Anna of Russia
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H.I.M. Anna Ivanovna, Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias, Duchess of Courland |
Anna Ivanovna () (
February 7,
1693,
Moscow -
October 28,
1740) reigned as
Duchess of
Courland from 1711 to 1730 and as
Empress of
Russia from 1730 to 1740.
Anna was the daughter of
Ivan V of Russia, as well as the niece of
Peter the Great. The latter married her to Frederick William, Duke of
Courland in November
1710, but on the return trip from
Saint Petersburg in January
1711 her husband died from surfeit. Anna continued ruling as Duchess of Courland (now western
Latvia) from 1711 to 1730, with the Russian resident,
Peter Bestuzhev, as her adviser. She never remarried after the death of her husband, but was reputed by her enemies to indulge in a love affair with
Count Biron for many years.
On the death of
Peter II, Emperor of
Russia, the Russian
Supreme Privy Council under Prince
Dmitry Galitzine made Anna Empress in
1730. They had hoped that she would feel indebted to the nobles for her unexpected fortune and remain a figurehead at best, and malleable at worst. In the hope of establishing a
constitutional monarchy in Russia, they convinced her to sign articles that limited her power. However, these proved a minor inconvenience to her, and soon she established herself as an autocratic ruler, using her popularity with the
imperial guards and lesser nobility.
As one of her first acts to consolidate this power she restored the
security police, which she used to intimidate and
terrorize those who opposed her and her policies. Although she did not move the capital back to
Moscow, she spent most of her time at that city in the company of her foolish and ignorant maids. Finding delight in humiliating old nobility, she arranged the marriage of old Prince Galitzine with one of her maids, an elderly
Kalmyk, dressed them as clowns, and had them spend their wedding night naked in a specially constructed
ice palace during the exceptionally harsh winter of 1739-40.
Having a distrust of Russian nobles, Anna kept them from powerful positions, instead giving those to Baltic
Germans. She raised to the throne of
Courland one
Ernst Johann Biren, who gained her particular favour and had considerable influence over her policies. His archrival, the anti-German cabinet minister
Artemy Petrovich Volynsky, was executed several months before Anna's death. Biren was sufficiently prudent not to meddle with foreign affairs or with the army, and these departments were in the able hands of two other foreigners, who thoroughly identified themselves with Russia,
Andrey Osterman and
Burkhardt Munnich.
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The crown of Anna Ivanovna |
They allied the country with
Charles VI, (
Holy Roman Emperor from 1711 to 1740), and committed Russia during the
War of the Polish Succession (
1733–
1735). Afterwards, they made
Augustus III the king of
Poland at the expense of
Stanislaw Leszczynski and other candidates. In
1736 Anna declared war on the
Ottoman Empire, but Charles made a separate peace with the Porte, forcing Russia to follow suit and to give up all recently captured territories with the exception of
Azov. This war marks the beginning of that systematic struggle on the part of Russia to cover her natural and legitimate southern boundaries which was brought to fruition by
Catherine the Great. Anna's reign saw the beginnings of Russian territorial expansion into
Central Asia.
Anna was famed for her big cheek, "which, as shown in her portraits,"
Carlyle says, "was comparable to a
Westphalian ham". As her health declined she declared her grand nephew,
Ivan VI, should succeed her. This was an attempt to secure the line of her father,
Ivan V, and exclude descendants of
Peter the Great from inheriting the throne.
Anna died at the age of 47 of
kidney disease.
Ivan VI was only a one year old baby at the time and his mother,
Anna Leopoldovna, was detested for her German counsellors and relations. As a consequence, shortly after Anna's death
Elizabeth Petrovna,
Peter I's legitimatized daughter, managed to gain favor of populace and exiled Anna while locking Ivan VI in a dungeon.
