To the 275th anniversary of the beginning of the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, the Presidential Library presents rare historical materials

December 6 (old style - November 25) in 1741 as a result of a palace coup the throne was ascended 31-year-old Elizabeth Romanova, the youngest daughter of Emperor Peter I and Catherine I. In the year of the 275th anniversary since the beginning of her reign the portal of the Presidential Library is available e-collection "The Empress Elizabeth Petrovna", which includes digital copies of studies, rare book editions, historical documents relating to the different fields of activity of the Russian autocrat: art, financial, economic, religious, social and political. A separate section contains portraits of Elizabeth, individual buildings, views of St. Petersburg in the Elizabethan era. 

The night of 24 to 25 November, 1741 was one "of those noisy and non-peaceful changes at the Russian throne, which are so characteristic of the history of Russia of XVIII century. Almost all of the reigns of that time succeeded one another not according to the established order of succession, and in a climate of violation of any order, with the active force, enthroned some persons of the imperial family, instead of the other, was the Guard - founded by Peter the Great chosen people, in which the majority of the rank and file soldiers were from nobles", we read in the rare edition in 1913 "Pictures of Russian history". According to the author of the text S. A. Knyazkov the reason of the fact that "the imperial throne of Russia of XVIII century was "the plaything of fate" was, first, the state in which stayed after Peter's death the imperial family, and, second, the law of Peter the Great, which links to the sovereign will of the government was supposed "to whom the aforesaid wants to determine the inheritance".        

Elizabeth actually was not considered as one of the pretenders to the throne, in spite of the will of Catherine I, according to which the crown princess and her children could take the imperial throne, but in the order of priority after Peter II of, grandson of the reformer tsar, and the eldest daughter of Peter I - Anna Petrovna. When in 1730 the young emperor died of smallpox (Anna Petrovna had died two years earlier), senior government dignitaries, contrary to the legal document, turned their attention not on Elizabeth, but eldest childless daughter of elder brother of Peter I Anna Ioannovna. All of her reign (1730-1740) the crown princess was in the doghouse.

Author of the book "Elizabeth Petrovna" from the famous series "Life of Remarkable People", stored in the Presidential Library collection, E. V. Anisimov says that Anna Ioannovan, in turn, did not want to pass the throne only male heir of all the House of Romanov, the son of Anna Petrovna Karl-Peter-Ulrich, the future Peter III: «She decided to try their luck and in 1731 adopted a law on succession to the throne, according to which the throne retreated to the son of her niece Elizabeth-Catherine-Christine, whom she still only had one day to give birth in a marriage with any prince of noble blood. It was very strange, unique order". Nevertheless, it is a two month old Ivan VI, the son of Elizabeth-Catherine-Christine, in the Orthodox Church received the name Anna Leopoldovna, inherited the Russian throne in 1740 after the death of a relative crowned.

However, this reign did not last long - using the falling prestige and the influence of the authorities during the regency of Anna Leopoldovna, on the night of November 25 (December 6) 1741 Elizabeth Petrovna with the support of Guard carried out a coup d'etat. "The people among the ranks of troops sought to the palace of the new Empress. There also went, with difficulty wading through a large crowd, state dignitaries, of which a large part was amazed with unexpected coup. While a loud "hurray" of troops was heard, Elizabeth took to her hand descended on the throne the infant John and kissed him. Seeing that he was with a smile trying to repeat shouts of soldiers, she said: "An innocent child, you do not know what these clicks deprive you the Throne!", - so describes the events of that fateful night for Russia A. I. Weydemeyer in his work "Reign of Elizabeth Petrovna" published in 1849.

Elizabeth Petrovna has been ruling for twenty years. Proclaiming course for a return to the legacy of Peter the Great, it is, in particular, to restore the role of the Senate and other central institutions, when it was carried out a number of serious reforms, the most important of which was the abolition in 1754 of internal customs, which led to a significant revival of trade relations between the different regions of the country. The Presidential Library website presented an electronic copy of the "Law", "State Institutions", "Foreign Policy", "Internal policy", "Science and Culture".   

The full story of the royal family, beginning with its founder Mikhail Fedorovich up to Nicholas II, discloses another electronic collection of the Presidential "Dynasty of the Romanovs. Zemsky Sobor 1613". It includes official documents, memoirs, diaries, business and personal correspondence, newsreel snippets, photos, paintings, audio broadcasts, popular science, historical research, and much more.