The reign of Anna Ioannovna 1730 1740 briefly. Reign of Anna Ioannovna

Domestic and foreign policy of the successors of Peter I.

1. Catherine I.

Peter 1 did not have time to appoint a successor for himself. The old nobility, who dreamed of returning to the old order, wanted to place the young Peter, the son of the executed for participating in a conspiracy against the father of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, on the throne. But the nobles who came to the fore under Peter 1 advocated transferring the throne to Catherine, the emperor’s widow. The dispute over the successor has been resolved guards regiments. Subsequently, they constantly participated in palace coups, providing support to one candidate or another. V.O. Klyuchevsky called the time from 1725 to 1762 the era of palace coups.

Menshikov and other representatives new nobility, relying on the guards regiments, they elevated Catherine 1 to the throne. So in 1725, the former laundress became a powerful empress Russian Empire. Together with her, the associates of Peter I, led by Catherine’s favorite Menshikov, came to power. By this time, enormous power was concentrated in his hands.

To support the empress, a new supreme governing body of the country was formed - the Supreme Privy Council, which included seven associates of the late tsar, headed by Menshikov. Without the approval of the Council, not a single decree could be adopted; the collegiums were subordinate to it. Menshikov and other leaders, as they came to be called in ruling circles, had to face difficult problems. Formally, the transformations of Peter I continued.

The poll tax was reduced, a ban was imposed on the use of army units to collect tax arrears, service was made easier for the nobles, and the issue of reducing spending on the army and navy was discussed. In foreign policy, Peter's balanced decisions were replaced by ill-considered actions that harmed Russia. Catherine's government brought the country to the brink of war with Denmark for the sake of the interests of the Duchy of Holstein, where the Empress's daughter Anna Petrovna was married. Because of Menshikov's personal ambitions, Russia intervened in the conflict over Courland. Careless policies in the south almost led to war with Turkey.

Peter II.

In 1727 Catherine I died, naming as her successor the only surviving male Romanov, 11-year-old Peter Alekseevich, who ascended the throne under the name Peter P. Until he came of age, he was to be under the control of a collective regent - the Supreme Privy Council.

In the first months of the reign of the Boy Tsar, Menshikov's influence reached its peak. He became virtually the sole regent, moved the tsar to his palace, betrothed his daughter to Peter II, and her name began to be mentioned in churches along with the names of royal persons. Menshikov received the ranks of generalissimo and full admiral. He tried to protect himself from members of the Supreme Privy Council and other influential persons who had become his opponents. P. A. Tolstoy and the commander of the Semenovsky regiment I. Buturlin were sent into exile, with whose help the fate of the throne was decided on the night of Peter I’s death.

Peter II was greatly influenced by his friend, the young prince Ivan Dolgoruky. By the age of 13-14, Peter II was a tall, handsome man, about whom they said that he had a hard heart, a mediocre mind and a huge lust for power. Peter's true passion was hunting, in which he sometimes disappeared for three or four months at a time. Dolgoruky and Osterman skillfully took advantage of these absences, wanting to lead the tsar from under the influence of Menshikov.

Peter II soon announced that he no longer needed assistants and would lead the country himself. He moved from Peter II Menshikov's house to Peterhof and announced his intention to marry Ivan Dolgoruky's sister Catherine.

Increasingly, the transformations of Peter I were ridiculed. The Old Moscow nobility rallied more and more closely around the young tsar.

The building that Menshikov had been building for so long fell apart like a house of cards. The fall of His Serene Highness was rapid. He was deprived of ranks and titles, Russian and foreign orders, including for

Poltava victory, the property was confiscated. The sentence was harsh - exile with his family to Siberia, to the village of Berezovo. On the way, his wife died, then his daughter Maria. Soon he himself died of tuberculosis.

Russia was moving further and further away from the achievements and plans of Peter I. Peter II announced the cessation of shipbuilding in the Baltic: When need requires the use of ships, I will go to sea, but I do not intend to walk along it like my grandfather. Under the new government, headed by Dolgoruky and Osterman, steps were taken to improve the damaged economy: some monopolies, including those on the sale of salt, were abolished. Russia sought to avoid being drawn into military conflicts. Peace contributed to the revival National economy. In 1730, preparations for the Tsar’s wedding were in full swing in Moscow. However, a few days before the wedding, the 14-year-old emperor caught a cold and soon died.

The leaders take power. Since there was no direct heir in the male line, the conversation turned to inheritance through the female line. Peter I's daughters Anna (and therefore her son Peter) and Elizabeth were immediately rejected: according to the nobility, their mother, Empress Catherine I, was of vile origin. The Russian noble aristocracy did not forgive Peter I for his choice; now they dictated their will to the country.

The rulers chose the 37-year-old Dowager Duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna, the daughter of Peter’s co-ruler Ivan Alekseevich who died in 1698, who was completely dependent on the political and material support of Russia.

The leaders began to develop the terms (conditions) of an invitation to Russian throne Anna Ioannovna. They demanded that the ruler not enter into marriage and not appoint a successor for herself. This would mean that the hereditary monarchy would cease to exist in Russia. The ruler should not have made decisions on key issues without the consent of the Supreme Privy Council. Autocratic power was thus limited. The Empress did not have the right to declare war and make peace, to burden her subjects with new taxes, to introduce military ranks above the rank of colonel. The Guard and other army units came under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Privy Council. Without a trial, the ruler did not dare to take away estates and property from the nobles and, of her own free will, provide them with estates and lands inhabited by peasants. Anna Ioannovna was obliged not to elevate nobles to court ranks without the knowledge of the Council. In addition, the leaders wanted to put the country's budget under their control. The condition ended with the phrase: And if I don’t fulfill this promise and don’t keep it, then I will be deprived of the Russian crown.

Anna Ioannovna signed the conditions and began to get ready for Moscow. The project of the supreme leaders excited the entire noble class. The leaders were confused and tried to maneuver in order to maintain the power they had seized.

Anna Ioannovna had information about all this full information. When approaching Moscow, she stopped for several days in one of the villages, where a deputation from the Preobrazhensky regiment and cavalry guards vigorously welcomed her and demanded the restoration of autocracy.

Anna Ioannovna demanded to bring the conditioners and tore them up in front of the audience. Thus ended the attempt to limit autocracy in Russia.

The reign of Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740).

Anna Ioannovna surrounded herself with people devoted and close to her. Her favorite, Chief Chamberlain Ernst Johann Biron, was summoned from Courland. Since then, he was constantly next to the queen and directed her actions. A personable and educated man, Biron preferred to remain in the shadows, but held in his hands all the threads of governing the country. The fundamental interests of Russia were alien to Biron.

The head of the government, A. I. Osterman, and the head of the army, Field Marshal B. X. Minich, were his match. Immigrants from German lands were placed at the head of the guard regiments.

Anna Ioannovna destroyed the Supreme Privy Council. Instead, a Cabinet consisting of three people appeared. The leading role in it belonged to A.I. Osterman. Was recreated and Secret Chancery, (political investigation agency).

To strengthen her position, Anna Ioannovna held a number of events. The service life of nobles was set at 25 years. The law on single inheritance was repealed, now estates could be divided between sons; estates were finally equalized with estates and were to be called estates - estates. The Cadet Corps was created, from where the children of the nobility immediately became officers and did not have to pull the soldier's burden, as under Peter. All this reconciled the nobility with the authorities. The new government met the industrialists halfway: the old order of providing enterprises with serf labor was confirmed. Moreover, entrepreneurs were allowed to buy peasants without land. The scope of serf labor in the economy expanded.

The times of Anna Ioannovna are sometimes called the Bironovschina. However, Bironovism cannot be associated only with the dominance of people of German origin. Rather, it was a clan whose members were devoted to the queen, but that devotion was, as a rule, based on material interests - the key positions they received provided high incomes, the opportunity to enrich themselves through bribes and embezzlement state treasury. The concept of “Bironovism” includes the creation in Russia of a strong political investigation, a powerful repressive organization.

From the second half of the 1730s. Anna Ioannovna was less and less involved in government affairs. The empress's craving for entertainment and luxury blossomed in full bloom. Balls, masquerades, gala lunches and dinners, accompanied by illuminations and fireworks, replaced each other.

In the mid-1730s, trying to satisfy the ambitions of Anna Ioannovna, her favorite and her inner circle, Russia got involved in wars with Poland and Turkey, which further undermined the country's financial position. The fight of Germans against Germans. At the turn of the 1730s-1740s.

Russia was in a state of deep economic, political and moral crisis. The country's finances could not withstand the extravagance of the court and ineffective wars. The situation was aggravated by a climate of fear, denunciations and repression. German dominance in ruling circles was felt more and more clearly, which outraged a significant part of the Russian nobility. Guards officers refused to obey foreign commanders.

Due to Anna Ioannovna's serious illness, the question of inheriting the throne arose. The empress had no offspring, and had to again choose heirs on the side. Anna Ioannovna settled on Ivan Antonovich, the two-month-old son of her niece Anna Leopoldovna, who married the Duke of Brunswick Anton Ulrich. The couple is already for a long time lived in Russia under the care of Anna Ioannovna.

Thus, Anna Ioannovna transferred the throne to her closest relatives along the line of Tsar Ivan, bypassing the heirs along the Peter the Great line - his daughter Elizabeth and 12-year-old son Anna Petrovna, who bore the name of his grandfather - Peter.

Biron aspired to become regent under infant, who, according to Anna Ioannovna’s will, could become a full-fledged ruler only from the age of 17.

Having decided on an heir, the sick Anna Ioannovna could not appoint a regent. Biron and people close to him insisted on the candidacy of the favorite. The Empress hesitated and only when the doctor told her that her hours were numbered did she write Biron’s name in her will.

So a foreigner came to power in Russia, not connected either with the reigning dynasty or with Russia. Everyone united against Biron. His regency lasted only three weeks. Biron was arrested and sent to the Shlisselburg fortress. Anna Leopoldovna declared herself ruler. The Bironovism in Russia ended, but the dominance of the Germans only strengthened.

At the end of November 1741, another palace coup took place, which led to power youngest daughter Peter I - Elizabeth.

Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740)

Since there was no direct heir in the male line, the conversation turned to inheritance through the female line. Peter I's daughters Anna (and therefore her son Peter) and Elizabeth were immediately rejected: according to the nobility, their mother, Empress Catherine I, was of vile origin. The Russian noble aristocracy did not forgive Peter I for his choice; now they dictated their will to the country.

The rulers chose the 37-year-old Dowager Duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna, the daughter of Peter’s co-ruler Ivan Alekseevich who died in 1698, who was completely dependent on the political and material support of Russia. “We need to make it easier for ourselves,” said Prince Golitsyn. “So lighten up so that you can increase your willpower.”

Golitsyn developed a program for the political reorganization of the country, its transition from an autocratic form of government to an oligarchic one. For Russia, this would be a step forward along the path of civilizational development.

The supreme leaders agreed with this program and immediately began to develop the conditions (conditions) for inviting Anna Ioannovna to the Russian throne.

They demanded that the ruler not enter into marriage and not appoint a successor for herself. This would mean that the hereditary monarchy would cease to exist in Russia. The ruler should not have made decisions on key issues without the consent of the Supreme Privy Council, i.e. autocratic power was limited. The empress did not have the right to declare war and make peace, to burden her subjects with new taxes, or to promote them to military ranks above the rank of colonel. The Guard and other army units came under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Privy Council. Without a trial, the ruler could not take away estates and property from the nobles and, at her own will, provide them with estates and lands inhabited by peasants. Anna Ioannovna was obliged not to elevate nobles to court ranks without the consent of the Council. In addition, the leaders wanted to put the country's budget under their control. The condition ended with the phrase: “If I don’t fulfill this promise and don’t keep it, then I will be deprived of the Russian crown.”

Anna Ioannovna signed the conditions and began to get ready for Moscow. It seemed that another palace coup had been a success and Russia had entered into new way development, having received in the form of a Constitution, which regulates the relations between the monarch and the country.

However, Russia was not ready for such a turn of events. The project of the supreme leaders excited the entire noble class. The nobles who gathered in Moscow for the wedding of Peter II put forward counter projects for the reorganization of the country. They proposed expanding the composition of the Supreme Privy Council, enhancing the role of the Senate, giving society the opportunity to choose the governing institutions of the country and executives, in particular the presidents of the boards. At the same time, the nobles demanded the abolition of the law on single inheritance and a limitation of service life. The nobility went further than the leaders; it wanted liberties for the whole class. However, there was not a word in the projects about the abolition of serfdom.

The leaders were confused and tried to maneuver in order to maintain the power they had seized. They tried to find a compromise between standards and noble projects. And at this time in political life A new formidable force was growing in Russia. Among the nobility, the autocratic party became increasingly stronger. Its mainspring was the guard regiments, the government bureaucracy, and part of the nobility, which hated presumptuous nobles. In this environment, they began to develop their own project for the state structure of Russia: the destruction of the Supreme Privy Council, the elimination of conditions, the restoration of unlimited autocracy, the revival of the power of the Senate as it was under Peter I. For this group of people, Peter’s absolutism was an ideal model for governing the country.

Anna Ioannovna had complete information about all this. When approaching Moscow, she stopped for several days in one of the villages, where a deputation from the Preobrazhensky regiment and cavalry guards vigorously welcomed her and demanded the restoration of autocracy.

Already in Moscow, Anna Ioannovna received a new petition, in which the nobles asked her to accept autocracy and destroy the standards. The Empress demanded that the condition be brought and, in front of the audience, tore them apart. Thus ended the attempt to limit autocracy in Russia.

Anna Ioannovna surrounded herself with people devoted and close to her. Her favorite, Chief Chamberlain Ernst Johann Biron, was summoned from Courland. Since then, he was constantly with the queen and directed her actions. A representative and educated man, Biron preferred to remain in the shadows, but held in his hands all the threads of governing the country. The fundamental interests of Russia were alien to Biron. Matching him were the head of government A.I. Osterman and the head of the army - Field Marshal B.H. Minikh. Immigrants from German lands were placed at the head of the guard regiments.

Anna Ioannovna destroyed the Supreme Privy Council. Instead, a Cabinet consisting of three people appeared. The leading role in it belonged to A.I. Osterman. The Secret Chancellery (a body of political investigation) was also recreated.

At the insistence of Biron and Osterman, Anna Ioannovna removed D.M. from power. Golitsyn, who ended up in Shlisselburg fortress. The Dolgorukys were sent to their estates, and then sent to Berezov, where Menshikov had recently languished.

To strengthen her position, the empress carried out a number of measures. The service life was set at 25 years. The law on single inheritance was repealed, and now estates could be divided between sons; estates were finally equalized with estates and were to be called estate-votchina. A Cadet Corps was created, from which noble children immediately became officers and did not have to pull the soldier's burden, as under Peter. All this reconciled the nobility with the authorities.

The new government met the industrialists halfway: the old order of providing enterprises with serf labor was confirmed. Moreover, entrepreneurs were allowed to buy peasants without land. The scope of serf labor in the economy expanded.

The times of Anna Ioannovna are sometimes called the Bironovschina. However, Bironovism cannot be associated only with the dominance of people of German origin. Rather, it was a clan whose members were devoted to the queen, but this devotion was, as a rule, based on material interests - the key positions they received provided high incomes, the opportunity to enrich themselves through bribes and theft of the state treasury.

The concept of “Bironovism” includes the creation in Russia of a strong political investigation, a powerful repressive organization. The Secret Chancellery focused on persecuting those who opposed the empress and her favorite. The most high-profile case of the Secret Chancellery was the trial of administrator A.P. Volynsky, who opposed German dominance in the country. He was executed.

From the second half of the 1730s, Anna Ioannovna was less and less involved in government affairs. The empress's craving for entertainment and luxury blossomed in full bloom. Balls, masquerades, gala lunches and dinners, accompanied by illuminations and fireworks, replaced each other.

At the turn of the 1730s-1740s, Russia was in a state of deep economic, political and moral crisis. The country's finances could not withstand the extravagance of the court and ineffective wars. The situation was aggravated by a climate of fear, denunciations and repression. German dominance in ruling circles was felt more and more strongly, which outraged a significant part of the Russian nobility. Guards officers refused to obey foreign commanders.

Due to Anna Ioannovna's serious illness, the question of inheriting the throne arose. The empress had no children, and had to again choose heirs on the side. Anna Ioannovna settled on Ivan Antonovich, the two-month-old son of her niece Anna Leopoldovna, who married the Duke of Brunswick Anton Ulrich. The couple had already lived in Russia for a long time under the care of Anna Ioannovna.

Soon after this she began to feel ill. The doctor who treated her declared that the empress’s position was hopeless. Anna Ioannovna called Biron to her and, showing him the document according to which he became regent under the infant emperor, said that, in her opinion, this was his death sentence. On the morning of October 17, 1740, the Empress ordered the clergy to be called and asked to read the funeral service. “I’m sorry, everyone,” she said and breathed her last.

Anna Ioannovna (1730–1740)

The Supreme Privy Council decided to limit autocracy and chose the daughter of Tsar John Alekseevich, the Dowager Duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna, but she was crowned an autocratic empress. The Supreme Privy Council was destroyed and replaced by an equal cabinet. The Russian nobles gave way to the Courlander Biron and the Germans Minich and Ostern. The administration was cruel and disastrous for Russia: At the slightest displeasure, “word and deed” were heard, and those who grumbled were tortured, executed or exiled. In 1733, Russia intervened in the affairs of Poland, and this war cost great sacrifices: the regions conquered under Peter I were returned to Persia. Of the internal orders of Anna Ioannovna, the most worthy of attention are: Limiting the service life of nobles to 25 years, eliminating the law on single inheritance, establishing a cadet corps in St. Petersburg, increasing the guards of the Izmailovo and cavalry regiments. Before her death, Anna Ioannovna appointed the infant Ivan Antonovich, the son of her niece Anna Leopoldovna, as heir to the throne, and confirmed Biron as regent of the state. Biron was soon overthrown, however, and Anna Leopoldovna, who was completely incapable of governing the state, was declared ruler.

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After long consultations, the rulers left their choice on the senior line of the dynasty associated with the brother of Peter 1 - Ivan 5. The Russian throne was offered to Anna Ioannovna, daughter of Ivan 5, Duchess of Courland, who had no formal rights to the throne and owed her rise to the rulers.

D.M. Golitsyn and V.L. Dolgoruky developed the so-called conditions - the conditions under which Anna Ioanovna could accept the Russian crown from the hands of the supreme leaders. They were so large in volume and significant in content that the empress could only formally occupy the throne. She had to promise not to marry, not to appoint an heir for herself, to contain the Supreme Privy Council of eight persons and “without consent”:

No new laws should be issued;

Do not start a war with anyone and do not make peace with anyone;

Do not burden loyal subjects with any taxes;

Noble ranks above the rank of colonel are not welcome;

The nobility's life, property and honor cannot be taken away;

Do not favor estates and villages.

The Guard and other troops were to be under the command of the Supreme Privy Council. And to top it all off, a small but significant note was required from the future empress: “If I don’t fulfill this promise, I will be deprived of the Russian crown.”

Just two weeks after her arrival in Moscow, Anna broke down in front of the leaders and declared “her perception of autocracy.” During the reprisal by the supreme leaders, Ivan Dolgoruky was executed, his father and sister were exiled to Berezov. The Supreme Privy Council in 1731 was replaced by a Cabinet of three ministers headed by A.I. Osterman. Four years later, Anna Ioannovna equated the signatures of three cabinet ministers with one of her own.

Some supreme leaders believe that the defeat of the supreme leaders is a missed chance to limit the monarchy. Another point of view indicates dissatisfaction with the rule of the Supreme Privy Council in noble circles. Anna Ioanovna was not distinguished by either beauty, or bright mind, or... She had little interest in the affairs of the state, transferring control to her favorite, Ernest Johann Biron, Duke of Courland (from 1737), an ambitious, unrestricted person. The reign of Anna Ioannovna was called the “Birovshchina.” From the very beginning, the efforts of the new government were focused on consolidating the results of the palace coup of 1730 and creating a new base for the regime. In addition to the two guards regiments created by Peter the Great, new ones were formed: Izmailovsky and Horse Guards. The Empress and a narrow circle of her associates controlled all official movements in the guard and showed her all kinds of attention.

Historians have different assessments of the reign of Anna Ioanovna. Some researchers - V.O. Klyuchevsky, S.F. Platonov note the dominance of foreigners in the structures of government, in the command of the army and navy. A.S. Orlov, V.A. Georgiev, N.G. Sivokhina note that key posts in the country were in the hands of the Germans. Foreign affairs were led by A.I. Osterman, the army was commanded by B.K. Minikh, and the guard by F.K. Levenwolde. The Academy of Sciences was headed by I.D. Schumacher. The Russian economy was penetrated by adventurers who robbed the country with impunity, such as, for example, Shemberg, who robbed the factories of the Urals, the attempt of A.P. Volynsky, who served under Peter 1 and occupied an important cabinet minister post under Anna, to organize a conspiracy against Anna Ioanovna and the German the dominance did not end well. He and his closest supporters were executed.

Other researchers (according to V.N. Rodenkov) - E.V. Anisimov, N.N. Repin, S.G. Strumilin, N.I. Pavlenko have a different point of view on the reign of Anna Ioanovna. The data they provided, based on a comparative description of the state of affairs under Peter 1 and Anna Ioannovna, convincingly indicates that neither the fleet nor the army were in a deplorable state (of the 8 million rubles of the state budget, 6.5 million were allocated for the maintenance of the army, navy and artillery . rubles). As for the dominance of foreigners and repressive policies, here they convincingly show that there were even fewer foreigners under Anna Ioannovna than under Peter 1.

Data from the history of political investigation presented by E.V. Anisimov neutralize the established opinion about mass terror. If under Anna Ioannovna two thousand political cases were opened, then during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna - about five thousand.

Main directions of domestic policy:

Abolition of the Supreme Privy Council and its return to the Senate

Previous meaning;

Return of Peter's system of placing regiments in the provinces and

Responsibility of landowners for payments to their peasants;

Continuation of the cartel policy towards the Old Believers;

Creation of a new body - the Cabinet of Ministers (1931);

Resumption of the activities of the Secret Chancellery;

The establishment of a cadet corps, after graduation, which the nobles

The children received officer ranks;

Cancellation of indefinite service. In addition, one of the sons of a noblewoman

Families were released from service to manage the estate.

During the reign of Anna Ioanovna, the autocracy was strengthened, the responsibilities of the nobles were reduced and their rights over the peasants were expanded.

ANNA IOANNOVNA

After the death of her father in 1696, she lived with her mother and sisters in the village of Izmailovo near Moscow, where she received her home education. In 1708, by order of Peter I, the family moved to St. Petersburg, and in 1710 Anna was married to the Duke of Courland, Friedrich Wilhelm, who died in January 1711 on the way from St. Petersburg to Courland, where the young couple went shortly after the wedding. Anna wanted to return back, but at the insistence of Peter I she was forced to live in Mitau. Received with hostility by the Courland nobility, she soon fell under the influence of the Russian resident P. M. Bestuzhev, who became her favorite. Being in extremely cramped financial circumstances, Anna, not loved by her own mother, had to constantly turn to the Russian court and her relatives in St. Petersburg with humiliated requests for help. In 1726, as a result of the intrigues of A.D. Menshikov, who laid claim to the Courland throne, Anna’s marriage to Count Moritz of Saxony was upset. After Bestuzhev’s recall from 1727, E.I. Biron became her favorite, from whom, according to some sources, Anna had a son, who was officially considered born to Biron’s wife. In 1730, in the conditions of the dynastic crisis after the death of Peter II, she was invited by members of the Supreme Privy Council to the Russian throne and signed the “Conditions” proposed to her by the rulers, which limited autocracy. However, upon arrival in Moscow, Anna, tearing up the “Conditions”, was proclaimed an autocratic empress. Its supporters were supporters of autocratic rule and the guard.

Anna Ivanovna had a difficult character, was capricious, and was distinguished by her vindictiveness and vindictiveness. The St. Petersburg court during the time of Anna Ivanovna was a mixture of old Moscow orders with elements of the new European culture, brought to Russia by Peter’s innovations. Having no ability or inclination to government activities, the empress spent her time in idle court entertainment among jesters, midgets, blessed ones, fortune-tellers, and crones. She loved to act as a matchmaker and loved hunting, killing several hundred animals hunted for her every year. Particularly famous was the clownish wedding she organized in February 1740 of Prince M. Golitsyn-Kvasnik with Kalmyk woman A. Buzheninova in a specially built Ice house. At the same time, Italian opera and ballet were popular at court. By order of Anna Ivanovna, a theater with 1000 seats was built, and in 1737 the first ballet school in Russia was opened.

The domestic and foreign policy of Russia during the time of Anna Ivanovna was generally aimed at continuing the line of Peter I. After the dissolution of the Supreme Privy Council in 1730, the importance of the Senate was restored, and in 1731 the Cabinet of Ministers was created, which actually governed the country. Not trusting the former political elite and the guard, the empress created new guards regiments - Izmailovsky and Cavalry, staffed by foreigners and members of the same palace of the South of Russia. At the same time, a number of the most important demands of the nobility, put forward during the events of 1730, were satisfied. In 1731, Peter the Great’s Decree on Single Inheritance (1714) regarding the procedure for inheriting real estate was repealed, the Gentry Corps was established for the children of nobles, in 1732 the salary of Russian officers was doubled, 1736 established a 25-year service period, after which nobles could retire; it was allowed to leave one of their sons to manage the estate. At the same time, the policy of enslaving all categories of the population was continued: by decree of 1736, all workers industrial enterprises declared the property of their owners. The reign of Anna Ivanovna was marked by the rise Russian industry, primarily metallurgical, which came out on top in the world in the production of cast iron. From the second half of the 1730s. The gradual transfer of state-owned enterprises into private hands began, which was enshrined in the Berg Regulations (1739), which stimulated private entrepreneurship.

The reign of Anna Ivanovna also entered into historiography as the time of “Bironovism,” which is usually interpreted as the dominance of foreigners and the tightening of police repression. In reality, Biron, B.K. Minich, A.I. Osterman, the Levenwolde brothers, and others who held high positions at her court took part in the struggle for political influence on the empress along with Russian nobles, without forming a single “German party.” The number of people convicted in these years by the Secret Chancellery, on average, did not differ much from similar indicators of the previous and subsequent times, and among them there are practically no cases related to anti-German sentiments. The most famous are the trials against the princes Dolgoruky, Prince D. M. Golitsyn, as well as the case of A. P. Volynsky.

Anna was emphatically pious, superstitious, and showed concern for strengthening Orthodoxy. Under her rule, new theological seminaries were opened, the death penalty for blasphemy (1738).

The de facto leader of the Russian foreign policy under Anna Ivanovna there was A.I. Osterman, who in 1726 achieved the signing of a union treaty with Austria, which determined the nature of the country’s foreign policy for several decades. In 1733-1735, the allies jointly participated in the War of the “Polish Succession”, which resulted in the expulsion of Stanislaw Leszczynski and the election of Augustus III to the Polish throne. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1735-1739, the Russian army entered Crimea twice (1736, 1738) and ravaged it; the Turkish fortresses of Ochakov and Khotyn were captured. However, the inept actions of the army commander Minich, which led to large human losses, forced Russia to sign the Belgrade Peace Treaty, which was unfavorable for it, according to which it had to return all conquered lands to Turkey.

Shortly before her death, Anna Ivanovna proclaimed her great-nephew, young Ivan Antonovich, heir to the throne, and Biron as regent under him. Anna Ivanovna was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

* Russo-Turkish War(1735-1739) - was fought by Russia (in alliance with Austria) for access to the Black Sea and to suppress raids Crimean Tatars. Russian troops under the command of B.K. Minikh took Azov, Ochakov, Khotin, Yassy, ​​and occupied Crimea twice. Ended with the Peace of Belgrade 1739.