There is a rather interesting story that when the writer Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy was working on his novel “Peter the Great,” he was faced with the rather unusual fact that the greatest of the Russian monarchs, the pride of the Romanov family, had nothing to do with either the family name or the Russian nationality in general!

This fact greatly excited the writer, and he, taking advantage of his acquaintance with another great dictator, and remembering the fate of other, careless writers, decided to turn to him for advice, especially since the information was in some sense quite close to the leader.

The information was provocative and ambiguous, Alexei Nikolaevich brought Stalin a document, namely a certain letter, which clearly indicated that Peter I by origin was not Russian at all, as previously thought, but Georgian!

What is noteworthy is that Stalin was not at all surprised by such an unusual incident. Moreover, after familiarizing himself with the documents, he asked Tolstoy to hide this fact, so as not to give him the opportunity to become public, arguing his desire quite simply: “Let’s leave them at least one “Russian” whom they can be proud of!”

And he recommended that the document that Tolstoy received be destroyed. The act would seem strange if we remember that Joseph Vissarionovich himself was a Georgian by origin. But if you look at it, it is absolutely logical from the point of view of the position of the leader of nations, since it is known that Stalin considered himself Russian! How else would he call himself the leader of the Russian people?

The information after this meeting, it would seem, should have been buried forever, but no offense to Alexei Nikolaevich, and he, like any writer, was an extremely sociable person, was told to a narrow circle of acquaintances, and then, according to the snowball principle, it was spread like a virus throughout to all the minds of the intelligentsia of that time.

What was this letter that was supposed to disappear? Most likely we are talking about a letter from Daria Archilovna Bagration-Mukhranskaya, daughter of Tsar Archil II of Imereti, to her cousin, daughter of the Mingrelian prince Dadiani.

The letter talks about a certain prophecy that she heard from the Georgian queen: “My mother told me about a certain Matveev, who had a prophetic dream in which Saint George the Victorious appeared to him and said to him: You have been chosen to inform the king about what is happening in Muscovy. a “KING OF KINGS” must be born who will make it a great empire. He was supposed to be born from the visiting Orthodox Tsar of Iveron from the same tribe of David as the Mother of God. And the daughter of Kirill Naryshkin, pure in heart. If you disobey this command, there will be a great pestilence. The will of God is the will.”

The prophecy clearly hinted at the urgent need for such an event, but another problem could actually contribute to such a turn of events.

The beginning of the end of the Romanov family

To understand the reasons for such a written appeal, it is necessary to turn to history and remember that the kingdom of Moscow at that time was a kingdom without a king, and the acting king, the monarch Alexei Mikhailovich, could not cope with the role assigned to him.

In fact, the country was ruled by Prince Miloslavsky, mired in palace intrigues, a swindler and an adventurer.

Context

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La Nacion Argentina 01/26/2016 Alexey Mikhailovich was a weak and frail person; he was surrounded by mostly church people, to whose opinions he listened. One of these was Artamon Sergeevich Matveev, who, being not a simple person, knew how to put the necessary pressure on the tsar in order to induce him to do things that the tsar was not ready for. In fact, Matveev guided the tsar with his tips, being a sort of prototype of “Rasputin” at court.

Matveev’s plan was simple: it was necessary to help the tsar get rid of kinship with the Miloslavskys and place “his” heir on the throne...

So in March 1669, after giving birth, the wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, died.

After which it was Matveev who betrothed Alexei Mikhailovich to the Crimean Tatar princess Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, the daughter of the Crimean Tatar murza Ismail Narysh, who at that time lived in Moscow and for convenience bore the name Kirill, which was quite convenient for the local nobility to pronounce.

It remained to resolve the issue with the heir, since the children born from the first wife were as frail as the tsar himself, and were unlikely, in Matveev’s opinion, to pose a threat.

In other words, as soon as the tsar was married to Princess Naryshkina, the question of an heir arose, and since at that time the tsar was seriously ill and physically weak, and his children were frail, it was decided to find a replacement for him, and that’s where The Georgian prince fell into the hands of the conspirators...

Who is Peter's father?

There are actually two theories; Peter’s fathers include two great Georgian princes from the Bagration family, these are:

Archil II (1647-1713) - king of Imereti (1661-1663, 1678-1679, 1690-1691, 1695-1696, 1698) and Kakheti (1664-1675), lyric poet, eldest son of the king of Kartli Vakhtang V. One of founders of the Georgian colony in Moscow.

Irakli I (Nazarali Khan; 1637 or 1642 - 1709) - king of Kartli (1688-1703), king of Kakheti (1703-1709). Son of Tsarevich David (1612-1648) and Elena Diasamidze (d. 1695), grandson of the King of Kartli and Kakheti Teimuraz I.

And in fact, after conducting a little investigation, I am forced to incline that it was Heraclius who could have become the father, because it was Heraclius who was in Moscow at the time suitable for the king’s conception, and Archil moved to Moscow only in 1681.

Tsarevich Irakli was known in Russia under the name Nikolai, which was more convenient for local people, and the patronymic Davydovich. Irakli was a close associate of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and even at the wedding of the Tsar and the Tatar princess he was appointed thousand, that is, the main manager of wedding celebrations.

It is fair to note that Tysyatsky’s duties also included becoming the godfather of the wedding couple. But as fate would have it, the Georgian prince helped the Tsar of Moscow not only with the choice of a name for his first-born, but also with his conception.

At the christening of the future emperor, in 1672, Heraclius fulfilled his duty and named the baby Peter, and in 1674 he left Russia, taking the throne of the principality of Kakheti, although to receive this title he had to convert to Islam.

Version two, dubious

According to the second version, the father of the future autocrat in 1671 was the Imeretian king Archil II, who had been staying at court for several months and fled from the pressure of Persia, who was practically forced to visit the princess’s bedroom under pressure, convincing him that according to divine providence his participation was extremely necessary. a godly deed, namely, the conception of “the one they were waiting for.”

Perhaps it was the dream of the practically holy man Matveev that forced the most noble Orthodox Tsar to enter the young princess.

The relationship between Peter and Archil can be evidenced by the fact that the official heir of the Georgian monarch, Prince Alexander, became the first general of the Russian army of Georgian origin, served with Peter in amusing regiments and died for the emperor in Swedish captivity.

And Archil’s other children: Matvey, David and sister Daria (Dardgen) received such preferences from Peter as lands in Russia, and were treated kindly by him in every possible way. In particular, it is a known fact that Peter went to celebrate his victory in the village of Vsekhsvyatskoye, the area of ​​​​present-day Sokol, to visit his sister Daria!

Also associated with this period in the life of the country is a wave of mass migration of the Georgian elite to Moscow. As proof of the relationship between the Georgian king Archil II and Peter I, they also cite the fact captured in the monarch’s letter to the Russian princess Naryshkina, in which he writes: “How is our naughty boy doing?”

Although “our naughty boy” can be said about both Tsarevich Nicholas and Peter, as a representative of the Bagration family. The second version is also supported by the fact that Peter I was surprisingly similar to the Imeretian king Archil II. Both were truly gigantic for that time, with identical facial features and characters, although this same version can also be used as evidence of the first, since the Georgian princes were directly related.

Everyone knew and everyone was silent

It seems that everyone knew about the king’s relatives at that time. So Princess Sophia wrote to Prince Golitsyn: “You cannot give power to an infidel!”

Peter's mother, Natalya Naryshkina, was also terribly afraid of what she had done, and repeatedly stated: “He cannot be a king!”

And the tsar himself, at the moment when the Georgian princess was wooed for him, declared publicly: “I will not marry people of the same name!”

Visual similarity, no other evidence needed

This is a must see. Remember from history: not a single Moscow king was distinguished by either height or Slavic appearance, but Peter is the most special of them.

According to historical documents, Peter I was quite tall even by today’s standards, since his height reached two meters, but what’s strange is that he wore size 38 shoes, and his clothing size was 48! But, nevertheless, it was precisely these features that he inherited from his Georgian relatives, since this description accurately suited the Bagration family. Peter was a pure European!

But not even visually, but in character, Peter definitely did not belong to the Romanov family; in all his habits, he was a real Caucasian.

Yes, he inherited the unimaginable cruelty of the Moscow kings, but this feature could have been inherited from his mother’s side, since their entire family was more Tatar than Slavic, and it was precisely this feature that gave him the opportunity to turn a fragment of the horde into a European state.

Conclusion

Peter I was not Russian, but he was a Russian, because despite his not entirely correct origin, he was still of royal blood, but he did not ascend either to the Romanov family, much less to the Rurik family.

Perhaps it was not his Horde origin that made him a reformer and actually an emperor, who turned the district Horde principality of Muscovy into the Russian Empire, even though he had to borrow the history of one of the occupied territories, but we will talk about this in the next story.

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.

the last Tsar of All Rus' and the first All-Russian Emperor

short biography

Peter I the Great(real name - Romanov Peter Alekseevich) - Russian Tsar, since 1721 - Emperor, an outstanding statesman, famous for a large number of cardinal reforms, commander - was born on June 9 (May 30, O.S.) in 1672 in Moscow; his father was Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, his mother was Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina.

The future emperor did not receive a systematic education, and although it is reported that his education began in 1677, in fact the boy was left largely to his own devices, spending most of his time with his peers in entertainment, in which he participated quite willingly. Until the age of 10, after the death of his father in 1676, Peter grew up under the supervision of Fyodor Alekseevich, his older brother. After his death, Ivan Alekseevich was supposed to become the heir to the throne, but the latter’s poor health contributed to the nomination of Peter to this post. Nevertheless, as a result of the Streltsy revolt, a political compromise was the enthronement of Peter and Ivan; Sofya Alekseevna, their elder sister, was appointed ruler.

During the period of Sophia's regency, Peter participated in government administration only formally, attending ceremonial events. Sophia, watching the grown-up Peter, who was seriously interested in military amusements, took measures to strengthen her power. In August 1689, Peter's supporters convened a noble militia, dealt with Sophia's main supporters, she herself was placed in a monastery, and after that power actually passed into the hands of Peter's party, Ivan remained only a nominal ruler.

Nevertheless, even after gaining real power, it was actually his mother and other close people who ruled instead of Peter. At first, after the death of Natalya Kirillovna in 1694, the state machine worked by inertia, so Peter, although he was forced to govern the country, entrusted this mission mainly to the ministers. He had become accustomed to detachment from affairs over many years of forced isolation from power.

At that time, Russia was very far from advanced European states in its socio-economic development. Peter's inquisitiveness, his ebullient energy, and keen interest in everything new allowed him to take on the most important issues in the life of the country, especially since life itself urgently pushed him towards this. The first victory in the biography of young Peter as a ruler was the second campaign against Azov in 1696, and this greatly contributed to the strengthening of his authority as a sovereign.

In 1697, Peter and his entourage went abroad, living in Holland, Saxony, England, Venice, Austria, where he became acquainted with the achievements of these countries in the field of technology, shipbuilding, as well as with the way of life of other countries of the continent, their political and social structure. The news of the Streltsy revolt that broke out in his homeland forced him to return to his homeland, where he suppressed the act of disobedience with extreme cruelty.

During his stay abroad, the tsar’s program in political life was formed. In the state, he saw the common good, which everyone, first of all, himself, had to serve, and set an example for others. Peter behaved in many ways unconventionally for a monarch, destroying his sacred image that had developed over the centuries, so a certain part of society was critical of him and his activities. Nevertheless, Peter I led the country along the path of radical reforms in all areas of life, starting from government controlled and ending with culture. They began with an order to shave their beards and wear clothes in a foreign style.

A number of reforms were undertaken in the public administration system. Thus, under Peter I, the Senate and collegiums were created; he subordinated the church to the state and introduced an administrative-territorial division of the country into provinces. In 1703, at the mouth of the Neva River, he founded the new Russian capital - St. Petersburg. They assigned a special mission to this city - it was to become a model city, a “paradise”. During the same period, instead of the boyar duma, a council of ministers appeared, and a lot of new institutions arose in St. Petersburg. When the Northern War ended, Russia received the status of an empire in 1721, and Peter was named “Great” and “Father of the Fatherland” by the Senate.

Much had changed in the economic system, since Peter was well aware of how deep the gulf was between the country he led and Europe. He took many measures to develop industry and trade, including foreign trade; appeared with him a large number of new industrial sectors, factories and factories, manufactories, shipyards, marinas. All this was created taking into account the adopted Western European experience.

Peter I was credited with creating a regular army and navy. The foreign policy pursued by him was extremely energetic; Peter the Great undertook many military campaigns. In particular, as a result of the Northern War (1700-1721), territories that Sweden had conquered earlier were annexed to Russia; after the war with Turkey, Russia received Azov.

During the reign of Peter, Russian culture was replenished with a large number of European elements. At this time, the Academy of Sciences was opened, many secular educational institutions were opened, and the first Russian newspaper appeared. Through the efforts of Peter, the career advancement of the noble class was made dependent on the level of their education. Under Peter I, the civil alphabet was adopted and New Year celebrations were introduced. A fundamentally new urban environment was being formed in St. Petersburg, starting with previously unbuilt architectural structures and ending with the forms of people’s pastime (in particular, Peter introduced the so-called assemblies by decree).

Peter I is credited with bringing Russia onto the international stage as a great power. The country has become a full-fledged participant in international relations, its foreign policy has become active and led to the strengthening of its authority in the world. For many, the Russian emperor himself turned into an exemplary reformer sovereign. For a long time, the management system he introduced and the principles of the territorial division of Russia were preserved; they laid the foundations of national culture. At the same time, Peter's reforms were contradictory, which created the preconditions for a crisis to brew. The ambiguity of the course he pursues is associated with violence as the main instrument of reform, the lack of changes in the social sphere, and the strengthening of the institution of serfdom.

Peter I the Great left behind an extensive manuscript heritage, numbering more than a dozen volumes; the emperor's relatives, acquaintances, his contemporaries, and biographers recorded many of the sovereign's statements that have survived to our time. On February 8 (January 28, O.S.), 1725, Peter I died in his brainchild, St. Petersburg. It is known that he suffered from a number of serious illnesses, which significantly brought his death closer.

Biography from Wikipedia

Representative of the Romanov dynasty. He was proclaimed king at the age of 10 and began to rule independently in 1689. Peter's formal co-ruler was his brother Ivan (until his death in 1696).

From a young age, showing interest in science and foreign lifestyles, Peter was the first of the Russian tsars to make a long trip to the countries of Western Europe. Upon returning from it, in 1698, Peter launched large-scale reforms of the Russian state and social structure. One of Peter’s main achievements was the solution to the task posed in the 16th century: the expansion of Russian territories in the Baltic region after the victory in the Great Northern War, which allowed him to accept the title of Russian Emperor in 1721.

IN historical science and in public opinion from the end of the 18th century to the present day there are diametrically opposed assessments of both the personality of Peter I and his role in the history of Russia. In official Russian historiography, Peter was considered one of the most outstanding statesmen who determined the direction of Russia's development in the 18th century. However, many historians, including Nikolai Karamzin, Vasily Klyuchevsky, Pavel Milyukov and others, expressed sharply critical assessments.

early years

Peter was born on the night of May 30 (June 9), 1672 (in 7180 according to the then-accepted calendar “from the creation of the world”):

“In the current year 180, Maya on the 30th day, for the prayers of the Holy Fathers, God forgave Our Queen and Grand Duchess Natalia Kirillovna, and gave birth to Us a son, the blessed Tsarevich and Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich of all Great and Little and White Russia, and his name day is June 29th.”

Complete collection of laws, volume I, p.886

The exact place of Peter's birth is unknown; Some historians indicated the Kremlin's Terem Palace as his birthplace, and according to folk tales, Peter was born in the village of Kolomenskoye, and Izmailovo was also indicated.

The father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, had numerous offspring: Peter I was the 14th child, but the first from his second wife, Tsarina Natalya Naryshkina. On June 29, on the day of the Holy Apostle Peter and the Holy Apostle Paul, the prince was baptized in the Miracle Monastery (according to other sources in the Church of Gregory of Neocaesarea, in Derbitsy), by Archpriest Andrei Savinov and named Peter. The reason why he received the name "Peter" is not clear, perhaps as a euphonic correspondence to the name of his older brother, since he was born on the same day as Fedor. It was not found among either the Romanovs or the Naryshkins. The last representative of the Moscow Rurik dynasty with that name was Pyotr Dmitrievich, who died in 1428.

After spending a year with the queen, he was given to nannies to raise. In the 4th year of Peter’s life, in 1676, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich died. The Tsarevich's guardian was his half-brother, godfather and new Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich. Peter received a poor education, and until the end of his life he wrote with errors, using a poor vocabulary. This was due to the fact that the then Patriarch of Moscow, Joachim, as part of the fight against “Latinization” and “foreign influence”, removed from the royal court the students of Simeon of Polotsk, who taught Peter’s older brothers, and insisted that less educated clerks would teach Peter. Nikita Zotov and Afanasy Nesterov. In addition, Peter did not have the opportunity to receive an education from any university graduate or from a high school teacher, since neither universities nor secondary schools existed in the Russian kingdom during Peter’s childhood, and among the classes of Russian society there were only clerks, clerks, the clergy, boyars and some merchants were taught to read and write. The clerks taught Peter to read and write from 1676 to 1680. Peter was later able to compensate for the shortcomings of his basic education with rich practical training.

The death of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the accession of his eldest son Fyodor (from Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna, née Miloslavskaya) pushed Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna and her relatives, the Naryshkins, into the background. Queen Natalya was forced to go to the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.

Streletsky riot of 1682 and the rise to power of Sofia Alekseevna

On April 27 (May 7), 1682, after 6 years of reign, the sickly Tsar Fedor III Alekseevich died. The question arose of who should inherit the throne: the older, sickly Ivan, according to custom, or the young Peter. Having secured the support of Patriarch Joachim, the Naryshkins and their supporters enthroned Peter on the same day. In fact, the Naryshkin clan came to power and Artamon Matveev, summoned from exile, was declared the “great guardian.” It was difficult for supporters of Ivan Alekseevich to support their candidate, who could not reign due to extremely poor health. The organizers actually palace coup They announced a version about the hand-written transfer of the “scepter” by the dying Fyodor Alekseevich to his younger brother Peter, but no reliable evidence of this was presented.

The mutiny of the Streltsy in 1682. The Streltsy dragged Ivan Naryshkin out of the palace. While Peter I consoles his mother, Princess Sophia watches with satisfaction. Painting by A. I. Korzukhin, 1882

The Miloslavskys, relatives of Tsarevich Ivan and Princess Sophia through their mother, saw in the proclamation of Peter as tsar an infringement of their interests. The Streltsy, of whom there were more than 20 thousand in Moscow, had long shown discontent and waywardness; and, apparently incited by the Miloslavskys, on May 15 (25), 1682, they came out openly: shouting that the Naryshkins had strangled Tsarevich Ivan, they moved towards the Kremlin. Natalya Kirillovna, hoping to calm the rioters, together with the patriarch and boyars, led Peter and his brother to the Red Porch. However, the uprising was not over. In the first hours, the boyars Artamon Matveev and Mikhail Dolgoruky were killed, then other supporters of Queen Natalia, including her two brothers Naryshkin.

On May 26, elected officials from the Streltsy regiments came to the palace and demanded that the elder Ivan be recognized as the first tsar, and the younger Peter as the second. Fearing a repetition of the pogrom, the boyars agreed, and Patriarch Joachim immediately performed a solemn prayer service in the Assumption Cathedral for the health of the two named kings; and on June 25 he crowned them kings.

On May 29, the archers insisted that Princess Sofya Alekseevna take over control of the state due to the minor age of her brothers. Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna was supposed to, together with her son Peter - the second Tsar - retire from the court to a palace near Moscow in the village of Preobrazhenskoye. In the Kremlin Armory, a two-seat throne for young kings with a small window in the back was preserved, through which Princess Sophia and her entourage told them how to behave and what to say during palace ceremonies.

Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky amusing shelves

Peter spent all his free time away from the palace - in the villages of Vorobyovo and Preobrazhenskoye. Every year his interest in military affairs increased. Peter dressed and armed his “amusing” army, which consisted of peers from boyhood games. In 1685, his “amusing” men, dressed in foreign caftans, marched in regimental formation through Moscow from Preobrazhenskoye to the village of Vorobyovo to the beat of drums. Peter himself served as a drummer.

In 1686, 14-year-old Peter started artillery with his “amusing” ones. Gunsmith Fedor Sommer showed the king grenades and firearms. 16 guns were delivered from the Pushkarsky order. To control the heavy guns, the tsar took from the Stable Prikaz adult servants who were keen on military affairs, who were dressed in foreign-style uniforms and designated as amusing gunners. Sergei Bukhvostov was the first to put on a foreign uniform. Subsequently, Peter ordered a bronze bust of this the first Russian soldier, as he called Bukhvostov. The amusing regiment began to be called Preobrazhensky, after its quartering place - the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.

In Preobrazhenskoye, opposite the palace, on the banks of the Yauza, an “amusing town” was built. During the construction of the fortress, Peter himself worked actively, helping to cut logs and install cannons. The “Most Joking, Most Drunken and Extraordinary Council”, created by Peter, was also stationed here - a parody of the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. The fortress itself was named Preshburg, probably named after the then famous Austrian fortress of Presburg (now Bratislava - the capital of Slovakia), which he heard about from Captain Sommer. At the same time, in 1686, the first amusing ships appeared near Preshburg on the Yauza - a large shnyak and a plow with boats. During these years, Peter became interested in all the sciences that were related to military affairs. Under the leadership of the Dutchman Timmerman he studied arithmetic, geometry, and military sciences.

One day, walking with Timmerman through the village of Izmailovo, Peter entered the Linen Yard, in the barn of which he found an English boot. In 1688 he entrusted the Dutchman Carsten Brandt repair, arm and equip this boat, and then lower it to the Yauza River. However, the Yauza and Prosyanoy Pond turned out to be too small for the ship, so Peter went to Pereslavl-Zalessky, to Lake Pleshcheevo, where he founded the first shipyard for the construction of ships. There were already two “Amusing” regiments: Semenovsky, located in the village of Semenovskoye, was added to Preobrazhensky. Preshburg already looked like a real fortress. To command regiments and study military science, knowledgeable and experienced people were needed. But there were no such people among the Russian courtiers. This is how Peter appeared in the German settlement.

First marriage of Peter I

Peter and Evdokia Lopukhina. A drawing located at the beginning of the “Book of Love, a Sign in an Honest Marriage” by Karion Istomin, presented in 1689 as a wedding gift to Peter the Great.

The German settlement was the closest “neighbor” of the village of Preobrazhenskoye, and Peter had been looking at its life with curiosity for a long time. More and more foreigners at the court of Tsar Peter, such as Franz Timmerman And Karsten Brandt, came from the German settlement. All this imperceptibly led to the fact that the tsar became a frequent visitor to the settlement, where he soon turned out to be a big fan of relaxed foreign life. Peter lit a German pipe, began attending German parties with dancing and drinking, met Patrick Gordon, Franz Lefort - Peter's future associates, and started an affair with Anna Mons. Peter's mother strictly opposed this. In order to bring her 17-year-old son to reason, Natalya Kirillovna decided to marry him to Evdokia Lopukhina, the daughter of a okolnichy.

Peter did not contradict his mother, and on January 27 (February 6), 1689, the wedding of the “junior” king took place. However, less than a month later, Peter left his wife and went to Lake Pleshcheyevo for several days. From this marriage, Peter had two sons: the eldest, Alexei, was heir to the throne until 1718, the youngest, Alexander, died in infancy.

Accession of Peter I

Peter's activity greatly worried Princess Sophia, who understood that with the coming of age of her half-brother, she would have to give up power. At one time, supporters of the princess hatched a coronation plan, but Patriarch Joachim was categorically against it.

The campaigns against the Crimean Tatars, carried out in 1687 and 1689 by the princess’s favorite, Prince Vasily Golitsyn, were not very successful, but were presented as major and generously rewarded victories, which caused discontent among many.

On July 8 (18), 1689, on the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the first public conflict occurred between the mature Peter and the Ruler. On that day, according to custom, a religious procession was held from the Kremlin to the Kazan Cathedral. At the end of the mass, Peter approached his sister and announced that she should not dare to go along with the men in the procession. Sophia accepted the challenge: she took the image of the Most Holy Theotokos in her hands and went to get the crosses and banners. Unprepared for such an outcome, Peter left the move.

On August 7 (17), 1689, unexpectedly for everyone, a decisive event occurred. On this day, Princess Sophia ordered the chief of the archers, Fyodor Shaklovity, to send more of his people to the Kremlin, as if to escort them to the Donskoy Monastery on a pilgrimage. At the same time, a rumor spread about a letter with the news that Tsar Peter at night decided to occupy the Kremlin with his “amusing” regiments, kill the princess, Tsar Ivan’s brother, and seize power. Shaklovity gathered the Streltsy regiments to march in a “great assembly” to Preobrazhenskoye and beat all of Peter’s supporters for their intention to kill Princess Sophia. Then they sent three horsemen to observe what was happening in Preobrazhenskoe with the task of immediately reporting if Tsar Peter went anywhere alone or with regiments.

Peter's supporters among the archers sent two like-minded people to Preobrazhenskoye. After the report, Peter with a small retinue galloped in alarm to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The consequence of the horrors of the Streltsy demonstrations was Peter's illness: with strong excitement, he began to have convulsive facial movements. On August 8, both queens, Natalya and Evdokia, arrived at the monastery, followed by “amusing” regiments with artillery. On August 16, a letter came from Peter, ordering commanders and 10 privates from all rifle regiments to be sent to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Princess Sophia strictly forbade the fulfillment of this command on pain of the death penalty, and a letter was sent to Tsar Peter informing him that it was impossible to fulfill his request.

On August 27, a new letter from Tsar Peter arrived - all regiments should go to Trinity. Most of the troops obeyed the legitimate king, and Princess Sophia had to admit defeat. She herself went to the Trinity Monastery, but in the village of Vozdvizhenskoye she was met by Peter’s envoys with orders to return to Moscow. Soon Sophia was imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent under strict supervision.

On October 7, Fyodor Shaklovity was captured and then executed. The elder brother, Tsar Ivan (or John), met Peter at the Assumption Cathedral and actually gave him all power. Since 1689, he did not take part in the reign, although until his death on January 29 (February 8), 1696, he nominally continued to be a co-tsar.

After the overthrow of Princess Sophia, power passed into the hands of people who rallied around Queen Natalya Kirillovna. She tried to accustom her son to public administration, entrusting him with private affairs, which Peter found boring. The most important decisions (declaration of war, election of the Patriarch, etc.) were made without taking into account the opinion of the young king. This led to conflicts. For example, at the beginning of 1692, offended by the fact that, contrary to his will, the Moscow government refused to resume the war with the Ottoman Empire, the tsar did not want to return from Pereyaslavl to meet the Persian ambassador, and the top officials of Natalya Kirillovna’s government (L.K. Naryshkin with B.A. Golitsyn) were forced to personally go after him. On January 1 (11), 1692, at the behest of Peter I in Preobrazhenskoye, the “installation” of N. M. Zotov as “patriarch of all Yauza and all Kokui” became the tsar’s response to the installation of Patriarch Adrian, which was done against his will. After the death of Natalya Kirillovna, the tsar did not displace the government of L.K. Naryshkin - B.A. Golitsyn, formed by his mother, but ensured that it strictly carried out his will.

The beginning of Russian expansion. 1690-1699

Azov campaigns. 1695, 1696

The priority of Peter I's activities in the first years of autocracy was the continuation of the war with the Ottoman Empire and Crimea. Peter I decided, instead of campaigning against the Crimea, undertaken during the reign of Princess Sophia, to strike at the Turkish fortress of Azov, located at the confluence of the Don River into the Sea of ​​Azov.

The first Azov campaign, which began in the spring of 1695, ended unsuccessfully in September of the same year due to the lack of a fleet and the unwillingness of the Russian army to operate far from supply bases. However, already in the fall of 1695, preparations for a new campaign began. The construction of a Russian rowing flotilla began in Voronezh. In a short time, a flotilla of different ships was built, led by the 36-gun ship Apostle Peter. In May 1696, a 40,000-strong Russian army under the command of Generalissimo Shein again besieged Azov, only this time the Russian flotilla blocked the fortress from the sea. Peter I took part in the siege with the rank of captain on a galley. Without waiting for the assault, on July 19 (29), 1696, the fortress surrendered. Thus, Russia's first access to the southern seas was opened.

The result of the Azov campaigns was the capture of the Azov fortress, the beginning of construction of the port of Taganrog, the possibility of an attack on the Crimean peninsula from the sea, which significantly secured the southern borders of Russia. However, Peter failed to gain access to the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait: he remained under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Russia did not yet have the forces for a war with Turkey, as well as a full-fledged navy.

To finance the construction of the fleet, new types of taxes were introduced: landowners were united into so-called kumpanstvos of 10 thousand households, each of which had to build a ship with their own money. At this time, the first signs of dissatisfaction with Peter's activities appear. The conspiracy of Tsikler, who was trying to organize a Streltsy uprising, was uncovered. In the summer of 1699, the first large Russian ship “Fortress” (46-gun) took the Russian ambassador to Constantinople for peace negotiations. The very existence of such a ship persuaded the Sultan to conclude peace in July 1700, which left the Azov fortress behind Russia.

During the construction of the fleet and the reorganization of the army, Peter was forced to rely on foreign specialists. Having completed the Azov campaigns, he decides to send young nobles to study abroad, and soon he himself sets off on his first trip to Europe.

Grand Embassy based on a contemporary engraving. Portrait of Peter I in the clothes of a Dutch sailor

Great Embassy 1697-1698

In March 1697, the Grand Embassy was sent to Western Europe through Livonia, the main purpose of which was to find allies against the Ottoman Empire. Admiral General Franz Lefort, General Fyodor Golovin, and Head of the Ambassadorial Prikaz Prokofy Voznitsyn were appointed great ambassadors plenipotentiary. In total, up to 250 people entered the embassy, ​​among whom, under the name of the sergeant of the Preobrazhensky Regiment Peter Mikhailov, was Tsar Peter I himself. For the first time, a Russian Tsar undertook a trip outside the borders of his state.

Peter visited Riga, Koenigsberg, Brandenburg, Holland, England, Austria, and a visit to Venice and the Pope was planned.

The embassy recruited several hundred shipbuilding specialists to Russia and purchased military and other equipment.

In addition to negotiations, Peter devoted a lot of time to studying shipbuilding, military affairs and other sciences. Peter worked as a carpenter at the shipyards of the East India Company, and with the participation of the Tsar, the ship “Peter and Paul” was built. In England, he visited a foundry, an arsenal, parliament, Oxford University, the Greenwich Observatory and the Mint, of which Isaac Newton was the caretaker at that time. He was primarily interested in the technical achievements of Western countries, and not in the legal system. They say that having visited the Palace of Westminster, Peter saw there “legalists”, that is, barristers, in their robes and wigs. He asked: “What kind of people are these and what are they doing here?” They answered him: “These are all lawyers, Your Majesty.” “Legalists! - Peter was surprised. - What are they for? In my entire kingdom there are only two lawyers, and I plan to hang one of them when I return home.” True, having visited the English Parliament incognito, where the speeches of the deputies before King William III were translated for him, the Tsar said: “It’s fun to hear when the sons of the patronymic tell the king the obvious truth, this is something we should learn from the English.”

The Grand Embassy did not achieve its main goal: it was not possible to create a coalition against the Ottoman Empire due to the preparation of a number of European powers for the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714). However, thanks to this war, favorable conditions developed for Russia’s struggle for the Baltic. Thus, there was a reorientation of Russian foreign policy from the southern to the northern direction.

Return. Crucial years for Russia 1698-1700

The morning of the Streltsy execution. Hood. V. I. Surikov, 1881

In July 1698, the Grand Embassy was interrupted by news of a new Streltsy rebellion in Moscow, which was suppressed even before Peter’s arrival. Upon the tsar’s arrival in Moscow (August 25 (September 4)), a search and inquiry began, the result of which was the one-time execution of about 800 archers (except for those executed during the suppression of the riot), and subsequently several hundred more until the spring of 1699.

Princess Sophia was tonsured as a nun under the name of Susanna and sent to the Novodevichy Convent, where she spent the rest of her life. The same fate befell Peter’s unloved wife, Evdokia Lopukhina, who was forcibly sent to the Suzdal monastery even despite the fact that Patriarch Adrian refused to tonsure her. Despite this, during the same period of time, Peter I discussed with the Patriarch the level of Russian education and argued about the need for broad and thorough education in Russia. The Patriarch fully supported the Tsar, and these reforms led to the creation of a new education system and the opening of the Academy of Sciences in 1724.

During his 15 months abroad, Peter saw a lot and learned a lot. After the return of the king on August 25 (September 4), 1698, his transformative activities began, first aimed at changing external signs that distinguish the Old Slavic way of life from the Western European one. In the Preobrazhensky Palace, Peter suddenly began cutting off the beards of nobles, and already on August 29 (September 8), 1698, the famous decree “On wearing German dress, on shaving beards and mustaches, on schismatics walking in the attire specified for them” was issued, prohibiting from 1 ( 11) September wearing beards.

“I wish to transform the secular goats, that is, citizens, and the clergy, that is, monks and priests. The first, so that without beards they would resemble Europeans in kindness, and the others, so that they, although with beards, would teach parishioners Christian virtues in churches the way I have seen and heard pastors teaching in Germany.”

The new year 7208 according to the Russian-Byzantine calendar (“from the creation of the world”) became the 1700th year according to the Julian calendar. Peter also introduced the celebration of the New Year on January 1, and not on the day of the autumn equinox, as was previously celebrated. His special decree stated:

“Since people in Russia count the New Year differently, from now on, stop fooling people and count the New Year everywhere from the first of January. And as a sign of good beginnings and fun, congratulate each other on the New Year, wishing prosperity in business and in the family. In honor of the New Year, make decorations from fir trees, amuse children, and ride down the mountains on sleds. But adults shouldn’t commit drunkenness and massacres - there are enough other days for that.”

Creation of the Russian Empire. 1700-1724

Peter's military reforms

The Kozhukhov maneuvers (1694) showed Peter the advantage of the regiments of the “foreign system” over the archers. The Azov campaigns, in which four regular regiments took part (Preobrazhensky, Semenovsky, Lefortovo and Butyrsky regiments), finally convinced Peter of the low suitability of the troops of the old organization. Therefore, in 1698, the old army was disbanded, except for 4 regular regiments, which became the basis of the new army.

In preparation for the war with Sweden, Peter ordered in 1699 to carry out a general recruitment and begin training of recruits according to the model established by the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovtsy. At the same time, a large number of foreign officers were recruited. The war was supposed to begin with the siege of Narva, so the main attention was paid to organizing the infantry. There was simply not enough time to create all the necessary military structures. There were legends about the tsar's impatience - he was impatient to enter the war and test his army in action. Management, a combat support service, and a strong, well-equipped rear had yet to be created.

Northern War with Sweden (1700-1721)

After returning from the Great Embassy, ​​the tsar began to prepare for a war with Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea. In 1699, the Northern Alliance was created against the Swedish king Charles XII, which, in addition to Russia, included Denmark, Saxony and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, led by the Saxon elector and the Polish king Augustus II. The driving force behind the union was the desire of Augustus II to take Livonia from Sweden. For help, he promised Russia the return of lands that previously belonged to the Russians (Ingria and Karelia).

To enter the war, Russia needed to make peace with the Ottoman Empire. After reaching a truce with the Turkish Sultan for a period of 30 years, on August 19 (30), 1700, Russia declared war on Sweden under the pretext of revenge for the insult shown to Tsar Peter in Riga.

In turn, Charles XII's plan was to defeat his opponents one by one. Soon after the bombing of Copenhagen, Denmark left the war on August 8 (19), 1700, even before Russia entered it. Augustus II's attempts to capture Riga ended unsuccessfully. After this, Charles XII turned against Russia.

The beginning of the war for Peter was discouraging: the newly recruited army, handed over to the Saxon field marshal Duke de Croix, was defeated near Narva on November 19 (30), 1700. This defeat showed that everything had to start all over again.

Considering that Russia was sufficiently weakened, Charles XII went to Livonia to direct all his forces against Augustus II.

Assault on the Noteburg fortress on October 11 (22), 1702. Peter I is depicted in the center. A. E. Kotzebue, 1846

However, Peter, continuing the reforms of the army according to the European model, resumed hostilities. Already in the fall of 1702, the Russian army, in the presence of the tsar, captured the Noteburg fortress (renamed Shlisselburg), and in the spring of 1703, the Nyenschanz fortress at the mouth of the Neva. On May 10 (21), 1703, for the bold capture of two Swedish ships at the mouth of the Neva, Peter (then held the rank of captain of the Bombardier Company of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment) received the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, which he himself approved. Here, on May 16 (27), 1703, the construction of St. Petersburg began, and on the island of Kotlin the base of the Russian fleet was located - the Kronshlot fortress (later Kronstadt). The exit to the Baltic Sea was breached.

In 1704, after the capture of Dorpat and Narva, Russia gained a foothold in the Eastern Baltic. Peter I’s offer to make peace was refused.

After the deposition of Augustus II in 1706 and his replacement by the Polish king Stanislav Leszczynski, Charles XII began his fatal campaign against Russia. Having passed through the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the king did not dare to continue the attack on Smolensk. Having secured the support of the Little Russian hetman Ivan Mazepa, Charles moved his troops south for food reasons and with the intention of strengthening the army with Mazepa’s supporters. In the Battle of Lesnaya on September 28 (October 9), 1708, Peter personally led A.D. Menshikov’s corvolant and defeated Levengaupt’s Swedish corps, which was marching to join the army of Charles XII from Livonia. The Swedish army lost reinforcements and a convoy with military supplies. Peter later celebrated the anniversary of this battle as a turning point in the Northern War.

In the Battle of Poltava on June 27 (July 8), 1709, in which the army of Charles XII was completely defeated, Peter again commanded on the battlefield; Peter's hat was shot through. After the victory, he received the rank of first lieutenant general and schoutbenacht from the blue flag.

In 1710, Türkiye intervened in the war. After the defeat in the Prut campaign of 1711, Russia returned Azov to Turkey and destroyed Taganrog, but due to this it was possible to conclude another truce with the Turks.

Peter again focused on the war with the Swedes; in 1713, the Swedes were defeated in Pomerania and lost all their possessions in continental Europe. However, thanks to Sweden's dominance at sea, the Northern War dragged on. The Baltic Fleet was just being created by Russia, but managed to win its first victory in the Battle of Gangut in the summer of 1714. In 1716, Peter led a united fleet from Russia, England, Denmark and Holland, but due to disagreements in the Allied camp, it was not possible to organize an attack on Sweden. As the Russian Baltic Fleet strengthened, Sweden felt the danger of an invasion of its lands. In 1718, peace negotiations began, interrupted by the sudden death of Charles XII. The Swedish queen Ulrika Eleonora resumed the war, hoping for help from England. The devastating Russian landings on the Swedish coast in 1720 prompted Sweden to resume negotiations. On August 30 (September 10), 1721, the Peace of Nystad was concluded between Russia and Sweden, ending the 21-year war. Russia gained access to the Baltic Sea, annexed the territory of Ingria, part of Karelia, Estonia and Livonia. Russia became a great European power, in commemoration of which on October 22 (November 2), 1721, Peter, at the request of senators, accepted the title Father of the Fatherland, Emperor of All Russia, Peter the Great:

... we thought, from the example of the ancients, especially the Roman and Greek peoples, to take the boldness, on the day of the celebration and announcement of what they concluded in. V. through the labors of all Russia for a glorious and prosperous world, after reading its treatise in the church, according to our most submissive gratitude for the intercession of this peace, to bring our petition to you publicly, so that you deign to accept from us, as from your faithful subjects, in gratitude the title of Father of the Fatherland, Emperor of All Russia, Peter the Great, as usual from the Roman Senate for the noble deeds of emperors, such titles were publicly presented to them as a gift and signed on statutes for memory for eternal generations.

Russo-Turkish War 1710-1713

After the defeat in the Battle of Poltava, the Swedish king Charles XII took refuge in the possessions of the Ottoman Empire, the city of Bendery. Peter I concluded an agreement with Turkey on the expulsion of Charles XII from Turkish territory, but then the Swedish king was allowed to stay and create a threat to the southern border of Russia with the help of part of the Ukrainian Cossacks and Crimean Tatars. Seeking the expulsion of Charles XII, Peter I began to threaten war with Turkey, but in response, on November 20 (December 1), 1710, the Sultan himself declared war on Russia. The real cause of the war was the capture of Azov by Russian troops in 1696 and the appearance of the Russian fleet in the Sea of ​​Azov.

The war on Turkey's part was limited to the winter raid of the Crimean Tatars, vassals of the Ottoman Empire, on Ukraine. Russia waged a war on 3 fronts: troops made campaigns against the Tatars in the Crimea and Kuban, Peter I himself, relying on the help of the rulers of Wallachia and Moldavia, decided to make a deep campaign to the Danube, where he hoped to raise the Christian vassals of the Ottoman Empire to fight the Turks.

On March 6 (17), 1711, Peter I left Moscow for the troops with his faithful friend Ekaterina Alekseevna, whom he ordered to be considered his wife and queen (even before the official wedding, which took place in 1712). The army crossed the border of Moldova in June 1711, but already on July 20 (31), 1711, 190 thousand Turks and Crimean Tatars pressed the 38 thousand Russian army to the right bank of the Prut River, completely surrounding it. In a seemingly hopeless situation, Peter managed to conclude the Prut Peace Treaty with the Grand Vizier, according to which the army and the Tsar himself escaped capture, but in return Russia gave Azov to Turkey and lost access to the Sea of ​​Azov.

There had been no hostilities since August 1711, although during the process of agreeing on the final treaty, Turkey threatened several times to resume the war. Only in June 1713 was the Treaty of Adrianople concluded, which generally confirmed the terms of the Prut Agreement. Russia received the opportunity to continue the Northern War without a 2nd front, although it lost the gains of the Azov campaigns.

Russia's movement to the east

Russia's expansion to the east under Peter I did not stop. In 1716, Buchholz's expedition founded Omsk at the confluence of the Irtysh and Omi, and upstream the Irtysh: Ust-Kamenogorsk, Semipalatinsk and other fortresses. In 1716-1717, a detachment of Bekovich-Cherkassky was sent to Central Asia with the goal of persuading the Khiva Khan to become a citizen and to scout out the route to India. However, the Russian detachment was destroyed by the khan and the plan to conquer the Central Asian states was not implemented under his rule. During the reign of Peter I, Kamchatka was annexed to Russia. Peter planned an expedition across the Pacific Ocean to America (intending to establish Russian colonies there), but did not have time to carry out his plan.

Caspian campaign 1722-1723

Peter's largest foreign policy event after the Northern War was the Caspian (or Persian) campaign in 1722-1724. The conditions for the campaign were created as a result of Persian civil strife and the actual collapse of the once powerful state.

On July 18 (29), 1722, after the son of the Persian Shah Tokhmas Mirza asked for help, a 22,000-strong Russian detachment sailed from Astrakhan along the Caspian Sea. In August, Derbent surrendered, after which the Russians returned to Astrakhan due to problems with supplies. The following year, 1723, the western shore of the Caspian Sea with the fortresses of Baku, Rasht, and Astrabad was conquered. Further progress was stopped by the threat of the Ottoman Empire entering the war, which captured western and central Transcaucasia.

On September 12 (23), 1723, the Treaty of St. Petersburg was concluded with Persia, according to which the western and southern coasts of the Caspian Sea with the cities of Derbent and Baku and the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Astrabad were included in the Russian Empire. Russia and Persia also concluded a defensive alliance against Turkey, which, however, turned out to be ineffective.

According to the Treaty of Constantinople of June 12 (23), 1724, Turkey recognized all Russian acquisitions in the western part of the Caspian Sea and renounced further claims to Persia. The junction of the borders between Russia, Turkey and Persia was established at the confluence of the Araks and Kura rivers. Troubles continued in Persia, and Turkey challenged the provisions of the Treaty of Constantinople before the border was clearly established.

It should be noted that soon after the death of Peter, these possessions were lost due to high losses of garrisons from disease, and, in the opinion of Tsarina Anna Ioannovna, the lack of prospects for the region.

Russian Empire under Peter I

Peter I. Mosaic. Typed by M. V. Lomonosov. 1754. Ust-Ruditskaya factory. Hermitage

After the victory in the Northern War and the conclusion of the Peace of Nystadt in September 1721, the Senate and Synod decided to present Peter with the title of Emperor of All Russia with the following wording: “ as usual, from the Roman Senate, for the noble deeds of emperors, such titles were publicly presented to them as a gift and signed on statutes for memory for eternal generations.»

On October 22 (November 2), 1721, Peter I accepted the title, not just an honorary one, but indicating a new role for Russia in international affairs. Prussia and Holland immediately recognized the new title of the Russian Tsar, Sweden in 1723, Turkey in 1739, England and Austria in 1742, France and Spain in 1745, and finally Poland in 1764.

Secretary of the Prussian embassy in Russia in 1717-1733, I.-G. Fokkerodt, at the request of Voltaire, who was working on the history of Peter's reign, wrote memoirs about Russia under Peter. Fokkerodt tried to estimate the population of the Russian Empire by the end of the reign of Peter I. According to his information, the number of people in the tax-paying class was 5 million 198 thousand people, from which the number of peasants and townspeople, including women, was estimated at approximately 10 million. Many souls were hidden by the landowners, The repeated audit increased the number of tax-paying souls to almost 6 million people. There were up to 500 thousand Russian nobles and families; officials up to 200 thousand and clergy with families up to 300 thousand souls.

The inhabitants of the conquered regions, who were not subject to universal taxes, were estimated to number from 500 to 600 thousand souls. Cossacks with families in Ukraine, on the Don and Yaik and in border cities were considered to number from 700 to 800 thousand souls. The number of Siberian peoples was unknown, but Fokkerodt put it up to a million people.

Thus, the population of the Russian Empire amounted to up to 15 million subjects and was second in Europe only to France (about 20 million).

According to the calculations of the Soviet historian Yaroslav Vodarsky, the number of men and male children increased from 1678 to 1719 from 5.6 to 7.8 million. Thus, if we take the number of women approximately equal to the number of men, the total population of Russia increased during this period from 11.2 to 15.6 million

Transformations of Peter I

All of Peter’s internal state activities can be divided into two periods: 1695-1715 and 1715-1725. The peculiarity of the first stage was haste and not always thought out, which was explained by the conduct of the Northern War. The reforms were aimed primarily at raising funds for the war, were carried out by force and often did not lead to the desired result. In addition to government reforms, at the first stage, extensive reforms were carried out with the aim of modernizing the way of life. In the second period, reforms were more systematic.

A number of historians, for example V. O. Klyuchevsky, pointed out that the reforms of Peter I were not something fundamentally new, but were only a continuation of those transformations that were carried out during the 17th century. Other historians (for example, Sergei Solovyov), on the contrary, emphasized the revolutionary nature of Peter’s transformations.

Peter carried out a reform of public administration, transformations in the army, a navy was created, and a reform of church government was carried out in the spirit of Caesaropapism, aimed at eliminating the church jurisdiction autonomous from the state and subordinating the Russian church hierarchy to the emperor. Financial reform was also carried out, and measures were taken to develop industry and trade.

After returning from the Great Embassy, ​​Peter I waged a struggle against the external manifestations of an “outdated” way of life (the most famous being the beard tax), but no less paid attention to introducing the nobility to education and secular Europeanized culture. Secular educational institutions began to appear, the first Russian newspaper was founded, and translations of many books into Russian appeared. Peter made success in service for the nobles dependent on education.

Peter was clearly aware of the need for enlightenment, and took a number of decisive measures to this end. On January 14 (25), 1701, a school of mathematical and navigational sciences was opened in Moscow. In 1701-1721, artillery, engineering and medical schools were opened in Moscow, an engineering school and a naval academy in St. Petersburg, and mining schools at the Olonets and Ural factories. In 1705, the first gymnasium in Russia was opened. The goals of mass education were to be served by digital schools created by decree of 1714 in provincial cities, designed to “ teach children of all ranks literacy, numbers and geometry" It was planned to create two such schools in each province, where education was to be free. Garrison schools were opened for soldiers' children, and a network of theological schools was created to train priests starting in 1721. In 1724, a draft regulation on the Academy of Sciences, the university and the gymnasium attached to it was signed.

Peter's decrees introduced compulsory education for nobles and clergy, but a similar measure for the urban population met fierce resistance and was cancelled. Peter's attempt to create an all-estate primary school failed (the creation of a network of schools ceased after his death; most of the digital schools under his successors were repurposed as estate schools for training the clergy), but nevertheless, during his reign the foundations were laid for the spread of education in Russia.

Peter created new printing houses, in which 1,312 book titles were printed between 1700 and 1725 (twice as many as in the entire previous history of Russian printing). Thanks to the rise of printing, paper consumption increased from 4-8 thousand sheets at the end of the 17th century to 50 thousand sheets in 1719. Changes took place in the Russian language, which included 4.5 thousand new words borrowed from European languages. In 1724, Peter approved the charter of the newly founded Academy of Sciences (opened a few months after his death).

Of particular importance was the construction of stone St. Petersburg, in which foreign architects took part and which was carried out according to the plan developed by the Tsar. He created a new urban environment with previously unfamiliar forms of life and pastime (theater, masquerades). The interior decoration of houses, the way of life, the composition of food, etc. changed. By a special decree of the tsar in 1718, assemblies were introduced, representing a new form of communication between people for Russia. At the assemblies, the nobles danced and communicated freely, unlike previous feasts and feasts.

The reforms carried out by Peter I affected not only politics, economics, but also art. Peter invited foreign artists to Russia and at the same time sent talented young people to study “art” abroad. In the second quarter of the 18th century. “Peter’s pensioners” began to return to Russia, bringing with them new artistic experience and acquired skills.

On December 30, 1701 (January 10, 1702), Peter issued a decree that ordered full names to be written in petitions and other documents instead of derogatory half-names (Ivashka, Senka, etc.), not to fall on your knees before the Tsar, and a hat in front of the house in winter in the cold. , in which the king is located, do not remove. He explained the need for these innovations in this way: “Less baseness, more zeal for service and loyalty to me and the state - this honor is characteristic of a king...”

Peter tried to change the position of women in Russian society. By special decrees (1700, 1702 and 1724) he prohibited forced marriage. It was prescribed that there should be at least a six-week period between betrothal and wedding, “so that the bride and groom can recognize each other.” If during this time, the decree said, “the groom does not want to take the bride, or the bride does not want to marry the groom,” no matter how the parents insist on it, “there will be freedom.” Since 1702, the bride herself (and not just her relatives) was given the formal right to dissolve the betrothal and upset the arranged marriage, and neither party had the right to “beat the forfeit.” Legislative regulations 1696-1704. on public celebrations, mandatory participation in celebrations and festivities was introduced for all Russians, including the “female sex.”

From the “old” in the structure of the nobility under Peter, the former enslavement of the service class through the personal service of each service person to the state remained unchanged. But in this enslavement its form has changed somewhat. They were now obliged to serve in the regular regiments and in the navy, as well as in the civil service in all those administrative and judicial institutions that were transformed from the old ones and arose again. The Decree on Single Inheritance of 1714 regulated the legal status of the nobility and secured the legal merger of such forms of land ownership as patrimony and estate.

From the reign of Peter I, peasants began to be divided into serf (landowner), monastic and state peasants. All three categories were recorded in the revision tales and subject to a poll tax. Since 1724, landowner peasants could leave their villages to earn money and for other needs only with the written permission of the master, certified by the zemstvo commissar and the colonel of the regiment that was stationed in the area. Thus, the landowner's power over the personality of the peasants received even more opportunities to strengthen, taking into its unaccountable disposal both the personality and property of the privately owned peasant. From now on, this new state of the rural worker receives the name “serf” or “revision” soul.

In general, Peter's reforms were aimed at strengthening the state and introducing the elite to European culture while simultaneously strengthening absolutism. During the reforms, the technical and economic lag of Russia from a number of other European countries was overcome, access to the Baltic Sea was won, and transformations were carried out in many spheres of life of Russian society. Gradually, a different system of values, worldview, and aesthetic ideas took shape among the nobility, which was radically different from the values ​​and worldview of the majority of representatives of other classes. At the same time, the popular forces were extremely exhausted, the preconditions were created (Decree on Succession to the Throne) for a crisis of supreme power, which led to the “era of palace coups.”

Economic success

Having set himself the goal of equipping the economy with the best Western production technologies, Peter reorganized all sectors of the national economy. During the Great Embassy, ​​the tsar studied various aspects of European life, including technology. He learned the basics of the prevailing economic theory at that time - mercantilism. Yours economic doctrine The mercantilists based it on two principles: first, every nation, in order not to become poor, must produce everything it needs itself, without turning to the help of other people's labor, the labor of other peoples; secondly, in order to get rich, every nation must export manufactured products from its country as much as possible and import foreign products as little as possible.

Under Peter, the development of geological exploration began, thanks to which metal ore deposits were found in the Urals. In the Urals alone, no less than 27 metallurgical plants were built under Peter; gunpowder factories, sawmills, and glass factories were founded in Moscow, Tula, and St. Petersburg; in Astrakhan, Samara, Krasnoyarsk, the production of potash, sulfur, and saltpeter was established, and sailing, linen and cloth factories were created. This made it possible to begin a gradual phase-out of imports.

By the end of the reign of Peter I, there were already 233 factories, including more than 90 large manufactories built during his reign. The largest were shipyards (the St. Petersburg shipyard alone employed 3.5 thousand people), sailing manufactories and mining and metallurgical plants (9 Ural factories employed 25 thousand workers); there were a number of other enterprises employing from 500 to 1000 people. To supply the new capital, the first canals in Russia were dug.

The downside of reforms

Peter's reforms were achieved through violence against the population, its complete subordination to the will of the monarch, and the eradication of all dissent. Even Pushkin, who sincerely admired Peter, wrote that many of his decrees were “cruel, capricious and, it seems, written with a whip,” as if “snatched from an impatient, autocratic landowner.” Klyuchevsky points out that the triumph of the absolute monarchy, which sought to force its subjects from the Middle Ages into modernity, contained a fundamental contradiction:

Peter's reform was a struggle between despotism and the people, against their inertia. He hoped, with the threat of power, to evoke initiative in an enslaved society and, through the slave-owning nobility, to introduce European science in Russia... he wanted the slave, while remaining a slave, to act consciously and freely.

Use of forced labor

The construction of St. Petersburg from 1704 to 1717 was mainly carried out by “working people” mobilized as part of natural labor service. They cut down forests, filled in swamps, built embankments, etc. In 1704, up to 40 thousand working people, mostly landowner serfs and state peasants, were called to St. Petersburg from various provinces. In 1707, many workers sent to St. Petersburg from the Belozersky region fled. Peter I ordered to take the family members of the fugitives - their fathers, mothers, wives, children “or whoever lives in their houses” and keep them in prison until the fugitives are found..

The factory workers of Peter the Great's time came from a wide variety of strata of the population: runaway serfs, vagabonds, beggars, even criminals - all of them, according to strict orders, were picked up and sent “to work” in the factories. Peter could not stand “walking” people who were not assigned to any business; he was ordered to seize them, not even sparing the monastic rank, and send them to factories. There were frequent cases when, in order to supply factories, and especially factories, with workers, villages and villages of peasants were assigned to factories and factories, as was still practiced in the 17th century. Those assigned to the factory worked for it and in it by order of the owner.

Repression

In November 1702, a decree was issued which stated: “From now on, in Moscow and in the Moscow court order, there will be people of any ranks, or from the cities, governors and clerks, and from the monasteries, authorities will be sent, and landowners and patrimonial owners will bring their people and peasants , and those people and peasants will learn to say after themselves “the sovereign’s word and deed,” and without questioning those people in the Moscow court order, send them to the Preobrazhensky order to the steward of Prince Fyodor Yuryevich Romodanovsky. And in the cities, governors and clerks send such people who learn to say “the sovereign’s word and deed” to Moscow without asking questions.”

In 1718, the Secret Chancellery was created to investigate the case of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, then other political matters of extreme importance were transferred to it. On August 18 (29), 1718, a decree was issued, which, under threat of death penalty, prohibited “writing while locked.” Those who failed to report this were also subject to the death penalty. This decree was aimed at combating anti-government “nominal letters”.

The decree of Peter I, issued in 1702, proclaimed religious tolerance one of the main state principles. “We must deal with opponents of the church with meekness and reason,” said Peter. “The Lord gave kings power over the nations, but Christ alone has power over the conscience of people.” But this decree was not applied to the Old Believers. In 1716, to facilitate their accounting, they were given the opportunity to live semi-legally, on the condition that they pay “double all payments for this split.” At the same time, control and punishment of those who evaded registration and payment of double tax were strengthened. Those who did not confess and did not pay double tax were ordered to be fined, each time increasing the fine rate, and even sent to hard labor. For seduction into schism (any Old Believer worship service or performance of religious services was considered seduction), as before Peter I, the death penalty was imposed, which was confirmed in 1722. Old Believer priests were declared either schismatic teachers, if they were Old Believer mentors, or traitors to Orthodoxy, if they had previously been priests, and were punished for both. The schismatic monasteries and chapels were ruined. Through torture, whipping, tearing out nostrils, threats of executions and exile, Nizhny Novgorod Bishop Pitirim managed to return a considerable number of Old Believers to the fold of the official church, but the majority of them soon “fell into schism” again. Deacon Alexander Pitirim, who led the Kerzhen Old Believers, forced him to renounce the Old Believers, shackling him and threatening him with beatings, as a result of which the deacon “feared from him, from the bishop, great torment, and exile, and the tearing of the nostrils, as inflicted on others.” When Alexander complained in a letter to Peter I about the actions of Pitirim, he was subjected to terrible torture and on May 21 (June 1), 1720, he was executed.

The adoption of the imperial title by Peter I, as the Old Believers believed, indicated that he was the Antichrist, since this emphasized the continuity of state power from Catholic Rome. The Antichrist essence of Peter, according to the Old Believers, was also evidenced by the calendar changes made during his reign and the population census he introduced for per capita wages.

Personality of Peter I

Appearance

Portrait of Peter I

Sculptural head made from a death mask (State Historical Museum)

Cast of the hand of Tsar Peter (State Historical Museum)

Peter's caftan and camisole allow one to imagine his elongated figure

Even as a child, Peter amazed people with the beauty and liveliness of his face and figure. Due to his height - 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) - he stood out a whole head in the crowd. At the same time, with such a large stature, he was not of a strong build - he wore size 39 shoes and size 48 clothes. Peter's hands were also small, and his shoulders were narrow for his height, the same thing, his head was also small compared to his body.

Those around were frightened by very strong convulsive twitching of the face, especially in moments of anger and emotional excitement. Contemporaries attributed these convulsive movements to childhood shock during the Streltsy riots or an attempt to poison Princess Sophia.

S. A. Kirillov. Peter the Great. (1982-1984).

During his trips abroad, Peter I frightened sophisticated aristocrats with his rude manner of communication and simplicity of morals. Elector Sophia of Hanover wrote about Peter as follows:

« The king is tall, has beautiful facial features and noble bearing; He has great mental agility, his answers are quick and correct. But with all the virtues that nature has endowed him with, it would be desirable for him to have less rudeness. This sovereign is very good and at the same time very bad; morally he is a full representative of his country. If he had received a better upbringing, he would have emerged as a perfect man, because he has many virtues and an extraordinary mind.».

Later, already in 1717, during Peter’s stay in Paris, the Duke of Saint-Simon wrote down his impression of Peter as follows:

« He was very tall, well-built, rather thin, with a roundish face, high forehead, and beautiful eyebrows; his nose is quite short, but not too short, and somewhat thick towards the end; the lips are quite large, the complexion is reddish and dark, beautiful black eyes, large, lively, penetrating, beautifully shaped; the look is majestic and welcoming when he watches himself and restrains himself, otherwise he is stern and wild, with convulsions on the face that are not repeated often, but distort both the eyes and the whole face, frightening everyone present. The spasm usually lasted one moment, and then his gaze became strange, as if confused, then everything immediately took on its normal appearance. His whole appearance showed intelligence, reflection and greatness and was not without charm».

Character

Peter I combined practical ingenuity and dexterity, gaiety, and apparent straightforwardness with spontaneous impulses in the expression of both affection and anger, and sometimes with unbridled cruelty.

In his youth, Peter indulged in crazy drunken orgies with his comrades. In anger, he could beat those close to him. He chose “notable persons” and “old boyars” as victims of his evil jokes - as Prince Kurakin reports, “fat people were dragged through chairs where it was impossible to stand, many had their dresses torn off and left naked...”. The All-Joking, All-Drunken and Extraordinary Council that he created was engaged in mockery of everything that was valued and revered in society as primordial everyday or moral-religious foundations. He personally acted as executioner during the execution of participants in the Streltsy uprising. The Danish envoy Just Yul testified that during the ceremonial entry into Moscow after the victory at Poltava, Peter, deathly pale, with an ugly face distorted by convulsions, making “terrible movements of his head, mouth, arms, shoulders, hands and feet,” galloped in a mad frenzy at a soldier who had made a mistake in some way and began to “mercilessly chop him with a sword.”

During the fighting on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on July 11 (22), 1705, Peter attended vespers in the Basilian monastery in Polotsk. After one of the Basilians called Josaphat Kuntsevich, who was oppressing the Orthodox population, a holy martyr, the king ordered the monks to be seized. The Basilians tried to resist and four of them were hacked to death. The next day, Peter ordered the hanging of a monk who was distinguished by his sermons directed against the Russians.

Family of Peter I

For the first time, Peter married at the age of 17, at the insistence of his mother, to Evdokia Lopukhina in 1689. A year later, Tsarevich Alexei was born to them, who was raised by his mother in concepts alien to Peter’s reform activities. The remaining children of Peter and Evdokia died soon after birth. In 1698, Evdokia Lopukhina became involved in the Streltsy revolt, the purpose of which was to elevate her son to the kingdom, and was exiled to a monastery.

Alexei Petrovich, the official heir to the Russian throne, condemned his father's reforms, and eventually fled to Vienna under the patronage of his wife's relative (Charlotte of Brunswick), Emperor Charles VI, where he sought support in the overthrow of Peter I. In 1717, the prince was persuaded to return home, where he was taken into custody. On June 24 (July 5), 1718, the Supreme Court, consisting of 127 people, sentenced Alexei to death, finding him guilty of treason. On June 26 (July 7), 1718, the prince, without waiting for the sentence to be carried out, died in the Peter and Paul Fortress. The true cause of Tsarevich Alexei's death has not yet been reliably established. From his marriage to Princess Charlotte of Brunswick, Tsarevich Alexei left a son, Peter Alekseevich (1715-1730), who became Emperor Peter II in 1727, and a daughter, Natalya Alekseevna (1714-1728).

In 1703, Peter I met 19-year-old Katerina, maiden name Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya (widow of the dragoon Johann Kruse), captured by Russian troops as booty during the capture of the Swedish fortress of Marienburg. Peter took a former maid from the Baltic peasants from Alexander Menshikov and made her his mistress. In 1704, Katerina gave birth to her first child, named Peter, and the following year, Paul (both died soon after). Even before her legal marriage to Peter, Katerina gave birth to daughters Anna (1708) and Elizabeth (1709). Elizabeth later became empress (reigned 1741-1761). Katerina alone could cope with the king in his fits of anger; she knew how to calm Peter’s attacks of convulsive headaches with affection and patient attention. The sound of Katerina's voice calmed Peter; then she

“she sat him down and took him, caressing him, by the head, which she lightly scratched. This had a magical effect on him; he fell asleep within a few minutes. So as not to disturb his sleep, she held his head on her chest, sitting motionless for two or three hours. After that, he woke up completely fresh and cheerful.”

The official wedding of Peter I with Ekaterina Alekseevna took place on February 19 (March 1), 1712, shortly after returning from the Prut campaign. In 1724 Peter crowned Catherine as empress and co-regent. Ekaterina Alekseevna bore her husband 11 children, but most of them died in childhood, except for Anna and Elizaveta.

After Peter's death in January 1725, Ekaterina Alekseevna, with the support of the serving nobility and guards regiments, became the first ruling Russian Empress Catherine I, but she did not rule for long and died in 1727, vacating the throne for Tsarevich Peter Alekseevich. The first wife of Peter the Great, Evdokia Lopukhina, outlived her lucky rival and died in 1731, having managed to see the reign of her grandson Peter Alekseevich.

Awards

• 1698 - Order of the Garter (England) - the order was awarded to Peter during the Great Embassy for diplomatic reasons, but Peter refused the award.
• 1703 - Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (Russia) - for the capture of two Swedish ships at the mouth of the Neva.
• 1712 - Order of the White Eagle (Rzeczpospolita) - in response to the awarding of the King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Augustus II with the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.
• 1713 - Order of the Elephant (Denmark) - for success in the Northern War.

Succession to the throne

In the last years of the reign of Peter the Great, the question of succession to the throne arose: who would take the throne after the death of the emperor. Tsarevich Pyotr Petrovich (1715-1719, son of Ekaterina Alekseevna), declared heir to the throne upon the abdication of Alexei Petrovich, died in childhood. The direct heir was the son of Tsarevich Alexei and Princess Charlotte, Pyotr Alekseevich. However, if you follow the custom and declare the son of the disgraced Alexei as the heir, then the hopes of opponents of the reforms to return to the old order were aroused, and on the other hand, fears arose among Peter’s comrades, who voted for the execution of Alexei.

On February 5 (16), 1722, Peter issued a Decree on Succession to the Throne (cancelled by Paul I 75 years later), in which he abolished the ancient custom of transferring the throne to direct descendants in the male line, but allowed the appointment of any worthy person as heir at the will of the monarch. The text of this important decree justified the need for this measure:

... why did they decide to make this charter, so that it would always be in the will of the ruling sovereign, whoever he wants, to determine the inheritance, and to the certain one, seeing what obscenity, he will cancel it, so that the children and descendants do not fall into such anger as is written above, having this bridle on you.

The decree was so unusual for Russian society that it had to be explained and consent was required from the subjects under oath. The schismatics were indignant: “He took a Swede for himself, and that queen will not give birth to children, and he made a decree to kiss the cross for the future sovereign, and they kiss the cross for the Swede. Of course, a Swede will reign.”

Peter Alekseevich was removed from the throne, but the question of succession to the throne remained open. Many believed that the throne would be taken by either Anna or Elizabeth, Peter’s daughters from his marriage to Ekaterina Alekseevna. But in 1724, Anna renounced any claims to the Russian throne after she became engaged to the Duke of Holstein, Karl Friedrich. If she took the throne youngest daughter Elizabeth, who was 15 years old (in 1724), would have been ruled instead by the Duke of Holstein, who dreamed of returning the lands conquered by the Danes with the help of Russia.

Peter and his nieces, the daughters of his elder brother Ivan, were not satisfied: Anna of Courland, Ekaterina of Mecklenburg and Praskovya Ioannovna.

There was only one candidate left - Peter's wife, Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna. Peter needed a person who would continue the work he had started, his transformation. On May 7 (18), 1724, Peter crowned Catherine empress and co-ruler, but a short time later he suspected her of adultery (the Mons affair). The decree of 1722 violated the usual structure of succession to the throne, but Peter did not have time to appoint an heir before his death.

Death of Peter

I. N. Nikitin “Peter I”
on deathbed"

In the last years of his reign, Peter was very ill (presumably from kidney stones complicated by uremia). In the summer of 1724, his illness intensified; in September he felt better, but after a while the attacks intensified. In October, Peter went to inspect the Ladoga Canal, contrary to the advice of his physician Blumentrost. From Olonets, Peter traveled to Staraya Russa and in November traveled by water to St. Petersburg. Near Lakhta, he had to stand waist-deep in water to save a boat with soldiers that had run aground. The attacks of the disease intensified, but Peter, not paying attention to them, continued to engage in government affairs. On January 17 (28), 1725, he had such a bad time that he ordered a camp church to be erected in the room next to his bedroom, and on January 22 (February 2) he confessed. The patient’s strength began to leave him; he no longer screamed, as before, from severe pain, but only moaned.

On January 27 (February 7), all those sentenced to death or hard labor (excluding murderers and those convicted of repeated robbery) were amnestied. That same day, at the end of the second hour, Peter demanded paper and began to write, but the pen fell out of his hands, and only two words could be made out from what was written: “Give everything...” The Tsar then ordered his daughter Anna Petrovna to be called so that she could write under his dictation, but when she arrived, Peter had already fallen into oblivion. The story about Peter’s words “Give up everything...” and the order to call Anna is known only from the notes of the Holstein Privy Councilor G. F. Bassevich; according to N.I. Pavlenko and V.P. Kozlov, it is a tendentious fiction aimed at hinting at the rights of Anna Petrovna, the wife of the Holstein Duke Karl Friedrich, to the Russian throne.

When it became obvious that the emperor was dying, the question arose as to who would take Peter's place. The Senate, the Synod and the generals - all institutions that did not have the formal right to control the fate of the throne, even before the death of Peter, gathered on the night of January 27 (February 7) to January 28 (February 8) to resolve the issue of Peter the Great's successor. Guards officers entered the meeting room, two guards regiments entered the square, and to the drumbeat of troops withdrawn by the party of Ekaterina Alekseevna and Menshikov, the Senate made a unanimous decision by 4 a.m. on January 28 (February 8). By decision of the Senate, the throne was inherited by Peter's wife, Ekaterina Alekseevna, who became the first Russian empress on January 28 (February 8), 1725 under the name Catherine I.

At the beginning of six o'clock in the morning on January 28 (February 8), 1725, Peter the Great died in terrible agony in his Winter Palace near the Winter Canal, according to the official version, from pneumonia. He was buried in the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. The autopsy showed the following: “a sharp narrowing in the posterior part of the urethra, hardening of the bladder neck and Antonov fire.” Death followed from inflammation of the bladder, which turned into gangrene due to urinary retention caused by narrowing of the urethra.

The famous court icon painter Simon Ushakov painted an image of the Life-Giving Trinity and the Apostle Peter on a cypress board. After the death of Peter I, this icon was installed above the imperial tombstone.

Performance evaluation and criticism

In a letter to the French ambassador to Russia, Louis XIV spoke of Peter as follows:

This sovereign reveals his aspirations with concerns about preparing for military affairs and the discipline of his troops, about training and enlightening his people, about attracting foreign officers and all kinds of capable people. This course of action and the increase of power, which is the greatest in Europe, make him formidable to his neighbors and excite very thorough envy.

Moritz of Saxony called Peter the greatest man of his century.

Mikhail Lomonosov gave an enthusiastic description of Peter

Who can I compare the Great Sovereign with? I see in ancient times and in modern times Possessors called great. Indeed, they are great in front of others. However, they are small before Peter. ...Who will I liken our Hero to? I have often wondered what He is like who rules heaven, earth and sea with an omnipotent wave: His spirit breathes and waters flow, touches the mountains and they rise.

Voltaire wrote repeatedly about Peter. By the end of 1759 the first volume was published, and in April 1763 the second volume of “History of the Russian Empire under Peter the Great” was published. Voltaire defines the main value of Peter's reforms as the progress that the Russians have achieved in 50 years; other nations cannot achieve this even in 500. Peter I, his reforms, and their significance became the object of dispute between Voltaire and.

August Strindberg described Peter this way

The barbarian who civilized his Russia; he, who built cities, but did not want to live in them; he, who punished his wife with a whip and gave the woman wide freedom - his life was great, rich and useful in public terms, but in private terms such as it turned out.

N. M. Karamzin, recognizing this sovereign as the Great, severely criticizes Peter for his excessive passion for foreign things, his desire to make Russia the Netherlands. The sharp change in the “old” way of life and national traditions undertaken by the emperor, according to the historian, is not always justified. As a result, Russian educated people "became citizens of the world, but ceased to be, in some cases, citizens of Russia."

Westerners positively assessed Peter's reforms, thanks to which Russia became a great power and joined European civilization.

S. M. Solovyov spoke about Peter in enthusiastic tones, attributing to him all the successes of Russia as internal affairs, and in foreign policy, showed the organicity and historical preparedness of the reforms:

The need to move onto a new road was realized; At the same time, the responsibilities were determined: the people got up and got ready to go; but they were waiting for someone; they were waiting for the leader; the leader appeared.

The historian believed that the emperor saw his main task in the internal transformation of Russia, and the Northern War with Sweden was only a means to this transformation. According to Solovyov:

The difference in views stemmed from the enormity of the deed accomplished by Peter and the duration of the influence of this deed. The more significant a phenomenon is, the more contradictory views and opinions it gives rise to, and the longer they talk about it, the longer they feel its influence.

V. O. Klyuchevsky gave a contradictory assessment of Peter’s transformations:

The reform (of Peter) itself came out of the urgent needs of the state and the people, instinctively felt by a powerful man with a sensitive mind and strong character, talents... The reform carried out by Peter the Great did not have as its direct goal to rebuild either the political, social, or moral order that had been established in this state, was not directed by the task of putting Russian life on Western European foundations that were unusual for it, introducing new borrowed principles into it, but was limited to the desire to arm the Russian state and people with ready-made Western European means, mental and material, and thereby put the state on a level with the position it had won in Europe... Started and led by the supreme power, the habitual leader of the people, it adopted the nature and methods of a violent coup, a kind of revolution. It was a revolution not in its goals and results, but only in its methods and the impression it made on the minds and nerves of its contemporaries

P. N. Milyukov, in his works, develops the idea that the reforms carried out by Peter spontaneously, from case to case, under the pressure of specific circumstances, without any logic or plan, were “reforms without a reformer.” He also mentions that only “at the cost of ruining the country, Russia was elevated to the rank of a European power.” According to Miliukov, during the reign of Peter, the population of Russia within the borders of 1695 decreased due to incessant wars.

S. F. Platonov was one of Peter’s apologists. In his book “Personality and Activity” he wrote the following:

People of all generations agreed on one thing in their assessments of Peter’s personality and activities: he was considered a force. Peter was the most prominent and influential figure of his time, the leader of the entire people. No one considered him an insignificant person who unconsciously used power or blindly walked along a random path.

In addition, Platonov pays a lot of attention to Peter’s personality, highlighting his positive qualities: energy, seriousness, natural intelligence and talents, the desire to figure everything out for himself.

N.I. Pavlenko believed that Peter’s transformations were a major step along the road to progress (albeit within the framework of feudalism). Outstanding Soviet historians largely agree with him: E.V. Tarle, N.N. Molchanov, V.I. Buganov, considering the reforms from the point of view of Marxist theory.

V. B. Kobrin argued that Peter did not change the most important thing in the country: serfdom. Feudal industry. Temporary improvements in the present doomed Russia to a crisis in the future.

According to R. Pipes, Kamensky, E.V. Anisimov, Peter’s reforms were extremely contradictory. Feudal methods and repression led to an overstrain of popular forces.

E.V. Anisimov believed that, despite the introduction of a number of innovations in all spheres of life of society and the state, the reforms led to the conservation of the autocratic serfdom system in Russia.

Publicist Ivan Solonevich gave an extremely negative assessment of Peter’s personality and the results of his reforms. In his opinion, the result of Peter’s activities was the gap between the ruling elite and the people, the denationalization of the former. He accused Peter himself of cruelty, incompetence, tyranny and cowardice.

L.N. Tolstoy accuses Peter of extreme cruelty.

Friedrich Engels in his work "Foreign Policy of Russian Tsarism" calls Peter “a truly great man”; the first who “fully appreciated the extremely favorable situation for Russia in Europe.”

In the historical literature there is a version about the decline in the population of Russia in the period 1700-1722.

Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences L.V. Milov wrote: “Peter I forced the Russian nobility to study. And this is his greatest achievement."

Memory

The praise of Peter, a very unpretentious man in private life, began almost immediately after his death and continued regardless of the change of political regimes in Russia. Peter became the object of reverent cult in St. Petersburg, which he founded, as well as throughout the Russian Empire.

In the 20th century, the cities of Petrograd, Petrodvorets, Petrokrepost, Petrozavodsk bore his name; Large geographical objects are also named after him - Peter I Island and Peter the Great Bay. In Russia and abroad they protect the so-called. houses of Peter I, where, according to legend, the monarch stayed. Monuments to Peter I have been erected in many cities, the most famous (and first) of which is the Bronze Horseman on Senate Square in St. Petersburg.

Peter I in essays and works of art

• A. N. Tolstoy. Historical novel “Peter I” (books 1-3, 1929-1945, unfinished)
• Tsar Peter the First, the story of the visit of the Solovetsky archipelago by Tsar Peter I (Romanov). Electronic encyclopedia "Solovki"
• V. Bergman. “The History of Peter the Great”, 1833 - article on the website “Pedagogy of a comprehensive school”
• E. Sherman. “The evolution of Peter’s myth in Russian literature” - article on the website “Network Literature”
• S. Mezin. The book “View from Europe: French authors of the 18th century about Peter I”
• B. Bashilov. “Robespierre is on the throne. Peter I and the historical results of the revolution he committed"
• K. Konichev. Narrative "Peter the Great in the North"
• D. S. Merezhkovsky. "Antichrist. Peter and Alexey", a historical novel, the final one in the trilogy "Christ and Antichrist", 1903-1904.
• M. V. Lomonosov, “Peter the Great” (unfinished poem), 1760.
• A. S. Pushkin, “The History of Peter I” (unfinished historical work), 1835.
• A. S. Pushkin, “Arap of Peter the Great” (historical novel), 1837.

Film incarnations of Peter I

• Alexey Petrenko - “The Tale of How Tsar Peter Married an Arab”; historical melodrama, director Alexander Mitta, Mosfilm studio, 1976.
• Vladlen Davydov - “Tobacco Captain”; musical comedy television feature film, director Igor Usov, Lenfilm studio, 1972.
• Nikolai Simonov - “Peter the Great”; two-part historical feature film, director Vladimir Petrov, Lenfilm studio, 1937.
• Dmitry Zolotukhin - “Young Russia”; serial television feature film, director Ilya Gurin, M. Gorky Film Studio, 1981-1982.
• Pyotr Voinov - “Peter the Great” (another title is “The Life and Death of Peter the Great”) - silent feature short film, directors Kai Hansen and Vasily Goncharov, Pathé Brothers (Moscow representative office), Russian Empire, 1910
• Jan Niklas, Graham McGrath, Maximilian Schell - “Peter the Great”; television series, directors Marian Chomsky, Lawrence Schiller, USA, NBC channel, 1986).
• Alexander Lazarev - “Demidovs”; historical feature film, director Yaropolk Lapshin, Sverdlovsk Film Studio, 1983.
• Victor Stepanov - “Tsarevich Alexey”, historical feature film, director Vitaly Melnikov, Lenfilm, 1997
• Vyacheslav Dovzhenko - “Prayer for Hetman Mazepa” (Ukrainian “Prayer for Hetman Mazepa”), historical feature film, director Yuriy Ilyenko, Alexander Dovzhenko Film Studio, Ukraine, 2001.
• Andrey Sukhov - “Servant of the Sovereigns”; historical adventure film, director Oleg Ryaskov, film company “BNT Entertaiment”, 2007.

Nowadays, there are a large number of books and records about the life of Peter 1. In this article we will tell short biography the first Emperor of All Russia - Peter Alekseevich Romanov (Peter 1). A large number of large and significant transformations for the Russian state are associated with his name.

Date and place of birth

The last Tsar of All Rus' was born on June 9, 1672; according to folk tales, Peter was born in the village of Kolomenskoye.

Family and parents of Peter 1

Peter 1 was the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. The parents were of different social status. The father is the second Russian Tsar from the Romanov dynasty, and the mother is a small noblewoman. Natalya Kirillovna was the second wife of Alexei Mikhailovich, his first wife, Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, died during childbirth.
Peter 1 had two wives: the first was Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina, the second was Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova (Ekaterina 1). During his life, the Russian Emperor had 10 children (2 from his first marriage and 8 from his second). Unfortunately, most of the children died in childhood.

The childhood of Peter the Great

From an early age, Peter loved to play with military toys, seeing this, his father appointed the experienced Colonel Menesius as a mentor in military affairs. It is worth noting that Alexey Mikhailovich organized the “Petrov Regiment,” a small military association that served as the basis for teaching military affairs in a playful way. This regiment had real uniforms and weapons. Later, such associations began to be called “amusing regiments.” Here Peter underwent his first real military practical training. At the age of ten, Peter 1 had already begun to govern Russia. It was 1682.

The reign of Peter 1. Briefly

Peter the Great finally transformed the Muscovite kingdom into the Russian Empire. Under him, Rus' became Russia: a multinational power with access to the southern and northern seas.
Peter 1 is the creator of the Russian fleet, the founding date of which can be called 1696. The memory of the Battle of Poltava, in which Russia won, remains forever in the history of Russia. In the war with Turkey, he conquered Azov, and the Northern War with Sweden provided Russia with access to the Baltic Sea.
Another great deed was the founding of St. Petersburg. Under him, the first printed domestic newspaper, Vedomosti, began to appear. He created the conditions for the development of various sciences and urban planning and industry. Peter's indomitable energy allowed him to master many professions - from carpentry to sailor. One of them was that while in Holland the emperor learned the basics of dental treatment (namely, he learned how to pull them out).
He ordered to celebrate the New Year on the first of January. It is to him that we owe the cheerful custom of decorating Christmas trees for this holiday.
Peter 1 died in 1725 after a long illness, which he received while rescuing people from a sinking ship, pulling them out of icy water.

Russian Tsar Peter the Great since 1682, ruling since 1689 and being the Russian Emperor since 1721, was the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov. During his successful reign, the king carried out many government reforms.

This ruler used the rich experience of Western European countries in the development of culture, trade and industry, and also pursued the so-called policy of mercantilism (that is, the creation of canals, marinas, shipyards, various factories, etc.). Peter the First also led the Russian army in such military campaigns:

· Azov campaigns 1695 – 1696;

· Northern War (1700 – 1721);

· Prut campaign of 1711;

· Persian military campaign (1722 – 23 years), etc.

In addition, the tsar commanded soldiers in 1702 during the capture of Noteburg, as well as in the battles near Poltava, etc.

In 1697, the king and his subjects went abroad and lived in Austria, Venice, England, Saxony, and Holland, becoming familiar with the achievements of these states in the technical field, as well as in the field of architecture and shipbuilding. However, the news that reached him about the Streltsy revolt in Russia forces him to return to his homeland, where this disobedience was suppressed by him with particular cruelty.

During the reign of Peter the Great, a number of successful reforms were undertaken in the state government system. For example, the Senate is formed, the division of the state into provinces is introduced, the church is subordinate to the state, etc. In 1703, the new Russian capital, St. Petersburg, was built. It was this city that was supposed to subsequently become a kind of “paradise”, a model city.

In 1721, Russia received the status of an Empire and Peter began an active foreign policy, developing trade and industry between Europe and his country.

One of Peter's important decisions is the creation of a navy and a regular army. Also during this period the state territory was significantly expanded.

Russian culture during the reign of Peter was able to be replenished with a huge number of different European elements. At this time, the Academy of Sciences is opening, as well as many secular educational institutions.

It was thanks to the efforts of Peter that the promotion of nobles depended primarily on the level of their education.

Suffering from various illnesses, Peter the Great died in his city of St. Petersburg in 1725.

Reading time: 3 min

Peter I is a great Russian emperor and an incredibly attractive and creative personality, so interesting facts from the biography of the tsar of the Romanov dynasty will be of interest to everyone. I will try to tell you something that is definitely impossible to find in any school textbooks. According to the new style, Peter the Great was born on June 8, according to his zodiac sign - Gemini. It is not surprising that it was Peter the Great who became an innovator for the conservative Russian Empire. Gemini is an air sign, which is characterized by ease in decision-making, a sharp mind and amazing imagination. Only the “horizon of expectation” usually does not justify itself: the rough reality is too different from the blue dreams.

An unusual fact about the character of Peter the Great

According to calculations of the Pythagorean square, the character of Peter 1 consists of three units, which means that the emperor had a calm character. It is believed that a person with three or four units is most suitable for working in government agencies. For example, a person with one or five or six units has a despotic character and is ready to “go over their heads” for the sake of power. So, Peter the Great had all the prerequisites for occupying the royal throne.

Is he the heir?

There is an opinion that Peter the Great is not the natural son of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov. The fact is that the future emperor was in good health, unlike his brother Fyodor and sister Natalya. But this is just a guess. But the birth of Peter was predicted by Simeon of Polotsk, he informed the sovereign that he would soon have a son, who would go down in Russian history as a great almighty!

But the Emperor’s wife, Catherine I, was of peasant origin. By the way, this is the first woman who was aware of all government affairs. Peter discussed everything with her and listened to any advice.

Innovator

Peter the Great introduced many new ideas into Russian life.

• While traveling in Holland, I noticed that skating is much more convenient if they are not tied to shoes, but are tightly attached to special boots.

• To prevent soldiers from confusing right and left, Peter I ordered hay to be tied to his left leg and straw to his right. During drill training, the commander, instead of the usual “right - left”, commanded “hay - straw”. By the way, previously only educated people were able to distinguish between right and left.
• Peter intensively struggled with drunkenness, especially among the courtiers. To completely eradicate the disease, he came up with his own system: giving out seven-kilogram cast-iron medals for every binge. This award was hung around your neck at the police station and you had to wear it for at least 7 days! It was impossible to remove it on your own, and asking someone else would be dangerous.
• Peter I was impressed by the beauty of overseas tulips; he brought flower bulbs from Holland to Russia in 1702.

Peter I's favorite pastime was dentistry; he took such interest in pulling out diseased teeth from anyone who asked. But sometimes he got so carried away that he could vomit even healthy ones!

Substitution of Peter I

The most unusual and interesting fact in Russian history. Researchers A. Fomenko and G. Nosovsky claim that there was a substitution and provide significant evidence to confirm it. In those days, the names of the future heirs to the throne were given in accordance with the day of the angel and the Orthodox canons, and this is where a discrepancy emerged: the birthday of Peter the Great falls in the name Isaac.

From his youth, Peter the Great was distinguished by his love for everything Russian: he wore a traditional caftan. But after a two-year stay in Europe, the sovereign began to wear exclusively fashionable European clothes and never again put on his once beloved Russian caftan.

• Researchers claim that the impostor who returned from distant countries had a body structure different from Peter the Great. The impostor turned out to be taller and thinner. It is believed that Peter 1 was not actually two meters tall before; this is logical, because his father’s height was 170 cm, his grandfather - 167. And the king who came from Europe was 204 cm. Therefore, there is a version that the impostor did not wear the king's favorite clothing due to the discrepancy in size.
• Peter I had a mole on his nose, but after his stay in Europe, the mole mysteriously disappeared, this is confirmed by numerous portraits of the sovereign.
• When Peter returned from a campaign abroad, he did not know where the oldest library of Ivan the Terrible was located, although the secret of its location was passed down from generation to generation. Princess Sophia constantly visited her, and the new Peter could not find the repository of rare publications.
• When Peter returned from Europe, his entourage consisted of Dutchmen, although when the tsar just set off on his journey there was a Russian embassy of 20 people with him. Where 20 Russian subjects went during the two years of the Tsar’s stay in Europe remains a mystery.
• After arriving in Russia, Peter the Great tried to avoid his relatives and associates, and then got rid of everyone in different ways.

It was the archers who announced that the returning Peter was an impostor! And they staged a riot, which was brutally suppressed. This is very strange, because only those close to the tsar were selected for the Streltsy troops, the title of Streltsy was inherited with the confirmation of the tsar. Therefore, each of these people was definitely dear to Peter the Great before his trip to Europe, and now he suppressed the uprising in the most brutal way; according to historical data, 20 thousand people were killed. After this, the army was completely reorganized.

In addition, while in London, Peter the Great imprisoned his wife Lopukhina in a monastery without announcing the reason and took as his wife the peasant woman Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya-Kruse, who in the future would become Empress Catherine I.

Researchers note that the calm and fair Peter the Great became a real despot after returning from a campaign abroad, all his orders were aimed at destroying Russian heritage: Russian history was rewritten by German professors, many Russian chronicles disappeared without a trace, a new chronology system was introduced, and customary measures were abolished measurements, repressions against the clergy, the eradication of Orthodoxy, the spread of alcohol, tobacco and coffee, a ban on the cultivation of medicinal amaranth and much more.

Is this really so, one can only guess; all the historical documents of those times that we have cannot be considered valid, because everything was rewritten many times. We can only guess and assume; you can also watch a film on this topic.

In any case, Peter I is a significant figure in Russian history.