Paul was born in St. Petersburg on 20 September, 1754. In 1760, Paul began his education under Nikita Panin. One of the best minds in Russia, Panin had studied all the latest teaching methods. Catherine deprived him of the rights and privileges normally associated with this title. She kept him well away from the throne, in a state of virtual banishment. He sat and bided his time, obeserving the surrounding lawlessness.

Portrait of Paul as a Child (1761)
Artist: Feodor Rokotov

Portrait of Maria Feodorovna
Artist: Unknown

When Paul finally inherited the throne in 1796, he attempted to turn the country around. His first step was to summon all guardsmen to their regiments, which several surprising details to light. Most officers had deserted their regiments for their country estates or villages, where they had also enlisted their children, who ages were often given as eighteen when they were in fact not even ten.

The entire country was in a state of flummox. Thousands of officers hurried to their regimental headquarters, increasing transport costs and leading to further grumbling among the nobility. Guardsmen were banned from wearing fur coats or muffs, as this was not part of their uniform. Paul introduced a new uniform costing twenty-two roubles. To avoid freezing in cold weather--the average temperature in St. Petersburg in February 1799 was minus 37C--officers wore woolen sweaters beneath thier jackets or lined the jacket with fur.

Paul addressed other areas of Russian life, including the bureaucracy. Civil servants were expected to earn their pay honestly. As one contemporary wrote: "In the offices, departments and ministries, everywhere in the capital, the candles were already lit at five o'clock in the morning. All the chandeliers and fireplaces blazed in the vice chancellor's mansion opposite the Winter Palace, while the senators sat round their red table at eight o'clock." Corruption at the highest levels was harshly punished.

Portrait of Emperor Paul I, Empress Maria Feodorovna and their family
Artist: Gerhard von Kugelgen

Military Parade of Emperor Paul in front of Mikhailovsky Castle. It was here in 1801 that he was murdered.
Artist: Alexandre Benois, 1907

Paul is often criticised for his decree of 18 April, 1800 limiting the import of foreign literature. In the words of the new law, "corruption of the faith, civil laws and morality is being spread by various books imported from abroad. We therefore command, to the point of a decree, the prohibition of various imported books, no matter what the language they are written in . . . and works of music." Paul was no democrat. He was the sovereign of the country and regarded the morality of his subjects as his personal responsibility. This was not a complete ban, merely a recommendation "to the point of a decree". Russia was flooded with foreign literature, much of it of dubious content, and the emperor did not want his people to read or listen to works corrupting their minds and souls.

In international relations, Paul was forced to reslove a series of difficult problems. On his way to Africa, Napoleon landed at Malta, expelled the Russian ambassador and promised to sink any Russian ship daring to approach the island. As Paul had taken Malta under his personal protection, he regarded this hostile act as a declaration of war and joined the anti-French alliance in 1798. Under pressure from his allies, Austria and Britain, he placed Alexander Suvorov at the head of the Russian army. Suvorov hatched an ambitious plan to single-handedly defeat the French army in northern Italy and to march from there on to Paris.

Alexander Suvorov's plan was thwarted by the treachery of the Austrians. After defeating the French army in northern Italy, Austria demanded that Suvorov join up with the forces of General Alexander Rimsky-Korsakov in Switzerland, despite the difficult cimatic conditions and the lack of any help from Russia's ally. When Suvorov's army arrived in Switzerland, they found that Rimsky-Korsakov had already been defeated by the French. The Russians were without provisions or supplies and surrounded by a numerically superior French army. The French were better equipped and supplied and had the experience of mountain warfare. With great difficulty, Suvorov managed to extract himself from Switzerland by crossing through the Alps. He took ill on the road back to St. Petersburg and died soon after his arrival in the Russian capital. The crossing of the Alps is nevertheless still regarded as one of the finest chapters in the history of the Russian army.

Angry at Austrian and British perfidy, Paul decided to change sides. Watching Napoleon destroy the last vestiges of the French Revolution in his desire to be emperor, he joined France in an anti-British alliance. Russia's task was to march on the English colonies in India. In January 1801, Paul ordered Feodor Orlov-Dennison, hetman of the Cossacks, to prepare to invade India: "All the riches of India will be your reward . . . My maps only go as far as Khiva and the River Amudarya. Beyond there, it is your duty to get information from the English and their Indian subjects." Paul's murder two months later, however, meant that the planned invasion of India never took place.

Paul was murdered in his palace bedchamber on the night of 11/12 March, 1801. The plot was led by two former favourites of Catherine, the Zubov brothers, with the alleged support of the British government, alarmed at the alliance between Russia and Napoleon. Paul was buried in the St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.