Latest / The Romanov Dynasty: Rise, Power, and Bloody End — Fexingo History / Tsar Paul I: The Mad Romanov Who Was Strangled in His Bedroom
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Catherine the Great — her reforms, her lovers, the expansion of the empire. But we haven't spent much time on her son, Paul I, who came to power in 1796 after waiting for decades. Luna: Waiting for decades — he was in his forties by then, right? Lucas: Exactly. Paul was born in 1754, and Catherine always saw him as a rival, almost an enemy. She deliberately kept him away from state affairs. He lived at Gatchina, his estate outside St. Petersburg, where he built his own miniature army and drilled them obsessively. 'Gatchina' became a byword for his rigid, militaristic style. Lucas: When he finally became tsar, his first acts were to undo everything his mother had done. He hated Catherine's favorites, especially Platon Zubov, her last lover. Paul exhumed the body of his father, Peter III — who Catherine had overthrown — and had him reburied in the imperial vault with full honors, as if he were the true tsar. Luna: That's a pretty dramatic statement. Did he also change policy? Lucas: Drastically. He reversed Catherine's expansionist wars, made peace with France, and even formed an alliance with Napoleon. He imposed a ban on foreign books and fashions, restricted travel, and introduced a new law of succession in 1797 that banned women from the throne — a direct reaction to Catherine's usurpation. That law stayed in effect until the end of the dynasty. Lucas: But the most bizarre part might be his obsession with the Order of St. John, the Knights Hospitaller. When Napoleon captured Malta, the knights appealed to Paul, and he declared himself their protector. He actually became the Grand Master of the order, a Protestant ruler leading a Catholic military order. He built a chapel for them in St. Petersburg. Luna: Wait — a Russian Orthodox tsar as the head of a Catholic crusading order? How did that even work? Lucas: It didn't, really. It was pure fantasy on Paul's part. He saw himself as a chivalric knight, a protector of Christendom. He even created a new 'Russian priory' of the order. But it alienated both the Orthodox church and the nobility, who thought he was unhinged. Lucas: And his paranoia grew. He became convinced there were conspiracies everywhere — which, to be fair, there were. He built the Mikhailovsky Castle, a fortress-like palace in St. Petersburg, with moats and drawbridges, specifically to protect himself from assassination. He moved in in 1801, just weeks before his death. Luna: So he was afraid of being killed — but he moved into his fortress anyway? Lucas: Yes, and it didn't help. The conspiracy was led by Count von der Pahlen, the military governor of St. Petersburg, and included the Zubov brothers — the same Platon Zubov who had been Catherine's lover. They even got Paul's son, the future Alexander I, to tacitly approve the coup. On the night of March 23, 1801, they broke into the Mikhailovsky Castle, found Paul hiding behind a screen, and strangled him with a scarf. Luna: That's brutal. And Alexander knew it was going to happen? Lucas: He knew about the plot, but he was told Paul would be forced to abdicate, not killed. After the murder, he was devastated — and guilty. He never fully recovered, and that guilt shaped his reign. He became more mystical, more cautious, and eventually withdrew from reform. Lucas: Paul's reign was only four years, four months, and four days. But it had a lasting impact: the succession law, the militarization of the court, and the precedent that a tsar could be killed by his own nobles. It's a story about what happens when absolute power meets unchecked paranoia. Luna: And it makes you think about how the Romanovs' own family dynamics often led to their downfall. Lucas: Absolutely. And if you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, you know we rely on listeners like you to keep this show ad-free and independent. If you'd like to support the research and conversations we do, you can visit buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a simple way to help us keep going. Luna: Yeah, it really makes a difference. Now, back to Paul — one thing I find fascinating is his legacy in military history. He introduced the 'Arakcheyev' system, right? Lucas: Yes, but that was more his son's doing. Paul's own military reforms were mostly about drill and uniforms. He hated anything that reminded him of Catherine's army. For example, he changed the colors of the uniforms to Prussian blue, and soldiers had to wear their hair powdered and curled. It was all about discipline and appearance. Lucas: But the real legacy might be the psychological one. After Paul, every Romanov tsar had to reckon with the possibility of assassination. Alexander I, Nicholas I, Alexander II — they all lived under that shadow. Alexander II was literally blown up by a bomb. Paul set the pattern. Luna: So in a way, the dynasty's end started with its own internal violence. Lucas: Exactly. And that cycle of violence and paranoia only escalated. The assassination of Paul I is a key turning point — it shows how fragile the autocracy really was, even at its peak.