The Supreme Privy Council () of

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

, founded on 19 February 1726 and operative until 1730, originated as a body of advisors to Empress

Catherine I Catherine I Alekseyevna Mikhailova (born Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya; – ) was the second wife and Empress consort of Peter the Great, whom she succeeded as Emperor of all the Russias, Empress of Russia, ruling from 1725 until her death in 1 ...

History

Originally, the council comprised six members— Alexander Menshikov, Fyodor Apraksin, Gavriil Golovkin, Andrey Osterman, Peter Tolstoy, and Dmitry Mikhaylovich Golitsyn. Several months later, Catherine's son-in-law, Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, joined the council. During Catherine's reign (1725–1727), her favorite, Prince Menshikov, dominated the council. In her testament the Empress Catherine I authorized the council to wield power equal to that of her successor Peter II, except in matters of succession. Peter II, Catherine's step-grandson, assumed the throne on 6 May 1727; Menshikov organised for the 11-year-old Peter to become engaged to his 15-year-old daughter Maria Alexandrovna Menshikova (25 May 1727). By the time of Menshikov's downfall in September 1727 the council's make-up had changed drastically: Apraksin had died, Tolstoy had been exiled, and the Duke of Holstein had left Russia. Thereupon the Council expanded to eight members, of which six represented old

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families opposing the Westernization reforms of

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

—the Dolgorukovs and the Golitsyns. Osterman and Golovkin retained the other two seats. As the conservative influence prevailed among its members, the council, although nominally a consultative body, monopolized supreme power and had the imperial capital moved ''de facto'' back to

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. The '' collegia'' (i.e., ministries) and the

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, instituted by Peter the Great as supreme governing bodies, were held accountable before the Council rather than to the young Emperor. The Senate was renamed from "Governing" to "High". After Peter II's death in 1730, the Council chose a rather improbable successor—the daughter of Tsar Ivan V, Anna Ivanovna, Duchess of Courland, whom they deemed easily amenable to manipulation and too conservative to restore Peter I's reforms. Anna was allowed to ascend the throne only after she had signed the famous "Conditions" which conferred on the council the powers of war and peace and of taxation. According to the Conditions, Anna couldn't promote officers to ranks higher than

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or interfere in military affairs. She promised not to marry and not to choose her successor. The Council modelled the Conditions on the form of government recently instituted in

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. If implemented, they could have led to Russia's transformation into a

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

. If she were to violate the Conditions, Anna was to be dethroned. SurikovMenshikovBerezovo

A month after signing the document, on 25 February 1730, Anna, on the advice of her close counsellor, Ernst Johann von Biron, won the sympathies of the Leib Guard and tore up the terms of her accession. Within days, the council was abolished and many of its members were exiled to

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References

{{Reflist Privy councils Government of the Russian Empire 1730 disestablishments in the Russian Empire 1726 establishments in the Russian Empire 18th-century disestablishments in the Russian Empire

History

See also

References