Paul I 1754-1801, czar of Russia (1796-1801), son and successor of Catherine II. His mother disliked him intensely and sought on several occasions to change the succession to his disadvantage. During Catherine's lifetime Paul opposed her domestic policy, which strengthened the nobility, and her expansionist foreign policy. Upon his accession he introduced a law of succession based on primogeniture to strengthen the autocracy against the nobility. Paul rescinded many of the nobles' rights, limited the power of the imperial guards, and attempted to place limits on the nobility's exploitation of their serfs. He encouraged trade and industry and attempted to modernize the armed forces. His erratic conduct and whimsical application of petty regulations, however, caused great discontent. He prohibited foreign travel, certain types of dress, and the importation of Western books and music. In foreign policy, Paul joined (1798) the second coalition against France, but withdrew from the coalition the next year. He formed an armed neutrality league of Russia, Denmark, Sweden, and Prussia to counter English interference in neutral shipping, and he ordered an abortive invasion of India. Dissatisfaction with his rule, particularly among the nobles and military officers, led to a conspiracy against Paul, and he was murdered. His son and successor, Alexander I, knew of the conspiracy but did not participate in the murder.

Paul I (1754–1801) Emperor of Russia (1796–1801). He was the disturbed son of the empress CATHERINE II and Peter III, and was greatly affected by the murder of his father during Catherine's coup d'état in 1762. After Catherine's death in 1796 he began a reign of frenzied despotism. He was obsessed by a fear of revolution and joined the coalitions against France. His attempts to violate the order of succession led to a conspiracy, which included his son, Alexander I, and in March 1801 resulted in his murder.

Paul I

The Russian czar Paul I (1754-1801), the son and successor of Catherine the Great, reigned from 1796 until his assassination in 1801. Noted for his tyranny, he reversed many of his mother's policies.

Born on Sept. 20, 1754, Paul I was the son of Emperor Peter III and Catherine the Great. Empress Elizabeth brought Paul up under her personal supervision, and his schooling was under the direction of Nikita Ivanovich Panin, who later became Catherine's chief diplomatic adviser. Under the guidance of a carefully selected group of teachers, Paul studied geography, history, and mathematics. He learned to speak Russian, French, and German fluently. At the age of 19 Paul married Wilhemina, daughter of the landgrave of Hesse, but this marriage was brief and unhappy. His wife died in childbirth in April 1776. In September of that year Paul married Sophie Dorothy, Princess of Württemberg, who took the name of Fedorovna. Between 1777 and 1798 Fedorovna bore four sons and six daughters.

Catherine disliked Paul intensely and on several occasions attempted to change the law of succession to his disadvantage. In 1783 she gave him an estate near St. Petersburg. Paul spent the next 13 years in semiretirement at Gatchina, living the life of a country squire and garrison commander. He made rare appearances at the royal court and opposed both his mother's domestic and foreign policies.

Despite Catherine the Great's attempts to make Paul's son Alexander her successor, Paul ascended the Russian throne following his mother's death in 1796. One of his first legislative measures was the abolition of the arbitrary power of the czar to nominate his successor, a power that had contributed to political instability in 18th-century Russia. A law promulgated on the day of Paul's coronation made the crown hereditary in the house of Romanov and defined the order of succession based on primogeniture.

Paul as emperor repealed many of the nobles' privileges, restricted the duties and powers of the imperial guards, and tried to place restrictions on the exploitation of the serfs by the upper classes. Paul encouraged trade and industry, and he also attempted to modernize the armed forces. His conduct, however, was on occasion erratic and tyrannical, such as in his prohibition of foreign travel, Western music and books, and various types of dress.

In foreign policy, Paul joined in 1798 the second coalition against France, but Russia withdrew a year later. In order to discourage English interference with neutral shipping, Paul formed an armed neutrality league with Denmark, Sweden, and Prussia.

Paul's unpredictable—possibly mentally ill—behavior led to a conspiracy to force his abdication. His son Alexander assented to the coup d'etat of March 11, 1801. However, when Paul refused to abdicate, the conspirators strangled him.

Further Reading

The most authoritative study of the reign of Paul I is in Russian. Martha Edith Almedingen, So Dark a Stream: A Study of the Emperor Paul I of Russia, 1754-1801 (1959), is a popularly written biography. There is a good section on Paul in Alexander A. Kornilov, Modern Russian History (3 vols., 1912-1914; trans., 2 vols., 1916-1917), and in Ronald Hingley, The Tsars: Russian Autocrats, 1533-1917 (1968). Hans Rogger, National Consciousness in 18th Century Russia (1960), traces the emergence of a sense of national identity among the cosmopolitan elite.

Additional Sources

McGrew, Roderick E. (Roderick Erle), Paul I of Russia, 1754-1801, Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Paul I, a reassessment of his life and reign, Pittsburgh: University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh, 1979. □