Romanov: The Last Tsarist Dynasty by Michael W. Simmons

Author:Michael W. Simmons [Simmons, Michael W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Publisher: Make Profits Easy LLC
Published: 2016-11-16T23:00:00+00:00

The city of St. Petersburg accepted Catherine as Russia’s new sovereign without any bloodshed. Her triumphal entry there was accompanied by the blessing of the bishop and the ringing of church bells. It happened to be Peter’s name-day, the feast day of the saint after whom he was named—and although Catherine had been replaced by Vorontsova in the tsar’s the annual summer retreat to Oraniebaum, she was expected to offer Peter formal congratulations at her house in Peterhof before he set off for Denmark. When Peter and Vorontsova arrived in Peterhof, however, Catherine was not there; she too was on her way to Peterhof, in the uniform of a colonel of the Guards, to arrest her husband. Peter soon began to hear rumors of what had occurred in St. Petersburg. His bodyguard tried to convince him to flee to Prussia, where Frederick would undoubtedly shelter him and probably give him an army to mount a counter-revolt, but Peter refused. At first, he was truly convinced that the majority of Russians were more loyal to him than to Catherine. But as each fortress and regiment proclaimed their loyalty to Catherine II, Peter became resigned to the inevitable. He sent away all of his household, except for his mistress Elizabeth Vorontsova, and wrote to his wife. At first he offered to share his throne with her, as Peter the Great had shared his with Catherine I. When Catherine did not reply to this offer, he wrote a second time, offering to abdicate. Catherine indicated that she was willing to accept the offer, so long as he signed a written statement renouncing the throne. Peter, by then under the guard of Gregory and Alexis Orlov, wrote:

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