Robert Massie

prisoners and sent a twenty-six-year-old officer, Baron Bernhard von Goltz, to St. Petersburg

of the Guards pledged to her must march to Oranienbaum to arrest Peter III. Here, Catherine made another dramatic decision: she would lead this march herself

attention to his foreign origins and preferences. On his chest, he

While Catherine was still in Moscow, another cloud passed over the coronation celebrations. Early in October, the empress learned that there had been loose

money for him to live up to this position. She sent him money. His promise to marry calmed Turkish fears, and the election was allowed to proceed.

Once Stanislaus agreed, Catherine sent the Russian army to help him keep his promise. Fourteen

The imposition of medical precautions led to rioting. Many in Moscow’s terror-stricken population

Orlov took control of the stricken city.

Black Sea. For his services in the Turkish war, he was awarded a diamond-studded sword and a miniature portrait of the empress set in diamonds to be worn over his heart, a gift previously awarded only to Gregory Orlov. One after another

would also fall on them. Nor was it widely seen as immoral. Indeed

, whom Sophia already had appointed as their commander, the Streltsy pointed out that there was a certain illegality to Peter’s election as tsar; he was the son of the second wife, while Ivan, the son of the first wife and the older of the two