The Saint Paul globe., 1904-05-15
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fWHEN WOMEN NJ .ss::.s:: ~ s:..'
=s.=s=z =:z..=s RULED RUSSIA
.


EVER again can woman reign in
Russia. Doubtless the present
emperor wishes she might; for he has
no son to succeed him, and daughters
count for nothing now in a Russian
dynasty. Nicholas cannot inaugurate
any policy with the hope that it will
be continued by his successor. APP
parently this frail young man is not
destined to a long life 1t is not strange
that Russians regard his reign as
mere episode, and look forward to the
time when his giant brother will grasp
the scepter with a strong hand.
To one acquainted with its history,
the reason for the exclusion of females
from the imperial succession might
seem plain, He might assume that the
despotic rule of a nation of over $780,
100000 Of people, a vast portion Of
them semi i-barbarous, in the greatest
continuous empire in the world, was
deemed tco strenuous an undertaking
for woman. AS a matter of fact, how
ever, the reverse is the case. It was
not the imperial charge, but the women
themselves, who proved too strenuous
in the days when women ruled in Rus
sia.
Never before or since, in any land,
was such power welded by women as
in Russia in the eighteenth century
the most important century in the his
tory Of the nation, the era Of empire
building. They carried on the work
begun by Peter the Great. They made
Russia European, in spite of itself.
They made 1t great. They made it
modern. 1t was the very apotheosis of
female rule. Unfortunately, the strug-
gle for power seemed to develop into a
sex war. The women did not like to
yield up the scepter to the men of
their household. The latter were killed
or imprisoned, or were subjected to
such rigorous tutelage in youth that
they became imbecile or insane.
When, in 1896, the great Catherine II.
breathed her last, and the poor, half
mad Paul came to the throne he de-
creed that henceforth no women should
reign and despite all the benefits
which Russia had received from her
titanic women, it was felt that such a
decree was necessary. No one has since
dared to set the decree aside.
From first to last the story of the
four great expresses is a romance,
seemingly too improbable for the pur-
poses of legitimate fiction.
Two hundred years ago the ire
pressible young czar, Peter, himself
seemingly a barbarian, had entered
upon his strenuous life work. Visiting
the camp of one of his generals, he
found there, among the captives, q
beautiful girl of the Swedish type, an
orphan of the poorest peasantry who
had been reared in charity by a Lu-
theran pastor. Martha was her name.
She was light-hearted and animated,
dutiful and trustworthy. Peter carried
her away as a prize. She won his
heart more completely than any other
person ever did. She shared with him
the tolls of the march and the dam
gers of the battlefield. With a singular
disregard of court traditions, he mar
ried her after testing her loyalty for
few years. In 1711, when he found
himself surrounded by the Turks at
the tPruth, and saw no way of escape,
his peasant wife managed to extricate
him and his army by bribing the Turk
ish commander. On his return 70 ST.
Petersburg the czar made public his
marriage, his cOnsOrt having assumed
the name Of Catherine. Some years
later she was SOlemnly crowned at
MOSCOW. When Peter died, in 1925, she
succeeded him in her own right, as
he had decreed. Until her death, two
years later, she carried out his poll
cies as her own. How far she infiu-
enced the course of the government in
Peters lifetime is not known. She
alone could calm him in his bursts of
fury. She alone dared tell him the
truth in brave and sympathetic
frankness. She obeyed his commands,
but probably she inspired them very
largely After his death she estab-
lished the Academy of Science at st.
Petersburg. She developed the silver
mines in Siberia. She proved, in fact,
a worthy partner and successor Of
Peter the Great.
A young grandson Of the late en-
perOr was proclaimed as Peter Il, but
his life was cut short by smallpox at
the end Of three years. The success of
the lowly-bOrn Catherine had inflamed
the ambitious rivalry of Anna a niece
of the first Peter, a daughter of his
brother Ivan. She was the widow Of
the Duke of Courland, a neighboring
ruler. She now succeeded in sup
planting the children of Peter, and
seized the throne in 1870. She prom
ised to grant a constitution, limiting
the imperial power. and committing
the government to a grand council Of
the old mobiles known as the boyarS
Once securely seated on the throne,
she repudiated every promise, and
ruled with a rod of irOn.> Death, tor
ture and banishment to Siberia were
the order of the day. The terrible des-
pOtism was not once relaxed for she
found a man at hand who was capable
and willing to carry out her policy of
repressing all tendencies to liberalism
This was BirOn, of hateful memory
Anna enlarged Russia. She practically
annexed Courland, forcing the selec-