In 1754, the heir was born to Empress Catherine Alekseevny. In 1796 he became king and went down in history as Paul 1.
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 published information about all the actions of his pupil.
The next mentor was Nikita Panin,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 - the law of God, natural history, dancing, music and many others. This study began in the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna and continued under Peter the Third and Catherine II.
In the circle of his communication were present mainlyhighly educated people, for example, Grigory Teplov. Among peers there were only people from known genera. One of the closest friends was Alexander Kurakin.
Catherine, the mother of the heir, acquired her son forlearning the collection of books of academician Korf. Pavel I studied geography, history, astronomy, arithmetic, the Law of God, various languages - German, French, Italian, Latin; In addition, the program of study was Russian, drawing, dancing, fencing. But all subjects related to military affairs were excluded, although this did not prevent the young Paul from being carried away.
In 1773, Paul I married Wilhelmina.Hesse-Darmstadt. This marriage did not last long - she cheated on him, and only two years later she died in childbirth. Then the young man married a second time, Sophia-Dorothea of Württemberg (after baptism, Maria Fedorovna) One of the European traditions of that time was a trip abroad, which took place after the wedding. Paul and his wife traveled incognito under the names of the Northern spouses.
Policy
November 6, 1796 at the age of forty-twoFor years, Emperor Paul came to the throne, and on April 5 of the following year, he was crowned. Immediately after that, he began to abolish most of the orders and customs instituted by Catherine. For example, he freed Radishchev and Kosciusko from the detention of radicals. In general, all his reign passed under the sign of "anti-Catherine" reforms.
On the day of the coronation of the newly appeared emperorintroduced a new law - now women could not inherit the Russian throne, and the rights of the regency were established. Other reforms include administrative, national, and military.
The main direction of the foreign policy of the emperor- struggle with the First French Republic. Almost all efforts were directed toward this, among others - an alliance with Prussia, Denmark and Sweden. After Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in France, common interests appeared in the countries, and Pavel I began attempts to conclude a military-strategic alliance with France, but this was not to be.
Paul the First made impressionsunpredictable 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 the unpredictable autocrat. As a result, Paul had neither the support of the courtiers, nor the love of the people.
For all the reign of the emperor was revealedseveral conspiracies, the purpose of which was the murder of Paul. In 1800, there was a conspiracy of high dignitaries, and Paul I was treacherously murdered by officers in his bed-room on the night of March 12, 1801. His reign lasted only five years.
The news of death caused a barely restrained jubilation of both the people and the nobility. The official cause was called apoplexy.
Paul’s son, Alexander, was well aware ofconspiracy, but was frightened and did not stop him, therefore, indirectly became the cause of the death of his father. This event tormented the emperor Alexander I all his life.
