Paul I of Russia

Killed on the night of 23 to 24 March 1801 in St Michael Castle in Saint Petersburg by a group of army officers and nobles.

Overview

Paul I, son of Catherine the Great, reversed many policies of his mother and alienated the nobility and officer corps with erratic decrees, strict military discipline, and sudden dismissals. His foreign policy shifted abruptly from war with France to an alliance with Napoleon against Britain. A conspiracy headed by Count Peter von der Pahlen, with Levin von Bennigsen and the Zubov brothers among its members, broke into his bedroom in the newly built Mikhailovsky Castle and killed him. His son Alexander, who had known of the plot to force an abdication, became Alexander I. The death was officially attributed to apoplexy, and none of the conspirators was put on trial.