Much of Peter's reign was consumed by lengthy wars against theOttoman andSwedish empires. HisAzov campaigns were followed by the foundation of theRussian Navy; after his victory in theGreat Northern War, Russia annexed asignificant portion of the easternBaltic coastline and was officially renamed from atsardom to anempire. Peter led a cultural revolution that replaced some of the traditionalist and medieval social and political systems with ones that were modern, scientific,Westernized, and based on the radicalEnlightenment.[4][5]
Peter is primarily credited with the modernization of the country, quickly transforming it into a major European power. Hisadministrative reforms, creating aGoverning Senate in 1711, theCollegium in 1717 and theTable of Ranks in 1722 had a lasting impact on Russia, and many institutions of theRussian government trace their origins to his reign.
Early life
Peter as a childDouble throne inKremlin Armoury. A large hole was cut in the back of the dual-seated throne used by Ivan and Peter. Sophia would sit behind the throne and listen as Peter conversed with nobles, while feeding him information and giving him responses to questions and problems.Peter's ship, rigged with a sail and a mast with the help of Dutch carpenters
This position changed when Feodor died in 1682. As Feodor did not leave any children, a dispute arose between the Miloslavsky family (Maria Miloslavskaya was the first wife of Alexis I) and Naryshkin family (Natalya Naryshkina was his second wife) over who should inherit the throne. Hejointly ruled with his elder half-brother,Ivan V, until 1696. Ivan was next in line but was weakminded and blind. Consequently, theBoyar Duma (a council of Russian nobles) chose the 10-year-old Peter to become tsar, with his mother asregent. A hole was cut in the back of the throne, so that she, literally behind the scenes, could whisper to the two boys.[11]
The "Moscow Grand Discharge" started in 1677 and was completed in 1688; it affected noble families with high ranks in the administration; the ministries were also reduced in number. This provoked fierce reactions.Sophia, one of Alexis' daughters from his first marriage, led arebellion of thestreltsy (Russia's elite military corps) in April–May 1682. In the subsequent conflict, some of Peter's relatives and friends were murdered, including Artamon Matveyev, and Peter witnessed some of these acts of political violence.[12]
Thestreltsy made it possible for Sophia, the Miloslavskys (the clan ofIvan), and their allies to insist that Peter and Ivan be proclaimed joint tsars, with Ivan being acclaimed as the senior. Sophia then acted as regent during the minority of the sovereigns and exercised all power. For seven years, she ruled as an autocrat.
From 1682 to 1689, Peter and his mother were banned toPreobrazhenskoye. At the age of 16, he discovered anEnglish boat on the estate, had it restored and learned to sail. He received asextant, but did not know how to use it. Peter was fascinated bysundials. Therefore, he began a search for a foreign expert in theGerman Quarter. Peter befriendedAndrew Vinius, a bibliophile, who taught him Dutch and two Dutch carpenters, Frans Timmerman and Karsten Brandt. Peter studied arithmetic, geometry, and military sciences (fortification). He was not interested in a musical education but liked fireworks and drumming.
Peter was not particularly concerned that others ruled in his name;Boris Golitsyn andFyodor Apraksin played an important role. He engaged in such pastimes as shipbuilding inPereslavl-Zalessky and sailing atLake Pleshcheyevo, as well as mock battles with histoy army. Peter's mother sought to force him to adopt a more conventional approach and arranged his marriage toEudoxia Lopukhina in 1689.[13] The marriage was a failure, and 10 years later, Peter forced his wife to become a nun and thus freed himself from the union.
By the summer of 1689, Peter, planned to take power from his half-sister Sophia, whose position had been weakened by two unsuccessfulCrimean campaigns against theCrimean Khanate in an attempt to stop devastatingCrimean Tatar raids into Russia's southern lands. When she learned of his designs, Sophia conspired with some leaders of the Streltsy, who continually aroused disorder and dissent. Peter, warned by others from the Streltsy, escaped in the middle of the night to the impenetrable monastery ofTroitse-Sergiyeva Lavra; there he slowly gathered adherents who perceived he would win the power struggle. Sophia was eventually overthrown, with Peter I and Ivan V continuing to act as co-tsars. Peter forced Sophia to enter a convent, where she gave up her name and her position as a member of the royal family.[14]
Meanwhile, he was a frequent guest in the German quarter, where he metAnna andWillem Mons. In 1692 he sentEberhard Isbrand Ides as envoy to theKangxi Emperor of China. In 1693 he sailed toSolovetsky Monastery and accepteddivine providence after surviving a storm.[15]Still, Peter could not acquire actual control over Russian affairs. Power was instead exercised by his mother. It was only when Natalya died in 1694 that Peter, then aged 22, became an independent sovereign.[16] Formally, Ivan V was a co-ruler with Peter, though being ineffective. Peter became the sole ruler when Ivan died in 1696 without male offspring.
Peter grew to be extremely tall, especially for the time period, reportedly standing 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m).[16] He was seen as a "secondGoliath" orSamson.[17][18]Saint-Simon described him in 1717 as "tall, well-formed and slim... with a look both bewildered and fierce". Peter had noticeable facial tics, and he may have suffered fromneck spasm.[19]
As a young man, Peter I adopted theProtestant model of existence in a pragmatic world of competition and personal success, which largely shaped the philosophy of hisreformism. He perceived the Russian people as rude, unintelligent, stubborn in their sluggishness, a child, a lazy student. He highly appreciated the state's role in the life of society, saw it as an ideal instrument for achieving high goals, saw it as a universal institution for transforming people, with the help of violence and fear, into educated, conscious, law-abiding and useful to the whole society subjects.[1] Peter had a keen interest inThe Education of a Christian Prince which offers advice to rulers on how to govern justly and wisely.[citation needed]
He introduced into the concept of theautocrat's power the notion of themonarch's duties. He considered it necessary to take care of his subjects, to protect them from enemies, to work for their benefit. Above all, he put the interests of Russia. He saw his mission in turning it into a power similar toWestern countries, and subordinated his own life and the lives of his subjects to the realization of this idea. Gradually penetrated the idea that the task should be solved with the help of reforms, which will be carried out at the autocrat's will, who creates good and punishes evil. He considered the morality of a statesman separately from the morality of a private person and believed that the sovereign in the name of state interests can go to murder, violence, forgery and deceit.[1]
He went through the naval service, starting from the lowest ranks:bombardier (1695),captain (1696),colonel (1706),schout-bij-nacht (1709),vice-admiral (1714),admiral (1721). By hard daily work (according to the figurative expression of Peter the Great himself, he was simultaneously "forced to hold a sword and aquill in one right hand") and courageous behavior he demonstrated to his subjects his personal positive example, showed how to act, fully devoting himself to the fulfillment of duty and service to thefatherland.[1]
Peter reigned for around 43 years.He implemented sweeping reforms aimed at modernizing Russia.[20] Heavily influenced by his advisors, likeJacob Bruce, Peter reorganized the Russian army along modern lines and dreamed of making Russia amaritime power. He faced much opposition to these policies at home but brutally suppressed rebellions against his authority, including by theStreltsy,Bashkirs,Astrakhan, and the greatest civil uprising of his reign, theBulavin Rebellion.
In his process to westernize Russia, he wanted members of his family to marry other European royalty. In the past, his ancestors had been snubbed at the idea; however, it was proving fruitful. He negotiated withFrederick William, Duke of Courland to marry his niece,Anna Ivanovna. He used the wedding in order to launch his new capital, St Petersburg, where he had already ordered building projects of westernized palaces and buildings. Peter hired Italian and German architects to design it.[21] He attractedDomenico Trezzini,Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli,Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond andAndreas Schlüter.
To improve his nation's position on the seas, Peter sought more maritime outlets. His only outlet at the time was theWhite Sea atArkhangelsk. The Baltic Sea was at the time controlled bySweden in the north, while theBlack Sea and theCaspian Sea were controlled by theOttoman Empire andSafavid Empire respectively in the south. The country's need for metal was exacerbated by the outbreak of wars for access to the Black and Baltic Seas.
Peter attempted to acquire control of the Black Sea, which would require expelling theTatars from the surrounding areas. As part of an agreement withPoland that cededKiev to Russia, Peter was forced to wage war against theCrimeanKhan and against the Khan's overlord, the Ottoman Sultan. Peter's primary objective became the capture of the Ottoman fortress ofAzov, near theDon River. In the summer of 1695 Peter organized theAzov campaigns to take the fortress, but his attempts ended in failure.
Peter returned to Moscow in November 1695 and began building a large navy inVoronezh. He launched about thirty ships against the Ottomans in 1696, capturing Azov in July of that year. He appointedAlexander Gordon, who later would publish a biography on Peter.[22] Peter used to hold all his important meetings and numerous celebrations inLe Fort's palace.
Abraham Storck: Spectacle on the Amstel river, August 1697Fleet Manoeuvres Performed on the IJ on 1 September 1797 during Peter's Visit to Amsterdam, painting by Adam Silo (Hermitage)ThefrigatePieter and Paul on theIJ while Peter stands on the small ship on the right. Painting by A. Storck. This ship sank on his second voyage.
Peter knew that Russia could not face the Ottoman Empire alone. In March 1697, he traveled "incognito" to Western Europe on an 18-month journey with a large Russian delegation—the so-called"Grand Embassy". Peter was the first tsar to leave Russia for more than 100 years.[23] He used a fake name, allowing him to escape social and diplomatic events, but since he was far taller than most others, he could not fool anyone. One goal was to seek the aid of European monarchs, but Peter's hopes were dashed. France was a traditional ally of the Ottoman Sultan, andAustria was eager to maintain peace in the east while conducting its own wars in the west. Peter, furthermore, had chosen an inopportune moment: the Europeans at the time were more concerned about theWar of the Spanish Succession over who would succeed the childless KingCharles II of Spain than about fighting the Ottoman Sultan.[13] Peter failed to expand the anti-Ottoman alliance.
In Riga, the local Swedish commanderErik Dahlbergh decided to pretend that he did not recognize Peter and did not allow him to inspect the fortifications.[24] (Three years later, Peter would cite the inhospitable reception as one of the reasons for starting the Great Northern War). He metFrederick Casimir Kettler, the Duke of Courland.[25] InKönigsberg, the tsar was apprenticed for two months to an artillery engineer. (Decrees were issued on the construction of the firstUralblast furnace plants.) In July he metSophia of Hanover atCoppenbrügge castle. She described him: "The tsar is a tall, handsome man, with an attractive face. He has a lively mind is very witty. Only, someone so well endowed by nature could be a little better mannered."[26] Peter rented a ship inEmmerich am Rhein and sailed to Zaandam, where he arrived on 18 August 1697.
Amsterdam
Peter studiedsaw-mills, manufacturing and shipbuilding in Zaandam but left after a week.[27] He sailed to Amsterdam after he was recognized and attacked.[28] The log-cabin he rented became theCzar Peter House. He sailed toTexel to see a fleet. Through the mediation ofNicolaas Witsen, an expert on Russia, the tsar was given the opportunity to gain practical experience in shipyard, belonging to theDutch East India Company, for a period of four months, under the supervision ofGerrit Claesz Pool. The diligent and capable tsar assisted in the construction of anEast IndiamanPeter and Paul specially laid down for him. Peter felt that the ship's carpenters in Holland worked too much by eye and lacked accurate construction drawings. During his stay the tsar engaged many skilled workers such as builders of locks, fortresses, shipwrights, and seamen—includingCornelis Cruys, a vice-admiral who became, underFranz Lefort, the tsar's advisor in maritime affairs; engineerMenno van Coehoorn refused. Peter put his knowledge of shipbuilding to use in helping build Russia's navy.[29]
Peter and Witsen visitedFrederik Ruysch who had all the specimens exposed in five rooms. He taught Peter how to catchbutterflies and how to preserve them. They also had a common interest inlizards.[30] Together they went to see patients. He arrived in Utrecht on abarge and metstadtholderWilliam III in a tavern.[31] When he visited theStates-General of the Netherlands he left the hall and the astonished attendees with his wig pulled over his head, according to Massie.[citation needed][32] He visitedJan van der Heyden, the inventor of afire hose. He collected paintings byAdam Silo with ships andseascapes. In October 1697, the Tsar visited Delft and received an "eal viewer" from the microscopistAntoni van Leeuwenhoek.[33] After thePeace of Ryswick he was invited by King of England to visit him. The Dutchregents considered the Tsar too inquisitive, and this affected their willingness to help the Russians.[34]
Deptford
Portrait of Peter I byGodfrey Kneller, 1698. This portrait was Peter's gift to the King of England.Woolwich Dockyard in 1698: the recently erected Great Storehouse (centre-right) dominates the built environment of the dockyard.
The Embassy next went to Leipzig, Dresden, where he met withQueen Christiane Eberhardine of Poland-Lithuania. Three times he visited theKunstsammlung, thenKönigstein Fortress, Prague, and Vienna, where he paid a visit toLeopold I.[44] AtRava-Ruska, he crossed the border and Peter spoke withAugustus II the Strong. Peter's visit was cut short, when he was informed of the secondStreltsy uprising in June. The rebellion was easily crushed byGeneral Gordon before Peter returned home early September.[45] Peter nevertheless acted ruthlessly towards the mutineers; 4,600 rebels were sent to prison. Around 1,182 were tortured and executed, and Peter ordered that their bodies be publicly exhibited as a warning to future conspirators.[46] The Streltsy were disbanded, and Peter's half-sister Sophia, who they sought to put on the throne, was kept in strictest seclusion atNovodevichy Convent.
Peter's visits to the West impressed upon him the notion that European customs were in several respects superior to Russian traditions. He commanded all of his courtiers and officials to wear European clothing (nocaftans) and cut off their long beards, causingBoyars andOld Believers, who were very fond of their beards, great upset.[47] Boyars who sought to retain their beards were required to pay an annualbeard tax of one hundredrubles.[48][49] In the same year, Peter also sought to endarranged marriages, which were the norm among theRussian nobility, because he thought such a practice was barbaric and led to domestic violence, since the partners usually resented each other.[50]
In 1698, Peter sent a delegation toMalta, under boyarBoris Sheremetev, to observe the training and abilities of theKnights of Malta and theirfleet. Sheremetev investigated the possibility of future joint ventures with the Knights, including action against the Turks and the possibility of a future Russian naval base.[51] On 12 September 1698, Peter officially founded the firstRussian Navy base,Taganrog on theSea of Azov.
In 1699, Peter changed the date of the celebration of the new year from 1 September to 1 January. Traditionally, the years were reckoned from the purportedcreation of the World, but after Peter's reforms, they were to be counted from thebirth of Christ. Thus, in the year 7207 of the old Russian calendar, Peter proclaimed that theJulian Calendar was in effect and the year was 1700.[52] On the death of Lefort in 1699,Menshikov succeeded him as Peter's prime favourite and confidant.
In 1700, Peter I prevented the election of a newpatriarch and deprived the Russian Church of the opportunity to regain a single spiritual leader. Reducing the number of monasteries, he converted all monasteries with less than 30 monks into schools or churches.[53] He encouraged the development of private entrepreneurship, but under strict state control. He initiated the construction of canals by John Perry and implemented a monetary reform, using the decimal principle as the basis of themonetary system (1698-–1704).
In 1711, Peter established by decree a new state body known as theGoverning Senate.[60] Normally, theBoyar duma would have exercised power during his absence. Peter, however, mistrusted the boyars; he instead abolished the Duma and created a Senate of ten members. The Senate was founded as the highest state institution to supervise all judicial, financial and administrative affairs. Originally established only for the time of the monarch's absence, the Senate became a permanent body after his return. A special high official, theOber-Procurator, served as the link between the ruler and the senate and acted, in Peter own words, as "the sovereign's eye". Without his signature no Senate decision could go into effect; the Senate became one of the most important institutions of Imperial Russia.[61]
In 1701, 1705 and 1712, Peter I issued decrees establishing an Engineering School inSukharev Tower, which was supposed to recruit up to 100 students, but had only 23.[54] Therefore, he issued another decree in 1714 calling forcompulsory education, which dictated that all Russian 10- to 15-year-old children of the nobility, government clerks, and lesser-ranked officials must learn basic arithmetic,trigonometry andgeometry, and should be tested on the subjects at the end of their studies.[62]
Areskine, aniatrochemist, became head of the court apothecary;Johann Daniel Schumacher was appointed secretary and librarian of theKunstkamera. The country's first scientific library was opened in his palace in the Summer Garden. Peter ordered the development ofAptekarsky Island, headquarters for the Medical Clerical Office and the Main Pharmacy.[63] Gottlieb Schober was commissioned to examinehot springs and discovered rich deposits ofsulfur; Peter immediately set up a factory for the development in theSamara Oblast. In 1721 the shipyardPetrozavod andPetrodvorets Watch Factory was established. Some 3,500 new words—German, French, Dutch, English, Italian, Swedish in origin—entered Russian in Peter's period, roughly one-fourth of them shipping and naval terms.[64]
As part of his reforms, Peter started an industrialization effort that was slow but eventually successful. Russian manufacturing and main exports were based on the mining and lumber industries. In 1719, the privileges of miners were enshrined in law with the Berg Privilege, which allowed representatives of all classes to search forores and build metallurgical plants. At the same time, manufacturers and artisans were exempted from state taxes andrecruiting, and their houses were exempt from the post of troops. The law also guaranteed the inheritance of the ownership of factories, proclaimed industrial activity a matter of state importance and protected manufacturers from interference in their affairs by local authorities. The same law established theCollegium of Mining, and managedthe entire mining and metallurgical industry, and local administrations. TheDemidovs became the first Russian exporters of iron toWestern Europe. In 1721, a decree was issued that allowed factory owners, regardless of whether they had a noble rank, to buyserfs.
Peter made atemporary peace with the Ottoman Empire that allowed him to keep the captured fort of Azov, and turned his attention to Russian maritime supremacy. He sought to acquire control of the Baltic Sea, which had been taken by theSwedish Empire a half-century earlier. Peter declared war on Sweden, which was at the time led by the young KingCharles XII. Sweden was also opposed byDenmark–Norway,Saxony, and thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. ThePreobrazhensky regiment took part in all major battles of the Great Northern War.
Russia was ill-prepared to fight the Swedes, and their first attempt at seizing the Baltic coast ended in disaster at theBattle of Narva in 1700. In the conflict, the forces of Charles XII, rather than employ a slow methodical siege, attacked immediately using a blinding snowstorm to their advantage. After the battle, Charles XII decided to concentrate his forces against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which gave Peter time to reorganize the Russian army and conqueredNyenschantz in theIngrian campaign. Bidloo had to organize a military hospital.Robert Bruce was appointedcommander-in-chief of St. Petersburg. After the defeat at Narva, Peter I gave the order to melt thechurch bells into cannons and mortars. In 1701, Peter ordered the construction of Novodvinsk Fortress north of Archangelsk. Everybody was convinced they knew: his Majesty will wage war.[65] In thesiege of Nöteborg Russian forces captured the Swedish fortress, renamedShlisselburg. In 1702 Peter the Great established the Olonets Shipyard atLodeynoye Pole, whereRussian frigate Shtandart was built.
While the Poles fought the Swedes, Peter founded the city of Saint Petersburg on29 June 1703 onHare Island. He forbade the building of stone edifices outside Saint Petersburg, which he intended to become Russia's capital, so that all stonemasons could participate in the construction of the new city. While the city was being built along theNeva he lived in a modest three-room log cabin (with a study but without a fire-place) which had to make room for the first version of theWinter Palace. The first buildings which appeared were a shipyard at theAdmiralty,Kronstadt (1704-1706) and thePeter and Paul Fortress (1706). Peter took his whole family on a boat trip to Kronstadt.[66]
Following several defeats, Polish KingAugustus II the Strong abdicated in 1706. Swedish king Charles XII turned his attention to Russia, invading it in 1708. After crossing into Russia, Charles defeated Peter atGolovchin in July. In theBattle of Lesnaya, Charles suffered his first loss after Peter crushed a group of Swedish reinforcements marching fromRiga. Deprived of this aid, Charles was forced to abandon his proposed march on Moscow.[67]
Charles XII refused to retreat to Poland or back to Sweden and instead invadedUkraine. Peter withdrew his army southward, employingscorched earth, destroying along the way anything that could assist the Swedes. Deprived of local supplies, the Swedish army was forced to halt its advance in the winter of 1708–1709. In the summer of 1709, they resumed their efforts to captureRussian-ruled Ukraine, culminating in theBattle of Poltava on 27 June. The battle was a decisive defeat for the Swedish forces, ending Charles' campaign in Ukraine and forcing him south to seek refuge in the Ottoman Empire. Russia had defeated what was considered to be one of the world's best militaries, and the victory overturned the view that Russia was militarily incompetent. In Poland, Augustus II was restored as King.
Peter, overestimating the support he would receive from his Balkan allies, attacked the Ottoman Empire, initiating theRusso-Turkish War of 1710.[68] Peter's campaign in the Ottoman Empire was disastrous, and in the ensuingTreaty of the Pruth, Peter was forced to return the Black Sea ports he had seized in 1697.[68] In return, the Sultan expelled Charles XII. The Ottomans called himMad Peter (Turkish:deli Petro), for his willingness to sacrifice large numbers of his troops in wartime.[69]
Peter's northern armies took the Swedish province ofLivonia (the northern half of modernLatvia, and the southern half of modernEstonia), driving the Swedes out ofFinland. In 1714, the Russian fleet won theBattle of Gangut. During theGreat Wrath most of Finland was occupied by Russian forces.
Second Embassy
Tsar Peter the Great picks up the young KingLouis XV (1717), painted around 1838
In January 1716, Tsar Peter traveled in the Baltic region to discuss peace negotiations and how to protect the sea trade route from the Swedes. He visited Riga,Königsberg andDanzig. Therehis niece married the quarrelsomeDuke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin with which Peter wanted an alliance. He obtained the assistance of theFrederick William I of Prussia who sieged the strong Swedishfortress Wismar. InAltona he met with Danish diplomats, supporting Prussia. He sailed to Copenhagen heading an allied fleet. InWittenberg he visited the monastery, where Luther lived.[70] In May he went on toBad Pyrmont, and, because of his physical problems he stayed at this spa. There he met with the geniusLeibniz.[71]Blumentrost andAreskine accompanied him.
The tsar's navy was powerful enough that the Russians could penetrate Sweden. Still, Charles XII refused to yield, and not until his death in battle in 1718 did peace become feasible. After thebattle of Grengam, Sweden made peace with all powers but Russia by 1720. In 1721, theTreaty of Nystad ended the Great Northern War. Russia acquiredIngria,Estonia,Livonia, and a substantial portion ofKarelia. In turn, Russia paid two millionRiksdaler and surrendered most of Finland.[76]
In 1717,Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky led the first Russian military expedition into Central Asia against theKhanate of Khiva. The expedition ended in complete disaster when the entire expeditionary force was slaughtered.
To the end of 1717, the preparatory phase of administrative reform in Russia was completed. After 1718, Peter establishedcollegiums in place of the old central agencies of government, including foreign affairs, war, navy, expense, income, justice, and inspection. Later others were added, to regulate mining and industry. Each college consisted of a president, a vice-president, a number of councilors and assessors, and a procurator. Some foreigners were included in various colleges but not as president.Pavel Yaguzhinsky was entrusted with the observation of the "soonest possible establishment of colleges by their presidents". Peter did not have enough loyal, talented or educated persons to put in full charge of the various departments. Peter preferred to rely on groups of individuals who would keep check on one another.[77] Decisions depended on the majority vote.
In 1718, Peter investigated why the formerly Swedish province ofLivonia was so orderly. He discovered that the Swedes spent as much administering Livonia (300 times smaller than his empire) as he spent on the entire Russian bureaucracy. He was forced to dismantle the province's government.[78] In June 1721 he had Gagarin, the governor of Siberia, executed.
In 1722, Peter issued a Decree on the succession to the throne, in which he abolished the ancient custom of transferring the throne to direct descendants in the male line (as he had no son). The decree was so unusual for Russian society that it was necessary to explain it. Peter created a neworder of precedence for landowners known as theTable of Ranks. Formerly, precedence had been determined by birth. To deprive theBoyars of their high positions, Peter directed that precedence should be determined by merit and service to the Emperor. The Table of Ranks continued to remain in effect until the Russian monarchy wasoverthrown in 1917.
In 1722,John Bell accompanied Peter the Great on a military expedition to the city ofDerbent near the Caspian Sea. The once powerful PersianSafavid Empire to the south was in deep decline. Taking advantage of the profitable situation, Peter launched theRusso-Persian War of 1722–1723, otherwise known as "The Persian Expedition of Peter the Great", which drastically increased Russian influence for the first time in theCaucasus andCaspian Sea region, and prevented the Ottoman Empire from making territorial gains in the region. After considerable success and the capture of many provinces and cities in the Caucasus and northern mainland Persia, the Safavids were forced to hand over territory to Russia, comprisingDerbent,Shirvan,Gilan,Mazandaran,Baku, andAstrabad. Within twelve years all the territories were ceded back to Persia, now led by the charismatic military geniusNader Shah, as part of theTreaty of Resht, theTreaty of Ganja, and as the result of a Russo-Persian alliance against the Ottoman Empire, which was the common enemy of both.[80]
Peter changed the system ofdirect taxation. He abolished the land tax and household tax and replaced them with apoll tax.[81] The taxes on land and on households were payable only by individuals who owned property or maintained families. The new head taxes were payable byserfs and paupers. Peter began construction of theMonplaisir Palace based on his own sketches. He ordered to purchase 2,000lime trees which were shipped to St Petersburg.[56] In 1725, the construction ofPeterhof, a palace near Saint Petersburg, was completed. Peterhof was a grand residence, becoming known as the "RussianVersailles".
In the winter of 1723, Peter, whose overall health was never robust, began having problems with hisurinary tract andbladder. In the summer of 1724, a team of doctors performed surgery releasing upwards of four pounds of blocked urine. Peter remained bedridden until late autumn. In the first week of October, restless and certain he was cured, Peter began a lengthy inspection tour of various projects. Rastrelli finished hismonument to Peter I (St. Michael's Castle). According tolegend, in November, atLakhta along theGulf of Finland to inspect some ironworks, Peter saw a group of soldiers drowning near shore and, wading out into near-waist deep water, came to their rescue.[82] This icy water rescue is said to have exacerbated Peter's bladder problems and caused his death. The story, however, has been viewed with skepticism by some historians, pointing out that the German chroniclerJacob von Staehlin [de] is the only source for the story.[83]
In early January 1725, Peter was struck once again withuremia orazotemia. Legend has it that before lapsing into unconsciousness Peter asked for a paper and pen and scrawled an unfinished note that read:"Leave all to ..." and then, exhausted by the effort, asked for his daughter Anna to be summoned.[note 2]
Peter died between four and five in the morning 8 February. Anautopsy revealed his bladder to be infected withgangrene.[84] He was fifty-two years, seven months old when he died, having reigned forty-two years. He is interred inSaints Peter and Paul Cathedral.
After his death, students came to the Military College with a request to "leave science" under the pretext of "unconsciousness and incomprehensibility."[54]
Peter had a great interest indissenters and visited gatherings of Quakers and Mennonites. He did not believe inmiracles and foundedThe All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters,[85] an organization that mocked the Orthodox and Catholic Church, when he was eighteen. In January 1695, Peter refused to partake in a traditional Russian OrthodoxEpiphany Ceremony, and would often schedule events for The All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters to directly conflict with the Church.[86] He often used the nicknamePakhom Mikhailov (Russian:Пахом Михайлов) among the ministers of religion who made up his relatively close circle of long-term drinking companions.
Peter was brought up in the Russian Orthodox faith, but he had low regard for the Church hierarchy, which he kept under tight governmental control. The traditional leader of the Church was thePatriarch of Moscow. In 1700, when the office fell vacant, Peter refused to name a replacement, allowing the patriarch's coadjutor (or deputy) to discharge the duties of the office. Peter could not tolerate the patriarch exercising power superior to the tsar, as indeed had happened in the case ofPhilaret (1619–1633) andNikon (1652–66). TheAlexander Nevsky Lavra was constructed between 1710–1712;Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral between 1712–1733. In 1716 he invitedTheophan Prokopovich, apietist and astronomer, to come to the capital.[87] TheEcclesiastical Regulations of 1721 are based on the ideas ofAugust Hermann Francke.[88] TheChurch reform of Peter the Great therefore abolished thepatriarchate, replacing it with aHoly Synod that was under the control of aProcurator.
In 1721, Peter followed the advice of Prokopovich in designing the Holy Synod as a council of ten clergymen. For leadership in the Church, Peter turned increasingly to Ukrainians, who were more open to reform, but were not well loved by the Russian clergy. Peter implemented a law that stipulated that no Russian man could join a monastery before the age of fifty. He felt that too many able Russian men were being wasted on clerical work when they could be joining his new and improved army.[89][90]
Peter the Great had two wives, with whom he had fifteen children, three of whom survived to adulthood. Peter's mother selected his first wife,Eudoxia Lopukhina, when he was only 16.[91] This was consistent with previous Romanov tradition by choosing a daughter of a minor noble. This was done to prevent fighting between the stronger noble houses and to bring fresh blood into the family.[92] Upon his return from his European tour in 1698, Peter sought to end his unhappy marriage. He divorced thetsaritsa and forced her to join a convent.[91] She had borne him three children, although only one,Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, survived past his childhood.
Menshikov introduced him toMarta Helena Skowrońska, the daughter of aPolish-Lithuanian peasant, and took her as a mistress some time between 1702 and 1704.[93] Marta converted to theRussian Orthodox Church and was given the name Catherine.[94] Though no record exists, Catherine and Peter married secretly between 23 October and 1 December 1707 in St. Petersburg.[95] Peter valued Catherine and married officially, atSaint Isaac's Cathedral on 19 February 1712.
In 1718, his sonAlexei Petrovich was locked up in the Peter and Paul fortress, whom he regarded as the rebelliousAbsalom.[96] He was suspected of being involved in a plot to overthrow the Emperor. Alexei was tried and confessed under torture during questioning conducted by a secular court (count Tolstoy). He was convicted and sentenced to be executed. The sentence ofhigh treason could only be carried out with Peter's signed authorization, and Alexei died in prison, as Peter hesitated before making the decision. Alexei's death most likely resulted from injuries suffered during his torture.[97] Alexei's mother Eudoxia was punished. She was dragged from her home, tried on false charges of adultery, publicly flogged, and confined in monasteries while being forbidden to be talked to.[dubious –discuss]
In 1724, Peter had his second wife,Catherine, crowned as Empress, although he remained Russia's actual ruler.
Issue
By his two wives, he had fifteen children: three by Eudoxia and twelve by Catherine. These included four sons namedPavel and three sons namedPeter, all of whom died in infancy. Only three of his children survived to adulthood. He had only three grandchildren: TsarPeter II andGrand Duchess Natalia by Alexei and TsarPeter III by Anna.
Peter's legacy has always been a major concern of Russian intellectuals. Peter is a more complex character than he is sometimes given credit for. Some believe Peter's reforms divided the country socially and weakened it spiritually.Riasanovsky points to a "paradoxical dichotomy" in the black and white images such as God/Antichrist, educator/ignoramus, architect of Russia's greatness/destroyer of national culture, father of his country/scourge of the common man.[103] ForOld Believers he was the Antichrist, because of the calendar changes andpoll tax. Peter compared himself withKing David orNoah with a divine mission.[104] At his funeral Prokopovich compared him withMoses andSolomon.[18] Voltaire's 1759 biography gave 18th-century Russians a man of the Enlightenment, while Alexander Pushkin's "The Bronze Horseman" poem of 1833 gave a powerful romantic image of a creator-god.[105][106][107] Slavophiles in mid-19th century deplored Peter's westernization of Russia.
Western writers and political analysts recounted "The Testimony" or secret will of Peter the Great. It supposedly revealed his grand evil plot for Russia to control the world via conquest of Constantinople, Afghanistan and India. It was a forgery made in Paris at Napoleon's command when he started theinvasion of Russia in 1812. Nevertheless, it is still quoted in foreign policy circles.[108]
The Communists executed the last Romanovs, and their historians such asMikhail Pokrovsky presented strongly negative views of the entire dynasty. Stalin however admired how Peter strengthened the state, and wartime, diplomacy, industry, higher education, and government administration. Stalin wrote in 1928, "when Peter the Great, who had to deal with more developed countries in the West, feverishly built works in factories for supplying the army and strengthening the country's defenses, this was an original attempt to leap out of the framework of backwardness."[109] As a result, Soviet historiography emphasizes both the positive achievement and the negative factor of oppressing the common people.[110]
After the fall of Communism in 1991, scholars and the general public in Russia and the West gave fresh attention to Peter and his role in Russian history. His reign is now seen as the decisive formative event in the Russian imperial past. Many new ideas have merged, such as whether he strengthened the autocratic state or whether the tsarist regime was not statist enough given its small bureaucracy.[111] Modernization models have become contested ground.[112]
He initiated a wide range of economic, social, political, administrative, educational and military reforms which ended the dominance of traditionalism and religion in Russia and initiated its westernization. His efforts included secularization of education, organization of administration for effective governance, enhanced use of technology, establishing an industrial economy, modernization of the army and establishment of a strong navy.[113]
Historian Y. Vodarsky said in 1993 that Peter, "did not lead the country on the path of accelerated economic, political and social development, did not force it to 'achieve a leap' through several stages.... On the contrary, these actions to the greatest degree put a brake on Russia's progress and created conditions for holding it back for one and a half centuries!"[114] The autocratic powers that Stalin admired appeared as a liability toEvgeny Anisimov, who complained that Peter was, "the creator of the administrative command system and the true ancestor of Stalin."[115] In the period from 1678 to 1710, however, the population grew 2 times.[116]
According toEncyclopaedia Britannica, "He did not completely bridge the gulf between Russia and the Western countries, but he achieved considerable progress in development of the national economy and trade, education, science and culture, and foreign policy. Russia became agreat power, without whose concurrence no important European problem could thenceforth be settled. His internal reforms achieved progress to an extent that no earlier innovator could have envisaged."[117]
While the cultural turn inhistoriography has downplayed diplomatic, economic and constitutional issues, new cultural roles have been found for Peter, for example in architecture (Petrine Baroque) and dress. James Cracraft argues:
The Petrine revolution in Russia—subsuming in this phrase the many military, naval, governmental, educational, architectural, linguistic, and other internal reforms enacted by Peter's regime to promote Russia's rise as a major European power—was essentially a cultural revolution, one that profoundly impacted both the basic constitution of the Russian Empire and, perforce, its subsequent development.[118]
Theiconic representations of dead saints typical for centuries of Russian visual culture suddenly give way to naturalisticportraiture.[64]
In 1929A.N. Tolstoy's play was true to the party line, depicting Peter as a tyrant who "suppressed everyone and everything as if he had been possessed by demons, sowed fear, and put both his son and his country on the rack."[122]
Peter is one of many supporting characters inNeal Stephenson'sBaroque Cycle – mainly featuring in the third novel,The System of the World.
Peter was portrayed onBBC Radio 4 by Isaac Rouse as a boy, Will Howard as a young adult andElliot Cowan as an adult in the radio playsPeter the Great: The Gamblers[123] andPeter the Great: The Queen of Spades,[124] written byMike Walker and which were the last two plays in the first series ofTsar. The plays were broadcast on 25 September and 2 October 2016.
There was a man named Peter the Great who was a Russian Tzar; When remodeling his the castle put the throne behind the bar; He lined the walls with vodka, rum, and 40 kinds of beers; And advanced the Russian culture by 120 years!
^The 'Leave all ..." story first appears in H-F de BassewitzRusskii arkhiv 3 (1865). Russian historian E.V. Anisimov contends that Bassewitz's aim was to convince readers that Anna, not Empress Catherine, was Peter's intended heir.
^Driessen-Van het Reve, Jozien J. (2006).De Kunstkamera van Peter de Grote. De Hollandse inbreng, gereconstrueerd uit brieven van Albert Seba en Johann Daniel Schumacher uit de jaren 1711–1752 (in Dutch). Hilversum: Verloren. p. 336.ISBN978-9-0655-0927-7.
^Stählin, Jacob von (1785).Originalanekdoten von Peter dem Grossen: aus dem Munde angesehener Personen zu Moskau und Petersburg vernommen, und der Vergessenheit entrissen [Original anecdotes of Peter the Great: collected from the conversation of several persons of distinction at Petersburgh and Moscow, and snatched from oblivion] (in German). J.G.I. Breitkopf.ISBN978-0-4050-3064-2.OCLC118987.OL4378643W.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Bushkovitch, Paul A. (January 1990). "The Epiphany Ceremony of the Russian Court in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries".Russian Review.49 (1). Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Editors and Board of Trustees of the Russian Review:1–17.doi:10.2307/130080.JSTOR130080.
^Kathleen Scollins, "Cursing at the Whirlwind: The Old Testament Landscape of The Bronze Horseman."Pushkin Review 16.1 (2014): 205–231onlineArchived 26 October 2020 at theWayback Machine.
^Albert Resis, "Russophobia and the 'Testament' of Peter the Great, 1812–1980"Slavic Review 44#4 (1985), pp. 681–693online[dead link]
^Lindsey Hughes,Russia in the Age of Peter the Great (1998) p 464.
Dmytryshyn, Basil (1974).Modernization of Russia Under Peter I and Catherine II. Wiley.[ISBN missing]
Vodarsky, Yaroslav (1976).Население России в конце XVII и начале XVIII веков [The population of Russia in the late XVII and early XVIII centuries] (in Russian). Moscow: Наука.
Gordon, Alexander (1755).The history of Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia. To which is prefixed, A short general history of the country, from the rise of that monarchy: and an account of the author's life.OCLC09104286.OL17030794M.
Hughes, Lindsey (2004). "Catherine I of Russia, Consort to Peter the Great". In Campbell Orr, Clarissa (ed.).Queenship in Europe 1660–1815: The Role of the Consort. Cambridge UP. pp. 131–154.ISBN978-0-5218-1422-5.
Brown, Peter B. "Towards a Psychohistory of Peter the Great: Trauma, Modeling, and Coping in Peter's Personality".Russian History 35#1–2 (2008): 19–44.
Brown, Peter B. "Gazing Anew at Poltava: Perspectives from the Military Revolution Controversy, Comparative History, and Decision-Making Doctrines".Harvard Ukrainian Studies 31.1/4 (2009): 107–133.onlineArchived 15 November 2020 at theWayback Machine
Cracraft, James. "Kliuchevskii on Peter the Great".Canadian-American Slavic Studies 20.4 (1986): 367–381.
Daqiu, Zhu. "Cultural Memory and the Image of Peter the Great in Russian Literature".Russian Literature & Arts 2 (2014): 19+.
Gasiorowska, Xenia.The image of Peter the Great in Russian fiction (1979)online
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Resis, Albert. "Russophobia and the" Testament" of Peter the Great, 1812–1980".Slavic Review 44.4 (1985): 681–693online[dead link].
Riasanovsky, Nicholas V.The Image of Peter the Great in Russian History and Thought (1985).[ISBN missing]
Waugh, Daniel Clarke. "We have never been modern: Approaches to the study of Russia in the age of Peter the Great".Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas H. 3 (2001): 321–345online in EnglishArchived 19 December 2022 at theWayback Machine.
Zitser, Ernest A. (Spring 2005). "Post-Soviet Peter: New Histories of the Late Muscovite and Early Imperial Russian Court".Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History.6 (2):375–392.doi:10.1353/kri.2005.0032.S2CID161390436.
Zitser, Ernest A. "The Difference that Peter I Made". inThe Oxford Handbook of Modern Russian History. ed. by Simon Dixon (2013)online[dead link]
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