Anna of Russia

Anna Ioannovna (In Russian: ???? ?????????) (February 7,1693 - October 28,1740) reigned as Duchess of Courland from 1711 to 1730 and as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740.

Policies of her reign

As one of her first acts to consolidate this power she restored the security police, which she used to intimidate and terrorize those who opposed her and her policies. Although she didn't move the capital back to Moscow, she spent most of her time at that city in the company of her foolish and ignorant maids. Finding delight in humiliating old nobility, she arranged the marriage of old Prince Galitzine with one of her maids, dressed as clowns, in a specially constructed house of ice, where the bride caught a cold and died within several days.

Related Topics:
Police - Moscow

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Having a distrust of Russian nobles, Anna kept them from powerful positions, instead giving those to Baltic Germans. She raised to the throne of Courland one Ernst Johann Biren, who gained her particular favour and had considerable influence over her policies. His archrival, the anti-German cabinet minister Artemy Petrovich Volynsky, was executed several months before Anna's death. Biren was sufficiently prudent not to meddle with foreign affairs or with the army, and these departments were in the able hands of two other foreigners, who thoroughly identified themselves with Russia, Andrey Osterman and Burkhardt Munnich.

Related Topics:
Germans - Courland - Ernst Johann Biren - Artemy Petrovich Volynsky - Andrey Osterman - Burkhardt Munnich

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They allied the country with Charles VI, (Holy Roman Emperor from 1711 to 1740), and committed Russia during the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1735). Afterwards, they made Augustus III the king of Poland at the expense of Stanislaw Leszczynski and other candidates. In 1736 Anna declared war on the Ottoman Empire, but Charles made a separate peace with the Porte, forcing Russia to follow suit and to give up all recently captured territories with the exception of Azov. This war marks the beginning of that systematic struggle on the part of Russia to cover her natural and legitimate southern boundaries which was brought to fruition by Catherine the Great. Anna's reign saw the beginnings of Russian territorial expansion into Central Asia.

Related Topics:
Charles VI - Holy Roman Emperor - War of the Polish Succession - 1733 - 1735 - Augustus III - Poland - Stanislaw Leszczynski - 1736 - Ottoman Empire - Azov - Catherine the Great - Central Asia

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