Paul I of Russia

Paul I became Emperor in 1796 after spending most of his life overshadowed by Catherine the Great. Once crowned, he imposed the first limits on serfdom through the Manifesto of three-day corvee, curtailed noble privileges, and pushed through military reforms that officers despised - his unpredictable behavior made enemies at every level. In 1799 he joined the Second Coalition against Revolutionary France; Russian forces won early victories but withdrew after setbacks, and Paul pivoted to align with Napoleon, forming the Second League of Armed Neutrality against Britain. He annexed Kartli and Kakheti in Eastern Georgia and was planning a joint Franco-Russian invasion of British India when officers stormed his quarters on March 23, 1801, intending to force abdication. The confrontation turned into a fight, and Paul was killed. His son Alexander I took the throne under the succession rules Paul himself had written.