Biography
Emperor Peter III Fedorovich was named Karl by Peter Ulrich, since the future Russian ruler was born in the port city of Kiel, located in the north of the modern German state. On the Russian throne, Peter III lasted half a year (official years of government are considered to be 1761-1762), after which it turned out to be a victim of the palace coup, arranged by his wife Catherine II, which replaced the deceased spouse.
It is noteworthy that in subsequent century, the biography of Peter III was supplied exclusively from a derogatory point of view, so his image in humans developed unequivocally negative. But recently, historians find evidence that this emperor had completely definite merits to the country, and the longer period of his rule would bring a tangible benefit to the residents of the Russian Empire.
Childhood and youth
Since the boy was born in the Duke of Karl Friedrich Hollytein-Gottorpsky, the nephew of the Swedish king Charles XII, and his wife Anna Petrovna, the daughter of King Peter the first (i.e. Peter III was the grandson of Peter I), then his fate was predetermined from infancy. I barely appeared on the light, the child became the heir to the Swedish throne, and in addition, in the theory could claim the Russian throne, although on the idea of his grandfather Peter I should not have happened.
The childhood of Peter the Third was not at all royal. The boy has lost her mother early, and the father, looked at the rest of the lost Prussian lands, brought up his son as a soldier. Already at 10 years old, Karl Peter was assigned the title of second lieutenant, and a later boy orphaned boy.
After the death of Karl Friedrich, his son got into the house to the bishop Adolf Eitinsky, his cousin uncle, where the boy turned into an object for humiliation, cruel jokes and where regularly satisfied the spanking. Nobody cared for the formation of the Crown Prince, and by 13 years he could hardly read. Karl Peter had a weak health, he was a sick and a frantic teenager, but at the same time good and innocent. He loved music and painting, although because of the memories of the father simultaneously adored the "Military region".
However, it is known that until the death of Emperor Peter III, I was afraid of the sound of cannon shots and rifle salts. Chronicles also celebrated the strange addiction of the young men to fantasies and inventions, often moved to a frank lie. There is also a version that, in the adolescence, Karl Peter acquired the dependence on alcohol.
The life of the future of the Emperor of All-Russian has changed when he was 14 years old. At the Russian throne, his aunt Elizabeth I Petrovna, who decided to consolidate the monarchy for the descendants of his father. Since Karl Peter was the only direct heir to Peter the first, he was called to St. Petersburg, where the young Peter Third, who was already the title of Duke of Hollytein-Gottorpsky, adopted the Orthodox religion and received the Slavic name Prince Peter Fedorovich.
At the first meeting with the nephew of Elizabeth, his ignorance was amazed and put to the royal heir to the tutor. The teacher noted the excellent mental abilities of the ward, which annoys one of the myths about Peter III as a "weakly soldier" and "mentally defective".
Although there are evidence that the emperor behaved in humans is extremely strange. Especially in the temples. For example, during the divine service Peter laughed and speaking loudly. Yes, and familiarly behaved with foreign ministers. Perhaps such behavior and spawned a rumor about his "inferiority".
Also in his youth, he had a severe shape of the smallpox, which could cause deviations in development. At the same time, Peter Fedorovich was sacrificed in the exact sciences, geography and fortification, owned by German, French and Latin. But Russian practically did not know. But she did not seek to master it.
By the way, the Black Oypa strongly disappeared the face of Peter Third. But in any portrait this defect appearance is not displayed. And about the art of photography then no one thought - the first photo in the world appeared only after 60 years. So only his portraits written from nature reached contemporaries, but "embellished" artists.
Governing body
After the death of Elizabeth Petrovna on December 25, 1761, Peter Fedorovich joined the throne. But it was not crowded, it was planned after the military campaign to Denmark. As a result, Peter III was crowned posthumously in 1796 by Paul I.
He spent 186 days on the throne. During this time, Peter Third signed 192 of the law and decree. And even not counting ideas to awards. So, despite myths and rumors around his personality and activities, even for such a short period, he managed to express himself and in the external and internal policy of the country.
The most important document of the reign of Peter Fedorovich - "Manifesto on the liberty of the nobility." This legislative act liberated the nobles from the mandatory 25-year-old service and even allowed them to leave abroad.
From other Emperor's cases, it is worth noting a number of reforms about the transformation of the state system. He, being on the throne of only six months, managed to abolish the secret office, introduce freedom of religion, cancel the church supervision of the subjects of the subjects, prohibit state lands and most importantly to the private property - to make the court of the Russian Empire open. He also declared the forest with national wealth, established the state bank and introduced the first appointments into circulation. But after Peter Fedorovich, all these innovations were destroyed.
Thus, the emperor Peter III had intention to make the Russian empire of free, less totalitarian and more enlightened.
Despite this, most historians consider the short period and the results of his rule alone from the worst for Russia. The main reason for this is the actual annulment of the results of the seven-year war. Peter had bad relationships with military officers, as he stopped the war with Prussia and brought Russian troops from Berlin. Some regarded these actions as a betrayal, but in fact the victory of the guardsmen in this war brought fame or by him personally or Austria and France, whose side supported the army. But for the Russian Empire, there was no benefit from this war.
He also decided to introduce Prussian orders in the Russian army - the Guards appeared a new form, and the punishment was now also to Prussian manner - a wig. Such changes did not add to him the authority, but, on the contrary, they gave rise to discontent and uncertainty in tomorrow, both in the army and in court circles.
Personal life
When the future ruler was almost 17 years old, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna hurried him to marry. A German Princess Sofia Frederick Augustus chose to the wife of Sophia Frederick Augustus, which today the whole world knows under the name Catherine the second. The wedding of the heir was played with an unprecedented scope. As a gift, Peter and Catherine were presented in possession of the palaces of Count Alexander Menshikov - Oranienbaum near St. Petersburg and Lyubertsy near Moscow.
It is worth noting that Peter III and Ekaterina II did not endure each other and were considered a family pair only legally. Even when the wife gave Peter the heir of Paul I, and then the daughter of Anna, he joked that he did not understand, "where she takes these children."
The heir to the baby, the future Russian emperor Paul I, after birth, was taken away from the parents, the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna itself was immediately engaged in her upbringing. However, Peter Fedorovich was not at all grieving. He was never particularly interested in his son. He saw the boy once a week, on it was the resolution of the Empress. Daughter Anna Petrovna died in infancy.
About the complex relations of Peter Third and Catherine The second says the fact that the ruler has repeatedly publicly quarreling with his wife and even threatened to divorce her. Once, after the spouse did not support the toast spoken on the feast, Peter III ordered to arrest a woman. From prison, Catherine was saved only by Uncle Peter's intervention, George Golstein-Gottorpsky. But with all the aggression, anger and, most likely, Zhugene jealousy to his wife Pyotr Fedorovich was experiencing respect for her mind. In difficult situations, more often and financial, Ekaterina's husband often turned to her for help. Data has been preserved that Peter III Catherine II called "Mrs. Beat".
It is noteworthy, on the personal life of Peter III, the lack of intimate relations with Catherine did not affect. Peter Fedorovich had mistresses, the main of which was the daughter of General Roman Vorontsov. Two his daughters were presented to the yard: Catherine, which will become a friend of the Imperial Spouse, and later the princes Dashkova, and Elizabeth. Here it fell fate to become a beloved woman and favorite Peter III. For her, he was even ready to dissolve a wedded marriage, but this happened to this.
Death
At the royal throne, Peter Fedorovich stayed a little longer than six months. By the summer of 1762, his wife Ekaterina The second inspired his minion to organize a palace coup, which occurred at the end of June. Peter, struck by the treacherism of the environment, renounced the Russian throne, who initially did not appreciate and did not want, and intended to return to his native country. However, by order of Catherine, the deplorable emperor was arrested and placed in the Palace in Ropsche near St. Petersburg.
And on July 17, 1762, a week after that, Peter III died. The official cause of death was the "attack of hemorrhoid colic", enhanced by the abuse of alcoholic beverages. However, the main version of the death of the emperor is the violent death from Alexei Orlova, the older brother Grigory Orlova - the main thing at that time of Favorite Catherine. It is believed that the eagles strangled the prisoner, although neither the later medical examination of the corpse nor historical facts confirm this. This version relies on the "repentant letter" by Alexey, which in our time has been preserved in copies, and modern scientists are confident that this paper is a fake made by Fedor Mensor, the right hand of Paul first.
After the death of the former emperor, there was an incorrect idea of the personality and biography of Peter III, since all the conclusions were made on the basis of the memoirs of his wife Catherine II, the active participants of the princess of Dashkina, one of the main ideologues of the conspiracy, Count Nikita Panin, and his brother - Count Peter Panin . That is, based on the opinions of those people who betrayed Peter Fedorovich.
Just "thanks" to the memories of Catherine II, the image of Peter III as a drunkard-husband, hanged rats. Allegedly a woman went into the office of the emperor and was amazed seen. Above his table was roving rat. The spouse she answered her that she had committed a criminal offense and in military laws underwestercable. According to him, she was executed and for 3 days will hang in front of the public. Sergey Solovyev, and Vasily Klyuchevsky, describing Peter the Third, were repeated this "story".
Was it in reality, or thus Catherine II on his "unsightly" background created his own positive image, now it is not possible to find out.
Rumors of death spawned a considerable number of impostors, calling themselves "surviving king." Such phenomena happened before, it is worth remembering at least numerous lhadmitriev. But by the number of people who gave themselves to the emperor, Peter Fedorovich has no competitors. At least 40 persons turned out to be "lzhetters III", among which Emelyan Pugachev and Stepan Small.
Memory
- 1934 - Feature film "Slutty Empress" (in the role of Peter III - Sam Jaffe)
- 1963 - Art Film "Katerina from Russia" (as Peter III - Raul Gracili)
- 1987 - The book "Legend of Russian Prince" - Sochnikov A. S.
- 1991 - Figure Film "Vivat, Marthemaryna!" (In the role of Peter III - Mikhail Efremov)
- 1991 - the book "Temptation by Miracle. "Russian Prince" and impostors "- Sochnikov A. S.
- 2007 - Book "Ekaterina II and Peter III: The history of the tragic conflict" - Ivanov O. A.
- 2012 - the book "Heirs of Giant" - Eliseeva O.I.
- 2014 - the series "Catherine" (as Peter III - Alexander Yatsenko)
- 2014 - Monument to Peter III in the German city of Kiel (Sculptor Alexander Taratynov)
- 2015- series "Great" (in the role of Peter III - Pavel Derevyanko)
- 2018 - TV series "Bloody Baryn" (in the role of Peter III - Evgeny Kulakov)