URL : https://www.valka.cz/Pavel-I-t21937#83635
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The son of Catherine II. Catherine the Great and Peter III, was born in 1754, lost his father at the age of seven, and it became rumored that his real father was Count Saltykov, the tsarina's lover. The tsarevna secretly encouraged these rumours in order to thwart efforts to put her son on the throne when he came of age! Instead, Paul met the fate of an "infinite" heir. His upbringing was entrusted to N.I. Panin, a politician of enlightened birth. He left in Paul a certain affection for the ideas of reform, but this took its toll after the outbreak of the French Revolution, of which Paul was a bitter enemy.
In 1772, Paul and his newlywed wife, Princess Vilemina of Hesse (Russian name Natalia Alexeyevna), made a tour of Europe. He garnered considerable sympathy in the West, much to the displeasure of Catherine II, who planned to pass the throne to her grandson Alexander. Catherine II. "discovered" the infidelity of Paul's wife and she died soon afterwards in mysterious circumstances. Paul becomes a suspicious and erratic man.
In 1796, at the age of 42, he becomes tsar-emperor. He consolidates his absolutism while declaring war on revolutionary France. At court, he introduces German fashion in the manner of his father, and tightens court etiquette. The army is most severely affected by his new regulations, where corporal punishment is introduced even for officers! His pedantry went so far as to control the length of his officers' locks, which Marshal Suvorov protested against - he was dismissed. There was an anecdote circulating where one of the courtiers bet that he would pull Pavel's wig and nothing would happen to him. He did so, the Tsar accosted him, but he pointed out that he did not have his braid in the seam. The Czar thanked him graciously! There were penalties for breaking your rules. For the "disobedient" there was a so-called kibitka, a green anton, which took them to Siberian exile. The stifling atmosphere in the country led to the formation of an anti-Pavlovian opposition, headed by the military governor of St. Petersburg, Pahlen.
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Pavel-I-t21937#83841
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