Anna Ivanovna (1693-1740) was empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. She continued the policy of westernizing Russia initiated by Czar Peter I.

Born in Moscow on Jan. 29, 1693, Anna was the daughter of Ivan V, co-czar of Russia with his half-brother Peter I. After her father's death in 1696, she and her mother and sisters became dependent on Czar Peter I.

In 1710, acquiescing to Peter's wish, Anna married Frederick William, Duke of Courland. Although her husband died shortly after the wedding, the Czar ordered her, as the duke's widow, to take up residence in Mitau, the capital of Courland, counting on her to strengthen Russian influence in the duchy. That arrangement was quickly disrupted by a hostile political faction in Courland, which forced Anna out of Mitau; she was obliged to make her home in Danzig. In 1717 she was permitted to return to Mitau, where she remained as de facto ruler of Courland for 13 years. During that period she received slight attention from her homeland and no special consideration when, after the death of her uncle Peter I, the Russian throne was occupied first by his wife, as Catherine I, then by his grandson, as Peter II.

Anna's Courland experiences had important consequences for her later career: her regard for the German-speaking ruling class made her appear more partial to Germans than she actually was; her years of existence on a paltry allowance deepened her desire for luxuries; the pervasive political intrigues she encountered reinforced her distrustful nature; and lonely life led her to form an attachment for her secretary, ambitious Johann Ernst Biron, upon whom she became excessively dependent.

When Peter II, the last Romanov male in line of succession, died without having made provision for a successor, the Supreme Privy Council, a small body exercising dominant power in the Russian government, saw Anna as the Romanov most likely to be amenable to their suggestions. Accordingly, they informed her that the throne would be hers if she agreed to certain conditions that would, in effect, transfer power from the ruler to the Council. She agreed to the conditions and returned to Russia in February 1730. Once established as empress, however, she promptly disavowed the conditions.

During her reign Anna was held in generally low esteem. She persisted in her infatuation for Biron, whom she installed in her palace, showered with honors, and treated with unbecoming deference. Some of her official appointments led to the charge that she favored Germans over Russians. Moreover, even by the cruel standards of the time, she was immoderately severe in her treatment of any who aroused her disfavor; she was responsible for the arrest, torture, or exile to Siberia of thousands.

Despite her shortcomings, Anna did not work against Russian interests as they were then interpreted. Rather, she entrusted major responsibilities to men who had served Peter I and would continue his policies.

As a result, in foreign affairs Russia was strengthened in three strategic areas: the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1735) brought the pro-Russian Augustus III of Saxony to the throne of Poland; the war with Turkey (1735-1739) confirmed Russian possession of Azov; and the selection of Biron as Duke of Courland in 1737 increased that duchy's dependence on Russia and thus improved Russia's position on the Baltic.

In domestic affairs, also, Anna followed in the steps of Peter I, continuing his policy of westernization. She declared St. Petersburg the capital and brought back the offices of government that Peter II had moved to Moscow. She created the Cadet Corps for training officers. She encouraged the sciences, promoted the arts in general, and approved the development of the ballet in Russia.

Having no direct heir, Anna was determined to ensure that her successor would come from her side of the Romanov family - that is, from the descendants of Ivan V rather than those of Peter I. To that end, she chose her niece Anna Leopoldovna to provide the heir and selected her husband. A son was born to them in August 1740 and christened Ivan. Two months later the Empress became gravely ill and, fearing the approach of death, formally named the infant as her heir. Shortly thereafter she appointed Biron to serve as regent during the minority of the child, who would succeed her as Ivan VI. The empress Anna died on Oct. 17, 1740.

Further Reading

R. Nisbet Bain, The Pupils of Peter the Great: A History of the Russian Court and Empire from 1697 to 1740 (1897), contains a detailed treatment of Anna's reign. See also George Vernadsky, A History of Russia (1929; 5th ed. 1961); Nicholas V. Riasonovsky, A History of Russia (1963; rev. ed. 1969); and Marc Raeff, Origins of the Russian Intelligentsia: The Eighteenth Century Nobility (1966).

For more information on Anna (Ivanovna), visit Britannica.com.

(1693 - 1740), empress of Russia (1730 - 1740).

Anna Ivanovna was a daughter of Peter the Great's half-brother and co-ruler Ivan V. When Peter's young grandson, Peter II, died unexpectedly the Romanov male line came to an end. The Supreme Privy Council faced the problem of deciding to which of the five female pretenders the Russian crown was to be passed.

Two powerful aristocratic families, the Golitsyns and Dolgorukys, dominated the Council. They hoped to limit the powers of the autocratic monarch, a plan that required a docile and passive figure on the throne. Anna seemed to fit their needs perfectly. She was a widow in near impoverishment, wishing to escape her difficult circumstances in Courland (Latvia). The Council believed that given her essentially weak character and probable gratitude toward the Council for the offer of the crown, she would prove malleable enough to accept restrictions on her power. In a signed document Anna agreed not to make any decisions on war or peace, taxes, promotions, deprivation of titles and property, remarrying, appointment of an heir, or spending of state revenues without approval of the Supreme Privy Council. The Council had in effect executed a coup d'etat. Real power had moved from the autocrat to the oligarchy in the Council.

As word began to spread about these conditions, lesser nobles began to form opposition against the Golitsyn and Dolgoruky conditions. These lesser nobles, dependent on the monarch for their positions, privileges, and material well-being, preferred the absolute power of a monarch, believed to be above petty personal interests, to what they considered to be the despotism of a small clique of aristocratic families.

Anna entered Moscow on February 15, 1730. Taking advantage of the opposition among the nobles and Imperial Guards to the limiting of her power, at an audience she tore up the document she had signed after accepting petitions asking her to reclaim her autocratic power. Some historians regard this as a lost opportunity for Russia to break from its autocratic past. They believe that the granting of legal rights to the nobility as a whole would have led to dramatic changes in the sociopolitical structure, thereby removing many obstacles created by the autocratic system to Russia's further economic and political development.

In return for their support against the Council, these nobles pressed Anna for concessions and privileges that she eventually granted. She repealed the 1714 Law on Primogeniture, shortened military service, allowed entrance for nobles into the military at officer rank and gave them more control over their serfs. These moves represented the beginning of an upgrading of the Russian nobility's status.

Anna had little inclination for ruling, preferring gossip, trivia, and matchmaking. Her lover from Courland, Count Ernst-Johann Biron, exercised a decisive influence on her. The great resentment Russians felt towards him and the other foreigners Anna placed in key posts and to whom she granted much patronage became a leitmotiv of her reign. This resentment, which continued after her reign, had other roots as well. As Russian identity among the upper classes began to solidify, the influx of foreigners, whose expertise was regarded as important for modernization, came to be seen as an affront to Russian dignity. The damaged belief in Russian superiority, combined with the frequently bad behaviour of foreigners, added to the complexity of this problem.

Anna took several steps to consolidate her rule. She founded the powerful Izmailovsky Guards, whose head was a former lover. The intelligence service was reestablished, providing an effective mechanism for surveillance and control over society. Finally, in order to bypass the Supreme Privy Council, in 1731 Anna established a Cabinet of Ministers, which in reality governed the Empire. This was not a limitation on the autocratic power, since Anna willingly granted these powers to the Cabinet of Ministers and was able to take them back at will.

Anna's foreign policy reinforced the general line set by Peter and thereby set the tone for Russian foreign policy for the rest of the century. With Austria she fought the War of Polish Succession (1733 - 1735) to prevent the resurgence of French influence in Poland and to promote the election of a pro-Russian king, thereby adding to the security of the Empire's western borders. Continuing Russia's push southward to the Black Sea, Anna with Austrian support declared war on the Ottoman Empire. The war ended in 1739 with the defeat of the Crimean khanate, Russia's regaining of Azov, and the understanding that St. Petersburg would deal decisively with rivals on Russia's Black Sea coast. Anna failed, however, to gain the right to maintain a Russian fleet in the Black Sea, a recurring issue in Imperial Russian history. The policy of working with Austria in regard to Poland and the Ottoman Empire was adopted by Catherine II.

Anna died on October 7, 1740.

Bibliography

Dukes, Paul. (1982). The Making of Russian Absolutism 1613 - 1801. London: Longman.

Kamenskii, Aleksandr. (1997). The Russian Empire in the Eighteenth Century, tr. David Griffiths. London: Sharpe.

Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of all the Russias. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.

Longworth, Phillip. (1972). The Three Empresses: Catherine I, Anna, and Elizabeth of Russia. London: Constable.

Raleigh, Donald, ed. (1996). The Emperors and Empresses of Russia: Rediscovering the Romanovs. London: Sharpe.

—ZHAND P. SHAKIBI

(Anna Ivanovna) (än'nə ĭvä'nôvnə), 1693–1740, czarina of Russia (1730–40), daughter of Ivan V and niece of Peter I (Peter the Great). On the death of her distant cousin, Peter II, she was chosen czarina by the supreme privy council, which thus hoped to gain power for itself. Anna signed articles limiting her power, but she soon restored autocratic rule, with support from the lesser nobility and the imperial guards. She made minor concessions to the nobles but restored the security police and terrorized opponents. Distrusting the nobility, she excluded Russians from high positions and surrounded herself with Baltic Germans. Her favorite, Ernst Johann von Biron, had the greatest influence. Allied with Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, Anna intervened in the War of the Polish Succession (1733–35), installed Augustus III as king of Poland, and attacked Turkey in 1736. Charles's separate peace with the Turks at Belgrade forced Russia to make peace in turn, at the price of all recent conquests except Azov. During Anna's reign began the great Russian push into central Asia. She was succeeded by her grandnephew, Ivan VI.

Anna (Russia) (1693–1740, ruled 1730–1740), empress of Russia. Anna Ivanovna (or Ioannovna) was the second crowned female ruler of Russia, after Catherine I. The daughter of Peter the Great's half brother and co-tsar for seven years, Ivan V, she spent her adult life residing alternately in St. Petersburg and in the duchy of Courland. Married to the duke of Courland, Friedrich Wilhelm, in 1710, she was soon widowed when he died in the following year. She returned to St. Petersburg for the next six years, after which Peter the Great sent her back to Courland in 1717. Although bereft of any formal authority, Anna maintained a court in Mitau (Jelgava), subsidized by the Russian court and by contributions from local magnates. Her presence provided an anchor for the growing Russian presence in the eastern Baltic, and her retainers doubled as agents of the Russian court.

Anna ascended the Russian throne largely by accident, when the reigning emperor, the fourteen-year-old Peter II, died unexpectedly on 29 January 1730 (18 January O.S.), on the eve of his wedding and less than three years into his rule. Because the law at that time stipulated that the sitting monarch named his or her successor, the unexpected or premature death of a ruler invariably led to a succession crisis, typically resolved by parties at court backed by the powerful guards' regiments. The 1730 succession crisis is particularly noteworthy, because it took place at a time when much of Russia's political elite had assembled in Moscow awaiting Peter II's wedding. His unexpected death left the throne without a designated heir and with relatively few good candidates. Under the guidance of the Supreme Privy Council, a largely aristocratic body established a few years earlier to advise Catherine I, the assembled elite quickly agreed to offer the throne to Anna.

Over the next several weeks, however, a crisis arose over the terms under which she would reign. The Privy Council had prevailed upon her to accept significant restrictions on her authority, in essence obliging her to seek its approval before issuing decrees. These conditions, as they were termed, provoked a storm of protest among the resident nobility at large (the generalitet or shliakhetstvo as it was officially called), and this larger group prevailed upon the Privy Council to assemble groups to discuss the terms of Anna's rule, as well as to air grievances left over from the Petrine and immediate post-Petrine era. Had the "conditions" remained in place, they would have constituted the first quasi-constitutional limitations on the sovereignty of a Russian ruler. However, competition among the powerful clan networks at court, through which access to position and influence had flowed for generations, quickly overwhelmed the Supreme Privy Council's position. Fearful that the clans represented in the council would gain a permanent advantage, the nobility demanded that there be no conditions, a demand to which Anna readily acceded.

Anna's reign is often seen as unpopular and defined by a vulgarity and arrogance at court, marked by the presence of a large number of Baltic German advisers, most notoriously Count Ernst Johann Bühren (Biron in Russian), after whom the entire experience is named ("bironovshchina"). Although the unpopularity and tactlessness of this German clique is undeniable, some scholars have argued that Anna's reign was hardly an era of darkness, as the nationalist tradition would have it. She abolished the unpopular Privy Council and severely punished most of its members. More to the point, her closest advisers included several Russians such as Prince Aleksei Mikhailovich Cherkasskii and Gavriil Ivanovich Golovkin. It was during her reign that the Imperial Academy of Sciences established its visibility within Russian society, both through its Russian-language press and through its classes, and within international science through the publication of its scientific monographs. Her reign saw the beginnings of the Corps of Cadets, the elite military academies, as well as the legislation that ultimately led to the establishment of a network of Latin-based religious seminaries. In foreign affairs, Russian interests prevailed over French ones in the war of Polish Succession in 1733–1735, and Russia made noteworthy, if temporary, gains in Moldova at the expense of Austria and the Ottoman Empire in 1739.

Endeavoring to make her line of the Romanov clan preeminent, and without any offspring of her own, Anna named her infant grand nephew (her deceased sister Catherine's grandson) Ivan Antonovich as heir, with Bühren as regent. The strategy failed, however, as Ivan VI remained on the throne less than two years and was replaced in a coup by Peter the Great's daughter, Elizabeth. Bühren—and the entire German party—fell even sooner, replaced as regent after several months by Ivan's mother, Anna Leopoldovna.

Bibliography

Lipski, Alexander. "A Re-examination of the 'Dark Era' of Anna Ioannovna." American Slavic and East European Review 15, no. 4 (December 1956): 477–488.

Meehan-Waters, Brenda. Autocracy and Aristocracy: The Russian Service Elite of 1730. New Brunswick, N.J., 1982.

Ransel, David L. "The Constitutional Crisis of 1730." In Reform in Russia and the USSR. Edited by Robert O. Crummey. Urbana, Ill., 1989.

"The Succession Crisis of 1730." In Plans for Political Reform in Imperial Russia, 1730–1915. Edited by Marc Raeff. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1966.

—GARY MARKER

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Anna Cole	Anna Rose
Naturalizer Anna	anna quindlen