All the subsequent emperors, without exception, connected themselves by
marriage with German families. The wife and successor of Peter III.,
Catherine II., daughter of the Prince of Anhalt Zerbst, general in the
Prussian army, left the crown to her only son Paul, who became the
father of two emperors, Alexander I. and Nicholas, and the grandfather
of a third, Alexander II. All these sovereigns married German
princesses, creating intimate family alliances, among others, with the
reigning houses of Württemberg, Baden, and Prussia.
=1762.=--Peter III., son of Anne and of Charles Frederick, duke of
Holstein-Gottorp; deposed, and died soon after; supposed to have been
murdered. Son of Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein.
=1762-1796.=--Catherine II.; a great sovereign; extended the Russian
territories on all sides; died 1796; wife of Peter III.
=1796-1801.=--Paul, her son; murdered, 1801; son of Peter III.
=1801-1825.=--Alexander I., died 1825; son of Paul.
=1825-1855.=--Nicholas I.; died 1855; third son of Paul.
=1855-1881.=--Alexander II., assassinated at St. Petersburg, March,
1881; son of Nicholas I.
=1881-1894.=--Alexander III.; died 1894; married Mary (formerly Dagmar),
princess of Denmark; son of Alexander II.
=1894.=--Nicholas II., married princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt; son of
Alexander III.