For almost 400 years of the existence of this title, it was worn by completely different people - from adventurers and liberals to tyrants and conservatives.

Rurikovichi

Over the years, Russia (from Rurik to Putin) has changed many times political system. At first, the rulers had a princely title. When, after a period of political fragmentation, a new Russian state was formed around Moscow, the owners of the Kremlin thought about accepting the royal title.

This was done under Ivan the Terrible (1547-1584). This one decided to marry the kingdom. And this decision was not accidental. So the Moscow monarch emphasized that he was the successor. It was they who bestowed Orthodoxy on Russia. In the 16th century, Byzantium no longer existed (it fell under the onslaught of the Ottomans), so Ivan the Terrible rightly believed that his act would have serious symbolic significance.

Such historical figures as had a great influence on the development of the whole country. In addition to the fact that Ivan the Terrible changed his title, he also captured the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates, starting Russian expansion to the East.

Ivan's son Fedor (1584-1598) was distinguished by his weak character and health. Nevertheless, under him the state continued to develop. The patriarchate was established. Rulers have always paid much attention to the issue of succession to the throne. This time he stood up especially sharply. Fedor had no children. When he died, the Rurik dynasty on the Moscow throne came to an end.

Time of Troubles

After Fyodor's death, Boris Godunov (1598-1605), his brother-in-law, came to power. He did not belong to the royal family, and many considered him a usurper. Under him, due to natural disasters, a colossal famine began. The tsars and presidents of Russia have always tried to keep calm in the provinces. Due to the tense situation, Godunov failed to do this. Several peasant uprisings took place in the country.

In addition, the adventurer Grishka Otrepiev called himself one of the sons of Ivan the Terrible and began a military campaign against Moscow. He really managed to capture the capital and become king. Boris Godunov did not live up to this moment - he died from health complications. His son Fyodor II was captured by the associates of False Dmitry and killed.

The impostor ruled for only a year, after which he was overthrown during the Moscow uprising, inspired by disgruntled Russian boyars who did not like that False Dmitry surrounded himself with Catholic Poles. decided to transfer the crown to Vasily Shuisky (1606-1610). During the Time of Troubles, the rulers of Russia often changed.

The princes, tsars and presidents of Russia had to carefully guard their power. Shuisky did not hold her back and was overthrown by the Polish interventionists.

First Romanovs

When in 1613 Moscow was liberated from foreign invaders, the question arose of who should be made sovereign. This text presents all the tsars of Russia in order (with portraits). Now it's time to tell about the ascension to the throne of the Romanov dynasty.

The first sovereign of this kind - Michael (1613-1645) - was just a young man when he was put to rule a vast country. His main goal was the struggle with Poland for the lands occupied by it during the Time of Troubles.

These were the biographies of the rulers and the dates of the reign until the middle of the 17th century. After Michael, his son Alexei (1645-1676) ruled. He annexed left-bank Ukraine and Kyiv to Russia. So, after several centuries of fragmentation and Lithuanian rule, the fraternal peoples finally began to live in one country.

Alexei had many sons. The eldest of them, Fedor III (1676-1682), died at a young age. After him came the simultaneous reign of two children - Ivan and Peter.

Peter the Great

Ivan Alekseevich was unable to govern the country. Therefore, in 1689, the sole reign of Peter the Great began. He completely rebuilt the country in a European manner. Russia - from Rurik to Putin (let's look at all the rulers in chronological order) - knows few examples of an era so full of changes.

Appeared new army and fleet. To do this, Peter started a war against Sweden. 21 years lasted North War. During it, the Swedish army was defeated, and the kingdom agreed to cede its southern Baltic lands. In this region, in 1703, St. Petersburg was founded - the new capital of Russia. Peter's success made him think about changing his title. In 1721 he became emperor. However, this change did not abolish the royal title - in everyday speech, monarchs continued to be called kings.

The era of palace coups

Peter's death was followed by a long period of unstable power. The monarchs succeeded each other with enviable regularity, which was facilitated. As a rule, the guards or certain courtiers were at the head of these changes. During this era, Catherine I (1725-1727), Peter II (1727-1730), Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740), Ivan VI (1740-1741), Elizabeth Petrovna (1741-1761) and Peter III (1761-1762) ruled ).

The last of them was of German origin. Under the predecessor of Peter III, Elizabeth, Russia waged a victorious war against Prussia. The new monarch renounced all conquests, returned Berlin to the king and concluded a peace treaty. With this act, he signed his own death warrant. The guards organized another palace coup, after which Peter's wife Catherine II was on the throne.

Catherine II and Paul I

Catherine II (1762-1796) had a deep state mind. On the throne, she began to pursue a policy of enlightened absolutism. The Empress organized the work of the famous statutory commission, the purpose of which was to prepare a comprehensive project of reforms in Russia. She also wrote the Order. This document contained many considerations about the transformations needed for the country. The reforms were curtailed when a peasant uprising led by Pugachev broke out in the Volga region in the 1770s.

All the tsars and presidents of Russia (in chronological order, we listed all the royal persons) took care that the country looked worthy on the foreign arena. She was no exception. She led several successful military campaigns against Turkey. As a result, Crimea and other important Black Sea regions were annexed to Russia. At the end of Catherine's reign, three partitions of Poland took place. So the Russian Empire received important acquisitions in the west.

After the death of the great empress, her son Paul I (1796-1801) came to power. This quarrelsome man was not liked by many in the St. Petersburg elite.

First half of the 19th century

In 1801 there was another and the last palace coup. A group of conspirators dealt with Pavel. His son Alexander I (1801-1825) was on the throne. His reign fell on the Patriotic War and the invasion of Napoleon. The rulers of the Russian state have not faced such a serious enemy intervention for two centuries. Despite the capture of Moscow, Bonaparte was defeated. Alexander became the most popular and famous monarch of the Old World. He was also called "the liberator of Europe".

Inside his country, Alexander in his youth tried to implement liberal reforms. Historical figures often change their policies as they age. So Alexander soon abandoned his ideas. He died in Taganrog in 1825 under mysterious circumstances.

At the beginning of the reign of his brother Nicholas I (1825-1855) there was an uprising of the Decembrists. Because of this, conservative orders triumphed in the country for thirty years.

Second half of the 19th century

Here are all the tsars of Russia in order, with portraits. Further, we will talk about the main reformer of the national statehood - Alexander II (1855-1881). He became the initiator of the manifesto on the liberation of the peasants. The destruction of serfdom made it possible to develop Russian market and capitalism. The country began to grow economically. The reforms also affected the judiciary, local self-government, administrative and conscription systems. The monarch tried to raise the country to its feet and learn the lessons that the lost one started under Nicholas I taught him.

But Alexander's reforms were not enough for the radicals. Terrorists attempted several times on his life. In 1881 they were successful. Alexander II died from a bomb explosion. The news came as a shock to the whole world.

Because of what happened, the son of the deceased monarch, Alexander III (1881-1894), forever became a tough reactionary and conservative. But he is best known as a peacemaker. During his reign, Russia did not conduct a single war.

The last king

Alexander III died in 1894. Power passed into the hands of Nicholas II (1894-1917) - his son and the last Russian monarch. By that time, the old world order with the absolute power of kings and kings had already outlived itself. Russia - from Rurik to Putin - knew a lot of upheavals, but it was under Nicholas that there were more than ever many of them.

In 1904-1905. the country experienced a humiliating war with Japan. It was followed by the first revolution. Although the unrest was suppressed, the king had to make concessions to public opinion. He agreed to establish a constitutional monarchy and a parliament.

The tsars and presidents of Russia at all times faced a certain opposition within the state. Now people could elect deputies who expressed these sentiments.

In 1914 the First World War. No one then suspected that it would end with the fall of several empires at once, including the Russian one. In 1917 broke out February Revolution, and the last king had to abdicate. Nicholas II, together with his family, was shot by the Bolsheviks in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg.

On December 4, 1586, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, was sentenced to death for her part in the conspiracy. Russian monarchs were also killed, only the domestic "anointed of God" died, as a rule, not under the guillotine, but became victims of popular anger or palace intrigues.

The reign of Fyodor Godunov lasted only 7 weeks

On April 24, 1605, the very next day after the death of Tsar Boris Godunov, Moscow proclaimed his 16-year-old son Fyodor, a talented and educated young man who was comprehensively prepared for the throne, to reign. But that time was troubled - False Dmitry I was moving to Moscow, who weaved intrigues in order to seize the throne and was able to lure Prince Mstislavsky and many of those who had recently supported the Godunovs to his side. The ambassadors who arrived in Moscow, on behalf of the impostor at Execution Ground, read a message in which False Dmitry I called the Godunovs usurpers, himself - Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich, who allegedly managed to escape, promised all sorts of favors and benefits and urged to swear allegiance to himself. Popular unrest began, the crowd shouting "Down with the Godunovs!" rushed to the Kremlin.

With the connivance of the government of the boyars, Fyodor Godunov, his mother and sister Xenia were placed in custody, and False Dmitry I ascended the Russian throne. On June 20, 1605, Fyodor II Borisovich Godunov and his mother were strangled. That was the order of the new king. The people were told that they themselves had taken the poison.

The first Russian impostor tsar was killed at his own wedding

False Dmitry I is considered by historians to be an adventurer who pretended to be Tsarevich Dmitry, the surviving son of the Tsar. He became the first impostor who managed to take the Russian throne. False Dmitry did not stop at anything in his desire to become king: he gave out promises to the people and even staged his “confession” by Maria Naga, the mother of Tsarevich Dmitry.

But very little time had passed during the reign of False Dmitry I, and the Moscow boyars were very surprised that the Russian tsar did not observe Russian rituals and customs, but imitated the Polish monarch: he renamed the boyar duma the Senate, made a number of changes to the palace ceremonial and devastated the treasury with entertainment, expenses for maintenance of the Polish guards and for presents for the Polish king.

In Moscow, a dual situation developed - on the one hand, the tsar was loved, and on the other hand, they were very dissatisfied with him. At the head of the dissatisfied were Vasily Golitsyn, Vasily Shuisky, Mikhail Tatishchev, Prince Kurakin, as well as the Kolomna and Kazan metropolitans. The archers and the murderer of Tsar Fyodor Godunov Sherefedinov were supposed to kill the tsar. But the assassination attempt, planned for January 8, 1606, failed, and the crowd torn to pieces by the crowd.

A more favorable situation for the assassination attempt developed in the spring, when False Dmitry I announced his wedding to the Polish Marina Mnishek. On May 8, 1606, the wedding took place, and Mnishek was crowned queen. The festivities dragged on for several days, and the Poles (about 2 thousand people) who arrived at the wedding, in a drunken stupor, robbed passers-by, broke into the houses of Muscovites, and raped women. False Dmitry I retired for the duration of the wedding. This is what the conspirators took advantage of.

On May 14, 1606, Vasily Shuisky and his associates decided to act. The Kremlin changed security, opened prisons and issued weapons to everyone. On May 17, 1606, an armed crowd entered Red Square. False Dmitry tried to escape by flight and jumped out of the window of the chambers directly onto the pavement, where he was seized by archers and hacked to death. The body was dragged to Red Square, its clothes were torn off, a pipe was stuck in the impostor tsar's mouth, and a mask was put on his chest. Muscovites sneered at the body for 2 days, after which they buried it behind the Serpukhov Gates in the old cemetery. But this was not the end of the matter. There were rumors that "miracles work" over the grave. They dug up the body, burned it, mixed the ashes with gunpowder and fired it from a cannon towards Poland.

Ivan VI Antonovich - the emperor who did not see his subjects

Ivan VI Antonovich is the son of Anna Leopoldovna, niece of the childless Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna and Duke Anton Ulrich of Brunswick, great-grandson of Ivan V. He was proclaimed emperor in 1740 at the age of two months, and Duke of Courland E.I. Biron was declared regent. But a year later - on December 6, 1741 - a coup d'état took place, and the daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth Petrovna, ascended the Russian throne.

At first, Elizabeth thought to send the "Brunswick family" abroad, but was afraid that they might be dangerous. The deposed emperor with his mother and father were transported to Dinamunde, a suburb of Riga, and then north to Kholmogory. The boy lived in the same house with his parents, but in complete isolation from them, behind a blank wall under the supervision of Major Miller. In 1756 he was transferred "alone" to the Shlisselburg Fortress, where he was called a "famous prisoner" and kept in complete isolation from people. He couldn't even see the guards. The situation of the prisoner did not improve either under Peter III or under Catherine II.

During the time of imprisonment, several attempts were made to free the deposed emperor, the last of which turned out to be his death. On July 16, 1764, officer V.Ya. Mirovich, who was on guard in the Shlisselburg fortress, was able to win over part of the garrison to his side. He called for the release of Ivan and the overthrow of Catherine II. But when the rebels tried to free the prisoner Ivan VI, they stabbed two watchmen who were with him without a break. It is believed that Ivan Antonovich was buried in the Shlisselburg Fortress, but in fact he became the only Russian emperor whose burial place is not exactly known.

Peter III - emperor, deposed by his wife

Peter III Fedorovich - German Prince Karl Peter Ulrich, son of Anna Petrovna and Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, grandson of Peter I - ascended the Russian throne in 1761. He was not crowned, he ruled for only 187 days, but he managed to make peace with Prussia, thus crossing out the results of the victories of Russian troops in the Seven Years' War.

Peter's erratic actions in the domestic political arena deprived him of the support of Russian society, and many perceived his policy as a betrayal of national Russian interests. As a result, on June 28, 1762, a coup took place, and Catherine II was proclaimed empress. Peter III was sent to Ropsha (30 miles from St. Petersburg), where the deposed emperor died under unclear circumstances.

According to the official version, Peter III died either from a stroke or from hemorrhoids. But there is another version - Peter III was killed by the guards in the ensuing fight, and 2 days before the officially announced death. Initially, the body of Peter III was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and in 1796 Paul I ordered the body to be transferred to the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Paul I was strangled with a scarf

Many historians attribute the death of Paul I to the fact that he dared to encroach on the world hegemony of Great Britain. On the night of March 11, 1801, conspirators broke into the imperial chambers and demanded the abdication of Paul I from the throne.

The emperor tried to object, and, they say, even hit someone, in response, one of the rebels began to choke him with a scarf, and the other struck the emperor in the temple with a massive snuffbox. The people were told that Paul I had suffered an apoplexy. Tsarevich Alexander, who became Emperor Alexander I in one night, did not dare to touch the killers of his father, and Russian policy returned to the pro-English channel.

On the same days in Paris, a bomb was thrown into Bonaparte's cortege. Napoleon was not injured, and commented on the incident as follows: "They missed me in Paris, but hit in St. Petersburg."

An interesting coincidence 212 years later, on the same day that the murder of the Russian autocrat happened, the disgraced oligarch Boris Berezovsky passed away.

Alexander II - the emperor, on whom 8 attempts were made

Emperor Alexander II, the eldest son of the imperial couple Nicholas I and Alexandra Feodorovna, remained in the history of Russia as a reformer and liberator. Several assassination attempts were made on Alexander II. In 1867, in Paris, the Polish emigrant Berezovsky tried to kill him, in 1879 in St. Petersburg - a certain Solovyov. But these attempts were unsuccessful, and in August 1879 the executive committee of the "Narodnaya Volya" decided to kill the emperor. After that there were 2 more unsuccessful assassination attempts: in November 1879 an attempt was made to blow up the imperial train, and in February 1880 an explosion thundered in the Winter Palace. To combat the revolutionary movement and protect state order, they even created the Supreme Administrative Commission, but this could not prevent the violent death of the emperor.

On March 13, 1881, when the tsar was driving along the embankment of the Catherine Canal in St. Petersburg, Nikolai Rysakov threw a bomb right under the carriage in which the tsar was traveling. Several people died from a terrible explosion, but the emperor remained unharmed. Alexander II got out of the wrecked carriage, went up to the wounded, to the detainee, and began to inspect the site of the explosion. But at that moment, the Narodnaya Volya terrorist Ignatius Grinevitsky threw a bomb right at the feet of the emperor, mortally wounding him.

The explosion tore the emperor's stomach, tore off his legs and disfigured his face. Even in his mind, Alexander was able to whisper: "To the palace, I want to die there." He was carried into the Winter Palace and put to bed already unconscious. On the site where Alexander II was killed, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was built with donations from the people.

The last Russian emperor was shot in the basement

Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov, Nicholas II, - the last Russian emperor ascended the throne in 1894 after the death of his father, Emperor Alexander III. On March 15, 1917, at the insistence of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, the Russian emperor signed the abdication of the throne both for himself and for his son Alexei and was placed under arrest with his family in the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoye Selo.

The Bolsheviks wanted to hold an open trial of the ex-emperor (Lenin was an adherent of this idea), and Trotsky was to act as the main accuser of Nicholas II. But information appeared that a "White Guard conspiracy" was organized to kidnap the tsar, and on April 6, 1918 royal family was transported to Yekaterinburg and placed in the Ipatiev house.

On the night of July 16-17, 1918, Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, their five children and close associates were shot in the basement.

To somehow dispel the gloomy mood, we offer you to get acquainted with the killer "hello" from the Victorian era from the artist.

Peter I Alekseevich 1672 - 1725

Peter I was born on 05/30/1672 in Moscow, died on 01/28/1725 in St. Petersburg, Russian tsar from 1682, emperor from 1721. The son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from his second wife, Natalia Naryshkina. He ascended the throne for nine years, together with his elder brother, Tsar John V, under the regency of his older sister Princess Sophia Alekseevna. In 1689, the mother married Peter I to Evdokia Lopukhina. In 1690 a son, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, was born, but family life did not work out. In 1712, the tsar announced his divorce and married Catherine (Marta Skavronskaya), who from 1703 was his actual wife. In this marriage, 8 children were born, but except for Anna and Elizabeth, they all died in infancy. In 1694, the mother of Peter I died, and two years later, in 1696, his elder brother, Tsar John V, also died. Peter I became the sovereign sovereign. In 1712, the new capital of Russia was St. Petersburg, founded by Peter I, where part of the population of Moscow was transferred.

Catherine I Alekseevna 1684 - 1727

Catherine I Alekseevna was born on 04/05/1684 in the Baltic States, died on 05/06/1727 in St. Petersburg, the Russian Empress in 1725-1727. The daughter of the Lithuanian peasant Samuil Skavronsky, who moved from Lithuania to Livonia. Before the adoption of Orthodoxy - Marta Skavronskaya. In the autumn of 1703, she became the actual wife of Peter I. The church marriage was formalized on February 19, 1712. Following the decree on succession to the throne, not without the participation of A.D. Menshikov, she bequeathed the throne to the grandson of Peter I - 12-year-old Peter II. She died May 6, 1727. She was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Peter II Alekseevich 1715 - 1730

Peter II Alekseevich was born on 10/12/1715 in St. Petersburg, died on 01/18/1730 in Moscow, the Russian emperor (1727-1730) from the Romanov dynasty. The son of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich and Princess Charlotte Christina Sophia of Wolfenbüttel, the grandson of Peter I. Elevated to the throne through the efforts of A.D. Menshikov after the death of Catherine I, Peter II was not interested in anything but hunting and pleasure. At the beginning of the reign of Peter II, power was actually in the hands of A. Menshikov, who dreamed of intermarrying with the royal dynasty by marrying Peter II to his daughter. Despite the engagement of Menshikov's daughter Maria to Peter II in May 1727, Menshikov's dismissal and disgrace followed in September. Peter II was under the influence of the Dolgoruky family, I. Dolgoruky became his favorite, and Princess E. Dolgorukaya became his bride. The real power was in the hands of A. Osterman. Peter II fell ill with smallpox and died on the eve of the wedding. With his death, the Romanov family was interrupted in the male line. He was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Anna Ioannovna 1693 - 1740

Anna Ioannovna was born on 01/28/1693 in Moscow, died on 10/17/1740 in St. Petersburg, the Russian Empress in 1730-1740. Daughter of Tsar Ivan V Alekseevich and P. Saltykova, niece of Peter I. In 1710 she was married to the Duke of Courland Friedrich-Welgem, soon became a widow, lived in Mitau. After the death of Emperor Peter II (he did not leave a will), the Supreme Privy Council at a meeting in the Lefortovo Palace on 01/19/1730 decided to invite Anna Ioannovna to the throne. In 1731, Anna Ioannovna issued a Manifesto on the nationwide oath to the heir. 01/08/1732 Anna Ioannovna, together with the court and the highest state. Institutions moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Power during the reign of Anna Ioannovna was in the hands of E. Biron, a native of Courland, and his proteges.

Ivan VI Antonovich 1740 - 1764

John Antonovich was born on 08/12/1740, killed on 07/07/1764, Russian emperor from 10/17/1740 to 11/25/1741. Son of Anna Leopoldovna and Prince Anton Ulrich of Braunschwetz- Brevern-Luneburg, great-grandson of Tsar Ivan V, great-nephew of Empress Anna Ioannovna. November 25 as a result palace coup the daughter of Peter I, Elizaveta Petrovna, came to power. In 1744, Ivan Antonovich was exiled to Kholmogory. In 1756 he was transferred to the Shlisselburg fortress. On July 5, 1764, Lieutenant V. Mirovich tried to free Ivan Antonovich from the fortress, but failed. The guards killed the prisoner.

Elizaveta Petrovna 1709 - 1762

Elizaveta Petrovna was born on 12/18/1709 in the village of Kolomenskoye, near Moscow, died on 12/25/1761 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empress in 1741-1761, daughter of Peter I and Catherine I. which representatives of the Brunswick dynasty (Prince Anton Ulrich, Anna Leopoldovna and John Antonovich), as well as many representatives of the "German Party" (A. Osterman, B. Minich, and others) were arrested. One of the first acts of the new government was to invite Elizaveta Petrovna's nephew Karl Ulrich from Holstein and declare him heir to the throne (future Emperor Peter III). In fact, the leader domestic policy under Elizabeth Petrovna, Count P. Shuvalov became.

Peter III Fedorovich 1728 - 1762

Peter III was born on 02/10/1728 in Kiel, killed on 07/07/1762 in Ropsha near St. Petersburg, Russian emperor from 1761 to 1762. Grandson of Peter I, son of the Duke of Holstein-Gottop Karl Friedrich and Tsesarevna Anna Petrovna. In 1745 he married Princess Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbskaya (future Empress Catherine II). Having ascended the throne on December 25, 1761, he immediately stopped hostilities against Prussia in the Seven Years' War, ceded all the conquests to his admirer Frederick II. The anti-national foreign policy of Peter III, the disregard for Russian rituals and customs, the introduction of the Prussian order in the army caused opposition in the guard, which was headed by Catherine II. During the palace coup, Peter III was arrested and then killed.

Catherine II Alekseevna 1729 - 1796

Catherine II Alekseevna was born on 04/21/1729 in Stettin, died on 11/06/1796 in Tsarskoye Selo (now the city of Pushkin), Russian Empress 1762-1796. She came from a small North German princely family. Born Sophia Augusta Frederick of Anhalt-Zerbst. Received home education. In 1744, she was summoned to Russia with her mother by Empress Elizaveta Pertovna, baptized according to Orthodox custom under the name of Catherine and named the bride of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich (future Emperor Peter III), whom she married in 1745. In 1754 Catherine II gave birth to a son, the future Emperor Paul I After the accession of Peter III, who was increasingly hostile to her, her position became precarious. Relying on the guards regiments (G. and A. Orlovs and others), 06/28/1762 Catherine II made a bloodless coup and became an autocratic empress. The time of Catherine II is the dawn of favoritism, characteristic of European life in the second half of the 18th century. Having parted with G. Orlov in the early 1770s, in subsequent years the empress changed a number of favorites. To participate in the decision political issues they were generally not allowed. Only two of her famous favorites - G. Potemkin and P. Zavodovsky - became major statesmen.

Pavel I Petrovich 1754 - 1801

Pavel I was born on September 20, 1754 in St. Petersburg, killed on March 12, 1801 in the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg, Russian Emperor 1796-1801, son of Peter III and Catherine II. He was brought up at the court of his grandmother Elizabeth Petrovna, who intended to make him the heir to the throne instead of Peter III. The main educator of Paul I was N. Panin. Since 1773, Paul I was married to Princess Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt, after her death in 1776 - Princess Sophia Dorothea of ​​Württemberg (Maria Feodorovna in Orthodoxy). He had sons: Alexander (future Emperor Alexander I, 1777), Constantine (1779), Nicholas (future Emperor Nicholas I, 1796), Mikhail (1798), as well as six daughters. Among the guards officers, a conspiracy matured, about which the heir to the throne, Alexander Pavlovich, was aware. On the night of March 11-12, 1801, the conspirators (Count P. Palen, P. Zubov and others) entered the Mikhailovsky Castle and killed Paul I. Alexander I came to the throne, in the very first weeks of his reign, returning many exiled by his father and destroyed many of his innovations.

Alexander I Pavlovich 1777 - 1825

Alexander I was born on 12/12/1777 in St. Petersburg, died on 11/19/1825 in Taganrog, the Russian emperor 1801-1825, the eldest son of Paul I. By the will of his grandmother Catherine II, he was educated in the spirit of the enlighteners of the 18th century. His mentor was Colonel Frederic de La Harpe, a republican by conviction, a future figure in the Swiss revolution. In 1793, Alexander I married the daughter of the Margrave of Baden, Louise Maria Augusta, who took the name of Elizaveta Alekseevna. Alexander I succeeded to the throne after the assassination of his father in 1801, undertook broadly conceived reforms. The main executor of the social transformations of Alexander I became in 1808-1812. his secretary of state M. Speransky, who reorganized the ministries, created the state. Council and carried out financial reform. In foreign policy Alexander I participated in two coalitions against Napoleonic France (with Prussia in 1804-05, with Austria in 1806-07). Having been defeated at Austerlitz in 1805 and Friedland in 1807, he concluded the Peace of Tilsit in 1807 and an alliance with Napoleon. In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia, but was defeated in the course of patriotic war 1812. Alexander I at the head of the Russian troops, together with the allies, entered Paris in the spring of 1814. He was one of the leaders of the Congress of Vienna in 1814-1815. According to official data, Alexander I died in Taganrog.

Nicholas I Pavlovich 1796 - 1855

Nicholas I was born on 06/25/1796 in Tsarskoe Selo, now the city of Pushkin, died on 02/18/1855 in St. Petersburg, the Russian emperor (1825-1855). The third son of Paul I. From birth recorded in military service, Nicholas I was brought up by Count M. Lamsdorf. In 1814 he traveled abroad for the first time under the Russian army under the command of his elder brother Alexander I. In 1816 he made a three-month journey through European Russia, and from October 1816 to May 1817 he traveled and lived in England. In 1817 he married eldest daughter Prussian King Frederick William II Princess Charlotte Frederick Louise, who took the name of Alexandra Feodorovna. Under Nicholas I, the monetary reform of the Minister of Finance E. Kankrin was successfully carried out, streamlining monetary circulation and protecting the backward Russian industry from competition.

Alexander II Nikolaevich 1818 - 1881

Alexander II was born on 04/17/1818 in Moscow, killed on 03/01/1881 in St. Petersburg, Russian emperor 1855-1881, son of Nicholas I. His tutors were General Merder, Kavelin, as well as the poet V. Zhukovsky, who instilled in Alexander II liberal views and romantic attitude to life. 1837 Alexander II made a long trip around Russia, then in 1838 - around the countries Western Europe. In 1841 he married the princess of Hesse-Darmstadt, who took the name of Maria Alexandrovna. One of the first acts of Alexander II was the pardon of the exiled Decembrists. 02/19/1861. Alexander II issued a manifesto on the liberation of the peasants from serfdom. Under Alexander II, the annexation of the Caucasus to Russia was completed and its influence in the east expanded. The structure of Russia included Turkestan, the Amur region, the Ussuri Territory, the Kuril islands in exchange for the southern part of Sakhalin. He sold Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the Americans in 1867. In 1880, after the death of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the Tsar entered into a morganatic marriage with Princess Ekaterina Dolgoruky. A number of attempts were made on the life of Alexander II, he was killed by a bomb thrown by the People's Will I. Grinevitsky.

Alexander III Alexandrovich 1845 - 1894

Alexander III was born on 02/26/1845 in Tsarskoye Selo, died on 10/20/1894 in the Crimea, Russian Emperor 1881-1894, son of Alexander II. The mentor of Alexander III, who had a strong influence on his worldview, was K. Pobedonostsev. After the death of his elder brother Nicholas in 1865, Alexander III became heir to the throne. In 1866, he married the bride of his deceased brother, the daughter of the Danish king Christian IX, Princess Sophia Frederica Dagmar, who took the name of Maria Feodorovna. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-78. was the commander of the Separate Ruschuk Detachment in Bulgaria. He created the Volunteer Fleet of Russia since 1878, which became the core of the country's merchant fleet and the reserve of the navy. Having ascended the throne after the assassination of Alexander II on March 1, 1881, he canceled the draft constitutional reform signed by his father immediately before his death. Alexander III died in Livadia in the Crimea.

Nicholas II Alexandrovich 1868 - 1918

Nicholas II (Romanov Nikolai Aleksandrovich) was born on May 19, 1868 in Tsarskoye Selo, shot on July 17, 1918 in Yekaterinburg, the last Russian emperor 1894-1917, the son of Alexander III and the Danish princess Dagmara (Maria Feodorovna). From February 14, 1894, he was married to Alexandra Feodorovna (nee Alice, Princess of Hesse and the Rhine). Daughters Olga, Tatyana, Maria, Anastasia, son Alexei. He ascended the throne on October 21, 1894 after the death of his father. On February 27, 1917, Nicholas II, under pressure from the highest military command, renounced the throne. On 03/08/1917 he was "imprisoned". After the Bolsheviks came to power, the regime of his maintenance was sharply strengthened, and in April 1918 the royal family was transferred to Yekaterinburg, where they were placed in the house of mining engineer N. Ipatiev. On the eve of the fall Soviet power in the Urals, in Moscow, it was decided to execute Nicholas II and his relatives. The murder was entrusted to Yurovsky and his deputy Nikulin. The royal family and all close associates and servants were killed on the night of 16 July 17, 1918, the execution took place in a small room on the ground floor, where the victims were brought under the pretext of evacuation. According to the official version, the decision to kill the royal family was made by the Ural Council, which feared the approach of Czechoslovak troops. However, in last years it became known that Nicholas II, his wife and children were killed on the direct orders of V. Lenin and Y. Sverdlov. After the remains of the royal family were discovered and, by decision of the Russian government, on July 17, 1998, they were buried in the tomb Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Russian Orthodox Church abroad canonized Nicholas II as a saint.