nger, committed acts which
provoked Moscow, and in 1610 he was compelled to abdicate, and a council
of nobles was formed to run the government until a Czar could be chosen.
Vladislav was finally selected, but Feodor Romanoff sought to prevent
his being crowned. There was a period of anarchy, cities were burned,
and chaos was complete.

The dignitaries of the church and state finally set to work and
supported the candidacy of Mikhial Feodorovitch Romanoff, who was the
first Romanoff Czar. He reorganized the empire, and reigned for
thirty-three years. His successor, Alexis, the direct heir, reigned for
thirty-one years, and cultivated friendly relations with Ukraine and the
Cossack country. He was followed by Feodor II, and then came Peter the
Great. There were two claimants to the throne, Ivan and Peter, both sons
of Alexis by separate wives, and the difficulty was settled by letting
the two reign jointly under the regency of Sophia, a sister of Ivan.

When Ivan died Peter assumed the reins, and it was he who gave Russia a
frontage on the Black Sea, and on the Baltic, and built St. Petersburg.
He did much for the development of Russia, creating a navy and a
merchantile marine.

Catherine the First, his widow, followed him in reign, and at her death,
Peter II occupied the center of the stage. At his death there was chaos
again and counter claims. Anna of Courtland, a daughter of Ivan, brother
of Peter the Great, was finally elected sovereign, but she was a mere
puppet, vesting her authority in a High Council.

FAMILY'S WRETCHED CAREER.

During her reign her lover, named Biren, held sway and distinguished
himself by sending thousands of political exiles to Siberia. At the
death of Anna, Ivan IV, her grandnephew, reigned, but was deposed and
sent to prison for life, while Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Peter the
Great, succeeded him. She permitted the government to be run on
comparatively honest lines by favorites, and while they ruled she drank
herself to death.

Her nephew, Peter III, succeeded her. He was incompetent and a tool in
the Prussian hands. His wife was a German princess, and led a movement
which ended in his being deposed, imprisoned and murdered.

Catherine, widow of the murdered Peter, succeeded. She was known as
Catherine the Great, and is credited with having been the most infamous
of women in all history. Catherine was succeeded by Paul, who was
assassinated by his own courtiers when he was on