Latest / The Romanov Dynasty: Rise, Power, and Bloody End — Fexingo History / Empress Elizabeth Petrovna: The Romanov Who Abolished the Death Penalty
Transcript
- Lucas: So, we've talked about Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and a few of the less celebrated Romanovs. But there's one ruler who's often overlooked, and she was actually Peter's daughter: Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. She reigned from 1741 to 1762, and she did something that no other Russian monarch before or since has done—she abolished the death penalty. Not just suspended it, but effectively banned it during her entire reign. Luna: Wait, really? In 18th-century Russia, with all those palace intrigues and serfdom, she just said no to executions? Lucas: Exactly. It's a fascinating contradiction. She came to power through a bloodless palace coup—she marched into the Winter Palace with the Preobrazhensky Regiment and arrested the infant emperor Ivan VI and his regent, Anna Leopoldovna. And despite the usual expectation of executing rivals, Elizabeth didn't. She simply had them imprisoned. And then she made a point: during her entire reign, no one was executed by the state. That includes criminals, political opponents, even soldiers. Luna: How did she justify that? Was it a religious thing? Lucas: Partly. She was deeply Orthodox, and she believed that taking a life, even a criminal's, was a sin for which the sovereign would have to answer. But also, she had a very personal aversion to bloodshed. She once said, 'I have no enemies. I do not want to see anyone die.' And she stuck to it. Of course, she still used torture and exile to Siberia, but the death penalty itself was off the table. That's remarkable for a European monarch in the 1740s. Luna: That's such a different image from the luxurious, party-loving Elizabeth I've read about. Luna: So she was the one who really made St. Petersburg look like a 'window to Europe', not just Peter. Lucas: Exactly. Peter founded the city, but Elizabeth gave it its iconic look. She also founded Moscow University in 1755—now Lomonosov Moscow State University—and the Academy of Fine Arts. She was a huge patron of the arts. She brought Italian opera to Russia, and she herself was a talented dancer and actress. But here's where it gets complicated: all that luxury came at a huge cost. The treasury was drained by her building projects and her endless parties. And meanwhile, the vast majority of Russians were serfs, and their lives didn't improve at all. Luna: Right, because serfdom was actually strengthened during her reign. Lucas: Yes. She granted huge tracts of land and thousands of serfs to her favorites, especially her lover, Alexei Razumovsky, a former Cossack choirboy who became a count. She also gave landowners more power over their serfs—they could exile them to Siberia without trial. So while she wouldn't execute anyone, she allowed a brutal system to continue. That's the contradiction of Elizabeth: she was personally kind, even forgiving, but structurally she upheld autocracy and serfdom. Luna: What about foreign policy? She was involved in the wars of her time, right? Lucas: Very much so. Elizabeth allied with Austria and France against Prussia in the Seven Years' War—that was actually a reversal of Russia's earlier alliances. Russian armies performed well, defeating Frederick the Great at the Battle of Kunersdorf in 1759. At one point, Russian troops even occupied Berlin. But Elizabeth died in 1762, just as Russia was on the verge of a decisive victory. Her successor, Peter III, was an admirer of Frederick and immediately pulled Russia out of the war, giving back all the conquered territory. So Elizabeth's greatest military triumph was undone within months. Luna: That must have been infuriating for the Russian generals. Lucas: It was. And Peter III didn't last long anyway—he was overthrown by his wife, Catherine the Great, later that same year. But Elizabeth's legacy lived on in other ways. Her abolition of the death penalty set a precedent, even if it wasn't formally codified until much later. And her cultural policies created the foundation for the Russian Enlightenment. She was a bridge between Peter's reforms and Catherine's grand ambitions. Luna: Is it true she never married? I've heard rumors about a secret wedding. Lucas: She never officially married, but historians believe she did secretly marry Alexei Razumovsky in a private Orthodox ceremony in 1742. They had no children, though. And she never allowed anyone to challenge her authority by becoming tsar consort. She was determined to rule alone, like her father. And she did—for 20 years, without a single execution. That's quite a record for an absolute monarch. Luna: It's strange that she's not more famous. She sounds like one of the more interesting Romanovs. Lucas: She's often overshadowed by Peter and Catherine, but she deserves her own spotlight. She was vibrant, contradictory, and surprisingly humane in one key way. Her reign was a golden age for the Russian aristocracy, if not for the common people. And the buildings she commissioned still define St. Petersburg today. So next time you see a picture of the Winter Palace, think of Elizabeth—the empress who loved dresses, dancing, and, above all, refused to kill. Luna: I will. Thanks, Lucas. That was a great conversation.