Vladimir Medinsky will continue “Stories from Russian History”

The TV channel “Russia-Culture” continues to show the series of films by Vladimir Medinsky “Stories from Russian History” in the new TV season. New issues are dedicated to Emperor Paul I.

The new documentaries of the cycle tell about the controversial and tragic figure of Paul I (1754-1801), whom historians have nicknamed the “Russian Hamlet”. Pushkin considered him the most romantic emperor of Russia. Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Vladimir Medinsky makes a special emphasis on the person and personal qualities of the emperor: his upbringing, affections, habits, environment, which allows us to rethink and re-evaluate the reign of Pavel Petrovich.

As a child, the future emperor was fond of books about noble knights, and becoming in 1798 the Grand Master of the spiritual and monastic Order of Malta, he sincerely believed that his subjects would share chivalric ideas. He acutely felt the need to serve his Fatherland, as evidenced by his words spoken on the night of the death of Catherine II’s mother: “I lived for forty-two years. God saved me and, perhaps, will give me the mind and strength to equip the state for which he intended me.

For all that, Paul I had a very difficult character and sometimes made tough, eccentric decisions. During the five years of his reign, he developed a number of decrees that improved the situation of the peasants and softened the oppression of the landowners. To weaken the positions of the nobility, to which he felt mistrust since childhood, he carried out a large-scale reform. Paul I was an opponent of the French Revolution, and in order to avoid, as he believed, its harmful influence, he introduced very unusual regulations – he forbade wearing round hats, glasses and sideburns in French fashion.

Vladimir Medinsky emphasizes the personal contradictions of this ruler of Russia: “A man obsessed with military art and officer honor, he was afraid every time he heard a shot from a gun or a cannon.” Paul I showed inconsistency in foreign policy as well. At first, Russia participated in the anti-French coalition, and the troops under the leadership of Suvorov won a number of brilliant victories. However, peace was soon concluded with the enemy. A year later, in 1801, Paul I was killed by conspirators in the Mikhailovsky Castle.

The first film from the series “Stories from Russian History” about the extraordinary Emperor Paul I see September 10th. The rest are on the following Sundays.

Inna Shkarbanova.

Photos provided by the press service of the TC “Russia-Culture”