirely, and Maria Feodorovna suffered bitterly from her husband's infidelity, but soon she also acquired a lover, so as not to waste her youth on loneliness and tears. Her favorite was the Secretary of State S. I. Mukhanov, a rather pleasant person in all respects. When the Grand Duchess gave birth to her first child, Catherine II immediately took him away from his parents in order to raise the heir herself according to her own pedagogical ideas. She did not hide the fact that she was disappointed with how her son Pavel turned out, and it was obvious that she did not want to leave the throne to him, and therefore wanted to mold her grandson into a continuer of her path. Catherine sort of bought off her son and daughter-in-law for taking their child, giving them lands. The young couple immediately began to build their own luxurious palace on it, which they would later call Pavlovsk. The Grand Duke allowed his wife to furnish their new home to her taste and supervise all the work herself. At first, the couple was very happy, it seemed that Pavel and Maria loved each other very much, but the couple's family idyll was short-lived, Pavel quickly cooled towards his wife, his mind began to be occupied by his favorite Ekaterina Nelidova, to whom he belonged entirely, and Maria Feodorovna bitterly suffered from her husband's infidelity, but soon she also acquired a lover, so as not to waste her youth on loneliness and tears. Her favorite was State Secretary S. I. Mukhanov, a rather pleasant person in all respects. When the Grand Duchess gave birth to her first child, Catherine II immediately took him away from his parents in order to raise the heir herself according to her own pedagogical ideas. She did not hide the fact that she was disappointed with how her son Paul turned out, and it was obvious that she did not want to leave the throne to him, and therefore wanted to mold her grandson into a successor to her path. Catherine sort of paid off her son and daughter-in-law for taking their child.

When the Grand Duchess gave birth to her first child, Catherine II immediately took him away from his parents in order to raise the heir herself according to her own pedagogical ideas. She did not hide the fact that she was disappointed with how her son Pavel turned out, and it was obvious that she did not want to leave the throne to him, and therefore wanted to mold her grandson into a successor to her path. Catherine sort of paid off her son and daughter-in-law for taking their child, giving them land. The young couple immediately began to build their own luxurious palace on it, which they would later call Pavlovsk. The Grand Duke allowed his wife to furnish their new home to her taste and supervise all the work herself. At first, the couple was very happy, it seemed that Pavel and Maria loved each other very much, but the couple's family idyll was short-lived, Pavel quickly cooled towards his wife, his mind began to be occupied by his favorite Ekaterina Nelidova, to whom he belonged entirely, and Maria Feodorovna bitterly suffered from her husband's infidelity, but soon she also acquired a lover, so as not to waste her youth on loneliness and tears. Her favorite was State Secretary S. I. Mukhanov, a rather pleasant person in all respects. At first, the relationship between Pavel I and Maria Feodorovna was filled with tender feelings. They went on a trip to Europe together, spent a lot of time in Gatchina. The newlyweds walked together for a long time and wrote love notes to each other.
However, over time, the relationship cooled. Pavel became increasingly withdrawn, suspicious, unbalanced, and had many mistresses. One of Pavel's favorites was the maid of honor Ekaterina Nelidova. He even announced to his courtiers: "Respect for Nelidova, contempt for the Grand Duchess."
With Paul's accession to the throne, relations worsened even more. He acquired a new favorite, Anna Lopukhina, who had more influence on Paul than his legal wife. Maria Feodorovna humbly accepted her husband's rejection of her.

relationships. At first, the relationship between Paul I and Maria Feodorovna was filled with tender feelings. They went on a trip to Europe together, spent a lot of time in Gatchina. The newlyweds walked together for a long time and wrote love notes to each other. bgkm.rudiletant.media
However, over time, the relationship cooled. Pavel became increasingly withdrawn, suspicious, unbalanced, and had many mistresses. One of Pavel's favorites was the maid of honor Ekaterina Nelidova. He even announced to his courtiers: "Respect for Nelidova, contempt for the Grand Duchess." spravochnick.rudiletant.media
With Paul's accession to the throne, relations worsened even more. He acquired a new favorite, Anna Lopukhina, who had more influence on Paul than his legal wife. Maria Feodorovna humbly accepted her husband's rejection of her, but continued to maintain tender feelings and loyalty to him. bgkm.ru
Historians believe that Maria Feodorovna continued to love her husband all her life, but her “love” was not of the classical nature of love in the modern sense, it was rather a love of duty and absolute respect for the father of her children.
When Paul became emperor, to everyone's surprise, his wife and mistress became allies. They behaved quite respectfully towards each other, consulted in matters concerning their common man. This friendship was a very wise decision of Maria Feodorovna, because she saw how strong the influence of the favorite was on her husband, and it was much more profitable for the empress to influence Paul through Nelidova than to openly feud with her, bringing trouble to herself and her children. And, although Maria Feodorovna was considered a simple-minded person, she still had no equal in court intrigues. By the way, the ladies continued to be friends even after the death of Paul I.

• Pavel was taken away from Catherine immediately after birth. The mother did not have time to love the heir, she was busy with politics and arranging her personal life.
• Catherine sought to control all aspects of her son’s life. She removed Paul from state affairs and limited his freedom.
• Paul disliked his mother because of her involvement in the palace coup that resulted in the death of his father, Peter III.
• Pavel knew about his mother’s love affairs, and this cooled his feelings even more.
• After ascending the throne, Catherine distanced herself even more from her son, seeing him as a rival - after all, according to the law, Paul should have become emperor.
In order to remove her son from the court, Catherine gave Paul the Gatchina Palace, which, in fact, became a place of exile for the heir.
Paul, in turn, sought to destroy the order established in the state by his mother. Having become emperor, he began to actively cancel Catherine's reforms and restore the old order.

• Military affairs. The Emperor loved the aesthetic side of war: the orderly marching of troops in impeccable uniforms. In Gatchina, Paul held daily parades.
• Reading. From an early age, Pavel read a lot and constantly. His personal library contained geographical atlases, books on military topics, works on maritime and engineering affairs, and historical literature.
• Knightly romance. Pavel carried a fascination with the medieval ideal of chivalry throughout his life. Even in his childhood games, he imagined himself a knight of the Catholic Order of Malta.
• Collecting works of art. In the rooms of Paul I there were paintings that reflected his hobbies, political preferences and significant moments in his life.
• Knowledge of porcelain. Paul I knew a lot about porcelain and was very happy when he received porcelain items as a gift.

the tedious, rough work with documents that Paul I hated. The Emperor sought to resolve any problem as quickly as possible, without delving into its essence.
It is also known that Paul I did not understand and did not accept serious changes, sought to protect Russia from the influence of the Great French Revolution and believed that it was possible to stop time without changing anything.
Another feature of the reign of Paul I was the uneven trust in people, the inability to select friends and associates, and to place personnel. The Emperor changed senior officials so quickly that they did not have time to get up to speed, and the slightest offense could result in disgrace.

The German playwright August von Kotzebue said that Pavel's appearance could be called ugly, and when angry his features even aroused disgust. However, when cordial benevolence illuminated his face, then he became inexpressibly attractive.
Eugene of Württemberg, nephew of Empress Maria Feodorovna, described Paul as a thin man of medium height with extremely plain features and a pale yellow face. He had tiny eyes, a drooping upper lip, a protruding lower lip, and a short, flat nose.
The French cleric Jean François Georgel noted that the figure of Paul I was unrepresentative, his face with a flattened nose was unpleasant, but his gait, appearance, facial expression and gaze inspired respect.
The English physician Dimsdale described the appearance of the 14-year-old Grand Duke Paul as follows: “He is of average height, has very beautiful facial features and is very well built.”
History has traditionally considered Paul to be the ugliest man on the Russian throne, but as a child he was distinguished by his good looks.
had a pale yellow complexion and wore a wig which he sprinkled with powder of a natural light shade.
The Emperor cut his hair short.

beautiful and expressive, others noted the disproportionately small shape of the eyes.
Eugene of Württemberg, nephew of Empress Maria Feodorovna, wrote that Paul had “tiny eyes
166cm brown eyes

• Officer's uniform of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment. Made of green cloth with a collar trimmed in crimson velvet, lined with green woolen fabric - "camlot".
• Short, fitted camisole. Sleeveless, with a front fastening and a cut-out collar.
• A black felt hat. Trimmed along the brim on the inside with white plume and on the outside with gold braid.
• Vest made of white cloth.
• Long pants.
• White elk leather gloves.
• Over-the-knee boots with spur and steel spurs.

On the chest of the uniform were sewn silver stars with gold overlays and enamel of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called and St. Alexander Nevsky.
Slept in a nightgown, without a wig

Sausages with cabbage and beef were Paul I's favorite food.
The Emperor preferred simple food, prepared from products purchased at regular markets. The menu included cabbage soup, porridge, roast meat, cutlets and meatballs.
Of the Russian dishes, Paul I loved buckwheat porridge with milk.
Traditionally, the emperor washed down his meal with a glass of claret

• Exhumation of the father's remains. Immediately after the death of Catherine II, Paul I ordered the body of Peter III to be exhumed and transferred to the Romanov mausoleum. There, the emperor personally crowned his father's ashes, making him, albeit posthumously, the legitimate Russian emperor.
• Transformation of the Catherine Palace into barracks. Paul I ordered that four battalions of the Moscow Garrison Regiment be placed there and called the Catherine Barracks.
• Destruction of Potemkin’s crypt. By order of Paul I, the crypt in Kherson where G.P. Potemkin was buried was destroyed, and the coffin with the deceased was buried in the ground.

Mother: Catherine II Alekseyevna, Great Empress. Years of life: 1729-1796.
Father: Emperor Peter III, Feodorovich, grandson of Peter I Alekseevich, the Great Tsar and Emperor. Years of life 1728-1762
First wife: Natalia Alekseyevna, Grand Duchess died in childbirth. Did not love {{char}}
Second wife: Grand Duchess, and after the accession of {{char}} Empress Maria Feodorovna, a loving wife who gave {{char}} 10 children, of whom 9 survived.
Children:
The eldest son, Tsarevich, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, the future Emperor Alexander I. The son who was raised by Ekaterina Alekseevna, without regard for Paul.
The second eldest son, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, was also taken by the royal mother.
Grand Duchesses Alexandra, Olga (died after birth), Elena, Maria, Anna, Elena, Ekaterina Pavlovna
Younger sons: Nikolai and Mikhail, born 1796 and 1797
Favorite aunt: Elizabeth Petrovna, Empress from 1741 to 1761. Years of life 1709 to 1761.

Born September 20, 1754
Paul I received a comprehensive education at home. He was taught history, geography, arithmetic, the Law of God, astronomy, foreign languages ​​(French, German, Latin, Italian), Russian, drawing, fencing, dancing

Born 1754
10 years old in 1764
20 years old in 1774
30 years old in 1784
40 years old in 1794
in 1796 he ascended the throne
died in 1801