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Parents: Ivan V, tsar of Russia, and Praskovia Saltykova
Born: 7 February 1693
House: Romanov
Spouse(s): Frederick William, duke of Courland, son of Frederick Casimir Kettler and Elisabeth Sophie of Brandeburg
Predecessor: Peter II
Reign: 1730 – 1740
Brief: Anna lived a somewhat tragic life. She married the duke of Courland at the age of seventeen only for the man to die three months later on the return trip home. She took over the government of Courland thereafter, remaining unwed the rest of her life. When Emperor Peter II died in 1730, Anna, who was the emperor's niece, was proclaimed his successor. The hoped that by installing her as empress, the nobles could regain some of their lost powers and establish a constitutional monarchy. Anna, in response, indebted herself to the Russian military and lesser nobility and ruled as an autocrat as those before her had. She went power hungry almost immediately, publicly insulting anyone who would mock her or get in her way. She even forced a noble to wed an elderly common woman in a ceremony that involved a zoo's worth of animals and an ice palace, just to insult the man. She replaced many court functionaries with Baltic Germans, and she secured an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, committing Russia to the War of the Polish Succession in 1735. Anna also began attacking targets east and south of Russia in a bit to expand the state. She became ill in 1739 and proclaimed her grand-nephew, who was one-year-old at the time, her heir. Soon after Anna died the next year, Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great, deposed little Ivan VI and took the throne.
Brief: Anna lived a somewhat tragic life. She married the duke of Courland at the age of seventeen only for the man to die three months later on the return trip home. She took over the government of Courland thereafter, remaining unwed the rest of her life. When Emperor Peter II died in 1730, Anna, who was the emperor's niece, was proclaimed his successor. The hoped that by installing her as empress, the nobles could regain some of their lost powers and establish a constitutional monarchy. Anna, in response, indebted herself to the Russian military and lesser nobility and ruled as an autocrat as those before her had. She went power hungry almost immediately, publicly insulting anyone who would mock her or get in her way. She even forced a noble to wed an elderly common woman in a ceremony that involved a zoo's worth of animals and an ice palace, just to insult the man. She replaced many court functionaries with Baltic Germans, and she secured an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, committing Russia to the War of the Polish Succession in 1735. Anna also began attacking targets east and south of Russia in a bit to expand the state. She became ill in 1739 and proclaimed her grand-nephew, who was one-year-old at the time, her heir. Soon after Anna died the next year, Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great, deposed little Ivan VI and took the throne.
Date of Death: 28 October 1740
Successor: Ivan VI
Successor: Ivan VI
Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
- Maxentius, emperor of Rome (312)
- Margaret I, queen of Denmark (1412)
- Ashikaga Yoshihide, shogun of Japan (1568)
- Jahangir, emperor of India (1627)
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