Czar Paul I

 

 

Image from saint-petersburg.com. Engraving by Jean-Jaques Outhwaite. 

 

                                On March 11, 1801, Czar Paul I was assassinated. 

    The son of Peter III and Catherine the Great, Paul I ruled Russia from 1796 until his death in 1801. From a young age, Paul was fascinated with the military and enjoyed drilling troops. When he ascended to the throne in 1796, Czar Paul I issued a Prussian style military drill manual that incorporated strict discipline and the use of violence to enforce correct behaviors. He also introduced several strict and outrageous rules, such as a 10 p.m. curfew in major cities, the banning of sideburns, as well as all things French, and the prohibition of the waltz, among several others. All in all, Paul I was a reactionary ruler who enforced strict rulings and reversed many of the progressive policies set in place by Catherine the Great. 

    His tight discipline and miserable regulations made Paul I an incredibly unpopular ruler, especially among the military. This led to a plot to assassinate the czar and install his son, Alexander I, as ruler by two officers: Count Pyotr Alexeevich Palen and General Levin Bennigsen. On the evening of March 11, 1801, Bennigsen led a group of men as they broke into the czar's bedroom and began to beat and choke the mad tyrant. Having been bludgeoned several times, Paul I was dead before midnight and it is unknown which of the conspirators caused the killing blow. 

    The czar's cause of death was officially reported as apoplexy. There is a legend that the ghost of Paul I haunts St. Michael's Palace to this day. Following his father's assassination, Alexander I became the ruler of Russia and led the country to victory against Napoleon in 1812 - in a way continuing Paul I's anti-French legacy.