History always hides many secrets.
Russian Empire was reformed by Peter the great in the absolutist Russian Empire was the third largest country in the world, of all that ever existed. Steppes, forests, mountains and rivers stretched from the Arctic ocean in the North to the Pacific ocean in the East. For nearly four hundred years of this vast territory with an iron hand ruled by autocrats to ensure the integrity of their power brutal, sometimes horrific actions. The following facts may surprise even the one who is well familiar with the history of his native country.
Torture
Russian autocrats have often used cruel tortures to strengthen his power. Ivan the terrible was known for (among other things) the invention of a special giant frying pan, which baked their enemies alive. The Empress Elizabeth chose to tear enemies languages, Peter smacked guilty hard leather whip, filmed by inch of skin with one blow.
The Palace intrigues
In theory, the Russian Kingdom was considered the most absolutist form of government throughout Europe. In practice, the yard was a snake pit forever rival boyar factions, ready for power to go to any actions. The mother of Ivan the terrible was poisoned when he was only 8. Fedor Godunov was strangled after only 7 weeks of the reign, Peter III was murdered by order of his wife, who ruled for the next 30 years as Catherine the Great. Alexander I reign admonished count Palen, involved in the murder of his father: “don’t be a baby, go to reign.”
The imprisonment of Ivan VI
Two month old Ivan VI became king in 1740 and was able to hold on to the throne for a year: the country was under the Regency of Biron first, and then Anna Leopoldovna. Emperor-the baby was deposed by Elizabeth, and went into solitary confinement, where he spent all his life. In Shlisselburgskiy strongholds of the true name of the prisoner, no one knew. Camera the accident was devoid of Windows so that daylight of Ivan VI had never seen. During the reign of Catherine II (and its order), one of the guards quietly strangled a potential contender for the throne.
Oprichnina
In an effort to build a reliable protection against the boyars, Ivan the terrible surrounded himself with a group of mercenaries, who received very extensive powers. The guardsmen wore black dress, and the saddle was tied a dog’s head, symbolizing the fate that awaits traitors. They acted as the secret police of Ivan IV, torturing and killing all those suspected of disloyalty. In 1570, the Oprichniki burst into the Novgorod, killing more than 10,000 innocent people. The once-powerful trading city never recovered from this blow.
Impostors and Confusion
The Russian Empire has experienced a very difficult stage of the interregnum, when the throne was claimed by several pretenders. “Time of troubles” of the seventeenth century was marked by natural disasters, the Polish-Swedish intervention and the socio-economic crisis. The beginning of the Unrest put the rumors that the rightful Prince Dmitry (killed, actually, even at 8 years of age) alive. The pretender, false Dmitry I, seized power and was brutally torn to pieces by the nobles, the false Dmitry II stayed on the throne for 4 years, but ended his days as well. False Dmitri III was executed in 1612, and in the XVIII century Cossack Emelyan Pugachev organized a huge rebellion, said that he is the murdered Peter III. Another “Peter III” appeared in Montenegro and the rules are there for a while until the Ottomans did not pay a personal Barber to cut the pretender’s throat.
Cults and sects
In the vast Empire was flourishing sects and cults that were formed during the schism of the Russian Orthodox Church. Whips beat themselves with whips, Molokans refused to serve in the army and tried to create their own commune in Siberia. Darker all was a sect of eunuchs, who considered sex a source of sin, and practiced ritual castration, applicable even to young children.
Church reform
Russia’s largest religious split occurred when Peter, when Patriarch Nikon decided to reform the Russian Church. In addition, modernization has undergone and some key rituals — baptism, for example, relied three fingers instead of two. The traditionalists, led by Archpriest Avvakum innovations refused to accept. The old believers held their religious rituals in secret: the state has called them “Schismatics” and pursued relentlessly, which only strengthens the determination of traditionalists. Knowing that they are moving the king’s troops, believers, the whole village was locked up in churches and burned themselves alive.
The Great Famine
The strongest crop failure of 1891 plunged the country into famine. Despite the numerous data obtained from the Zemstvos, newspaper articles and panicky rumors in all layers of society, the government long time did not recognize the fact of famine — despite the fact that some action against him already taken. Until November of 1891 (when the whole Empire was already dead tens of thousands of people), censorship was forbidden to publish the most glaring information. The word “hunger” is everywhere replaced by false “crop failure”. The result of the “lean years” were 400,000 deaths.
Serfdom
The Russian Empire was built on the backs of serfs, bound to a specific place and forced to work for control of the territory of the landowner. By the seventeenth century, landowners were allowed to buy and sell serfs, that was translated last in the category of most of these slaves. Technically, the nobles were not allowed to kill their peasants, but the choice of punishment for the offense remained on the conscience of the owner. The death of a slave from injuries when the punishment did not involve any consequences. Serfdom was abolished in 1861: this time, Russia had a population of almost 63 million — at least 46 million were serfs.
