[The following is in regards to the forced abdication of Paul I of Russia in favor of his son, Alexander I. Paul was widely reviled, and a group of conspirators, representing nobles and many branches of the armed forces, approached Alexander, who initially wanted no part in it. He finally relented, agreeing to take the throne on the condition that his father not be harmed in the coup. While passively condoning the action, he refused to actually take a hand in its execution. Here, the conspirators have dispatched the guards outside the emperor’s quarters and burst into the room, only to find him hiding behind a screen.]
Behind it was the quivering emperor in his nightclothes. “What do you want of me?” he stammered in terror. “What are you doing here?” Paul was told he was under arrest, to which he replied, “Under arrest? Under arrest? What does that mean” Zubov then interrupted him.
”We come in the name of the motherland to beg Your Majesty to abdicate,” he announced. “The security of your person and suitable maintenance are guaranteed by your son and by the State.”
Another of the leaders, General Bennigsen, added: “Your Majesty can no longer govern millions of men. You make them unhappy; you should abdicate. No one wants to make an attempt on your life; I am here to defend you. Sign the act of abdication.” With that, the emperor was pushed toward a table upon which the document was spread, and an officer held out a pen. Paul resisted. “No, I will not sign this!” he shouted.
An uproar then erupted among the agitated men as the emperor remained obdurate. A scuffle broke out and the single candle lighting the room was tipped over. Now, in the semidarkness, the conspirators fell upon Paul, who fought back ferociously. Finally, a sash was drawn around his neck and tightened until the breath finally left him. Hearing the commotion, Empress Maria rushed to the room, but her passage was blocked. “Päulchen, Päulchen!” the horrified woman screamed in German. She was perhaps the only one left who still cared about the mad monarch.
While Paul met his end upstairs, his son Alexander waited anxiously downstairs in his own apartments to learn what the night had wrought. Pahlen found him clinging to his wife, their foreheads touching in tender uncertainty. Then, when he was told what had transpired, the new emperor burst into sobs – stricken by the fact that he had passively participated not only in parricide, but regicide as well. Pahlen addressed him sternly” “That’s enough childishness. Go reign. Come show yourself to the Guards!” His wife Elizabeth exhorted him as well.
”It was a night,” she wrote, “that I shall never forget.”
Source:
Farquhar, Michael. “Chapter 9 – Alexander I (1801-1825): Napoleon’s Conqueror.” Secret Lives of the Tsars: Three Centuries of Autocracy, Debauchery, Betrayal, Murder, and Madness from Romanov Russia. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2014. 156-57. Print.
Further Reading:
Paul I (Russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич; Pavel Petrovich)
Maria Feodorovna (Russian: Мария Фёдоровна; née Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Feodorovna_(Sophie_Dorothea_of_W%C3%BCrttemberg)
Alexander Vasilievich Nikitenko (Александр Васильевич Никитенко)
Princess Louise of Baden / Elizabeth Alexeievna (Russian: Елизавета Алексеевна): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Alexeievna_(Louise_of_Baden)
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