Emperor Paul I was the son of the famous empress Catherine the Great and he succeeded her when she died in 1796.
Russian emperor Paul I was assassinated in St. Petersburg on this day in 1801. More precisely, he was killed by the conspirators while he was in his bedroom. The conspirators included Count Peter Ludwig Gottlieb Theophil von Bennigsen, Prince Vladimir Jašvil, Count Nikita Petrovich Panin, Count Levin August Gottlieb, General Count Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen, Admiral José de Ribas.
Emperor Paul I was the son of the famous empress Catherine the Great and he succeeded her when she died in 1796. Since his mother had ruled the Russian Empire for a long time, Paul was 42 when he came to the throne. He soon proceeded to get rid of most of Catherine’s former associates – as many as seven field marshals and 333 generals were allegedly sacked. This drew the ire of the Russian aristocracy and was probably the motive for his assassination.
