The curse of the Romanovs; a study of the lives and reigns of two tsars Paul I and Alexander I of Russia : 1754-1825; online

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THE CURSE OF THE
ROMANOVS




Alexander I as a boy, after a portrait by Lampy.
Constantine Pavlovitsh as a boy, after a portrait by Lampy.



HE CURSE OF
THE ROMANOVS

A STUDY OF THE LIVES AND

THE REIGNS OF TWO TSARS

PAUL I AND ALEXANDER I

OF RUSSIA : 1754-1825 : BY

ANGELO S. RAPPOPORT, PH.D.

PUBLISHED AT LONDON BY

CHATTO & WINDUS

MCMVII




All rights reserved



Printed bv BALLANTYNE, HANSON & Co.
At the Ballaniyne Press, Edinburgh.



This book is dedicated to the memory
of the noble martyrs who have fallen
in the struggle for Russian freedom



PREFACE



THE eyes of Europe are directed towards Russia,
the European China, where the scion of the house
of Romanov is seated on his tottering throne,
frightened at the phantom of an approaching Revo-
lution. Convulsively he is clinging to the throne
of his ancestors, reluctant to give up what he con-
siders his right. But has Nicholas II a right to
the Russian throne ? Yes, the right of the usurper !
Michael Romanov was elected Tsar of Russia by
the voice of the nation, but Peter I, his grandson,
was the son of an unknown parent. The Tsar
himself knew that he was not the son of Alexis, and
one day he asked Count Yaguzhinsky to tell him
whether he was his father. The Count, however,
replied that it was difficult to say, as the Tsaritza
had so many lovers. Elizabeth may or may not
have been the daughter of Peter the Great. She
was in any case the daughter of Catherine I, a
former Livonian servant. The legitimacy of Paul I
is doubtful, and if one is to believe the confessions
of Catherine 1 1 he was not a Romanov.

For nearly three centuries these so-called
Romanovs have ruled over Russia, but they have
remained strangers to the people under the sway
of their sceptre. From the time of their accession,
there has been an ever-widening gulf between



x PREFACE

Autocracy and the Russian nation. It is the doom
of Autocracy not to work hand in hand with, but
against, the nation. The affectionate bond which
unites the subjects of a constitutional country such
as England, for instance, with their sovereign, is
absent in the land of the Tsar. Fear takes the place
of loyalty. The Tsar remains an alien in the midst
of his people. He is not one of them, he is an
usurper. Ever since the rise of the power of
Moscow, ever since the first development of Auto-
cracy, the rule of the Tsars has appeared to the
people not as a legitimate government, but as a
foreign tyranny, as the incarnation of the spirit
of Tshengis Khan and Tamerlane, imposing laws
by ukases and knouts. The subjects in Russia
owe everything to the ruler, but the latter owes
nothing to his subjects. The Tsar can dispose of
his throne as he pleases, he may even change the
form of government, he may rule despotically and
he may grant a constitution. " The Tsar giveth

and the Tsar taketh, the name of the Tsar be ."

That is the difference between the history of con-
stitutional countries and that of Autocracy. The
histories of Windsor Castle and of the Tower
are full of hideous reminiscences and of bloody
deeds ; the walls of the Louvre and the Escurial
could tell a terrible tale or two ; but the ensemble
of English, French, and Spanish dynasties in their
records represent the history of a nation, whilst
the records of Russia are nothing else but a history
of slavery. " The idea of a powerful Autocracy
is the idea of slavery," wrote Alexander Hertzen.
The sovereigns of the house of Romanov have
done nothing for the people. The latter think



PREFACE xi

of their rulers in connection only with their mis-
fortunes, with oppression, war, military colonies,
police, prisons, Schluesselburg, Siberia, the mines,
tortures, and the knout. And it is also the doom
of Autocracy that even its attempts at liberalism
should be frustrated. Autocracy, I do not hesitate
to maintain, must be the enemy of the people or
Autocracy would cease to exist, but the logical result
of its attitude will one day be its annihilation.
Sooner or later assassination is the inevitable fate
of the ruler whose oppression becomes unbearable,
as in the case of Paul I, whilst disappointment
and a return to reactionary measures is the result
of all liberal attempts on the part of Autocracy,
as in the case of Alexander I. Paul 1 and Alex-
ander I, the subjects of the present study, are
two typical examples of the fate of the Romanovs.
They either remain faithful to the spirit of Auto-
cracy, and assassination stares them in the face,
or they inaugurate an era of liberalism, but finding
that they thus undermine their own existence, they
turn reactionaries and lose their mental balance,
as in the case of Alexander.

This is the Curse of the Romanovs. For it is a
dynasty ruling over a nation against the interests of
the nation. The interests of the reigning house
cannot fail to clash with those of the people. All
attempts on the part of Autocracy to grant liberal
institutions to the country must therefore, as I have
pointed out, unavoidably end in a fiasco and in a
farce. Such was the case of Alexander I, and such
is that of Nicholas II. Alexander I, the dreamer
of Republics, crushed the aspirations of Poland and
Greece and suppressed the liberal movement in



xii PREFACE

his own country, and Nicholas II, whilst pretending
to grant a constitution to Russia, instituted courts-
martial. He has granted his subjects the right to die.
Every Russian enjoyed for some time the privilege
of being arrested, tried, and sentenced to death
within twenty-four hours, and promptly executed.
Of course, nominally this privilege was only granted
to "revolutionaries," but the Russian Government
applied this term in a very liberal and generous
manner. One need not have thrown a bomb or
fired a revolver to be court-martialled. Among re-
volutionaries and enemies of the Government were
counted, not only Zenaida Konopliannikof, who shot
General Minn, but also the majority of the members
of the Douma, who signed the Manifesto of Vyborg,
all those who dared to ask citizen rights, nay ele-
mentary human rights, for their countrymen whom
they represented. And yet only a few months ago
M. Stolypin with a sang-froid which I really ad-
mire declared to a French journalist, M. Ludovic
Naudeau, that the Russian Government " does not
and will never prosecute anybody for his political
opinions, but it does and will prosecute all those who
propagate revolutionary ideas and commit revolu-
tionary acts." This declaration is certainly amusing
for its sans-gne, but in any case it clearly indicates
the decision of the Government to muzzle and pro-
scribe all revolutionaries and progressionists. And
who are the revolutionaries ? All those whom the
Government chooses to designate as such ; in other
words, all those who are in the way of Tsardom,
and who either do not further its work or who re-
fuse obediently and submissively to accept its laws
and orders. The courts-martial were instituted in



PREFACE xiii

the interest of order and peace. Thus it is quite
comprehensible that whilst one crime was severely
punished by the court-martial, another was very
indulgently treated : whilst the girl, Mile. Shakerman,
who threw a bomb at an official Poltavtshenko,
because he had taken part in the massacres of the
Jews, but missed him, was hanged, the murderer of
Herzenstein went free ; whilst any one expressing a
liberal idea was immediately arrested, the reactionary
bands were enjoying full freedom of speech ; whilst the
ex-deputies of the Douma who signed the Vyborg
Manifesto were being prosecuted, M. Dobruvin, the
leader of the League of Russian men, affiliated to
the Black hundreds, was invited to lunch by General
Kaulbars, complimented and followed to the station
by a crowd of 300 people to whom he addressed the
following words : " We have made up our minds to
exterminate the enemies of Russia. Friends, you
know where to find them. Down with the revolu-
tionaries and the Jews."

One must indeed be an extraordinary optimist
to continue to see things in a roseate light, and a
still greater optimist to expect reforms, liberty, and
progress from the Russian Government. Such
hopes are built upon the quicksand of Tsardom.
Although the Government freely uses the words
liberty and rights, in a vague manner, all the
promises tumble down like a house of cards when
some more precise definition of these terms is
attempted. Two Doumas have been dissolved, and
there will be no difficulty in dissolving another.
In other words, either the Douma will do whatever
Tsardom commands, and approve such reforms as
the Government may think fit to institute, in order



xiv PREFACE

to strengthen its own power, or the Douma will be
dispersed. And what reforms may be expected ?
If, as long as the liberals and revolutionaries
seemed to possess some influence, the Government
only vaguely promised but never kept its promises,
it is absurd to expect anything when it will have
entirely gained the upper hand. Is it reasonable
to imagine that after courts-martial, shooting and
hanging, flogging and sending to Siberia have
exterminated a large number of liberals and re-
volutionaries, and frightened many more into
speechlessness, when by such means of persecution,
as were and still are employed, all those in Russia
who had decided to fight Autocracy will have been
reduced to silence Autocracy will grant a constitu-
tion and a popular government ?

There is a certain sense of mockery, of con-
tradiction and incongruity in all liberal attempts
emanating from Autocracy. And indeed all constitu-
tional attempts in Russia, from the times of Michael
Romanov to those of Nicholas II, have ended in
failure. There are only two alternatives for the
future of Russia : the disappearance of the house of
Romanov- Soltykov-Holstein-Gottorp as a reigning
family, or the continuation of a rule of slavery. I
confess that I hope fate will decide in favour of
the first alternative.

As for the sources upon which the present study
is based, I have enumerated them in the appended
Bibliography. The facts have been more especially
collected from the Sbornik, the Archives of Prince
Voronzov, and the Russian Archives and Russian
Antiquities. I have endeavoured to sketch the
history of two rulers of the house of Romanov, and



PREFACE xv

to show that both the rule of oppression and that of
liberalism ended in assassination and failure respec-
tively. Caveant Consules.

I cannot terminate these preliminary remarks
without expressing my sincerest thanks to my
friend W. Teignmouth-Shore, who kindly read
some of the final proofs, and to Miss M. Edwardes,
for her valuable assistance.

A. S. R.
LONDON, June 1907.



CONTENTS



PART I : PAUL I




Crime and insanity Genius and folly on the throne Rome
and St. Petersburg Roman Caesars and Russian Tsars
Tyrants and assassins The curse of the Romanovs .



CHAPTER II
THE BIRTH OF A TYRANT

The successors of Peter I Elizabeth Petrovna Peter III, the
unwashed Emperor The Grand Duchess Catherine and
her lovers Paul's paternity He is not a Romanov His
education Panin appointed tutor of the Prince ... 22



CHAPTER III
MOTHERHOOD AND AMBITION

The death of Elizabeth Peter III He is assassinated at
Ropsha Impression produced on Paul Catherine and
d'Alembert Paul's education His tutors, Panin and
Poroshin Paul's amorous disposition He is encouraged
by Catherine and Orlov His sweetheart Vera Paul's mili-
tary studies Estimate of Paul's character Inoculation for
small-pox Dr. Dimsdale's visit to Russia Catherine's
feigned affection for her son 33



xviii CONTENTS

CHAPTER IV

THE MARRIAGE OF HAMLET

PAGE

Paul's first liaison Semeon Velikij Asseburg, the matrimonial
agent Princess Wilhelmina of Darmstadt The bride is
coming Paul falls in love with his fiancee The nuptial
ceremony The appointment of General Soltykov as per-
sonal attendant on the Prince Conspiracy to put Paul on
the throne The revolt of Pougatshev Catherine's visit
to Moscow Popularity of Paul Catherine mistrusts her
daughter-in-law The Empress's pilgrimage to the Convent
of Saint Sergius The death of the Grand Duchess Andre
Razoumovsky Various rumours . . . . . .67



CHAPTER V

LOVE IN A PALACE; OR, THE LOVE LETTERS
OF A PRINCESS

Paul's second marriage The guilt of his late wife Une liaison
tres innocents Princess Sophia Dorothea of Wiirtemberg
Her delight at the splendid prospect Paul journeys to
Berlin Description of the bride by Madame d'Oberkirch
Paul falls in love with the bride-elect Love letters of a
Princess The character of the new Grand Duchess-
Catherine jealous of her The birth of Alexander . . 94



CHAPTER VI

THE JOURNEY OF THE COUNT AND COUNTESS
DU NORD

Paul and his wife go abroad Joseph II Paul's letter to Arch-
bishop Platon Sir James Harris's despatches Panin's
intrigues Paul and his wife met by King Stanislaus The
Austrian Emperor's letter to his brother The Grand Duke
and Duchess visit Italy They proceed to France Recep-
tion at Versailles Marie Antoinette The visit to Brussels
Paul's mysterious tale The ghost of Peter I The return
home Cold reception Orders relating to the dresses of
the ladies at Court Catherine endeavours to annoy the
Grand Duchess ... .... m



CONTENTS xix

CHAPTER VII

THE SWEDISH CAMPAIGN

PAGE

The death of Panin Paul grows sullen Catherine's oration
over the grave of Panin The education of the Princes
Alexander and Constantine Laharpe The Grand Duke's
desire to join the army The Empress makes him a present
of the estate of Gatshina Paul's isolation His amusements
Maria Feodorovna and Mamonov, Catherine's favourite
The jealousy of an old woman Catherine's journey to
Tauris Paul's views on the Russian military forces His
departure for the army His pathetic letter to his wife . 149

CHAPTER VIII
THE HAMLET OF GATSHINA

Count de Segur visits the Grand Duke Interesting conversa-
tion Change in Paul's character His marotte militaire
Rostoptshin's letters Paul is working out his programme
The Grand Duke's pecuniary troubles The affection exist-
ing between Paul and his wife is lessened Mile. Nelidov
The French Revolution Impression on Paul Catherine's
plan to exclude her son from the throne . . . .169

CHAPTER IX
L'IMPERATRICE EST MORTE, VIVE L'EMPEREUR

The death of Catherine Paul's feeling of joy Hamlet among
the grave-diggers The funeral of Peter III The son
reconciles his parents Follies and wise laws La guerre au
chapeau rond The men of Gatshina 181

CHAPTER X
A MODERN CALIGULA

Campaign against round hats Paul's marotte militaire Tour-
genev's Memoirs The men of Gatshina Changes and
reforms Ill-treatment of courtiers and officers Paul's
helpers His love for pomp and ceremony Coronation
solemnities The Tsar mistrusts his wife and best friends
Mile. Nelidov Paul's foreign policy Souvarov's campaign
in Italy Paul's admiration for Napoleon . . . -193



xx CONTENTS

CHAPTER XI

L'EMPEREUR EST FOU. THE DEED is DONE

PAGE

Period of terrorism Paul is mad Opinions of Russian states-
men The mad captain Conspiracy to depose Paul
Panin and Pahlen Alexander's consent Paul's suspicion
Whitworth accused of conspiring against Paul Maria
Fdodorovna is aware of the conspiracy Paul's last days
The night of the assassination // est achevf Paul's
character . . . 224

PART II: ALEXANDER I
CHAPTER XII

THE BIRTH OF ALEXANDER

Catherine's joy at the birth of her grandson Her letters
to Grimm Alexander's early education Grandmamma's
A B C Catherine's grand-children The Imperial babies
Alexander's teachers Laharpe the Republican Lessons
in history Catherine's instructions 251

CHAPTER XIII
THE MARRIAGE OF ADONIS

Roumyanzev sent to Carlsruhe The two Princesses Princess
Louisa (Elizabeth) Catherine delighted The Imperial
Don Juan Plan to exclude Paul from the throne
Laharpe's views Adam Czartorysky and Alexander meet
in the gardens of the Taurida Palace Alexander's dreams
and aspirations 290

CHAPTER XIV
"SIRE, VENEZ REGNER"

Alexander awaiting the result of the conspiracy against his
father His grief and remorse Attitude of Maria Fe"odor-
ovna First years of Alexander's reign Coronation
Universal joy Reforms and benevolent administration
The Secret Council New code of laws Educational
establishments and universities The Coalition Ill-feeling
towards France . 306



CONTENTS xxi

CHAPTER XV

THE SON OF THE REVOLUTION AND THE
FIRST GENTLEMAN OF EUROPE

PAGE

Napoleon's victories The meeting of the two Emperors The
raft on the Niemen Tilsit and Erfurt Plans for the
partition of the world War between France and Russia
Napoleon at Dresden The burning of Moscow Alex-
ander's appeal to the European nations The entry of the
Allies into Paris The Congress of Vienna Second entry
of the Allies into Paris . 326



CHAPTER XVI
THE MYSTICISM OF C^SAR

The Holy Alliance Alexander's conversation with Dr. Eylert
Laharpe's apology of the Holy Alliance Madame
Kruedener Meeting between Alexander and Madame
Kruedener Text of treaty of the Holy Alliance . . . 356



CHAPTER XVII
FINITA LA COMMEDIA THE MYSTERIOUS END

Alexander's friends Michael Speransky Araktsheev, the
Pobiedonostzev of the beginning of the nineteenth cen-
tury Alexander's reactionary tendencies Spread of
liberalism in Russia Secret societies The assassination
of Kotzebue Mutiny of the Semeonovsky regiment
Magnitzky Alexander's private life His world-weari-
ness Domestic life The Empress Elizabeth Madame
Narishkin Alexander's daughter Sophia Illness of
Empress Elizabeth Journey to Taganrog Illness of
Alexander and death Letter of Elizabeth to Maria
Fe'odorovna Rumour relating to Alexander's death
Feodor Kousmitsh Alexander's character : " a lucky
accident ".......... 370



ILLUSTRATIONS



ALEXANDER I AS A BOY .... Frontispiece
After a portrait by Lamfy

CONSTANTINE PAVLOVITSH AS A BOY .

After a portrait by Lamfy

PAUL I To face page 22

After a portrait in the possession of the Academy
of Science in St. Petersburg

COUNT N. J. PANIN 31

From an engraving by Radig

GRAND DUCHESS NATALIA ALEX-

EEVNA ....... 74

After a portrait in the Romanov Gallery
in the Winter Palace

EMPRESS MARIA FEODOROVNA . . 104

After a portrait by Lampy

CATHERINE II IN OLD AGE ... 178

After an aquarelle bv S. S. Solomko

MANIFESTO OF PAUL I ON HIS

ACCESSION 186

EMPEROR PAUL LIBERATES KOS-
CIUSZKO AND THE POLISH
PRISONERS 187

From an engraving by Orlovsky

MADEMOISELLE CATHARINE IVAN-

OVNA NELIDOV (IN 1776) . . 214

After a portrait at the Court of Peterhoj



xxiv ILLUSTRATIONS

PRINCESS ANNA PETROVNA GAGA-

RENA To face page 218

After a portrait in possession of Prince P. A.
Golittin

COUNT IVAN PAVLOVITSH KOUTAYS-

SOV 220

Af ter an aquarelle belonging to E. A. Vsevolozhsky

COUNT GENERAL ALEXANDER VAS-

SILIEVITSH SOUVAROV .... 222

PAUL I IN 1798 224

After a portrait by Stshoukin

COUNT PETER ALEXEEVITSH PAHLEN 233

After a portrait by Kugelchen

GENERAL BENNIGSEN .... 244

After a drawing by Cook

ALEXANDER I 251

After the Bust by Houdon

F. C. DE LA HARPE 274

EMPRESS ELIZABETH ALEXEEVNA . 292

After the portrait by Monier

PRINCE ADAM CZARTORYSKY . . 302

After an engraving by Soliman

COUNT ALEXIUS ANDREEVITSH AR-

AKTSHEEV 324

After a drawing by Outkin

MICHAEL MICHAELOVITSH SPERAN-

SKY 372

After an engraving by Wright

THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER I . . 398

After the engraving by T. Koulakov, 1827

GRAND DUKE NICHOLAS PAVLOVITSH 402

After a portrait by Benner



PART I



PAUL I



THE CURSE OF THE
ROMANOVS

CHAPTER I

FROM THE COLOSSEUM TO THE KREMLIN

" God is Tsar in heaven,
The Tsar is God on earth."

Russian Proverb.

Crime and insanity Genius and folly on the throne Rome and St. Peters-
burg Roman Caesars and Russian Tsars Tyrants and assassins The
curse of the Romanovs.

SAD and gloomy is the picture which the Rome of
the Emperors offers to the student of history.
Looking back from modern times upon the remote
past, we are somewhat astonished to see millions,
whose ancestors were the "viri antiqui et vere
Romani" submitting to the tyranny of a single in-
dividual whose exploits, in the case of an ordinary
mortal, would meet with death at the hand of the
executioner. The whims and fancies of criminals,
idiots, and imbeciles, wearing the purple, were law
to the Roman masses ; for the criminal or imbecile
was the all-powerful, almighty Emperor. About
his madness men only dared to whisper with
pale cheek and trembling lip ; his crimes were
loudly styled acts of supreme justice ; his mad
pranks were praised as deeds dictated by the



4 THE CURSE OF THE ROMANOVS

wisdom and benevolence of a great ruler. He was
the Caesar, before whom all human beings were
but shrinking, kneeling slaves.

And yet only a short span of time, a century
and a half, separates us from the period when a
vast European Empire was ruled in a similar
manner, when numerous millions were oppressed,
worked to death, sent to mines and into exile,
knouted and beheaded, at the absolute will and
mercy of modern Caesars the Tsars of Russia.
Tyrants, prostitutes, degenerates, imbeciles and
lunatics, ruled the destinies of nations, and, as once
the Caesars in Rome, the Tsars and Tsaritzas of St.
Petersburg had only to lift their finger to see their
slightest whims fulfilled. The life and goods of
the highest dignitary of State no less than the miser-
able existence of the most wretched moujik were at
the mercy of the master. All-mighty, all-power-
ful Caesars and Tsars ! To venture to criticise you
meant death, to appear to disobey you worse than
death. You spoke, and the world was hushed ; you
frowned, and proud and valiant men bowed their
heads, cowed before your gaze ; you grew angry, and
millions trembled before your mighty wrath. You
smiled the smile of an imbecile, and fawning cour-
tiers, cringing slaves, prostrated themselves before
you, singing " Hosannah " to the most benevolent
ruler on earth ! you are the Elect of the Gods whom
you represent on earth; you are the "anointed of
the Lord," the " shadow of God on earth," and " Not
all the water in the rough rude sea can wash the
balm from an anointed king" (Richard II). You
are never unjust, never unkind, never cruel, for you
are the representatives of Providence on earth, and



FROM COLOSSEUM TO KREMLIN 5

Providence, religion teaches us, is always kind
and benevolent, even when it appears cruel and
malicious to men. And just as we cannot under-
stand the ways of Providence, so are we unable
to fathom your ways. Everything is allowed to
you, and the life and death of your subjects is in
your hands. Millions must readily die for you, so
as to spare you the slightest inconvenience. Your
cruelty is termed justice, your obstinacy firmness,
your weakness clemency, your passionate wrath
righteous indignation, your debaucheries exces-
sive love of the beautiful or political wisdom.