He went down in history as the “Russian Don Quixote,” an admirer of chivalry, Prussian customs and his father’s politics. Passions that Paul I could not resist led him step by step to a tragic end.

Father

Parental love was unfamiliar to Paul I. Nevertheless, he idolized his father, who was completely indifferent to him. Only once did Peter express his fatherly feelings - he attended Paul’s lessons, during which he loudly said to the teachers, “I see that this rogue knows subjects better than you.” And he awarded him the rank of guard corporal. When the coup of 1762 broke out in the country, ending with the death of the emperor, Paul was amazed. His beloved father, whose recognition he so wanted to achieve, was killed by his mother’s lovers. In addition, the young man was explained that in the event of Peter’s death, the throne would pass to him legally. Now Catherine II stood at the head of the country, but she was supposed to become an adviser and regent to the young heir. It turns out that she stole the throne from him!

Pavel was only seven years old. The murder of his father became a significant example for him, which instilled suspicion in him. His biographers note that from now on he felt only an unaccountable fear of his power-hungry mother. He subsequently did not trust his son Alexander either. As it turned out, not in vain.

Chivalry

Young Pavel's life passed without friends and parental love. Against the background of his loneliness, he developed a fantasy, he lived in its images. Historians note that as a child he was fond of novels about noble and brave knights and read a lot of Cervantes. The fusion of constant fear for life and chivalry determined the character of Emperor Paul I. He went down in history as the “Russian Hamlet” or “Russian Don Quixote.” He had highly developed concepts of honor, duty, dignity and generosity, and a sense of justice was sharpened to the limit. Napoleon called Pavel that way - “Russian Don Quixote”! Paul's medieval knightly consciousness, which he, like the Cervanto hidalgo, formed on chivalric novels, did not correspond to the time in which he lived. Herzen put it more simply: “Paul I was a disgusting and ridiculous spectacle of a crowned Don Quixote.”

Wilhemina of Hesse-Darmstadt

In one of the conversations with his teacher Semyon Poroshin, in a conversation about marriage, young Pavel said: “When I get married, I will begin to love my wife very much and will be jealous. I really don’t want to have a horn.” Pavel really adored his first wife, but he could not avoid the betrayal of a loved one. Paul's wife was Princess Wilhemina of Hesse-Darmstadt, baptized Natalya Alekseevna. Wilhemina and her relatives pulled out a lucky ticket - their family belonged to the impoverished aristocrats, their daughters did not even have a dowry. Pavel himself fell in love with Wilhemina at first sight. In his diary, he wrote: “My choice had almost settled on Princess Wilhemina, who I like best, and I saw her in my dreams all night.” Catherine was pleased with her son's decision. If only they knew how it would end.
Natalya Alekseevna was a beautiful and efficient person. The unsociable and withdrawn Pavel came to life next to her. He married for love, which could not be said about Natalya, who simply had no choice. Pavel was ugly - a button nose, irregular facial features, short stature. Paul’s contemporary Alexander Turgenev wrote: “It is impossible to describe or depict Paul’s ugliness!” Given her position, Natalya Alekseevna soon found herself a favorite - the ladies' man Count Andrei Razumovsky, who, while still unmarried, accompanied her from Darmstadt. Their love correspondence has been preserved.

After Natalya's sudden and unexpected death as a result of childbirth, Catherine II showed Paul evidence of his wife's infidelity. After reading the letters, Pavel, who so sincerely loved his wife, learned that Natalya preferred Razumovsky to him “until the last day of her life she did not stop sending her friend tender notes and flowers.” Pavel did not come to his wife's funeral. Contemporaries noted that it was from this moment that Paul “came into that state of mental disorder that accompanied him all his life.” From a gentle and sympathetic young man, he turned into a psychopath with an extremely unbalanced character.

Exercirmeistership

Paul's favorite pastime, which he inherited from his father, was military affairs; his uncontrollable passion for execution - the trifles of military service - is especially noteworthy. Following the fate of Peter III, Paul determined his sad fate with his passion.
During the war, the young Tsarevich loved the aesthetic side - the beautiful harmony of the form, the impeccable execution of parades and military reviews. He staged similar “male spectacles” every day. Officers were strictly punished if their soldiers, when passing in front of the sovereign, did not maintain formation well and marched “out of step.” Military training became training for ceremonial purposes.

Following his mania, Pavel completely changed the uniform of the soldiers, largely copying them from the Prussian costume: short trousers, stockings and shoes, braids, powder. Suvorov, who preferred to live in the village rather than fit into a Prussian uniform, wrote: “There are no lousier people than the Prussians: you won’t be able to pass through a Schilthaus or near a booth without infection, and their headdress with its stench will make you faint. We were clean from the muck, and she is the first nuisance of the soldier now. Boots are rot for your feet."

Prussian order

The Prussian order corresponded exactly to Paul's pedantry. One of the researchers of that time writes: “In Prussia, everything went as if by magic: with mathematical precision, the king from his Sans Souci commanded both the state and the army, and all the secondary performers were nothing more than subordinate persons.” Like Peter III, Paul became an ardent admirer of Frederick II, and considered the Russian order abnormal, and all “because of the woman on the throne”: “we conducted our affairs in a unique way, not only not following the general flow of imitation of the Prussians, but even with disdain looked at the apeism of all Europe.”

Paul's main internal political failure was the desire for complete centralization in command and control, which violated the long-standing traditions of the Russian army and showed negative results during military operations. The system of centralized subordination in the Gatchina troops did not work for the entire country. The destruction of duty stations, which represented the headquarters of senior commanders, offices - all these innovations were dictated by the desire of the suspicious Pavel not to give anyone any rights. They disrupted the communication of commanding officers of all levels with the troops, interfered with the work of the headquarters and ultimately led to a complete breakdown of troop control even in normal peacetime.

Gatchina

The Gatchina Palace, which his mother gave to Paul, in her attempts to alienate the legitimate thirty-year-old heir from the court, became a real delight for Paul I. Ironically, or according to Catherine’s plan, the former palace of Count Orlov, who was ordered to kill Peter III and even paternity, became Paul’s home heir. The Tsarevich created his own state there, based on his fantasies of chivalry, mixed with love for the Prussian order. Today, from Gatchina, its architecture, and decoration, one can reconstruct the character of Paul I - it was completely his brainchild, his Versailles, which he prepared as his future imperial residence. Here he created the Gatchina troops as a silent protest against the military system under the reign of Catherine. Paul’s “fun squads” consisted mainly of Prussians; the Russians were reluctant to go there - low pay, uncomfortable uniforms, long and tedious training, and difficult guard duty contributed to the fact that people from the impoverished nobility served in Gatchina only in cases of emergency.

Gatchina was a special closed world, a counterweight to St. Petersburg, where the heir was despised and considered a holy fool. At the closed Pavlovian court, new state transformations of the Russian Empire were born, which were started by Paul I and continued by his son Alexander.

Mikhailovsky Castle

In November 1796, Paul's dream finally came true; after the death of his mother, he received the crown, despite all Catherine's attempts to remove her son from the throne. Pavel decided to bring his old plan to life - to build his own residence in St. Petersburg, on the site where he was once born, in the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna, which was subsequently destroyed. In a conversation with the maid of honor Protasova, Pavel said: “I was born in this place, and I want to die here.”
The Mikhailovsky Castle reflected all of Paul's passion for medieval chivalry. The name itself - a castle, not a palace, as well as the dedication of the new residence to the Archangel Michael, the leader of the heavenly army - all this was a reference to knightly culture. Modern architects see in the castle the symbolism of the Order of Malta - not surprising, because in 1798 Pavel became the Grand Grand Master, and many of his officers became Knights of Malta. Mikhailovsky Castle is similar to the famous Neuschwanstein of Ludwig of Bavaria, who was so captivated by the medieval fairy tale that he built himself a real palace from legends in the Alps, in which he, like Paul in Mikhailovsky, became a victim of a political coup.

LECTURE III

The reign of Paul I. – His place in history. – Biographical information. – The general nature of Paul’s government activities. – The peasant question under Paul. - Paul's attitude towards other classes. – Society’s attitude towards Pavel. – The state of finances during the reign of Paul and his foreign policy. - Results of the reign.

Significance of Paul's reign

Portrait of Emperor Paul. Artist S. Shchukin

At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries lies the four-year reign of Paul.

This short period, which until recently was in many respects under censorship ban, has long incited the curiosity of the public, like everything mysterious and forbidden. On the other hand, historians, psychologists, biographers, playwrights and novelists were naturally attracted to the original personality of the married psychopath and the exceptional setting in which his drama took place, which ended so tragically.

From the point of view from which we consider historical events, this reign is, however, of secondary importance. Although it lies at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. and separates the “age of Catherine” from the “age of Alexander”, it in no case can be considered as transitional. On the contrary, in the historical process of development of the Russian people that interests us, it is some kind of sudden invasion, some unexpected squall that came from outside, confused everything, turned everything temporarily upside down, but could not interrupt for a long time or deeply change the natural progress of the ongoing process. In view of the significance of the reign of Paul and Alexander, as soon as he ascended the throne, there was nothing left to do but to cross out almost everything that his father had done and, having quickly healed the shallow but painful wounds inflicted by him on the state body, take the matter from the place where Catherine’s hand, weakened and wavering with age, stopped.

This view of this reign does not at all prevent us, of course, from being fully aware of the profound influence that its horrors had on Emperor Alexander personally and on the final formation of his character. But more on that later. We also do not deny the significance of some individual government acts of Paul and do not deny the unfortunate influence on Alexander, and then on Nicholas, of that court-military parade-ground system that has since been established at the Russian court. But these circumstances, of course, do not convey to Paul’s reign the significance of a transitional, connecting era between two adjacent reigns...

In any case, the reign of Paul itself is interesting for us not for its tragicomic phenomena, but for the changes that at that time nevertheless occurred in the situation of the population, and for the movement in the minds that the terror of government power caused in society. Even more important for us are international relations, which were determined, on the one hand, by the characteristics of Paul’s character, and on the other, by the great events that took place in the West.

Personality of Emperor Paul

We will therefore not engage here in a detailed presentation of Paul’s biography and refer everyone interested in it to the well-known work of Schilder, who dealt specifically with the personal biography of Paul, and to another, shorter biography, compiled largely according to Schilder by Mr. Shumigorsky. Actually, for our purposes, the following brief biographical information will suffice. Pavel was born in 1754, eight years before Catherine's accession to the throne. His childhood passed in completely abnormal conditions: Empress Elizabeth took him away from his parents as soon as he was born and began raising him herself. As a child, he was surrounded by different mothers and nannies, and his entire upbringing was of a greenhouse nature. Soon, however, he was assigned a man who was an outstanding personality in his own right, namely Count. Nikita Ivanovich Panin. Panin was a statesman with a very broad mind, but he was not a thoughtful teacher and was not attentive enough to his work.

Catherine was distrustful of Panin, and it was clear to her that he was a bad teacher, but she was afraid to eliminate him, since, having taken the throne wrongly, she was afraid of the rumors that were circulating in certain circles that she wanted to eliminate Paul completely . Fearing to give rise to these rumors and knowing that public opinion was such that Pavel was safe while he was in Panin’s care, Catherine did not dare to eliminate Panin, and he remained Pavel’s tutor with her. Pavel grew up, but Catherine did not feel any closeness to him; she had a low opinion of his mental and spiritual qualities. She did not allow him to participate in government affairs; she even removed him from matters of military administration, to which he had a great inclination. Paul's first marriage was short-lived and unsuccessful, and his wife, who died from childbirth, managed to further ruin the already bad relationship between Paul and Catherine. When Paul married for the second time the Württemberg princess, who received the name Maria Feodorovna upon converting to Orthodoxy, Catherine gave Gatchina to the young couple and left them to lead the life of private people in it; but when they had children, she acted towards Paul and his wife in the same way as Elizabeth herself had previously acted towards her, that is, she selected the children from the very moment they were born and raised them herself. The removal of Paul from state affairs and the disrespectful treatment of him by the empress's favorites, especially Potemkin, constantly added fuel to the fire and aroused in Paul hatred of the entire Catherine's court. He had been waiting impatiently for thirty years when he would finally have to reign and rule in his own way.

Portrait of Maria Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Paul. Artist Jean-Louis Voile, 1790s

It should be added that at the end of Catherine’s reign, Paul even began to fear that Catherine would remove him from the throne; It is now known that such a plan was indeed outlined and did not come true, apparently only because Alexander did not want or did not dare to ascend the throne besides his father, and this circumstance made it difficult to implement Catherine’s already mature intentions.

When Paul ascended the throne, then the hatred that had accumulated in his soul for everything that his mother did began to be realized. Without a clear idea of ​​the real needs of the state, Pavel began to indiscriminately undo everything that his mother had done, and with feverish speed to carry out his semi-fantastic plans, developed by him in the solitude of Gatchina. In appearance, in some respects, he was returning to his old ways. Thus, he restored almost all the old economic boards, but did not give them correctly delimited competence, and meanwhile their old competence was completely destroyed by the establishment of state chambers and other local institutions. He had long ago come up with a special plan for the reorganization of the entire central administration; but this plan boiled down, in essence, to the abolition of all state institutions and to the concentration of the entire administration directly in the hands of the sovereign himself and could hardly be implemented in practice.

Reign of Emperor Paul

At the beginning of Paul's reign, however, two serious government measures were taken, the significance of which remained in the future. The first of these measures was the law on succession to the throne, which Paul developed while he was still heir and which was published by him on April 5, 1797. This law was intended to eliminate the arbitrariness in the appointment of the heir to the throne, which had dominated in Russia since the time of Peter and thanks to which happened in the 18th century. so many palace coups. The law issued by Paul, which was in force with minor additions until recently, introduced a truly strict order in the succession to the imperial throne in Russia, mainly through the male line. In connection with this, a detailed regulation was issued about the imperial family, and in order to provide material support for its members, a special economic institution was formed called “ustanov”, under whose jurisdiction were those palace peasants who had previously been exploited for the needs of the imperial court and to whom were listed Individual estates belonging to members of the royal family were now also included. All these peasants received the name “appanage”, and special institutions and special rules were created to manage them, thanks to which their position subsequently turned out to be more satisfactory than the position of ordinary serfs and even state-owned peasants, who were managed by the zemstvo police, who unscrupulously exploited them.

Paul especially persistently sought to destroy all those rights and privileges that were granted by Catherine to individual classes. Thus, he abolished letters of grant to cities and the nobility and not only destroyed the right of noble societies to submit petitions about their needs, but even abolished the exemption of nobles from corporal punishment in court.

There is an opinion that Paul, having a completely negative attitude towards the privileges of the upper classes, was sympathetic to the people and even allegedly sought to free the people from the tyranny of the landowners and oppressors.

Emperor Paul's measures regarding peasants

Perhaps he had some good intentions, but one can hardly attribute to him any seriously thought-out system in this regard. Usually, as proof of the correctness of this view of Paul, they point to the manifesto of April 5, 1797, which established Sunday rest and a three-day corvee, but this manifesto is not entirely accurately conveyed. They were categorically forbidden only to work on holidays for the landowner, and then, in the form of a maxim, it was said that three days of corvee was enough to maintain the landowner's economy. The very form of expression of this wish, in the absence of any sanction, indicates that it was not, in essence, a definite law establishing a three-day corvee, although it was subsequently interpreted as such. On the other hand, it must be said that, for example, in Little Russia, a three-day corvee would not be beneficial for the peasants, since a two-day corvee was practiced there according to custom. Another law, issued by Paul on the initiative of Chancellor Bezborodko in favor of the peasants, prohibiting the sale of serfs without land, applied only to Little Russia.

The position that Paul took in relation to peasant unrest and complaints from serfs about the oppression of landowners is extremely characteristic. At the beginning of Paul's reign, peasant unrest broke out in 32 provinces. Paul sent entire large detachments with Field Marshal Prince General to pacify them. Repnin at the head. Repnin very quickly pacified the peasants, taking extremely drastic measures. During the pacification of 12 thousand peasants in the Oryol province, the landowners Apraksin and Prince. Golitsyn, a whole battle took place, with 20 peasants killed and up to 70 wounded. Repnin ordered the murdered peasants to be buried behind the fence of the cemetery, and on a stake placed over their common grave he wrote: “Here lie criminals before God, the sovereign and the landowner, justly punished according to God’s law.” The houses of these peasants were destroyed and razed to the ground. Paul not only approved all these actions, but also issued a special manifesto on January 29, 1797, which, under the threat of such measures, ordered the submissive obedience of serfs to the landowners.

In another case, the courtyard people of some landowners living in St. Petersburg tried to complain to Pavel about the cruelty and oppression they suffered from them. Pavel, without investigating the case, ordered the complainants to be sent to the square and punished with a whip “as much as their landowners themselves want.”

In general, Pavel is hardly guilty of striving to seriously improve the situation of the landowner peasants. He looked at the landowners as free police chiefs - he believed that as long as there were 100 thousand of these police chiefs in Russia, the peace of the state was guaranteed, and he was not averse to even increasing this number as much as possible, handing out state-owned peasants to private individuals with a wide hand: in four years he managed thus distribute 530 thousand souls of both sexes of state-owned peasants to various landowners and officials, seriously asserting that he was doing these peasants a favor, since the position of the peasants under state government, in his opinion, was worse than under the landowners, with which, of course, it was impossible to agree. The significance of the given figure of state-owned peasants distributed into private hands can be judged from the data given above on the number of peasants of different categories; but this figure is even more striking if we remember that Catherine, who willingly rewarded her favorites and other persons with peasants, nevertheless, during the entire 34 years of her reign, managed to distribute no more than 800 thousand souls of both sexes, and Paul distributed 530 in four years. thousand.

To this it should be added that at the very beginning of Paul’s reign, another act was issued against the freedom of the peasants: by decree of December 12, 1796, the transfer of peasants who settled on private lands among the Cossack lands in the Don region and in the provinces of Ekaterinoslav, Voznesenskaya, Caucasian and Tauride.

Russian enlightenment and clergy during the reign of Paul

Of the other classes, the clergy, whom Paul favored or at least wanted to favor, had the most reason to be pleased with Paul. Being a religious man and considering himself also the head of the Orthodox Church, Paul cared about the position of the clergy, but even here the results were sometimes strange. These concerns of his were sometimes of an ambiguous nature, so that one of his former mentors, his teacher of the law - and at that time already the Moscow Metropolitan - Plato, whom Paul treated with great respect in his youth, and even later, after his accession to the throne, found himself among those protesting against some of the measures that Paul took. The protest that Plato had to make concerned, among other things, a strange innovation - the awarding of orders to clergy. Plato thoroughly believed that, from a canonical point of view, it is completely unacceptable for civil authorities to reward church ministers, not to mention the fact that in general the wearing of orders does not at all correspond to the meaning of the priestly, and especially the monastic rank. The Metropolitan, on his knees, asked that Paul not award him the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, but in the end he had to accept it. In itself, this circumstance does not seem to be particularly important, but it is characteristic precisely of Paul’s attitude towards the class that he most revered.

Much more important in a positive sense is Paul’s attitude towards religious educational institutions. He did quite a lot for them - he allocated a significant amount of money for them from the income from estates that formerly belonged to bishops' houses and monasteries and were confiscated by Catherine.

Under him, two theological academies were reopened - in St. Petersburg and Kazan - and eight seminaries, and both the newly opened and the previous educational institutions were provided with regular amounts: the academies began to receive from 10 to 12 thousand rubles. per year, and seminaries on average from 3 to 4 thousand, i.e. almost twice as much as what was allocated to them under Catherine.

Here we should also note Paul’s favorable attitude towards the heterodox clergy, even non-Christian ones, and especially his favorable attitude towards the Catholic clergy. This can be explained, perhaps, by his sincere religiosity in general and his high concept of pastoral duties; As for the Catholic clergy itself, their relationship to the Maltese Spiritual Order of Knighthood was also of great importance. Paul not only took upon himself the supreme patronage of this order, but even allowed the formation of its special priory in St. Petersburg. This circumstance, explained by Paul’s strange fantasies, later led, as we will see, to very important consequences in the field of international relations.

Portrait of Paul I wearing the crown, robe and insignia of the Order of Malta. Artist V. L. Borovikovsky, around 1800

Another important fact in the sphere of church life under Paul was his rather peaceful attitude towards schismatics. In this one respect, Paul continued the policy of Catherine, the traces of whose reign he tried with such energy to destroy with all his other measures. At the request of Metropolitan Platon, he agreed to take a rather important measure - namely, he allowed the Old Believers to publicly worship in the so-called churches of the same faith, thanks to which, for the first time, a serious opportunity opened up for the reconciliation of the most peaceful groups of the Old Believers with the Orthodox Church.

As for Paul's attitude to secular education, his activity in this direction was clearly reactionary and, one might say, downright destructive. Even at the end of Catherine’s reign, private printing houses were closed, and then the publication of books was extremely reduced. Under Paul, the number of books published was reduced, especially in the last two years of his reign, to an absolutely insignificant number, and the very nature of the books also changed greatly - almost exclusively textbooks and books of practical content began to be published. The import of books published abroad was completely prohibited at the end of the reign; from 1800, everything printed abroad, regardless of content, even musical notes, did not have access to Russia. Even earlier, at the very beginning of the reign, the free entry of foreigners into Russia was prohibited.

Another measure was even more important - namely, the summoning to Russia of all young people who studied abroad, of whom there were 65 in Jena, 36 in Leipzig, and the prohibition of young people from traveling to foreign lands for educational purposes, in return for which it was proposed to open a university in Dorpat.

Government oppression during the reign of Paul

Out of hatred for revolutionary ideas and liberalism in general, Pavel, with the persistence of a maniac, pursued all external manifestations of liberalism. Hence the war against round hats and boots with cuffs, which were worn in France, against tailcoats and tricolor ribbons. Completely peaceful persons were subjected to the most serious penalties, officials were expelled from service, private individuals were arrested, many were expelled from the capitals and even sometimes to more or less remote places. The same penalties were imposed for violating that strange etiquette, the observance of which was mandatory when meeting with the emperor. Thanks to this etiquette, a meeting with the sovereign was considered a misfortune, which they tried in every possible way to avoid: when they saw the sovereign, their subjects hurried to hide behind gates, fences, etc.

Under such circumstances, those exiled, imprisoned in prisons and fortresses, and generally those who suffered under Paul for trifles committed were counted in the thousands, so that when Alexander, upon ascending the throne, rehabilitated such persons, according to some sources there were 15 thousand of them, according to others - more than 12 thousand people.

The oppression of Pavlovsk's reign had a particularly heavy impact on the army, starting with the soldiers and ending with the officers and generals. Endless drills, severe punishments for the slightest errors in the fruit, senseless teaching methods, the most uncomfortable clothing, extremely embarrassing for the common man, especially during marching, which should then have been brought almost to the art of ballet; finally, the mandatory wearing of curls and braids, greased with lard and sprinkled with flour or brick powder - all this complicated the difficulty of the already difficult soldier's service, which then lasted 25 years.

Officers and generals had to tremble hourly for their fate, since the slightest malfunction of one of their subordinates could entail the most severe consequences for them if the emperor was out of sorts.

Assessment of Paul's reign by Karamzin

These were the manifestations of government oppression, which developed under Paul to its highest limits. An interesting review of Pavel was made 10 years after his death by the strict conservative and staunch supporter of autocracy N.M. Karamzin in his “Note on Ancient and New Russia,” presented to Alexander I in 1811 as an objection to the liberal reforms that Alexander then planned. Being an antagonist of the liberal emperor, Karamzin, however, characterized the reign of his predecessor as follows: “Paul ascended the throne at a time favorable for autocracy, when the horrors of the French Revolution cured Europe of dreams of civil liberty and equality; but what the Jacobins did in relation to the republics, Paul did in relation to the autocracy; made me hate its abuses. Through a pitiful delusion of mind and as a result of many personal displeasures he suffered, he wanted to be John IV; but the Russians already had Catherine II, they knew that the sovereign, no less than his subjects, must fulfill his sacred duties, the violation of which destroys the ancient covenants of power with obedience and overthrows the people from the level of citizenship into the chaos of private natural law. Catherine's son could be strict and earn the gratitude of the fatherland; to the inexplicable surprise of the Russians, he began to reign in universal horror, not following any regulations except his own whim; considered us not subjects, but slaves; executed without guilt, rewarded without merit, took away the shame of execution, the beauty of reward, humiliated ranks and ribbons with wastefulness in them; frivolously destroyed the long-term fruits of state wisdom, hating his mother’s work in them; killed in our regiments the noble military spirit raised by Catherine, and replaced it with the spirit of corporalism. He taught heroes, accustomed to victories, to march, and turned nobles away from military service; despising the soul, he respected hats and collars; having, as a person, a natural inclination to do good, he fed on the bile of evil: every day he invented ways to frighten people and he himself was more afraid of everyone; thought to build himself an impregnable palace - and built a tomb... Let us note, - adds Karamzin, - a feature that is curious for the observer: during this reign of horror, according to foreigners, the Russians were even afraid to think; No! they spoke and boldly, falling silent only from boredom and frequent repetition, believed each other and were not deceived. A certain spirit of sincere brotherhood prevailed in the capitals; a common disaster brought hearts closer together and a magnanimous frenzy against the abuse of power drowned out the voice of personal caution.” Similar reviews are available in the notes of Vigel and Grech, also people of the conservative camp...

It should, however, be said that the “magnanimous frenzy” did not at all translate into action. Society did not even try to express its attitude towards Paul through any public protest. It hated in silence, but, of course, it was precisely this mood that gave the few leaders of the coup of March 11, 1801 the courage to suddenly eliminate Paul.

Economic and financial situation of Russia during the reign of Paul

The economic situation of the country could not change too much under Paul, due to the shortness of his reign; the financial situation of Russia under him was strongly dependent on his foreign policy and the bizarre changes that took place in it. Paul began by making peace with Persia and canceling the recruitment appointed under Catherine; refused to send 40 thousand army against the French Republic, which Catherine agreed to in 1795 thanks to the insistence of the English ambassador Whitworth, and demanded back the Russian ships sent to help the English fleet. Then the repayment of the assigned debt began. The government decided to withdraw part of the banknotes issued to the market; A ceremonial burning of banknotes worth 6 million rubles took place in the presence of Paul himself. Thus, the total number of issued banknotes decreased from 157 million rubles. to 151 million rubles, i.e. by less than 4%, but in this area, of course, any, even small, decrease is significant, because it indicates the government’s intention to pay off debts, and not increase them. At the same time, measures were taken to establish a stable exchange rate for the silver coin; a constant weight of the silver ruble was established, which was recognized as equal to the weight of four silver francs. Then the restoration of the relatively free customs tariff of 1782 was important. At the same time, Paul was not guided by sympathy for free trade, but did so out of a desire to destroy the tariff of 1793 issued by Catherine.

The introduction of a new tariff was supposed to promote the development of trade relations. The discovery of coal in the Donetsk basin was of great importance for large-scale industry. This discovery, made in the south of Russia, in a country poor in forests, immediately affected the state of industry in the Novorossiysk region. The digging of new canals under Paul, partly begun under Catherine, was important for the development of internal trade relations and for the delivery of certain products to the ports. In 1797, the Oginsky Canal was started and completed under Paul, connecting the Dniester basin with the Neman; Sievers dug a canal to bypass the island. Ilmen; One of the Ladoga Canal, the Syassky Canal, was started and work continued on the construction of the Mariinsky Canal. Under him, a porto franco was established in Crimea, beneficial for the revitalization of the southern region.

Foreign policy of Emperor Paul

But the improvement in the country's economic situation did not last long, and public finances soon had to experience further fluctuations. In 1798, the peaceful course of affairs suddenly stopped. Just at this time, Napoleon Bonaparte set off on his campaign to Egypt and casually captured the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. Malta, which belonged to the Order of Malta, had an impregnable fortress, but the grand master of the order, for unknown reasons (treason was suspected), surrendered the fortress without a fight, took the archive, orders and jewelry and retired to Venice. The St. Petersburg Priory, which was under the patronage of Paul, declared the grand master deposed, and through for some time, to everyone's surprise, Paul, who considered himself the head of the Orthodox Church, personally took upon himself the grandmastership of this Catholic order, subordinate to the pope. There was a tradition that this strange step in Paul's mind was connected with a fantastic enterprise - with the widespread destruction of the revolution at its roots by uniting all the nobles of all countries of the world in the Order of Malta. Whether this was so is difficult to decide; but, of course, this idea was not realized. Having declared war on France and not wanting to act alone, Paul helped the English minister Pete create a fairly strong coalition against France. He entered into an alliance with Austria and England, which were then in hostile or strained relations with France, then the Kingdom of Sardinia and even Turkey, which suffered from Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt and Syria, were brought into the coalition. The alliance with Turkey was concluded on very favorable terms for Russia and, with a consistent policy, could be of great importance. Due to the fact that various Turkish lands were occupied by French troops (among other things, the Ionian Islands), it was decided to expel the French from there with united forces, and for this, the Porte agreed to allow and in the future to allow not only Russian merchant ships, but also warships, while at the same time undertaking the obligation not to allow foreign warships into the Black Sea. This treaty was to last for eight years, after which it could be renewed by mutual agreement of the contracting parties. The Russian fleet immediately took advantage of this right and, having carried a significant landing force through the straits on military ships, occupied the Ionian Islands, which were then under Russian rule until the Peace of Tilsit (i.e. until 1807).

On the continent of Europe it was necessary to act against the French armies in alliance with the Austrians and the British. Paul, following the advice of the Austrian emperor, appointed Suvorov to command the united armies of Russia and Austria. Suvorov was in disgrace at that time and lived on his estate under police supervision: he had a negative attitude towards Pavel’s military innovations and knew how to make him feel it under the guise of jokes and tomfoolery, for which he paid with disgrace and exile.

Now Pavel turned to Suvorov on his own behalf and on behalf of the Austrian emperor. Suvorov happily accepted command of the army. This campaign was marked by brilliant victories in Northern Italy over French troops and the famous crossing of the Alps.

But when northern Italy was cleared of the French, Austria decided that enough was enough and refused to support Suvorov in his further plans. Thus, Suvorov could not carry out his intention to invade France and march on Paris. This “Austrian treason” led to the defeat of the Russian detachment of General Rimsky-Korsakov by the French. Paul became extremely indignant, recalled the army, and thus the war between Russia and France actually ended here. The Russian corps sent against the French in Holland was not sufficiently reinforced by the British, who did not pay timely and monetary subsidies, to which they were obliged by the treaty, which also caused the indignation of Paul, who recalled his troops from this point.

Meanwhile, Napoleon Bonaparte returned from Egypt to carry out his first coup d'état: on the 18th Brumaire he overthrew the legitimate government of the Directory and became first consul, i.e., essentially the de facto sovereign in France. Paul, seeing that things were thus moving towards the restoration of monarchical power, albeit on the part of the “usurper,” changed his attitude towards France, expecting Napoleon to deal with the remnants of the revolution. Napoleon, for his part, cleverly pleased him by sending all Russian prisoners to their homeland without exchange at the French expense and providing them with gifts. This touched the knightly heart of Paul, and, hoping that Napoleon would be like-minded in all other matters, Paul entered into negotiations with him about peace and an alliance against England, to which Paul attributed the failure of his troops in Holland. It was all the easier for Napoleon to restore it against England because at that time the British took Malta from the French, but did not return it to the order.

Immediately, ignoring all sorts of international treatises, Paul imposed an embargo (arrest) on all English merchant ships, introduced drastic changes in the customs tariff and, in the end, completely prohibited the export and import of goods into Russia not only from England, but also from Prussia, since Prussia was in relations with England. With these measures directed against the British, Paul shocked all Russian trade. He did not limit himself to customs restrictions, but even ordered the arrest of all English goods in shops, which had never been done in such circumstances. Encouraged by Napoleon and not content with this series of hostile actions against England, Paul finally decided to sting her where it hurt most: he decided to conquer India, believing that he would do it easily by sending only Cossacks there. And so, on his orders, 40 regiments of Don Cossacks suddenly set off to conquer India, taking with them a double set of horses, but without fodder, in winter, without the right maps, through impassable steppes. Of course, this army was doomed to destruction. The senselessness of this act was so obvious to Paul’s contemporaries that Princess Lieven, the wife of Paul’s close adjutant general, even claims in her memoirs that this idea was undertaken by Paul with the aim of deliberately destroying the Cossack army, in which he suspected a freedom-loving spirit. This assumption, of course, is incorrect, but it shows what thoughts could be attributed to Paul by his associates. Fortunately, this campaign began two months before the removal of Paul, and Alexander, having barely ascended the throne, already on the very night of the coup, hastened to send a courier to return the ill-fated Cossacks; It turned out that the Cossacks had not yet reached the Russian border, but had already lost a significant part of their horses...

This fact especially clearly depicts the madness of Paul and the terrible consequences that the measures he took could have had. All these campaigns and wars of the last two years of Paul's reign, of course, had a most detrimental effect on the state of finances. At the beginning of his reign, Paul burned, as we have seen, 6 million banknotes, but the war required emergency expenses. Paul had to again resort to issuing banknotes, since there were no other means for waging war. Thus, by the end of his reign, the total amount of issued banknotes rose from 151 million to 212 million rubles, which finally dropped the exchange rate of the paper ruble.

Results of Paul's reign

Summing up now the results of Paul's reign, we see that the boundaries of the state territory remained under him in the same form. True, the Georgian king, pressed by Persia, in January 1801 declared his desire to become a Russian citizen, but the final annexation of Georgia took place under Alexander.

As for the situation of the population, no matter how harmful many of the measures taken by Paul were, they could not produce deep changes in four years. The saddest change in the situation of the peasants was, of course, the transfer from state-owned peasants to serfs of those 530 thousand souls that Paul managed to distribute to private individuals,

As for trade and industry, despite a number of favorable conditions at the beginning of the reign, by the end of its reign foreign trade was completely destroyed, while domestic trade was in the most chaotic state. Even greater chaos resulted in the state of higher and provincial government.

This was the state of the state when Paul ceased to exist.

See Paul's note about this, found in 1826 in the papers of the Emperor. Alexandra. It is printed in volume 90. “Collection. Rus. ist. general”, pp. 1–4. Currently, Paul's government activities have been subjected to new study and revision in the book prof. V. M. Klochkova, treated her very favorably. Despite the significant material collected by Mr. Klochkov in support of his apologetic attitude towards this activity, I cannot consider his conclusions convincing and, in general, remain with my previous view of the reign of Paul. I expressed my opinion about Mr. Klochkov’s work in a special review published in Russian Thought for 1917, No. 2.

Here, however, it should be mentioned that among the cancellations of the measures taken by Catherine there were also good deeds. These include: the release of Novikov from Shlisselburg, the return of Radishchev from exile to Ilimsk and the ceremonial release from captivity with special honors of Kosciuszka and other captured Poles held in St. Petersburg.

Pavel really tried to regulate and improve the situation of the state-owned peasants, as can be seen from the study of Mr. Klochkov, but all the assumptions related to this remained, in essence, only on paper until the formation under the imp. Nicholas of the Ministry of State Property with gr. Kiselev at the head.

The first volume of op. Storch's "Gemälde des Russischen Reichs" was published in 1797 in Riga, the remaining volumes were published abroad; but Storch was persona grata at Paul's court: he was the emperor's personal reader. Maria Feodorovna and dedicated his book (volume 1) to Pavel.

“Russian Archive” for 1870, pp. 2267–2268. There is a separate publication edited by. Mr. Sipovsky. St. Petersburg, 1913.

Paul the First went down in history as a cruel reformer. Liberal views and European tastes were persecuted, censorship was established, and a ban on the import of foreign literature into the country was established. The Emperor, having received the throne, largely limited the rights of the nobility. Maybe that's why his reign was so short.

In contact with

Childhood

Peter the Third, Paul's father, was on the Russian throne for only 186 days, although he planned that many years of rule lay ahead of him. After the palace coup, the emperor signed an abdication of the throne, which passed to his wife (Princess Anhalt-Zerbst).

Catherine built her reign on expanding the rights and privileges of the noble class, as well as enslaving the peasants. During her reign borders of the Russian Empire were moved to the south and west.

The first son of Peter and Catherine, named Pavel, was born on September 20, 1754. During this period, there was a political struggle in the palace, so the boy was deprived of the love and care of his parents. At the age of eight he lost his father. Paul's mother hired a staff of the best nannies and teachers, after which she withdrew from raising the future heir to the throne.

Boy's teacher became Fedor Bekhteev- a diplomat distinguished by incredible discipline and rigor. He published a newspaper where the slightest misdeeds of the pupil were described. The second mentor was Nikita Panin, thanks to whom the boy began to study a wide range of subjects - natural history, the Law of God, music, dance.

The immediate environment also had an influence on the formation of the personality of the heir to the throne, but communication with peers was kept to a minimum - only children of noble families were allowed to interact with him.

Ekaterina bought it for her son the huge library of academician Korf. The boy studied many foreign languages, arithmetic, astronomy, history, geography, learned to draw, dance and fencing, and studied the Law of God. The boy was not taught military discipline; Catherine did not want her son to get carried away with it.

The heir had an impatient character and was a restless child, but could boast of a rich imagination and love of reading. His education was as high quality as possible at that time.

Personal life of the future emperor

The first wife of the future ruler died during childbirth, and the second chosen one was Sophia Dorothea of ​​Württemberg (Maria Fedorovna).

Children of Paul I– firstborn Alexander (1777), Konstantin (1779), Alexandra (1783), Elena (1784), Maria (1786), Catherine (1788), Olga (1792, died in infancy), Anna (1795), Nikolai (1796) ), Mikhail (1798).

Despite having many children and almost constant pregnancies, Maria Fedorovna took care of the house and regularly participated in social events. However, she was not of particular importance at court due to her husband’s discord with his mother.

Maria Feodorovna was a submissive princess, who followed the postulates that she had learned in her youth, but due to circumstances beyond her control, her personal life with her husband came to discord after 20 years. After the birth of her last son, the obstetrician forbade her to become pregnant, as it could cost the woman her life.

The Emperor was disappointed by this circumstance and started a relationship with another woman, his favorite Anna Lopukhina. Maria Feodorovna herself became involved in charity work and began managing orphanages, streamlining the work of institutions for homeless and abandoned children. She also actively addressed issues of women's education and founded a number of educational institutions for them.

Rise to power

When Paul I reigned? He ascended the throne at the age of 42 on November 6, 1796, when Catherine II, his mother, died. This late date is explained by the complex relationship between the future emperor and his mother. They almost completely moved away from each other, realizing that they were people with opposing views. At first, the boy was raised as a future heir to the throne, but the older he became, the further they tried to keep him from matters of national importance.

Important! Many people had high hopes for Pavel Petrovich. His name was often on the lips of rebels, for example, . During the reign of Catherine II, many were dissatisfied with her decrees and laws.

Transformations

Numerous reforms characterize the reign of Paul 1: domestic and foreign policy underwent a number of changes.

What important steps have been taken:

• amendments were introduced to the procedure of succession to the throne, which was developed. The rights to the throne began to be enjoyed exclusively by the sons or brothers of the ruling dynasty in a descending line, or by seniority;
• the emperor's associates received the titles of senior officials or senators;
• comrades of Catherine II were removed from their posts;
• the activities of the highest government bodies have undergone changes for the better;
• a petition box was placed next to the palace, and reception days were also established for peasants who could openly leave complaints against their owners;
• corporal punishment has been abolished for older people over 70 years of age;
• Instead of the grain duty, which was burdensome for peasants, a financial tax was introduced. Debts of 7 million rubles were written off;
• it was forbidden to force peasants to work on holidays and weekends;
• corvee was limited - now it lasted 3 days a week;
• the sale of landless peasants and household servants was banned. If the owner treated the serfs inhumanely, the governors were obliged to carry out secret arrests and send the offenders to the monastery.
• over 4 years, 6,000 thousand state peasants were transferred to the nobles, since the emperor believed that their life was worse than that of the serfs;
• the cost of salt and food products in stores was reduced - the shortfall was compensated for by money from the treasury.

When Paul came to power, one of the the most important areas His activities turned out to be an infringement of the privileges and rights of the nobles.

He ordered all noble children who were enrolled in them to return to the regiments, and prohibited the unauthorized transfer to civilian service from the army without the permission of the Senate, approved by him personally.

The nobles had to pay new taxes, the money from which was sent to support the local administration.

The right according to which a nobleman addressed him with complaints and requests was abolished: now this was allowed to be done only with the permission of the governor. Punishment of noble people with sticks was reintroduced.

Immediately after ascending the throne, the emperor declared an amnesty, but multiple punishments soon followed. Decrees of Paul the First, limiting the power of the nobility, aroused anger and enmity on the part of the privileged class. Over time, the first conspiracies began to appear in the highest guards circles to overthrow the autocrat.

Features of foreign policy

Initially, it was announced at court that neutrality would be observed towards France. He always dreamed that wars would be fought solely for the purpose of defense. However, he was an opponent of the revolutionary sentiments of this country. Friendly relations were concluded with countries such as Sweden, Denmark and Prussia, which was the result of the creation of an anti-French coalition consisting of:

• Russia,
• Kingdom of Naples,
• Austria,
• England.

In Italy, commander A.V. Suvorov headed the domestic expeditionary force. In just six months, he won a victory in Italy over French troops, after which he entered Sweden, where he joined the corps of General A.M. Rimsky-Korsakov.

During the same period, the squadron F.F. Ushakova achieved several naval victories, as a result of which the Ionian Islands became free. However, the Russian-English corps located in Holland was unable to achieve its plans, as a result of which it returned. At the same time, only Russia's allies reaped the fruits of victories over Napoleon, which caused the severance of allied ties with Austria and England. The Emperor, outraged by England's position, decided to move closer to France.

Cause of the Emperor's death

A conspiracy was formed against the ruling emperor. It was headed by the Zubov brothers, the military governor of St. Petersburg P.A.

Palen and a number of others. The reason for the conspiracy is the internal policy of the autocrat, because he eased the situation of the peasants and at the same time limited the rights and privileges of the noble class.

Among the conspirators was Alexander Pavlovich, who was promised that his father would be left alive.

Led by Count Palen on the night of March 12, 1801 The conspirators broke into the Mikhailovsky Castle, reached the imperial chambers and put forward a demand to leave the throne. Having heard Paul's refusal to abdicate the throne, the conspirators killed the autocrat.

There were several conspiracies during the life and reign of the emperor. Thus, three cases of unrest among the troops were recorded. After the coronation of the new emperor, the Canal Workshop was formed - a secret organization whose members sought to kill the ruler. After the discovery of this conspiracy, all those who took part in it were sent to hard labor or exiled. All materials related to the investigation into the conspiracy were destroyed.

It was officially announced that Emperor Paul 1 had died from apoplexy.

Paul 1st - reign of the Tsar, reforms

The reign of Tsar Paul 1st - domestic and foreign policy, results

Results of the board

How long did Paul 1 reign?? His reign lasted several years, years of reign: from April 5, 1797. to March 12, 1801. In such a short period of time, no significant changes occurred in Russian society, although the emperor tried to introduce as many new measures as possible. At the beginning of the reign, favorable conditions were created for the development of industry and trade, but by the end of the reign, internal trade was in chaos and ruin, and external trade was almost completely destroyed.

Attention! The state was in a sad state when Paul I was killed.

Who ruled after Paul 1? The heir to the throne was his first-born Alexander 1. His reign turned out to be more successful: the first step was taken, the State Council was created, and a victory was won over Napoleon in 1812; the Russian army distinguished itself in other foreign campaigns. was more successful.

Paul I Petrovich Romanov

Years of life: 1754–1801
Reign: 1796-1801

Holstein-Gottorp branch (after Peter III). From the Romanov dynasty.

Biography of Paul 1

Born September 20 (October 1), 1754 in St. Petersburg. His mother, Empress Catherine II, hated him as a child from her unloved husband, Peter III.

Immediately after birth, the boy was removed from his mother and taken into care by Empress Elizabeth. The parents rarely saw their son. When his son was 8 years old, his mother, Catherine, relying on the guard, carried out a coup, during which Paul's father, Emperor Peter III, was killed.

Paul's upbringing was led by Nikita Ivanovich Panin, who had a decisive influence on the formation of the character and views of the future emperor. Since childhood, he was distinguished by poor health, grew up impressionable, hot-tempered and suspicious.

Catherine II removed Paul 1 Petrovich from interfering in any state affairs, and he, in turn, condemned her entire way of life and did not accept her policy of government. He believed that this policy was based on love of fame and pretense; he dreamed of establishing strictly legal governance in Russia under the auspices of the autocracy, limiting the rights of the nobility, and introducing the strictest, precisely on the Prussian model, discipline in the army.

In the 1780s. became interested in Freemasonry. Relations with his mother worsened; he suspected her of complicity in the murder of his father, Peter III. Catherine decided to “evict” him from the capital by giving him the Gatchina estate in 1783. Here the son created the “Gatchina army”: several battalions placed under his command were subjected to brutal drill.

In 1794, Empress Catherine decided to remove her son from the throne and hand him over to her eldest grandson Alexander Pavlovich, but she met resistance from senior state dignitaries. The death of Catherine II on November 6, 1796 opened the way for him to the throne.

at

Emperor Paul 1

Your reign Pavel the First began by changing all the orders of Catherine's reign. He canceled Peter's decree on the appointment of his successor to the throne by the emperor himself and established his own system of succession to the throne: he could only be inherited through the male line, after the death of the emperor he passed to the eldest son or younger brother if there were no children, and a woman could only take the throne when cutting off the male line.

The emperor ruled despotically, imposed centralization in the state apparatus, carried out radical reforms in the army, eased the situation of the serfs (reduced the corvee to 3 days a week) and tried to limit the power of the nobility. Attempts were made to stabilize the country's financial situation (including the famous action of melting down palace services into coins).

He significantly narrowed the rights of the noble class, and the strictest discipline and unpredictability of the emperor’s behavior led to massive dismissals of nobles from the army, especially the officers of the guard.

Reign of Paul 1

External Paul 1's policy was inconsistent. In 1798 Russia entered into an anti-French coalition with Turkey, Great Britain, Austria, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The disgraced A.V. Suvorov was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian troops at the insistence of the allies. Under the leadership of Suvorov, Northern Italy was freed from French domination. In September 1799, the Russian army made Suvorov's famous crossing of the Alps. But already in October of the same year, Russia broke the alliance with Austria, and Russian troops were recalled from Europe.

Two years later, Pavel participated in the formation of the Northern Maritime League (Russia, Sweden, Denmark), which adhered to a policy of armed neutrality and was directed against Great Britain. Paul was preparing a military-strategic alliance with Napoleon Bonaparte.

Fearing the spread of the ideas of the French Revolution in Russia, Pavel I Petrvoich banned young people from traveling abroad to study, the import of books was completely prohibited, and private printing houses were closed. The words “fatherland”, “citizen”, etc. were removed from the Russian language.

During the reign of Paul I Petrovich, the Arakcheevs, Obolyaninovs, and Kutaisovs, personally devoted to the emperor, rose to prominence.

On December 16, 1798, Paul 1 was elected Grand Master of the Order of Malta and, therefore, the words “... and Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem” were added to his imperial title. The Order of St. John of Jerusalem was also established in Russia. The image of the Maltese cross appeared on the Russian coat of arms.

Pavel 1 - murder

He was killed (strangled) by a group of conspirators from the guards officers on the night of 11 to 12 (23–24) March 1801. Agramakov, N.P. Panin, vice-chancellor, L.L. Benningsen, commander of the Izyuminsky light horse regiment, took part in the conspiracy regiment P. A. Zubov (Catherine’s favorite), Palen, Governor General of St. Petersburg, commanders of the guards regiments.

He was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Paul the First was married twice:

1st wife: (from October 10, 1773, St. Petersburg) Natalya Alekseevna (1755-1776), nee Princess Augusta Wilhelmina Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt, daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. Died during childbirth with a baby.

2nd wife: (from October 7, 1776, St. Petersburg) Maria Feodorovna (1759-1828), nee Princess Sophia Dorothea of ​​Württemberg, daughter of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. Had ten children:

• Alexander I (1777-1825), Russian Emperor
• Konstantin Pavlovich (1779-1831), Grand Duke.
• Alexandra Pavlovna (1783-1801)
• Elena Pavlovna (1784-1803)
• Maria Pavlovna (1786-1859)
• Ekaterina Pavlovna (1788-1819)
• Olga Pavlovna (1792-1795)
• Anna Pavlovna (1795-1865)
• Nicholas I (1796-1855), Russian Emperor
• Mikhail Pavlovich (1798-1849), Grand Duke.

Pavel 1 had the military rank of Colonel of the Life Cuirassier Regiment (July 4, 1762) (Russian Imperial Guard) and Admiral General (December 20, 1762) (Imperial Russian Navy).

A masterpiece of Russian literature, reflecting the era of his reign, is the story of Yu.N. Tynyanov “Second Lieutenant Kizhe”.

11. Financial transformations.

In the 18th century, the financial system introduced by Emperor Peter I “in general terms is preserved. Over time, the importance of indirect taxes increases more and more due to the inability to further increase the per capita tax. However, there were also serious innovations: Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, under pressure from the nobles, abolished internal customs duties, Peter III established the issue of banknotes.

As of 1762, indirect taxes already account for 61.6% of income, and direct taxes - 38.4% (under Peter I the ratio was the opposite - 24.9% and 55.5%). 73% of all expenses are military, 14% are household expenses, and only 12% are for the rest of government.

Catherine II makes a number of attempts to restore order in public finances, but these attempts are negated by a series of costly wars, the growth of the state apparatus and household expenses. Many taxes increase, the issuance of banknotes increases, and noticeable external and internal borrowing begins.

Empress Catherine II willingly resorted to issuing paper money. At the end of the reign of Catherine II, the exchange rate of the paper ruble was 68 and a half kopecks from the metal (silver) one.”

“In addition, a major problem of Catherine’s reign was chronic shortages. To cover them, for the first time they began to resort to systematic loans, both internal and external. As a result, a fairly substantial debt appeared, amounting to about 215 million rubles, almost equal to three annual budgets.”

During the reign of the Empress, however, as before, there were attempts at budgeting on a state scale, but a coherent system for accounting for income and expenses on a state scale was never created. Not all budgets of individual government agencies were brought together; unfortunately, there were a lot of abuses. Large military expenditures and expenses associated with the development of new lands increased the budget deficit.

Understanding perfectly the financial problems facing the state, in his Resolution he ascended the throne Paul I writes: “It is known that several years before the death of the late empress, the exchange rate for our money was extremely degraded and fell, so that foreigners accepted our ruble for no more than 60 kopecks or even less; and silver within the state became so expensive that the cost of silver rubles, rising from hour to hour, had already reached 45 kopecks [...]. And all the wealth of the entire state turned only into paper and consisted only of banknotes [...]. The price of all things has risen, and everything has become more expensive.”

To eliminate such an impressive debt and reduce inflation, Emperor Paul I resorted to drastic measures.

In order to decisively reduce inflation, it was “ordered to publicly burn paper money worth 5 million 316 thousand 665 rubles on Palace Square in front of the palace.” (Klochkov, pp. 100-101)" The issue of paper money was suspended, on the contrary, the issue of silver coins was increased. The Emperor ordered that the coinage of silver, established in 1763, when a pound of 72nd standard silver corresponded to 17 rubles. 6 2/3 kopecks, was brought to 14 rubles. from a pound with an increase in purity to 83 1/3. Many silver sets and other silver items of court use were melted down for coinage. The Emperor orders the collection of silver sets “according to the governorships and the great boyars and to cast rubles from them in large quantities.” Thus, the value of the monetary unit during exchange rose and was brought to 5.5 francs.

In general terms, we can say that in the financial sphere, Emperor Pavel Petrovich, who ascended the throne, resorted to measures that had the same

the direction that all its transformations are. The main task for the emperor was the centralization of power, strict control over income and expenses, and, if possible, reducing them.

The most important step towards centralization was the establishment on December 4, 1796 of the position of State Treasurer (Vasiliev was appointed Treasurer by personal decree) and the State Treasury. Emperor Paul subordinated the treasury expeditions of the Senate, separated from the jurisdiction of the Attorney General of the Senate, to the Chief Treasurer

The duties of the treasury included drawing up estimates of government expenditures and revenues. Subsequently, these responsibilities were supplemented by the functions of the abolished Debt Committee and the Treasury Chamber. Thus, the main threads of financial management began to concentrate in one place, which predetermined the unification of this industry in the future.

The procedure for collecting duties on imported goods was changed: “The duty on goods imported from abroad is to be collected in foreign gold and silver coins (according to the exchange rate of the ruble to foreign money established by the Council of His Imperial Majesty.”)” (From Paul's decree).

Changes were made to the procedure for collecting taxes. One of the first was the Decree

“On the restoration of the activities of the Petrine Collegium in the field of financial management of the Empire” 1796,

In 1796, by Decree of Emperor Paul of December 10, the poll tax, in the form of grain taxes, was replaced with cash payments of “15 kopecks for each quadruple.” On December 18, 1797, an increase to the per capita tax followed, determined at 1 ruble. 26 kopecks from the heart.

At the same time, to improve finances, Paul I imposed a special tax on the nobility, the total amount of which per year extended to 1,640,000 rubles.

In the field of financial policy, Paul was of the opinion that state revenues belong to the state, and not to the sovereign personally.

In an effort to achieve significant savings, the emperor personally drew up a Budget for 1797 based on expenses of 31.5 million rubles. However, this figure needed clarification, since expenditures on defense and the reformed army and navy were significant and could not be reduced. By agreement with government agencies, the budget was clarified: about 80 million rubles. - including expenditure on defense of 34 million rubles. and a deficit of 8 million rubles.” (Shumigorsky, 1907, p. 115). Valishevsky gives the figure for the true budget for 1797 - about 64.7 million rubles.

“1798 - 76.5 million rubles;

1799 - 77.9 million rubles;

1800 - 78.0 million rubles;

1801 - 81.1 million rubles.

The order of allocations for various items of government spending is given by Valishevsky without more detailed references to sources and year, however, it is difficult to find more reliable figures without special research work:

Army and Navy........................................................ ....... 25,000,000 rub.

Civil States................................................... 6,000. 000 rub.

Foreign department................................... 1,000,000 rub.

Clergy................................................. ......... 1,000,000 rub.

Schools and charitable institutions........ RUB 1,221,762.

Repayment of debts........................................ 12,000 .000 rub.

Office (personal expenses of the emperor) ............ 3,650,000 rubles.

Yard................................................ .................... 3,600,000 rub.

Imperial family................................... 3,000,000 rubles.

In income items, large sums were also delivered by taxes on peasants:

Per capita from state and landowner peasants...... 14,390,055 rubles.

Quit payments from state-owned peasants........................ .....14,707,921 rubles.

Drinking fees......................................................... .... .....RUB 18,089,393

Customs duties................................................ .......5,978,289 rub.

In addition, since 1798, an additional tax of 6,482,801 rubles was added to the duties of state-owned peasants.”

Emperor Paul I also saw colonist settlers, who were accepted during the reign of Empress Catherine II, as an important source of state income. Some researchers reproach Pavel Petrovich for excessive attention to the German colonists. In fact, by the beginning of the reign of Pavel Petrovich, most of the tax and other benefits granted to the colonists by Catherine II had expired, and the desire of Paul I to “rely” on neat, law-oriented and truly hardworking German and other settlers is understandable and legitimate .

Unfortunately, Pavel Petrovich’s initial desire to completely abandon banknotes and reduce foreign and domestic loans to zero turned out to be impossible in such a short time, however, it can be stated that in general, the four years of his reign were years of some stabilization of inflation and a reduction in budget deficits. And his activities regarding the entire centralization of the financial system were continued during the reign of his sons.

Emperor Alexander I when approving the system of ministries, he confirmed the status of the State Treasury created by Paul I as another, along with eight ministries, central institution of public administration. According to this decree, the State Revenue Expedition was subordinate to the person performing the position of State Treasurer.

In terms of fighting inflation, the reign of Alexander I was not particularly successful. Due to the growing costs of maintaining the army, and, in subsequent years, of the war with the army of Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander Pavlovich had to return to internal and external loans, and actively issue new banknotes. If in 1802 the exchange rate of the paper ruble increased to 80 kopecks, then “the huge emission of paper money that began in 1805 devalued the paper ruble to 20 kopecks” of the metal ruble after the Patriotic War. “Such a depreciation made a huge impression on the state; a policy of cost reduction began, and from 1817 even the destruction of part of the banknotes began, the number of which by 1823 decreased from 826 to 596 million.”

II Foreign policy.

“With the accession of Catherine II, a new territorial growth of Russia begins. After the first Turkish war, Russia acquired in 1774 important points at the mouths of the Dnieper, Don and in the Kerch Strait (Kinburn, Azov, Kerch, Yenikale). Then, in 1783, Balta, Crimea and the Kuban region are annexed. The Second Turkish War ends with the acquisition of the coastal strip between the Bug and the Dniester (1791). Thanks to all these acquisitions, Russia is becoming a firm foot on the Black Sea. At the same time, the Polish partitions give Western Rus' to Russia. According to the first of them, in 1773 Russia received part of Belarus (the provinces of Vitebsk and Mogilev); according to the second partition of Poland (1793), Russia received the regions: Minsk, Volyn and Podolsk; according to the third (1795-1797) - Lithuanian provinces (Vilna, Kovno and Grodno), Black Rus', the upper reaches of Pripyat and the western part of Volyn. Simultaneously with the third partition, the Duchy of Courland was annexed to Russia.” It should be noted that the third partition of Poland was completed through the efforts of Paul I.

The Kalmyk steppes, the Altai Mountains, Alaska, the Kuril and Aleutian Islands, discovered by Russian pioneers, complemented the territorial expansion of the empire. All these acquisitions greatly expanded the country's economic base.

Having come to power, Paul I considered it his duty to abandon the offensive policy in order to reorganize the army and develop the territories already acquired. In foreign policy, Paul I strove to establish an equal position for Russia with European countries, mutual assistance and honest fulfillment of mutual obligations. Despite the fact that Paul was an opponent of offensive wars, when Europe and Turkey, losing in the war with Napoleon, asked for help in 1799, the Russian emperor (an opponent of French revolutionary ideas) agreed to help. Turkey asked for the Russian fleet to help, and, combining it with the Turkish one, under the command of Admiral F.F. Ushakov, to liberate the islands of the Ionian archipelago captured by the French. King Ferdinand IV of Naples asked for the help of the Russian-Turkish fleet in liberating the Kingdom of Naples and the Papal States from the French. The Austrian monarch asked to send united Russian-Austrian troops, under the leadership of A.V. Suvorov, to liberate the Austrian possessions of Northern Italy. England asked to send a detachment of 45 thousand people to the Netherlands. According to the plan, Russian-English troops were supposed to achieve Dutch independence. Also, even before the creation of the Second Anti-French Coalition, the Order of Malta, expelled by the French, came to Paul I for help, handing him a master’s chain. Due to his character and his vision of international relations, Paul I could not refuse, and subsequently considered it his duty to return the taken lands to the Order.

Many fugitives from Malta, and the Order itself (which was located in St. Petersburg) found temporary shelter in Russia. Under the leadership of Ushakov, “the allied Russian-Turkish fleet liberated the Ionian Islands (Zerigo, Zante, Kafellonia, St. Maurus) from the French, and on February 20, 1799 captured the fortress of Corfu, the main stronghold of France on the Adriatic. On his initiative, the Free State of Seven Islands was created in the Ionian Islands under the temporary protectorate of Russia and Turkey. In the summer of 1799, he led the Russian-Turkish fleet to the shores of Southern Italy, where he united with the Baltic squadron of Rear Admiral P.K. Kartsov. Contributed to the expulsion of the French from the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples." Allied forces under the leadership of Suvorov completely returned the northern Italian possessions of Austria. Only the operation in Holland was not successful, the reason for which was the poor organization of the British troops and the desire of the British commanders to achieve victory only with Russian troops. Russian troops returned to their homeland.

Thus, in 1798-1799. Russia fulfilled its obligations to the states of the anti-French coalition. It should be emphasized that it was the bold, unconventional actions of the Russian troops that allowed the combined forces of the coalition to complete their assigned tasks.

Having joined the anti-French coalition, England (“queen of the seas”) also sent its fleet under the leadership of Nelson to the Mediterranean Sea. Nelson, having liberated Malta from the French, refused to allow Paul I to return the Order of Malta to his homeland. Moreover, Nelson lined up his flotilla as an enemy against the Russian fleet when Ushakov stood up to protect the Italians and French prisoners from the Jesuit Order. To all this it should be added that as soon as the French army was hit, both Vienna and London “forgot” about the Russians: the supply of weapons and provisions stopped. Russian troops emerged from the deadlock with victory, relying only on the internal strength and spiritual impulse of the soldiers. Just look at the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Alps.

Is this forgetfulness accidental? Most likely no. Some sources indicate that Nelson received a direct order from British Prime Minister William Pitt Jr. not to allow Russia to expand its influence in either Greece or Italy. This explains the defiant behavior of Nelson, who demanded that Ushakov submit to English occupation rules. Thus, England's superiority and reluctance to see Russia as an equal partner were openly demonstrated. Such a disdainful and even treacherous attitude of the allies towards Russia forced Paul I to withdraw from the anti-French coalition and recall the troops of Suvorov and Ushakov to their homeland.

Most historians consider the severance of relations with England a mistake. Paul was faced with the question of establishing military-political and trade relations with France.

“The economic struggle between Russia and England, which began at the end of 1800, intensified every month, and Paul himself led this struggle most actively.”

“On October 23, 1800, the Prosecutor General and the Commerce Board were ordered to “impose sequestration on all English goods and ships located in Russian ports,” which was carried out at the same time. In connection with the confiscation of goods, the complex issue of settlements and credit transactions between English and Russian merchants arose.

On November 22, 1800, the highest decree of the commercial board was issued: “The debts of the British owed to Russian merchants will be retained until settlement, and the English goods available in shops and stores will be prohibited for sale.”

On November 30, at the request of Russian merchants, English goods were allowed to be sold to pay off debts, and liquidation offices were established in St. Petersburg, Riga and Arkhangelsk for mutual debt settlements.”

If the general order banning the import of English goods was carried out, then it was much more difficult to counteract the export of Russian raw materials to England. On December 15, the Highest Command was announced, “that it be strictly observed that no Russian products are exported by any route and under any pretext to the British.” However, it soon became clear that, despite the bans, Russian materials were coming to England through Prussia. Then came the ban on the export of Russian goods to Prussia. The most extreme measure in the Russian government’s fight against foreign trade was the general order of the Commerce Board on March 11, 1801 (on the last day of Paul’s life) that “no Russian goods should be released from Russian ports and border land customs and outposts anywhere without special Highest command." Naturally, this order could no longer be carried out. However, for the whole day the entire country became a closed economic zone, even if only on paper. It is obvious that these decrees caused considerable damage to Russian trade."

“Having broken the trade alliance with England, Russia resumed trade with France. However, a number of trade agreements could not significantly affect trade turnover due to the fact that the main trade routes in the North and West were in the hands of the British. However, in the field of foreign trade relations, the creation of the first Russian-American company in 1798 can be highlighted.

Much more significant were attempts to conquer the Asian market. To this end, a number of measures were taken to increase trade with Persia, Khiva, Bukhara, India and China. In 1798, it was allowed to export iron, copper, tin, bread, foreign gold and silver coins to Asia. The ban remained only on the export of military ammunition. Orders were issued to protect merchants trading in Central Asian countries. Before the break with England, there was no need for this trade, but already in September 1800, the Prosecutor General, by order of the emperor, turned to the merchants with a proposal to expand trade with Khiva, for which he promised government support. On December 29, 1800, the Highest Order was issued: “To make a provision to the Commerce Board on the expansion of trade with India, Bukhara and Khiva, from Astrakhan along the Caspian Sea and from Orenburg, and to draw up a plan for a new customs order for that region, a tariff and a charter for the proposed company; to evenly enter into the consideration of means for the establishment and expansion of trade along the Black Sea.” Interest in Asian trade waned after Paul's death, when relations with England were restored.

The government and merchants, having almost broken trade relations with the West, not only began to strengthen and expand their internal trade, but also turned their projects to the East and South, intending to increase trade relations with Asian countries. However, there have been much more disappointments in this industry than successes.”

However, beyond a simple trade boycott, the ultimate goal of France and Russia was the division of the British and Ottoman Empires. For this purpose, Paul I issued an order to march on India. An expeditionary force of 22,500 Cossacks set out on the campaign under the command of the chieftain, cavalry general Count Fyodor Petrovich Orlov-Denisov, and the Cossack chieftain Platov.

Conclusion.

Within the framework of a small work, it is almost impossible to comprehensively consider and fully evaluate the activities of such an outstanding Emperor, who, despite his short reign, was Paul I.

During the short time spent on the throne of the Russian state, Pavel Petrovich did not have time to realize all his plans. All the more important and valuable for historians and for descendants is what he managed to accomplish.

Emperor Paul practically built a clear vertical structure of power for the autocratic monarch in all areas relating to the internal life of the state. And in the judicial power, and in the financial system, and in the general state structure, we can see a harmonious hierarchical system based on the idea of ​​serving the Fatherland of all classes, starting from the Sovereign himself and ending with the peasants.

Despite the difficult personal fate and contradictions with his mother, Paul nevertheless continued many of the endeavors of Catherine II, a former strong autocratic ruler who placed concern for the good of the Fatherland at the basis of her rule.

Both Alexander I and Nicholas I, despite the fact that the politics of the times of their reigns are often opposed by historians, were still siblings and children of their father. And if Alexander I, especially at the beginning of his reign, was forced (one can only guess for what reasons) to stop many of his father’s undertakings and take a step to the side or back, then Nicholas I, who ascended the throne under dramatic circumstances, in order to preserve Russia consciously took tough measures from destruction, which in many ways continued and consolidated what had been started by his father.

Carefully studying the legislative legacy of Emperor Pavel Petrovich, one cannot help but see that the principles he laid down as the basis of the state system are universal and, in a sense, ideal. The ideals of high service to the Fatherland in any field, the ideals of Christian morality as the basis of the state structure, honesty and zeal in the performance of one’s official duty, mercy and support addressed to the weakest members of society, exactingness towards those in power and education.

I really hope that historians in the field of state and law will turn their attention to the lawmaking of Emperor Paul.

Now, more than ever, our country needs what Emperor Paul I dreamed of - to bring “all parts of the state in order to the balance in which they should be so that it can stand indestructibly and unharmed.”

I express my gratitude to Vladimir Martov and Anna Boyko-Velikaya for their help in
preparing a number of materials for this study.

Peskov A.M. “Paul I” M., “Young Guard”, 2005. P. 32.

Right there. pp. 31-32.

Right there. P. 32.

Valishevsky K.F. Son of Catherine the Great. Pavel I. http://lib.rus.ec/b/137977/read

Ushakov F.F. Encyclopedia Around the World. http://www.krugosvet.ru/enc/istoriya/USHAKOV_FEDOR_FEDOROVICH.html?page=0.1

Economic policy of Paul I. http://www.abc-people.com/typework/history/hist-n-2.htm

Quote by: Peskov A.M. “Paul I” M., “Young Guard”, 2005. P. 327.

List of used literature.

1. History of the judicial system in Russia (Edited by N.A. Kolokolov). Moscow, Law and Law. 2011

2. Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire. St. Petersburg, 1830 - vol. 24-31

List of laws of the Russian Empire involved in this work: numbers of laws

17567; 17588; 17589; 17590; 17609; 17634; 17735; 17739; 17833;

3. Encyclopedic dictionary. Brockhaus and Efron. T. IXA (St. Petersburg, 1893), XXA, (St. Petersburg, 1897), XXV (St. Petersburg, 1898).

4. Snegirev V. Administrative division and institutions of pre-revolutionary Russia by period // Encyclopedic Dictionary “Granat”. 1938. T. 36, part 6 Appendix 1. P. 1-7.

5. Klyuchevsky V.O. About Russian history M. Enlightenment, 1993.

6. Valishevsky K. Collected works in five volumes, volume 5: “Son of the Great

Catherine Emperor Paul 1 (His life, reign and death). M.:

"CENTURY", 1996.

7. Vlasov Yu.N. Paul I - a crowned tyrant or an enlightened reformer? History of philosophy. Vol. 4. M.: IF RAS, 1999.

8. Obolensky G.L. Emperor Paul I. Smolensk, 1996

9. Schilder N. Emperor Paul the First. M.: Algorithm, 1996, reprint 1901.

10. Shumigorsky E.S. Emperor Paul I. St. Petersburg, 1907

11. History of Russia from ancient times to 1861. Textbook for universities. Ed. N.I. Pavlenko

12. Klochkov M.V. Essays on government activities during the time of Paul I. Petrograd, 1916.

13. Karaseva E.I. God's Tsar Pavel Petrovich Romanov. St. Petersburg, Tsarskoe Delo, 2010

14. Eidelman N.Ya. The Edge of Centuries St. Petersburg, 1992.

15. http://works.tarefer.ru/33/100066/index.html

16. http://history-gatchina.ru

17. Peskov A.M. “Paul I” M., “Young Guard”, 2005.

18. Klyuchevsky V.O.. Course of Russian history. Part V. M., “Thought”, 1989.