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to Catherine's two daughters, Anna and her descendants, and then Elizabeth and
her descendants. (Catherine's signature might have been forged.) Until Peter was
old enough to take over, the Supreme Privy Council would rule for him.
Peter II, grandson of Peter the Great, ruled from 1727 to 1730. He was 11
years old when he took the throne. That fall, he orchestrated the arrest of his
grandmother's favorite, Menshikov, who had been instrumental in causing his
father Alexis's death. Peter then moved the court back to Moscow from St.
Petersburg. But Peter also died young, at the age of 14, after an attack of small-
pox (supposedly on the day scheduled for his wedding, marrying a daughter of
the Dolgorukys), and the male branch of the Romanov dynasty died out.
Peter was succeeded by Anna, the daughter of Peter's half brother, Ivan V,
who had spent most of her adult life in the German duchy of Kurland, as wife
to the duke. Her reign has long been presented as a period of cruel, misguided
rule by individual Germans and by a “German party” in Russia. And in truth,
Anna brought with her a band of favorites, whom she placed in positions of
responsibility. She also tended to patronize Germans as well as other foreigners
and distrusted the Russian nobility.
Anna herself had no interest in managing the affairs of the Russian state. So
she relied on a number of favorites to rule. Some were quite capable, such as
Ostermann, who was in charge of foreign affairs, and Andrei Munnich, head of
the army. Others, however, such as her lover Ernst-Johann Biren were incom-
petent. Biren, also known as Biron, became the most hated figure of the regime
and a symbol of her reign. The term
Bironovshchina
is applied to this period—
meaning Bironism, a period of police persecution and political terror, which led
to the execution of several thousand people and the exile of some 20,000 to
30,000 to Siberia. Many of the victims were Old Believers rather than political
opponents of Anna or Biron. By the standards of the age the cruelty of Biron
and his associates was not exceptional. Nevertheless, the persecutions of Anna's
reign compare unfavorably to the more relaxed era of her eventual successor,
Elizabeth.
Anna's death in 1740 triggered yet another succession crisis, as she had no
children. Anna named her sister's grandson as her successor, an infant who
would reign as Ivan VI (r. 1740-41). Ivan was an infant, so the key question was,
who would be the power behind the throne. A struggle among Anna's German
advisers ensued during which Anna's favorite, Biron, was ousted by Munnich,
who in short order found himself overthrown by Ostermann.
At this point, the Imperial Guards intervened once again. With an assist from
the French ambassador, they ousted the entire German Party and gave power
to Elizabeth (1709-62), second daughter of Peter the Great and his second wife,
Catherine. The unfortunate Ivan VI was confined to the Schlusserberg fortress,
outside St. Petersburg, where he spent his entire life until he was killed in 1764,
during another power struggle soon after Catherine the Great became empress.
Elizabeth has received a better press from historians than Anna. She, too,
allowed power to fall into the hands of imperial favorites, but whereas Anna
had installed a German clique, Elizabeth surrounded herself with Russian offi-
cers. Her reign has often been interpreted as a return to Russianness after the
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