Russian Emperor Paul I born

September 20 (October 1), 1754 in St. Petersburg in the family of Crown Prince Peter Fedorovich III and his wife, Catherine II Alekseevna was born the future Russian Emperor Paul I.

The first years after his birth Paul grew up under the supervision of the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, who was going to make him her heir. In 1761 Count N. I. Panin was assigned to him as a teacher. Cesarevich received a good education and, according to contemporaries, was able, seeking knowledge, and sincerely believed in the ideals of goodness and justice.

After accession to the throne, Catherine II, fearing her son claims to the throne, tried not to allow him to participate in the discussion of public affairs. In 1776 Paul I married Princess Sophia Dorothea Augusta Luisa Maria von Wurttemberg, baptized in the Orthodox Church under the name Maria Feodorovna. In 1781-1782 the spouses made ​​a journey abroad. On their return, the empress gave her son a palace at Gatchina, where Paul organized combat maneuvers and parades with his small army.

His mother’s government seemed too liberal to the Grand Duke. He believed that to prevent the revolutionary situation, the public order should be maintained by means of military discipline and police measures. Therefore, when Paul I ascended the throne in November 1796, he increased regulation in all spheres of life including the life of the ruling house. No accident that one of the first legislative acts of the new emperor was the Act on succession to the throne that defined the procedure for the transfer of supreme state power in Russia until 1917.

In the field of public administration Paul I tried to replace collective principles of government by a one-man management. Thus, in particular, he significantly enhanced the significance of the procurator-general of the Senate. In the army, the Emperor, like his father, Peter III, sought to introduce the Prussian military order, considering that the most important role is played by mechanical congruence of forces and diligence. To control public life, there was introduced a strict censorship, the import of books from abroad was banned, wearing of uniforms and civilian clothes by court officials was strictly regulated, etc.

Significant changes concerned estate policy. Seeking to limit the negative influence of "aristocratic liberties" on the fate of the country, in 1797 the emperor dismissed all the officers who were in regiments, but did not present themselves for inspection. In 1799 was introduced the procedure of transition from military to civilian service only with the permission of the Senate. The nobility who did not serve the state was forbidden to participate in nobility elections and to hold elective office. Corporal punishment, abolished by Catherine II, was used again with regard to the nobility. The position of the peasants, by contrast, had slightly improved. In 1797 Paul I issued a Manifesto on the three days of serf labor, which imposed restrictions on the exploitation of peasant labor by landowners and reduced the rights of the latter. There was also prohibited the sale of house-serfs and landless peasants, and the Ukrainian peasants were not allowed to be sold without land.

Much attention was still paid to training and education. In 1795 Paul I decided to organize the Military orphanage for children of soldiers who were left without parental care, and in August 1798, on the initiative of the Emperor, in St. Petersburg and Nikolayev were established the first-ever naval engineering schools - the Marine Architecture School.

In foreign policy, Paul I tried at first not to interfere in European affairs. However, when in 1798 there was a threat of recreation of independent Polish state by Napoleon I, Russia actively participated in organizing the anti-French coalition. In 1798-1800   Russian troops successfully fought in Italy, and the Russian navy – tin he Mediterranean, which caused concern on the part of Austria and England. 18 (30) January 1801 Paul I signed a Manifesto on the annexation of Georgia to Russia.

Politics of Paul I in combination with his oppressive nature and the unpredictability caused discontent among the courtiers and army, which led to yet another coup. On the night of 11 (23) March 1801 conspirators broke into the royal chamber in the Mikhailovsky Palace and demanded the emperor to abdicate. When the emperor tried to protest, one of the rebels began to choke him with his scarf, and another hit him in the head with a massive snuffbox. It was officially announced that Paul I died of apoplexy.

The funeral and burial of Emperor Paul I Petrovich was committed by all members of the Holy Synod headed by Metropolitan of St. Petersburg Ambrose.

Lit.: Балицкий Г. Время Павла и его смерть. Записки современников и участников события 11-го марта 1801 года. Ч. 1-2. М., 1908; Башомон Л. Цесаревич Павел Петрович во Франции в 1782 г. // Русская старина. 1882. Т. 35. № 11. С. 321-334; Выставка «Император Павел I». 250-лет со дня рождения [Электронный ресурс] // Гатчина сквозь столетия. Б. д. URL: http://history-gatchina.ru/paul/manege/; Гейкин К.-Г. фон. Император Павел и его время. Записки курляндского дворянина. 1796—1801 // Русская старина. 1887. Т. 56. № 11. С. 365-394; Горяинов С. Павел Первый и Станислав-Август // Русский архив. 1912. Кн. 1. Вып. 1. С. 21-45; Каратыгин П. П. Светлые минуты императора Павла. 1796-1801 // Исторический вестник. 1886. Т. 26. № 10. С. 121-151; Кончина и погребение императора Павла I // Церковные Ведомости, издаваемые при Святейшем Правительствующем Синоде. 1901. 10 марта. № 10. С. 341; Порошин С. А. Сто три дня из детской жизни императора Павла Петровича (Неизданная тетрадь Записок С. А. Порошина). 1765 г. // Русский архив. 1869. Вып. 1. Стб. 1-68; Ханенко А. И. Рассказы генерала Кутлубицкаго о временах Павла I // Русский архив. 1912. Кн. 2. Вып. 8. С. 509-538; Эйдельман Н. Я. Политическая борьба в России. Конец XVIII — начало XIX столетия. М., 1982.

Works: Переписка великого князя Павла Петровича с графом Петром Паниным // Русская старина. 1882. Т. 33. № 2. С. 403-418; № 3. С. 739-764; Инструкция великого князя Павла Петровича великой княгине Марии Феодоровне (1776 г.) // Русская старина. 1898. Т. 93. № 2. С. 247-261.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Paul I (1754-1801) // House of Romanov. The Zemsky Sobor of 1613: [digital collection]