In what year was Paul 1 killed? On the night of March 11-12 (according to the old style), 1801, as a result of a conspiracy, the Emperor of All Russia, the son of Catherine II and Peter III, the “Russian Hamlet”, who carried out many reforms during his short reign, was killed. But the tsar was despised by all of Petersburg, and the conspirators deliberately made him out to be insane. Who killed Paul 1? When and where did it happen? Why was Paul 1 killed (reasons for the coup)? What did the conspirators originally plan?
Sources of information about the assassination of the emperor
Why they killed Paul 1, it becomes clear when studying the sources of data about this event. To be more precise, this is clear after reading the historical characteristics of the individuals who took the life of the emperor. The circumstances are known from the memoirs of contemporaries who communicated directly with the participants in the conspiracy against the authorities. Only two documents created by the conspirators have survived, namelyBennigsen's letter and Poltoratsky's note.
Some information can also be gleaned from memoirists, but they are usually quite contradictory in detail. The modern historian Yu. A. Sorokin, who specializes in this period in the history of the Russian state, writes that authentic facts, separated from the fiction of eyewitnesses and just contemporaries of this event, will probably never be able to reproduce.
The list of main sources from which you can find out where Paul 1 was killed, by whom and why, is rather meager for such an important historical event. Army Major General Nikolai Alexandrovich Sablukov was in the Mikhailovsky Castle at the time of the assassination, but was not directly among the conspirators. He wrote "Notes" in English, which were intended for an extremely narrow circle of readers. They only got into print in 1865, and were first published in Russian in 1902 by Erasmus Kasprowicz.
Leonty Bennigsen (one of the conspirators) spoke about the coup and the campaign against Napoleon in a letter to Fock. His speeches were recorded by several other interlocutors. Plans for a palace coup are mentioned from the words of Bennigsen in the memoirs of his nephew, the life doctor Grive, a note by Lanzheron, Adam Czartoryski, August Kotzebue and some other personalities.
Lieutenant General Konstantin Poltoratsky (then governor of Yaroslavl) left notes describing the tragic events. Poltoratsky belonged to the third (lowest) group of participants in the conspiracy. During the assassination of Paul I, he was on guard. Lieutenant Generalclaimed that he did not know the exact date of the crime, as his immediate supervisor forgot to warn him.
Russian commander of the era of wars with Napoleon, Alexander Lanzheron, arrived in the capital shortly after the coup d'état to collect information. His notes contain conversations with Palen, Prince Konstantin. The final part contains the author's reflections.
Why Pavel 1 was killed was clear to his contemporaries, and especially to those who communicated with the participants in the conspiracy. Information about this tragic event can be gleaned from the following memoirs:
- Daria Lieven, an agent of the Russian government in London (her mother-in-law was the teacher of the children of Paul I, was in Mikhailovsky Castle on the ill-fated night of March 11-12).
- Adam Czartoryski, prince, friend of Alexander I, arrived in the capital after the coup.
- Writer Mikhail Fonvizin (at the time of the murder he was 14 years old) later conducted a whole study based on conversations with conspirators, whose names he does not name.
- Nikita Muraviev (8-year-old at the time of the emperor's death) later compiled a detailed description of the events.
- Anonymous "Diary of a contemporary".
- German playwright and novelist August Kotzebue, who was in the capital on the night of the assassination (some sources mention that his son gave Alexander II a note about Paul's death).
- Karl-Heinrich Geiking, who arrived shortly after the crime.
Why was Pavel 1 killed? Prerequisites for committing a crime
Forthat they killed Paul 1? In short, the main reason was his coronation itself. Such a sad outcome of the emperor's life was influenced by his actions in domestic and foreign policy. In addition, among the possible reasons is the madness of Paul I, because everyone was sure that if something was not done about it, then the country would face a revolution. But here we need to talk about everything in order.
Why was Pavel 1 killed? Briefly, the reasons are listed above, but now it is worth considering some of them in more detail. The prerequisites for the conspiracy can be identified as follows:
- Methods of government, amounting to cruelty. The instability of the political course, the atmosphere of uncertainty and fear in the highest circles, the discontent of the nobles, who were deprived of privileges, led to the emergence of a plan to assassinate the king. Paul I threatened the dynasty, and this allowed the participants in the conspiracy to consider themselves remaining loyal to the Romanovs.
- The Madness of the Emperor. If we proceed from the data of modern psychiatry, then Paul I, of course, was a severe neurotic. The king was distinguished by an unrestrained character, often suffered from depression and panic attacks, and did not know how to choose reliable favorites. The subjects also considered the emperor crazy because of his objectively unpopular orders. For example, in 1800, Paul invited the head of the Catholic Church to move to Russia. Since 1799, the king was overwhelmed with suspicions about the infidelity of his wife and sons.
- The fact of accession to the throne. Why was Paul 1 killed? The reasons lie in the very fact of the king's coronation. Catherine II was preparing Alexander for the throne, so the coronation of Paul I served as an occasion fordissatisfaction with a powerful circle of close associates of the Empress.
- Deterioration of the king's relations with representatives of the nobility and the guards. There is a known case when staff captain Kirpichnikov received 1000 sticks for harsh remarks about the order of St. Anna (the order was named after the emperor's beloved). Contemporaries believed that this fact played a significant moral role in the prehistory of the murder of Paul.
- Anti-English policy. The decision to withdraw from the anti-French coalition, taken by Paul I at the very beginning of his reign, greatly interfered with the plans of the Austrians and the British. At the initial stage of the organization, the English ambassador in St. Petersburg was definitely involved in the upcoming coup, but Pavel expelled him long before the assassination. Some historians suggest that England did take part in the conspiracy.
- A rumor that the emperor plans to imprison his wife and children in a fortress in order to marry one of his favorites (either Madame Chevalier, or Anna Gagarina), as well as a decree on legalizing Pavel's future illegitimate children.
- Politics in the army. Pavel introduced the Prussian order in the army, which irritated almost the entire officer corps and the nobility in St. Petersburg. Dissatisfaction with the innovations was so great that it blocked all the previous successful military reforms of the emperor. Only the Preobrazhensky Regiment remained truly devoted to the royal power.
Why was Paul 1 killed (briefly)? He just thwarted the conspirators. Most likely, here it is worth talking not about one specific reason for the coup, but about several factors,who influenced this event to the greatest extent.
The original plan of the conspirators
The bulk of the participants in the conspiracy, who believed in the need for change, was formed in the summer of 1799. At first, the criminals planned to simply arrest Paul in order to force him to leave the throne and pass the reign to his eldest son. Nikita Panin (ideological inspirer) and Petr Palen (technical manager) considered it necessary to introduce the Constitution, but the first spoke about the regency, and the second about the murder of Pavel.
About the regency they started talking in general only against the background of the fact that shortly before the planning of the coup in Great Britain, the regency of his son was officially established over the crazy King George III. In Denmark, under the unbalanced Christian VII, a regent also actually ruled, who later became King Frederick VI.
True, many historians believe that the main organizers initially planned the physical elimination of the emperor, and not just the arrest or establishment of custody of his son. Such a "plan B" was most likely the development of Peter Palen. Even Nikita Panin was not aware of the alleged bloody denouement. At the supper preceding the penetration into the chambers of the king, the question of how to deal with the emperor after his arrest was discussed. Palen answered everything very evasively. Even then it was possible to suspect that he was planning the assassination of the sovereign.
Participants in a conspiracy against the emperor
Those who were initiated into criminal plans, there are very, very many, but who killed Paul 1? In a conspiracy (according to various estimates)from 180 to 300 people were included, so it makes sense to name only the main ones. Historian Nathan Eidelman all of them were conditionally divided into three groups:
- Initiators, ideological inspirers, the most dedicated persons. In the future, many of them took high positions under the new emperor. Each of these people tried to whitewash themselves, so there are so many theories and conjectures around this murder.
- Officers involved later, not directly involved in strategy development. Engaged in recruiting and leadership at the next level of the hierarchy.
- Medium and junior officers. People were selected on the principle of dissatisfaction with the system of Paul. Some of them became direct perpetrators, while others were only indirectly involved in the crime. For a long time, historians believed that it was among these people that one should look for the one who killed Paul 1, the son of Catherine II. After all, the initiators sought to whitewash themselves at all costs, perhaps their words are true, ordinary officers became the executors.
Nikita Panin was the inspiration. It was he who invented and planned everything, but did not directly participate in the crime. On the night of March 12 (the day when Paul I was killed) he was in exile. Later, Alexander I returned the former Vice-Chancellor to the College of Foreign Affairs, but soon the young emperor and the count fell out. Panin was forced to return to the Dugino estate, where he spent the rest of his life.
Peter Palen was the support of the king (it was already mentioned earlier that Paul was completely unable to choose reliablefavorites). This man did not hide the fact that he participated in a conspiracy against the emperor, he spoke openly about this later in personal conversations. Under Alexander, he was removed from his post, because Maria Feodorovna (wife of Paul I) convinced her son that it was dangerous to keep such a person with her.
Leonty Bennigsen was extremely dissatisfied with Pavel. Participation in the conspiracy did not affect his later career. The commander of the Izyumsky regiment even became a general a year after the coup, although he gained general fame during the years of the Napoleonic wars. It was Leonty Bennigsen who commanded the troops in the Battle of Preussisch-Eylau. This was the first major battle that the French failed to win. The military leader was showered with awards, became a Knight of the Order of St. George.
The first group included the three Zubov brothers: Plato - the last favorite of Catherine II, Nikolai - it was he who owned the snuffbox that killed Paul 1, Valerian - his role in the plan is not entirely clear. He lost his leg, so he was not in the Mikhailovsky Castle with the others. But it is believed that Valerian managed to recruit Alexander Argamakov, without whom the supporters of Panin and Palen would not have been able to penetrate the castle.
Place of the death of Emperor Paul I
Where was Pavel 1 killed? The king lost his life in the same place where he was born. The building of the Mikhailovsky Castle was erected on the site where the wooden Summer Palace of Ekaterina Petrovna stood. For many years the Mikhailovsky Castle remained Paul's dream. The sketches of the layout and the general design of the construction belonged to the emperor himself. The design process lasted almost twelve years. In theseOver the years, Paul I repeatedly turned to various examples of architecture that he saw on a trip abroad. The emperor was assassinated just 39 days after moving to the Mikhailovsky Castle from the Winter Palace, where many coups took place.
And in which room was Pavel 1 killed? This tragic event took place in the emperor's own bedchamber. The room where Paul 1 was killed (photo above) was turned into a church of the apostles Peter and Paul at the behest of his grandson, Alexander II.
Omens related to murder
There are several indications that Paul had a premonition of his death. On the day of the assassination, the emperor approached the mirrors in the palace and noted that his face was reflected distorted. The courtiers then did not attach any importance to this. However, Prince Yusupov (head of the palaces) fell out of favor. On the same day, Paul I talked with Mikhail Kutuzov. The conversation turned to death. The parting words of the emperor to the Russian commander was the phrase:
Go to the other world - do not sew knapsacks.
The Emperor's dinner always ended at half past nine, and at ten Pavel was already in bed. It was so customary that all those present went into another room and said goodbye to the king. On the ill-fated evening before the assassination, Paul I went into the next room, but did not say goodbye to anyone, but only said that what was to be, was inevitable.
Mention of crooked mirrors and Mikhail Kutuzov is in the notes of one of the memoirists. So, the author writes (according to the commander) that the emperor, looking intoa mirror with a flaw, laughed and said that he sees himself in the reflection with his neck to the side. This was an hour and a half before his violent death.
In addition, they say that some time before the murder, a holy fool (wandering nun) allegedly appeared in St. Petersburg, who predicted that the tsar would live as long as the letters in the inscription above the gate of the new palace (of the same Mikhailovsky). It was a biblical saying:
Holiness befits your house in the length of days.
There are forty-seven characters in the phrase. Paul I was in his forty-seventh year when he was assassinated.
Chronology: March 11-12, 1801
In what year Paul 1 was killed is known - it happened in 1801. And what happened immediately before the death of the emperor? How did he spend the last day of his life? On March 11 (old style), Pavel got up between four and five in the morning and worked from five to nine. At nine, he went to inspect the troops, and at ten he received the usual parade ground. Then Pavel rode horseback with Ivan Kutaisov, the emperor's favorite, a Turk, taken prisoner and presented to the sovereign when he was still heir to the throne.
At one o'clock, Pavel dined with his entourage. Meanwhile, Palen - one of the participants in the conspiracy - sent out invitations to accomplices for dinner at his place. Then the emperor went to replace the Preobrazhensky battalion, which occupied guards in the Mikhailovsky Castle. One of the statesmen (Jacob de Sanglen) wrote in his memoirs that then Paul forced everyone to swear not to get involved with the conspirators.
On the 11th of March, the emperor allowed his sons under arrest to dine with him. At nine o'clock Pavel started dinner. Invited were Konstantin and Alexander with their wives, Maria Pavlovna, Dame Palen and her daughter, Kutuzov, Stroganov, Sheremetyev, Mukhnov, Yusupov, Naryshkin and several court ladies. An hour later, dinner began at Platon Zubov's, which was attended by Nikolai (Platon's brother), Bennigsen "and three other persons initiated into the secret."
Before going to bed, the emperor spends about an hour with his favorite Gagarina. He descended to her by a hidden staircase. At the same time, the conspirators are having dinner at Palen's. There were about 40-60 people in his house, all of them were "hot with champagne" (according to Bennigsen), which the owner himself did not drink. It was previously decided to imprison Pavel in Shlisselburg, but Palen answered all questions about this with lengthy phrases.
Palen suggested that the conspirators split into two groups. The Zubov-Bennigsen group went to the Christmas Gates of the Mikhailovsky Castle, and the other (under the leadership of Palen) was heading to the main entrance. When approaching the second floor, the group is about ten to twelve people. Exactly at midnight, the conspirators enter the palace. They're making too much noise, the troops are trying to raise the alarm.
Soon the assassins approach the royal rooms. According to one version, the valet was tricked into opening the door. Alexander Argamakov (military commander), who could freely enter the palace, told the other that it was already six o'clock, just hoursthe valet stopped. There is a version that a fire was reported. At that moment, Platon Zubov panicked, he tried to hide, dragging others along, but Bennigsen stopped him.
The Emperor, hearing a suspicious noise, first rushed to the door to Maria Feodorovna's rooms, but it was closed there. Then he hid behind a curtain. He could have gone down to Gagarina and fled, but, apparently, he was too frightened to assess the situation soberly. At half past midnight on March 12, the conspirators succeeded in breaking into the emperor's bedroom. This was the room where Paul 1 was killed. The criminals were confused when they did not find the king in bed. Platon Zubov said in French that “the bird has flown away,” but Bennigsen felt the bed and said that “the nest is still warm,” that is, “the bird is not far away.”
The room was searched. Pavel was found and demanded to write a renunciation of the throne, but he refused. The king was told that he was under arrest. The emperor was killed between 0:45 and 1:45. How was Tsar Paul 1 killed? There are several versions here:
- A dispute broke out between Nikolai Zubov and Pavel. Soon some of the conspirators (who had drunk too much champagne) began to express impatience. The emperor, on the other hand, switched to raised tones in conversation, so that Nikolai, in a fit of anger, hit him with a massive snuffbox in his left temple. The beating began. An officer of the Izmailovsky regiment strangled the tsar with a scarf.
- According to Bennigsen's testimony, there was a crush, the screen fell on the lamp, so that the light went out. He went into the next room to fetch fire. In this short period of time, the sovereignwas killed. All the controversy arises from the words of Bennigsen, who tried to prove his absence from the room at the time of the murder.
- According to M. Fonvizin's notes, the situation developed as follows. Bennigsen left the room. At this time, Nikolai Zubov was talking with the emperor. Several threats escaped Pavel, so that the enraged Zubov hit him with a snuffbox. When Bennigsen was informed that the emperor had abdicated, he gave the scarf with which they strangled the king.
Why was Emperor Paul 1 killed? There are versions that it was an unintentional murder, but most historians still tend to believe that the conspirators acted according to a carefully designed plan.
Witnesses and persons who knew about the conspiracy
Who killed Pavel 1? This was definitely known to those persons who were in the emperor's bedroom on the ill-fated night. None of the first group of conspirators stained themselves with murder (even Bennigsen, as well as Platon and Nikolai Zubov, had previously left the tsar's bedroom). Although many historians say that this is a lie that they themselves invented in order to whitewash themselves.
The list of people present in the bedroom varies depending on the source. It could be:
- Bennigsen.
- Platon and Nikolai Zubov.
- Alexander Argamakov.
- Vladimir Yashvil.
- I. Tatarinov.
- Yevsey Gordanov.
- Yakov Skaryatin.
- Nikolai Borozdin and several other personalities.
The former British ambassador to the Russian Empire, Lord Whitworth, the Russian ambassador in London, Semyon Vorontsov, were aware of the plot,Tsarevich Alexander (according to Panin, the Tsarevich tacitly agreed to the overthrow of his father), official Dmitry Troshchinsky. The latter wrote the famous manifesto on the coronation of Alexander I. The young tsar renounced his father's policy.
Who took the life of the emperor?
But who killed Paul 1, the son of Catherine 2? In different sources, opinions again diverge. In addition, you need to pay attention to the features of the murder. It is known that first a blow with a snuffbox followed, and then the emperor was strangled with an officer's scarf. In most sources, it is believed that Platon Zubov delivered the blow. It would seem that it is clear who killed Paul 1. But the emperor died of suffocation. In addition, it is known that after being hit with a massive golden snuffbox, but before being strangled with a scarf, the king was thrown to the floor and started to be kicked.
Who killed Pavel 1? An officer of the Izmailovsky regiment Skaryatin strangled his emperor with a scarf. This scarf belonged (according to different versions) either to Skaryatin, or to Paul I himself, or to Bennigsen. So, Platon Zubov (pictured above) and Yakov Skaryatin became the killers. The first struck the tsar in the temple with a golden snuffbox that belonged to Nikolai Zubov, and the second strangled Paul I with a scarf. There is also a version that Vladimir Yashvil delivered the first blow.
After the murder: reaction of subjects, burial
Alexander was informed about the death of his father by Nikolai Zubov or Palen with Bennigsen. Then Konstantin was awakened, and Alexander sent his wife to Empress Maria Feodorovna. But the empress was told this terrible news by Charlotte Lieven -educator of the children of Paul I. Maria Fedorovna lost consciousness, but quickly recovered and even declared that now she should rule. Until five o'clock in the morning, she did not obey the new emperor.
The next morning, a manifesto was issued, which reported that the All-Russian Emperor had died last night of a stroke. Petersburgers began to congratulate each other on such "happiness", according to eyewitnesses, it really was "the resurrection of Russia to a new life." Fonvizin, by the way, also speaks in his notes about the "day of the Bright Resurrection." True, a large number of people still felt disgust for the events.
The night after the assassination, the medic Villiers treated the emperor's corpse to hide the traces of a violent death. The next morning they wanted to show the body to the soldiers. It was necessary to prove that the king was really dead, so one should swear allegiance to the new emperor. But the blue and black spots on the face of the deceased could not be hidden. Some sources report that a court painter was even called in to make up the corpse. When Paul I lay in his coffin, his hat was pulled down over his forehead to cover his left eye and temple.
The funeral service and burial took place on the twenty-third of March. It was done by all members of the Synod, headed by Metropolitan Ambrose.
Ghost of Emperor Paul 1
There is a legend according to which the ghost of the murdered emperor could not leave the place of his death. The ghost was seen by the soldiers of the capital's garrison and the new inhabitants of Mikhailovskypalace, bystanders who noticed a luminous figure in the windows. This frightening image was very actively used by the cadets of the Nikolaev School, who later settled in the castle. It is possible that the ghost was their own and invented to intimidate the younger ones.
Attention to the ghost was attracted by N. Leskov's story "The Ghost in the Engineering Castle". The purpose of creating the work was to draw attention to hazing that reigned in the school.
So why was Pavel 1 killed? In short, the conspirators wanted to install "their" king. They hoped that they would occupy prominent positions. Why Paul 1 was actually killed, they cannot say for sure, probably even historians who have devoted more than one year of their lives to this problem. The fact is that there can be a huge variety of reasons (including personal ones), circumstances that influenced the outcome of events, accidents and opinions.
