Anton (Anthony) Ulrich
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Anton Ulrich was also called "The Younger" in order avoid confusion with his uncle, the ruling duke Anton Ulrich (1633-1714). Anton Ulrich the Younger was the second son of Ferdinand Albrecht II. (1680-1735) and the younger brother of the ruling duke Karl I. (1713-1780) of Brunswick - Wolfenbüttel - Bevern. Thus he was not considered for the rule in Wolfenbüttel. It was his aunt, empress Elisabeth Christine (1691-1750), in Vienna from the House of Brunswick, who arranged his marriage in 1739 with the Russian reigning princess Anna Leopoldovna (1718-1746). This marriage tie between the House of Romanov and House of Brunswick should have continued the opening of Russia to the West and guaranteed the political connection of Russia with Austria which had already begun under Peter the Great (1672-1725). However, Anton Ulrich's wife, Anna Leopoldovna, ruled in Russia as reigning princess only in the year 1740-1741. During this time their son, Tsar Ivan VI. (1740-1764), and a daughter were born. In 1741 political revolution arose in Russia. In 1741 the daughter of Tsar Peter the Great, Elizabeth Petrovna (1709-1761), was able to seize power for the next twenty years. She represented the political opposition at the court in Petersburg and she was successful in the revolution against a wider opening of Russia with the West. Her politicks depended upon France, and thus the new Tsaress ended the good relations with Austria. The politically weak Anton Ulrich and his wife Anna Leopoldovna were banished to the monastery of Kolmogorij, where three more children were born. The deposed child-Tsar Ivan VI. was kept imprisoned, separated from his parents. Anton Ulrich remained in Russia in the monastery of Klmogorij until his death in 1774. His children were first allowed to leave Russia in 1780 with the permission of Catherine II. the Great (1729-1796).
--Adapted from the website, Die Welfen
Sources
- The Encyclopædia Britannica, 13th edition. New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1926.
- Braunschweigische Fürsten in Rußland in der ersten Hälfte des 18. Jhrdts. Föderativer Archivdienst Russlands, Archivverwaltung des Landes Niedersachsen, Russisches Staatliches Archiv Alter Akten. Göttingen, 1998.
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