In 1754, Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna had an heir. In 1796 he became king and went down in history as Pavel 1.
Biography
His first teacher was a friend of the Bekhteev family, who was very strict with Pavel. He even started a special newspaper in which he printed information about all the actions of his pupil.
The next mentor was Nikita Ivanovich Panin, a middle-aged man who shared the ideas of the Enlightenment. It was he who determined the list of numerous subjects that, in his opinion, the future emperor should have studied. Among them are the Law of God, natural history, dance, music and many others. This study began in the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna and continued under Peter III and Catherine II.
In his social circle there were mostly highly educated people, for example, Grigory Teplov. Among peers there were only people from known families. One of the closest friends was Alexander Kurakin.
Ekaterina, the mother of the heir, purchased a collection of books by Academician Korf for her son to study. Pavel the First studied geography, history, astronomy, arithmetic, the Law of God, various languages - German, French,Italian, Latin; in addition, the curriculum included the Russian language, drawing, dancing, and fencing. But all items related to military affairs were excluded, although this did not stop young Pavel from getting carried away with them.
Youth
In 1773, Paul the First married Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt. This marriage did not last long - she cheated on him, and just two years later she died in childbirth. Then the young man married a second time, to Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg (after baptism - Maria Feodorovna). One of the European traditions of that time was a trip abroad, which took place after the wedding. Pavel and his wife traveled incognito under the names of the Northern spouses.
Politics
On November 6, 1796, at the age of forty-two, Emperor Paul ascended the throne, and on April 5 of the following year, his coronation took place. Immediately after that, he began to cancel most of the orders and customs established by Catherine. For example, he released radicals Radishchev and Kosciuszko from prison. In general, his entire reign was marked by "anti-Catherine" reforms.
On the day of the coronation, the newly-minted emperor introduced a new law - now women could not inherit the Russian throne, and regency rights were also established. Other reforms include administrative, national and military.
The main direction of the emperor's foreign policy is the fight against the First French Republic. Almost all efforts were directed to this, among others - an alliance with Prussia,Denmark and Sweden. After Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in France, the countries had common interests, and Paul the First began attempts to conclude a military-strategic alliance with France, but this was not destined to take place.
Pavel the First gave the impression of an unpredictable tyrant with grotesque manners and annoying habits. He wanted to carry out many reforms, but their direction and content were constantly changing, obeying the mood of an unpredictable autocrat. As a result, Paul had neither the support of the courtiers nor the love of the people.
Death of the king
During the reign of the emperor, several conspiracies were uncovered, the purpose of which was to kill Paul. In 1800, a conspiracy of high dignitaries took shape, and Paul the First was treacherously killed by officers in his bedchamber on the night of March 12, 1801. His reign lasted only five years.
The news of the death caused barely contained jubilation from both the people and the nobility. The official cause was apoplexy.
Paul's son, Alexander, was well aware of the emerging conspiracy, but was frightened and did not stop it, so he indirectly became the culprit in the death of his father. This event tormented Emperor Alexander the First all his life.
