1730-1740 Empress of Russia.
She was the daughter of Ivan V (the co-ruler of tsar Peter the Great). Her stable and peaceful reign was dominated by the Baltic German nobles.
Background
Lived: 1693-1740.
Anna Ivanovna’s father was Ivan V, the mentally and physically disabled co-ruler of Peter the Great.
Anna, the widow of Frederic William, Duke of Courland, lived on the Courland estate, long forgotten by the court.
Rise to power
After the death of the young tsar Peter II, the male line of Romanovs had come to an end.
The Supreme Privy Council made the unexpected decision to offer the crown to Anna, who not regarded as a person of any significance at that time. The plan was to choose a weak candidate. By accepting the crown, Anna would also have to agree to conditions that would reduced the absolute power of the sovereign.
Reign
Contrary to their expectations, Anna cared little about the conditions she had signed to limit her powers and began ruling as an absolute autocrat. She relied on the imperial guards to support her.
Anna was not very highly educated or especially intelligent. She was rather lazy and frivolous. She left governing to her Baltic German advisers, the most prominent of whom was Count Ernst von Biron. She ruled Russia like a lady of the manor.
Death
She died of a kidney disease. As she had no children, she had named her sister’s grandson Ivan VI as her heir.
Anna Ivanovna
1730-1740 Empress of Russia.
She was the daughter of Ivan V (the co-ruler of tsar Peter the Great). Her stable and peaceful reign was dominated by the Baltic German nobles.
Background
Lived: 1693-1740.
Anna Ivanovna’s father was Ivan V, the mentally and physically disabled co-ruler of Peter the Great.
Anna, the widow of Frederic William, Duke of Courland, lived on the Courland estate, long forgotten by the court.
Rise to power
After the death of the young tsar Peter II, the male line of Romanovs had come to an end.
The Supreme Privy Council made the unexpected decision to offer the crown to Anna, who not regarded as a person of any significance at that time. The plan was to choose a weak candidate. By accepting the crown, Anna would also have to agree to conditions that would reduced the absolute power of the sovereign.
Reign
Contrary to their expectations, Anna cared little about the conditions she had signed to limit her powers and began ruling as an absolute autocrat. She relied on the imperial guards to support her.
Anna was not very highly educated or especially intelligent. She was rather lazy and frivolous. She left governing to her Baltic German advisers, the most prominent of whom was Count Ernst von Biron. She ruled Russia like a lady of the manor.
Death
She died of a kidney disease. As she had no children, she had named her sister’s grandson Ivan VI as her heir.
Ivan VI