Bestuzhev-Ryumin A.P. The life and adventures of chancellor bestuzhev Who was the chancellor under catherine the second

Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin, who had been determining the policy of the Russian Empire for fifteen years, always knew how to maintain a presence of mind in a difficult situation.

Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin

Chick of Petrov's nest

The 18th century in Russia turned out to be three-quarters "female". With short time intervals, the country was ruled by four empresses, who left a noticeable mark in history. But behind the backs of women, political affairs were carried out by men who were able to quietly but confidently turn the course of the state in the right direction.

Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Chancellor of the Russian Empire under Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, for a decade and a half in the political life of Russia was the main actor skillfully promoting the right people and sweeping opponents out of the way. Unlike many other people who were ascended to the imperious Olympus of the empire, and then survived the collapse, Bestuzhev-Ryumin ended his days not in prison, not on a chopping block, but in high esteem.

The future chancellor was born on May 22, 1693 in Moscow in the family of the dignitary Pyotr Bestuzhev. The ancient family of the Bestuzhevs enjoyed the confidence of the Russian sovereigns. In 1701, Peter I gave the highest permission for Peter Bestuzhev and his relatives to bear the name Bestuzhev-Riumina in the future.
The father of Alexei Bestuzhev was a voivode in Simbirsk, traveled with diplomatic missions to Europe, and in 1712 he was appointed as a chamberlain to the Dowager Duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna to manage and manage her affairs.

In 1708, 15-year-old Alexei Bestuzhev-Ryumin and his 20-year-old brother Mikhail, at the behest of Peter I, were sent to study abroad, first to Copenhagen, and then to Berlin, among other young Russian nobles. Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin subsequently spent his entire life in diplomatic work, representing the interests of Russia as ambassador to Berlin, Warsaw, Vienna and Paris.

Career turns of the Bestuzhev family

Alexei Bestuzhev-Ryumin, after graduation, with the permission of Peter I, entered the service of the Elector of Hanover, George, who granted him a chamber-junker. After the Elector of Hanover ascended the English throne under the name of George I, Bestuzhev was sent by him as his personal envoy to Russia. It was during this period that Alexei Bestuzhev developed close ties with England, which subsequently influenced the foreign policy of Russia.

Three years later, Bestuzhev was recalled from the English service to Russia, having been assigned first as chief-chamber-junker to the widowed Duchess of Courland, Anna Ioannovna, and then as a diplomat to the Russian embassy in Denmark.

Bestuzhev's career staggered for several years, even despite the fact that in 1730 Anna Ioannovna became the Russian empress, whom both Alexei Bestuzhev and his father managed to serve.

However, Bestuzhev Sr.'s relationship with the Empress was not easy. Anna Ioannovna once complained to St. Petersburg that Peter Bestuzhev, appointed to manage her affairs, was engaged in embezzlement of funds. These charges were not proven, but the residue, as they say, remained. With the accession of Anna Ioannovna, Pyotr Bestuzhev received the post of governor of Nizhny Novgorod, which he considered too low for himself. Bestuzhev's discontent reached the empress, and he was sent into exile in the village.

Coup - Prison - Coup

Alexei Bestuzhev in the mid-1730s managed to win the favor of Anna Ioannovna's favorite Biron. In 1740, 47-year-old Alexei Bestuzhev, after a quarter of a century of diplomatic work abroad, received the title of a real privy councilor with an order to appear in St. Petersburg to attend the cabinet of ministers.

Biron, who after the death of Anna Ioannovna became regent under the minor emperor John Antonovich, hoped to use Bestuzhev in the fight against his political opponents, but did not have time. The regent was overthrown in a coup by Field Marshal Minich, arrested and put on trial. Bestuzhev, who was imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress, also suffered.

It seemed that a career, and possibly life, was over. But what has always distinguished Alexei Petrovich Bestuzhev is the ability to maintain a presence of mind in the most difficult situation. The investigation could not find any evidence of his guilt, he himself did not repent of anything. And then a new coup successfully arrived, after which the daughter of Peter the Great, Elizaveta Petrovna, ascended the throne. Bestuzhev, as a victim of the previous regime, was rehabilitated and returned to public service.

The merry queen was Elisabeth

At the pinnacle of power

In the next four years, Bestuzhev made up for his entire previous career downtime, becoming first vice-chancellor and count of the Russian Empire, and then a senator, and finally, in 1744, taking the post of grand chancellor.

Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev was an extremely difficult person. He made acquaintances with many, but he was not really friendly with anyone. His cordiality to certain people was explained by the political expediency of the current moment. He then easily betrayed yesterday's allies in the court struggle. The Chancellor knew how to collect murderous dirt on opponents, intercepting their correspondence and providing the Empress with the information at the right time.

Bestuzhev thoroughly studied the tastes, preferences, habits and psychological characteristics of the empress. He knew how to appear with a report when it was possible to get the solution he needed. Bestuzhev had a whole arsenal of techniques that made it possible to draw Elizabeth's attention to those issues that were necessary for the chancellor, and leave others in the shadows.
Bestuzhev's main weakness was his addiction to alcohol, but even after drinking heavily the day before, he appeared in the morning to the Empress with a report in a normal state. Even the most zealous haters of the Chancellor recognized his unique capacity for work.

The vast experience of the diplomat allowed Bestuzhev to skillfully manage the foreign policy of Russia, focusing on allied relations with Austria and England. At the same time, the chancellor knew how to arrange things in such a way that Austrian and British diplomats paid him large sums of money, believing that Russian favor to them rests solely on bribes.

Rules without ruling. Elizabeth did not do business, but the country flourished

Conspiracy in favor of Catherine

The Seven Years' War that broke out in Europe mixed all the previous political alignments in Europe, transferring England to the camp of opponents of Russia, and France to the camp of allies, but Bestuzhev during this period became much more worried about internal problems.

The empress's health began to deteriorate, and in 1757, a serious illness confined Elizabeth to bed for a long time. The heir to the throne, Pyotr Fedorovich, an ardent admirer of the Prussian king Frederick, fiercely hated Bestuzhev, and the chancellor paid him in the same coin. However, it was not only a matter of personal enmity - Bestuzhev was sure that Pyotr Fedorovich's addictions would lead to changes in foreign policy that would be disastrous for Russia.

Bestuzhev conceived a coup d'etat with the aim of removing Peter in favor of his son Pavel and wife Catherine. To this end, he wrote a letter to Field Marshal Stepan Apraksin demanding the return to Russia of the army operating against the Prussians. Bestuzhev intended to rely on these troops in his plans.

But suddenly Empress Elizabeth was on the mend. Bestuzhev's plans became known, and in February 1758 he was arrested.

The Chancellor managed to destroy most of the incriminating papers, but this did not save him from punishment.

He was not only removed from office, count's dignity, ranks and insignia, but also sentenced to death. As a result, however, the death sentence was commuted to exile. In this sense, he was more fortunate than Field Marshal Apraksin, who, after interrogation in the Secret Chancellery, died suddenly.

A. Bestuzhev-Ryumin in exile (1759). The work of an unknown artist.

Honorary pensioner

After the death of Elizabeth Petrovna in 1761 and the accession of Peter III, Bestuzhev's worst predictions about a change in Russian foreign policy came true. The former chancellor, who lived on his estate Goretovo near Mozhaisk, could do nothing about it. Worse, at any moment the new emperor could remember the old foe and settle scores with him.

But Bestuzhev was lucky again. After the coup in June 1762, Empress Catherine ascended the throne, treating Bestuzhev favorably. Opal was removed, and Bestuzhev's innocence was stated in a specially issued imperial decree, the ranks and orders were returned, moreover, the retired chancellor was awarded the rank of Field Marshal.

Return of Count Bestuzhev from exile. Catherine II receives him on July 12, 1762 at the St. Petersburg Summer Palace.

But the former political influence did not return to Bestuzhev. Catherine, grateful to the Chancellor for the support he had given her at one time, had other friends and advisers.

Realizing this, he resigned. In 1763 Bestuzhev published the book Consolation of a Christian in Misfortune, or Poems Selected from Holy Scripture, which was then also published in French, German and Swedish.

(1693-1766) - son of a privy councilor, chamberlain and favorite Anna Ioannovna Petr Mikhailovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Evdokia Ivanovna Talyzina. Was born in Moscow. He received a good education at the Copenhagen Academy, and then in Berlin, showing great ability in languages. At the age of 19 he was appointed a nobleman at the embassy of Prince BI Kurakin at a congress in Utrecht; then, while in Hanover, he managed to obtain the rank of chamber-cadet at the Hanoverian court. With permission Peter I from 1713 to 1717 he served in Hanover, and then in Great Britain and came to St. Petersburg with the news of the accession to the English throne of George I.

In 1717 Bestuzhev-Ryumin returned to the Russian service and was appointed chief-chamber-junker under the Dowager Duchess of Courland, and then held the post of resident in Copenhagen from 1721 to 1730; in Hamburg from 1731 to 1734 and again in Copenhagen until 1740.

Being all these years in the diplomatic service, Alexey Petrovich received the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky and the rank of privy councilor. In 1740, under the patronage of the Duke of Biron, he was given the rank of actual privy councilor, and then he was appointed cabinet minister in opposition to Count Osterman. Bestuzhev-Riumin assisted Biron in appointing him regent under the minor emperor John Antonovich, but with the fall of the duke he himself lost his high position. He was imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress, and then sentenced by the court to quartering, replaced by exile in the village due to the lack of evidence of the accusation and strong patrons. At the end of the same year, he was summoned by Count Golovkin and Prince Trubetskoy to St. Petersburg, having managed to take part in the coup on November 25, 1741 in favor of Elizabeth Petrovna. 5 days after her accession to the throne, the Empress granted Alexei Petrovich the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, and then - the rank of senator, the post of director of the postal department and vice-chancellor.

On April 25, 1742, the father of Alexei Petrovich was elevated to the count of the Russian Empire; thus he became a count. In 1744, the empress appointed him state chancellor, and on July 2, 1745, the Holy Roman Emperor Franz I bestowed the title of count on Bestuzhev, the chancellor became the count of two empires.

Since 1756, Bestuzhev-Ryumin was a member of the Conference at the highest court, created on his initiative, and had the opportunity to influence the actions of the Russian army, which participated in the Seven Years War during this period. Leading the foreign policy of the Russian Empire, he was guided by an alliance with Great Britain, Holland, Austria and Saxony against Prussia, France and Turkey. Explaining his political course to the Empress, he invariably set the example of Peter I and said: "This is not my policy, but the policy of your great father." The change in the foreign policy situation that led to the alliance of Great Britain with Prussia and the rapprochement of Russia with France during the Seven Years War, as well as the participation of Bestuzhev-Ryumin in palace intrigues, in which Grand Duchess Catherine and Field Marshal Apraksin were involved, led to the resignation of the Chancellor. On February 27, 1758, he was stripped of his ranks and insignia and was put on trial; after a long investigation, Alexei Petrovich was sentenced to death, which the empress replaced with exile to the village. The manifesto on the crimes of the former chancellor said that "he was ordered to live in the village under guard, so that others would be protected from being caught by the vile tricks of the old villain in them." Bestuzhev was exiled to his Mozhaisk village of Goretovo.

Peter III had a negative attitude towards the disgraced nobleman and, having returned other exiled dignitaries of the previous reign, he was left in exile. Deposed spouse and seized the throne Catherine II returned Bestuzhev from exile and with a special manifesto restored his honor and dignity. It said: "Count Bestuzhev-Riumin clearly revealed to us by what cunning and forgery of ill-will he was brought to this ill-luck ...<...>... We took it for a Christian and monarch's duty: to publicly show him, Count Bestuzhev-Ryumin, more than ever worthy of our deceased aunt, his former empress, the power of attorney and our special mercy to him, as if by this our manifesto we are fulfilling the return of his former seniority to the rank of general. field marshal, actual privy councilor, senator and both Russian orders, knight with a pension of 20,000 rubles a year. "

Having received the rank of Field Marshal, Bestuzhev nevertheless did not regain the title of Chancellor, which he had hoped for. At the beginning of the new reign, he was among the closest advisers of Catherine II, but no longer played an active role in politics. Ekaterina occasionally turned to Bestuzhev for advice: "Father Alexey Petrovich, I ask you to consider the enclosed papers and write your opinion."

Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin was married to Anna Ivanovna Bettikher and had a son and a daughter.

Soloviev B. I. "Field Marshals General of Russia". Rostov-on-Don, "Phoenix", 2000.

Elizabeth's reign was the time when the Russian Empire asserted its international authority, consolidated its zones of influence in Europe, clearly revealed its interests and made it respect itself as a great power with the power of its armed forces and economy. In this sense, the policy of the daughter of Peter the Great continued the policy of the government of Anna Ioannovna, although it had its own nuances. For most of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, peace reigned in Russia. In 1743 ended Russian-Swedish war... For the Swedes, it turned out to be extremely unsuccessful, and the peace treaty in Abo confirmed the strength of the conquests of the time of Peter the Great. The terms of the peace concluded in 1721 at Nystadt were confirmed. The main focus of Russian diplomacy was focused on the international situation in Western Europe.

In the early 1740s, there was a change in the main figures on the European political scene. In 1740, three monarchs died: the Russian empress Anna Ioannovna, the Austrian emperor Charles VI and the Prussian king Frederick I Wilhelm. In Russia, Anna Leopoldovna came to power, and a year later - in 1741 - Elizaveta Petrovna, in Austria - Maria Theresa, and in Prussia - Frederick II. A conflict broke out between the latter two. The fact is that the late Emperor Charles VI had no sons, and the transfer of the throne of the empire to a woman had not previously been practiced. Charles VI made great efforts to get most of the countries to sign the so-called "Pragmatic Sanction", which guaranteed the transfer of the imperial throne to his daughter Maria Theresa. However, as soon as Karl closed his eyes forever, all agreements collapsed. Frederick II became the troublemaker of European peace.

Count A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin

Characters

Chancellor A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin

Aleksey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin, born in 1693, belonged to the younger "chicks of Petrov's nest", that is, to those young people whom the great sovereign sent to study abroad. Bestuzhev studied excellently, he knew languages ​​and "European bypass" especially well. He became an ambassador to Denmark, and in this position his career slowed down. Only by the mid-1730s Bestuzhev managed to get close to Biron and please him. By the summer of 1740, at the behest of the all-powerful Biron, he became a cabinet minister instead of the executed Volynsky. But not for long. After Anna's death in the fall of 1740, Biron was overthrown, and Bestuzhev flew with him from Olympus. During interrogations, he testified against his patron, but refused to testify at a confrontation with Biron. In October 1741, Elizaveta Petrovna came to power, and Bestuzhev was released. Immediately he deftly "clung" to the new mistress, like a fish stuck to a shark. He became vice-chancellor instead of the exiled Osterman, and in 1744 - the count and chancellor of Russia. Bestuzhev spent 14 years in this highest government post, in fact independently determining the course of Russia's foreign policy. However, over the years, he never became close to Elizabeth and her circle, although he did his best to please the favorites of the empress. Count Bestuzhev left a strange, unpleasant impression on people. Elizaveta Petrovna did not like her chancellor. She, always busy with balls and performances, was tired of his importunity, boring speech, irritated by the very sight of an unkempt shaking old man in a dirty wig. The empress sniffed at him with disgust - was the chancellor drunk again? Listening to Bestuzhev, she recalled all the terrible gossip about his scandalous family affairs, about his petty tyranny and wild antics. But she did not move Bestuzhev away from herself, because he always spoke the matter and knew everything in advance, remaining the true king of Russian diplomacy. Bestuzhev shone with education, was experienced, well versed in European politics, was a patriot, or, as they said at the time, "the faithful son of the Fatherland."

And as a courtier, he did not make mistakes, was always loyal to the empress, did not trust anyone, did not love anyone, perfectly mastered the art of intrigue. On many dignitaries and foreign diplomats, he patiently collected dossiers, where he put notes on their sins, collected intercepted letters. Never before had espionage and perlustration of diplomatic correspondence been used so widely in the court struggle. Bestuzhev was a true master of this dirty business. He even involved the Academy of Sciences in decrypting letters from diplomats. With these pieces of paper, submitted to the empress on time and causing her terrible anger, Bestuzhev knocked down many of his most dangerous enemies. The Chancellor stayed in power for so long not only because of his phenomenal intrigue, but also because of his excellent knowledge of the empress. He perfectly comprehended the disposition, tastes, addictions and vices of Elizabeth. One of his contemporaries wrote that Bestuzhev had studied the empress for years as a science. And so it was. Over time, he became a prominent Elizabethan scholar. The Chancellor determined exactly when it was necessary to approach the Empress with a report in order to make her listen, and when it was better to leave. He knew how to attract the attention of the frivolous Elizabeth, what details she was interested in, how to imperceptibly put the necessary idea into her head, and then develop it so that the empress considered this idea her own. He immediately realized that behind the outward, ostentatious frivolity of Elizabeth, which deceived many, hides a suspicious, suspicious, vain person, but also proud of the knowledge that she is the daughter of Peter the Great, that she is destined by God and fate to continue the glorious deeds of her father. This was the only way to find a way to her heart and achieve her goal.

All contemporaries said that Bestuzhev took bribes from foreign diplomats - a common thing then. But Bestuzhev had his own simple secret in this matter - he did not take bribes from enemies (the French and Prussians), but ruined only the friends of Russia (the Austrians and the British), since Elizabeth relied on an alliance with England and Austria against Prussia and France. Why, in these conditions, and not profit at the expense of the allies? After all, they think that closeness with Russia rests precisely on the “gifts” that they regularly present to Bestuzhev, and not on his patriotism and desire to please the daughter of Peter the Great in her mission to glorify Russia?

However, as often happens, the rogue sooner or later gets caught in his tricks. Bestuzhev was also caught - not on bribes, but on troubles about the future! The fact is that by the end of the 1750s, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna was sick more often. Her heir was to come to the throne, Grand Duke Petr Fedorovich. He was also an admirer of Frederick II, which means that he was the fierce enemy of Bestuzhev, who for many years pursued a distinctly anti-Prussian policy. At some point, the chancellor, thinking about how to prolong his power, decided not to allow Russian throne Peter III. He started an intrigue in favor of Peter's wife, Ekaterina Alekseevna, in order to bring Ekaterina to power after Elizabeth's death, and to become her first minister himself. But the old schemer miscalculated! The conspiracy was discovered, and Bestuzhev was arrested ...

Bestuzhev was old, but still a fox. He sensed the danger in advance and prudently destroyed all letters and papers dangerous to himself. And without papers, as you know, it is possible to "sew" a case, but it is very difficult. One of the investigators in the Chancellor's case wrote to a friend: "Bestuzhev has been arrested, and now we are looking for the reasons why he was arrested." As a result, the investigators were left with only suspicions that were not supported by facts. Nevertheless, Bestuzhev was sentenced to death, which was replaced by exile in a distant village. When Catherine II came to power in 1762, Bestuzhev was given back all ranks and orders, given a pension, was appointed "the first imperial adviser", and the empress granted him the rank of field marshal. As one foreign diplomat wrote, at one of the court receptions he saw old man Bestuzhev "drunker than wine" not letting go of the empress and saying something to her, talking and talking ... And then Bestuzhev realized that his importance at court was insignificant, although his honor it is great that new people are in charge of business, that a new generation has come, and Catherine listens to them, and not to him, the old fox ... He retired and soon died.

The king was an extraordinary, bright person. Excellently educated, intelligent, poisonous and sharp on the tongue, he was known as a subtle connoisseur of literature and philosophy. Frederick was friends with Voltaire and was known throughout Europe as an atheist, "a philosopher from Sans Souci" (this was the name of his country palace in Potsdam near Berlin). Frederick combined deep love for philosophy and religious tolerance with truly Prussian soldierism, love for drill, military adventure. He was a brilliant commander, a brilliant strategist and tactician. Thanks to his non-standard thinking, ability to control troops, knowledge of the intricacies of military affairs, Friedrich won many striking victories on the battlefield. At the same time, Frederick II became famous as a completely unprincipled politician, ready for the sake of his interests to violate the word given to him or the signed agreement. His hypocrisy, cunning, arrogance and cynicism were known to everyone. He wrote that true sovereigns themselves decide when to start a war, and wage it, and hardworking lawyers are looking for an excuse for aggression. This he did in December 1740 when he invaded and occupied the Austrian province of Silesia. The Silesian War began, then a peace was made, which Frederick almost immediately violated and again attacked Austria.

Elizabeth watched with dismay the events in Germany. St. Petersburg did not like the strengthening of Prussia at all - for Russia in Germany a strong rival was undesirable, who claimed to be the head of the German states. In addition, Elizaveta Petrovna did not like Frederick II himself as a person. She forbade even mentioning the name of this "impudent and atheist" in her presence. Therefore, all actions of the Prussian king were viewed as unequivocally hostile. The Empress's anti-Prussian sentiments were supported by the head of the Foreign Ministry, Chancellor A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin.

The Prussian king Frederick II behaved with great caution in relation to Russia. He feared the might of the Russian army and sought to increase his influence at the Russian court. But to prevent the conclusion of the Russian-Austrian alliance in 1746, however, the Prussian ko role could not. This alliance was directed against Prussia. The rapprochement of Russia with another enemy of Prussia and France, England, continued. In 1748, the Russian corps of Prince V.A.Repnin even moved through Germany to the Rhine in order to defend British interests in Germany against the French. This continued until 1756, when, unexpectedly for many, the political scenery changed. This year, England, which fought with France in America, concluded a treaty with Prussia. Thus, Russian-English friendly relations came to an end - Elizabeth did not want to be in the same bloc with Frederick. At the same time, Austria, fearing the strengthening of Prussia, went to a rapprochement with its old enemy - France. They signed Versailles Treaty... Maria Theresa invited Elizabeth to join him and conclude an offensive alliance with Austria. Russia did just that. The fact is that Russia and Austria were united by interests of fundamental importance to it in Poland and in the south against Turkey, and it did not want to risk them. The Russian side promised in every possible way to help the Austrians in the war against its enemy. It was not difficult to guess who they were. Frederick carefully watched the diplomatic negotiations between the Russians and the Austrians and soon decided on an adventure - to defeat Austria before her allies could help her. In August 1756, he attacked the ally of Austria and Russia, Saxony. Austria, and then on September 1, 1756, Russia, declared war on Prussia. Thirteen years of peace in Russian history is over, Russia has entered another war.

During the thirty-four-year reign of Catherine II, three chancellors were replaced: M. I. Vorontsov, N. I. Panin and I. A. Osterman. But Vorontsov, who faithfully served Peter III and even came to Petersburg to persuade Catherine to abandon the coup, did not hold out for long and after the accession of the empress had to resign. As for Osterman, he is one of the puppet chancellors who did not have a serious impact on affairs. The actual head of the foreign policy department until 1797 was A. A. Bezborodko, who formally remained the second person in the Collegium of Foreign Affairs. Foreign policy belongs to the sphere of government in which a certain interest, mainly at the household level, was shown by such empresses as Anna Ioannovna and Elizaveta Petrovna, who, as you know, freed themselves from all state concerns. During their reign, the foreign policy department was in the hands of A.I. Osterman and A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, who determined the country's foreign policy.

A completely different situation developed under Catherine II, who actually performed the role of chancellor, who delved into all the details of the country's foreign policy. If G.A.Potemkin, being far from the court, was the actual master of the governorship with unlimited powers entrusted to him by Catherine, and E.R.Dashkova, being the president of two academies, performed her duties more or less independently, far from always asking for permission from the empress , then foreign affairs were so interested in the empress that they were under her vigilant control. This is explained by the fact that the foreign policy prestige of the state was adequate to the prestige of the empress within the country. Mazanny defines the role of chancellors under Catherine - they were just the executors of her will, sometimes defended their point of view, but in most cases (this applies especially to A. A. Bezborodko) meekly carrying out the orders of Catherine.

N.I. Panin was born in 1718 in the family of a military campaigner Ivan Panin, who completed his military career lieutenant general. Although he served all his life in the army, he did not acquire military glory. His son Nikita began his service with the lower ranks in the Horse Guards Regiment, which in 1741 handed the scepter to Elizaveta Petrovna. When Elizaveta Petrovna drew attention to Nikita Panin, her favorite I.I. As a result, Panin was appointed ambassador to Denmark, and then to Sweden. In the latter, he wasted no time, got acquainted with the struggle of political parties, mastered the art of a diplomat. Since there were strong revanchist sentiments in Sweden aimed at revising the Nystadt peace, Panin, in order to neutralize the influence of revanchists, had a chance to master the entire arsenal of intrigues: to exacerbate the rivalry of the opposing "parties", to use bribery, to learn flattery.

At the same time, while living in Sweden, Panin learned some of the ideas of the Enlightenment. For example, he fetishized the power of laws, which must be strictly obeyed by the entire population of the country, including the monarch - only having good laws, the country can achieve prosperity. Panin considered the state's primary duty to patronize the development of domestic and especially foreign trade, industry that uses the country's richest natural resources, improving communication routes (land and water), and encouraging agriculture. To achieve these goals, it was necessary for merchants and industrialists to issue loans on preferential terms, to protect domestic industry with protective duties.

Diplomat Panin was also interested in the fate of serfs. Here, in principle, he adhered to the views of moderate enlighteners, but made significant adjustments to them. In his opinion, the elimination of serfdom was premature, but he considered the state's primary task to regulate the relationship between the master and the peasant by government laws that established the amount of duties in favor of the landlord. A severe punishment awaited those who broke the law. With such a stock of knowledge and convictions, Nikita Ivanovich arrived in Russia in 1760 - he was summoned by Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, entrusting him with the responsible task of educating the son of the heir to the throne - Pavel Petrovich. The position of chief hofmeister among the court ranks was quoted quite high - it freely opened the doors of the courtyard, made it possible to establish more or less close relations with this courtyard, that is, with the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess. The Chief Hoffmeister was also included in the Empress's apartments. All this put him in a number of important dignitaries.

According to the instructions, which the Chief Hoffmeister should have been guided by when raising the son of Catherine, the first duty of the educator was to affirm "in his tender heart direct piety, that is, conviction of faith." This is followed by a long list of virtues that had to be instilled in the pupil: kindness, a virtuous heart, philanthropy, meekness, justice, etc. Panin was allowed to invite a pupil of "any rank of rank and dignity" people of "good fortune" to society so that he could know their needs and learn to distinguish between virtuous people from evil ones.

Panin's duty was to prevent such vices as flattery, cowardice, obscene jokes, etc. Of the sciences taught to the Grand Duke, the first place should be taken by the history of Russia, the study of the mores and customs of its people, examples of courage in defending the Fatherland, as well as the country's natural resources ... As for the rest of the subjects to be mastered by the pupil, their list was given at the discretion of the educator. We do not know what pedagogical skills Nikita Ivanovich possessed; we also do not know the pedagogical principles by which he was guided. It is only known that he received material for education of not the best quality: from birth to six years old, the Grand Duke was in the care of ignorant nannies, storytellers, hangers-on, who considered it a blessing for a child if he was kept in a closed, stuffy room, wrapped up beyond all measure. As a result, the boy grew up sickly and frail, extremely nervous and quick-tempered. The nannies accustomed the child to obedience, intimidating with the names of the empress and the chief hofmeister, so that the first meeting of the teacher with the ward was accompanied by a roar due to fear inspired by the nannies. With the advent of Panin, the nannies were removed from the Grand Duke, but judging by the notes of S.A. This was partly due to his laziness, partly to the fact that in 1763 he was entrusted with the leadership of the foreign policy department along with the duties of an educator.

The content of the conversations at the dinner table does not give grounds to believe that Panin was guided by any system in choosing topics. It was rather a social or business conversation, alien to children's interests and the mind of a young pupil. Since Nikita Ivanovich occupied the first place among the nobles present, he, and no one else, determined the topic of the conversation, and depending on Panin's mood, either fun or deathly silence reigned at the table - Panin was silent, the others were silent. Far from all the conversations, the child could derive any benefit for himself. The lack of attention to the heir irritated the latter. Occasionally, however, the topics of conversations with some stretch can be attributed to educational. Once Panin asked the pupil: "What do you think, is it better to command or obey?" “To this the sovereign has deigned to say: he has all his time; at other times it is better to command, at other times it is better to obey. " The educator should have expected reasoning, evaluation and concretization of the answer, but Panin ignored the answer.

The story of Nikita Ivanovich about the Swedish king, a great admirer of puppet comedies, "and how he himself (the king), standing behind the scenery, spoke instead of Polichinelle" was of educational significance. Panin "talked about this with a mockery of His Majesty," from which followed a moralizing: it was not the king's business to participate in puppet comedies. If we add that the Grand Duke was taken to the theater, where he happened to observe frivolous scenes inherent in the by no means chaste age of Catherine, as well as to watch comedies that were not designed for children at all, then it is difficult to evaluate positively Panin's role in educating Paul of the virtues provided for by the instruction.

And yet Panin had an important influence on Pavel's upbringing: firstly, by the selection of educators who knew their job, among whom he stood out for his high moral qualities and extensive knowledge of the young officer S.A. Poroshin, who taught mathematics to the heir, his actual educator, unfortunately their duties only during the year; secondly, according to A. G. Tartakovsky, Panin, together with Poroshin, "persistently inspired the heir to the idea of ​​his dynastic rights." Of course, such suggestions did not contribute to the establishment of a trusting relationship between mother and son - Catherine looked at Paul as the legitimate heir and kept a watchful eye on him in order to prevent any attempts to use her rights. The discord between Catherine and her son especially intensified after the latter reached the age of majority and from September 20, 1772, at the suggestion of Panin and his supporters, could become, if not a co-ruler, then an executor of important government orders. Catherine, however, kept the "small courtyard" in isolation and did not intend to share even a little bit of power.

Catherine knew about Panin's sympathies, but she did not dare to deprive him of his post and drive him away from the court in the first years of her reign, because she took into account the degree of his influence in court circles, and his active role in the coup, and, finally, the fragility of her position on the throne. In subsequent years, on the contrary, she was already sure that neither Panin nor his pupil posed a threat. Catherine became convinced of the extreme necessity of the count as head of the foreign policy department, since he, being her adherent in his views on rapprochement with Prussia, diligently carried out the will of the empress. But as soon as Catherine changed her foreign policy orientation, Panin was out of work.

Circumstances developed in such a way that the cautious Nikita Ivanovich had to take part in the tumultuous events of June 28, 1762. A distinctive feature of this coup was the participation in it, in addition to ordinary guardsmen and guards officers, such noblemen as N.I. Panin and hetman K.G. Razumovsky. The involvement of Panin in the ranks of the conspirators was quite difficult, because Nikita Ivanovich did not like to take risks. And yet he was persuaded. Peter III himself contributed a lot to this, awarding Panin, a purely civilian man who hated drills, with the rank of general-in-chief. Chin obliged the puny nobleman to participate in watch parades, constructions of all kinds, to which the emperor was so partial. Panin refused the general's rank, saying that if they insisted on accepting it, he would go to Sweden. When this refusal was reported to the emperor, he uttered two offensive phrases addressed to Panin: “Everyone told me that Panin clever man... Can I believe it now? " Peter III nevertheless awarded his son's educator a civil rank, corresponding to the general-in-chief.

Dashkova, after many hesitations and doubts, nevertheless decided to speak to Panin, a distant relative who had been brought to her, "about the likelihood of Peter III being deposed from the throne." “I decided to open up to Count Panin,” wrote Dashkova, “at my first meeting with him. He stood for the observance of the rule of law and for the assistance of the Senate. " Translated from diplomatic language into ordinary language, Panin's words meant that he understood the disastrous for the country of the rule of the unbalanced Peter III, but resisted violent measures. "Compliance with the law" meant that the throne should be inherited by a legal successor, that is, Paul, his, Panina, pupil, and Catherine, Paul's mother, until his majority, was assigned the role of regent. Perhaps at some stage in the preparation of the coup and its implementation, Catherine could agree to the role of regent, but in the atmosphere of general jubilation over the overthrow of Peter III and Catherine's accession to the throne, the idea of ​​regency disappeared by itself.

It would seem that such significant differences in views on the purpose of the coup should have forced Catherine to show a wary attitude towards Panin and affect his career. But this did not happen, firstly, because the more or less trusting relationship between the small court, especially Catherine and Panin, had a long history; secondly, Panin, seeing the futility of the protest, did not insist on the implementation of his plan; thirdly, the empress did not begin to take revenge and show hostility not only to Nikita Ivanovich, but also to the obvious supporters of the deposed spouse.

On October 27, 1763, Panin received the following rescript from Catherine: “Due to the present, not easy circumstances, we, for the good, during the absence of our chancellor, entrust you with correcting and proceeding with all the Foreign Collegium affairs; For this reason, we command you until the chancellor returns to be present in this collegium as a senior member of the generation that your other positions allow you. " According to the meaning of the rescript, Panin's new position was temporary, he had to send it before Vorontsov returned from a two-year vacation, but the latter's request for leave was nothing more than a plausible excuse for resigning, and Panin became the head of the foreign policy department for almost 20 years. Panin's appointment, like Catherine's accession to the throne, received a response from the Austrian ambassador, Count of Mercy d "Argento, who reported to Vienna in 1763:“ As far as the present day is concerned, firstly, it is more than likely that the nature of the new empress, composed of stormy passions, will make her reign, both in good and in bad, very lively and active; secondly, since Panin was the main instrument for the enthronement of the new empress and through this achieved the indispensable right to lead her in the affairs of government , then he, of course, will be able to skillfully coordinate the preservation of his own credit with the passions of the empress. This minister is extremely capricious and skillful in enterprises beneficial to his ultimate goal. "

During a long service, Panin had a chance to fulfill a variety of instructions from Catherine, including the most delicate ones, which had no direct relation to diplomacy or the duties of an educator, while either using her boundless trust, or being in a semi-fallen state. Such delicate assignments include the leadership of the investigation of two cases: the "Khitrovo case", connected with Catherine's intention to tie her fate with her favorite Grigory Orlov by marriage, and the investigation of the Mirovich case, who unsuccessfully tried to make another coup - to overthrow Catherine and give the crown to the one who was languishing in captivity in Shlisselburg to John Antonovich.

The first investigation did not reveal a serious danger for Catherine, and the participants in the so-called conspiracy suffered a relatively light punishment, explained, in particular, by the fact that Nikita Ivanovich himself was in the ranks of those who opposed this marriage. As for Mirovich, he made an attempt to free Ivan Antonovich from captivity in the days when the empress was in the Baltic States, and she led the investigation through Panin, who showed personal initiative, loyalty to Catherine, and the strict implementation of all her orders sent from Riga.

When you read the letters of the Empress to Panin, two observations follow from their content: the empress's high degree of trust in Panin and the incredible self-control of Catherine. The first news the empress received from Panin, apparently, aroused two feelings in her: joy at the death of the main contender for the crown and the imprisonment of the main culprit of the tragedy that took place in Shlisselburg, and a sense of anxiety, under the influence of which she expressed doubt about that Mirovich acted alone, and the confidence that he had accomplices in St. Petersburg from among the guards, ready to repeat what she herself did two years ago.

Catherine's behavior is all the more surprising because, having received news from St. Petersburg, she did not rush headlong into the capital, but remained in Riga and pretended that everything was calm in the sky; She, as before, continued to lavish smiles, to captivate the Livonian nobles with charm, to participate in masquerades, solemn receptions, etc. Only from the empress's letters to Panin, quite frank, can one judge about deep anxiety and intense anticipation of new news from St. Petersburg. Between Riga and the capital, couriers galloped day and night, delivering the reports of Nikita Ivanovich and orders of the Empress, who delved into the matter to the smallest detail. It draws attention to the haste with which the empress responded to Panin's reports, and all the rescripts to him, for the sake of keeping the secret, she wrote with her own hand: July 9, July 11 and 14, July 22. In the last rescript, the Empress expressed her complete satisfaction with Nikita Ivanovich's actions: "It could not have been better done as you did, for which I am very grateful ... it seems the matter is going smoothly."

Panin also actively participated in the events that unfolded in the capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Warsaw, and associated with the election of a new king, the former favorite of the empress, Stanislav Poniatovsky. In carrying out its intentions, Russian diplomacy had to overcome the resistance of France and Austria, a constant rival for dominance in Europe. As a result, in the months when the election campaign in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carried out, Catherine became close to Frederick II, who considered that Stanislav Poniatowski was most in line with his types in Poland. As a result of pressure on the electoral Diet, on July 4, 1764, Stanislav Ponyatovsky was unanimously elected king. This gave Catherine a reason to write to Panin: "I congratulate you on the king we made." For the sake of fairness, we note that the main "doer" of the king was not Panin, but Catherine, who held in her hands all the threads of the election campaign intrigue and directly communicated over the head of the Foreign Collegium with the Russian ambassador to Warsaw Kaiserling and N.V. Repnin, who replaced him.

In 1763, two more events fall, to which Panin had a direct bearing. One of them was of a matrimonial nature and was associated with G. Orlov's attempt to become the Empress's spouse. Formally, this venture was proposed by A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, who, at the behest of Elizaveta Petrovna, found himself in disgrace. This nobleman relied in his career on flattery and servility, the ability to anticipate the secret desires of the powerful. After the death of Anna Ivanovna Bestuzhev invited Biron to become the regent of Ivan Antonovich and, showing extraordinary perseverance, achieved his goal. Now, in 1763, having been returned from exile by Catherine, he made a bet on her favorite and, of course, with his submission, persuaded the empress to agree to the marriage. It seems to us that Catherine agreed to this step against her will, being in a state of uncertainty for her fate and fearing to lose the crown that the Orlovs gave her and which could just as easily be taken away from her. Favorite Grigory Orlov, the closest of the brothers, in the presence of the Empress and the nobles boastfully declared that it would take him a month to put another pretender on the throne. To this, Kirill Razumovsky reasonably remarked that Orlov would have been hanged a week before the coup.

According to Diderot's version, “Bestuzhev revealed these plans to Chancellor Vorontsov. The Chancellor, not wanting to hear him and interrupting halfway through his speech, said: "How have I earned such a humiliating trust on your part?" After that, he ran to the empress and made it appear to her the indecency and danger of such an act, advising, if you like, to keep Orlov as a lover, shower him with riches and honors, but by no means think about marrying him, so harmful for herself and for the people ". From Catherine, he went to Count Panin and told him the case, and begged him to help with his influence. Panin took a firm position: "The Empress can do whatever she wants, but Mrs. Orlova cannot be the Empress." Even if we ignore Diderot's dubious information about the attitude of the people to Catherine's intention to become Orlov's wife, then the protest against this intention from the top and bottom of the capital's nobility is confirmed by reliable sources. Relying on their support, the Empress easily rejected Bestuzhev's plan. Although Catherine understood that Orlov could only be a burden to her reign, she would not dare to refuse him without outside support.

A similar situation has developed around the project of N.I. Panin. If Bestuzhev's project was largely related to the private life of the empress, then Panin's project was of national importance; introduced changes to the structure of the highest bodies of power: Nikita Ivanovich proposed creating a new institution in the country - the Imperial Council and reforming the Senate. In fact, the Imperial Council was not one of the new and original institutions - with a similar institution, but under a different name, the history of the country is familiar. First of all, we are talking about the Supreme Privy Council and the Cabinet of Ministers, established to help the empresses, who had no idea about the management of the state. Panin's project envisaged the creation of an Imperial Council, consisting of imperial advisers, "the number of which should never exceed eight or less than six should not be diminished." Four of the advisers are appointed by secretaries of state, each of whom was in charge of a specific area of ​​government: internal affairs, foreign policy, military and maritime industries. Panin motivated the need for secretaries of state by two reasons: the need to protect the sovereign from mistakes "inherent to humanity", because he "in no other way can produce anything useful as a reasonable division of it between a small number of the only people chosen for that." The second reason for the creation of the Imperial Council was the desire to remove temporary workers and favorites from governing the country. Favoritism, according to Nikita Ivanovich, is evil, because the favorites were guided not by the interests of the state, but by personal gain.

The draft Manifesto on the Establishment of the Imperial Council prepared by Panin emphasized that in the past, “the power of persons rather than the power of the places of state” had a decisive influence in the production of affairs. The new institution was supposed to put an end to whims, which are replaced by the power of law. Quite often, government agencies "only had their names, and the whole state was governed by only persons and their wills without knowledge and outside the localities." The competence of the new institution is defined in the most general form: "everything that can serve for the sovereign's own autocracy, for the care and augmentation and correction of the state has to be in our Imperial Council, as in ours." The Imperial Council must meet daily, except Saturday and Sunday. Each state secretary reported on the affairs of his department, and the empress could either accept or reject the draft decree prepared by the department with additions made during the discussion.

The Empress not only approved the project and signed the Manifesto on its creation, but also named its personal composition. The head of the Imperial Council was to A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, and its members were appointed by Prince Ya.P. Shakhovskoy, Count K. G. Razumovsky, N. I. Panin, Count Z. G. Chernyshev and M.I. Vorontsov. Panin was assigned the responsibility of head of the department of internal affairs, foreign affairs - on MI Vorontsov, military - Chernyshev. The post of State Secretary of Maritime Affairs remained vacant.

It seemed that the reformer Panin could celebrate the victory, his prestige was strengthened even more, and he had no rivals in influencing the empress. And suddenly everything changed radically: Catherine tore the sheet. This meant abandoning the Panin project. There are several reasons for this, among them the one referred to by S. M. Soloviev: the predecessors of the Imperial Council were created under helpless sovereigns who did not have the data to govern the country. Catherine did not count herself among them. Consequently, Panin's project dealt a blow to the empress's pride. In addition, and this is the most important thing, the Imperial Council, although it did not formally limit the autocratic power of Catherine, but infringed on her rights regarding the favorites, whom she intended not only to use for comfort, but also to involve in government affairs. It is clear that the entire Orlov clan strongly urged to reject Panin's project. But how can this be done so as not to arouse the murmur of the influential Panin, who, presumably, was supported by many nobles?

Catherine's clever move was to bury the project with someone else's hands - she provided an opportunity for influential officials to get acquainted with the project so that they could express their opinion about it. Historians have two anonymous testimonials at their disposal. Their authors did not object to the establishment of the Imperial Council, but made minor additions and changes: for example, the Council should meet not five, but four times a week, one of the anonymous officials recommended calling the head of the chancellery not the director, but the chief secretary. Sharply negative judgments about Panin's project were expressed only by Feldzheichmeister Vilboa, who believed that “under the guise of protecting the monarchy” the project “subtly leans towards aristocratic rule”, in which the members of the Council “can very conveniently grow into co-rulers”, which will “lead to the destruction of power and the greatness of the Russian Empire ”. Vilboa did not skimp on compliments to the Empress: her wisdom, "prudence and bright eyes" do not need any special advice.

The empress needed gracious criticism of the project - there were grounds to disavow her signature. The fact that Vilboa, obsequiously, accommodated himself to the opinion of the Empress and the Orlovs, or perhaps used their hint, can be judged by the fact that there was no threat of turning the members of the Council into “co-rulers”; Board: the appointment and removal of members of the Council were in the competence of the Empress. In this case, it was not the arguments, not their persuasiveness that were important, but the very fact that the project was unacceptable by just the only critic. The main argument in favor of the artificiality of Vilboa's arguments was that the throne was occupied by an intelligent, energetic empress who did not intend to submit to someone else's will.

The Feldzheichmeister recommended that instead of establishing the Imperial Council, reform the Empress's Cabinet, dividing it into the necessary departments, moreover, so that only known, statutory reports were presented to her personally and that each department was chaired by a secretary of state or a cabinet secretary. These secretaries accepted incoming and outgoing papers, registered them, reported to the empress at precisely defined hours about their content, and finally, they drew up draft decrees for signing by the empress. Thus, instead of the Imperial Council, an institution of political importance, Vilboa proposed to facilitate the work of the empress by improving the technique of dealing with affairs. Such a proposal suited Catherine quite well. She was also satisfied with the second part of Panin's project, which provided for the reform of the Senate. According to Panin, the Senate in its current form was a cumbersome institution with an insignificant efficiency. Each of the 30 senators, the author of the project considered, "comes to the Senate session as a guest for dinner, who does not yet know not only the taste of food, but also the dishes with which it will be served."

As for the activities of Nikita Ivanovich as the head of the foreign policy department, she met with the support of the empress only in those cases when it corresponded to her types; on the contrary, the empress ignored his opinion if it contradicted her intentions. Here are some examples of how Panin, contrary to his convictions, had to submit to the will of the empress and unconditionally carry out her orders.

In this respect, the sharp turn in the foreign policy orientation of Russia in 1780 is indicative.Until this year, Catherine maintained allied relations with Frederick II, which expired in 1777. Panin, who was one of the architects of the so-called Northern system, continued to focus on Prussia, while while Catherine believed that Russia had made the most of the alliance with Prussia and that it was time to move closer to Austria, Russia's natural ally in the fight against the Ottoman Empire. If before 1780 Frederick II fell apart in flattery to Catherine II, receiving a generous dose of praise in return, then from 1780 the place of the Prussian king in the correspondence with the empress was taken by the Austrian emperor Joseph II. Panin did not agree with this turn, but he had to humbly carry out the orders of Catherine.

The question, ultimately, tends to the zeal and dedication with which Panin performed the duties of the chancellor. Historians, as in most cases, have contradictory testimonies from their contemporaries. When using them, three circumstances should be taken into account: these certificates differ in nationality and in the time of compilation of reviews. Most of the foreigners left negative characteristics of Panin. However, we must once again remind that the criteria for evaluating foreigners, in this case diplomats, are not objective data, but the degree to which the Russian nobles are satisfied with the interests of the country they represent.

Ambassadors at the Russian court often blamed their failures not on their own blunders and inability to negotiate, but on the negative character traits of the Russian interlocutor. Finally, the reviews are unequal in content: if diplomats paid primary attention to Panin's attitude to official duties, then Russian authors tried to highlight his moral qualities; in laudatory reviews, notes of eulogy often slip.

Fonvizin wrote: “The character of Count Panin was worthy of sincere respect and unfeigned love. His firmness proved the greatness of his soul. In matters relating to the good of the state, neither promises nor threats could shake it. Nothing in the world could force him to offer the monarch his opinion against his inner feelings. Colico of blessings this firmness bestowed on the fatherland. She protected him from colic evils. Others adored him, his very enemies felt in the depths of their hearts respect for him, and from all his compatriots he was given the name of an honest man. "

An equally enthusiastic assessment of Panin was given by Golitsyn: “He was with great dignity, and what distinguished most of all was a kind of nobility in all his actions and in his attention to everyone, so that it was impossible not to love and not read him: he seemed to be attracted to him. In my life I have never seen a nobleman so pleasant in appearance. Nature has endowed him with dignity in everything that can make a beautiful man. All his subordinates idolized him. "

The empress's opinion about Panin was changing. During the coup and for many years after it, he enjoyed her full confidence. On the eve of the campaign to Peterhof to arrest Peter III, Catherine, in her words, convened "something like a council" at which it was decided to send four guards regiments, a cuirassier regiment and four infantry regiments against the deposed emperor and the Holsteiners. Among the most trusted persons who made this decision was N.I. Panin. In a letter to Poniatovsky, dating back to 1762, the Empress did not spare words of praise addressed to Panin: this is "the most skillful, the most intelligent and the most zealous person in my court." Panin looks different under the pen of the Empress in 1783: “Count Panin was lazy by nature and had the art of giving this laziness the appearance of prudence and calculated. He was not gifted with such kindness or such freshness of soul as Prince Orlov, but he lived more between people and knew how to hide his shortcomings and his vices, and he had great ones. "

It seems that foreign diplomats treated Panin somewhat more favorably than the Russian empress. The British Ambassador Harris reported in 1778: “One must have superhuman patience to deal with people so lazy and unable to either listen to a question or give a reasonable answer. You can hardly believe that Count Panin devotes half an hour a day to business. " In the same 1778, the French ambassador Carberon sent a dispatch with a similar comment about Panin: “Count Panin is weak, like all the persons of this court who are holding on to mercy; the trust he enjoys is sometimes useless. By nature, he is sensitive, but from the system and by habit he is a sloth. The word "no" is unknown to him, but he rarely fulfills his promises, and if, apparently, only occasionally you meet a rebuff from his side, then the hopes given to him almost never come true. Among the traits of his character is cunning - the cunning that he surrounds you with politeness and thousands of courtesies, forcing the person talking with him about business to forget that he is talking with the chief minister of the empress, and by this he distracts the interlocutor from the subject of his mission and knocks him off the serious tone that he ought to have kept in the midst of a fascinating and dangerous conversation. "

Carberon returned to the topic of Panin's laziness again two years later, describing his daily routine: “He gets up very late, amuses himself with looking at prints or new books, then dresses, accepts those who come to him, then dines, and then plays cards or sleeps. then he has supper and goes to bed very late. Senior officials do not work any more than he does and spend their time playing gambling, and they lose money, up to six hundred rubles a night, as happens, for example, with Fonvizin or Morkov, Bakunin, etc. " In the first half of this decade, the ambassador of the allied Prussia, Count Solms, who enjoyed a special favor with Panin, did not note his service zeal. In January 1774, Solms reported to the king: “It is unpleasant to see that this minister, who was never particularly hardworking, is now still much less active, and has been enjoying incomparably more amusement since he left the court than when he occupied there is the position of chief-gofmeister. It becomes painful, I'm afraid it won't last long. Business suffers too much from such idleness. "

So, foreign diplomats, like Catherine, reproached Panin for laziness. Perhaps the key to explaining Panin's decline in working capacity lies in the report of the British Ambassador Gunning, sent three years earlier: “Recently, Count Panin's enemies have spread rumors that something like a stroke of apoplexy has recently happened to him, which has significantly weakened his abilities. And I know that a few days ago he himself, in the presence of the Empress, said that his nerves had become extremely weak and that he was no longer able to do much business. Everyone believes that he wanted to prepare the empress for his retirement from service, an event that will greatly delight Count Potemkin and the Chernyshevs, since all their influence was not enough to remove him from office, although recently their opinion outweighed his opinion in many cases ".

The nobility of Panin's nature and his disinterestedness is evidenced by his act, which amazed his contemporaries. In 1773, the empress generously rewarded the educator of her son, who had reached the age of majority and no longer needed guardianship. Nikita Ivanovich was awarded the title equal to the field marshal's, a salary with table money, 8412 serfs, 100 thousand rubles for furnishing a house.

Such was the knight without fear and reproach, who honestly served his Fatherland. Catherine, although she made fun of Panin's slowness (in a joking description of the courtiers, she wrote about Panin: "Count Panin - if he ever hurries"), recognized the talents of a diplomat and an educated person. “When you want reasoning and good general principles,” the empress wrote in the article “Portraits of several ministers,” you need to consult with Panin, but not in private matters, for here he begins to get carried away and since he is very stubborn, he will only introduce you to delusion. His share is foreign affairs. " The empress dismissed Panin in 1781, and on March 31, 1783 he died.

Bibliographic list

1. Dashkova, E. R. Notes. - London, 1859 .-- 25 p.
2. Quoted. Quoted from: Pavlenko N.I., Catherine the Great. - M., 2004.-453 p.
3. Collection of the Russian Imperial Historical Society (hereinafter: Sat. RIO). T. 27 .-- SPb., 1880 .-- S. 365-372.
4. Ibid. - 374 p.
5. Bilbasov, VA Historical monographs. T. 4. - SPb., - 1901. - S. 15-24.
6. Sat. RIO. T. 1. - SPb., - 1867 .-- S. 203-221.
7. Goryushkin, A. V. Graf Nikita Panin. - M., - 1989. - S. 99-100.
8. Catherine the Second. Notes. - SPb., - 1907 .-- S. 575-576.
9. Russian Antiquity. No. 5. - St. Petersburg, - 1902. - 371 p.
10. Ibid. - 372 p.
11. Sat. RIO. T. 72 .-- SPb., - 1891 .-- 415 p.
12. Ibid. - 463 p.
13. Sat. RIO. T. 19. - SPb., - 1876 .-- 398 p.

Chancellor of Empress Elizabeth and Field Marshal under Catherine II, youngest son of Count Peter Mikhailovich, b. May 22, 1693, d. in 1768. In 1707, at the request of his father, he, together with his older brother, received permission to go abroad for science, at their own expense. In October 1708, the brothers left Arkhangelsk, with the wife of the Russian ambassador at the Danish court of Prince V. L. Dolgorukov, to Copenhagen, where they entered the Danish gentry academy. In 1710, a pestilence made them move to Berlin and continue their studies at the Higher Collegium there. The younger Bestuzhev was particularly successful in the study of the languages ​​of Latin, French and German, as well as general education. After completing his training course, he traveled to Europe. In 1712, Peter the Great, having arrived in Berlin, ordered Bestuzhev to be assigned to serve as a "nobleman at the embassy" to the Russian plenipotentiary minister in Holland, Prince. BI Kurakina, whom Bestuzhev accompanied to the Utrecht Congress. Passing through Hanover, Bestuzhev had the opportunity to become known to the Hanoverian Elector Georg Ludwig and received an offer to join him. With the permission of Peter I, Bestuzhev actually entered the service of the elector in 1713, first as a colonel and then as a chamberlain with a salary of 1000 thalers a year. In 1714 George, who ascended the English throne, took Bestuzhev with him to London and immediately sent him to Peter the Great, as an English minister, with the notification of his accession to the throne. Peter, very pleased with this role of the Russian in the foreign service, received Bestuzhev according to the etiquette established for the reception of foreign ministers, gave him 1,000 rubles. and the usual gift in such cases. Then Bestuzhev returned to London with a letter of congratulation from Peter to George and a new letter of recommendation from his sovereign. In total, Bestuzhev spent about four years in England, with great benefit for his education and preparation for the political role that lay ahead of him. The awareness of his strength early awakened in him an ambitious desire to advance as soon as possible, using various "conjunctures". The tendency and ability to intrigue manifested itself in him in 1717, when he learned about the flight of Tsarevich Alexei to Vienna. Seeing the tsarevich as the future ruler of Russia, Bestuzhev hastened to write him a letter, assuring him of his loyalty and readiness to serve "the future tsar and sovereign"; Bestuzhev cleverly explained his transition to foreign service, at the same time, by the desire to retire from Russia, since circumstances did not allow him to serve, as he would like, to Tsarevich Alexei. Fortunately for Bestuzhev, the tsarevich did not betray him during the investigation, but destroyed the letter: only the German translation was preserved in the Vienna archives. At the end of the same 1717 Bestuzhev asked King George I to dismiss him from service, as the relationship between Peter and the Hanoverian house began to deteriorate. Upon arrival in Russia, he was appointed chief-chamber-junker to the court of the Dowager Duchess of Courland, Anna Ioannovna, where he served, without salary, for about two years. In 1721 he began his independent diplomatic service: he replaced Prince. VL Dolgorukov as Russian minister-resident at the court of the Danish king Frederick VI. Here Bestuzhev found himself in the midst of Peter's diplomatic struggle with the English king, who was trying to raise the northern powers against Russia. The patronage that Peter gave to the Duke of Holstein put him in a hostile relationship to Denmark, which had retained after itself after the Northern War, according to a separate treaty with Sweden in 1720, Schleswig. Bestuzhev was instructed to obtain from Denmark the recognition of the title of Imperial Majesty for Peter, and for the Duke of Holstein - royal highness, and for the Russian courts - exemption from the Zund duties; at the same time he had to watch the hostile intrigues of England and, if possible, to resist them. Bestuzhev reported that the Danish ministers were completely in the hands of the Hanoverian envoy and were retired from him, and asked for 25,000 ducats to buy them over to his side. Without such funds, he managed to attract only the influential chief secretary of the military collegium Gabel, who gave him the opportunity to conduct secret negotiations personally with the Danish king. The Danish government agreed to recognize Peter's imperial title only in exchange for a guarantee from Schleswig, or at least on condition that the Duke of Holstein be removed from Russia. Bestuzhev, who generally conducted business very independently, giving advice to Peter and objecting to his instructions, insisted on the need to keep Denmark in fear with the help of hertz. Holstein. The negotiations dragged on without result. During this time, the news was received about the conclusion of the Nystadt peace. On December 1, 1721, Bestuzhev organized a magnificent holiday for foreign ministers and noble persons of the kingdom and handed out a medal to the guests in memory of the great event. The medal showed a bust of Peter the Great with the inscription: "Exantlatis per quatuor et quod excurrit lustra plus quam Herculeis belli laboribus, pace Neostadii in Finlandia 30 Aug. S. V. 1721. gloriosissime, quod ipsa fatebitur invidia, sancita, exoptatam Arctoo orbi quietem donavit. ”Because of such an inscription, the royal mint refused to issue a medal, and Bestuzhev had to order it in Hamburg. Along the edge of the medal was the inscription:“ haec moneta in memamori pacis hujus distributa fuit ab A. Bestuschef apud regn. Dan. aulam h. t. Residente "(this medal, but without a second inscription, was again minted in St. Petersburg in 1763). Peter, who was then in Derbent, thanked Bestuzhev with his own handwritten letter, and in 1723 handed him portrait adorned with diamonds Bestuzhev cherished this gift all his life and wore it on his chest During his stay in Copenhagen Bestuzhev, a great lover of chemistry, invented valuable "life drops" (tinctura tonico-nervina Bestuscheffi), an alcohol-ethereal solution of iron sesquichloride; the chemist Lembke sold him the secret in Hamburg to the French brigadier de Lamotte, who presented the drops to the French king and received a large reward for it. Later, Bestuzhev himself revealed his secret to the St. Petersburg pharmacist, and then to the academician of the Academy of Sciences, Model, from whom the secret passed to the pharmacist Durop; Durop's widow sold it for 3000 rubles. Empress Catherine II, at whose command the recipe was published in the St. Petersburg Bulletin for 1780.

Bestuzhev's diplomatic task was partially completed in 1724. The Danish government recognized the imperial title of Peter; but, as Bestuzhev explained, it only made a concession out of fear. The conclusion of an alliance between Russia and Sweden made Denmark fear not only for Schleswig, but also for Norway; the king even fell ill when he received such news. Peter appreciated Bestuzhev's diplomatic dexterity and in the same year, May 7, on the day of Catherine's coronation, he granted him a full chamberlain. In the year of the death of Peter the Great, Denmark was still hesitating between the Anglo-French alliance and Russia. But the hope for the inevitable weakening of Russia after the death of the great sovereign led the Danes "into a kind and cheerful humor"; The English fleet appeared in Danish waters, and everyone began to "shun Bestuzhev as if he were plague." And besides the strained Copenhagen relations, Bestuzhev was dissatisfied with his position. Danish affairs weighed on him; there was nowhere for his talents to unfold, and in St. Petersburg there was a struggle of parties, promising a person with energy, great ambition and docile dexterity - a quick rise to power. The Bestuzhev family had long-standing ties with the court of the deceased; Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich; now their friends: Veselovskys, Abram Hannibal, Pashkovs, Neledinsky, Cherkasov - rallied around Bestuzhev's sister, Prince. Agrafena Petrovna Volkonskaya, and the tutor of Tsarevich Peter Alekseevich, Sem. Af. Mavrina. Their support was also the Austrian envoy in St. Petersburg, Count Rabutin, who enjoyed considerable influence. Bestuzhev dreamed of elevation with his help; indeed, Rabutin tried to deliver Prince. Volkonskaya, the title of Chief Hofmeister under Princess Natalya Alekseevna, and Bestuzhev asked her to procure the title of count for her father. He himself officially asked for "for his seven-year work at the Danish court" the powers of the extraordinary envoy and increased content. But in vain he was convinced that "his reward through the Viennese court will never leave him." His party had strong enemies - Menshikov and Holsteins, and Rabutin died in 1727. Menshikov and Osterman captured the court of Tsarevich Peter during the time. Bestuzhev's friends raised an intrigue against them, but it was revealed, and one of them, gr. Devier found a correspondence that revealed the secret relations of the circle. Book. Volkonskaya was exiled to the village, Mavrin and Hannibal received orders to Siberia, the whole circle was destroyed. Bestuzhev survived, although his father came under investigation, and his brother was removed from Stockholm. He had to stay in Denmark without any "reward". His political role remained colorless. Upon the accession to the throne of Peter II, the Duke of Holstein left Russia, and the Danish court calmed down. Bestuzhev was waiting for a change for his circle when Menshikov fell. But hope this time also deceived: the strength remained in the hands of a hostile person - Osterman. The attempt of the exiled to return led only to the disclosure of their new intrigue and to new punishments, and A. Bestuzhev was also compromised, being convicted that he “sought help through the Viennese court”, and even “informed foreign ministers about the internal affairs of the local state”. However, this time he did not fall into disgrace, and in February 1729 he even received a monetary award of 5,000 rubles. - The year is 1730. The transfer of power into the hands of Anna Ioannovna gave Bestuzhev new hope. He managed to maintain the location of the former Duchess of Courland. godmother of his three sons, and after his father lost her mercy. Bestuzhev hastened to write her a greeting, reminding, as she wrote to him in 1727, that from him "I did not see any disgust for myself, except for faithful services," and complained that, having lived 10 years in Denmark under difficult circumstances, enduring oppression from for the Duke of Holstein and his claims to Schleswig, he has not received any promotion for 8 years. But his voice was not heeded. In the spring of 1731 he was ordered to hand over the Danish affairs to the Courland Brakel, and to go as a resident to Hamburg. However, a year later he received the title of Ambassador Extraordinary to the Lower Saxon District. Here he had an opportunity to render the Empress a significant service. On her behalf, he traveled to Kiel to inspect the archives of the Dukes of Holstein and managed to extract from there documents relating to the legacy of the Russian throne, including the spiritual testament of Empress Catherine I, which established the rights of the Holstein house to the Russian throne. In the same 1733, the former chamber-page of the Duchess of Mecklenburg Ekaterina Ivanovna, Milashevich, appeared to Bestuzhev in Hamburg, with a denunciation of the Smolensk governor, Prince Cherkassky, who allegedly leads many Smolny residents to be loyal to the Holstein prince. For these cases Bestuzhev was summoned to Petersburg by a personal decree, brought documents and an informer, and received, in addition to 2,000 rubles, the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. From that time on, Biron, who was persecuting his father, began to look at Bestuzhev as a loyal and reliable person. In 1735 he again arrived in Copenhagen, and the bar. Brakel was recalled. Bestuzhev was simultaneously appointed ambassador extraordinary both in Denmark and in the Lower Saxon region. In May 1736 he received the rank of privy councilor. Bestuzhev remained abroad for about 4 years, when the fall of Volynsky gave him the opportunity to take a high position at home. Incapable of the role of the head of state affairs, a sovereign temporary worker, the Duke of Courland Biron has long been burdened by his dependence in affairs from Gr. Osterman. Attempts to elevate, in opposition to him, first Yaguzhinsky, then Ar. Volynsky - ended in failure. Then the choice of Biron settled on Bestuzhev, who managed to assure Biron of his extreme loyalty to his person. In 1740 Bestuzhev was promoted to actual privy councilors and summoned to St. Petersburg. The Duke of Courland hesitated for some time whether to introduce him to the Cabinet. When he arrived in the capital, no statement was made regarding the plans for which he had been summoned. De Chtardie explains this by the fact that Bestuzhev enjoyed a reputation as a man like Volynsky, ambitious, following his impulses without restraint, so that many predicted for him the same tragic end as that of his predecessor; but Biron did not want to change his choice, since his project became known as soon as it was conceived. Foreign ministers were greatly concerned about the question of how strong the influence of Bestuzhev would be and in what particular cases. On August 18, 1740, on the day of the christening of Tsarevich John Antonovich, Bestuzhev was declared a cabinet minister, and soon (September 9) the Empress conferred on him the Order of the White Eagle bestowed upon him by the Polish king. This renewal of the composition of the Cabinet was a matter of essential importance, as the political affairs of Europe entered a new phase. The rapprochement between Russia and England over Swedish affairs was to be formalized in a treaty establishing a new political system. But Osterman, in spite of all the efforts of the British Minister Finch, endlessly dragged out the negotiations, clearly evading a decisive step. Finch had high hopes for Bestuzhev, who in Copenhagen became close to the representative of Great Britain at the Danish court, Tidley, and, according to reports, the latter held views favorable to the Anglo-Russian alliance. On the arrival of Bestuzhev, in July 1740, Finch immediately struck up a personal acquaintance with him, enlisted his assistance, and one of Bestuzhev's first things in the Cabinet was insistence on a speedy resolution of the English question. Because of this, he immediately began clashes with Osterman, who nevertheless achieved that negotiations with the British were entrusted not to the entire Cabinet, but to him alone. With the birth of John, the position of Biron, who was at enmity with his parents, became precarious. His influence was not enough to oust Osterman's Bestuzhev. The question of in whose hands the power will remain abruptly came to the fore when the Empress felt very bad on October 5, 1740. The story of how Biron's regency was created has been passed down more than once in historical literature; there is a lot of information about her in the stories and passages of her contemporaries. But the latter are very contradictory, and the opinion that brought Bestuzhev to the fore in this case is hardly quite fair. Given the relations that existed at that time, it was necessary to expect a merciless struggle between the parties. Anna Leopoldovna put forward her maternal rights; Prince Anton of Braunschweig poorly concealed his unwillingness to obey her and his desire to become the head of the Russian military forces; Munnich was a clear rival of the prince and an enemy of Osterman, who held all political threads in the tenacious hands; Bestuzhev with friends, Prince. Kurakin, Golovkin and others, he was not afraid of anything more than the strengthening of Osterman, a longtime persecutor of the Bestuzhevs, but he got along badly with Prince. Cherkassky, who relied on a special circle. And none of these warring court elements were strong enough to create anything like the previous government. When the question of regency came to the fore, the nobles soon abandoned the idea of ​​a collective regency: the experience of the Supreme Privy Council compromised this idea. The victory of the Braunschweig-Lüneburg family did not judge anyone but Ostermann; She did not promise Russia anything good, and Bestuzhev was undoubtedly sincere when he pointed out that the influence of both Prince Anton and the father of Anna Leopoldovna, Duke of Mecklenburg, would involve Russia in political combinations harmful to her interests. The victory remained with Biron, for Minikh, Bestuzhev, Cherkassky and almost all other nobles joined him. Contemporaries - both Russians and foreigners - rightly believed that without the support of Minich, the regency would not have gone to Biron. Minich's goal was to remove Prince Anton from the control of the military forces and from influence in general. They did not dare to touch Osterman, who was too careful, and Bestuzhev, like Minikh, held on tightly to Biron, feeling that the struggle was not over yet. The first manifestations of dissatisfaction with the regency in the guard were discovered by Bestuzhev and suppressed. When Munnich, after an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the guards to side with Biron, immediately changed the front, he did everything possible to shift all the blame for the intrigue in favor of the duke onto Bestuzhev alone. On the night of November 8-9, 1741, simultaneously with the arrest of Biron, Bestuzhev was also captured, thinking at the first minute that this trouble was coming from the regent. An investigation began on political criminals who persuaded the late Empress to bypass Anna Leopoldovna's right. It was against Bestuzhev that he wrote a draft decree on the regency, that he spoke much, more than others, at meetings with the regent, that he received from Biron the house confiscated from Volynsky as a reward. But in Russian society they looked differently. According to the testimony of the English envoy Finch, “the Russian people could not reconcile themselves to the idea that he was singled out from the crowd of persons who took part in the establishment of the regency of the Duke of Courland, and made him responsible for the cause, which, according to the general consciousness, he had not conceived alone. could not carry it out, just as one could not resist him; and he, like other Russian nobles and dignitaries involved in the case, was carried by the stream of power of the duke, strong advice and support from a person who is now ready to shoulder all responsibility on Bestuzhev " ... Bestuzhev, imprisoned first in the Narva fortress, then in Koporye, was brought to the Shlisselburg fortress. He completely lost his presence of mind, and his first testimony was full of harsh and decisive accusations against Biron, who objected that "he would consider himself unworthy of life if only Bestuzhev's accusations were true." Their confrontation led to the fact that Bestuzhev asked forgiveness from the duke for the slander that he had erected at the instigation of Minich, yielding to his assurance that only in this way would he save himself and his family. The matter immediately took a different turn. Minich was removed from the commission of inquiry, and Bestuzhev admitted that without this change he would not have had the courage to tell the truth. The investigation revealed the leading role of Munnich himself in the Biron case, but, according to the Prince of Brunswick, they had gone too far, and it was impossible to pass a lenient sentence without an impression compromising the new government. On January 17, 1741, the commission sentenced Bestuzhev to quartering. In April he was pardoned, but he was stripped of his orders, ranks and posts and sent into exile. All his estates and all his property were confiscated, only 372 souls were allocated from the estate in Belozersk district to feed his wife and children. By a decree of May 22, he was ordered to live “quietly, without doing anything” in his father's or wife’s villages. Bestuzhev's exile was, however, short-lived. In October 1741 he, unexpectedly for many, reappeared in St. Petersburg. He was still needed by the enemies of Ostermann and the Prince of Brunswick. These persons, headed by, after the fall of Minich, c. Golovkin and Prince. Trubetskoy, they persuaded, with the help of the Novgorod Archbishop Ambrose Yushkevich, the ruler to return Bestuzhev. Osterman and Prince Anton learned a lot about Anna Leopoldovna's decision after the orders were made to summon Bestuzhev to Petersburg, just a few days before his arrival. Foreign ambassadors have interesting comments about the party that supported Bestuzhev. Finch considers it to be Russian national and even - with an obvious delusion, common among foreigners of that time - striving to return Russia to pre-Petrine antiquity; in addition - it is a party of nobles who seek to elevate the importance of the Senate, for the approval of which they sent the draft of the Swedish campaign, already signed by the ruler, drawn up by Lassi. Finch saw this as an attempt to "establish the Swedish Senate and the limited rule that the Dolgoruky tried to impose at the beginning of the last reign." The soul and secret leader of this party was considered the Austrian envoy, the Marquis of Botta. The victory was not complete. Bestuzhev returned, but was not reinstated in the ranks and in the post of cabinet minister. Because of this, the discord at the court of the ruler was even more aggravated, which was resolved by the coup on November 25. The coup, which transferred the supreme power into the hands of Elizaveta Petrovna, bore the character of a Russian national movement against the domination of foreigners and could only strengthen the position of Bestuzhev, the only Russian statesman at that time, distinguished by his talents and knowledge of the matter, although he did not take part in the preparation and implementation of this developments. Drawing up a manifesto, announcing to the people about the accession to the throne of Empress Elizabeth, was entrusted to him, together with Prince. Cherkassky and Brevern. On November 30, Bestuzhev received the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called and was reinstated in the rank of D. t. Counselor. At first, he acted on the affairs of the overthrown government and to establish a new one - a council of 11 dignitaries. When they moved from emergency measures to establishing the correct course of government affairs, it became obvious that, following Osterman's exile, there was no one to entrust the conduct of foreign policy except Bestuzhev. However, Bestuzhev had to show great dexterity before he managed to take a firm position under the new government. He was certainly far from enjoying the Imp's personal sympathy. Elizabeth and appointing him by decree of December 12, 1741. , to the Senate and to the post of vice-chancellor, to the place of exiled gr. Golovkina, she rather followed the need and the mood of those around her. Golovkin's exile did not shake Bestuzhev's position, because he managed to make the French party an instrument of his ascension, which ascribed to itself the honor of the enthronement of Elizabeth and enjoyed strong influence at court. The French ambassador de la Chtardie was in favor of assigning foreign affairs to Bestuzhev, for he considered him the only one suitable. Bestuzhev, according to his opinion, deftly writes, is fluent in foreign languages, is hardworking, although he loves society and a cheerful life, thereby dispelling the hypochondria that visits him. Lestok was also for Bestuzhev. The empress retained the chancellorship for the book. Cherkassky, whom she valued for his honesty and extreme caution in business, although foreign ministers constantly complained of his laziness and inability, reinforced by the fact that he did not speak foreign languages. In accordance with the circumstances of his rise, Bestuzhev was extremely cautious and seemed to have deviated from his previous political program. Chetardie occupied such an influential position at court that "the first bow was given to the Empress, and the second to him." The Russians pleased him, and he hoped to subordinate to his influence all the necessary people, including the vice-chancellor. Bestuzhev maintained in him the confidence that he was ready to support the project of the Franco-Russian alliance - and this at a time when France was constantly opposing Russia in the Eastern question, in Swedish, Polish and Courland affairs. Despite the warning from Paris, de la Chtardie, who built all politics on personal intrigue, believed in the subordination of Bestuzhev. This illusion continued until April 1742, and meanwhile, Bestuzhev was only waiting for the opportunity to take the systematic management of affairs into his own hands, regardless of certain court trends. In 1742, this has not yet been possible. Kirill Veich, who replaced Finch at the St. Petersburg court, complained that there could be no question of quick and clear management of affairs with the Russian ministry, since the Empress avoided classes and reports, being carried away by court festivities, and the management of affairs could not yet be established after so many hesitations and sudden change. During this time Bestuzhev received a house in Moscow as a token of the Empress's mercy, confiscated from Gr. Osterman. By a decree on February 16, 1742, he was ordered to issue a salary deserved for the past time, and henceforth assigned to 6000 rubles. in year; in March, he was also entrusted with managing post offices throughout the state. On April 25, 1742, on the day of coronation, at the request of Bestuzhev, his father was granted the dignity of the count of the Russian Empire. But all these favors did not create a stable position for Bestuzhev. His influence on the course of Russian politics was far from what his English and Austrian friends wanted, what the very interests of Russia demanded. In the struggle between France and Prussia on the one hand, England and Austria on the other - for who will take over Russia - it seemed that victory should have come first, especially since both Finch and the Marquis of Botta held on to Biron, and then to Brunswick. at home and reacted with hostility to the desire to put forward Elizabeth's rights. However, the government of the daughter of the great Peter, created by the national movement, could only adhere to a political system consistent with the interests of Russia, that is, to oppose the strengthening of French and Prussian influences, disastrous for the peace of Russia from Sweden, Poland and the Baltic regions, as well as in the Eastern question. The struggle was necessary, and Austria and England were natural allies in it. Empress Elizabeth had to sacrifice her personal sympathies to the interests of the state and accept the program, consistently, step by step, carried out by Bestuzhev. The first question in which Bestuzhev, with the support of other members of the conferences, who met under the chairmanship of the Chancellor to negotiate with foreign ambassadors before the most important matters, managed to defend a decision that agreed with his "system", concerned the conclusion of a defensive alliance treaty with England. The struggle that the Bestuzhev brothers endured in defense of this case forced Veitch to ask King George for "tactile evidence of His Majesty's gracious disposition", and the king allowed him to offer pensions from the English treasury. But since the influence of the Bestuzhevs turned out to be too weak for a long time, Veich proposed to postpone this business, limiting himself to one-time gifts. Such were the customs of the diplomatic world in the 17th century: at the conclusion of treatises, during peace negotiations, the participants in these cases were always gifted by the interested parties. From official gifts to private gifts, it was one step. But Bestuzhev did not do it. The British government, assigning money to Veich for the Bestuzhevs, later found out that they had never received anything from Veich. His friendship with the British and his constant support for their policy in St. Petersburg was created solely by the awareness of the benefits of Russia. Veich himself explained his request by the fact that the king could not demand anything from the Bestuzhevs that would not correspond to their own views and the real benefits of the Empire. On December 11, 1742, the Anglo-Russian treaty on the recognition of Elizabeth's imperial title, on mutual support in case of war and on the renewal of a trade agreement for 15 years was signed. At the same time, another, even more important matter was being pursued: peace negotiations with Sweden. And then the matter did not start the way the Russian ministers wanted. Sweden against Russia was raised by France; but when the regime changed in Russia, the French sought to firmly establish their influence in it, and one of the means for this was to take the Swedish cause into their own hands. The Swedes made the defense of Elizabeth's rights one of the goals of their war; Elizabeth was now Empress, and hostilities had stopped. In addition to the Russian ministers, relations with the Swedes began through Chetardie, who entered into a correspondence about peace with the Swedish commander-in-chief, Levengaupt. He persuaded the Empress Elizabeth to write a letter to the French king asking for mediation between her and the Swedish government, and Lestok took the order to send such a letter to the head of diplomatic correspondence Brevern - without the knowledge of the Russian ministers. Brevern proved to be quite cautious and instead of "mediation" wrote "good offices." This enabled the Bestuzhevs to deny the significance of the letter as a request for official mediation. Paris really wanted to take the Swedish-Russian agreement into their own hands, but they did not at all approve of the courteousness of de la Chétardie, who strove for peace on terms that, in the opinion of the French foreign minister, were too favorable for Russia; subjugating the Russian court, it was necessary to maintain loyalty to Sweden. Russia was considered weak and thought that Sweden could "receive from the gratitude of Her Majesty what they had previously thought to receive only by force of arms," ​​that is, most of the provinces conquered by Peter the Great. Empress Elizabeth replied that she would never agree so clearly to violate respect for the memory of her father and for the interests of Russia. Then Chetardie, counting on the support of Bestuzhev, himself insisted on transferring the case into the hands of Russian ministers. Bestuzhev was the first to declare that the minimum of Russian demands was to preserve the conditions of the Nishtadt peace, that he, Bestuzhev, would deserve the death penalty for advising to surrender at least an inch of Russian land, and that it is better, for the glory of the empress and the people, to demand the continuation of the war. The unanimous support of Bestuzhev's opinion by all other Russian ministers put de la Chtardie in a difficult position. The mediation of France was unconditionally rejected at the conferences, and the possible conditions for peace were categorically determined. In the spring of 1742 hostilities resumed, about which Bestuzhev did not even find it necessary to warn Chetardie, much to the latter's indignation. After the summer campaign of 1742, all of Finland was conquered. De la Chutardie was recalled, however, having received from the Empress one and a half thousand gifts. The state of affairs had changed, Russian diplomats could now conduct business, regardless of the French. Even Lestok retired to the British, while continuing to receive money from France. Veich managed to arrange a reconciliation between him and Bestuzhev, at least outwardly. French agents were now making every effort to spoil the success of the Russians by raising Turkey against them, and to destroy the Bestuzhevs, having caught them in any intrigues against Elizabeth, former or new. The intrigues remained fruitless. But the position of the Bestuzhevs was far from being as independent as it seemed from the outside. In addition to the Empress's trust in the Chancellor, Prince. Cherkassky, who did not want to completely obey Bestuzhev's leadership, had to reckon with a new force - the "Holstein courtyard." Summoned to Russia in February 1742, the young Duke of Holstein was declared heir to the Russian throne on November 7. The interests of the Holstein House again began to play a prominent role in Russian politics, much to Bestuzhev's displeasure. They affected, first of all, in Swedish affairs, which Bestuzhev now led alone, relying on the conference on foreign affairs, since Prince. Cherkassky died on November 4, 1742. He remained vice-chancellor until July 15, 1744, since Elizabeth did not want to give him the chancellorship, although she did not know who to replace him. Bestuzhev's opponents nominated A. I. Rumyantsev, but Elizabeth rejected her with the words: "maybe he is a good soldier, but a bad minister." Negotiations with the Swedes were complicated by the fact that the question of the rights of the Holstein House to the Swedish throne was again in turn. The Hof Marshal of the court of the Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, the Holsteiner Brummer, and Lestok revived the French-Holstein party, and the Empress considered it a matter of honor to support the rights of a related surname. The candidacy of the Duke-Administrator of Holstein, Bishop of Lubsky, Adolf-Friedrich, to the Swedish throne was supposed to make Russia more compliant, bring Sweden a more profitable peace and weaken the importance of Bestuzhev. Indeed, for the peace congress in Abo, which opened in January 1743, the Russian delegates were not chosen at the direction of Bestuzhev: his rival Rumyantsev and, at Lestok's request, General Lyuberas, went there. On the question of the conditions of peace with the Swedes, the Vice-Chancellor submitted an opinion in which there was no mention of the Duke of Holstein at all, but the satisfaction of the honor and benefits of Russia was required by the preservation of all conquests in Finland, or, if this was not possible, the development of such a form of government for Finland. which, under the guarantee of other powers, would provide Russia and Sweden from hostile clashes; finally, as a third option for peaceful conditions, Bestuzhev proposed joining Russia, at least, Abo or Helsingfors with a decent constituency. The Holsteins threatened that the Swedes would choose a Danish prince as heir to the throne and thus strengthen the dangerous Franco-Danish-Swedish alliance. But Rumyantsev entered Bestuzhev's views and wrote to him that better war than "dishonest and unresponsive world on the basis of Nishtadt". The question was posed as follows: for the choice of the bishop of Lyubov, Russia will cede part of Finland, and without that it will not give up anything. But over the question of the partition of Finland, new controversies arose. Bestuzhev stood on the greatest possible acquisitions, seeing in the final weakening of Sweden the covenant of Peter the Great. Others were more compliant, under the pressure of the Empress's strong desire to see the Duke of Holstein on the Swedish throne. Violent disputes in conferences finally led to the Abov Peace and Union Treaty, signed by the Empress on August 19. The conditions were much more modest than those that Bestuzhev considered necessary; but Prince Adolf-Friedrich was recognized as the heir to the Swedish throne, to which Bestuzhev did not attach any price. Denmark, fearing the Holstein claims that it was now time to return Schleswig, embarked on extensive armaments. I had to send Russian troops to Sweden in case of an attack by the Danes. Bestuzhev was against this and was indignant that "these sudden Holstein threats might entangle a new war"which will be" without any profit. "It was with such difficulty that Veich's words were justified that the Bestuzhevs" hope, offering Her Majesty only one step after another, by imperceptible steps to bring her to the fulfillment of their entire plan, which is most satisfactory. " This plan concerned Austrian relations. Since olden times, relying on Austrian diplomats in personal affairs, Bestuzhev followed his political system here. Bestuzhev made efforts to restore friendly relations between Russia and Austria, but the Empress remained for a long time imbued with antipathy to the Austrian house. In addition, his plan was violated the rapprochement of the British government with Prussia, which led to the conclusion of the Anglo-Prussian defensive alliance.The Prussian envoy in St. Petersburg, Mardefeld, began, with the assistance of Weich, to solicit the conclusion of a similar alliance between Prussia and Russia so that Elizabeth would guarantee Frederick the Great his recent acquisitions in Silesia. The Russian-Prussian treaty was, indeed, it was signed in March 1743, but without guarantees from Silesia, but with a guarantee of the Finnish conquests of Russia. However, he had no serious political significance, despite the efforts of Mardefeld to consolidate him by the marriage of Peter Fedorovich with the sister of Frederick the Great. His troubles were not crowned with success. Meanwhile, England, in view of the attempts of Frederick to embroil him with the imperial princes, dangerous for the Hanoverian possessions of her king, tried to find out Bestuzhev's opinion whether Russia could be counted on in the event of a military clash, and was pleased with his mood. At the same time, it should be pointed out that the British ministers did not fully understand the Bestuzhev system, considering it the main goal - the protection of European political equilibrium; this made Veitch bewildered by his coldness and even dislike of the Holstein court and his indifference to the "great task" of restoring the balance of political power in Europe that was disturbed by France. " Great challenge"was in Bestuzhev's hands only an instrument for serving the independent interests of Russia, as he understood them. Prussia was always more terrible for Bestuzhev than France, and his true attitude towards Frederick the Great was, of course, reflected in how gradually the credit of the Prussian king fell during 1743 at the Russian court, and as Empress Elizabeth became increasingly mistrustful of him.A significant detachment of the Russian army was moved to monitor Frederick's actions as early as May 1743. Russia's accession to the Austro-Prussian Treaty of Breslav, which took place on November 1, 1743, also did not improve relations with Prussia, but served as a step towards greater rapprochement with Austria.Maria-Theresa, for her part, hastened to recognize the Russian imperial title in the summer of the same year.But while negotiations on the Breslav Treaty (June-November) were dragging on , a case broke out in St. Petersburg, which almost destroyed the possibilities of the Austro-Russian agreement. Since the beginning of the year, rumors have been spread about some kind of intrigue in favor of Ivan Antonovich, led by the Bestuzhevs, because of their unfriendly attitude towards the Holstein house and wanting to support their weight under the Empress with fear. On this basis, the Lopukhinskoye case broke out, in which the brother of Bestuzhev was almost entangled, the Youngest Bestuzhev was not touched by suspicion; he even participated in the investigation and the general court in a case in which one of the main defendants was his daughter-in-law. But hate for To the Austrian envoy, the Marquis of Botta d "Adorno, whom they managed to present as the main culprit of the" conspiracy ", for a long time she restored Elizabeth against Austria. Elizabeth was greatly annoyed by the protection of Botta from the Viennese court. Frederick of Prussia hastened to take advantage of her mood and please her, demanding from Mary- Theresia of Botta’s recall, which was transferred from St. Petersburg to Berlin. In vain he tried to soften the mood of the Empress Bestuzhev, alarmed by the fact that an unexpected intrigue cut into his political plans. It is clear that Elizabeth’s affection for him and for his program could not increase after these events. Bestuzhev found support, in this difficult moment, from M. Il. Vorontsov, who fully shared his Political Views and a strong influence at court. An ally was especially needed in the struggle against Chetardie, who had returned to Russia, who, at the insistence of Elizabeth, appeared in November 1743 and, confident of success, spoke openly about his mission, to put an end to the proximity of Russia, England and Austria and to subordinate Russian politics to his influence. ... But from the very first steps he was disappointed. At the insistence of Bestuzhev, the Empress did not receive him as an ambassador, since there was no imperial title in his credentials. Visiting the palace as a private person, de la Chtardie soon became convinced that everyone around Elizabeth was against him, and that at the court Vorontsov, the enemy of France and Prussia, was more dangerous for him than Bestuzhev himself. Nevertheless, he hoped, with the help of the Holstein party, to hold Empresses triple alliance of France, Russia and Sweden, for the sake of establishing the Holstein house in Sweden, in spite of the project of the alliance of Russia with Austria, England and the Polish king, the Saxon Elector August III, for which there were Russian ministers. 1744 had to decide who would win - Chetardie or Bestuzhev. In January of this year, an agreement was concluded with August IIІ on the renewal for 15 years of the defensive alliance, concluded in 1733, with the obligation of mutual military assistance; at the same time, the king recognized the imperial title, and, as an ally of Maria Theresa, offered his mediation in order to settle Elizabeth's misunderstandings with the Viennese court because of the Marquis of Botta. But this success was darkened for Bestuzhev by two marriage unions. In January 1744, despite the vigorous protests of Bestuzhev, the marriage of the Crown Prince of Sweden with the sister of Frederick the Great was resolved, and the marriage of the English princess Louise with the Crown Prince of Denmark took place. The grouping of powers changed again, and Bestuzhev felt that he was gradually losing his usual support - England. To Britain's attempt to bring about an agreement between Russia and Denmark, the Russian government responded by demanding that the Danes formally renounce all claims to Holstein; and that was the end of it. The third, and incomparably more important question concerned the marriage of Pyotr Fedorovich. The Prussian marriage failed; Chartdee's matchmaking in favor of one of the French princesses was completely unsuccessful. Opponents of Bestuzhev created a more successful project to marry Peter to Princess Anhalt of Zerbst. In February 1744, she and her mother arrived in Russia. In the princess mother, the Franco-Prussian-Holstein camp hoped to find a strong ally, knowing her intelligence and willingness to interfere in political affairs. This party tried to impose Bestuzhev in the conference ministers, after the sudden death of his employee Brevern, A. Rumyantsev, but Bestuzhev promoted Vorontsov to this position. Thanks to the Empress's dislike for Bestuzhev and her sympathy for Vorontsov, relations between the Vice-Chancellor and his assistant were not quite normal. Bestuzhev reported the most important and delicate matters through Vorontsov, more than once carried out his opinions, passing them off as the opinions of Vorontsov, with which he only completely agreed, turned to his junior colleague for any business with letters that he signed: "the most obedient and most obligatory servant." And in the years when his personal position was so insecure, international relations led him to the need to wage an extremely intense struggle to save the political system, which, in his deep conviction, alone corresponded to the dignity and benefit of Russia. Frederick the Great, seeing the failure of his allies, the French, clearly understood the need, for the sake of victory over Austria, to win Russia over to his side, or at least to achieve its neutrality. His representative, Mardefeld, in alliance with de la Chtardie and, through Lestock and Brummer, with the Holstein court, should, according to his instructions, exert every effort to overthrow Bestuzhev. From this, wrote Friedrich Mardefeld, "the fate of Prussia and my home depends." The king of Prussia tried to please Elizabeth by removing Botta, warning her against the Brunswick surname, etc. Chetardie developed extensive bribery, trying to secure the assistance of even courtiers with gifts and trying to bribe clergy, members of the Synod. The rival of the husband of Maria Theresa, Emperor Charles VII, promised the House of Holstein all sorts of benefits from his victory. If the enemies managed to restore Vorontsov against Bestuzhev, the fall of the vice-chancellor would be inevitable. They tried to arouse Vorontsov's ambition in order to force him to oust Bestuzhev; Frederick awarded him the Order of the Black Eagle and his portrait, showered with diamonds. Pyotr Fyodorovich inspired Vorontsov that the Empress considered Bestuzhev an enemy to herself and to the Holstein house. But Bestuzhev was on his guard. The dispatches concerning this intrigue were intercepted, the cipher texts were dismantled with the help of Academician Goldbach, and Bestuzhev through Vorontsov presented them to the Empress with an explanatory note and notes. Pointing to de Chtardie's attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of Russia, to his intrigues and bribery, Bestuzhev demanded punishment for him, expressing very characteristic thoughts about the significance and position of a foreign ambassador: his sovereign about what that court intends to repair or undertake; in a word, the minister can not be compared in any way better than with a spy who is allowed in himself, who, without a public character, when he is caught, is subject to every last punishment "; but the "public character" saves him from this and makes him inviolable as long as he enjoys his privileges within certain limits. De la Chutardie went far beyond these limits: he is guilty of striving to overthrow the Russian ministry and of insulting the Majesty. He allowed himself the harshest comments about the personality of the Empress, wrote about her frivolity, vanity, "mental weakness" and "deplorable" behavior. It was too much; The Empress completely sided with her vice-chancellor, who begged her to either resign him or to protect him, for it was "unbearable" to leave him in the center of eternal intrigue. On June 6, 1744, General Ushakov, Prince Pyotr Golitsyn, two officials and a secretary of the foreign collegium appeared at the Chetardie's apartment and announced to him the Empress's order to leave at 24 hours. The intrigue was destroyed, and Bestuzhev's credit immediately increased. On July 15, 1744, he became chancellor, and Vorontsov became vice-chancellor and count. The new Chancellor hastened to file a petition to the Empress outlining his entire service, during which, receiving, indeed, small salaries, for the sake of representation, he went into debt, and asked to maintain himself with dignity in the "new character of the first state officials", to give him the ownership of the state leased land in Livonia - the Wenden castle with the villages that formerly belonged to the Swedish Chancellor Oxenshirna, for the amount of rent in 3642 Efimka. His request was granted in December 1744, and at the same time he was granted a house in St. Petersburg, formerly Gr. Osterman. At the same time, the attempts of the Princess Zerbst, mother grand duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna, and Lestok, to influence, as before, on the course of politics, led to the fact that the first was expelled from Russia, and the second was inspired to interfere in medical affairs, not clerical ones. Somewhat later, Brummer was also removed from the Grand Duke.

Now, it would seem, Bestuzhev's hands were untied, just at such a moment when it was necessary to fully apply his political system in practice. The attention of European diplomacy was focused on Prussia, whose rapid growth threatened all neighboring states. But in order to successfully fight it, it was necessary to get rid of all the side issues that deviated Russia from the main planned path. With difficulty, Bestuzhev managed to convince the Empress to make a statement that she would "consign Botta's business to complete oblivion." But he did not succeed in rejecting Elizabeth from what seemed to him excessive patronage to the princes of the patronized houses of Hesse-Gomburg and Holstein; Despite the desire to defend the exiled Biron's rights to Courland, Bestuzhev had to retreat before the Empress's desire to see one of the German princes she patronized as the ruler of the duchy. But the main things did not go entirely according to Bestuzhev's wishes. Frederick the Great's demand for help, on the basis of a defensive alliance, was resolutely rejected, on the grounds that the king himself violates the peace, although no one attacks him, he also violated the Breslau treaty guaranteed by Russia. However, contrary to the Chancellor's opinion, Russia hesitated to begin the Warsaw Treaty between the maritime powers, Austria and Saxony, which was intended to rally as many forces as possible to oppose Frederick. In this matter, he met an unexpected opponent, Count Vorontsov. For a long time remaining the protector and patron of Bestuzhev and sharing his "system", Vorontsov, apparently burdened by his subordinate position, decided to go his own way. Changes in political relations between the powers allowed him to create his own "system". Bestuzhev, despite some misunderstandings with the British Foreign Office, continued to regard England as Russia's main natural ally. At his insistence, the Empress, at the end of 1745, offered England to undertake the continuation of the struggle with Prussia, for a subsidy of 5-6 million. Russian troops were already pulling into Livonia. But England, bound by the Hanoverian treaty with Prussia, refused, especially since Maria Theresa reconciled with Frederick in Dresden. The British ministers pointed out that the blame for such a turn of affairs fell on the Russian government itself, which should have shown timely energy, now belated. The Chancellor, greatly annoyed, was already hinting at the possibility of a rapprochement between Russia and France, since England was leaving her. But what Bestuzhev expressed only in the heat of the moment is a serious task for Vorontsov. Seeking rapprochement with France, he opposed Russia's accession to the Warsaw Treaty, opposed the war, preferring for Russia the role of mediator between the powers until a more reliable international combination emerged. Began a long and difficult struggle for Bestuzhev with the Vice-Chancellor. The Empress herself was the judge in their controversy. In vain did Bestuzhev refer to Vorontsov's earlier opinions, written at his suggestion; the struggle dragged on and deprived the flow of affairs of the sequence to which Bestuzhev always strove. During Vorontsov's trip abroad in 1745, Bestuzhev was unpleasantly struck by the friendly receptions that he received in Prussia and France, his rapprochement with the princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, exiled from Russia. Elizabeth was offended, and Bestuzhev, having proved to her by intercepted dispatches that the old Franco-Prussian intrigue had now chosen Vorontsov as its center, was ready to celebrate a new victory. At the beginning of 1746, negotiations began on an alliance with Austria. On May 22, a treaty was signed by which both powers pledged to defend each other in the event of an attack; the cases of the Persian war of Russia, the Italian and Spanish wars of Austria were excluded, which clearly indicated the true purpose of the agreement. It was decided to invite August III and King George to the agreement. A month later, another treaty was concluded, on a defensive alliance with Denmark. These diplomatic successes were accompanied by a new favor from the Empress to Bestuzhev: he was granted the Kamenny Nos seaside estate in Ingermanland, confiscated from Count Osterman. Providing Russia with friendly agreements from different sides (in the next 1747 a convention with the Porte was also concluded), Bestuzhev was hostile to all projects of rapprochement with France and sharply condemned the Saxon government for a secret agreement with the Versailles court, although his task was to isolate Frederick the Great ... In Sweden, Frederick's influence grew stronger, to the great chagrin of the Chancellor and in spite of the active diplomatic struggle he waged in Stockholm. And in St. Petersburg the intrigues of the Prussian king made themselves felt. Bestuzhev suspected Vorontsov's participation in the case of a certain Ferber, who in 1746 started secret relations with the aim of bringing the matter to the breakdown of France and Prussia in order to achieve rapprochement of the latter with Russia. This empty intrigue did not matter. But the Prussian agents in St. Petersburg really counted on the assistance of Vorontsov and Lestok. The mood of the vice-chancellor manifested itself at the beginning of 1747, when a case arose about British subsidies for the maintenance of a significant corps of troops in Courland and Livonia. Vorontsov and the privy councilors of the Foreign Affairs Collegium presented a number of nagging objections to the draft treaty. Bestuzhev defended himself sharply, complaining that his employees did not find it necessary to explain their doubts with him in advance, and then, at the last moment, drag out the case with disputes. The Anglo-Russian convention nevertheless took place, and, in addition, an auxiliary corps was sent to the Rhine. But the constant isolated victories over the adversaries did not eliminate the Chancellor's tedious enmity with the Foreign College. He almost destroyed its meaning, was not in the presences and did business as best he could, alone. One might think that Bestuzhev was deliberately opposed to collegial management. He spoke out more than once, for example, against the government role of the Senate, defending the need to create a cabinet of loyal and reliable ministers; however, it seems that Bestuzhev did not have a chance to speak in more detail on this issue. The collegium did not embarrass him for a long time, but now Vorontsov was at its head, and complaints for the autocratic decision of affairs became sensitive. At the end of 1748 Bestuzhev managed to find an opportunity to inflict a strong blow on his opponents. With Prussian dispatches, he proved that Lestok and Vorontsov received pensions from the Prussian treasury. Lestok was exiled, Vorontsov remained unharmed, but lost weight and influence for a while. The moment of the complete victory of Bestuzhev over his rivals coincided with the time of the Aachen Congress, which ended the European war. Peace was concluded without Russia's participation, its allies made peace with their enemies, and, tired of the war, changed the tone of their relationship to Russia. The Chancellor had to make sure that in Swedish affairs there was nothing to count on the support of England, although there was a danger that the royal government, which had joined Prussia, would strengthen its power; other allies were even less interested in the affairs of the north of England. There were misunderstandings with Austria because of the persecution raised against the Orthodox; with August II - due to the strengthening of French influence. British diplomats hastened the ratification of the convention on aid to Russian troops for a subsidy in the event of a renewed war with France, and evaded a categorical answer to the question with what forces England expects to take part in the upcoming struggle against Frederick II. Bestuzhev, however, noticed too late that the state of affairs had changed a lot, that things were moving towards a rapprochement between England and Prussia, which would inevitably throw France on the side of Frederick's enemies. Strong, as long as his system was unmistakable, he began to lose ground. His opponents were quick to take advantage of the circumstances. Vorontsov, as an opponent of the British alliance, now found himself in an advantageous position: the alliance turned out to be unreliable. The elder brother of Bestuzhev, with whom the chancellor had long been at enmity because of personal affairs, joined him: Mikhail did not want to obey the younger brother, as the head of the family; in addition, this enmity was complicated by the Chancellor's irritation that his brother was considered his leader, and finally turned into rivalry over political matters. The coming years, after the Peace of Aachen, dragged on without major events. But a new European struggle was being prepared with a new grouping of powers. In the fall of 1755, England began negotiations with Frederick II about an alliance, which was formalized on January 16, 1756, and on May 2, France and Austria also signed an alliance treaty. Vorontsov worked hard to join Russia to the Austro-French alliance and in every possible way slowed down the matter of subsidies, which Bestuzhev was still ready to accept from England. Bestuzhev's position in the 1950s became more difficult than before. The will of the Empress was now ruled by I.I. Vorontsov was close to Shuvalov, and Bestuzhev, although he called II Shuvalov his "special friend," however, had to feel that it was not his influence that prevailed at court. And in the foreign collegium, it got to the point that the chancellor could not, at his discretion, transfer the secretary from one embassy to another, and his instructions were simply not fulfilled. It is clear that his efforts to ratify the "subsidy agreement" with England could not be successful. Bestuzhev stubbornly continued to insist that criticism of this "greater and important cause" was caused only by "envy or hatred itself." In January 1757, the Chancellor gave the Empress an extensive note, in which he outlined all the successes achieved by Russia during his management of foreign affairs and elevated to one of the first places among the European powers, although some of the results were spoiled by intrigues that always took place in St. Petersburg; and now the delay in the exchange of ratifications of the English treaty spoils the business that has been successfully started. Tired of opposition, the chancellor demanded the transfer of foreign policy leadership to a commission of trusted people in order to destroy the secret struggle. Petersburg did not yet know about the Anglo-Prussian alliance, and when, during further negotiations on the convention, the British ambassador Williams was forced to report it, the blow for the chancellor was unexpected. This fact justified his opponents and destroyed that charm of extraordinary political art and sharp-sighted prudence, which alone forced Elizaveta to hold on to Bestuzhev. At his insistence, a conference arose, as a permanent institution, to discuss important political matters and the speedy fulfillment of the highest orders. It consisted of 10 persons, counting c. book Peter Feodorovich, and was supposed to meet at court twice a week. The first meeting took place on March 14, and by March 30 she had drawn up a program that prescribed an agreement with the Viennese court for a war against Frederick while England was busy fighting the French. For this, it was assumed that the allied powers would draw closer to France and Poland, and strengthen peace with the Swedes and Turks. The goal was to weaken Prussia, return Silesia to Austrian rule, an alliance with Austria against the Turks, annexation of royal Prussia to Poland, Courland to Russia, and, finally, to rectify the Russian-Polish border. The leadership of Russia's foreign policy eluded Bestuzhev. The resumption of diplomatic relations, and then the alliance with France, was not to his heart. When Bestuzhev's pupil in politics, Panin, received a sharp rebuke for objection to the instructions sent to him in Paris, Bestuzhev bitterly wrote to him that he should talk less, and only report on the execution of rescripts, for now they cannot stand those who "reason about the old system and snatches out those who still hold on to it. " But the Chancellor did not yet consider his cause to be lost. Left alone in the ruling realms, he sought new allies. The enmity towards the Shuvalovs and Vorontsovs brought him closer to V. book Ekaterina Alekseevna. Since 1754, he has tried to support her with both advice and grandfather. In the fall of 1755, Petersburg was alarmed by the news of the Empress's poor health; and the next year she was no better. They waited for a sad outcome and talked about the succession to the throne. In the accession to the throne of Peter Feodorovich Bestuzhev could not see anything good either for Russia or for himself. Bestuzhev, according to the story of Empress Catherine II, then drew up a project to bring her participation in the reign of her husband so that he, Bestuzhev, was entrusted with three colleges - foreign affairs, military and admiralty. He and Ekaterina Alekseevna then began negotiations through gr. Poniatovsky, and the project was re-composed several times. She claims that she did not take the matter seriously, but did not want to contradict the old man who is stubborn in his plans. Williams strongly patronized Poniatovsky, whom they tried to remove from St. Petersburg. This British ambassador was preparing himself for the role of de la Chtardie. Bestuzhev, like Williams, under such circumstances, was afraid of the appearance in St. Petersburg of the experienced intriguing diplomats of the Versailles court. But services were offered to Catherine from the other side - from the side of the Shuvalovs. Bestuzhev's friend, SF Apraksin, was also good with the Shuvalovs and tried to rally a new party that was growing in size with new faces. But this party in the new composition lost its anti-French character. And, apparently, Catherine was counting more on the Shuvalovs than on Bestuzhev. But on October 22, there was a significant change for the better in the Empress's health, and the movement in favor of Catherine died out. Political life in Russia went on as usual, and Williams was forced to leave after a series of unsuccessful attempts to thwart the Franco-Russian alliance. Under such conditions, a great deed began, long prepared by Bestuzhev - Russia took an active part in the war with Frederick the Great as part of a strong coalition. But the goal was not achieved by him and not the way he wanted. The Chancellor failed to master the circumstances, and failed to reconcile himself. Military operations were entrusted to his friend Apraksin. The fate of the chancellor depended on the success of Apraksin, and he was well aware of this. Having instilled before Apraksin an antipathy for actions in alliance with the French, Bestuzhev now hastened him with his letters and V. book Ekaterina Alekseevna. The slowness with which Apraksin opened military operations, the indecision with which he conducted them, caused general indignation. His famous retreat after a victory, which, in addition, he did not report for a long time, led Bestuzhev into despair. “I am extremely sorry,” he wrote on September 13, 1757, “that your Excellency's army almost throughout the summer had a shortage of provisions, having, at last, although it won the victory, was forced, being the victor, to retreat. I can imagine what kind of dishonor both the army and your Excellency can come from, especially when you completely leave the enemy lands. " In addition to the grief common to all Russians, this case aroused personal alarm in Bestuzhev. There were rumors that Apraksin's retreat was the fruit of the Bestuzhev intrigue in the case of succession to the throne. He was put in connection with Elizabeth's new illness, although she fell ill on September 8, and the report of the retreat was received in St. Petersburg on August 27. The defender of Apraksin was gr. PI Shuvalov, his main accuser - Bestuzhev. Apraksin was replaced, but this did not end his troubles. In Narva he was detained and all his correspondence was taken away: rumors of his relations with the young court reached the Empress. By sending him letters to. book Catherine, Bestuzhev showed them to the Austrian general Bukkov, who was in St. Petersburg, in order to convince him of sympathy both for his own and for Catherine for a new war, But the Austrian court could not forgive Bestuzhev for his opposition to the coalition, and the Austrian ambassador Estergazi reported about the correspondence to the Empress, giving it character intrigue. There was nothing reprehensible in the captured correspondence. However, Bestuzhev's opponents decided to get rid of him. Esterhazy and the French ambassador Lopital were the most zealous. The latter told Vorontsov that if in two weeks Bestuzhev was still chancellor, he would break off relations with Vorontsov and would continue to turn to Bestuzhev. Vorontsov and II Shuvalov succumbed to insistence and managed to bring the case - in February 1758 - to the arrest of Bestuzhev and his papers. They knew better than anyone that there must have been traces of palace intrigue. Bestuzhev, however, managed to burn everything incriminating and reported this to Catherine; but the correspondence thus begun was intercepted. This gave the commission of inquiry, which consisted of Prince. Trubetskoy, Buturlina and gr. A. Shuvalov, material, and gr. Buturlin admitted: "Bestuzhev has been arrested, and now we are looking for the reasons why he was arrested." But the zeal of the investigators, who knew what they were looking for, led nowhere. Bestuzhev was, however, accused of trying to restore the Empress and the young court against each other; did not fulfill, at his own whim, the highest commands and even resisted them; he did not report on the reprehensible slowness of Apraksin, but tried to correct the matter himself with personal influence, making himself a co-regent and entangling such a person in the affairs who should not have participated in them; and, finally, being under arrest, he started a secret correspondence. For all these guilt, the commission sentenced Bestuzhev to death. In April 1859, the Empress ordered to exile him to the Goretovo estate, as Bestuzhev called it on this occasion, to the Mozhaisky district. All immovable property remained with him. From then until the accession to the throne of Empress Catherine II, Bestuzhev lived with his family in Goretovo. His wife, Anna Ivanovna, nee Böttiger, a Lutheran woman, died here on December 25, 1761. Of his three sons, two, Peter, mentioned in his father's letter from 1742 as an adult, and another, whose name is unknown, died before 1759. Bestuzhev, according to the testimony of those who knew him, took down his link with firmness. His mood was reflected in the book published later, in 1763, but compiled in Goretov: "Selected sayings from the Holy Scriptures for the comfort of every innocent Christian suffering." The preface was compiled by the rector of the Moscow Theological Academy Gabriel Petrov, and the manifesto of Empress Catherine, justifying Bestuzhev, was attached. Gabriel translated the book into Latin language... In addition, it was published in German (in 1763, in Typ. Acad. Sciences, in the same year in Hamburg and in 1764 - in Stockholm), in French (1763, in St. Petersburg.) , and in Swedish (1764 - in Stockholm). In addition, Bestuzhev indulged himself in his beloved medal art. In memory of his misfortune, he minted a medal with his portrait and the inscription: "Alexius Comes A. Bestuschef Riumin, Im. Russ. Olim. Cancelar., Nunc. Senior. Exercit. Dux. Consil. Actu. Intim. Et senat prim. JGW f (J. g. Wächter fecit) ". On the reverse side there are two rocks among the raging waves, illuminated by the sun on one side, and thunderstorms on the other - and the inscription: "immobilis. In. Mobili", and below: "Semper idem" and the year 1757 (the second minted in 1762).

The accession to the throne of Peter III, which brought freedom to many exiles of the past reign, could not improve Bestuzhev's position. Peter III said about him: “I suspect this man of secret negotiations with my wife, as it was already discovered once; this suspicion is reinforced by the fact that the late aunt on her deathbed spoke to me very seriously about the danger that his return would represent. from link ". But the June coup of 1762 again returned Bestuzhev to a high position. On July 1, the courier, with a decree for the former chancellor to immediately return to St. Petersburg, was in Moscow, and in the middle of July Bestuzhev was already at court. The Empress received the old man, visibly decrepit, in the most friendly way. But he did not have to take a certain influential position, although Catherine constantly turned to him for advice on various important issues. Bestuzhev had little mercy; he asked for a solemn acquittal and secured the appointment of a commission to review his case. On August 31, 1762, a manifesto was promulgated, which was ordered to be displayed in public places and even read in churches. Here it was announced that Catherine, out of love and respect for Elizabeth and due to the duty of justice, considered it necessary to correct the involuntary mistake of the late Empress and to acquit Bestuzhev of the crimes committed against him. Previous ranks and orders were returned to him, with seniority, and a pension of 20,000 rubles was assigned. in year. This manifesto was drawn up personally by the Empress and written in her own hand. She appointed Bestuzhev "the first Imperial adviser and the first member of the new, established at the court of the imperial council." The delighted Bestuzhev twice proposed to the Senate and the Commission on the Nobility to present Catherine with the title of "Mother of the Fatherland", which she rejected. Bringing Bestuzhev to advice on foreign affairs, the Empress appointed him first present in the Senate and a member of the "commission on the Russian nobility", which was entrusted with the revision of the letter of gratitude to the nobility. In all circumstances Bestuzhev played the role of "the first dignitary", but his real influence was negligible. New people have replaced the old statesman. His attempts to intervene in important matters were unsuccessful. He shared, with many others, the hope that his system, equally hostile to both Prussia and France, would now prevail. Ho Panin, his lucky rival in the leadership of Catherine's foreign policy, sharing Bestuzhev's enmity towards France, looked at Prussian relations differently. A struggle ensued between the teacher and the student, and Panin complained that Bestuzhev's influence would force him to give up business and retire. But this did not last long. Catherine soon lost interest in Bestuzhev. He stood up for Arseny Matseevich, asked "for a testimony of royal and maternal mercy" and to finish the case as soon as possible, avoiding publicity that embarrassed society. The Empress replied with a harsh letter. The old man humbly apologized. In 1763 he thought to please by making a petition for the Empress's marriage to Gr. Orlov, but the idea caused a rumor that ended with an unpleasant for the Empress investigative case about a conspiracy against the Orlovs. The final elimination of Bestuzhev from affairs was caused by his opposition to Catherine and Panin on the Polish grandfathers: he stood for the right to the throne of the Saxon house. However, the Empress's favors to Bestuzhev continued. At the end of 1763 he was awarded the Holstein Order of St. Anna of the 1st degree, ordered to pay him maintenance for all the years of exile and return all confiscated property, paying his debts from the treasury. In 1764, when the Senate was divided into departments, Bestuzhev was enrolled in the first department, but, due to his decrepitude, was dismissed from the presence. Two years before his death, he built a church in the name of St. Boris and Gleb. The St. Petersburg Lutheran Church of St. Peter and Paul. Even at the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, the Orthodox clergy demanded the removal of this church from Nevsky Prospect, thought to build a cathedral of the Kazan Mother of God in its place. Bestuzhev defended the pick and patronized it until the end of his days. He immortalized his death in advance with a medal; its obverse is the same as that of the 1747 medal, and on the reverse is a hearse between four palms; on it - an urn with the coat of arms of counts Bestuzhev-Ryumin, allegorical figures on both sides: on the left - Constancy, resting on a column, crowns the urn with laurels; on the right - Vera, with a cross in her hand, lays a palm branch on her; above the inscription: "tertio triumphat", and below: "post. duos. in. vita. de. inimicis. triumphos. de. morte. triumphat. nat. MDCXCIII den. MDCCL ... aetat ...". The last years of Bestuzhev were overshadowed by his relationship with his son Andrey. Having started his career under the patronage of his father, the younger Bestuzhev was under Elizabeth as chamberlain and lieutenant general. The assignments that he happened to be given, and all his behavior, had long caused the extreme displeasure of his father. In 1762, Catherine II promoted him to acting privy councilor with his dismissal from service. But the father was not satisfied with this and turned in 1766 to the Empress with a request to punish the rebellious son by exile to the monastery. Catherine at first refused, answering that Count Andrei had not committed such a crime for which not only exiled to humility, but also ranks should have been deprived; but her behavior was considered sufficient reason to divorce him from his wife. However, a week later the Empress changed her mind and exiled Bestuzhev to the monastery. Four months later, his father died, and the Empress, at the request of the deceased's nephews, appointed custody of the estates of Bestuzhev "for the depraved and violent life" of Count Andrei, who was commanded to give out half of the income; the other half was assigned to pay the father's debts. Bestuzhev himself was released from the monastery, instructing him to live "peacefully and respectably, wherever he wishes, except for his villages." He was married twice: in the first marriage to Evdokia Danilovna Razumovskaya, in the second - to Princess Anna Petrovna Dolgorukova (she later married Count Wittgenstein). But Bestuzhev died childless in 1768. With him the family of the counts Bestuzhev-Riumins ceased, as his uncle, Mikhail, did not leave offspring.

Collection of Imp. Rus. East. General, com. I, III, V, VII, XII, XXII, XXVI, LXVI, LXXIX, LXXX, LXXXI, LXXXV, LXXXVI, XCI, XCII, XCVI, XCIX, C, СІII. - Letters from Russian sovereigns. IV. Correspondence Hertz. Kurl. A. Yves. M. 1862.Büsching, Magazin für die neue Historie und Geographie. Halle 1775-1779. Bde. I, II, IX. - Büsching, Beyträge zu der Lebensgeschichte denkwürdiger Personen. Halle 1786, IV Theil. - Zur Geschichte der Familie von Brevern, her. von G. von Brevern. Bd. III. Berlin 1883. (Appendices). - Russian Archives and Russian Antiquity (passim). - D. Bantysh-Kamensky, Dictionary of memorable people in Russian. land, part I. M. 1836 - NN Bantysh-Kamensky, Review of external relations of Russia. - Soloviev, History of Russia. Books: IV, V, VI. - Chechulin, Russia's foreign policy at the beginning of the reign of Catherine II. SPb. 1896. - A. Tereshchenko, Experience of reviewing the life of dignitaries who managed foreign affairs in Russia. Part II. Chancellors. SPb. 1837. - Vasilchikov, Razumovsky family. SPb. 1880-82. - Aleksandrenko, Russian diplomatic agents in London in the 18th century. v. I. Warsaw 1897. - Pekarsky, Marquis de de Chétardy in Russia.

A. Presnyakov.

(Polovtsov)

Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Count Alexey Petrovich

The younger brother of Mikhail Petrovich B. (see), was born in Moscow on May 22, 1693. He was brought up with his brother abroad. In 1712 he was sent along with other persons of the Russian embassy to the congress in Utrecht. After that, with the permission of Emperor Peter I, Alexei Petrovich entered the service of the Elector of Hanover, who granted him a chamber-junker. When Elector George I ascended the English throne, he sent Bestuzhev as an envoy to Peter. Three years later B. was recalled to Russia. In 1718 he entered as chief-chamber-junker to the widowed Duchess of Courland, Anna Ivanovna, but two years later he was appointed a resident in Denmark; in 1731 he was moved as a resident from Denmark to Hamburg. B. traveled to Kiel, examined the archives of the Duke of Holstein and took to St. Petersburg many interesting papers, among which was the spiritual empress Catherine I. At the end of 1734 Bestuzhev was moved back to Denmark. Thanks to his disposition to him, Biron B., having barely arrived in Copenhagen, was accredited as an envoy at the Lower Saxon court and was granted a secret, and in 1740, on March 25, a real secret adviser with the order to appear in St. Petersburg to be present in the office. Biron needed a clever man to counterbalance Count Osterman, and that was Bestuzhev. In gratitude for this, Bestuzhev assisted in the appointment of Biron as regent of the Russian Empire for the time of his childhood, Ioann Antonovich. On November 8, 1740, Biron fell. With the fall, Bestuzhev also suffered, who was imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress. Despite attempts to confuse him, B. completely justified himself, and he was released, but only stripped of his posts. After the accession to the throne of Empress Elisabeth Petrovna, thanks to the petition of his friend, physician Lestock, Count Alexei Petrovich was granted in a short period of time 1741-1744 as vice-chancellors, senators and chief directors of post offices, the Order of St. the Apostle Andrew the First-Called and finally the great chancellor. Having reached the high rank of chancellor and having no rivals, Bestuzhev-Ryumin ruled Russia for sixteen years. He was disposed to the Viennese court, he hated Prussia and France. The consequence of his hatred for Prussia was a devastating war against Frederick the Great, which cost Russia more than three hundred thousand people and more than thirty million rubles. The heir to the throne, Peter Fedorovich, an admirer of Frederick, hated Bestuzhev; in turn, Pyotr Fedorovich was hated by the chancellor, so when Pavel Petrovich was born, Bestuzhev decided to deprive the parent of the throne and strengthen him for Pavel Petrovich under the tutelage of Catherine. In 1757, a grave illness befell Elizabeth. Bestuzhev, thinking that the empress would not get up, voluntarily wrote to Field Marshal Apraksin to return to Russia, which Apraksin did. But Elisaveta Petrovna recovered from her illness. Enraged at Bestuzhev for his willfulness, the Empress on February 27, 1758 deprived the Chancellor of his ranks and insignia. The culprit of his fall was the heir's favorite, Chamberlain Breckdorf. Alexey Petrovich was removed to the village of Gorstovo, Moscow province, which belonged to him. He was sentenced to death, but the Empress replaced this sentence with exile. The Chancellor's exile continued until the accession of Empress Catherine II. He was summoned to Petersburg, and Catherine returned the disgraced ranks, orders and renamed him field marshals general. In addition, the highest decree followed, in which the innocence of Bestuzhev-Ryumin was made public. From 1741-57, B. took part in all diplomatic affairs, treaties, and conventions that Russia concluded with the European powers. In 1763, he published in Moscow a book he had written, Consolation of a Christian in Misfortune, or Poems Selected from Holy Scripture. The same book was subsequently published by Bestuzhev in St. Petersburg, Hamburg and Stockholm in French, German and Swedish. Reverend It was translated into Latin by Gabriel. Manstein says about Bestuzhev that he was a picky mind, acquired through long-term experience a skill in state affairs, was extremely hardworking; but at the same time he is proud, cunning, vindictive, ungrateful and incontinent.

(Brockhaus)

Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Count Alexey Petrovich

24th Field Marshal General.

Count Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin [Bestuzhev-Ryumin comes from the ancient English surname of the county of Kent. Their ancestor, Gabriel Best, left for Russia in 1403; his son, Jacob Ryuma written Bestuzhev, received from the Grand Duke John Vasilyevich boyars and the city of Serpeysk; grandson, Vasily Yakovlevich, served as a police officer. In 1701, it was ordered by Bestuzhev, by the nickname of their progenitor Bestuzha, write Bestuzhev-Ryumin... From the 1st part Herbovnika] one of the Russian field marshals received this dignity, never leading troops and not even being on the military list.

He was born in Moscow on May 22, 1693. His father, Peter Mikhailovich, gifted with a great mind and at the same time proud, extremely greedy, held various honorary positions: he was a voivode in Simbirsk (1701); traveled to Vienna and Berlin on various errands (1705); then served as general-kriegsalmeister, chief-chamberlain (from 1712) with the widowed duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna; awarded the rank of privy councilor (1726); suffered persecution from the strong Menshikov for his loyalty to the glorious Moritz of Saxony, who wanted to be the Duke of Courland; seven years was in exile (from 1730 to 1737) pursued by Biron, whom he had previously patronized; released for the faithful service of sons; received with them the title of count from Empress Elizabeth in 1742, shortly before his death.

Alexei Petrovich, at the age of sixteen, was sent by Peter the Great, together with his older brother, Mikhail Petrovich, first to Copenhagen, where he studied at the local Academy; then (1710) to Berlin. In the latter city, he showed excellent success in the sciences, equally in the languages ​​of Latin, French and German, and, being only nineteen years old, was appointed a nobleman of the embassy for a congress in Utrecht, entered under the command of the famous diplomat of that time, Prince Boris Ivanovich Kurakin (1712) [Prince Boris Ivanovich Kurakin, actual privy councilor, lieutenant colonel of the guards of the Semyonovsky regiment and knight of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, showed the experiments of his bravery near Azov (1696), Narva (1704) and Poltava (1709); but he made his name more famous in the diplomatic field: he was the plenipotentiary minister in Rome and Venice (1707); in Hanover and Braunschweig (1709); in London (1710); in The Hague (1711); accompanied Peter the Great to France; granted by the extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to Paris (1724); died in this city in 1727, in the 51st year from birth. He was married to the sister of Tsarina Evdokia Feodorovna (the first wife of Peter the Great)]. While in Hanover, Bestuzhev-Riumin with his intellect and dexterity attracted the attention of the Elector George-Louis and, with the consent of Peter the Great, was reckoned in 1713 to the Hanoverian court as a chamberlain with a salary of one thousand thalers a year. Queen Anne of England died soon after (1714). The Elector, succeeding her under the name of George I, entrusted Bestuzhev-Ryumin with a flattering embassy to Russia. The sovereign was extremely delighted to see his subject in foreign service with the honorary title of minister, generously endowed him and, after three years, recalled him from the British court (1717).

First, Bestuzhev entered the Ober-Kamer-Junker to the Dowager Duchess of Courland in 1718, but two years later he was assigned to Denmark as a resident. Here he had the opportunity to acquire the special favor of Peter the Great by means of a magnificent holiday, which he gave on December 1, 1721, to all foreign ministers and the first ranks of the kingdom. In front of his house were placed transparent paintings, representing on one side a bust of Peter the Great, on the other the following Latin inscription: " Sixteen years commemorating exploits,overshadowed the deeds of Hercules,he concluded a glorious peace in Neustadt on August 30, 1721,silencing envy and granting the North the long-awaited calm". The same inscription was ordered by Bestuzhev to be knocked out in Hamburg on medals with the image of the Owner of Russia; for the royal mint did not agree to mint it, finding the expression reprehensible for the state:" Gave the North with tranquility"With all that, Bestuzhev, to the surprise of the visitors and to the annoyance of many of them, handed them out a medal on December 1. As soon as the Tsar, who was then in Persia, inquired about this meritorious feat based on love for the Fatherland, immediately thanked Alexei Petrovich with a handwritten letter and after that he granted him a portrait of his, showered with diamonds, to wear on his chest; and during the coronation of Catherine I, in 1724, made him a real chamberlain.

With the death of Peter the Great, Bestuzhev lost hope and rewards: the strong Menshikov laid a heavy hand on him, avenging his father, who dared to oppose him in Courland. He asked in vain to increase the salary he received, to rename it, for seven years at the Danish court, extraordinary envoy. Bestuzhev's fate did not change for the better when Empress Anna Ioannovna began to reign, led by Biron: on February 1, 1731, he was transferred from Copenhagen as a resident to Hamburg and the Lower Saxon District, and only the following year, probably at the request of his brother, was granted extraordinary envoy. Mikhail Petrovich was in this honorary title in Prussia, to the delight of our Court, he reconciled King Frederick Wilhelm with the crown prince (later Frederick the Great), whom his cruel father imprisoned in the fortress and brought to court martial for the journey he had undertaken without his consent. Then Alexei Petrovich traveled to Kiel, examined the archives of the Duke of Holstein and then took out to St. Petersburg a lot of interesting papers, including the spiritual Empress Catherine I, a document very important for Anna Ioannovna, drawn up in favor of the descendants of Peter the Great. [“If,” says Catherine’s spiritual testament, “the Grand Duke (Peter II) dies without heirs, then the Duchess of Holstein Anna Petrovna (the parent of Peter III), then the Cesarevna Elizabeth Petrovna and finally the Grand Duchess Natalia Alekseevna (sister Peter II) with their offspring, so, however, that the male knee has an advantage over the female. "]

At the end of 1734 Bestuzhev was transferred back to Denmark; in this case he received the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. Happiness was still beginning to serve him; for he knew how, during his last stay in the capital, to acquire Biron's love - with caresses, bows. Before Bestuzhev had time to come to Copenhagen, he was accredited with the rank of envoy and in the Lower Saxon District, granted in 1736 by a privy councilor, and in 1740, March 25, by a real privy councilor, with an order to appear before the Imperial Court to be present in the Cabinet. Biron needed a man with the cunning and intelligence of Alexei Petrovich, to belittle the power of Count Osterman. He was not mistaken in his choice: Bestuzhev assisted in appointing him regent of the Empire during the youth of Ivan Antonovich, and when a conspiracy was drawn up against Biron, he advised him to take appropriate measures; but the power-hungry, blinded by happiness, entrusted his fate to a secret enemy, Field Marshal Count Munnich: he was arrested by him on November 8, 1740. With the fall of Biron, Bestuzhev, loyal to him, suffered, also imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress. They were given a confrontation: “I unjustly accused the duke,” Bestuzhev said when he saw him, “I ask the gentlemen of the Kriegskommissars to put my words on the record: I solemnly declare that only threats, cruel treatment of me and the promise of freedom by Field Marshal Munnich, if I testify falsely , could get rid of the vile slander, which I now refuse! " They tried to confuse him, but did not have time: he completely justified himself, got freedom, only lost his posts.

Soon Empress Elisabeth entered into inheritance rights (1741). Bestuzhev immediately crept into the heart of her physician, Lestok, the main culprit in the events of November 25, who enjoyed a special power of attorney from the Empress. He began to defend the disgraced; he was petitioned (November 30) by the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle, the rank of Senator, Chief Director of the Post Office and (December 12) Vice-Chancellor; but Elizabeth, knowing the power-hungry disposition of Bestuzhev, then said to Lestok: " You don't think about the consequences;tying a bunch of rods for yourself"[See about Lestok in the biography of Field Marshal Apraksin.] Following this, Aleksey Petrovich asked his father (April 25, 1742) the county dignity of the Russian Empire, with the extension thereof to his offspring; chancellors: received the Livonian castle Wenden with 63 hooks.

Reaching the highest honors in a short time and having no co-workers, Count Bestuzhev-Riumin ruled the helm of the state for sixteen years. Loyal to the Cabinet of Vienna, loving England and harboring hatred for Prussia and France, he was the main culprit in the Peace of Aachen in 1746 and the ruinous war against Frederick the Great, which cost Russia more than three hundred thousand people and thirty million rubles. The heir to the throne, Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, a zealous admirer of the King of Prussia, hated Bestuzhev and did not hide his feelings; could not forgive him that he had stolen from the archives of the Holstein spiritual Catherine I. Bestuzhev, for his part, spoke unfavorably about the heir, and when Pavel Petrovich was born, he decided to deprive the parent of his legal rights and strengthen them for the crown prince, under the tutelage of Catherine. The grave illness that befell the Empress in 1757 presented Bestuzhev with an opportunity to fulfill a courageous intention: believing that Elizabeth was on his deathbed, he made an order that our troops, who were in Prussia, would speed up the return campaign to Russia, and meanwhile did not leave Tsarskoe Sat down, incessantly begged the Empress to remove the heir from the throne, representing, that Peter would later darken the glory of her reign... The cunning minister was guided by his own benefit: not hoping to rule under Peter, he believed for a long time to rule Russia during the childhood of his august son; but the rights of the heir were defended by the pastor, adorned with a virtuous life and strict rules, who thundered in the pulpit, in the presence of the Imperial Court, against flatterers and self-lovers - Dimitri Sechenov, Archbishop of Novgorod. He gave useful advice to the Grand Duke to reject the impending danger, not to leave the bed of the sick Empress.

The winner at Groß-Egersdorf fulfilled the will of the first minister; the Russians retreated [See biography of Field Marshal Apraksin]; Elizabeth freed herself from illness and ordered Bestuzhev to be arrested for an unauthorized act, deprived him of his ranks and insignia on February 27, 1758. Alexey Petrovich unquestioningly returned the ribbons worn by many to the Empress; but did not give the portrait of Peter the Great, saying that will not part with him... His efforts to justify himself remained in vain: the main informer was Chamberlain Brockdorff, the heir's favorite. Next year Bestuzhev was sentenced to beheading... The Empress exiled him to imprisonment in one of the villages that belonged to him, without depriving him of his estate. He chose as a permanent residence a village located one hundred and twenty versts from Moscow, which he named Goretov... In the published Manifesto on the crimes of the former Chancellor it is indicated, among other things, that he was ordered to live in the village under guard,so that others are protected from being caught by the vile tricks of the villain who has grown old in them.

For a long time Bestuzhev lived in a smoky hut, wearing appropriate clothes, growing a beard; finally it was allowed for him to build a house named by him abode of sorrow... In it, he lost his wife, who died on December 15, 1761, and suffered this blow with the firmness of a Christian, consoling himself by reading the Holy Scriptures. His exile continued until the accession to the throne of the Empress. Catherine II(1762): she released a minister whom she respected, invited him to St. Petersburg; returned to him the orders [Count AP Bestuzhev-Ryumin, in addition to the orders of St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle and St. Alexander Nevsky, also had the Polish White Eagle, which he received in 1740. The heir entrusted him, in 1763, with the Holstein Order of St. Anne.] And all ranks, with seniority of service, and renamed him Field Marshals (July 3). The chancellor at that time was (from 1758) Count Mikhail Larionovich Vorontsov.

Bestuzhev asked for an investigation of his case. The commission completely justified him. The Manifesto was promulgated, in which Catherine, defending the actions of Elizabeth, laid all the blame on the slanderers who had misused the Monarchy's power of attorney. In addition to the received salary for the rank of field marshal and senator, Count Alexei Petrovich was also assigned an annual pension - twenty thousand rubles; but he was dismissed, in respect of his advanced years, from military and civilian occupations, and in 1764 tried in vain to interfere with the appointment of the Polish king. Contemporary Petrov, who experienced so many upheavals in his life, did not remain idle; published in Moscow in 1763 a book he wrote in exile under the title: " Consoling a Christian in Misfortune,or Poems,chosen from scripture", with a foreword by Gabriel Petrov, rector of the Moscow Academy, later Metropolitan of Novgorod. Paying justice to the unshakable firmness of Count Bestuzhev-Ryumin in misfortune, Gabriel mentioned in the foreword, that trusting in the Almighty alone can comfort a person in times of trial; and that Scripture is the source of all consolation... This very book was later published by Count Bestuzhev in St. Petersburg in French and German, in one German in Hamburg and in Swedish in Stockholm. It was also translated into Latin by His Grace Gabriel. On top of that, Bestuzhev ordered to knock out and presented to his friends the following gold and silver medals: 1) for the Treaty of Neustadt, concluded in 1721 [See. above is the description of this medal.]; 2) on the occasion of the misfortune that befell him in 1757: on one side there is a portrait of him with a Latin inscription around; on the other, two rocks in the midst of the rough sea, above which lightning glistens from gloomy clouds, pouring rain is pouring and together from the opposite side the sun's rays are shown with the inscription " immobilis in mobili" [Motionless in the midst of motion]; at the bottom there is another inscription, which he used in his young years on seals: " semper idem" [Always the same]; 3) the third medal, knocked out in 1764 for his quick death, depicted the third [ The first celebration considered Bestuzhev the misfortune that befell him in 1740.] and his last triumph over the only enemy he had left: on the back of the portrait is represented among palm trees, on a dais, a tomb with the coat of arms of Count Bestuzhev; beside it on the right side, Religion, holding a crucifix in one hand, in the other a palm branch, inclined towards the tomb; on the left: firmness, leaning his left hand on the pillar and holding in the right a laurel wreath over the tomb. At the top is the following Latin inscription"Tertio triumphat" [Triumphant for the third time]; at the bottom: " Post duos in vita de inimicis triumphos de morte triumphat A.M.D.C.C.L.X aetat" [After two triumphs in life over enemies, triumphs over death 176...of the year]. His premonition did not deceive him: after severe suffering, which continued for three weeks, he died of a stone disease on April 10, 1766, in the seventy-third year of his arduous life.

Count Alexei Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin, with an extensive, legible mind, acquired through long-term experience a skill in state affairs, was extremely active, courageous; but together they are proud, ambitious, cunning, cunning, stingy, vindictive, ungrateful, incontinent life. He was more feared than loved. Empress Elizabeth did not decide anything without his opinion. He knew how to make himself necessary for her; commanded not only her dignitaries, but also those close to her; first started a secret correspondence called secret correspondence through which our ministers, who were in foreign lands, informed him, in addition to the usual news, their guesses, opinions, retellings and popular rumors. He extracted from this information what he wanted to report to Elizabeth and thus directed her thoughts in favor and against foreign powers. The culprit of his rise, Lestok, to whom he swore unchanging friendship, was denigrated by him in the opinion of the Empress because he dared to interfere in diplomatic affairs and corresponded with Frederick the Great; put on trial (1748), deprived of ranks, estates, languished in exile for thirteen years. Having assumed the power to rule the throne, Bestuzhev wanted to be, after the death of Elizabeth, lieutenant colonel of four Guards regiments and chairman of three Colleges: Military, Admiralty and Foreign. A close friendship united him with Field Marshal Apraksin. Bestuzhev hoped for the army. His main enemy and the culprit of the fall (except for the Grand Duke, Trubetskoy and Shuvalovs) was the Marquis Lopital, French Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Russia (1757-1761), Lieutenant General and Knight of the Holy Spirit, who enjoyed the special favor of the Empress and in the day of accession to the throne stood, during the dinner table, behind her chair with a plate. [From Poroshin's Notes... See there October 14, 1764.] He described Bestuzhev to the Empress in the blackest colors as a man dangerous in his designs.

Bestuzhev, married to a German woman, patronized her fellow believers. The Lutheran Church in St. Petersburg, in the name of St. Peter and Paul, owes him many rich donations; in Moscow, he built a church at the Arbat Gate in the name of Boris and Gleb, two years before his death, as if to clear his conscience. In medicine, the drops invented by Bestuzhev are known.

He had from his wife, Anna Catherine, nee Bettiger [Father-in-law of Count Alexei Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin - John Friedrich Bettiger - joined our service in 1709 and was appointed a resident in Hamburg and the Lower Saxon district. Peter the Great always stayed at his house and presented him with his portrait, showered with diamonds. The wife of Field Marshal Count Bestuzhev was buried in 1763 in an old Moscow Lutheran church, under the altar], a son, Count Andrei Alekseevich, and a daughter, married to Prince Volkonsky. His son, promoted from second lieutenant from bombardier to chamber junker (1744), at the same time as his father received the dignity of state chancellor, was sent to Poland, where his uncle was plenipotentiary minister [Count Mikhail Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin was born in 1688 year; was: the secretary of the embassy in Copenhagen (1705); resident in London (1720); minister in Stockholm (1721); extraordinary envoy in Warsaw (1726) and in Berlin (1730); transferred to Sweden (1732) and Warsaw (1741); granted as an actual privy councilor, chief-marshal, and holder of the orders of St. Andrew the First-Called and St. Alexander Nevsky; Count (1742); for three months he was kept on guard in the case of his wife, daughter of the Grand Chancellor Count Golovkin, who was punished with a whip with truncation of the tongue for participation in an open conspiracy (1743); determined as an envoy to Berlin (1744); plenipotentiary minister to Poland (in the same year); Ambassador Extraordinary to Vienna (1749) and Paris (1755), where he died on February 26, 1760]; then, two years later (1746), he was granted a real chamberlain; sent in 1747 to Vienna with the Emperor's congratulations on the birth of Archduke Leopold; awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (1748) having a little over twenty years of age. Count Alexey Petrovich hoped to make him a diplomat; but the young Bestuzhev was not gifted with the intelligence and abilities of his father, although he later rose to the rank of a real privy councilor. He married Princess Dolgorukova in 1765, robbed her, swore at her and kicked her out of the house. The Empress ordered that a guard officer and soldiers be assigned to him, and then left him at the complete disposal of her father. [From Notes Poroshin.] Count Alexey Petrovich concluded him in a monastery, intended to deprive him of his inheritance; but soon he died without signing a spiritual will. Trustees were appointed over Count Andrei Alekseevich, who, for the payment of debts, gave him only three thousand rubles each year. He had a stay in Revel, where - as Bishing explains - left the light in 1768,for which it was useless... [Cm. Bishing's store, part 2, p. 432.] The count's knee of the Bestuzhev-Ryumin was cut short with him. [Cm. on the contracts concluded by Count Alexei Petrovich in the first part of my Dictionary of memorable people of the Russian land, ed. in 1836, pp. 141-153.]

(Bantysh-Kamensky)

Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Count Alexey Petrovich

Chancellor, b. in 1683, was educated at the Danish gentry academy and the higher collegium in Berlin. Intelligence accompanied by cunning, talent of a politician, love for Russia, constantly confronting selfishness, vanity, indiscriminate means and intrigue - these are the qualities of this undoubtedly outstanding state, more or less established by history. activist. All my life balancing on the shaky soil of the Russian. courtier. politics of the 18th century, B.-R. managed to earn the favor of Biron, who led him to the cabinet-minister (1740). Appointed vice-chancellor in 1741, B.-R. from the next year he became an influential leader of the external. Russian politics. Following in relation to Zap. Europe polit. to the precepts of Peter the Great. (non-interference and maintenance of political equilibrium), he himself defined his program as follows: "not to leave the allies, but these are the essence: the maritime powers - England and Holland, which Peter I always tried to observe; the king of Poland, like the Elector of Saxon, the Queen of Hungary (Austria) according to the position of their lands, which are natural alliance with Russia ". But political. balance in Zap. Europe was then violated by the designs of France in agreement with Bavaria, Saxony and Prussia (Frederick II) against Austria, where the male line of the Habsburgs ceased. This led B.-R. to an alliance with Austria and hostility. relations with France and Prussia during all 18 years of his chancellorship. By 1745, he managed to achieve cooling of the Empress to Prussia and rapprochement with Austria, and until 1756 his influence grew, and he acted more and more autocratic, in addition to foreigners. collegiums. Since 1756, the value of B. began to decline. Back in 1754, he persistently sought to conclude a "subsidized" agreement with England, setting his goal: "in a false name and with the help of other people's money to reduce the king of Prussia, to reinforce his allies, to make this proud prince (Frederick) from the Turks, from the Poles, yes and the Swedes themselves are contemptuous, and not as respectful as they are now, and through this, the Turks and Swedes are not so dangerous and harmful for the local side, and Poland is more loyal. " The essence of the "subsidized convention", as it was established in 1755, was that Russia was obliged to maintain in Livonia. and Lithuanian. borders 55 thousand people infantry and cavalry, and naval. the coast - up to 50 galleys; this corps acted abroad in the event of an attack on the English. the king or any of his allies; with such a sabotage, England had to pay Russia 500 thousand pounds. erased, and for the maintenance of troops at the border - 100 thousand. lb. erased in a year. Despite the signing of the convention and the insistence of B.-R. about its speedy ratification, the Imp-tsa hesitated. Enemies of B.-R. drew her attention to the absence in the convention of an indication of who the enemy of England is, while the Imperial agreed to recognize only Prussia as an object of sabotage. Meanwhile, Austria was forced to enter into an alliance with its original enemy France, against Prussia, and England, in order to protect Hanover, entered into an alliance with Frederick Vel. These two major acts became known to B.-R. only when they have already become fait accompli. His enemies took advantage of this and shattered his authority in the eyes of the Imp-tsa. Then, in order to resolve the matter as soon as possible, the diplomat. questions. B.-R. proposed to form a "conference" of persons chosen by the Imperial, to consider with its participation the most difficult cases. In this way, the secret opposition was made open. True, the significance of the chancellor was diminished by the "conference", but at this price he retained his position. The project for a "conference" was adopted (1756). In one of its very first sessions, resolutions were made that were of outstanding - partly fatal - significance for Russia. Their essence was as follows: to persuade Austria to an immediate, jointly with Russia, attack on Prussia; obtain Poland's consent to the free passage of Russian troops, rewarding it with the subsequently conquered Prussia; other powers were to be kept calm. This decree predetermined the Seven Years War and Russia's participation in it. However, Friedrich Vel. warned the armies, plans of Russia and, having defeated in August. 1756 Sankson army began to threaten Austria. 5 sept. field marsh. SF Apraksin was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian. auxiliary army concentrated near Riga. The inaction, in which she remained until May 3, 1757, caused bewilderment and indignation in the Russian. yard and gave rise to guesses, equally dangerous for the field marshal, and for B.-R. There was some truth in the charges against the Chancellor. He undoubtedly inspired his friend Apraksin with antipathy for actions in alliance with France (in 1756 Russia joined the Versailles Austro-French Treaty) and even, perhaps, pointed out to him the danger of leaving Russia during the period of a possible change of the head of state, i.e. Imp-tsy's health was getting worse and worse. In addition, the campaign against Prussia was very unpleasant for the Holstein court, with which B.-R. But growing in St. Petersburg. against Apraksin, displeasure forced B.-R. change tactics, and he began to rush the field marshal on the campaign. And finally, Apraksin moved; Apr 19 1757 at Groß-Egersdorf, he won a major victory over the Prussian field marsh. Lewald. This event could have saved B.-R., if not for the subsequent actions of Apraksin: he not only did not pursue the defeated enemy, but gave the army the order to retreat. In vain B.-R. wrote to Apraksin: "I betray to your own administration to deep insight, how dishonor both the army and your administration can come from, especially when you completely leave the enemy lands." Nothing could stop the retreating winner. Then in St. Petersburg. the roles have changed: in the stormy meetings of the "conference" the enemy of B.-R., gr. PI Shuvalov, began to defend Apraksin, and the chancellor was his cruel accuser. One of the motives for this change in him was the fear for a rapprochement between Apraksin and his new defender, Shuvalov. B.-R. won, but at a high price. In oct. 1757 Apraksin was replaced by Fermor, and on 14 February. 1758 B.-R. he himself was arrested, stripped of his posts, ranks and orders. To establish his guilt, an investigative officer was formed. Commission, its composition predetermined his fate: it included Prince. N. Yu. Trubetskoy, A. Buturlin and gr. A. Shuvalov. There were many accusations presented: an insult to the Majesty; failure to report Apraksin's unwillingness to leave Riga, disclosure of official, state. secrets; "however, there are so many other abominable intrigues that it is impossible to describe all of them," the commission concluded its conclusions. Subsequently, some historians have added another accusation against B.-R. in corruption on the part of Prussia, but this has not yet been confirmed. About an impartial study of the guilt of B.-R. a commission was out of the question - personal enemies were settling their scores. In 1759 B.-R. was sentenced to exile in one of his villages in the Mozhaisk district, with custody, and about the crimes of B.-R. and his conviction was announced by a special manifesto. The life of B.-R. in exile was very difficult. In 1762, upon the accession to the throne of Empress Catherine II, she, remembering the personal merits of B.-R. and his disposition to her, not only returned him from exile and returned to him orders and ranks, renaming him from action. secrets. council. in general-field marshals, but appointed 20 thousand rubles. pension and issued a manifesto justifying it, which recognized that the "ill-fated" B.-R. was the result of "the deceit and forgery of the malevolent." To the chancellor's post, already occupied by Vorontsov, B.-R. could not return, but was called to the council for individual cases and sat in the Senate. He died in 1768. ( D.Bantysh-Kamensky, Dictionary of memorable people rus. land, part I; Soloviev, History of Russia from ancient times. times; M.AND.Semevsky, Opponents of Frederick Great., - "Military. Fees.", 1862, No. 5).

(Military enz.)

Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Count Alexey Petrovich

(1693-1766) - Russian statesman. He was educated abroad and in his early youth began serving in Russian. diplomatic missions at European courts. As a diplomat and politician, B.-R. showed a lot of dexterity and resourcefulness. The heyday of his activities falls on the reign of Anna and especially Elizabeth. Under Anna B.-R. became close to Biron and became a member of the cabinet; in external relations, he supported the policy of subordinating Russia to the interests of foreign capital, mainly British, which sought to make its market out of Russia, gain access to Persian silk through it and bring both powers, Russia and England, to a military alliance. The fall of Biron interrupted the career of B.-R. only for a little while. Under Elizabeth, he quickly went up the hill, in 1744 became chancellor and received the leadership of foreign policy. True to the traditions of the Bironovism, he directed his policy towards rapprochement with Austria and England (the latter thanked him with money) and divergence with Prussia and France. Russia's participation in Seven Years' War was largely the business of B.-R. This caused hostile relations between him and the heir (future emperor Peter III), a fan of Prussia. B.-R. sought, in the event of Elizabeth's death, to elevate Catherine to the throne in addition to Peter, about which he conducted secret negotiations with her. However, his position was already shaken. The failures of his policy, especially with regard to England (which sided with Prussia) and relations with Catherine, led to an accusation of intrigue against him from the heir's party. B.-R. was stripped of all ranks and exiled to the village. Returned to the court with the accession of Catherine, he was no longer able to restore its former significance.

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Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev Ryumin (May 22 (June 1) 1693, Moscow April 10 (21), 1768) Russian statesman and diplomat; Count (1742). Biography Born in Moscow, in an old aristocratic family of dignitary Pyotr Bestuzhev, who ... ... Wikipedia

Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev Ryumin (May 22 (June 1) 1693, Moscow April 10 (21), 1768) Russian statesman and diplomat; Count (1742). Biography Born in Moscow, in an old aristocratic family of dignitary Pyotr Bestuzhev, who ... ... Wikipedia

Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev Ryumin (May 22 (June 1) 1693, Moscow April 10 (21), 1768) Russian statesman and diplomat; Count (1742). Biography Born in Moscow, in an old aristocratic family of dignitary Pyotr Bestuzhev, who ... ... Wikipedia

Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev Ryumin (May 22 (June 1) 1693, Moscow April 10 (21), 1768) Russian statesman and diplomat; Count (1742). Biography Born in Moscow, in an old aristocratic family of dignitary Pyotr Bestuzhev, who ... ... Wikipedia

Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev Ryumin (May 22 (June 1) 1693, Moscow April 10 (21), 1768) Russian statesman and diplomat; Count (1742). Biography Born in Moscow, in an old aristocratic family of dignitary Pyotr Bestuzhev, who ... ... Wikipedia

Bestuzhev Ryumin Mikhail Petrovich (September 7 (17), 1688, Moscow - February 26 (March 8) 1760, Paris) - Russian diplomat, count. Born on September 7, 1688 in the family of Pyotr Mikhailovich Bestuzhev Ryumin (1664 1743), who was later Ober ... ... Wikipedia

- (September 7 (17), 1688, Moscow - February 26 (March 8) 1760, Paris) - Russian diplomat, Count. Born on September 7, 1688 in the family of Pyotr Mikhailovich Bestuzhev Ryumin (1664 1743), who later was the chief chamberlain of the Duchess ... ... Wikipedia