Peter II of Russia

Peter II Alekseyevich (Russian Пётр II Алексеевич; * 12 Oktoberjul / October 23 1715greg in Saint Petersburg, .. .. † 18 Januarjul / January 29 1730greg in Moscow) was Emperor of Russia from 1727 to 1730.

Life

He was the son of the " unfortunate " Tsarevich Alexei of Russia and his wife Christine Charlotte, daughter of Duke Louis Rudolph of Brunswick- Wolfenbüttel. After the death of Empress Catherine I, the widow of Peter I, Peter II ascended at the age of twelve years the throne as his grandson. He had an unhappy childhood behind him, his father was murdered and his mother died soon after his birth.

Heir to the throne

Catherine had determined in her will, Alexander Menshikov and her two daughters, Anna and Elizabeth as guardians of the boy. Elizabeth had no political ambitions; Anna left under Menshikov pressure Russia and went with her husband to Kiel, where in February 1728 their son Peter Ulrich, the future Peter III. was born. As a child, Peter grew up mostly with his grandmother, the Empress Eudoxia, on. After his accession it did not take very long and the power struggles began on a new one.

Reign

Menshikov, one of the richest men in Russia, tried his power to strengthen further with the help of the young Tsar. He arranged a betrothal of his daughter with Peter II But the influential family of the Prince Dolgoruky (see below) despised the upstart and operated his disempowerment. On September 20, 1727 he was arrested and exiled together with his family to Berjosow in the former province of Tobolsk.

Now standing under the influence of Dolgorukis, Peter II moved the court to Moscow, where he was crowned on March 7, 1728. In December 1729 he became engaged to Ekaterina Dolgorukowa; the marriage was fixed on 2 February 1730. But the end of January, the Tsar returned ill from hunting back home and died shortly afterwards of smallpox. With it, the standard sequence of the male Romanovs came to an end, he had sat on the throne of Russia two years and nine months. When Tsar and Emperor he was just a pawn of masterminding Menshikov, Dolgoruky and Golitsyn. Peter II was not buried as the only Tsar in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, but in Moscow.

Succession and power struggle

It was the Supreme Privy Council has not succeeded on the death of the young Tsar, to agree to a male heir. For successor on the throne the selection ( ie the half- cousin of his father ) fell on his half- aunt 2nd degree, Anna Ivanovna.