After the death of the 77-year old Hetman of Ukraine Danylo Pavlovych Apostol in 1734, the Tzar ordered that a temporary administration be formed in Ukraine. It was named “The Administration of the Hetman government”. The Administration’s function was to mange all affairs in Ukraine. It consisted of eight members — four Ukrainians and four Russians. The body’s activities began with a general census, in order to facilitate the levying of taxes and imposition of duties, and to predict the revenue for the Tzar’s treasury.
In fact, during the whole period between 1734 and 1750, there was no Hetman in Ukraine. It was only after Elizaveta Petrovna began her rule in Russia in 1741, that attitudes towards Ukrainian problems improved. The new Empress, Elizaveta Petrovna, allowed the election of a new Hetman of Ukraine. Kyrylo Hryhorovych Rozumovsky successfully ruled from 1750 to 1764.
How did this happen? Who were the actors that led to such an occurrence? What were their stories? All these questions will be answered, starting with the story of Elizaveta Petrovna herself.
ANCESTRY, CHILDHOOD AND MAIDENHOOD OF ELIZAVETA
Elizaveta Petrovna was born in December 1709, when her father Peter the First returned with his troops back to Moscow after a victory over the Swedish army of Carl the Twelfth near Poltava. It was a happy time for the royal family, and the children of Peter the First and Catherine the First are said to have enjoyed both family warmth and the care of their parents.
In 1712 Peter legalized his marriage with Catherine the First — whose original name was Martha Skavronskaya and his junior by 12 years. He also officially acknowledged his daughters: Anna, who was born on 1708, and Elizaveta, born a year later. It should be mentioned that Catherine Alekseevna was the second wife of Peter the First. His first wife, Yevdokiya Fedorovna Lopukhina, gave birth to and raised his son Aleksey, and opposed the reforms of his father. Peter the First loved his youngest “quarter baby”, as he called Elizaveta since she was a toddler. The girl grew quickly, and was a very nice child. Elizaveta and Anna were taught to read and write at a very young age. The Tzar’s greatest pleasure was “adult-like” correspondence with his daughters, who waited for him to return from his campaigns.
In 1721, at the age of 12, Elizaveta was officially acknowledged to be an adult, and became marriageable. The issue of inheritance was important one for society during the rule of Peter the First, and many considered this an issue of life and death, and above-all political in nature.
Peter the First declared that he will assign the heir based on his own judgement. He was hoping to have a long life, so as to arrange marriages for his daughters, and to see Aleksey grow. He had some plans about Elizaveta’s fate. He wanted to have the French king Louis the Fifteenth, who was born in the same year as Elizaveta, as his son-in-law. Yet this became impossible, since the little king was betrothed to the Infanta of Spain, who was brought to France. The betrothal of Peter’s daughter and the son of the Duke of Orleans also failed. However, the Russian ambassador in France found another fiance for princess Elizaveta – the new ruler of France, the Duke of Bourbon, who wanted to use this marriage to acquire the throne of Poland. All these “treaties of hearts” were disliked by Peter, and even more by Elizaveta herself, who had her own opinion about who should be her husband. After the sudden death of Peter the First in 1725, when Elizaveta was already 16 and her elder sister had been married to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp for a year, Elizaveta was reluctant to marry. After the death of her mother, the Empress Catherine the First, in 1727, Elizaveta kept good relations with the young Emperor Peter the Second, son of Aleksey Petrovich and Peter’s grandson. Yet their friendship was not a lasting one.
During the rule of Anna Ioannovna (1730—40), a cousin of Elizaveta, relations between the two went from bad to worse. Elizaveta was popular amongst the opposite sex whilst Anna had to use money to entice her favourite, Ernst Johann von Biron. Anna Ioannovna, of course, was dreaming to get Elizaveta married and far from Russia, yet she did not like the idea of having the daughter, and a potential grandson of Peter the First abroad. Elizaveta kept her status as an unmarried, simple-hearted beauty. She was satisfied with her standing, and did not want to get higher.
Yet fate is full of surprises, including pleasant ones, and the destinies of historical figures are no exception. We will now take a more detailed look at the events that followed.
In 1731, the Muscovite colonel Vishnevskiy was travelling through Ukraine, seeking talented singers for the court choir. When he visited the village of Lemeshi of Kozelets district in Kyiv povit, he was engrossed by the beautiful singing of one of the youngsters. He took the youth to Petersburg. The voice of Oleksiy Rozum — the 23-year-old youth’s name — was truly amazing. When the young princess Elizaveta heard and saw the handsome singer, she became utterly enchanted, as testified by contemporaries. For the Ukrainian Cossack commoner Rozum this marked the beginning of his career. He became court bandura player after having lost his voice, later becoming the administrator of one of the princess’s estates. He went on to manage all the estates of the princess, whilst continuing to be her “gentleman of the bedchamber”.
On November 26, 1740, the Empress Anna Ioannovna died. Before she died, she assigned her niece Anna Leopoldovna, princess of Mecklenburg, as regent, and made her youngest son, Ivan the Sixth, her heir.
ELIZAVETA PETROVNA’S RISE TO POWER. HER FIRST RESOLUTIONS AND DECREES
Even during the life of Anna Ioannovna, Elizaveta gathered around herself a circle of young men who later became famous statesmen — the Shuvalov brothers, Mikhail Vorontsov, and, of course, the favourite of the princess, Oleksiy Rozumovsky (this was the surname adopted by the former Tzar’s singer Oleksiy Rozum). They spent their time together hunting, entertaining themselves, and merry making. Meanwhile, there was a growing discontent amongst the people with the dominance of foreigners, especially that of Germans in the court, whose leader was all-powerful and cruel Biron. Patriotic ideas were popular with the Guards since the times of Peter the Great. In the beginning of 1740, the cult of Peter the First was at its peak among the highest ranks of the Guards. It became obvious that many of the foreign temporary officials were useless, which sped up the quick rise of popularity of the beautiful princess Elizaveta, heir of the lineage and deeds of Peter the First. These circumstances were skilfully used by Elizaveta herself. She made friends among the Guards and behaved in an ostentatious manner, proclaiming herself the continuer of her father’s cause. In the night of November 24, 1741, Elizaveta decided to head a military coup, having appeared at the barracks of Preobrazhenskiy regiment and appealed to the Guards, calling for an upheaval. The regiment Guards willingly swore allegiance to the new Empress. A party of 200 persons, headed by Elizaveta Petrovna, headed to the Winter Palace. At the same time, several parties were sent to arrest Osterman, Minikh, and others who were close to the ruling German couple. Elizaveta Petrovna acted quickly and demostrated fine tactical sense. The coup succeeded easily. Anna Leopoldovna, her husband prince Anton Braunschweig, and their infant son, Tsar Ivan the Sixth Antonovich, were arrested and deported.
On November 28, 1741, Elizaveta issued a Manifesto in which the new Empress affirmed her rights for the throne. In the first weeks of her rule, the Empress rewarded her followers and punished her enemies. The participants of the upheaval — the Guards, officers, and soldiers, all received huge rewards, hereditary noble status, and serfs for their property. Rozumovsky, the Shuvalov brothers, and Vorontsov became chamberlains. On May 26, 1742, Elizaveta Petrovna was crowned. On the same day her closest favourite, Rozumovsky, was granted the title of Ober-Jagermeister and awarded with the Andrew First Called Order, in addition to receiving vast estates in the Tsardom of Muscovy and in Ukraine. In autumn of the same year, the Empress secretly married Rozumovsky in the village of Perovo near Moscow. In this new role Rozumovsky made efforts to get the Empress interested in the improvement of the unenviable situation of Ukraine.
FIRST RESOLUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS AND THE RESULTS OF A TRIP TO UKRAINE
Having come to power under the slogan of eradicating German dominance, Elizaveta Petrovna immediately embarked upon the internal reconstruction of the country. She declared the liquidation of the old Cabinet and approved a new imperial Council. An experienced dignitary, Aleksey Bestuzhev-Riumin (1693—1766), became the leader of this new council. He had returned from deportation a short time before the upheaval.
Owing to the efforts of the new government some economic reforms were undertaken. One of the important changes was the elimination of internal customs, where bribery, extortions, and other abuses of power were common. Any reductions in the customs apparatus was tantamount to the elimination of a considerable source of corruption. New protectionist customs rates, sheltering domestic manufacturers, were introduced. The authorities also kept money circulation under strict control.
Soon the Empress expressed a wish to to make a personal visit to Ukraine. This took place in 1744, when she set off together with Rozumovsky. When she arrived in Kozelets in Chernihiv region, where Rozumovsky’s mother lived, Elizaveta got acquainted with the extensive Rozum family. Then, the Empress went to Kyiv, where she received a warm welcome on behalf of the Ukrainians. She was charmed by Kyiv, its people and by the Ukrainian populace in general, and she loudly declared: “Love me, oh Lord, in your Kingdom of Heaven just like I love this people, benevolent and gentle.”
After the Empress visited Kyiv, a number of improvements to the city were made, including the luxurious Mariinsky palace, a state park and the aristocratic St. George church. In the spring of 1753, a splendid St. Andrew temple, founded by the Empress in 1744, was prepared for inner paintings and erected based on the design of the Empress’ favourite, the chief court architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli.
Using the occasion of Elizaveta Petrovna’s presence in Kyiv, the Cossack elders petitioned a request to have a new Hetman elected in Ukraine. The request was accepted. The Empress proposed to elect the younger brother of Rozumovsky, Kyrylo, who at that time studied in Germany and France, for the position.
HETMAN OF UKRAINE KYRYLO ROZUMOVSKY AND HIS ACTIVITIES
Kyrylo Rozumovsky returned to Petersburg in 1745 after having finished his education in Koenigsberg, Berlin and Hattingen. The following year, when he turned 18, he was assigned to be the president of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. In 1747 (on May 5), the Empress issued a decree granting Ukraine the permission to elect a new Hetman, and the Empress proposed Kyrylo Hryhorovych Rozumovsky for the position. On February 22, 1750, the imperial envoy count Gendrikov was sent by the Empress to the city of Hlukhiv to organize the process of Hetman election.
A popular assembly was gathered on the square near St. Nicholas church. In a solemn ceremony the common folk gathered around a specially built platform, itself surrounded by Cossack troops. Cossack elders and the Ukrainian clergy, together with Kyivan metropolitan Tymofii Shcherbatsky, stood around the platform. At ten o’clock a cannon was fired, and the ceremony began. After having heard the expressions of gratitude to the Empress for the permission to elect a Hetman, count Gendrikov addressed the assembly with a question: “Whom do you wish to have for Hetman?” In response, the people answered in a loud, united voice: “Kyrylo Rozumovsky. Let Rozumovsky be Hetman!” On April 24, 1750, the Empress greeted the envoys from the event and approved the new Hetman — Kyrylo Hryhorovych Rozumovsky — a 22-year old, educated Ukrainian.
Let us now briefly cover the successes and failures of the new Hetman of Ukraine during the ten years of his rule, when Elizaveta Petrovna was alive. First, Kyrylo Rozumovsky received from the Empress an estate around the city of Hadiach (so called Kliuch of Hadiach (Key of Hadiach)), which belonged to Ukrainian Hetmans since Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Baturyn city became the Hetman’s capital again. All kinds of oppressive committees were liquidated, including the notorious “Ministerial Registry”. All Muscovite officials were recommended to leave the territory of Ukraine. The Hetman received Kyiv and Zaporizian Sich to govern, the latter still having a form of independence.
In summer of 1751, Kyrylo Rozumovsky, greatly dignified, solemnly entered Hlukhiv. Soon the new Hetman built palaces in Baturyn and Hlukhiv, and established a court based on that of the tzar. The Hetman made his assistant Teplov an administrator of the Hetman’s Registry, and assigned him to the resolution of many issues when he himself was on visit to Petersburg. It should be noted that Kyrylo Rozumovsky very quickly resolved many key issues himself, yet he always notified the Empress about it. He made great changes in the judicial system. The Hetman also introduced some serious social reforms. For example, the Cossack elders finally received noble status. The Hetman also made some changes in the military, modifying the uniform and drills, and improving the artillery. Kyrylo Rozumovsky contributed a lot in the sphere of education, educating Cossack sons. Unfortunately, under the influence of Cossack elders who owned peasant serfs, the Hetman considerably limited the rights of peasants. In 1760 he issued a decree that allowed peasants to change their place of residence only with the permission of their previous owner. Even then, all the property of the peasant who wanted to move remained in the possession of the previous owner.
Rozumovsky was not able to rid Ukrainian finances of Muscovite control. He failed to secure income from import to and export from Ukraine for the treasury. He also failed to obtain the right to have independent relations with foreign states. But the Empress considerably changed social life in Ukraine. She established nursing homes for disabled and elderly people, issued a decree on the delimitation of land and established two credit banks: one for the aristocracy and one for the merchant classes. Those banks provided loans with six percent annual interest. In 1753, a famous decree abolished the death penalty in the Empire and introduced a unified Russian Empire tax in Ukraine.
Perhaps the most apposite description of that period is that of professor O. Ogloblin: “It was the age of the last rise of the old Cossack and Hetman state, the age of economic growth of the Left-bank Ukraine, the age of prosperity for Ukrainian national and political ideas, the age during which Ukrainian culture and art blossomed” (Polonska-Vasylenko N., History of Ukraine, vol. 2, K., Lybid, 1995, p. 99).
Unfortunately, this time of relative peace, rule of law, economic growth and flourishing cultural life of Ukraine lasted but for a short time. In 1761 the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna died, and Catherine the Second became the Tzarina. In 1764 she ordered Rozumovsky to abnegate his Hetman powers and dissolved the Hetmanate. Thus, Kyrylo Rozumovsky was the last Hetman of Ukraine. He later lived in Petersburg, but before his death he returned to Ukraine, to Baturyn, where he died in 1803, at the age of 75.
