Palace coups in Russia are common phenomena of the eighteenth century. After the death of Peter I, court groups, relying on the support of the guard, fought among themselves, tried to seize political power in the state.
Instruction manual
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The author of the term "palace coup" is considered an academician, a famous historian V.O. Klyuchevsky, who indicated the boundaries of the era of repeated changes in power in Russia: 1725 - 1762. Currently, the palace coups include an event related to the murder of Paul I in March 1801.
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Until the time of Peter the Great, there was a national political tradition of transferring power exclusively to the royal heirs. Peter I, with his own "Decree on succession to the throne, " expanded the circle of those claiming the royal throne, therefore this magnificent Russian emperor can be considered the main culprit of the instability that occurred after his death.
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The conditions of the military-police state, formed by Peter, a long period of reforms and wars exhausted the forces in the country, as a result, there was a need to revise the government course.
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A sharp increase in the power of the king caused discontent on the part of the nobility, the tension reached the limit by the end of the reign of Peter. The palace coups fully reflected the interests of the nobility, who wanted to strengthen their political and economic positions.
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The lack of unity among the ruling elite also contributed to the coups. The split among the top government officials occurred shortly before the death of the tsar, which subsequently caused a sharp struggle for power between the various groups that support and nominate “their” candidate to the Russian throne. Achieving their own benefits and benefits was the main goal of the warring groups close to the supreme power. In place of Peter claimed a considerable number of heirs, direct and indirect.
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An important driving force in the palace coups was the guard, consisting mainly of the nobility: it was with its help that applicants for the royal throne could achieve what they wanted.
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A large number of palace coups of the 18th century also occurred due to passivity of the masses who were very far from the capital’s policy.
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The successors of Peter the Great ruled the state with the help of their close associates, the temporary favorites who had unlimited power in the era of such rulers. The influence of the favorites of the imperial persons on the political life in Russia under the weak absolute power served as an important occasion for the emergence of new palace coups.
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The traditional norms of morality and behavior that have been preserved for centuries are often forgotten by the representatives of the new nobility. In order to gain access to wealth and power, the nobles conducted a very active political activity, departing from the laws of morality.
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The instability of political power in Russia ends with the golden age of the reign of Catherine II, who ascended to the royal throne also as a result of a palace coup.
- Palace coups as a social phenomenon
- The era of palace coups
