Paul I of Russia

Paul I of Russia (1754-1801), Emperor of Russia (1796-1801). Paul was born in St Petersburg, the son of Catherine II (The Great) and Peter III. The bad relations between Peter III and his wife gave rise to doubts about Paul’s legitimacy. He was raised by his grandmother, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, and although a small army and a court was provided for him by Catherine, the isolated Paul grew up extremely hostile towards her, not least because of her role in the murder of Peter III in 1762. Paul was married twice; first to Natalia Alexeevna of Hessen-Darmstadt, who died shortly after their marriage in 1773, and then in 1776 to Princess Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg (Maria Feodorovna), a union that produced ten children.

Paul became emperor on the death of Catherine in 1796. Although his reign was marked by a capricious and reactionary character, he did introduce some progressive changes. Political prisoners, including Polish nationalists such as Thaddeus Kosciusko, were freed, conscription abolished, and the obligatory work owed by serfs to their owners ended. In April 1797 he issued a decree on the law of succession that reverted to male heredity (abandoned by Peter I) and forbade women to ascend the throne. He also strengthened autocratic rule, re-centralized administration, brought divisive and harsh changes to the military, and restricted the powers of the nobility. His inconsistent foreign policy saw him abandon a policy of peace, go to war with Napoleon’s France as part of the Second Coalition in 1798, and then, in 1800, ally with Napoleon against Britain (see Napoleonic Wars).

His unpopularity among the court nobility led to a conspiracy against him that culminated in his murder on March 23, 1801. His son and successor, Alexander I, is believed to have given the plot his support on condition that his father’s life was spared.