Paul I of Russia

Paul I of Russia (Russian: Pavel Petrovich, ????? I ????????) (October 1, 1754 - March 23, 1801) was an Emperor (Tsar) of Russia (1796 - 1801).

Legacy

A common unresearched view of Paul I is that he was mad, had a mistress, his acceptance of the office of Grand Master of the Order of St. John furthered his delusions, and that these eccentricities and his unpredictability in other areas led to his assassination. Such a portrait of Paul is a gift to those who seek to discount and ridicule the reign of Paul I. Given that histories are usually written by the victorious party to any conflict, in this context, how true is that picture of Paul?

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Comparatively recent research has rehabilitated the character of Paul I. The popularist view of Paul was originally generated by his assassins in justification of their actions. It would be easy for authors writing about Paul I to follow the propaganda uncritically, ignoring new research, which has been available for nearly three decades. It is as if the propaganda has become accepted historical fact through being venerated by age.

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In the 1970s, two academic Panels provided the assessments of new research into Paul I. These were at Montreal in 1973 and St. Louis in 1976. Some of the findings were presented in a book edited by Hugh Ragsdale in 1979; Paul I: A reassessment of His Life and Reign, University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh, 1979. The reappraisal of Paul I has demonstrated his character as someone of high morals, who followed his conscience. Dismissed as unlikely is Paul's infidelity in having a mistress, and the involvement with the Order of St. John is understood against a background of his idealising their history as a lesson in high chivalric ideals, he wished the Russian Nobility would adopt. Paul saw in the Russian Nobles an element of degeneracy, and introducing the high ideals of the Knights of Malta, was Paul's method of reform. Paul suffered a lonely and strict upbringing and whilst he was eccentric and neurotic, he was not mentally unbalanced. Whilst an analysis of his biography reveals an obsessive-compulsive personality, what the evidence reveals is that he had "characteristics fairly common in the population at large". Where Paul differed, was that by 1796 he had to manage the whole of the Russian Empire.

Related Topics:
1970s - 1973 - 1976 - 1979 - Knights of Malta - 1796

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A new film on the rule of Paul I was produced by Lenfilm in 2003. Poor, Poor Paul ("??????, ?????? ?????") is directed by Vitaliy Mel'nikov and stars Viktor Sukhorukov as Paul and Oleg Yankovsky as Count Pahlen, who headed a conspiracy against him. The film portrays Paul I more compassionately than the long-existing stories about him. The movie won the Michael Tariverdiev Prize for best music to a film at the Open Russian Film Festival "Kinotavr" in 2003.

Related Topics:
Lenfilm - 2003 - Viktor Sukhorukov - Oleg Yankovsky - Kinotavr

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