Before the Decembrists, before Alexander II's reforms, there was Paul I—a tsar so volatile that his own son, the future Alexander I, conspired in his murder. In this episode, Lucas tells the story of Paul's four-year reign: his obsession with Prussian military order, his crackdown on the nobility, his construction of the fortress-like Mikhailovsky Castle, and the treacherous plot that ended his life in 1801. We'll explore how Paul's paranoia was not unfounded, how Catherine the Great's favorite courtiers turned against her son, and why the assassination of a Romanov emperor by his own inner circle became a dark precedent for the empire. Along the way, we untangle the roles of Count Pahlen, General Bennigsen, and Grand Duke Alexander, and ask: was Paul truly mad, or just the wrong man for a throne he never wanted?
#PaulI #Romanovs #Assassination #PalaceCoup #MikhailovskyCastle #CatherineTheGreat #AlexanderI #CountPahlen #Bennigsen #RussianEmpire #1801 #Tsar #PalaceIntrigue #RussianHistory #History #FexingoHistory #EasternEurope #ImperialRussia
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