Terrible Tsarinas

Although exhausted by disease, age, political concerns and

excesses of food and drink, the tsarina kept abreast of these devel-

opments. She viewed her daughter-in-law’s escapades with a

mixture of reprobation and envy. She approved the deception for,

in her opinion, the Grand Duke Peter deserved to be betrayed by

his wife a hundred times over, having himself betrayed Russia

with Prussia. But she was afraid that, by diverting the course of

events, Catherine might prevent the realization of her dearest

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wish: the peaceful transfer of power, over the head of Peter, to his

son, young Paul, who would be assisted by a regency council.

Admittedly, Elizabeth could have proclaimed this change in

the dynastic order, right then. However, such an initiative inevi-

tably would have entailed skirmishes between rival factions, re-

volts within the family and perhaps in the street. Wouldn’t it be

better to leave things as they were, for the time being? There was

no need to rush; Her Majesty still had a clear head; she might live

on a few more years; the country needed her; her subjects would

not understand her suddenly ignoring current issues to deal with

the succession.

As though to encourage her in maintaining the status quo,

the “Conference,” the supreme political council created at her ini-

tiative, was considering a march on Berlin by the combined allied

armies. However, Field Marshal Saltykov being ill, General Fer-

mor hesitated at the idea of such a large-scale action. Then, in a

daring move, the Russian general Totleben launched an attack on

the Prussian capital, surprised the enemy, penetrated the city and

accepted its surrender. Although this “raid” was too fast and too

poorly exploited to lead Frederick II to give up his entire territory,

the king was sufficiently shaken that one might reasonably expect

the ensuing negotiations to be highly profitable.

In such a context, Elizabeth felt that France should set an

example of firmness. Ivan Shuvalov was so much persuaded of

that, that his mistress would laugh and say that he was more

French than the French. In addition, she believed that Catherine

was on good terms with the baron of Breteuil only insofar as the

politics of France did not contradict too directly that of Russia.

However, Breteuil, obeying his principal, the duke of

Choiseul, advised the tsarina that Louis XV would be grateful to

her if, exceptionally, she would agree to sacrifice “her particular

interests to the common cause.” In short, he asked her to settle

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for a compromise. But, in spite of the illness that kept her con-

fined to her room, Elizabeth refused to let go before she received

assurances that Russia would receive its due. In her view, pro-

longing the truce would only help Frederick II. She understood

him well enough to know that he would take advantage of the

suspension of hostilities to rebuild his army and to prepare to

fight again, with a new chance of success. The Empress’s mistrust

and vindictiveness being abruptly awaked, she took the bit in her

teeth. On her deathbed, she wanted to ensure that Russia would

live on after her — and thanks to her. While in her shadow

hushed rumors on the future of monarchy were circulating again,

she and her advisers from the Conference were planning to attack

Silesia and Saxony. As a final inspiration she named Alexander

Buturlin commander-in-chief; his principal qualification for the

position was that he had once been her lover.

While the generalissimo, appointed in extremis, was certainly

full of good intentions, he had neither the authority nor the mili-

tary knowledge necessary to fill the role. However, nobody in

Elizabeth’s inner circle warned her against the risks of such a

choice. For one Ivan Shuvalov (who was always preaching all-out

war), how many worthy advisers showed themselves strangely

hesitant, inexplicably evasive!

Little by little, Elizabeth noted that even within the palace

there were two irreconcilable political views, two groups of parti-

sans who fought with arguments, tricks and intrigues. Some

pushed for complete conquest for love of country; the others, tired

of a war that was costly in terms of lives and money, wished to see

it ended as soon as possible, even at the price of some concessions.

Torn between the two camps, Elizabeth was almost ready to give

up her claims on Eastern Prussia provided that France supported

her claims on Polish Ukraine. In St. Petersburg, in London, in Vi-

enna, and in Versailles, the diplomats haggled endlessly. That was

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their pleasure and their trade. But Elizabeth was wary of their

quibbles. Even as everyone around her was discussing her health,

she intended to keep a tight grip on the destiny of her empire, as

long as she had the strength to read her mail and say her prayers.

At times, she regretted being an old woman and unable, in that

condition, to command her regiments in person.