B.C. Minikh's Participation in Political Processes During the Reign of Russian Empresses in the 20s – 40s of the XVIII Century

Abstract

Burchard Christoph Minich was the palace coups era’s symbolic character. Being invited by the Peter I, he was able to achieve rapid career growth and for a short time become one of the central figures in Russia until the accession of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. In the context of studying his activities, one of the tasks of this work was to identify the reasons for inviting foreigners to the Russian army. Special attention should be paid to the study of Minich's achievements on the battlefield and in engineering. The article characterizes the assessment of Russian historians of the contribution of Field-Marshal to the development of public administration and the army. In the context of the study of Minich's activity, the image of E.J. Biron and the reasons for his competition with B.C. Minich both during the reign and after the death of Anna Ioannovna are studied. An important topic is also the coming to power of Elizabeth Petrovna, who deprived foreign figures of power, and the consequences of her accession for both B.K. Minikh and his competitors.