Anna married Frederick William, Duke of Courland in November 1710, but on the return trip from Saint Petersburg in January 1711 her husband died. Anna continued ruling as duchess of Courland (now southern Latvia) from 1711 to 1730.
Anna was the daughter of Ivan V of Russia, as well as the niece of Peter the Great. On the death of Peter II, Emperor of Russia, the Russian supreme privy council made Anna Empress in 1730. They had hoped that she would remain a figurehead at best, and malleable at worst, and convinced her to sign articles that limited her power. However, these proved a minor inconvenience to her, and soon she established herself as an autocratic ruler, using her popularity with the imperial guards and lesser nobility. As one of her first acts to consolidate this power she restored the security police, which she used to intimidate and terrorize those who opposed her and her policies.
Having a distrust of Russian nobles, Anna kept them from powerful positions, instead giving those to Baltic Germans. Ernst Johann von Biron gained her particular favour and had considerable influence her policies. She allied Russia with Charles VI, (Holy Roman Emperor from 1711 to 1740), and committed Russia during the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1735). Afterwards, she made Augustus III the king of Poland. In 1736 she attacked Turkey, but Charles made a separate peace with Turkey, forcing Russia to follow suit and to give up all recently captured territories with the exception of Azov. Her reign saw the beginnings of Russian territorial expansion into central Asia.
Domestic policies
Foreign policies
Preceded by:
Peter II
List of Russian Tsars
Succeeded by:
Ivan VI