The Complete Collection
Russia, January 25, 1725. "Give it all...". The emperor's weakening hand was able to write in his will only these two short incomprehensible words that kept Russia in a bloody struggle for the crown for a century.
Having enthroned the wife of Peter the Great and his mistress Catherine I, Menshikov receives unlimited power, thereby causing envy and indignation of his former allies in the coup. Taking advantage of his absence, they are plotting against His Serene Highness. But once again, luck accompanies the brave darling of fortune: having received a warning of mortal danger, he escapes arrest and enters the boudoir of the Empress.
Having married the 11-year-old Emperor Peter II with his daughter, Menshikov immediately takes him and his sister Natalia to his palace. Fearing a bad influence on the boy from the Dolgoruky and, especially, Elizabeth, with whom Peter II was in love, the prince deprives him of communication with the royal court. But his plan is to keep Peter II in possible isolation until he comes of age.
And the invisible battle began! It was necessary to act swiftly. Menshikov tries to snatch Peter II from the clutches of the conspirators, but they arrange an escape for the emperor under the nose of the prince's agents. Menshikov is chasing the kidnappers! Remembering that Menshikov is terrible in anger — he chopped the heads of the archers with his own hands — the conspirators hurry Peter II to sign the papers prepared in advance and, seizing them, hide together with the tsar.
As a result of a successful conspiracy against Menshikov, Peter II is prematurely recognized as an adult and is in a hurry to be crowned in Moscow. The Dolgoruky brothers gather for this celebration. There were eight of them - all-powerful and influential representatives of the ancient Rurikovich family - and among them the beautiful Ekaterina, the daughter of the huntsman Alexei.
Moscow is excited about the upcoming event — the betrothal of the Emperor and Catherine. Ekaterina and Millesimo try to escape from Russia, but their conspiracy is exposed. Millesimo is brutally beaten, the fugitive is put under lock and key. Seeing Millesimo at the engagement, the shocked Catherine drops the ring, and everyone sees this as a bad sign. And that's right: exhausted by endless hunting, drunkenness and nervous shocks, Peter II falls ill. Dolgoruky keep his illness a secret.
Europe and Russia are shocked by the unexpected death of the young Emperor Peter II. He died at the age of 14, leaving behind neither an heir nor a will. Who will get the crown of the Russian Empire? A fierce struggle for power begins. Having chosen Anna Ioannovna, the Privy Council hoped to use her as a puppet and a screen for the implementation of their own selfish plans. But the nobles were mistaken - the people do not like eight tyrants. Let there be a tyrant, but only ONE!
Russia, 1736. The sixth year of Anna Ioannovna's reign. To strengthen the family of her female ancestors, the Miloslavskys, the Empress bequeaths the throne to the future son of her niece Anna Leopoldovna. There has never been such a thing in history that a non-existent child has become the heir. Meanwhile, for the sake of a worthy military alliance with Austria, the Empress trains Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich, Duke of Brauschweig. The mother of the future heir does not like the groom, and this is used by Peter, the offspring of Biron, and the Saxon envoy Moritz. The hunt for the princess begins between these two knights.
