Peter III of Russia
Peter III of Russia was born on February 21, 1728, in Kiel, Germany. He was the son of Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great. Peter III was raised in Holstein and served in the Imperial Russian army during the Seven Years' War. In 1745 he married Catherine the Great, and in 1761 they succeeded Empress Elizabeth on the Russian throne. However, their marriage was unhappy, and Peter's reign as Tsar was short-lived. He was an admirer of the Prussian king, Frederick the Great, and sought to make Russia an ally of Prussia in the Seven Years' War. This was deeply unpopular among the Russian aristocracy, who saw Prussia as a traditional enemy of Russia. Peter's policies provoked widespread discontent, and he was overthrown by a group of courtiers led by his wife, Catherine, on July 9, 1762. Peter was imprisoned, and a few days later, he was murdered, allegedly by Alexei Orlov, brother of one of Catherine's lovers. Despite his brief reign, Peter III made several significant changes to Russian society, including abolishing the Secret Chancellery, which had been a powerful instrument of authoritarianism under previous rulers, and granting religious freedom to non-Orthodox Christians in Russia. Overall, Peter III is a controversial figure in Russian history, remembered as an eccentric and impulsive tsar who met a tragic end at the hands of his own wife.
