The Empress Elizabeth, who ruled Russia from 1741 to 1761, is remembered more for her 15,000 dresses, fun-loving nature and great beauty, than for any political decision she ever made. Overshadowed by her legendary descendant, Catherine the Great, Elizabeth is praised for sponsoring the founding of Moscow University, but her other achievements and important failures have been passed over. Her personal flaws and virtues have been hidden under an official portrait of loveliness and good-natured indolence. Is this treatment warranted or simply the fate of a beautiful woman “trespassing in politics?” Historian Nikolai Pavlenko offers an interpretive look at the days and nights of Peter the Great’s passionate daughter. Illustrations from great encyclopedia of russia.
After the death of Peter the Great, Russia had to wait for 37 years before the throne was occupied by an heir worthy of him, Catherine II. In the meantime, six different men and women tried their hand at Peter’s job with varying degrees of success. Among these, the Bronze Horseman’s handsome daughter, Elizabeth, was the most talented, remaining in power a full 20 years, from 1741 to 1761. But besides being Peter the Great’s daughter, prone to cross-dressing and selfish pleasure, who was Elizabeth? And, most importantly, what is her role in Russian history: a frivolous figurehead or a competent stateswoman? Or, could it even be, strangely enough, both?
Elizabeth, like all her female counterparts in the nobility, was not brought up to be the main governing figure in the country. She was supposed be a charming wife and mother, the well-bred mate of an upper-class husband selected from among numerous German noblemen. Ironically, she became neither. But, as benefiting her elevated station, she did master the sort of genteel manners that had escaped Peter the Great, and even became fluent in several European languages. She was also an accomplished dancer and rider.
Raised in a sequestered environment, the flighty and beautiful Elizabeth remained, for a long time, fairly indifferent to whatever might happen in Russia’s power corridors. This apathy pleased the current Empress, Anna, who was uneasy about Elizabeth’s political potential, since not only was she the daughter of Russia’s legendary tsar, but as a stunning woman, had many supporters at Court and in the army.
Therefore, Empress Anna, the late tsar’s niece, a very fat, tall and unattractive woman, did not like being around the lovely Elizabeth. The latter perceived the root of the empress’ unfriendliness and did her best to avoid her company. Instead she occupied herself with things more common for a woman of her standing: men, clothing and her legendary beauty.
She was apparently very successful, since the Spanish envoy, DeLiria, said at the time, “The 18 year-old princess is a rare beauty. She’s got a fair complexion, expressive eyes, and the best physique you’ve ever seen. She is tall and lively, she is good at dancing and riding. She is not without intelligence and likes to attract men’s attention.”
Living up to her reputation, she found time to turn the impressionable head of her 14 year old nephew, then Tsar Peter II, while she was also seeing a military officer on the side. Once Peter II found out about the existence of his lowly rival, however, he angrily spurned Elizabeth’s further overtures.
Elizabeth’s life began to change in the autumn of 1740, when the Empress Anna died. Shortly before her death, the empress had chosen Ivan, the two-month-old son of her niece Anna and the Prince of Brunswick, Anton Ulrich, to be heir to the Russian crown. Though both of Ivan’s parents resided at court, the Empress selected her favorite (and the power behind her throne), Ernst-Johann Biron, to be regent until Ivan attained his majority. Ivan, like the empress Anna, was of the lineage of Ivan V, Peter the Great’s half-brother and co-tsar.
Impatient to rule herself, 22 days after the empress’ death, Anna overthrew Biron and installed herself as regent for Ivan VI. Elizabeth, meanwhile, following the course of her royal blood, was not one to sit by while her relatives had all the fun of ruling the country. With the support of her many friends, Elizabeth was determined to win the much-coveted crown.
Among those who helped Elizabeth, in order to further their own ends, were her private physician, Lestocq and two ambassadors from France and Sweden. Lestocq, who had urged her to take control as far back as 1730, desired, and later received, the position of Chief Royal Physician, while the ambassadors nurtured far-reaching political aims.
The French ambassador, Marquis de la Chetardie, entered the conspiracy hoping to establish better relations between Russia and his country, while the Swedish ambassador wanted to rid Russia of the many Germans who at that time occupied high government positions in the country. According to his plan, victorious Swedish troops were supposed to enter St. Petersburg to present the crown to Elizabeth. Elizabeth, however, would have to pay for this service by returning Estland (now Estonia) and Liveland (a territory now occupied by northern Lithuania and southern Estonia) to Sweden.
To the utter disappointment of the Swedes, Elizabeth refused to negotiate the issue of returning what had been won by her father in 1721. She was smart enough to see that the Swedish proposal, if accepted, would be to the detriment of her personal rating as a monarch, as it was nothing short of a national humiliation.
As it turned out, Sweden decided to take matters into its own hands. On July 27, 1741, Sweden unexpectedly declared war on Russia.
In the meanwhile, the domestic situation in Russia was getting more contentious. Anna’s reign was full of palace intrigues and scandalous love affairs. The Imperial Guard, tired of a court that was dominated by Germans, and rightfully worried they would be sent north to fight in the war with Sweden, sought to replace Anna with Elizabeth. The cheerful and good-looking daughter of Peter the Great was quite popular among military officers.
Matters came to a head in late November. On the 23rd, Anna confronted Elizabeth with rumors that the latter was plotting a coup. Denying the assertion, Elizabeth returned to consult with Lecocq and other allies. By the next evening, when it became clear she had to act (or face a nunnery), she prayed in her room, pledging to do away with capital punishment in Russia if she was successful.
Just after midnight on the morning of the 25th, Elizabeth and her allies arrived at the barracks of the elite Preobrazhensky Guards (founded by Peter the Great). Elizabeth stood before the troops, declaring, “You know whose daughter I am! They want to force me into marriage or put me into a nunnery! Will you follow me?”
“We’re ready, matushka [little mother]! We’ll slay them all!” the troops responded.
“If that is your intention,” Elizabeth responded, “then I shall not go with you.” She then raised her silver cross and said, “I shall swear to die for you and you shall vow to give your lives for me. But let no blood be shed unjustly.” The guards agreed.
After galloping down Nevsky prospekt with 360 Preobrazhensky grenadiers in tow, then riding the last several hundred yards on the shoulders of guards through the high snow (so as not to alert the palace guard), Elizabeth burst into the royal palace and arrested the Empress Anna, her son, husband and their retinue. Almost all dignitaries of German origin were also arrested and shortly thereafter exiled to Siberia.
Elizabeth had thought at first to repatriate the baby - emperor, Ivan VI, back to Germany with his mother and father, but later changed her mind, rightfully believing that the ousted emperor might eventually lay claim to the crown. Thus, the three were sent first to the town of Rannenburg and then to the obscure locality of Kholmogory. Here, Ivan was separated from his mother and father and taken to the Shlusselburg fortress where he was held incommunicado (known only as Prisoner Number 1). He was later found to be mentally retarded, could neither write nor read, and had trouble expressing himself. In 1764, he was killed under orders of Catherine II, during an attempt to free him and declare him emperor.
Thus, the 20-year reign of Elizabeth began. A reign of frivolity, economic damage, cultural triumphs and mass despair. Elizabeth, content to simply enjoy herself, savored that which interested her, while letting all that did not fall by the wayside. She appointed ministers, some inspired, others simply shady, rewarded her friends with the state’s resources, and did not overly worry herself with what her people, or indeed history, thought of her.
In contrast to her famous father who believed that a monarch should actively rule as well as reign (he took part in battles, wrote decrees, built vessels and performed many other practical functions), Elizabeth saw her position as an opportunity to lavish on herself and her intimate friends all the accouterments of the good life.
For example, she used to change her outfit several times a day and possessed altogether 15,000 dresses. She was equally mad about staging various sorts of masked balls, some of which were called “metamorphoses.” During these festivities, men were supposed to wear women’s dresses and vice versa. Though most of the members of her court loathed these balls, thinking them degrading and lewd, Elizabeth enjoyed the opportunity the balls gave her to show off her sleek, sexy figure in a tight-fitting military uniform. Confident in her androgynous beauty, the Empress mocked those other men and woman who looked less than stunning in whatever they had been able to find.
Vain, like all beauties, she treated the state treasury as an enormous bank roll, spending without thought on clothing, scents and make-up, all in order to retain and even enhance her famed beauty. She was undoubtedly successful as her successor, Catherine II, said: “A passing glance at Elizabeth was enough to be struck by her beauty and proud bearing. She was a tall and solidly-built woman, but her movements were swift and gracious. When she turned forty she still could wear a man’s military uniform and look voluptuous.” Aware of her effect upon the men around her, Elizabeth had no qualms about spending Russia’s hard-earned rubles.
Unlike Catherine II, her notoriously sensuous scion, Elizabeth, in the capacity of empress, had only two “favorites,” or intimate male friends. The first of them was of the son of a Ukrainian Cossack, Alexis Razumovsky, a chorister brought to St. Petersburg. Princess Elizabeth fell in love with his wonderful voice and easy-going nature, and when she became the empress, she made him a duke.
Unlike others in Elizabeth’s court, Razumovsky was a friendly and straightforward fellow. He was alien to inter-palace intrigues and opted for keeping away from domestic affairs, to say nothing of foreign policy. He was quite content in his romantic relationship with the empress. If he had any weak points, it was that he never stopped taking care of the material well-being of his numerous relatives at Elizabeth’s expense. For example, thanks to his patronage, his brother Cyril received a good education and when he reached the age of 22, was appointed hetman, or ruler, of Ukraine, a system which the empress had decided to re-establish, though her own father had abolished it.
Her other “friend,” Ivan Shuvalov, was far more intelligent than his rival. He was a brilliant diplomat and took an active part in running the country. He also spent time sponsoring science, the arts and literature. In this capacity, Shuvalov developed a friendship with Russia’s most famous scientist of the time, Mikhail Lomonosov, thinking highly of the latter’s contributions to the country’s intellectual development. With the empress’s help, Lomonosov was able to found the Moscow University, which today remains one of the few enduring monuments of Elizabeth’s rule.
Shuvalov was also an auditor and accountant. He kept an eye on the country ‘s budget and rejected Elizabeth’s more extravagant proposals, trying to keep Russia afloat. Anecdotal evidence has it that Shuvalov did not even accept the empress’ final, generous gift of gold bullion and coins, on the eve of his death, claiming it was too excessive. He summed up his philosophy in his memoirs: “I confess that I’m not too ambitious, I’m not trying to line my pockets, or be in the political limelight”.
His cousin, Peter, on the other hand, combined his philanthropic nature with a far baser greediness that made him very popular with the empress, at the country’s expense.
With Peter’s self-interested help, many notable activities were brought forth, both to enrich himself and the Russian state: domestic customs duties were lifted, royal and merchant banks were launched, state-owned factories moved into private hands, the distillery business was monopolized and most importantly, capital punishment was abolished. Unfortunately, these feats pale in comparison to the insidious plague of serfdom which continued to hold the Russian people in its choking grasp. Violent serf uprisings and escapes continued almost ceaselessly as the peasants searched for a better life, free of the misery of servitude. Unmindful, obsessed with her beauty and desire for pleasure, Elizabeth lacked anything like her father’s firm hand and far-reaching vision, which were crucial to stabilize and improve Russia’s chaotic society.
At the same time, Peter Shuvalov’s passion for ill-gotten gains got the better of his altruism and his increasingly corrupt policies contributed much to Elizabeth’s ruinous financial policy. Running up huge bills with her plans for the new Winter Palace, her new dresses (a French millinery refused the empress any more credit, citing unpaid bills!) and make-up, Elizabeth only aggravated a worsening situation.
How was it then, that in spite of all these serious problems, Elizabeth managed to rule for 20 years? Well, not only was Elizabeth careful not to rock the political boat which had given her power in the first place, but she also remembered the way she herself had come to the throne. She was tormented by the thought of a possible coup. Since traditionally such developments happened under the cover of night, the empress decided to stay on the safe side, by remaining awake at nights and sleeping during the daytime.
This lifestyle gave her unlimited time to indulge her love of flash and celebration, while she was able to doze through all that which bored her, such as her country’s political and economic life. State affairs were alien to her and she was always reluctant to receive ministers and other state figures, despite their attempts to get her opinion on this or that important issue. The English envoy, Lord Ginford wrote: “She had no qualm about canceling any important state event for the sake of entertainment.” She was a devoted party girl, and state affairs, however important they might be, did not interest her. Her ministers often had to wait just to brief her on some major state events. When she did give them her attention, and her assent, she was mainly motivated by personal gains.
For example, she decided to declare war on Prussia, an action which led to the Seven-Year War, as a chance to get revenge on Friedrich II, the king of Prussia, who was unscrupulous and dishonest in international affairs. He was also believed to be involved in an abortive attempt to liberate Ivan, the doomed heir to the Russian crown.
Usually, however, her political advisors were not that lucky. She could be especially inaccessible while in the midst of preparations to go to the Trinity Monastery to pray or when, more frequently, she was carousing. Even top foreign officials were not always lucky enough to gain her attention. The German Chancellor remembered, “The Empress used to talk with her private physician Lestocq for hours... while government ministers often had to wait for days to have her attention for a mere fifteen minutes.
It seems almost anti-climatic to say that Empress Elizabeth died of natural causes on December 25, 1761. No coups, revolutions, poisonings or affairs of the heart, she simply died after twenty years of power. Elizabeth was content to enjoy her years at the top without really changing or challenging the system which had awarded her political complicity. She made a few concessions to her people, the abolishment of capital punishment and the creation of Moscow University being among the most laudable, without doing anything to significantly help the majority of suffering Russians. She was always aware of the opinions of the people who put her in power, aware of what they would approve of, and what they would not, and she saw no reason to do anything to anger them. Beautifully dressed, wonderful to look at, Elizabeth focused only on that which pleased her. Rampaging peasants, economic chaos, a country strictly divided between the haves and have-nots were not her problems. In light of this, history has judged Elizabeth as the “frivolous empress”, and, sadly, she herself might have agreed with that judgement.
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