Anna Leopoldovna (at the birth of Elizabeth Katarina Khristina) (born December 7 (18), 1718 - death March 8 (19), 1746) Grand Duchess, ruler of the Russian Empire with her young son, Emperor John VI in 1740-1741. Daughter of Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Karl Leopold and Princess Catherine Ioannovna, daughter of Tsar John V and niece of Emperor Peter I. From 1722 she lived in Russia. According to the testimony of contemporaries, she was distinguished by laziness, carelessness, and gullibility. She was removed from power by Elizaveta Petrovna.
early years
Young Elizabeth did not live long with her father. For the rude, oppressive disposition of the duke, Ekaterina Ioannovna was forced to leave her husband and return to Russia with her daughter in 1722. She lived with her grandmother, Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna (1664-1723).
Then, until 1730, she was brought up at the court of Empress Anna Ioannovna, who sought to leave the Russian throne for the descendants of her father, Tsar John V, and to prevent the descendants of Emperor Peter 1 from coming to power.
1731 - after accession to the Russian throne, Empress Anna Ioannovna, being childless, brought her 13-year-old niece closer to her court and surrounded her with a staff of servants and mentors.
1733 - Elizabeth converted to Orthodoxy with the name Anna in honor of the Empress. Her fiancé, Prince Anton-Ulrich of Braunschweig-Bevern-Luneburg, nephew of the Austrian emperor Charles VI, was present during the ceremony.
1739 - The wedding of Princess Anne with Prince Anton-Ulrich was magnificently celebrated.
Promotional video:
1740, August - she gave birth to a son named at baptism by John (in honor of her great-grandfather), the heir to the throne, who became emperor after the death of Anna Ioannovna in October, and already in November, after the deposition of the regent Biron, she declared herself ruler under the infant emperor John VI.
1740, October 17 - Anna Ioannovna died.
Anna Ioanovna and Anna Leopoldovna for a walk.
Regency. Power struggle
According to the will of the Empress Anna Ioannovna, the 2-month-old son of Anna Leopoldovna, Ivan VI, ascended the throne after her death; before his majority, Duke Ernst Biron became regent. On October 23, at St. Isaac's Cathedral, a ceremony was held to swear allegiance to the new emperor, and in fact to the regent Biron. General dissatisfaction with Biron caused a movement against him among the guards, which, with the consent of Anna Leopoldovna, began to be headed by Field Marshal Christopher Minich.
On the night of November 20 (9), 1740, accompanied by a small detachment of soldiers, he arrested Biron. In the afternoon, a manifesto was announced on the resignation of Biron from the regency and on the appointment of Ivan Antonovich as the ruler of Russia, Anna Leopoldovna, with the title of Grand Duchess and Imperial Highness, until the age of majority. The former regent was exiled to the city of Pelym, Tobolsk province (now Sverdlovsk region)
Board of Anna Leopoldovna
Prince Anton-Ulrich was elevated to the rank of Russian generalissimo. Anna Leopoldovna did not show interest in state affairs, real power was concentrated in the hands of members of the Cabinet of Ministers (B. K. Minikh, A. I. Osterman, M. G. Golovkin, etc.) And Anna spent time playing cards and court entertainment.
1) Empress Anna Ioannovna; 2) Empress Elizaveta Petrovna.
Foreign and domestic policy
In the short time of Anna Leopoldovna's reign, a political amnesty was held for persons who suffered during the "Bironovschina", the intensity of the work of the Secret Investigative Affairs Office decreased. By her decree of 1740, Anna allowed her subjects to file complaints about the work of the colleges and the Senate, which were considered by a special commission. From January 1741, all government agencies were required to submit to the Senate information on their expenditures for the preparation of new states. 1741, March - a commission was created to consider state revenues.
During the reign of Anna Leopoldovna, there was a break with Sweden, the articles of the Belgrade Peace of 1739 were confirmed. The Porta began to recognize the Russian sovereigns as emperors. Anna lived in the palace of Peter I in the Summer Garden, and in the next house she settled her favorite Moritz Linar.
During the reign of Anna Leopoldovna, the position of the Russian Church improved. She financed monasteries, made rich contributions and donations. The "foreigners" sentenced to death were granted forgiveness on condition that they were baptized.
Ruler Anna Leopoldovna and Duke Anton-Ulrich of Braunschweig.
Coup d'état
The foreign origin of many members of the government, the inability to govern, the difficult relationship between Anna Leopoldovna and her husband, and a very frank display of affection for the Saxon envoy Linar caused public discontent. Lacking social support within the state and fearing the guards, the ruler strengthened police supervision and tried to retain power by persecuting the opposition. The response to this was the growing discontent of the nobles and clergy.
With the participation of the French envoy to Russia, the Marquis Jacques-Jochim de la Chetardie and the Swedish envoy Erik Matthias Nolken, Cesarean Elizabeth Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great, and her supporters in the person of Mikhail Vorontsov, Alexei Razumovsky, Peter and Alexander Shuvalov, Johann-Herman Lesstor …
Another reason for the uprising of the conspirators, according to historians, is Anna Leopoldovna's decision to declare herself the Russian empress.
On the night of November 25, Elizabeth Petrovna, accompanied by a detachment of guards, arrested the ruler, her husband, the young emperor and his sister Catherine, who was born on July 26, 1741. Tsarevna Elizabeth personally entered Anna Leopoldovna's chambers and woke her up. The ruler did not resist the coup, but only asked not to do evil to her children and her beloved maid of honor and friend Juliana Mengden. Elizabeth promised to fulfill her request.
Anna Leopoldovna with her son John VI.
Link
After the coup on November 25, Empress Elizabeth initially intended to send Anna Leopoldovna together with her family abroad, by the manifesto of 1841 the Braunschweig family was sent to Riga. However, later Elizaveta Petrovna changed her mind. Upon arrival in Riga, Prince Anton-Ulrich with his wife and children were kept under arrest. 1742, December - transported to the Daugavgriva fortress (Latvia). 1744, January - sent to the city of Ranenburg.
1744, July - Baron Nikolai Korf arrived in Ranenburg with the order of Elizabeth Petrovna to send the family of the former ruler, first to Arkhangelsk, and then to Solovki. The infant John Antonovich was taken away from his parents and imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress in St. Petersburg, where he was later killed on July 5, 1764 while trying to free him. The former ruler and her family could not get to Solovki because of the ice, and they remained in the city of Kholmogory in the Arkhangelsk province in the former bishop's house. In exile, Anna Leopoldovna gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth, and sons, Peter and Alexei.
Death
1746, March 19 - Anna Leopoldovna died due to complications after the birth of her son Alexei in Kholmogory. The birth of princes Peter and Alexei was hidden from the people, the cause of death of the deposed ruler was declared "fire". Her body was transported to St. Petersburg and buried in the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Anna's children grew up under the supervision of their father - Prince Anton-Ulrich, who died in 1774. 1780 - at the request of the Berlin, Danish and Braunschweig ruling houses, they were allowed by Empress Catherine II to leave Russia for Denmark in the care of her aunt, the Danish queen.