Paul I of Russia, also known as Tsar Paul, reigned as Emperor of Russia from 1796 to 1801. He succeeded his mother, Catherine the Great, and immediately began a mission to undo her legacy. Paul had deep animosity towards his mother and her actions as empress. He swiftly annulled many of Catherine's decrees, disparaged her memory and tried to elevate the reputation of his father, Peter. Catherine was empathetic toward the Russian nobility. Paul took a different approach; he revoked numerous privileges granted to the nobility, perceiving them as weak, disorganized, and undisciplined. This shift in policy created tensions in the ruling class.
In addition to these cultural changes, Paul implemented extensive reforms in the Russian Imperial Army. He had a strict, regimented leadership style as grand duke, continuously drilling his household troops. As the tsar, he instituted a brutal military regime characterized by constant drilling and harsh punishments for minor infractions. Officers (who could be anonymously reported by lower-ranked soldiers) were subject to summary retribution. Paul occasionally administered beatings himself, and some officers faced exile to Siberia or dismissal from service. Army uniforms were redesigned in the Prussian style, which was criticized as tight-fitting and impractical. Meticulous attention was paid to details such as waxed hair. Paul's sweeping reforms and authoritarian methods alienated various segments of society, ultimately leading to his downfall. He was deposed in a palace coup and assassinated.
Contemporary observers, including his doctors, noted that Paul seemed constantly stressed and prone to anger. These assessments were generally accepted by 19th- and early 20th-century historians; recent scholarship has questioned the validity of diagnosing his mental state two centuries later, however, and the memoirs of earlier historians may not have been impartial. Due to concerns about the legitimacy of subsequent Romanov rulers, debate about Paul's personality was limited until the 20th century. Some scholars say that contemporary diplomatic correspondence provides more reliable insights.
Consensus exists among historians that Paul likely had some form of mental instability or a spectrum disorder, but the extent to which this affected his governance or polity is debated. Although his mental health clearly influenced his actions, modern historians also recognize his positive policies.
Background
Born in 1754, Paul was the son of Emperor Peter III and Catherine the Great. Six months after Peter's accession, Catherine participated in a successful against her husband; Peter was deposed and died in prison.
During Catherine's reign, Russia was revitalized. It expanded geographically and economically, increasing its contacts in Western Europe and earning recognition as a great power. The Russian Empire expanded by conquest and diplomacy. The Ottoman Empire was defeated in the Russo-Turkish wars, and Novorossiya on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov was colonized. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the west was partitioned, with the Russian Empire taking the largest portion.
Catherine reformed the administration of Russian governorates. An admirer of Peter the Great, she continued to modernize Russia along Western European lines. The Russian economy and military continued to depend on serfdom, however, and the increasing demands of the state and private landowners intensified the exploitation of serfs. This led to a number of peasant rebellions during Catherine's reign, including the large-scale Pugachev's Rebellion.
Her reign is considered a golden age of Russia. The Manifesto on Freedom of the Nobility, issued during Peter III's reign and confirmed by Catherine, freed Russian nobles from compulsory military or state service. She enthusiastically supported Age of Enlightenment ideals, and has been cited as a benevolent despot. In 1789, near the end of Catherine's reign, revolution broke out in France and Louis XVI was executed. The revolution sent shock waves through the other European powers, and Catherine rejected many Enlightenment principles she had previously favored.
Crown prince Paul was expected to be an enlightened constitutionalist who would live up to the martial reputation of his predecessor, Peter the Great. His behavior was reportedly eccentric before his accession, usually taking the form of outbursts of rage. Paul dismissed a platoon because it misplaced an order, and threatened to beat his gardener with a stick. He reached his legal majority in 1772, but did not receive any official offices or positions because of his behavior.
Foreign diplomats also noted Paul's moodiness, and Whitworth wrote about Paul's "acrimony of disposition". Austrian ambassador Louis Cobenzl had worked with Paul and was aware of his propensity for rage: "One absolutely does not know what to count on with the Grand Duke, he changes his language and his sentiments almost every moment". Cobenzl wrote that he had not seen any sign that the prince possessed the necessary leadership qualities, and hoped that he would learn them soon. This, the modern scholar R. E. McGrew writes, "was a very slender hope. Paul was 42-years-old, his personality was firmly set and he had long since decided who his enemies were". The French emissary believed that Paul might have been deranged, and French chargé d'affaires Sabatier de Cabre reported that 14-year-old Paul
McGrew writes that Paul's reputation for disturbing behavior was established in St. Petersburg by 1794 after several incidents at court relating to his pursuit of Yekaterina Nelidova. This affair was the reason Catherine intended to change her heir apparent. The roots of Paul's distrustful nature may be found in his lonely upbringing. Catherine had acceded to the imperial throne following the deposition and murder of her husband, Emperor Peter III, who was officially Paul's father. Catherine kept Paul sequestered at Gatchina, a rural estate far from St. Petersburg (and power), and probably intended to replace Paul as her heir with his son, Alexander; however, she died before this was legislated. Paul spent most of his time organizing his regiment, parading and punishing them tyrannically.
Relationship with his mother Paul's loathing of Catherine may have stemmed from his belief that she was complicit in the overthrow and assassination of his father, Peter III. The revolutionaries of 1762 had originally proposed Paul as the new emperor, with Catherine as regent; this did not suit Catherine's plans, and explains her subsequent near-exile of him to Gatchina. He and Catherine were opposites; historian Jerome Blum believes that Paul had a "pathological hatred" of Catherine, who had "treated him shamefully". B. Dmytryshyn agrees that Paul had an "intense hatred" of his mother.
Political ideology Paul wanted to reaffirm absolute sovereignty in the face of the French Revolution and defend traditional royal power. His political vision, a combination of paternalism and lawful absolutism, was in his mother's tradition and a common feature of late-18th-century monarchs. Paul's policies were based on two factors: a determination to reverse, mitigate or make a "heroic repudiation" of his mother's policies, and a fearful rejection of the influence of the French Revolution.
Paul's theoretical ideology and enlightened absolutism was, in the Russian context, progressive. Louis XIV, the Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, Peter the Great and Frederick II were his influences, but "the gap between these generalized intentions and what Paul did is enormous". His breadth of political vision was constrained by his concern for minutiae. Anything indicative of equality or democracy was his target. Vasily Klyuchevsky considers Paul's policies as based on order, discipline and equality, and Michael W. Curran and David Mackenzie call his rule "enlightened absolutism".
Autocracy Paul's demand for continuous service from his nobility eventually cost him his life; he "humiliated the nobility, turning them from comrades in arms into victims". Catherine gave him a captured Turkish prisoner, Ivan Pavlovich Kutaysov, whom Paul made a Russian count with a large estate to spite the nobility. His growing autocracy was in direct contrast with his upbringing as a constitutionalist: The Russian aristocracy had become almost completely Westernized, and French was their first language. Paul seems to have equated aristocratic luxury with wastefulness, and believed that years of indulgent rule by a permissive female ruler had led to men (predominantly the nobility) becoming soft and socially irresponsible. Paul's edicts focused on the nobility's perceived social ills, and he wanted to instill in them a new moral discipline. In The New Cambridge Modern History, J. M. K. Vivyan writes that enmity with the nobility was inherent to Russia's tsars due to their vulnerability to palace coups; it was exacerbated in Paul's case by his treatment by his mother, who had supported the aristocracy. Paul distrusted his aristocracy, particularly those who dwelt on their estates rather than attending court.
Overturning Catherine's policies, Paul severely constrained the aristocracy. He said, "only he is great in Russia to whom I am speaking, and only as long as I speak [to him]" (regardless of birth or status); S. S. Montefiore called this a sentiment "worthy of Caligula". D. Lieven says that Paul's idealized emperor-vassal relationship "did not represent late 18th-century Russian realities", especially his echoing of Caligula's dictum, "let them hate so long as they fear". He rolled back the political power of the aristocracy in every respect, annulling their exemption from corporal punishment. Lieven calls Paul's attack on the aristocracy's liberties limited, but enough to persuade them to conspire against him later. There appears to have been little or no resistance to him, however; Whitworth said that in other countries Paul's intemperate decrees might have been resisted, but where "the character of the people, and that spirit of subordination which yet prevails, scarcely a murmur is heard". McGrew notes the irony that the only class to forcibly resist Paul was the serfs, the class he had tried to protect. About 55 peasant uprisings were recorded between Catherine's death in November 1796 and the New Year, followed by nearly 120 in the first three months of 1797.
Opposition to the French Revolution Paul's reign was marked by his aversion to French culture, influenced by the French Revolution several years earlier. He sought to curtail the spread of revolutionary ideas by targeting French influence in Russia. Paul restricted foreign travel, and required visitors from France to have passports issued by the House of Bourbon. Censorship intensified and Paul enforced strict regulations on fashion, prohibiting anything considered non-Russian (especially French). The secret police played a significant role in ensuring compliance with his edicts. Anything that hinted at revolution was banned. Paul's hatred of revolutions was based on his view that his citizens were like children, and should be monitored.
His actions against Jacobinism sometimes seemed comedic. Deeply fearful of the Jacobins, he believed himself surrounded by them. According to a contemporary account, Paul kept his estate in a permanent state of siege: "Every day, one hears of nothing but acts of violence. The Grand Duke thinks every moment that someone is wanting in respect or has the intention of criticizing his actions. He sees everywhere manifestations of the revolution."
Reversal of Catherine's policies