PAUL I ROMANOV, Emperor of RUSSIA. — B. 20 Sept. 1754, d. at St Petersburg 12 March 1801. Son of Peter III and Catherine II, he never forgave his mother for the coup d’état of 1762 by which she had seized power through the assassination of Peter; he consequently fell into disfavour with the Tsarina, who practically relegated him to the estate at Gatchina, where he awaited until 1796 the moment to assume the crown in his turn.
Once on the throne, he made a complete reversal of Catherine’s policy his system of government; only the desire to counter the advances of the French Revolution persuaded him not to break with Austria. An Austro-Russian army under Suvorov advanced into Italy in 1799 and defeated the French, restoring the ancient governments. A few months later, P., a typical figure of an autocrat, suddenly reversed his political line by drawing closer to France out of personal sympathy for Napoleon and negotiated an alliance between France and Russia and a League of Neutrals directed against England. This inconsistency and the exacerbated absolutism of his rule provoked deep resentment against the Emperor: on the night of 12 March 1801 a group of officers surprised him in his rooms and forced him to abdicate. His refusal cost him his life. A characteristic page in P.’s life was his protection of the Order of Malta, despite his being of the “Orthodox” faith, after the Maltese archipelago had been occupied by France. Perhaps for this reason too he pursued a policy of benevolence toward the Catholics of his empire and of respect for the Roman Pontificate.