A different spouse for Peter III of Russia

Empress Elizabeth of Russia settled on Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst as a bride for her nephew and heir, Peter (future Peter III).
Sophie (as Catherine) married Peter in 1745. Elizabeth died in 1762.

Suppose Empress Elizabeth chooses a different lady to be the wife of Peter.
Suppose Elizabeth settles on Princess Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Philippsthal. Charlotte Amalie (1730-1801) was the daughter of Landgrave Charles I of Hesse-Philippsthal.
What happens then?
 
Peter III's rule ends whenever someone can put together the pieces for a coup, as by 1762 he'd burned his bridges with pretty much everyone in the Russian power structure. OTL it was Sophie cum Catherine who did it on behalf of the future Paul I, but also in no small part for herself. (Massey's biography of Catherine the Great is fascinating, if only for the weirdness of the bedroom politics of Peter III and Catherine.) If a lesser woman is Peter III's wife, it will likely be an outsider who makes the power-play, unless the wife is as formidable a woman as Catherine. Which she may well be, as IIRC Elizabeth I was not looking for a mewling princess to sire the next czar of all the Russias.

The point is that you're still probably going to have a similar chain of events play out, as Peter III was never right in the head and his incompetence combined with his militant and chauvinistic Prussophilia was going to eventually alienate the Russian aristocracy to the point of getting rid of him, no matter who his wife is. Without digging out Massey's biography of Catherine to refresh myself on the players, I'm not sure who might end up on the throne in the event that Peter III is deposed by external forces.
 
Peter III's rule ends whenever someone can put together the pieces for a coup, as by 1762 he'd burned his bridges with pretty much everyone in the Russian power structure. OTL it was Sophie cum Catherine who did it on behalf of the future Paul I, but also in no small part for herself. (Massey's biography of Catherine the Great is fascinating, if only for the weirdness of the bedroom politics of Peter III and Catherine.) If a lesser woman is Peter III's wife, it will likely be an outsider who makes the power-play, unless the wife is as formidable a woman as Catherine. Which she may well be, as IIRC Elizabeth I was not looking for a mewling princess to sire the next czar of all the Russias.

The point is that you're still probably going to have a similar chain of events play out, as Peter III was never right in the head and his incompetence combined with his militant and chauvinistic Prussophilia was going to eventually alienate the Russian aristocracy to the point of getting rid of him, no matter who his wife is. Without digging out Massey's biography of Catherine to refresh myself on the players, I'm not sure who might end up on the throne in the event that Peter III is deposed by external forces.

Almost certainly one of the following: Peter's wife, one of Peter's kids (if he has any ITTL), or an Antonovich sibling (the latter is unlikely). There just isn't any other possibility short of actually choosing another family (which would be quite hard to explain as long as anyone in the options above still survives).
Most likely it will be the second option (one of the kids), obviously.
 
Almost certainly one of the following: Peter's wife, one of Peter's kids (if he has any ITTL), or an Antonovich sibling (the latter is unlikely). There just isn't any other possibility short of actually choosing another family (which would be quite hard to explain as long as anyone in the options above still survives).
Most likely it will be the second option (one of the kids), obviously.

I agree! Which is why things really don't end up much different than IOTL, at least re: Peter III's fate. I hadn't meant to suggest that the Romanov line might be displaced: Merely that, if Charlotte Amelia -- or whoever Peter III's wife is -- isn't complicit in the plot to get rid of Peter III, the push is going to have to come from outside and would, most likely, be from a prominent member of the aristocracy. I just didn't know anyone who fit that bill off the top of my head.

Though it's always possible that the Guards regiments depose Peter III on their own, without the fig-leaf of legitimacy that Catherine IOTL or a prominent member of the Old Order ITTL might provide. That has all kinds of nasty butterflies, as once the army starts deposing leadership it doesn't like without even a fig-leaf of legitimacy, persistent civil war usually isn't far behind.
 
Princess Charlotte Amalie married Duke Anton Ulrich of Saxe-Meiningen. Anton Ulrich stipulated in his last will and testament that Charlotte Amalie would act as the sole guardian of their sons and regent of Saxe-Meiningen. When she took over the regency in 1763, the country was financially and economically ruined. She had strict austerity measures and reforms and economic reconstruction take place.

When she weds the Grand Duke Peter, Charlotte Amalie becomes the Grand Duchess Eudoxia Vasilevna. Peter becomes Tsar Peter III in 1762.
The sons of Peter III and Eudoxia are Vasily, Yaroslav, and Feodor. Peter dies in 1768. Vasily becomes Tsar Vasily I.
 
Empress Elizabeth of Russia settled on Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst as a bride for her nephew and heir, Peter (future Peter III).
Sophie (as Catherine) married Peter in 1745. Elizabeth died in 1762.

Suppose Empress Elizabeth chooses a different lady to be the wife of Peter.
Suppose Elizabeth settles on Princess Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Philippsthal. Charlotte Amalie (1730-1801) was the daughter of Landgrave Charles I of Hesse-Philippsthal.
What happens then?

Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern

Peter III's rule ends whenever someone can put together the pieces for a coup, as by 1762 he'd burned his bridges with pretty much everyone in the Russian power structure. OTL it was Sophie cum Catherine who did it on behalf of the future Paul I, but also in no small part for herself. (Massey's biography of Catherine the Great is fascinating, if only for the weirdness of the bedroom politics of Peter III and Catherine.) If a lesser woman is Peter III's wife, it will likely be an outsider who makes the power-play, unless the wife is as formidable a woman as Catherine. Which she may well be, as IIRC Elizabeth I was not looking for a mewling princess to sire the next czar of all the Russias.

The point is that you're still probably going to have a similar chain of events play out, as Peter III was never right in the head and his incompetence combined with his militant and chauvinistic Prussophilia was going to eventually alienate the Russian aristocracy to the point of getting rid of him, no matter who his wife is. Without digging out Massey's biography of Catherine to refresh myself on the players, I'm not sure who might end up on the throne in the event that Peter III is deposed by external forces.

What? No. Peter III was actually a competent leader. The people of Russia loved him. And the nobles liked him. Of the laws he passed many of them were good for the nobility. The reason he was overthrown was because his wife was an ambitious adulterer and the angry Guards. reading any book about Catherine II is not going to provide good information on Peter III.
 
What? No. Peter III was actually a competent leader. The people of Russia loved him. And the nobles liked him. Of the laws he passed many of them were good for the nobility. The reason he was overthrown was because his wife was an ambitious adulterer and the angry Guards. reading any book about Catherine II is not going to provide good information on Peter III.

The serfdom of Russia always loved the Czar, because there was usually a belief that the Czar loved his subjects and their rotten state was the fault of their feudal overlords, whose uppance would come when the Czar became aware of their plight. And while Peter III did abolish the aristocracy's perpetual indentured servitude to the crown, he still had nothing but contempt for everything Russian, and is reported to have harangued anyone who'd listen about how much better everything in Russia would be if it were German. That kind of attitude is not going to win you many friends.

Which is Peter's problem: Most sources agree that he was immensely chauvinistic in his pro-Germanness, and pulling the plug on Russian involvement in the Seven Years War to focus on securing the interests of the Duchy of Holstein confirmed the perception. Russian national pride is eventually going to mandate an end to the abuse and belittlement, and it doesn't seem likely Peter III's going to stop being who and what he is short of being deposed.

As, even without Catherine, the Guards are still going to be royally pissed off and they're going to be feeding on something that is felt by most educated Russians as well. And as Catherine's extramarital relationships have been brought up, I wonder what Elizabeth Vorontsova's fate is if Peter III has another wife? As another woman might not be nearly as...accepting of being told by her husband about his sexual escapades with other women as Catherine was.
 
I'm with Maria Theresa on this one--a Catherinized Princess of Zerbst. Yuck. And from Peter's perspective? Take my wife. Please.

La Zerbst is the catalyst in this. Peter III would have probably had an unremarkable reign without her rather than being murdered because of her.
 
The serfdom of Russia always loved the Czar, because there was usually a belief that the Czar loved his subjects and their rotten state was the fault of their feudal overlords, whose uppance would come when the Czar became aware of their plight. And while Peter III did abolish the aristocracy's perpetual indentured servitude to the crown, he still had nothing but contempt for everything Russian, and is reported to have harangued anyone who'd listen about how much better everything in Russia would be if it were German. That kind of attitude is not going to win you many friends.

Which is Peter's problem: Most sources agree that he was immensely chauvinistic in his pro-Germanness, and pulling the plug on Russian involvement in the Seven Years War to focus on securing the interests of the Duchy of Holstein confirmed the perception. Russian national pride is eventually going to mandate an end to the abuse and belittlement, and it doesn't seem likely Peter III's going to stop being who and what he is short of being deposed.

As, even without Catherine, the Guards are still going to be royally pissed off and they're going to be feeding on something that is felt by most educated Russians as well. And as Catherine's extramarital relationships have been brought up, I wonder what Elizabeth Vorontsova's fate is if Peter III has another wife? As another woman might not be nearly as...accepting of being told by her husband about his sexual escapades with other women as Catherine was.

Yes I agree that is Peter's problem is Prussophilia. Everyone of his reforms was meant to take Russia from the feudal state Peter the Great had made to a truly modern states

Yes as I stated earlier the Guards will still be pissed even without Catherine.

On the affairs, with a different wife Peter might be different in this aspect.

The wife I picked for Peter, in Otl was married to a Scandinavian king and did her best to assimilate. which is why I picked her. With her, Peter III might actually learn to hide his Prussophilia some and therefore succeed in being Tzar.

But even without her I think Peter could remain a float and defeat a coup by the Guards. His rule won't be loved by the aristocrats but you could make is so that it is tolerated or respected.
 
Suppose Empress Elizabeth chooses a different lady to be the wife of Peter.

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The choice of Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste of Anhalt-Zerbst as a bride for the Grand Duke Peter was not coincidental, accidental or fortuitous.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Sofia was not rich, she was not beautiful, she did not belong to an important royal house.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]However, for the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna Romanova, the family from which comes the future bride is very important. Sophie Friederike was daughter of Christian August, co-ruler of the insignificant principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, and Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp, great-granddaughter of a king of Denmark. But the Empress was linked by kinship, as well as by affection, with the House of Holstein.[/FONT]
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For the Tsar Peter I Romanov the victory of Poltava in 1709 was a great triumph military, political and diplomatic. The sovereigns of Europe were hasten to propose new treaties and alliances with the Tsar.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Peter I of Russia took advantage of this rebirth of the Russian diplomatic relations with the westerners sovereigns to give life to a new marriage policy; but at that time no foreign monarch had seen the slightest benefit to intermarry with the Russian royal house, whose importance on the political scene international was considered negligible.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Since 1707 Peter had made contact with the German house of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel with the hope of persuading the Duke Anton Ulrich to give his niece Carlotta Cristina as wife at the Tsarevich Aleksej Petrovič Romanov, but negotiations had gone for long because the duke was in no hurry to see his grandson married heir of a monarch who was about to be dethroned by the King of Sweden. The obstacles to the marriage had disappeared suddenly after Poltava. The wedding is finally celebrated the sunday 14 October 1711 in Torgau, in the castle of the Queen of Poland.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The second marriage "stranger" that Peter the Great was able to agree on is that between his niece Anna Ivanovna Romanova, daughter of Ivan V, and the young Duke of Courland and Semigallia Frederick III Wilhelm von Kettler, grandson of Frederick I of Prussia. Anna's marriage was important because it was the first Russian princess to marry a foreigner for more than two hundred years, and was the recognition by Europe of the new status of Russia: from now on Peter and his successors could have Russian princesses to intervene in European dynastic complex business.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The second great journey of Peter the Great in the West takes place in 1716-17, nineteen years after the "Big Embassy", and it was an opportunity to attend to a new marriage of a Russian princess. The sister-in-law of the Tsar, Praskovia Feodorovna Saltykova widow of Ivan V, is fond of Peter and agrees that his daughters are married for political purposes to strengthen the German alliances of Russia. After Anna, now is the time of Catherine Ivanovna Romanova, whom he married on 19 April 1716 in Gdansk the already twice widower Duke Charles Leopold of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; the Duke of Mecklenburg is described as «a lout tyrannical despots and one of the most well-known» (E.Schuyler, Peter the Great), who having need of a powerful protector for his weak state, he sees in marriage with a Russian princess a useful way to get behind the tsar: being aware that two of the grandchildren of Peter are still unmarried and already a widow, not worrying about what he will be given in marriage, it sends an engagement ring in St. Petersburg with a marriage in which the name of the candidate is left blank. Is chosen the twenty-four Catherine. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]In 1722, Peter the Great 's daughters are of marriageable age. They received the typical education of European princesses, which consists in language, etiquette and dance , from the time of his visit to France, the Tsar hoped to marry one of his daughters , presumably Elizabeth, the child king Louis XV, or, at least, a prince of the royal house of France to be named king of Poland. Philippe d' Orléans, Regent of France, it seems tempted by the idea: Poland would be a useful ally behind Austria,and the prince more suited to encircle the crown is certainly his son the Duke of Chartres. Unfortunately for them there is a big obstacle: Augustus of Saxony still occupied the Polish throne Although it was not his "friend", Peter is not going to dethrone him. Proposes that the Duke of Chartres marry the princess at once, ensuring its support for the election to the throne of Poland after the death of Augustus. The Regent prefer to wait until the child has surrounded the Polish crown before entering into marriage. The French have some hesitation in more , about the obscure origins of the mother of the princesses and the mystery surrounding the date of the wedding of Tsar that raises questions about the legitimacy of his daughters... [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Since March 1721 is in Russia Duke Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, grandson of the ancient enemy Charles XII of Sweden, who without any direct heirs if it was kept as close as was his successor, but never designate it as such, and the king of Sweden also had a sister still living, Ulrika Eleonora, married to Frederick of Hesse-Kassel, brother in law that he considered it one of his top advisers and commanders. When in November 1718 Charles XII, who has followed the nephew and brother in law, finds death in Norway during the Siege of Fredriksten, Ulrika Eleonora, following the signs of her husband, self-proclaimed queen, and arrested immediately who the opposes. The young Charles Frederick is still too saddened by the loss of his uncle to take care of asserting his rights to the throne when he does it is too late.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Denmark has meanwhile occupied the northern part of the duchy of Holstein-Gottorp and scored with a treaty that Sweden does not support more military pretensions of the young duke, who is now in St. Petersburg with the hope of winning the support of Tsar possibly sealing the whole thing with the marriage with one of his daughters. The condition of Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp improves in 1724: it is recognized as heir of Sweden, is granted him the title and the treatment of "Royal Highness" and income, as well as insurance to take an interest in Russian and Swedish King of Denmark for the return of its territories of Holstein. Since his position became regular, on 21 May 1725, in Trinity Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Charles Frederick married the Tsar's daughter Anna Petrovna Romanova.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]In 1724, Peter appointed his wife as "Tsarina" and he associates her to the government of Russia. Peter died in 1725 without having appointed a successor and inviting the regiments of the Imperial Guard to proclaim Catherine sovereign of Russia with the title of "Empress". The concern of a mother is to see the other daughter also joined in marriage.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Elizabeth Petrovna Romanova is betrothed to Charles Augustus of Holstein-Gottorp, recently succeeded his father as Prince of Eutin and Prince-Bishop of Lübeck, first cousin of Duke Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]But Charles Augustus of Holstein-Gottorp dies of smallpox on 31 May 1727 in St. Petersburg where he went to meet his girlfriend.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Adolf Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp succeeded his brother Charles Augustus as the Lutheran Prince-Bishop of Lübeck and Prince of Eutin.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]At the end of the Russo–Swedish War of 1741–1743, also known as the Hats' Russian War, the Imperial Russian Army had occupied most of Finland, and the Russian politicians aspired to move the Swedish border considerably to the north, thus reducing the danger of Swedish attack on St Petersburg. As soon as hostilities ceased, the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna Romanova would have wanted that the Russian Forces occupied the Sweden in order to ensure the peace negotiations, but this plan aroused the vehement opposition of the Swedish representatives and was abandoned. The sudden collapse of Sweden had come as a disagreeable surprise to the Court of Versailles. Obtaining the best possible terms for a discomfited Sweden, was now the main object of the French diplomatists. With the Treaty of Åbo, Sweden ceded to Russia the areas east of the Kymi River with the fortress of Olavinlinna and the towns of Lappeenranta and Hamina. Hence, the Swedish border was moved to the north.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]On the other hand, the Swedes, in order to please and to appease the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna Romanova, agreed to elect Adolf Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, her relative, as the Crown Prince. This move exposed the country to the risk of war against Denmark, hence the Baltic Fleet sailed to Stockholm to protect the Swedish capital in case of Danish attack. The treaty marked the further decline of Sweden as a great power in Northern Europe.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp, mother of Sophie Friederike Auguste, was the sister of Charles Augustus and Adolf Frederick. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]No wonder that the Empress has therefore sought the bride of Grand Duke Peter in the House of Holstein, whom she knew, she had largely supported, and which was closely relative of his nephew Peter.[/FONT]


Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, although it is a very interesting figure for her character and for how she acted like Queen of Denmark, would never have been taken into account because she was the sister of Prince Antony Ulrich of Brunswick-Lüneburg, husband of Grand Duchess and Regent of Russia Anna Karlovna Leopoldovna, and father of the the baby Tsar Ivan VI Antonovich, dethroned and imprisoned by the coup d'état of Elizabeth Petrovna Romanova![/FONT]


Suppose Elizabeth settles on Princess Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Philippsthal. Charlotte Amalie (1730-1801) was the daughter of Landgrave Charles I of Hesse-Philippsthal.

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]WHY, FOR WHAT REASON the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna Romanova would have to choose the Princess Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Philippsthal???[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]You may not think that a princess is fine for a hypothetical marriage just because it has the right age for it! You can not randomly choose a princess for a wedding. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Behind every marriage (or marriage proposal) were complicated decisions and special interests, which led to make certain choices and not other choices. You can not shoot at random. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As alternative to Sophie Friederike Auguste as a wife for the Grand Duke Peter, we could consider the Princess Ulrike Sophie of Hesse-Homburg (1726–1792). [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Ulrike Sophie was the daughter of the Prince Casimir William of Hesse-Homburg (1690-1726), granddaughter of the Princess Louise Elisabeth Kettler of Courland (1646–1690), great-granddaughter of Duke Jacob Kettler of Courland (1610-1662), therefore she was a relative of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm Kettler of Courland, husband of Anna Ivanovna Romanova [daughter of the Tsar Ivan V and cousin of the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna Romanova].[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Moreover Ulrike Sophie was the first-cousin of Louis John William Gruno, Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Homburg (1705-1745), Russian Field Marshal, husband of Princess Anastasia Trubezkaya (1700-1755), sister of Ivan Ivanovich Betskoi or Betskoy (1704-1795), General Major and Russian school reformer. Betskoy was actively involved in the coup d'etat that brought Elizaveta Petrovna to the Russian throne. Due to the Betskoy's friendly terms with Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp, there were rumours that Sophie Friederike Auguste was his biological daughter.



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And why the choice of these names? There is a reason, besides the fact that they are in a primitive onomastics of the House of Romanov?
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The sons of Peter III and Eudoxia are Vasily, Yaroslav, and Feodor. Peter dies in 1768. Vasily becomes Tsar Vasily I.

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]«[/FONT]A difficult labor lasted until noon the following day. On September 20, 1754, Catherine [Sophie Friederike Auguste] gave birth to a son. [The Empress] Elisabeth, who had waited so long, was exultant. As soon as the infant had been bathed and swaddled, she called in her confessor, who gave the baby a name, Paul, which had been the name[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]»[/FONT] of the many of her brothers died in infancy (Robert K. Massie, Catherine The Great: The story of the impoverished German princess who deposed her husband to become tzarina of the largest empire on earth).[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The same Catherine [Sophie Friederike Auguste] recalled in her memoirs: [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]«[/FONT]Finally toward noon, I bore a son... the Empress Elizabeth had her confessor come and he gave the child the name Paul. The Empress immediately had the child taken to a midwife. No one had thought about me. I was dying of hunger and thirst. Finally I was put in my bed and did not see a living soul the whole day[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]».[/FONT][/FONT]


 
I like the fact that as Queen Consort of Denmark, Juliana Maria tried to endear herself to the Danish people. She tried to speak and write Danish. As Queen Dowager, she restored the privileges of the nobility.
 
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