Catherine's lover 2. Husband or not husband? Orgies in the royal palace

Catherine II the Great

(b. 1729 - d. 1796)

Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica Amalia of Anhalt-Zerbst. Russian Empress from 1762 to 1796. She came to power as a result of a coup that led to the overthrow of her husband, Russian Emperor Peter III. She pursued a policy of enlightened absolutism. In an era when favoritism became commonplace in the royal courts of Europe, she became famous for her large number of favorites. She left a large literary and epistolary heritage, consisting of fiction, journalistic, popular science works and memoirs.

One of the main reproaches against Catherine is her numerous love affairs. Even the reference to the fact that favoritism was a fairly common phenomenon in the courts of that sensual and far from Puritan era does not whiten it in the eyes of contemporaries and descendants. Hence - a huge number of historical anecdotes, cheap films and novels created to entertain ordinary people, and lampoons composed to suit the political situation. However, no matter what lovers of historical strawberries claim, upon closer examination this side of the life of the Russian Empress is far from ordinary and banal debauchery.

Portraits of Catherine and testimony from contemporaries indicate that she was not endowed with classical beauty in appearance, but had enormous charm and attracted the attention of men even in her advanced years. Letters from male contemporaries note the strong impression made on them by the combination of intelligence, facial features, light gait, timbre of voice, and graceful movements of the empress.

Catherine herself wrote that she had 20 lovers throughout her life. Some researchers increase this number to 22–23, and some monographs, which are essentially political lampoons, and tabloid publications are ready to attribute almost half of the court servants to her. In fact, the empress’s love affairs did not go beyond the boundaries of court morality in the 18th century. Otherwise, Catherine, who was extremely concerned about the impression of her reign in the present and future, would not have flaunted the details of her intimate life. And certainly among the fables are reports of orgies, intimate contacts with animals, etc., which are associated with the name of the empress. In fact, Catherine’s love affairs had a completely different background. To understand this, one must trace the entire history of her life.

The future Russian Empress Catherine II was born in Stettin (modern Szczecin, Poland) on April 21 (May 2), 1729, in her youth she was called Sophia Augusta Frederica Amalia and bore the title of Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst. Her father, Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, belonged to the number of numerous German princes, most of whom had nothing but a title and were forced to serve in the courts of their happier brothers. Therefore, Christian August was first a major general in the Prussian army and commanded a regiment, and later became a Prussian field marshal and governor of Stettin.

The girl's mother, Johanna Elisabeth, was a princess of the House of Holstein and, through numerous relatives, was related to many royal and ducal houses of Europe. She was beautiful, frivolous and more than once gave rise to suspicions of adultery. This gave rise to rumors that the real father of Sophia Augusta Frederica Amalia was the Prussian king Frederick II, which, however, has not been confirmed by serious researchers.

Sofia loved her father very much, but treated her mother coldly. The eccentric Johanna Elisabeth constantly gave out slaps to the children, at the age of seven she took all her daughter’s toys and forced her to kiss the hem of the dresses of the ladies she knew in order to suppress the nascent sense of pride in the girl. As a result, from an early age, her eldest daughter learned to hide her feelings. Meanwhile, the girl had a lively and independent character, was smart and inquisitive.

Naturally agile, the princess was forced to wear a corset for several years, since at the age of seven she became crooked from a severe coughing attack. Doctors could not cope with the disease, so the Stettin executioner treated her. It was he who made the corset and rubbed the girl’s shoulder and spine with his saliva.

The disease somehow went away on its own. But over the years, the princess became addicted to serious reading and acquired the habit of thinking about what she read. All the numerous German princesses were preparing to make a decent party, and almost every one of them dreamed of the throne of some state. With such competition in the Age of Enlightenment, when all of Europe was in awe of science and the arts, the level of education and good manners could play a decisive role, and parents cared about their daughter’s education. Home teachers helped Fika (that was the princess's family name) to master French and a little English, taught her the basics of history, geography, theology, music, etc.

Together with her mother, who loved to change places, the future empress traveled a lot. In 1739, she visited Eitin, where members of the Holstein House gathered. Here she first saw the young Duke Karl Peter Ulrich, who, thanks to blood ties, could lay claim to two crowns at once - Swedish and Russian. The princess did not like the weak and frail relative. In addition, people were talking about his nasty habit of constantly getting drunk at the table. But it was this duke who was chosen by the Russian Empress Elizabeth, who had no children of her own, when the time came to take care of the heir to the throne. She summoned her nephew from Holstein, baptized him into Orthodoxy under the name of Peter Fedorovich and made him Grand Duke.

Now the heir needed to be married. There were many candidates among European princesses. But Frederick II of Prussia especially recommended the Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, and Elizabeth heeded the advice. On January 17, 1744, together with her mother, fifteen-year-old Sofia Augusta Frederica Amalia went to distant St. Petersburg.

Apparently, the young princess’s heart was not completely free at that time. In her “Notes” she reports that one of her mother’s brothers was in love with her. And some publications claim that Sophia was in a love affair with a certain Count B. This, however, should be classified as one of the many fictions about the love affairs of the empress. A few years after the marriage, on the orders of her mother-in-law, alarmed by the lack of heirs for the grand ducal couple, the young woman was subjected to a medical examination. It was established that the former Sophia Augusta Frederica, and now Grand Duchess Catherine, who had converted to Orthodoxy, remained a virgin: her infantile husband could not perform marital duties.

From the very first months of the marriage, which took place in 1745, Catherine found herself in a rather difficult situation. And not only because of my husband. Elizabeth disliked her daughter-in-law. She seemed too smart to the empress, and therefore dangerous. Catherine’s mother apparently played a certain role in this, as she managed to quarrel with many courtiers and irritated Elizabeth, who tried to quickly get rid of her newly-made relative. Catherine lived in an atmosphere of constant surveillance and hostility, although she had no shortage of clothes and jewelry. She was not even allowed to mourn her dead father, since her mother-in-law said that there was no point in grieving for a man who was not a king. But Catherine managed not to break down, earned the respect of the people, secured a circle of friends for herself and, according to the tradition of that era, acquired lovers.

At night, several close associates secretly gathered in her chambers and held merry feasts. Sometimes Catherine, of course, also secretly, left the palace and went to see friends. All this went unnoticed and got away with it.

However, relations with her husband and mother-in-law did not improve. The ceremonial portrait of the grand ducal couple from the collection of the State Russian Museum, painted by G. X. Groot, speaks volumes. Even without knowing the true background of the relationship between spouses, one can notice the presence of antagonism between them. On the one hand, Peter’s clearly unhealthy gaze and lips touched by a cynical smile. On the other hand, Catherine’s firm, direct gaze and tightly compressed lips, barely restrained hostility. One is the embodiment of complacency and pleasure from power over the woman entrusted to his care, the other is full of hidden determination, intelligence and will.

On the wedding bed, Peter played with puppets or soldiers, and Catherine, shocked by this, drove him out of the bedroom. Elizabeth sent a girl who was supposed to hide under the couple’s bed at night and then report “whether His Highness is copulating with Her Highness...”

After the fact of the medical examination of the Grand Duchess, already known to the reader, Peter underwent surgery. Now he could fulfill his marital duty. As a result, on September 20, 1754, Catherine gave birth to a son named Paul. However, by this time she already had the young guardsman Sergei Saltykov as her lover, which gave rise to the version that Emperor Paul, who inherited the throne after Catherine, was not the son of Peter III. This question still remains unanswered. Moreover, in Catherine’s memoirs there are hints that she was brought together with Saltykov specifically, on the orders of Elizabeth, in order to ensure the birth of the heir to the throne. At the same time, some researchers believe that all this was invented by the empress to cast doubt on her son’s right to the throne. Biographers note Paul's external resemblance to Peter III.

Be that as it may, Elizabeth was happy about the birth of her grandson. She immediately took him from her daughter-in-law and raised him herself. This is what apparently became the reason for the rather difficult relationship between the empress and her heir in the future. They were always alien to each other, and the mother’s fear of her son’s claims to the throne intensified the antagonism between them in the last years of the empress’s life.

Saltykov was hastily sent abroad, from where rumors soon spread about his many love affairs. But Catherine had already found a replacement for him in the person of the young Polish diplomat Stanislav Poniatowski. However, Elizaveta also tried to get rid of Poniatowski. Then Grigory Orlov appeared in Catherine’s life - a warrior, a strongman, a hero of the Seven Years’ War, one of the most handsome men of his time and “one of the first adventurers in Europe.” It came to the birth of their son Alexei in April 1762, who was given up to be raised in the wrong hands. Subsequently, he received the title of Count Bobrinsky, and Paul I recognized him as his half-brother.

By the time of Elizabeth's death on December 25, 1761, relations between Catherine and Peter had completely deteriorated. Peter acquired a mistress - the lady-in-waiting Elizaveta Vorontsova, who was distinguished by rare ugliness. It was very likely that the new emperor would send his wife to a monastery and make Vorontsova empress. In any case, he repeatedly stated this, and once even decided to imprison his wife in a fortress, but the courtiers dissuaded him from this scandalous step. Catherine, who had long found supporters among the courtiers and military men who had a negative attitude towards the always drunk and intemperate emperor, too keen on the Prussian order, had no choice but a coup.

Immensely devoted to Catherine, Orlov recruited his brothers and other supporters of the Grand Duchess from among the guards into the conspiracy. On June 28, 1762, Gregory's brother, Alexey Orlov, woke up Catherine and took her to the barracks of the Izmailovsky regiment. There she was proclaimed empress. The same thing happened in the barracks of the Semenovsky regiment. The soldiers and officers threw off the hated Prussian-style uniform introduced by Peter and put on Russian uniforms. Soon, in the Kazan Cathedral, the clergy also proclaimed Catherine empress, and the oath of civil and military officials began in the Winter Palace.

In the morning, wearing the uniform of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, which suited her extremely well, Catherine, on horseback at the head of the troops, headed from St. Petersburg to Oranienbaum to arrest her husband. After an unsuccessful attempt to enter into negotiations, Peter sent his wife a letter of renunciation.

The deposed Peter was sent to the small town of Ropsha, located near St. Petersburg. At the beginning of July, Alexei Orlov, who was guarding the former emperor, unexpectedly sent Catherine a letter, written in great haste and great fear. He reported the sudden death of Peter. He, being drunk, allegedly went on a rampage, and when he was captured, he suddenly died. The official cause of death reported abroad was an attack of hemorrhoidal colic, which the former emperor had long suffered from, and a rush of blood to the brain (i.e., stroke). Catherine was also frightened and was very afraid that she would be considered guilty of her husband’s death. Suspicion of this casts a shadow over her name, but remains only a suspicion. And the very fact of Peter’s death was perceived quite calmly in Russia and abroad.

The ardent Poniatovsky, who adored Catherine, was eager to go to St. Petersburg. But next to her was already Grigory Orlov, to whom she owed the throne. Fearing for her position, carried away by the handsome count, she threatened her former lover that they could both be killed. Stanislaw August remained in Poland. Later, the Russian Empress placed him on the Polish throne, but then, pursuing the state interests of Russia, she took part in the division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, effectively depriving Poniatowski of royal power.

The last meeting of the former lovers took place in Kanev, where Catherine stopped during a trip to the South Russian provinces, and Poniatovsky came specifically to meet her. During their meeting, the empress and the king behaved in an emphatically formal manner. Stanislav August gave a ball in honor of his former lover, to which she refused to attend. All this cost the king 3 million gold and probably “a million torments.”

But such betrayals are uncharacteristic for Catherine. In her relationships with her favorites, the ardor of a woman in love is always visible. Later, as a rule, it was replaced by a sober assessment of the personal qualities of the beloved. But when breaking up, Catherine always generously rewarded her former favorites.

It is obvious that of all the numerous love affairs, it was with Orlov that the empress had the most ardent feeling. It is not for nothing that their time of intimacy was about 13 years, from 1759 to 1772, despite the fact that the favorite, as eyewitnesses testify, even allowed himself to beat his empress.

Gregory was considered not only one of the most handsome men at the Russian court, but was also distinguished by his sincerity, modesty, kindness and grace of manners. Catherine gave the Orlov brothers excessive gifts. However, unlike other favorites, Gregory, who received the title of prince, continued to live quite modestly, not even bothering to change the furniture in his not very luxurious house. Most likely, he was completely devoid of any ambition, and this gave the favorite a reputation as a stupid person among the courtiers and even his own brothers.

Perhaps in the diplomatic field and at court, against the backdrop of the self-interested courtiers for whom Catherine’s brilliant age was famous, he looked really stupid. However, Gregory had the intelligence and courage in 1771 to quickly and successfully cope with the plague riot. Not without reason, at the end of their love, the insightful Catherine wrote that “nature endowed him [Gregory] with everything, both in appearance and in heart and mind. This is nature’s darling, who, having received everything without labor, became a sloth.”

Undoubtedly, the sensuality of both was of great importance in the duration of this novel. Foreign ambassadors and compatriots blamed Orlova for “lust.” He apparently treated intimate relationships with women like food and drink, making no difference between Finns, Kalmyks and ladies-in-waiting. As a result, Orlov fell in love with his thirteen-year-old cousin, Ekaterina Zagryazhskaya, persuaded her to become physically intimate, and eventually married her with the consent of the empress.

Probably, Catherine forever retained tender feelings for Orlov. Judging by the letters, she had a very hard time surviving the madness and death of her former favorite, which followed in 1783, 10 years after the breakup. However, at the moment of separation, her pride probably suffered a significant blow.

Apparently, the Empress's offended pride found a way out in choosing her next favorite, Vasilchikov. It was clearly done in a hurry - in retaliation against Orlov.

Vasilchikov, an unremarkable lieutenant of the Horse Guards, already at first irritated Catherine. “Boring and stuffy,” she wrote about her lover and feared that he would either “make her forever lifeless” or “shorten her life.” After suffering for two years with this man, Catherine got rid of him with a house in St. Petersburg, a gift of 50 thousand rubles, a silver service for 24 people, linen for the table and a set of kitchen utensils. The boring Vasilchikov was replaced in February 1774 by the brilliant Potemkin, one of the most talented statesmen of Catherine's era.

Without a doubt, the modest sergeant, and then the most serene prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky occupied a special place in Catherine’s life. Otherwise, she would not have written the words imbued with deep feeling: “Our affection is the purest love, and extreme love.” But she felt a feeling for him that was determined not only by passion, but also by deep respect for the personal qualities and talents of her lover. It is not without reason that in 1785, 10 years after the rapprochement, in a letter to Grimm, the Empress remarked: “We must give him justice - he is smarter than me, and everything he did was deeply thought out.” Despite the fact that their physical intimacy lasted less than three years, for 16 years, until his death, the prince was the main support of the empress and the uncrowned king of the Russian Empire.

A number of evidence, however, still not documented, suggests that at the end of 1774 or at the beginning of 1775, the wedding of the Russian Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna and Grigory Alexandrovich took place in the small church of St. Samson on the Vyborg side (St. Petersburg). The crowns above them were held by the Chamber Frau, the Empress's maid Maria Savvishna Perekusikhina, Potemkin's nephew Count A. N. Samoilov and E. A. Chertkov.

Two of them received marriage lists. Perekusikhina’s copy went to Catherine’s grandson, Alexander I, and was kept in the royal family. The list kept by Samoilov was placed with him in the coffin. The third list was first kept by Potemkin, and after his death it came to the prince’s niece and beloved, Alexandra Vasilyevna Branitskaya. Her daughter, Elizaveta Ksaverevna Branitskaya, married to Countess Vorontsova, sacredly kept the box of papers bequeathed by her mother. When the countess was alarmed by the increased curiosity of her acquaintances (among them was A.S. Pushkin) about documents, the contents of which were supposed to remain secret, she asked her husband to throw them into the sea on the way from Odessa to Crimea, which was done. Thus, all three documents were most likely lost. However, letters from the empress herself to Potemkin indirectly confirm the fact of the wedding. Well, how else can you evaluate the appeal: “My only one, my beloved, and I am your wife, bound to you by the most holy ties”? None of the favorites, not even Orlov, has ever been awarded anything like this.

Undoubtedly, Catherine valued Potemkin more than all those close to her. This is evidenced by the lines she wrote in 1791, after his death: “With a wonderful heart, he combined an unusually correct understanding of things and a rare development of the mind. His views were always broad and sublime. He was extremely philanthropic... and new thoughts constantly arose in his head.”

But Potemkin was jealous and hot-tempered. An irrepressible character required an equally indefatigable field of activity. He often left the empress to lay Crimea at her feet, built palaces, fortresses and entire cities in the south - Ekaterinoslav (modern Dnepropetrovsk), Kherson, Nikolaev and the pride of the Russian fleet, Sevastopol - built the Black Sea fleet, ended the Russian-Turkish war with triumph war of 1787–1791

In the absence of the prince, Catherine became interested in other men. Potemkin behaved the same way. Both did not blame each other for this. However, the appearance of “young Apollo” Platon Zubov in the empress’s chambers greatly worried the prince. But he was worried not about his position, but about the empress. No wonder he wrote: “The Zubov brothers are robbing you, mother! They are pulling 200 thousand from devastated Poland!” However, Catherine, captivated by 23-year-old Zubov, touched by the imaginary love and devotion of her new favorite, wrote to Potemkin: “I love this child very much. He is very attached to me and cries like a child if he is not allowed to see me.” But he immediately adds: “Your will is in all orders, I don’t trust anyone except you.”

Potemkin's sudden death from “rotten fever” in October 1791 shocked Catherine. She cried and screamed desperately. The doctors drew blood and then gave the empress sleeping pills. But these funds helped little. An entry appeared in her secretary’s diary: “Now there is no one to rely on.” After the ritual nine days, she herself said: “He was a real nobleman, an intelligent man, he didn’t sell me out. It couldn't be bought."

Catherine seemed to have grown old all at once, prayed a lot, often repeated: “It is impossible to replace him,” but Zubov, who was very interested in the prince’s papers and personal correspondence, was not allowed to see the papers of the deceased. Nevertheless, the “nimble Platosha” continued to remain near the empress during the last five years of her life.

The young man deliberately made contact with a woman who was 40 years older than him. In the spring of 1789, he, being a second captain of the Horse Regiment, persuaded his patron Nikolai Saltykov to send him to command a convoy that was supposed to accompany Catherine on vacation to Tsarskoe Selo. The officer was very handsome and the empress liked him. She kept it with her.

By the end of her life, Catherine became terribly fat. She was plagued by many illnesses. The legs, which once captivated contemporaries, swelled greatly and turned into ugly cabinets. She could barely move. In preparation for the empress's visit, the nobles made special gentle slopes on the stairs. The same slope was made in the personal chambers of the Empress in Tsarskoe Selo. They used it to take her out into the garden in a wheelchair. She was unable to climb the steps. And yet, even at this time, Catherine could retain her unique beauty, charm and knew how, as contemporaries testify, to behave “decently and gracefully.” However, in this condition she was unlikely to be capable of physical intimacy with men. So in recent years, Zubov, apparently, became simply the affection of an old woman who found solace in the opportunity to put her pet on his feet. Zubov was no stranger to cunning. Pretending to be quiet, modest and narrow-minded, he managed to lull the vigilance of the courtiers, create the impression in Catherine that he was the defender of the throne and her life, push aside rivals, collect a whole bunch of different positions and receive the title of His Serene Highness Prince. Nevertheless, Zubov's power did not last long.

On November 5, Catherine suddenly lost consciousness, and the next morning she died without ever regaining consciousness. Her heir dismissed most of Catherine's nobles, leaving with him only Prince A. A. Bezborodko, who was the second-in-command in the state after Potemkin, whom Zubov, with the help of intrigue, tried to remove from power.

It is impossible not to emphasize that throughout her reign, Catherine behaved in accordance with the morals accepted at European courts, and indeed in the high society of the Enlightenment, distinguished by sensuality and desire for the lifestyle of a “natural man” (remember the works of Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot and the novels of the Marquis de Sade that appeared at this time, which enjoyed enormous popularity and found many imitators).

Undoubtedly, Catherine remained a woman in all manifestations of her nature, although she was superior to many men in strength of spirit and intelligence. Who knows what her fate would have been like if in marriage she had found the love she had always strived for. An unsuccessful marriage left its mark on her entire life. In her letters to Potemkin, this is exactly how she explains the reason for her numerous relationships with men. “That was, God knows,” she writes, “not from debauchery, for which I have no inclination, and if I had been given the fate of a husband from a young age whom I could love, I would not have changed for him forever...”

Apparently, it was not without reason that at the beginning of her reign the empress had the intention of marrying Orlov. But they hinted to her that Countess Orlova could not be at the head of the empire. Later, Catherine, apparently, married Potemkin, thinking that in this way she could realize her desire for a lasting union with a man equal to her in intelligence and abilities.

Thus, Catherine, contrary to popular belief, can hardly be accused of banal debauchery. Her memoirs, letters and actions testify to a natural desire for happiness and, paradoxically, a purely maternal attitude towards favorites. It was not for nothing that she sought to raise each of them to her spiritual level and teach them the skills of public administration. Otherwise, there would have been no Potemkin and Orlov, there would have been no statements by the Empress about Lansky, who died early, as a man who showed great promise as a statesman. Without this, they would all remain at the level of amusing toys that do not solve anything in the state. Those favorites who were unable to rise to the level of statesmen quickly disappeared from the scene, giving way to other contenders. Nevertheless, Catherine, most likely subconsciously, did not tolerate male dominance. Only this can explain the history of her relationship with Potemkin, judging by the letters, selflessly loved by her.

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Empress Catherine II the Great 1729–1796

From the author's book

Empress Catherine II the Great (1729–1796) see page.

Even great eras do not always end gracefully. Even great women do not always know how to age with dignity.

Catherine the Great, whose reign is called the “golden age of the Russian Empire,” alas, was not among those who take the autumn of life for granted.

Clinging to her vanishing youth, Mother Empress followed the usual path of high-ranking and wealthy ladies of all eras - the older Catherine became, the younger her favorites became.

In 1789, the Russian Empress turned 60, which was quite a respectable age for the 18th century. And in the same year, Catherine the Great found her last favorite.

Third son of a retired lieutenant colonel and provincial vice-governor Alexandra Zubova Plato was not endowed with any special talents. Enrolled at the age of 8 as a sergeant in the Semenovsky regiment, in 1779 he was transferred to the Horse Guards with the rank of sergeant. He did not achieve any special military merits, and did not strive for them. The young man grew up in ranks, thanks to his parental connections, and dreamed of getting everything at once - big ranks, money and power.

In 1789, Second Captain of the Horse Guards Platon Zubov begged his superiors to allow him to command the convoy that accompanied Catherine II during her trip from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoe Selo.

The 22-year-old Horse Guardsman, endowed with a slender figure and attractive appearance, during the trip desperately tried to attract Catherine’s attention and achieved his goal. He was invited to dinner, where he received a friendly conversation. After some time, Platon Zubov found himself in the personal chambers of the empress.

Wreck of a Giant

Perhaps this advancement would not have been so rapid if not for the court intrigues. Almost all of the empress's favorites had previously been selected and controlled by the all-powerful Potemkin, and Zubov ended up in Catherine’s bed without the approval of his Serene Highness. Potemkin’s enemies, of whom he had a great many, did their best.

Potemkin himself did not take the Empress’s new lover seriously - he was stupid, devoid of any talents, narcissistic, ignorant, how could such a person argue with the Prince of Tauride for influence on Catherine?

Grigory Potemkin reasoned soberly, but did not take into account that the 60-year-old empress was increasingly less capable of sober reasoning. When she saw Platon Zubov, she completely lost her head.

Favors showered on the new favorite, he rapidly rose in rank: already in October 1789, Zubov received an appointment as a cornet of the Cavalry Corps with promotion to major general.

For Plato, Catherine did not spare awards: only in 1790 he was awarded the Order of St. Anne, the Prussian Orders of the Black and Red Eagles and the Polish Orders of the White Eagle and St. Stanislav, as well as the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky.

Immersed in state affairs, Potemkin did not immediately understand how serious everything was. And when I realized, it was already too late - the empress, who doted on “Platosha,” chose to sacrifice friendship and alienate Potemkin from herself, rather than admit that her new lover was a dissolute and stupid man.

Weakness of an aging woman

In the fall of 1791, Potemkin died suddenly. The Empress was shocked by the loss of her closest associate, whom, despite everything, she considered indispensable in state affairs.

However, she decided that the “new Potemkin” could be raised from “Platoshi”. Catherine persistently tried to involve him in the affairs of public administration, categorically refusing to see that her favorite had neither the knowledge nor the abilities for this.

His political projects were completely divorced from reality, but Catherine was ready to consider them brilliant. The fact that some of the cases entrusted to Zubov were not failed is the merit of the secretaries assigned to him, among whom, for example, was the founder of Odessa Joseph Deribas. However, Catherine entirely considered these successes to be the achievements of “Platoshi”.

The bravest people at court whispered: the empress had become stupid in her old age. Together with Plato, the entire Zubov clan broke through to high government positions: father, brothers and other relatives.

Thanks to the Zubovs, embezzlement and bribery flourished in full bloom. The courtiers, realizing that the favorite was securely entrenched in the empress's bedchamber, lined up to him, asking for favors.

High-born nobles, military generals, respectable officials - they all humbly begged Platon Zubov for help in resolving various issues. And the favorite, a pathetic shadow of Orlov and Potemkin, reveled in his power, which he so dreamed of.

Poet Derzhavin dedicated odes to Zubov, the future hero of the Patriotic War Kutuzov prepared him special coffee, and the great Suvorov gave his only, dearly beloved daughter to his favorite brother.

“The old generals and nobles were not ashamed to caress his insignificant lackeys. We often saw how these lackeys pushed away generals and officers who had been crowding at the door for a long time and were preventing them from being locked. Lounging in an armchair, in the most obscene negligee, with his little finger stuck in his nose, with his eyes aimlessly directed at the ceiling, this young man, with a cold and pouting face, barely deigned to pay attention to those around him. He amused himself with the foolishness of his monkey, which jumped over the heads of vile flatterers, or talked with his jester. And at this time the elders, under whose command he began to serve as a sergeant, - Dolgoruky, Golitsyn, Saltykov and everyone else was waiting for him to lower his gaze in order to humbly rest at his feet,” this is how they later wrote about the time of omnipotence of the last favorite of Catherine the Great.

If at that time the Russian Empire did not stagger under the weight of “Zubovism,” it was only because it was reliably established during the best years of Catherine’s reign.

Portrait of Platon Zubov by Johann Lampi. 1793 Photo: wikipedia.org

Life after Catherine

By the end of the Empress’s life, Zubov’s title had grown to the point of indecentness: “General-Feltzeichmeister, Director General of the fortifications, commander-in-chief of the Black Sea Fleet, Voznesensk Light Cavalry and Black Sea Cossack Army, Adjutant General of Her Imperial Majesty, Chief of the Cavalry Corps, Yekaterinoslav, Voznesensky and Tauride Governor-General, Member of the State Military Collegium, Honorary Benefactor of the Imperial Orphanage, Honorary Lover of the Imperial Academy of Arts and the Russian Orders of St. Apostle Andrew, St. Alexander Nevsky, St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, 1st degree, Royal Prussian Black and Red Eagle, Polish White Eagle Eagle and St. Stanislaus and the Grand Duke's Holstein St. Anne's Knight."

But everything that has a beginning also has an end. On November 6, 1796, Catherine the Great died in the Winter Palace.

It was as if her favorite had been replaced - pathetic, frightened, he was expecting punishment from the new Emperor Paul I. At first Pavel did not pay attention to Zubov, considering him unworthy of any revenge. Then, however, he fell into disgrace - his estates were taken away from the treasury, and the former favorite himself was ordered to go abroad.

The disgrace and favor of Emperor Paul were very changeable. In 1800, Platon Zubov returned to Russia, received his estates back and was appointed director of the First Cadet Corps and renamed infantry generals.

This did not prevent Zubov from becoming one of the active participants in the conspiracy against Paul I. Plato, together with his brothers, was directly involved in the murder of the emperor in the Mikhailovsky Palace on March 11, 1801.

It seems that Platon Zubov himself believed that he was a major statesman. In any case, he seriously expected to occupy a high post under Alexandra I, writing new plans for government reforms.

However, Alexander I perfectly understood the true value of both Zubov and his ideas. Very soon he found himself on the sidelines of political life.

Possessing a huge fortune and extensive possessions, Platon Zubov towards the end of his life became an extremely greedy and economical person. It is believed that his Stingy Knight Alexander Pushkin I copied it from Platon Zubov.

By the age of 50, the handsome young man with whom Catherine once fell in love has turned into a decrepit old man.

In 1821, at the age of 54, he decided to marry the 19-year-old daughter of a poor Vilna nobleman, Tekle Ignatievna Valentinovich. The girl’s parents did not want to hear about such a marriage, but here the miser unexpectedly showed generosity, giving a million rubles for the bride.

Zubov's Corner in Rundāle Palace. Photo: wikipedia.org

This marriage did not last long - already in April 1822, Platon Zubov died at Ruenthal Castle in Courland. His only legitimate daughter was born three weeks after her father's death and died in infancy.

The young widow, who inherited her husband's fortune, married the count four years later. Andrey Petrovich Shuvalov, with whom she lived in a happy marriage for almost half a century, giving birth to four children.

Tekla Valentinovich-Zubova-Shuvalova. Photo circa 1867. Photo:

The list of Catherine II's men includes men who figured in the intimate life of Empress Catherine the Great (1729-1796), including her spouses, official favorites and lovers. Catherine II has up to 21 lovers, but how can we object to the empress, then of course they had their own methods.

1. Catherine’s husband was Peter Fedorovich (Emperor Peter III) (1728-1762). They had a wedding in 1745, August 21 (September 1). The end of the relationship was June 28 (July 9), 1762 - death of Peter III. His children, according to the Romanov tree, Pavel Petrovich (1754) (according to one version, his father is Sergei Saltykov) and officially - Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna (1757-1759, most likely the daughter of Stanislav Poniatovsky). He suffered from a form of impotence, and in the first years he did not have marital relations with her. Then this problem was solved with the help of a surgical operation, and in order to perform it, Peter got Saltykov drunk.

2. While she was engaged, she also had an affair, Saltykov, Sergei Vasilyevich (1726-1765). In 1752 he was at the small court of the Grand Dukes Catherine and Peter. The beginning of the novel in 1752. The end of the relationship was the birth of a child, Pavel, in October 1754. After which Saltykov was expelled from St. Petersburg and sent as envoy to Sweden.

3. Catherine's lover was Stanisław August Poniatowski (1732-1798) who fell in love in 1756. And in 1758, after the fall of Chancellor Bestuzhev, Williams and Poniatowski were forced to leave St. Petersburg. After the affair, her daughter Anna Petrovna (1757-1759) was born; Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich himself thought so, who, judging by “Notes of Catherine,” said: “God knows how my wife gets pregnant; I don’t know for sure whether this child is mine and whether I should recognize him as mine.” In the future, Catherine will make him King of Poland, and then annex Poland and annex it to Russia.

4. Likewise, Catherine 2 was not upset and continued to fall in love. Her next secret lover was Orlov, Grigory Grigorievich (1734-1783). The beginning of the novel In the spring of 1759, Count Schwerin, the aide-de-camp of Frederick II, who was captured in the Battle of Zorndorf, arrived in St. Petersburg, to whom Orlov was assigned as a guard. Orlov gained fame by wresting his mistress from Pyotr Shuvalov. The end of the relationship in 1772, after the death of her husband, even she wanted to marry him and then she was dissuaded. Orlov had many mistresses. They also had a son, Bobrinsky, Alexey Grigorievich was born on April 22, 1762, a few months after the death of Elizaveta Petrovna. They report that on the day she went into labor, her faithful servant Shkurin set fire to his house, and Peter rushed off to watch the fire . Orlov and his passionate brothers contributed to the overthrow of Peter and the accession of Catherine to the throne. Having lost favor, he married his cousin Ekaterina Zinovieva, and after her death he went crazy.

5. Vasilchikov, Alexander Semyonovich (1746-1803/1813) Official favorite. Acquaintance in 1772, September. He often stood guard in Tsarskoye Selo and received a golden snuffbox. Took Orlov's room. 1774, March 20, in connection with the rise of Potemkin, he was sent to Moscow. Catherine considered him boring (14 years difference). After retirement, he settled in Moscow with his brother and did not marry.

6. Potemkin, Grigory Alexandrovich (1739-1791) Official favorite, husband since 1775. In April 1776 he went on vacation. Catherine gave birth to Potemkin's daughter, Elizaveta Grigorievna Tyomkina. Despite the gap in her personal life, thanks to her abilities, she maintained Catherine's friendship and respect and for many years remained the second person in the state. He was not married, his personal life consisted of “enlightening” his young nieces, including Ekaterina Engelgart.

7. Zavadovsky, Pyotr Vasilievich (1739-1812) official favorite.
The beginning of the relationship in 1776. November, presented to the empress as an author, interested Catherine. In 1777, June did not suit Potemkin and was removed. Also in May 1777, Catherine met Zorich. He was jealous of Catherine 2, which did the damage. 1777 recalled by the empress back to the capital, 1780 engaged in administrative affairs, married Vera Nikolaevna Apraksina.

8. Zorich, Semyon Gavrilovich (1743/1745-1799). In 1777, June became Catherine's personal guard. 1778 June caused inconvenience, expelled from St. Petersburg (14 years younger than the Empress) Was dismissed and sent into retirement with little remuneration. Founded the Shklov School. Enmeshed in debt and suspected of counterfeiting.

9. Rimsky-Korsakov, Ivan Nikolaevich (1754-1831) Official favorite. 1778, June. Noticed by Potemkin, who was looking to replace Zorich, and distinguished by him due to his beauty, as well as ignorance and lack of serious abilities that could make him a political rival. Potemkin introduced him to the empress among three officers. On June 1, he was appointed aide-de-camp to the Empress. 1779, October 10. Removed from the court after the Empress found him in the arms of Countess Praskovya Bruce, sister of Field Marshal Rumyantsev. This intrigue of Potemkin had as its goal the removal not of Korsakov, but of Bruce herself. 25 years younger than the empress; Catherine was attracted by his announced “innocence.” He was very handsome and had an excellent voice (for his sake, Catherine invited world-famous musicians to Russia). After the loss of favor, he first stayed in St. Petersburg and talked in living rooms about his connection with the empress, which hurt her pride. In addition, he left Bruce and began an affair with Countess Ekaterina Stroganova (he was 10 years younger than her). This turned out to be too much, and Catherine sent him to Moscow. Stroganova’s husband eventually gave her a divorce. Korsakov lived with her until the end of her life, they had a son and two daughters.

10 Stakhiev (Strakhov) Beginning of relations 1778; 1779, June. End of relationship 1779, October. According to the description of contemporaries, “a jester of the lowest order.” Strakhov was a protégé of Count N.I. Panin Strakhov may be Ivan Varfolomeevich Strakhov (1750-1793), in which case he was not the empress’s lover, but a man whom Panin considered insane, and who, when Catherine once told him that he could ask her for some favor, threw himself on his knees and asked for her hand, after which she began to avoid him.

11 Stoyanov (Stanov) Beginning of relations 1778. The end of relations 1778. Potemkin’s protégé.

12 Rantsov (Rontsov), Ivan Romanovich (1755-1791) Beginning of the relationship 1779. Mentioned among those who participated in the “competition”; it is not entirely clear whether he managed to visit the empress’s alcove. End of relationship 1780. One of the illegitimate sons of Count R.I. Vorontsov, half-brother of Dashkova. A year later he led a London mob in riots organized by Lord George Gordon.

13 Levashov, Vasily Ivanovich (1740(?) - 1804). Beginning of relations 1779, October. End of relationship 1779, October. Major of the Semenovsky regiment, a young man protected by Countess Bruce. He was distinguished by his wit and cheerfulness. Uncle of one of the subsequent favorites - Ermolov. He was not married, but had 6 “pupils” from a student of the theater school Akulina Semyonova, who were granted the dignity of nobility and his surname.

14 Vysotsky, Nikolai Petrovich (1751-1827). Beginning of relationship 1780, March. Potemkin's nephew. End of relationship 1780, March.

15 Lanskoy, Alexander Dmitrievich (1758-1784) Official favorite. Beginning of relationship 1780 April He was introduced to Catherine by Chief of Police P.I. Tolstoy, she paid attention to him, but he did not become a favorite. Levashev turned to Potemkin for help, he made him his adjutant and supervised his court education for about six months, after which in the spring of 1780 he recommended him to the empress as a warm friend. The end of the relationship was 1784, July 25. He died after a five-day illness with toad and fever. 29 years younger than the 54-year-old at the time the empress began her relationship. The only one of the favorites who did not interfere in politics and refused influence, ranks, and orders. He shared Catherine’s interest in science and, under her guidance, studied French and became acquainted with philosophy. He enjoyed universal sympathy. He sincerely adored the Empress and tried his best to maintain peace with Potemkin. If Catherine began to flirt with someone else, Lanskoy “wasn’t jealous, didn’t cheat on her, wasn’t insolent, but so touchingly […] lamented her disfavor and suffered so sincerely that he won her love again.”

16. Mordvinov. Beginning of relationship 1781 May. Relative of Lermontov. Probably Mordvinov, Nikolai Semyonovich (1754-1845). The admiral's son, the same age as Grand Duke Paul, was brought up with him. The episode did not affect his biography and is usually not mentioned. He became a famous naval commander. Relative of Lermontov

17 Ermolov, Alexander Petrovich (1754-1834) February 1785, a holiday was specially organized to introduce the Empress to him. 1786, June 28. He decided to act against Potemkin (the Crimean Khan Sahib-Girey was supposed to receive large sums from Potemkin, but they were detained, and the khan turned to Ermolov for help), in addition, the empress also lost interest in him. He was expelled from St. Petersburg - he was “allowed to go abroad for three years.” In 1767, traveling along the Volga, Catherine stopped at his father’s estate and took the 13-year-old boy to St. Petersburg. Potemkin took him into his retinue, and almost 20 years later proposed him as a favorite. He was tall and slender, blond, gloomy, taciturn, honest and too simple. With letters of recommendation from the Chancellor, Count Bezborodko, he left for Germany and Italy. Everywhere he behaved very modestly. After retirement, he settled in Moscow and married Elizaveta Mikhailovna Golitsyna, with whom he had children. Nephew of the previous favorite - Vasily Levashov. Then he left for Austria, where he bought the rich and profitable Frosdorf estate near Vienna, where he died at the age of 82.

18. Dmitriev-Mamonov, Alexander Matveevich (1758-1803) In 1786, June was presented to the empress after the departure of Yermolov. 1789 fell in love with Princess Daria Fedorovna Shcherbatova, Catherine’s understanding was complete. asked for forgiveness, forgiven. After the wedding, he was forced to leave St. Petersburg. Future married people in Moscow. He repeatedly asked to return to St. Petersburg, but was refused. His wife gave birth to 4 children, and eventually they separated.

19.Miloradovich. The relationship began in 1789. He was among the candidates proposed after Dmitriev’s resignation. Their number also included retired second major of the Preobrazhensky regiment Kazarinov, Baron Mengden - all young handsome men, behind each of whom stood influential courtiers (Potemkin, Bezborodko, Naryshkin, Vorontsov and Zavadovsky). End of relationship 1789.

20. Miklashevsky. The beginning of the relationship was 1787. The end was 1787. Miklashevsky was a candidate, but did not become a favorite. According to evidence, during Catherine II’s trip to Crimea in 1787, a certain Miklashevsky was among the candidates for favorites. Perhaps it was Miklashevsky, Mikhail Pavlovich (1756-1847), who was part of Potemkin’s retinue as an adjutant (the first step to favor), but it is unclear from what year. In 1798, Mikhail Miklashevsky was appointed governor of Little Russia, but was soon dismissed. In biography, the episode with Catherine is usually not mentioned.

21. Zubov, Platon Alexandrovich (1767-1822) Official favorite. Beginning of relationship 1789, July. A protege of Field Marshal Prince N.I. Saltykov, the chief educator of Catherine’s grandchildren. End of relationship 1796, November 6. Catherine's last favorite. The relationship ended with her death. The 22-year-old at the time of the start of a relationship with the 60-year-old empress. The first official favorite since Potemkin, who was not his adjutant. N.I. Saltykov and A.N. Naryshkina stood behind him, and Perekusikhina also worked for him. He enjoyed great influence and practically managed to oust Potemkin, who threatened to “come and pull out a tooth.” Later he participated in the assassination of Emperor Paul. Shortly before his death, he married a young, humble and poor Polish beauty and was terribly jealous of her.

Memory of Catherine 2. Monuments dedicated to her.

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Introduction

Access to the monarch is not always given to people who deserve it. A favorite, a temporary worker, simply a clever and unprincipled person, taking advantage of the trust of the sovereign, begins to announce decrees and resolutions on his behalf. Arbitrariness, covetousness, immorality and servility are flourishing. The favorites do not care about the interests of the state; for them there are only their own desires. State affairs are abandoned, the treasury is plundered, unworthy people are appointed to important positions, and those who managed to serve the favorite are appointed. Thus, the monarch is separated from his government...

Catherine's accession to the throne has much in common with Elizabeth's accession to the throne in 1741. Catherine's policy was national and favorable to the nobility. Elizabeth's government was distinguished by its rationality, humanity, and reverence for the memory of Peter the Great, but it did not have its own program and acted according to Peter's principles.

The government of Catherine, an intelligent, talented empress, used old models of government, but also led the state forward according to its own program, which it acquired little by little according to the instructions of practice and abstract theories adopted by the empress. In this, Catherine was the opposite of her predecessor. Under her there was a system in management, and therefore random persons, favorites, had less impact on the course of state affairs than under Elizabeth, although Catherine’s favorites were very noticeable not only by their activity and power of influence, but even by their whims and abuses.

1. Favorites of Catherine II

Here is a list of famous favorites of Catherine II

This list was compiled by the Russian historian, specialist in the Catherine era, Ya. L. Barskov.

1. 1752-1754 S. V. Saltykov. Diplomat. Envoy in Hamburg, Paris, Dresden. S. V. Saltykov’s first assignment was a mission to Stockholm with the news of the birth of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, whose father, according to legend, is himself.

2. 1756-1758 S. Poniatovsky. Polish-Saxon ambassador to Russia. With the help of Catherine and with the support of the Prussian king Frederick II, he became king of Poland in 1764. During all the years of his reign, he focused his policies on Russia. Which was one of the reasons for his abdication from the throne in 1795.

3. 1761-1772 G. G. Orlov was the grandson of the rebel archer, pardoned by Peter the Great for fearlessness. The most active participant in the palace coup in 1762. Grigory Orlov, as a favorite, received the rank of senator, count, and adjutant general. He played a significant role in the creation of the Free Economic Society. He was its president. In 1771 he led the suppression of the “plague riot” in Moscow. From 1772, he lost his influence at court and retired in 1775. Potemkin handed Orlov an imperial decree, which ordered him to live in Gatchina under guard without a break until special new orders from the empress.

4. 1772-1774 A.S. Vasilchiko. Poor officer. Catherine granted the titles: count, chamberlain. He received the title of Knight of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky and became the owner of huge estates and hundreds of thousands of peasant souls. He was expelled from St. Petersburg to Moscow.

5. 1774-1776 G.A. Potemkin - the son of a Smolensk nobleman, in 1762. among the conspirators, after which he becomes a second lieutenant of the guard. Participates in the Russian-Turkish War (1768-1774) and receives the rank of general. Then vice-president of the Military Collegium, count, field marshal general, chief of regular troops. The empress's closest assistant in pursuing the policy of strengthening the absolutist state and forming the Starodub povet system began his career in the post of the secret "enlightened monarchy." Organizer of the suppression of the Pugachev rebellion and initiator of the liquidation of the Zaporozhye Sich. He had enormous power, being the governor of Novorossiysk, Azov, Astrakhan provinces, prince of the Holy Roman Empire, His Serene Highness Prince of Tauride (he received this title for the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 1783). He contributed to the development of the northern Black Sea region, the construction of Kherson, Nikolaev and Sevastopol, Yekaterinoslav. He was the organizer of the construction of military and merchant fleets on the Black Sea. A major diplomat.

6. 1776-1777 P.V. Zavadovsky. The son of a Cossack of the office at the headquarters of P.A. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky during the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774. He was introduced to the empress as the author of dispatches and reports on the affairs of Little Russia. Zavadovsky’s rise went so quickly that he was even seen as Potemkin’s rival. Although he was not a favorite for long, this ensured his high-ranking and bureaucratic career. Zavadovsky managed the Noble and Assignation banks and was the director of the Corps of Pages. And with the establishment of ministries in 1802, he became the Minister of Public Education.

7. 1777-1778 S.G. Zorich Nephew of the midwife who poisoned Catherine's daughter-in-law. He was an empty-headed, flighty spendthrift and gambler. However, he was not faithful to Catherine. He was sent from St. Petersburg to Crimea, to Potemkin.

9. 1780-1784 HELL. Lanskoy. This is the only one of the favorites who did not interfere in politics and refused influence, ranks, and orders, although Catherine forced him to accept from her the title of count, vast lands, tens of thousands of peasants and the rank of adjutant. Catherine wanted to marry him and announced this to Panin and Potemkin. In 1784 he was poisoned by order of Potemkin.

10. 1785-1786 A.P. Ermolov. Officer, Potemkin's adjutant, outbuilding adjutant. He received 100 thousand rubles and was expelled from St. Petersburg, like all temporary favorites.

11. 1786-1789 A.M. Mamonov. Officer, Potemkin's adjutant. Gained enormous influence on domestic and foreign policy. He was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky, showered with hundred-thousand-dollar diamonds, and two highest Polish orders.

12. 1789-1796 P.A. Zubov. The last favorite of Catherine II. He did not show himself in any way in the post of Governor-General of Novorossiya and in the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Black Sea Fleet. The Empress gave him huge estates and granted him the title of His Serene Highness.

From now on, favoritism became a government institution in Russia, as in France under Louis XIV, XV, and the favorites, living with the empress, were recognized as people who served the fatherland and the throne.

Firstly, many of them were capable people, like Panin, Potemkin, Bezborodko, Zorich. Secondly, they delighted their empress’s leisure time, giving her strength for new labors. This is how Catherine herself looked at the matter.

The English envoy Harris and Caster, a famous historian, calculated how much the favorites of Catherine II cost Russia. They received more than 100 million rubles from her in cash. Considering the Russian budget of that time, which did not exceed 80 million a year, this was a huge amount. The cost of the lands belonging to the favorites was no less enormous. In addition, the gifts included peasants, palaces, a lot of jewelry, and dishes.

In general, favoritism in Russia was considered a natural disaster that ruined the entire country and hampered its development. Money that should have gone to the education of the people, the development of art, crafts and industry, to the opening of schools, went to the personal pleasures of the favorites and floated into their bottomless pockets.

2. Historical portrait aboutone of Catherine II's favorites

favorite Ekaterina Panin Potemkin

Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin (1718-1783).

A man of true intelligence and honesty -

Above the morals of this century!

Your services to the Fatherland cannot be forgotten.

D. Fonvizin.

Among the famous people who glorified the “age of Catherine,” one of the first places, of course, belongs to Nikita Ivanovich Panin, a man “outstanding for his abilities and education.” For twenty years he was at the helm of Russian foreign policy - “the most brilliant aspect of Catherine’s state activity.”

“There was not a single matter related to the integrity and security of the empire that would have bypassed his proceedings or advice.... In matters concerning the good of the state, neither promises nor threats could shake it,” wrote his colleague and friend, famous writer D.I. Fonvizin, “nothing in the world could force him to offer his opinion, against his inner feelings.”

He believed, and not without reason, that in his knowledge, experience and analytical skills he was superior not only to Catherine II, but also to most of the people from her immediate circle. Naturally, therefore, Panin considered himself entitled to instruct the empress and achieve the implementation of his political ideas. This suited her for now - the glory of the transformer would still go to the sovereign!

Panin's authority was so high that many foreign diplomats saw him as one of the leaders of the conspiracy. The Austrian ambassador, Count Mercy d'Argenteau, reported: “The main instrument for the elevation of Catherine to the throne was Panin.” French de Breteuil “Apart from Panin, who rather has the habit of a certain kind of work than great means and knowledge, this empress has no one who would could help her in management and in achieving greatness..."

Panin on October 4, 1763 became a senior member of the Foreign Collegium; in October, after Bestuzhev’s final removal from affairs, management of the board’s affairs was transferred to him. Without being officially appointed chancellor, he was placed, in fact, above the vice-chancellor, Prince D.M. Golitsyn and for almost two decades remained the main adviser to Catherine II and the head of Russian foreign policy. When Panin took office as a senior member of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs, the institution was relatively small. There were about 260 employees, of which 25 were in Moscow. Panin knew his “cadres” very well, valued them and, perhaps, was even proud of them.

In St. Petersburg, foreign policy issues under Panin were resolved according to a well-functioning scheme. Nikita Ivanovich received correspondence from abroad and carefully studied it. Having selected the most important, he wrote his comments and suggestions in the margins and sent it all to the empress. Catherine looked through the papers and immediately approved them. Then the collegium drew up a rescript to send to the ambassador or other official documents, which the empress approved in the same manner. Sometimes Panin, “to gain time,” did not send papers for approval to the Empress again at all. The Empress conducted diplomatic correspondence or negotiations in agreement with Panin.

Panin becomes the empress's chief adviser. Not a single important issue of foreign and domestic policy is now resolved without his participation: “Everything is done by the will of the Empress and digested by Mr. Panin,” reports E.R. Dashkova to his brother in Holland. “At this time, Catherine firmly believed in Panin’s diplomatic talents,” testifies V. Klyuchevsky.

One of Panin’s contemporaries, observing the state of affairs in Russia, came to a paradoxical conclusion: “The Russian state has the advantage over others that it is controlled directly by God himself - otherwise it is impossible to explain to yourself how it can exist.” Many people thought about how to correct this situation. Panin also thought about this. And he decided to start with what seemed to him the most important thing - with the reorganization of the public administration system.

In the Russian Empire, Panin reasoned, as in any monarchy, legislative power is confined to the person of the sovereign. Subordinate to him is the government (Senate), which governs the state in accordance with existing laws and regulations. Adjacent to the Senate are collegiums in charge of state affairs, each in its own area. Such a system, although it was created by Peter the Great following the example of Sweden, is far from perfect.

The monarch, Panin believed, no matter how intelligent and enlightened he may be, is not able to establish laws and decide other matters alone. If necessary, he will rely on the help of people close to him. This is where all the troubles begin.

And Panin proposes to establish an official and permanent body that would provide assistance to the monarch in legislative activities - the Imperial Council. He developed this idea in detail and even prepared a manifesto on the establishment of the Council - the Empress only had to sign it.

Proving its necessity, Panin vividly depicts the absence of basic laws in Russia, where everyone “out of arbitrariness and the power of intrigue seized and appropriated state affairs.”

On December 28, 1762, Catherine II, yielding to Panin’s insistence, signed a manifesto on the creation of the Imperial Council, but the signature under it turned out to be torn, and it did not come into force. Only a decree was signed dividing the Senate into departments.

Having taken foreign policy into his own hands, Nikita Ivanovich quickly became not only its formal, but also its actual leader. The development of foreign policy - studying the situation, thinking about further steps, preparing detailed instructions for Russian representatives abroad - all this was concentrated in the hands of Panin.

First of all, he had to solve the Polish question. After the death of Augustus III, Catherine, in her instructions to her agents, set the task of seeking the election to the Polish throne of Stanislav Poniatowski, a king “who would be useful to the interests of the empire, who, apart from us, could not have any hope of achieving this dignity.” After the Sejm decided to nominate only Poles as candidates, the foreign ambassadors - French, Austrian, Spanish and Saxon - left Warsaw in protest. On August 26, 1764, the Coronation Diet in a calm atmosphere elected the steward of the Lithuanian Count Stanislav Poniatowski as king. Panin had every reason to be pleased. Russia achieved the election of its candidate to the Polish throne, and in such a way that calm was maintained in Poland and other European powers took this event for granted. His, Panin’s, external political system began to take shape. It was based on the idea of creating the Northern Union. Panin believed that the pro-French coalition should have been opposed by an alliance of northern powers: Russia, Prussia, England, Denmark, Sweden and Poland. However, Panin alone cannot be considered the author of this program. In February 1764, Baron Y.A. Korf presented Catherine with a corresponding project on the Northern Union. Panin appreciated these ideas, took them into service, and since then the concept of the Northern Union (Northern System) has been associated mainly with his name. The draft includes the concepts of “active” and “passive” powers (on the part of the “passive” it was supposed to be content with their neutrality; Panin considered “active” powers to be those that could decide to enter into direct open struggle with the countries of the southern union: Panin considered Russia to be among the former, England, Prussia, and partly Denmark; “passive” meant Poland, Sweden and other countries that could be brought into the union).

Nikita Ivanovich Panin hoped, with the help of the Northern system, to strengthen Russia’s influence in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden, as well as in Turkey, and to shift to the allies part of the costs of combating French influence in these countries. Using the words of Panin himself, it was necessary “to once and for all, through a system, take Russia out of constant dependence and place it, through the method of a common Northern Union, at such a level that, just as it has a notable part of the leadership in general affairs, it can also inviolably maintain peace and quiet in the north.” .

Thanks to the idea of the Northern Union, Russia's foreign policy acquired a programmatic character. Actions taken in individual countries were linked into a single whole. The first serious step in creating the Northern System can be considered the conclusion of an alliance treaty between Russia and Prussia in 1764. When Russia needed Prussia's active participation in Polish affairs, the treaty was signed. The alliance with Prussia allowed St. Petersburg to influence Polish affairs, contain Turkey, “take precedence in the north” and “play the first role in Europe ... without great expense on the part of Russia.” Negotiations with Denmark turned out to be relatively easy for Panin. Nikita Ivanovich insisted that in the secret articles of the treaty Denmark undertake to help Russia against Turkey and counter French influence in Sweden. In return, Denmark received the Holstein possessions of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. In February 1765, the treaty was signed. Then Panin took energetic steps to persuade the London cabinet to sign the union agreement. But he only managed to conclude a trade agreement (1766). To stop the successful activities of Russian diplomacy, Austria and France resorted to the assistance of Turkey.

Türkiye declared war on Russia at the end of 1768. Friendly relations with Prussia, Denmark and England, that is, that part of the Northern System that was created by the beginning of the war, allowed Panin not to worry about the northern borders and concentrate entirely on the Turkish problem. Already in 1770, under the impression of the defeats it had suffered, Turkey turned to Prussia and Austria with a request for mediation in peace negotiations with Russia. In St. Petersburg they wanted to end the war as soon as possible. To successfully end the war, not only military efforts were required, but no less diplomatic ones. The reason for the outbreak of war was the unrest in Poland. Events developed in such a way that Polish affairs were closely intertwined with Turkish affairs, and they had to be resolved comprehensively. After Austria entered into a defensive alliance with Turkey in the summer of 1771, the government of Catherine II was forced to partition Poland. The issue of participation in the division was resolved between Catherine and Panin even before its discussion at the State Council. On May 16, 1771, Nikita Ivanovich “disclosed” the proposal of the Prussian king to the members of the Council. “By agreeing to partition, Russia received a triple win,” says Panin’s biographer A.V. Gavryushkin. “Firstly, a secure border with Poland. Secondly, as Panin said at the council, calming down the “Polish confusion” and, accordingly, the opportunity to withdraw, finally, from this country its troops. And, thirdly, the neutralization of Austria in the issue of the Russian-Turkish war. The Convention on the Polish question between Russia and Prussia was signed on February 6, 1772 and ratified on March 4. Panin proposed putting down other dates: signing - January 4 and ratification - February 4. Thanks to this, in the negotiations that began with the Austrians, the convention could be referred to as a fait accompli and, accordingly, deprive them of the opportunity to propose changes to its content.The trick was a success, because as soon as the discussion of the details of the agreement began , Frederick II and Kaunitz clashed over the size of the territories being captured, and Panin had to constantly urge his partners to show restraint.

In August 1772, a final agreement was already reached, sealed in three bilateral acts between Russia, Austria and Prussia. Russia received the Polish part of Livonia and part of Eastern Belarus, which at one time was torn away from Russian lands by the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. In the war with Turkey, Russian troops and navy won a number of brilliant victories, forcing the Turks to agree to peace, which was formalized in 1774 in Kuchuk-Kaynarji. Russia gained access to the Black Sea... On September 20, 1772, Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich turned 18 years old. Panin's responsibilities as a teacher ended here.

Conclusion

The favorites played an important role in the fate of Russia, influencing empresses and emperors; they skillfully carried out their plans regarding the foreign and domestic policies of the state. Sometimes the face of the emperor was only a mask of the favorite ruling the country.

References

1. Palace coups of Russia 1725-1825, Phoenix, 1998

2. History of the Russian State: Lives of the 18th century, M., Book Chamber, 1996

3. Lesin V.I., Rebels and Wars, 1997

4. Obolensky G.L., The Age of Catherine the Great. Russian Word, 2001

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