The Presidential Library’s materials illustrate epoch of Anna Ioannovna

February 7, 2019 marks 326 years since the birth of Empress Anna Ioannovna (1693-1740). The Presidential Library’s portal features extensive collection The House of Romanov. Zemsky Sobor of 1613, one of the parts of which is dedicated to Tsarina Anna Ioannovna, who ruled from 1730 to 1740.

The future Russian empress was born in the royal family of John V Alekseevich and Praskovya Fedorovna Saltykova in the Crest Chamber of the Terem Palace of the Moscow Kremlin. Until the girl’s seventeenth birthday, Peter I himself followed her upbringing, encouraged the teaching of Russian literacy, geography, dance, German and French. One of her teachers was Johann Osterman, the elder brother of Andrei Osterman, who then played an important role at the court of the empress.

The emperor had special matrimonial plans for his niece; here, too, the great sovereign tried to combine personal and state interests: the Northern War was not yet over, the Russian emperor needed the support of Prussian and Courland rulers. In 1709, Peter managed to change the course of military operations, the Russian troops occupied Kurland. Negotiations were held with the King of Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm I, at which it was decided to have two dynasties. In the autumn of 1710, Anna, at the insistence of Peter, married the Duke of Courland, Friedrich Wilhelm.

After the death of her husband, the young widow remained in Courland. Her envoy was Ernst Johann Biron, a man with a dubious past, who later became secretary at Anna’s court and her favorite.

After Peter II’s death in 1730, members of the Supreme Privy Council invited Anna to rule. The well-known scientist V. Klyuchevsky in his work “Russian history” shows how drastically the “rules of the game” of the throne succession change after the death of Peter I, Catherine I and Peter II.

Thus, Anna was offered to take the throne, but with a significant limitation of her powers as an autocrat. V. O. Klyuchevsky notes: “The case of 1730 is important because it was for the first time that the very political forms were clearly identified in which the clan of nobility wanted to clothe their political aspirations, their political ideas”.

The full list of “conditions” sent to the future empress is given in the publication The Time of Emperor Peter II and Empress Anna Ioannovna: from the notes of Prince P. V. Dolgorukov (1911). Despite the significant limitations of her power, Anna Ioannovna accepted the offer. The historical etude of D. Korsakov “The Accession of Empress Anna Ioannovna” (1880) describes a complex palace intrigue, during which the members of the Privy Council Andrei Osterman, Gavriil Golovkin, Archbishop Feofan (Prokopovich), Antiochus Cantemir and others presented to the queen the remedy for remedy.

The Presidential Library’s collection contains a digital copy of the illustrated edition of 1730 “A description of the coronation of Her Majesty Empress, and the all-Russian autocrat, Anna Ioannovna, sent to Moscow on April 28, 1730.

The first thing Anna Ioannovna did when she ascended the throne was to tear off the “conditions” she signed. The Privy Council was abolished in favor of the Governing Senate. That is, its power has been significantly expanded.

Anna Ioannovna reigned exactly ten years. In foreign policy, she tried to adhere to the line designated by her grandfather Peter the Great, willingly establishing business contacts with foreign diplomats and specialists. Thus, the state was able to maintain prestige on the world stage, although the reign of Anna was characterized not only by successful military campaigns, but also by large-scale blunders (for example, the signing of the Belgrade Peace).

In the epoch of the empress's rule, the postal service is being established in the state. The situation with public education was somewhat improved. Anna Ivanovna did not spare funds for the development of the army and navy. However, important state issues were not solved by Anna herself, but by her German trusted representatives, the most authoritative of which was Biron. Contemporaries also note the scope of the Empress, which she brought to the field of entertainment.

Anna Ioannovna died on October 28, 1740 due to a serious illness. More information about empress and the period of her reign, which would later be called Bironovshchina, is reflected in historical research and documentary evidence from the Presidential Library’s collection.