Tsar Elizabeth

Elizabeth Petrovna was born in 1709, the daughter of Peter the Great and Martha Skaronska, or Catherine I. Since her father had abolished the law of succession during his reign, the Supreme Council chose his successors following his death. One of these was the infant Ivan VI, on whose behalf his mother Anna Leopoldnovna, acted as regent. But with the help of her political supporters, Elizabeth arrested Leopoldnovna' advisors, and established herself as Empress on November 25, 1741.

Elizabeth's reign proved politically beneficial to Russia. The incompetence of the last two tsars had cost the country a lot of national pride; Elizabeth increased national morale by reinstating her father's policy of allowing only Russians to be her top advisors, and thereby avoiding foreign influence. She outlawed the death penalty. In 1743, she scored a historic victory for diplomacy by negotiating an end to a long-standing land dispute between her country and Sweden. She was also chiefly responsible for maintaining the alliance between Russia, Austria and France against Prussia during the Seven Years' War. 

Several of Elizabeth's non-political accomplishments during her reign included her founding of the University of Moscow and of a state theater, and changing Petersburg architecture to reflect the styles that were dominant in western Europe at that time. 

 Elizabeth never married due to dispute within her family regarding heirs. As she had no children, either, she chose her nephew, Peter II, to be her successor. She found him a bride, Sophia of Zerbst, who would later become Catherine the Great--one of Russia's greatest tsars. Elizabeth is given credit for preparing Catherine for the throne. 

Elizabeth's reign is most often described by historians as the "transition" between the two famed 18th-century Tsars, Peter the Great and Catherine I; she herself was relatively obscure. She died in 1760.

Annotated Bibliography

Almedingen, E.M. Catherine, Empress of Russia. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. 1961.
Tsar Elizabeth is covered extensively in the book, since it was she who brought Tsar Catherine to Russia. Elizabeth is depicted as moody and vindictive; she would make decisions, then quickly change her mind. The book gives examples of  Elizabeth's cruelty toward Catherine, whom she hand picked to marry her nephew, Peter III. Also covered  was Elizabeth's disappointment with Peter III, after she had chosen him as her successor, because he was German and Lutheran, and therefore friendly with Sweden. Little is said of Elizabeth's feelings toward the other relevant nations of her time, although the author notes that she was feared by Prussia, liked by Austria and had peaceful relations with Sweden. The author takes a good look at the type of person Elizabeth was, and her relationship with those who would succeed her: Peter III and then Catherine the Great.

Anthony, Katherine. Catherine the Great. New York: Garden City Publishing Company. 1925.
I found many interesting details about Tsar Elizabeth and her life before she came to power. Katherine Anthony offers many details regarding Elizabeth's signing of her mother's will so that her half brother, Peter II,  became tsar. Elizabeth was ready to live out her life in private. The book offered various fascinating anecdotes of Elizabeth's childhood. Anthony argues  that while Elizabeth was in some ways immoral, she was also very religious. Lastly, although it did not mention much about Elizabeth's own reign, the book describes how Elizabeth successfully brought Catherine to Russia.

De Custine, Marquis. Empire of the Czar. New York: Doubleday. 1971.
This book was compiled from a book  written by Marquis De Custine in 1839. He went on a journey through Russia to provide material for his book, which described  the cities and the countries of each of the Czars. At that time, Nicholas I was the Czar of Russia. Custine found that the czar wanted his citizens to be able to live well, an attitude which Custine could be traced all the way back to Elizabeth. While the book did not go into details of her rule, it did mention the Fortress of Shlusselburg, where Ivan VI had been imprisoned by Elizabeth after the revolution of 1741.However, the focus of this book was more Russia in the 1800s. It was not a good book for researching Elizabeth, but would be helpful in  understanding the country under Nicholas I.

Grey, Ian. The Romanovs. New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc. 1970.
An entire chapter in this book covers Elizabeth life, before and after becoming czar, and discussed her dealings with the church,  the military and outside countries. Elizabeth was seventeen when Peter was tsar, the book gave details of Peter's plans for marriage. The book details Elizabeth's policy of having no foreign advisors following her father's death. This book gives a history of all of the Romanov Dynasty, and useful information on Elizabeth.

Grey, Ian. History of Russia. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co. 1970.
This is the second book I found by Ian Grey, and like the first, it contained much useful information on Elizabeth. He wrote about her same desire to westernize Russia that her father, Peter I, had had. She transformed Petersburg to the styles of Western Europe. This book gives a fuller account of her rise to power that the other book did not. She was credited with founding Russia's first state theater. Also, Russia was involved in two wars under Elizabeth, the Seven Years War and the war with Sweden over lands conquered by her father, and she which was not prepared to lose. Her ill-feelings for Frederick II of Prussia are documented as well.

Hingley, Ronald. The Tsars 1533-1917. New York: The Macmillan Company. 1968.
The book by Ronald Hingley recounts the lives of all Russia's tsars. The book begins with Ivan IV, the Terrible, who proclaimed himself tsar of all the Russias, and ends with Nicholas II.  Elizabeth is given limited attention here,  compared to some of the other books I mentioned. This book gives much of the same information as Ian Grays' book, The Romanovs. This book provides many details about Elizabeth's love life, mentioning that she had numerous lovers. This book also gives a detailed account of her bringing Catherine II to Russia to marry Peter III.

Rice, Tamara Talbot. Elizabeth Empress of Russia. New York: Prager Publishers. 1970.
This was the only book that I found that covered Elizabeth as the primary subject. Details and conditions of her life are broken down chapter by chapter. The book recounts the trouble Elizabeth had had as Peter Is only child to reach maturity. This book also details her inner turmoil in  knowing that her successor was not Russian Orthodox, since Elizabeth wanted to spread Russian control past its contemporary boundaries. I found this book to be the most complete in covering Elizabeth's life as Empress of Russia.

Kirby, David. Review of Evgeny V. Anismov, Empress Elizabeth. Her Reign and Her Russia, 1741-1762.  History Today. 47 (1997).
This Journal article is a book review of Evgney V. Anismov' book. Elizabeth is said to have been a poor ruler who merely held the throne until Catherine II came to Russia's aid. The reviewer approved of  the information regarding Elizabeth, but felt more could have been written about the people that she ruled.

Mirnov, Boris. "Consequences of the price revolution in eighteenth century Russia." The Economic History Review. Vol. 45, ( August 1992).
This article details the price revolution that hit Russia in the 1700s, which had first swept through Western Europe in the 1500s and 1600s. The article demonstrates how the economy grew in Russia, and  serfdom grew as well as a result of the growth of agriculture. Industrial centers lagged being at this time in Russia. This article gives a good idea of the economy during the 1700s, during when Elizabeth ruled.

Beard, Robert. Chronology of Russian History. 1996. <http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/chrono.html> November 17, 2000). 
This site lists all of the Russian rulers from Peter I, the great to Nicholas II. Each ruler has a link to the page providing an outline of them. Under each ruler is a timeline of events that lists all of the major events that occurred under that ruler. Under Elizabeth some notable events are listed:  the founding of Moscow University, formation of the first Russian theater and the granting of the power to ban serfs to Siberia to nobles. The Russian wars are not listed. This site is good to get a list of all the rulers and dates of significant events that impacted Russia under them.

Bensen, Valerie. The Life and Times of Elizaveta Petrovna. December 13, 1996.<http://www.dana.edu/~dwarman/vbensen.htm> (November 12, 2000).
This is an excellent in-depth site. An introductory "Abstract" gives an outline of the five essays which follow. These discuss the major events and endeavors of Elizabeth's life, from "Growing up as Peter the Great's Daughter" to "Elizaveta's Influence on Catherine the Great." Compiled by a Dana College Russian history student, the text is written on the typical college level, and contains many relevant details of Elizabeth's life.

Hartman, Douglas. Chronology/Timeline of Russian History. August 26,1997. <http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/DouglasHartman/chronology.htm> (November 17, 2000). 
This site lists all of the major events in Russian history, from 862 AD to 1994. The years are separated into  periods with  a common theme. Elizabeth is listed under Tsars of Russia. There are numerous links from this site, leading to specific rulers or periods, but the only link listed for Elizabeth just gives a brief biography, covering her years as Tsar, and her death.

Levykin, Alexei K. Elizaveta Petrovna. 1995. <http://www2.sptimes.com/Treasures/TC.2.3.11.html>  (14 January 2005).
This site of Elizabeth, compiles a very brief biography of her life, copyrighted by the St. Petersburg Times. It lists some highlights of her reign, the most notable being that not one person was executed from her orders. This site does not contain anything not readily found in one of the books above.

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URL: http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/elizabethtsar.html Written by Austin Clarke, 1998 Revised by Dawn Drumin, 2000 November Last Revision: 2005 January 14 Copyright © MMV Prof. Pavlac's Women's History Site