So, on December 25, 1762, after the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, her nephew, who went down in history under the name of Peter III, became the new emperor of Russia.
His right to the throne as the only direct and legitimate descendant of Peter I was undeniable. But the wife of the emperor, the German woman Catherine, had her own plans, and the crown of Peter the Great, bloodied, had to fall from the head of his grandson in order to end up in the hands of an impostor. It was unthinkable, almost impossible, but Catherine was passionate, unlike her husband, and her accomplices were passionate: they did not reflect and did not doubt, went ahead and were not afraid of blood. In front of astonished Europe and shocked Russia, a person ascended to the Russian imperial throne, having absolutely nothing to do with him. Sitting comfortably on the seized throne, Catherine pretended that nothing special had happened. And then, having got used to it, she did not transfer power to another descendant of Peter the Great - her son Paul, becoming a usurper for the second time. And it almost made everyone, both contemporaries and descendants, believe in the legitimacy of their actions and their power.
The coup d'état accomplished by Catherine became possible not only because of the bold and decisive actions of her supporters, but also thanks to the numerous mistakes of the emperor. These mistakes are partly due to the absolute legitimacy of this monarch and the absence of legitimate claimants to the throne. Peter was confident in his power and believed that he could afford both the haste of reforms that caused discontent in the Senate, Synod and the Guards, and condescension to his opponents and opponents. And, meanwhile, the traitors had long gathered around his wife, many of them naively believed that it was they who would become the main characters after the victory over the legitimate emperor. Catherine was assigned, at best, the role of a nominal regent under the minor Paul. Completely different people were going to rule the country, we will call their names later.
Peter's underestimation of Catherine and a condescending attitude towards her
Peter did not feel any warm feelings for his wife who openly neglected him. Her behavior had long been scandalous and defiant, many at the Court believed that now the emperor would definitely get rid of the intriguer - he would send her to Zerbst, or send her to a monastery. Or, at least, he will appoint a staff of new courtiers from among the people loyal to him, isolating her from suspicious cronies in the power structures and, most importantly, in the guards. But Peter was never vengeful, and, contrary to rumors, he was not going to either divorce his wife, or confine her in a fortress or monastery. In addition, the beloved uncle of the emperor, Georg Ludwig, who, once was in love with a young German princess, who still bore the name of Sophia Frederick Augustus, was Catherine's constant protector, and now did everything to ward off the anger of her husband from Catherine. Catherine, in public, habitually played the role of a wife suffering from the arbitrariness of an insignificant tyrant - her husband:
“Sometimes, in front of everyone, as if against her will, tears would flow from her, and she, arousing general regret, acquired a new remedy for herself. and in such distrust that she is deprived of any power in economic management, and as if her servants obey her only out of zeal … A discerning eye would notice on her face her cold greatness, under which great intentions are hidden."
(Ruler.)
Sentiments in the guards units of St. Petersburg
Peter III was well aware of the recent palace coups, the witnesses of which still lived in St. Petersburg, and the role that officers of the guards regiments played in them. Academician J. Shtelin reports:
"Even when he was the Grand Duke, he called the janissaries of the guards soldiers living in the same place in the barracks with their wives and children, and said: They only block the residence, are not capable of any work, or military exercise and are always dangerous for the government."
The French diplomat Favier fully agrees with Peter:
"Especially badly disposed towards him (the emperor) is a large and extremely useless corps of guardsmen, these janissaries of the Russian Empire, whose garrison is located in the capital, where they seem to keep the courtyard in captivity."
The secretary of the French Embassy in Russia, Claude Carloman Rulier, in his notes called the Russian guards regiments "guards, always terrible for their sovereigns."
Famous mainly for its ugly behavior and debauchery in the capital's taverns, Elizabeth's Life Company (the grenadier company of the Preobrazhensky regiment - 362 people), which once secured the throne for this empress, Peter dismissed.
As for the rest of the "Janissaries", it was quite logical decision to send the regiments corrupted by the life of the capital away from St. Petersburg - to the "Western Group of Forces", which was now in Pomerania, making Frederick II very accommodating, and encouraging the king to help in the conquest of Schleswig for Russia and Dithmarshen, which belonged to her emperor. For the guards officers, who had already got used to the "balls, beauties, lackeys" and the obligatory "crunching of a French roll", these intentions of Peter (who, having designated them, unfortunately, did not have time to put them into practice) seemed an eerie lawlessness. Peter III underestimated the reluctance of the guards to leave Petersburg. The guardsmen were indifferent to the war for the interests of Austria and France, in which they did not take part, and extremely negatively to the war for the interests of Russia, in which they were to participate.
Claude Rulier testifies:
"These regiments, accustomed from ancient times to the late service at the Court, during the reign of women by inheritance, were ordered to follow the sovereign to a distant war, regretfully leaving the capital, against their will."
And therefore the agitation that the Orlovs actively waged among them was perceived more than positively.
The officers of the units who, according to the Prussian ambassador B. Goltz, "on the day of the coup completely surrendered to the empress":
Opposition in the Senate and Holy Synod
The senators and members of the Synod were also dissatisfied with the new emperor, whom he forced (oh, horror!) To come to their workplaces on time and deal with real cases, and not empty talk. Even Frederick II "prayed" to Peter not to touch the Senate and Synod (and to get crowned faster). But, in relation to the bureaucrats, the emperor remained adamant, and he decided to carry out the coronation after negotiations with Denmark and a solution to the issue with Schleswig.
Actors of the conspiracy
In April 1762, Catherine, secretly from everyone, gave birth to a son from Grigory Orlov, who received the title of Count Bobrinsky.
Freed from the burden, the adventurer was now able to devote herself entirely to a conspiracy against her husband and the rightful emperor.
The conspiracy against Peter III took shape by the summer of 1762, and Peterhof became the headquarters of the conspirators.
Everyone knows about the Orlov brothers, but much more titled persons also spoke out against the legitimate emperor. Let's list some of them. Count Nikita Panin - tutor of Tsarevich Paul, senator and chamberlain. He was one of the main ideologues of the conspiracy. His brother Peter is a general-in-chief who took part in the Seven Years War. Count Kirill Razumovsky - Marshal, Commander of the Izmailovsky Guards Regiment, Hetman of Ukraine, President of the Academy of Sciences. Baron Korf - Chief of Police of St. Petersburg. Prince Mikhail Vorontsov (it is curious that the other Vorontsovs were loyal to the emperor, including the Chancellor of the Empire). Duchess Ekaterina Dashkova (nee - Countess Vorontsova, goddaughter of the emperor and younger sister of his mistress) and her husband Mikhail - a St. Petersburg freemason of "high degrees". Among the conspirators, a certain "Mr. Odar" was also wiped out, who kept in his house a pre-printed Manifesto on Catherine's accession to the throne. According to Andreas Schumacher, adviser to the Danish embassy, the notorious Count Saint-Germain was in Russia under this name. That is, people seem to be serious. Yes, and Catherine herself, if you believe her own statements, and the words of court flatterers, was a lady "very wise." But when you begin to get acquainted with the circumstances of the drunken riot of the guards units, which, according to the organizers of the conspiracy, was supposed to lead to the overthrow of the legitimate emperor, there are big doubts both in the mind of Catherine and in the adequacy of her accomplices.
Conspiracy against the emperor: the beginning
Even foreigners knew the "recipe for making" coups d'etat in Russia in those years. The Saxon envoy Petzold, after Elizabeth Petrovna came to power, said:
"All Russians admit that you can do whatever you want, having at your disposal a certain number of grenadiers, a vodka cellar and a few sacks of gold."
Catherine had a "bag of gold" - she "borrowed" 100 thousand rubles from the English merchant Felten (you, of course, guessed which country's ambassador gave her this money through a modest British merchant). "Cellar with vodka" - organized: bought more than 35 thousand buckets with this money. There were grenadiers led by the Orlov brothers. But then …
Frederick II, for example, was categorical:
"Their conspiracy was reckless and ill-conceived."
Judge for yourself: instead of immediately arresting Peter III (the guardsmen are familiar - they both grabbed Biron in the middle of the night, and Anna Leopoldovna and her husband), on June 26, 1762, the Orlovs began to solder the personnel of the capital garrison, spreading rumors about the death of Peter III. … It was argued that the emperor died in Oranienbaum as a result of a fall from a horse.
On June 27, a certain transforming soldier appeared at the office of his regiment and reported on the Orlovs' suspicious behavior and the outrages that were happening in St. Petersburg. In the office at that time was one of the active participants in the conspiracy - Lieutenant P. B. Passek, who did not react to this report in any way. The surprised soldier turned to Captain Izmailov, who, in turn, reported everything to Major Volkov. Passek was arrested, the news of an unexpected and strange mass spree of the capital's guards and the arrest of one of the alleged conspirators was sent to the emperor - to Oranienbaum. According to Rulier, Peter took the received news extremely frivolously:
"When he was notified of the signs of a conspiracy and the arrest of one of the conspirators, he said, 'This is a fool."
But the moment for the conspirators was truly critical. The same Rulier reports:
"Without the precaution of the Piedmontese Odar, who was secretly known only to him and Princess Dashkova, everything would have been lost."
Having learned about this arrest from one of his agents, Odar (Saint-Germain), informed Yekaterina Dashkova about it, and the other conspirators. As a result, on the night of June 28, Catherine fled from Peterhof to the barracks of the Izmailovsky regiment - this explains the confusion of Peter, to whom none of the servants could explain where his wife had disappeared: he even suggested that she could have been kidnapped.
By the morning of June 28, the soldiers of the St. Petersburg garrison had reached the required condition, and when Catherine asked them to "vote for her candidacy," they, poorly understanding what was happening, took the oath to "Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna." The ministers and senators, who remembered well the coups of past years, hastened to join the "expression of the will of the masses" (it is bad to joke with a drunken soldier, and the sovereign-emperor, according to rumors, has already died). The Orthodox hierarchs, to whom Catherine promised to return the slaves (monastic serfs), taken from them by her husband, also appeared with joy.
Gabriel Derzhavin served in the Preobrazhensky regiment at that time. He was not aware of the conspiracy, but, not understanding anything (like many others), together with his company, he came to the Winter Palace. Here is what a strange picture the future poet and dignitary saw:
"Suddenly, a strange procession moved into the jubilant crowd, which had previously managed to pass through the main streets of the capital. as suddenly as it appeared. Nobody could comprehend anything - but then rumors spread like a train: they say, the emperor is dead."
Rulier writes about the same:
“Suddenly there was a rumor that they had brought the emperor. The crowd, urged on without noise, moved apart, crowded and in deep silence gave place to the procession, which slowly made its way in the middle of it. It was a magnificent funeral, carried along the main streets, and no one knew: whose burial? Soldiers, dressed like a Cossack, they carried torches in mourning; and while the attention of the people was all in this place, this ceremony disappeared from sight … hardly twenty people, even in the palace, understood this incident as it happened. knowing whether the emperor was alive or not, and exclaiming incessantly "hurray!"
That is, many in the capital then decided: Catherine was "shouted out" by the empress because her husband had died.
Princess Yekaterina Dashkova said later: "We took our measures well."
At this time, a young French lackey, who had arrived from St. Petersburg, informed Peter that Catherine was in the capital and in the city for a "holiday": "all the troops were under arms." And then there was also a messenger sent by the emperor Bressan's hairdresser, who delivered a note with the following content:
"The guards regiments mutinied; the empress is in front; strikes 9 o'clock; she goes to the Kazan church; it seems that all the people are carried away by this movement, and your majesty's loyal subjects are nowhere."
The Emperor's Painful Inaction
In 1987 A. Gorodnitsky wrote an interesting poem about the events of that day:
The rustle of the incoming waves is heard
And distant trumpet singing.
Above the palace sharp roof
Gilded coats of arms shine.
The parquet floor in the apartments will not creak, The striking of the clock does not sound suddenly.
The emperor plays the violin
The state is leaving the hands.
The infantry keeps the formation at the fence -
The Tsar is a faithful army.
We urgently need to order something, -
Something else can be done …
Gilded fish sleep in the pond, Parsley and onions are cut in the kitchen.
The emperor plays the violin
The state is leaving hands.
Those close to you in terrible anxiety
The play is drawing to a close
Approaching on a dusty road
The cavalry gallops to the palace.
Into the voice of a violin, alarming and unsteady, An outsider interwoven sound.
The emperor plays the violin
The state is leaving hands."
No, Peter III, of course, did not play the violin that day - there was no time for that. But he "played giveaway with the conspirators," and was still in Peterhof. In his retinue, among others, were Chancellor M. I. Vorontsov, the former head of the Secret Chancellery, abolished by Peter, Count A. I. Shuvalov, Field Marshal N. Yu. Trubetskoy, General-in-Chief P. A. Devier, Adjutant General A. V.. Gudovich, Major General M. M. Izmailov, Lieutenant General A. P. Melgunov. And also next to him was Field Marshal Burkhard Christoph Minich - a man with iron nerves and unbending will, who went through fire, water, copper pipes, the death sentence remained unfulfilled and exile to Pely.
He went to the Crimea, took Bakhchisarai, Ochakov and Khotin. It was Minich who in 1740 with a handful of soldiers arrested the all-powerful Biron, and, probably, now, deep in his soul, he made fun of dilettantes who, in his opinion, were doomed: someone would have to go to the chopping block, someone - with torn nostrils to hard labor. It was impossible to find a more experienced and authoritative consultant and specialist in this situation, no matter how hard you try. At that time, the field marshal was 79 years old, but he is full of strength, retained vigor of spirit and body ("returned from exile with seldom vigor in such years" - Ruhler), and unsuccessfully tries to offer his services. And Peter has a bunch of options for suppressing this stupid rebellion. Minich first invited him, taking only 12 grenadiers, to ride with him to Petersburg, assuring that this was quite enough - to suppress a possible rebellion, the emperor only needed to personally appear to the troops and people. Taking into account the stories of Derzhavin and Rulier (about the strange "funeral procession"), it can be assumed that the timely appearance of the emperor in St. Petersburg could really change a lot.
Rulier writes of the events of that day:
"One regiment was sad; these were excellent cavalrymen, whose emperor had been a colonel since his childhood, and whom, upon accession to the throne, he immediately brought to Petersburg and gave them a place in the Guards Corps."
Peter could safely count on this regiment.
The Transfigurations also hesitated, Schumacher reports:
"There was a strong rivalry between the Preobrazhensky and Izmailovsky regiments."
Preobrazhensky commanders P. I. Izmailov and P. P. Voeikov (who arrested Passek) and another officer, S. R. Vorontsov, appealed to their subordinates with an appeal to remain loyal to the emperor. The soldiers, in response, shouted: "We will die for him!"
Another option, proposed by Minich, was an immediate move to Kronstadt, where Peter would be invulnerable.
The emperor refuses to go either to Petersburg or to Kronstadt. The second person in the state, the Chancellor of the Empire M. I. Vorontsov, accompanied by A. I. Shuvalov and N. Yu. Trubetskoy was sent to St. Petersburg to sort out the situation, but the highest officials of the state were detained by the picket of the conspirators and escorted to Catherine. Awaiting their return (or at least some news from them) Peter III is inactive, and precious time is running out. Here the character of this emperor was fully manifested, about whom J. Shtelin said:
"In words he was not at all afraid of death, but in reality he was afraid of any danger."
In the Soviet film An Ordinary Miracle, the king speaks of this type of people:
“He … at the slightest misfortune froze, did nothing, hoped for the best.
The conspirators were well aware of these character traits of Peter III, and they counted mainly on the cowardice and weakness of the emperor's will. And the people who now surround the monarch also know that he does not have the courage of Peter I and there is no Norman courage of Charles XII, the emperor is not a leader and not a fighter. Feeling his indecision and making sure that the miracle will not happen, the courtiers begin to leave him.
Meanwhile, from the pier of Peterhof one can see the walls and towers of Kronstadt - and it is still "nobody's": Peter hesitates, but the conspirators at first "forgot" about him. Finally, at the insistence of Minich, General Devier goes there, he is the first to manage, but after him, Admiral Talyzin arrives from Catherine, who orders the arrest of Devier - the conspirators take control of Kronstadt.
But Peter can go to the location of his victorious army: it is known how the front-line soldiers "love" the "rear rats" and the capital's parquet sharks everywhere and at all times - the opportunity to "tickle" them with their bayonets, combat soldiers and officers would be very happy. The commander of this army (80 thousand soldiers!) - P. A. Rumyantsev, the best commander of Russia, a supporter of Peter, because of this, after the victory of Catherine, he will be removed from office, for some time he will be in disgrace.
And here's a coincidence: to meet one of the emperor's foreign guests along the Narva tract, there are replacement horses and carriages - even now sit down and ride wherever you want with all possible comfort. You can even go straight to Holstein - if Russia is tired of reigning. And now let Catherine and her accomplices, shaking with fear, wonder where the legitimate emperor of Russia Peter III went.
And the Holstein units are also at the disposal of the emperor - three thousand unconditionally loyal, well-trained, disciplined soldiers. And not only Germans serve in them, there are many Russians. These are quite combat-ready and self-sufficient detachments, even having their own artillery.
At about 6 o'clock in the evening, having finally received the order, they leave the barracks of Petershtadt and begin to form in battle formations. Every minute counts. Even one news of the approach to the capital of military detachments loyal to the emperor will sober up very, very many. Moreover, no one will really know what forces Peter and his supporters managed to gather (after all, there are regiments heading for Pomerania on the march), and fear has "big eyes." Most parts of the army garrison will either go over to the side of the legitimate authorities, or will take a wait and see attitude - in the hope of joining the victors later. The few conspirators from among those who have nothing to lose will be quickly killed (and there are only 40 of them - the rest are used "in the dark" and do not fully understand what is happening). The ministers will race to Peterhof, Catherine will lie at Peter's feet, begging not to be executed, not locked up in a fortress and not sent to eternal repentance in a Siberian monastery, but released to Zerbst.
But Peter cancels the order: he decides to go to Kronstadt, not knowing that the fortress is already under the control of the traitors - it does not accept its emperor. But the would-be conspirators, in whose hands the entire Russian navy, did not even think of blocking the Baltic coast, and in Narva and Revel they have no idea what is happening in St. Petersburg. Peter has at his disposal a yacht (which he will send to Peterhof) and a galley on which he arrived at Oranienbaum. In Revel, you can change to any vessel suitable for sea passage and go anywhere on it - even to Pomerania, to Rumyantsev's army, even to Holstein. This is what Minich is now proposing. But, as Rulier reports, the courtiers dissuade the emperor:
“They said that the rowers didn’t have the strength to carry them to Reval.“So,”replied Munnich,“we will all help them.”The entire Court shuddered at this proposal… the emperor was presented that he was not in such an extreme; it is indecent for such a powerful sovereign to leave his possessions on one ship; it is impossible to believe that the nation would rebel against him, and rightly the aim of this indignation is to reconcile him with his wife."
Peter goes to Oranienbaum, where he receives a report about the march of the guards units: it becomes clear that no one is going to "reconcile" him with Catherine. The frightened courtiers beg Peter to surrender at the mercy of his wife. But the units loyal to Peter are ready to fight to the death. In Oranienbaum, according to all the rules of fortification science, the Petershtadt fortress was built in the shape of a 12-pointed star. It is surrounded by earthen ramparts 4 meters high with four bastions, protected by moats with water from three and a half to four meters wide and 2 meters deep. Inside Petershtadt there is another, pentagonal, fortress (of St. Peter's), now serving as an arsenal yard.
You can't take Petershtadt on the move - yes, the conspirators are not ready for a serious battle: they are marching on a parade ("This procession was likened to a holiday" - Ruhler). The overwhelming majority of the soldiers and officers of the St. Petersburg garrison are accidentally involved in a mutiny; they have no motivation to shed their blood for Catherine, dressed in a Transfiguration uniform.
And, in general: it is one thing to drink free vodka for the health of "Mother Catherine", and quite another to shoot at the order of a visiting German woman at the "natural emperor", the grandson of Peter I. And in St. Petersburg, meanwhile, the soldiers are already sobering up and are horrified from his "sedition". And the mood of the troops participating in the "campaign against Peterhof" will soon change.
After the arrest of the emperor, the conspirators will open taverns for the soldiers, and vodka will flow like a river. The agitators sent around the city will shout toasts to Catherine - they are picked up by drunken soldiers of the regiments that took part in the campaign to Oranienbaum. But others are sullenly silent, and sometimes they get into a fight.
G. Derzhavin reports that “pickets with loaded cannons and lighted wicks were placed on all bridges, squares and crossroads. the very death of the emperor."
K. Rulier reports that when "the body of the deceased was brought to St. Petersburg and put on display … the soldiers interfered in the crowd of people and, looking at their sovereign, found on their faces pity, contempt, a kind of shame and late repentance."
That is, before the murder of the captive Peter III, Petersburg was in a state of siege. And if the emperor had not surrendered and was alive? In the besieged Petershtadt or in the army of P. Rumyantsev, it doesn't matter. He needs to hold out for literally a few days until the euphoria and intoxication, in which the soldiers of the St. Petersburg garrison are now, subside. Then, when it turns out that they were deceived, cynically and rudely “used in the dark,” that the emperor is alive and is not going to give up, the most prudent themselves will twist Orlov's arms and drag them to Peter, begging him for forgiveness. In the next article, after reading excerpts from the memoirs and official reports of contemporaries, diplomats from different countries, you can be convinced of the validity of this thesis.
Surrender of Peter III
But let's return to June 1762 and see that Emperor Peter III has already surrendered and abandoned the fight. Unlike passionate conspirators, he was a "harmonious personality" and was not ready to confront them. Struck by the betrayal of people whom he completely trusted and who could not accuse him of even the slightest injustice, on June 29, even before the approach of the rebellious troops, the emperor relinquished power. Before that, he ordered to pay the soldiers and officers loyal to him a month in advance and gave them the last order: to return to the barracks and not make any attempts to resist.
Rulier reports:
“At this sight, Minich, seized with indignation, asked him: Can't he die like an emperor in front of his army? I will command the battle."
The Emperor does not listen to him.
Frederick II will say later:
"The lack of courage in Peter III, despite the advice of the brave Minich, ruined him."
Peter still makes a last attempt to run: he orders to saddle his beloved horse, intending to set off in the direction of Poland, but Elizaveta Vorontsova
"persuaded him to send to the Empress to ask her to allow them to go together to the Duchy of Holstein. According to her, this meant fulfilling all the wishes of the Empress."
(Ruler.)
So, leaving Catherine the crown and the throne, Peter asks only for permission to go to Holstein with Elizaveta Vorontsova and adjutant Gudovich.
The Austrian envoy, Marcy d'Argento, reported to Vienna:
"There is no example in world history that a sovereign, losing his crown and scepter, would show so little courage and good spirits."
And Frederick II told Count Segur about Peter's abdication:
"He allowed himself to be overthrown from the throne like a child sent to sleep."
The first to approach Oranienbaum was the detachment of Alexei Orlov, who "defeated" the Holstein recruits armed with wooden muskets, who were peacefully engaged on the parade ground (a riot, a riot, but no one canceled the drill). Then horse detachments of generals V. I. Suvorov, and A. V. Olsufiev, who disarmed the Holstein troops. Ready to fight, but having received the order not to resist, the soldiers parted with their weapons very reluctantly, showing annoyance and indignation. Eyewitnesses recall the ugly behavior of V. I. Suvorov, the father of the future generalissimo, who knocked his hats off the already unarmed captive officers with his sword, mockingly reproaching them for lack of respect. They also talked about the robbery of captured soldiers and officers by drunken guards.
It should be said that the famous son of Vasily Suvorov never stooped to humiliation of prisoners. According to information found by A. S. Pushkin, even to E. Pugachev, Alexander Vasilyevich treated with respect: during the convoy he did not cause any additional inconvenience and "with curiosity asked the glorious rebel about his military actions and intentions." But the participant in the conspiracy of Catherine Pyotr Panin, dissatisfied with the response of the captive Pugachev (his words made a great impression on the people gathered around him), in Simbirsk publicly "hit the impostor in the face until it bleeds and tore out a piece of his beard." The general-in-chief, apparently, did not have enough intelligence to object to the illiterate Cossack not with fists, but with words.
The sad fate of the Holstein soldiers and officers of Petershtadt
But back to June 1762. The day after the "surrender" of the Petershtadt garrison, its servicemen were divided: Russian subjects were sworn in to the new empress, Holstein soldiers and officers were transferred to Kronstadt. Rulier reports on their fate:
"Soon they were put on ships and sent to their homeland; but due to the fatal effect on them of their cruel fate, the storm drowned almost all of these unfortunates. Some escaped on the nearest rocks to the shore, but were also sunk while the governor of Kronstadt sent to Petersburg to ask whether it will be allowed to help them ".
So Peter III, with his cowardice, ruined not only himself, but also people who were selflessly devoted to him, ready to die in battle, defending his life, honor and crown.
