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The death of de Ribas in December 1800 delayed the assassination; but, on the night of {{OldStyleDate|23 March|1801|11 March}}, a band of dismissed officers murdered Paul at the newly completed palace of [[Saint Michael's Castle]]. The assassins included General [[Levin August, Count von Bennigsen|General Bennigsen]], a [[Hanover]]ian in the Russian service and General [[Vladimir Mikhailovich Yashvil|General Yashvil]], a Georgian. They charged into Paul's bedroom, flushed with drink after dining together, and found the emperor hiding behind some drapes in the corner.<ref>Radzinsky, Edvard. ''Alexander II, The last great tsar'' Freepress, 2005. Pages 16–17.</ref> The conspirators pulled him out, forced him to the table, and tried to compel him to sign his [[abdication]]. Paul offered some resistance, and [[Nikolay Alexandrovich Zubov|Nikolay Zubov]] struck him with a sword, after which the assassins strangled and trampled him to death. Paul's successor on the Russian throne, his 23-year-old son Alexander, was actually in the palace at the time of the killing; he had "given his consent to the overthrow of Paul, but had not supposed that this would be carried out by means of assassination".<ref>''A History of Russia'' by George Vernadsky, Yale University Press.</ref> Zubov announced his accession to the heir, accompanied by the admonition, "Time to grow up! Go and rule!" Alexander I did not punish the assassins, and the court physician, [[Sir James Wylie, 1st Baronet|James Wylie]], declared [[apoplexy]] the official cause of death.<ref>Marbot, Jean. (Oliver C. Colt, trans.) ''The Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot'', Volume 2, [http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2401/pg2401-images.html Chapter 3 "The intrigues of Count Czernicheff"]</ref><ref>Hutchison, Robert. "A Medical Adventurer. Biographical Note on Sir James Wylie, Bart., M.D., 1758 to 1854." ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine'', 06/1928; 21(8):1406.</ref>
==Legacy==
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