A Gentleman in Moscow

[Retrograde]

29. Smooth transition of power was a rarity

Peter the Great was almost killed (along with his half-brother and co-ruler) by a revolt to the boyars, the Russian nobility. His sister Sophia was regent for a while, but when Peter took over he had her locked in a convent. Peter's wife Catherine I took over with the help of the army, IIRC. Peter's daughter, Elizabeth, became empress by overthrowing the infant emperor, her cousin Ivan VI - who was only 2 - and locking him up in prison for the rest of his life (he was killed when he was in his 20s, supposedly by order of Catherine II). Elizabeth's heir, Peter III, was usurped and killed by his wife Catherine II and some army officers. Peter and Catherine's son Paul (well, he may have been Peter's) was overthrown and killed in another army coup. The next two transitions were mostly straightforward (although the next in line to Alexander I didn't want the job and it went to the next in line), but the Alexander II got blown up in the mid-1800s. His son Alexander III was a reactionary who came down hard on the burgeoning liberal movement. Then there was Nicholas II, who inherited the throne suddenly and unprepared - and it didn't help that he was dominated by his wife, who decided that they had to keep their son's hemophilia secret, which led to Rasputin. Then came the Revolution and things went from bad to horrendous.

Re A Gentleman in Moscow: I've read too much Russian history to buy the premise of the book, well-written prose notwithstanding.