She was born in Moscow on February 8 (January 28, old style), 1693. She was middle daughter Tsar Ivan Alekseevich and Praskovya Fedorovna (née Saltykova).
In 1696, Anna Ioannovna's father died, leaving a 32-year-old widow and three daughters, almost a year old. The family of Tsar John was taken in by his paternal brother Peter I under protection, which, with Peter's tough temper, turned into complete dependence.
Anna spent her childhood in the Kremlin palaces and a residence near Moscow in the village of Izmailovo. Together with her sisters Ekaterina and Paraskeva, she was educated at home.
In 1708, together with her mother and sisters, she moved to St. Petersburg.
In 1710, on the basis of an agreement concluded between Tsar Peter I and the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I, Anna married the seventeen-year-old Duke of Courland Friedrich Wilhelm. The wedding took place on November 11 (October 31, old style) 1710 in the Menshikov Palace on Vasilyevsky Island in St. Petersburg, the wedding was performed according to the Orthodox rite.
On the occasion of Anna's marriage, feasts and celebrations in St. Petersburg lasted two months and, according to Peter's custom, moderation was not observed either in food or in wine drinking. As a result of such excesses, the newlywed fell ill, then caught a cold. Ignoring a cold, on January 20 (9, old style) January 1711, he left St. Petersburg for Courland with his young wife and died on the same day.
After the death of her husband, at the insistence of Peter I, Anna Ioannovna lived as a dowager duchess in Mitava (now Jelgava, Latvia). In Courland, the princess, constrained by means, led a modest lifestyle, repeatedly turning to Peter I for help, and then to Empress Catherine I.
Since 1712, she was strongly influenced by her favorite Chief Chamberlain Pyotr Bestuzhev-Ryumin, who in 1727 was pushed aside by a new favorite, Chief of Chambers Junker Ernst Johann Biron.
In 1726, Prince Alexander Menshikov, who himself intended to become the Duke of Courland, upset the marriage of Anna Ioannovna with Count Moritz of Saxony (illegitimate son of the Polish King August II and Countess Aurora Koenigsmark).
After the death of Emperor Peter II at the end of January 1730, the Supreme Privy Council, at the suggestion of Princes Dmitry Golitsyn and Vasily Dolgorukov, elected Anna Ioannovna, as the oldest in the Romanov family, to Russian throne subject to limited power. According to the “conditions” or “points” delivered to Mitava and signed on February 6 (January 25, old style), 1730, Anna Ioannovna had to take care of the spread of Orthodoxy in Russia, promised not to marry, not to appoint an heir to the throne at her own discretion and to keep the Supreme Privy Council. Without his consent, the Empress did not have the right to declare war and conclude peace, impose new taxes on her subjects, promote employees in both the military and civil service, distribute court posts and make public expenditures.
On February 26 (15, old style) February 1730, Anna Ioannovna solemnly entered Moscow, where, on the basis of "conditions" on March 1, 2 (February 20, 21, old style), the highest dignitaries of the state and the generals took the oath to her.
Supporters of the autocratic power of the empress, who were in opposition to the Supreme Privy Council, in the person of Andrei Osterman, Gavriil Golovkin, Archbishop Feofan (Prokopovich), Pyotr Yaguzhinsky, Antioch Kantemir, as well as the majority of the generals, officers of the guards regiments and the nobility, compiled a petition to Anna Ioannovna with 166 signatures on the restoration of autocracy, which On March 6 (February 25, old style), 1730, Prince Ivan Trubetskoy filed. After listening to the petition, Anna Ioannovna publicly tore up the "conditions", accusing their drafters of deceit. On March 9 (February 28, old style), a new oath was taken from everyone to Anna Ioannovna as the autocratic empress. The Empress was crowned in Moscow on May 9 (April 28, old style), 1730.
For political reasons, about 10 thousand people were arrested during the reign of Anna Ioannovna. Many of the princes Golitsyn and Dolgoruky, who participated in the preparation of the "conditions", were imprisoned, exiled and executed. In 1740, cabinet minister Artemy Volynsky, who opposed the Bironovshchina, and his "confidants" - architect Pyotr Eropkin, adviser to the admiralty office Andrei Khrushchev, were executed on charges of treason; exiled scholar, valid Privy Councilor Fedor Soymonov, Senator Platon Musin-Pushkin and others.
The tightening of serfdom and the tax policy towards the peasants led to popular unrest and a mass exodus of ruined peasants to the outskirts of Russia.
Positive changes have taken place in the field of education: the Land gentry was established cadet corps for the nobility, a school for the preparation of officials was created at the Senate, a seminary for 35 young men was opened at the Academy of Sciences. By the same time, the creation of the police in large cities.
The foreign policy of Russia after the death of Peter I was for a long time in the hands of Baron Andrei Osterman. Russia's victory in 1734 in a military conflict with France over the "Polish inheritance" contributed to the establishment of King Augustus III on the Polish throne. In 1735, a war was started with Turkey, which ended in 1739 with the Belgrade peace unfavorable for Russia. The wars that Russia waged during the reign of Anna Ioannovna did not bring benefits to the empire, although they raised its prestige in Europe.
The Russian court under Anna Ioannovna was distinguished by pomp and extravagance. The Empress loved masquerades, balls, hunting (she was a good shooter). She kept numerous dwarfs, dwarfs and jesters.
On October 28 (17 according to the old style) October 1740, at the age of 47, Anna Ioannovna died of kidney disease. She was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
According to the will of the Empress, the throne after her reign was to go to the descendants of her sister Catherine of Mecklenburg.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
ANNA IOANNOVNA
After her father's death in 1696, she lived with her mother and sisters in the village of Izmailovo near Moscow, where she received her home education. In 1708, on the orders of Peter I, the family moved to St. Petersburg, and in 1710 Anna was married to Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Courland, who died in January 1711 on the way from St. Petersburg to Courland, where the young people went shortly after the wedding. Anna wanted to go back, but at the insistence of Peter I she was forced to live in Mitau. Hostilely received by the Courland nobility, she soon fell under the influence of the Russian resident P. M. Bestuzhev, who became her favorite. Being in extremely cramped financial circumstances, Anna, not loved by her own mother, had to constantly turn to the Russian court and her relatives in St. Petersburg with humiliated requests for help. In 1726, as a result of the intrigues of AD Menshikov, who claimed the throne of Courland, Anna's marriage to Count Moritz of Saxony was upset. After Bestuzhev was recalled from 1727, E.I. Biron became her favorite, from whom, according to some sources, Anna had a son, who was officially considered to be born by Biron's wife. In 1730, in the conditions of a dynastic crisis after the death of Peter II, she was invited by members of the Supreme Privy Council to the Russian throne and signed the "Conditions" proposed to her by the leaders, which limited the autocracy. However, upon arrival in Moscow, Anna, having broken the “Conditions”, was proclaimed an autocratic empress. Supporters of autocratic rule and the guards were its support.
Anna Ivanovna had a difficult character, was capricious, distinguished by vindictiveness and vindictiveness. The Petersburg court of the time of Anna Ivanovna was a mixture of the old Moscow order with elements of a new European culture, brought to Russia by Peter's innovations. Lacking the ability and inclination to state activities, the empress spent time in idle court entertainments among jesters, midgets, blessed ones, fortune-tellers, old women-habitants. She loved to act as a matchmaker, loved hunting, exterminating several hundred animals driven for her every year. The clownish wedding of Prince M. Golitsyn-Kvasnik and A. Buzheninova, a Kalmyk woman, arranged for her in February 1740 in a specially built Ice House, gained particular fame. At the same time, Italian opera and ballet were popular at court. By order of Anna Ivanovna, a theater with 1,000 seats was built, and in 1737 the first ballet school in Russia was opened.
The domestic and foreign policy of Russia during the time of Anna Ivanovna was generally aimed at continuing the line of Peter I. After the dissolution of the Supreme Privy Council in 1730, the importance of the Senate was restored, and in 1731 the Cabinet of Ministers was created, which actually ruled the country. Not trusting the former political elite and the guards, the empress created new guards regiments - Izmailovsky and Cavalry, staffed by foreigners and single-palace residents of the South of Russia. At the same time, a number of the most important demands of the nobility put forward during the events of 1730 were satisfied. In 1731, Peter's Decree on single inheritance (1714) was canceled in terms of the order of inheritance of real estates, the gentry corps was established for the children of the nobles, in 1732 the salaries of Russian officers were doubled, in 1736 a 25-year term of service was established, after which the nobles could retire, it was allowed to leave one of his sons to manage the estate. At the same time, the policy of enslaving all categories of the population was continued: by decree of 1736, all workers in industrial enterprises were declared the property of their owners. The reign of Anna Ivanovna was marked by the rise of Russian industry, primarily metallurgical industry, which came out on top in the world in the production of pig iron. From the second half of the 1730s. the gradual transfer of state-owned enterprises into private hands began, which was enshrined in the Berg Regulations (1739), which stimulated private entrepreneurship.
The reign of Anna Ivanovna also entered the historiography as the time of the "Bironism", which is usually interpreted as the dominance of foreigners and the tightening of police repression. In reality, Biron, B.K. Minich, A.I. Osterman, the Levenwolde brothers, who held high positions at her court, and others participated in the struggle for political influence on the empress along with the Russian nobles, without forming a single “German party”. The number of those convicted in these years by the Privy Chancellery on average did not differ much from similar indicators of the previous and subsequent times, and among them there are practically no cases related to anti-German sentiments. The most famous are the trials against the princes Dolgoruky, prince D. M. Golitsyn, as well as the case of A. P. Volynsky.
Anna was emphatically pious, superstitious, and showed concern for the strengthening of Orthodoxy. Under her, new theological seminaries were opened, and the death penalty for blasphemy was established (1738).
The actual leader of Russian foreign policy under Anna Ivanovna was AI Osterman, who in 1726 achieved the signing of an alliance treaty with Austria, which determined the nature of the country's foreign policy for several decades. In 1733-1735, the allies jointly participated in the war for the "Polish inheritance", which resulted in the expulsion of Stanislav Leshchinsky and the election of August III to the Polish throne. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1735-1739, the Russian army twice (1736, 1738) entered the Crimea and ravaged it, the Turkish fortresses of Ochakov and Khotyn were captured. However, the inept actions of Minich, who commanded the army, which led to heavy casualties, forced Russia to sign the Belgrade Peace, which was unfavorable for her, according to which she was supposed to return all the conquered lands to Turkey.
Shortly before her death, Anna Ivanovna proclaimed her great-nephew, the young Ivan Antonovich, heir to the throne, and Biron as regent under him. Anna Ivanovna was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
* Russo-Turkish War(1735-1739) - conducted by Russia (in alliance with Austria) for access to the Black Sea and to suppress raids Crimean Tatars. Russian troops under the command of B.K. Minikh took Azov, Ochakov, Khotin, Yassy, twice occupied the Crimea. It ended with the Peace of Belgrade in 1739.
The reign of Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740) is called "Bironovshchina". This name is logical, since the favorite of the Empress Ernst Johann Biron ran all the affairs in the country. "Bironovshchina" is characterized by increased investigation, repression, reprisals, inept government of the country, and so on. Was it really that bad? Indeed, the regime of Anna's rule was much tougher compared to what was happening under Catherine 1 and Peter 2. But it is impossible to say that there was tyranny in Russia at that time and a bloody regime. In many ways, this topic was promoted by Catherine 2, and under her reign, Anna Ioannovna began to be viewed from an extremely negative point of view. In fact, the reality was not as terrible and not as unambiguous as it is customary to talk about it.
Any modern history textbook reduces the essence of Bironism to the following:
- Bloody regime with tougher police investigation.
- Waste, bribery and embezzlement, as a result of which Russia did not have a budget.
- Biron negatively influenced Anna.
- The terrible dominance of Russia by the Germans. The Germans are to blame for all the troubles of the regime.
Let's take a step-by-step look at how things really were, and what happened in the Russian Empire from 1730 to 1740.
Byron's bloody regime
Biron, for all his shortcomings, did not like blood and resorted to violence only in case of emergency. Indeed, executions, repressions and punishments of various levels have increased in Russia. But to say that this is the ideas of Bironovism, and that the Germans are to blame for this, is impossible. Suffice it to say that Ushakov, not Biron, was responsible for the police investigation, repressions and executions. Let me remind you that Ushakov is a man of Peter 1, whose regime was really bloody and merciless. And in terms of the volume of repressions, the reign of Anna Ioannovna did not even come close to what happened in the Petrine era. After all, even Peter 1 himself was a terrible connoisseur of executions of torture and violence. An illustrative example - he tortured his own son, Tsarevich Alexei, with his own hands, and tortured him to death.
Therefore, it is impossible to say that Biron's regime was bloody and merciless. Everything is relative. Just 10-15 years before him, the regime was much more dangerous and bloodthirsty, but in the textbooks Biron is a tyrant, and Peter 1 is an advanced person. But this is not even the point - Biron had a mediocre attitude to repressions and executions. Direct fault on Ushakov (not German - Russian).
The situation in the economy
By the end of 1731 the treasury was empty. The main reason is a luxurious life at court, theft, lack of management in the country, bribes. The question of finding money arose. Biron solved it together with Anna due to 3 sources:
- They began to squeeze out arrears from peasants and ordinary townspeople. In general, it is interesting that as soon as Russian Empire ran out of money - immediately the rulers began to look for ways to get it from the peasants.
- Increase in the number of repressions. After the repression, all the property of a person was transferred to the treasury. For 10 years, 20 thousand people were repressed.
- Sale of rights to use (extract) natural resources.
Only 5 years passed between the reign of Peter 1 and the "Bironovshchina" (the reign of Anna Ioannovna). During this time, the cost of maintaining the yard has grown almost 6 times.! The French ambassador wrote about this: “For all the luxury of the Court, no one else is paid money.” To no one does this mean the army, navy, officials, scientists, and so on. The money was barely enough to keep the Court in luxury. The main point of their attraction is arrears. For example, in 1732 they planned to collect 2.5 million rubles in taxes, but in reality they collected 187 thousand. That is, the arrears were terrible. To seize them from the population, the Empress, at the suggestion of Biron, organized "finishing raids." This is a regular army, which knocked out arrears from people by any means. This was the essence of "Bironism" - a tough, bloody regime, merciless to its people. The response of the population is a bad attitude towards the Germans. It was believed that all the troubles were due to the fact that there were a lot of Germans at the court (the same Biron), who did not care about the Russian people. Regarding the "finishing raid" - the idea of setting the army on the population is not an invention of Anna and her entourage. This is a smooth continuation of the policy of Peter 1.
Foreigners (mostly Germans) did not spare the Russian treasury. In my opinion, case in point why there was not enough money in Russia - these are unreasonable expenses. For 10 years, Biron bought jewelry (for himself and relatives) at the expense of the treasury in the amount of 2 million rubles. For comparison, during the same time, 470 thousand rubles were spent on the maintenance of the Academy of Sciences.
Another problem is bribes. Biron was very fond of bribes, but then everyone took bribes. The most famous bribe received by Biron is 1 million rubles from the British for the right to transport goods through Russia without duty. As a result, the treasury annually lost 5 million rubles.
Are the Germans to blame for everything?
The Germans occupied many key positions under Anna: the favorite - Biron, diplomacy - Osterman and Levendom, the army - Minich, industry - Schemberg, colleges - Mengden and so on. But there is also back side, which is often forgotten - there were a large number of Russian people who held high positions, and they should fully share the responsibility for the Bironovshchina regime. Suffice it to say that the head of the secret office was Andrey Ushakov, who was one of the five most influential people of his time. Nevertheless, only the Germans are blamed for all the troubles of the era.
An important fact showing that no one pushed the Russian nobility is the number of generals in the army. In 1729 (before Anna's accession), there were 71 generals in the army, of which 41 were foreigners (58%). In 1738 there were 61 generals and 31 foreigners (51%). Moreover, it was during the period of "Bironism" that the rights of foreign and Russian officers were equalized in the army. This inequality was introduced by Peter 1, obliging to pay double salaries to foreign officers. Burchard Munnich, who commanded the army, canceled this decree and equalized salaries in the army. Moreover, it was Minich who in 1732 forbade the recruitment of foreign officers into the army.
Biron's influence on Anna or Anna on Biron?
One of the main myths national history- Biron negatively influenced Anna, awakening base feelings in her, under which the regime of "Bironism" was feasible. It is difficult to check who influenced whom and how (after all, if someone is able to influence the Russian Empress to such an extent that she began to arrange mass executions, then such a person, in principle, should not be in power). Another thing is that the negative character traits were inherent in Anna herself much more than in Biron. A few examples will suffice to prove this:
- The Empress reveled in cruelty. This was partly reflected in her passion for hunting. But for Anna, hunting was not a sporting interest, but a manic desire to kill. Judge for yourself. Only for 1 summer season of 1739, Anna personally killed: 9 deer, 1 wolf, 374 hares, 16 wild goats, 16 gulls, 4 wild boars, 608 ducks. 1028 killed animals in just 1 season!
- Anna Ioannovna's favorite pastime, from which she laughed to tears, was the fights of jesters. They fought among themselves, attacked those who came to the Court, threw feces at them, and so on. The Empress was delighted.
Biron himself was a poorly educated, arrogant, rude person. But he did not share Anna's weakness. Biron had another hobby - horses. At that time they knew - if you want to please Biron - you must be well versed in horses. The favorite spent almost all his time in the stables and arenas.
With horses he is a man, and with people he is a horse.
Today it is customary to blame Biron for deciding almost all state issues in the stable. But this is nothing more than a habit. Why is this habit worse than the habit of Count Shuvalov (Mikhail Lomonosov's patron), who conducted the reception at the moments when he was cut, curled, dyed, and so on?
A much more telling example in the difference between the characters of Anna and Ernest is the reaction to the opinions of others. Anna literally demanded that Ushakov (the head of the secret police) daily report what others were saying about her. She was extremely concerned about this. Biron, on the other hand, stopped any reports of Ushakov, since he was absolutely indifferent to what was said about him behind his back. Psychologically, this is strong personality unlike Anna.
On the way to favoritism
Many historians say that Anna herself became a German, therefore Russia is a foreign country for her and therefore she did not even rule her. These are nothing more than words, and the fact is that Anna Ioannovna, despite living in Courland, never learned German language!
In 1710, Peter 1 gave Anna in marriage to Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Courland. The marriage turned out to be short-lived: on October 31, 1710 they played a wedding, and on January 10, 1711 Friedrich-Wilhelm died. So Anna became the Duchess of Courland. At her court in 1718, a provincial German nobleman, Ernst Biron, appeared. Further among historians there are 2 versions:
- An affair begins between Anna and Ernst.
- In 1718, Bestuzhev-Ryumin was Anna's favorite, and only in 1727 did Biron become the favorite.
It is impossible to say which version is true. The official story converges on the second option. Here I would like to make one more point. The word “favorite” sounds very beautiful, and many people can hardly imagine what is hidden behind it. The really favorite is the lover. Nevertheless, in the era of palace coups, the favorites played an even greater role at court than the emperors themselves.
For a long time Anna was dependent on Biron, especially when she lived in Courland. Biron, although he was not of the most noble origin, was still his own. Anna was a stranger. The local nobles listened to Biron, but not to Anna. Let me remind you, by the way, that Anna never learned German. In those years, they became very close, and in the future Anna could no longer live without Biron.
The father of the future Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna (01/28/1693-10/17/1740) - Ivan V, did not have time to leave any long memory, being very weak in health. It is not surprising that his much more energetic brother, Peter, subsequently began to single-handedly rule Russia, having become famous for centuries under the name of the Great. However, Ivan's daughter, Anna, also, figuratively speaking, snatched her piece of the pie under the name "Russian throne".
Biography of Anna Ioannovna
Her father died when the girl was only three years old. Her mother tried to give her a good home upbringing and education. The family was acquired in Izmailovo near Moscow. Uncle, Tsar Peter, ordered to marry the girl to the Duke of Courland Friedrich Wilhelm. However, the unexpected happened: just two months after the wedding celebrations, the newly-made husband caught a cold and died. So Anna Ioannovna was forced to stay in Courland. She was desperate for money and constantly asked for financial assistance either from Peter himself or from Menshikov. Those helped rarely and reluctantly. After the death of the young Emperor Peter II, the fate of Anna Ioannovna took a sharp turn. In fact, the princes Dolgoruky presented the Russian crown on a silver platter, hoping that Anna would reign, but not rule. And they were sorely mistaken! Anna terminated all preliminary agreements, publicly tore up the signed papers and began to rule alone. The reign of Anna Ioannovna lasted 10 years. Duke Biron became her only heartfelt affection, but the Empress did not marry him. Having no children of her own, Anna declared Ivan, the infant son of her niece, Anna Leopoldovna, heir. He did not have a chance to rule - power as a result of another palace coup took the daughter of Peter I,. John Antonovich ended his days in the fortress.
Domestic policy of Anna Ioannovna
The Supreme Privy Council was replaced by a new state body - the Cabinet of Ministers. The position of the Senate again strengthened. Anna restored the Secret Office. The nobles were ordered to serve 25 years. The Shlyakhetsky Cadet Corps is established. New guards regiments appeared - Izmailovsky and Horse. The construction of the ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin continued, the now famous Tsar Bell was cast. The Imperial Court returned from Moscow to St. Petersburg. There was a dominance of foreigners (mainly Germans) at the Russian court. The "Russian Party" was subjected to repression, its leaders were executed. The first Russian historiographer was V.N. Tatishchev. He was repeatedly subjected to public humiliation at court, but still he was respected and the poet V.K. Trediakovsky was invited to solemn receptions.
Foreign policy of Anna Ioannovna
Due to various circumstances, the predecessors of Anna Ioannovna on the Russian throne - Catherine I and Peter II - did little and were able to do little for the good and prosperity of the country, which cannot be said about her. With all the tyranny in public policy, Anna was firm and adamant, showing a lively mind and a sober thought. The traditions of Peter I were continued with dignity. Russian protege August III took the Polish throne. Numerous trade agreements were concluded with such countries as Sweden, England, Spain, Persia. Some success was achieved thanks to the war with Turkey. So, the fortresses of Azov and Ochakov became Russian. The capture of the Khotin fortress was sung by M.V. Lomonosov.
- From the memoirs of contemporaries, it is known about the structure of the so-called. "ice house" for a jester's wedding. This cruel fun is only one of the most famous during the reign of Anna Ioannovna.
- The Empress loved to have fun shooting birds, like the last of the Romanovs - Emperor Nicholas II.
- The massacre of the recent favorites Dolgoruky made a gloomy impression on Russian society and struck with some medieval types of executions, so the favorite and drinking companion of Peter II, Ivan Dolgoruky, was subjected to wheeling.
17.10.1740 (30.10). - Empress Anna Ioannovna died
Anna Ioannovna (28.01.1693–17.10.1740), Russian Empress(since 1730), daughter of the Tsar and Praskovya Saltykova. Anna's childhood passed in the village of Izmailovo near Moscow, where she lived with her mother and sisters after the death of her father, surrounded by many pilgrims, holy fools, fortune-tellers, cripples and wanderers who found permanent shelter at the court of Tsaritsa Praskovya. They taught the princesses the Russian language, history, geography and calligraphy. Anna's uncle, wished the nieces knew foreign languages and dancing, and therefore A.I. was assigned to them as a tutor and teacher of the German language. Osterman (older brother of the future Vice-Chancellor).
In 1710, at the age of seventeen, Anna, for Peter's foreign policy reasons, was married off to the nephew of the Prussian king, Duke of Courland Friedrich Wilhelm, who died unexpectedly in 1711. Despite the death of the duke, the seventeen-year-old widow, according to the will of Peter, had to stay in Courland and surround herself with the Germans, only occasionally coming to visit her relatives in Russia. Peter hoped to marry her again to a useful foreigner and did not want to see her in Russia. The same continued for and . Anna Ioannovna never married for the second time, but she got a constant lover E.I. Biron.
After the death of Peter II, which ended the male offspring of the Romanov dynasty, Anna was invited on January 25, 1730 to the Russian throne by the Supreme Privy Council at the suggestion of D.M. Golitsyn and V.L. Dolgorukov. The leaders tried to limit the autocracy in the interests of the liberties of the aristocracy, which was reflected in the "Conditions", the conditions for accession to the Russian throne, and other documents related to reform government controlled. Anna signed the “Conditions”, according to which, without the Supreme Privy Council, she could not declare war, make peace, introduce new taxes and taxes, promote to the ranks above the colonel, grant estates, deprive a nobleman of life, honor and property without trial, marry, appoint an heir to the throne. However, having arrived in Moscow, Anna received support from the opposition (A.I. Osterman, Feofan Prokopovich, P.I. Yaguzhinsky, A.D. Kantemir). Convinced of the fidelity of the nobility, who handed her a petition on February 25, 1730 with a request to restore autocratic power, Anna tore up the “Conditions”.
Having come to power, Anna dissolved the Supreme Privy Council (1730), restored the importance of the Senate, established the Cabinet of Ministers (1731), which included A.I. Osterman, G.I. Golovkin, A.M. Cherkassky. During the reign of Anna, the decree on single inheritance was canceled (1731), the Gentry Cadet Corps was established (1731), the service of the nobles was limited to 25 years. Unfortunately, Anna's inner circle consisted of foreigners (E.I. Biron, K.G. Levenwolde, B.X. Minich, P.P. Lassi). Biron, the lover of the Empress, gained enormous influence. "Bironovshchina", personifying political terror, embezzlement of public funds, licentiousness, disrespect for Russian traditions, became a dark page in Russian history.
In this atmosphere, the Jewish financier Levi Lipman from the Baltics, closely associated with Biron, gained enormous influence, Biron "transferred to him almost all financial management and various trade monopolies." One of the ambassadors at the Russian court wrote that “it is Limpan who governs Russia” (Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. IV, p. 591; X. S. 224-225).
A protest was ripening in the Russian nobility, but Anna dealt with the dissatisfied. Golitsyn and Dolgoruky, whose performances in January-February 1730 Anna did not forgive, were later imprisoned, exiled, and executed. In 1730–1736 9 bishops were defrocked. In 1740, A.P. Volynsky, P.M. Eropkin, A.F. Khrushchev, exiled by A.F. Soymonov and P.I. Musin-Pushkin. So Anna and her entourage dealt with Cabinet Minister L.P. Volynsky and his supporters, who sought to limit the influence of foreigners on the domestic and foreign policy of Russia. The executed were counted up to 1000 people, not including those who died during the investigation and executed secretly. And there weren't many of those either. In total, more than 30 thousand people were subjected to various kinds of repression.
With Peter I, she was brought together by a strong inclination to buffoonery and a predilection for rough amusements. Being a lover of various "curiosities", Anna Ioannovna kept people, animals and birds unusual in their external features at the court. She had giants and dwarfs, hunchbacks and hunchbacks, crackers and jesters who entertained her in moments of boredom, as well as storytellers who told her bedtime stories. One of the most common tricks, which enjoyed constant success with the Empress, was to squat down and cackle like a chicken that has laid an egg. Another fun was that one half of the fools stood facing the wall, while the other rewarded them with kicks. On an imperial scale, a jester's wedding was played in the ice palace of her jester, Prince. Mikhail Golitsyn on the cracker Buzheninova. Worked on the execution of the idea state commission led by Volynsky. Anna Ivanovna spent huge sums on various festivities, balls, masquerades, solemn receptions of ambassadors, fireworks and illuminations. Even foreigners were amazed at the luxury of her court.
Anna Ioannovna's special passion was shooting and hunting. Under the threat of hard labor, hunting was prohibited for a space of 30 versts in the vicinity of the capital. For court hunting, bears, wolves, wild boars, deer, foxes were collected from all over Russia and kept in a menagerie. From June 10 to August 23, 1740, the lists of "prey" killed only by Her Majesty included 9 deer, 16 roe deer, 4 wild boars, a wolf, 374 hares, 68 wild ducks and 16 sea birds.
The empress, according to the conclusion, had a naturally limited mind (besides, she did not have state-political knowledge), but she was distinguished by clarity in her views and fidelity in her judgments. There was no love for praise in her, no higher ambition, therefore no desire to do great things, to establish new laws. At the same time, Anna must be recognized for a certain methodicalness, a great love for order, a constant concern not to do anything hastily and without advice from experienced people.
Apparently, therefore, in 1730 the Empress issued a manifesto to the Synod demanding that the purity of the Orthodox faith be observed, that heresies, schisms and superstitions be eradicated; ordered the burning of sorcerers (1731); in 1738 the death penalty was established for blasphemy. In the army, under the leadership of Munnich, military reform, the Izmailovsky and Horse Guards regiments were formed. In foreign policy in 1733–1735 Anna contributed to the establishment of the Elector of Saxony Stanislaw August (August III) on the Polish throne, Russia sought to strengthen its influence in Poland and Germany. The fight continued with Ottoman Empire for the Black Sea region and the Balkans (1735–1739). And although the Crimean Khanate was defeated in this war, due to the support of Turkey by Austria, the war ended with the Belgrade peace unfavorable for Russia.
Before her death, Anna appointed the baby, her great-nephew, the great-grandson of Ivan V, as the heir to his daughter Catherine in her marriage to the Prince of Brunswick, under the regency of E.I. Biron.
However, the dominance of "Bironovshchina" caused the widest discontent among the people, and among the nobility, and, of course, in Russian court circles. It was they who, a year later, brought the daughter of Peter I to power by means of a guards coup on November 25, 1741.
Materials of L.N. Vdovina, O.V. Sukharev, K. Ryzhova
