Elizabeth of Russia

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Elizabeth or Elizaveta Petrovna (Russian: Елизаве́та Петро́вна; 29 December [O.S. 18 December] 1709 – 5 January 1762 [O.S. 25 December 1761]) was Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She did not execute a single person during her reign. She was the last person on the agnatic line of the Romanovs as her nephew ascended, thus creating the house of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov. The second-eldest daughter of Tsar Peter the Great (r. 1682–1725), Elizabeth lived through the confused successions of her father's descendants following her half-brother Alexei's death in 1718. The throne first passed to her mother Catherine I of Russia (r. 1725–1727), then to her nephew Peter II, who died in 1730 and was succeeded by Elizabeth's first cousin Anna (r. 1730–1740). After the brief rule of Anna's infant great-nephew, Ivan VI, Elizabeth seized the throne with the military's support and declared her own nephew, the future Peter III, her heir. During her reign Elizabeth continued the policies...

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