Accession To The Throne
Anna was the daughter of Ivan V of Russia, as well as the niece of Peter the Great. The latter married her to Frederick William, Duke of Courland in November 1710, but on the return trip from Saint Petersburg in January 1711, her husband died. Anna proceeded to rule Courland (now western Latvia) from 1711 to 1730, with the Russian resident, Peter Bestuzhev, as her adviser (and sometimes lover). She never remarried after the death of her husband, but her enemies said she conducted a love affair with Ernst Johann von Biron for many years.
On the death of Peter II, Emperor of Russia, the Russian Supreme Privy Council under Prince Dmitri Galitzine made Anna Empress in 1730. They had hoped that she would feel indebted to the nobles for her unexpected fortune and remain a figurehead at best, and malleable at worst. In the hope of establishing a constitutional monarchy in Russia, they convinced her to sign laws that limited her power. However, these proved a minor inconvenience to her. She soon established herself as an autocratic ruler, using her popularity with the imperial guards and lesser nobility.
Read more about this topic: Anna Of Russia
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“She comes! She comes! The sable throne behold
Of Night primaeval, and of Chaos old!”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)