This is the third and final part of the materials about Peter the Great. It will consist of three posts. In order to somehow systematize the pictures, let's go over the biography of the emperor, taken from the "omniscient" WIKIPEDIA.
The Early Years of Peter. 1672-1689 years
Peter was born on the night of May 30 (June 9), 1672 in the Terem Palace of the Kremlin (in 7180 according to the then accepted chronology "from the creation of the world").
Father - Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich - had numerous offspring: Peter was the 12th child, but the first from his second wife, Tsarina Natalya Naryshkina. On June 29, on the day of Saints Peter and 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.
After spending a year with the queen, he was given to the education of nannies. In the 4th year of Peter's life, in 1676, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich died. The guardian of the prince was his half-brother, godfather and new tsar Fyodor Alekseevich. Clerk N. M. Zotov taught Peter to read and write from 1677 to 1680.
The death of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the accession of his eldest son Fyodor (from Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna, nee Miloslavskaya) pushed Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna and her relatives, the Naryshkins, into the background. Tsarina Natalya was forced to go to the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.
Birth of Peter the Great.
Engraving for the illustrated History of the Russian State by N. M. Karamzin. Edition Picturesque Karamzin or Russian history in pictures, St. Petersburg, 1836
Streltsy rebellion of 1682 and the coming to power of Sofia Alekseevna
April 27 (May 7), 1682, after 6 years of mild rule, the liberal and sickly Tsar Fedor Alekseevich died. The question arose of who should inherit the throne: the elder sickly and weak-minded Ivan according to custom, or the young Peter. Enlisting the support of Patriarch Joachim, the Naryshkins and their supporters on April 27 (May 7), 1682, elevated Peter to the throne.
The Miloslavskys, relatives of Tsarevich Ivan and Princess Sophia by their mother, saw in the proclamation of Peter the Tsar an infringement of their interests. Streltsy, of whom there were more than 20 thousand in Moscow, had long shown discontent and willfulness; and, apparently, incited by the Miloslavskys, on May 15 (25), 1682, they spoke openly: shouting that the Naryshkins had strangled Tsarevich Ivan, they moved to the Kremlin. Natalya Kirillovna, hoping to calm the rebels, together with the patriarch and the 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 Naryshkins.
On May 26, elected representatives from the archery 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 to the kingdom.
On May 29, the archers insisted that Princess Sofya Alekseevna take over the government due to the infancy of her brothers. Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, together with her son, the second tsar, had to retire from the court to a palace near Moscow in the village of Preobrazhensky. In the Armory of the Kremlin, a double throne for young tsars with a small window in the back was preserved, through which Princess Sophia and those close to her told them how to behave and what to say during palace ceremonies.
Alexey Korzukhin Streltsy rebellion in 1682 1882
Nikolai Dmitriev - Orenburg Streltsy rebellion. 1862
Preobrazhenskoye and amusing shelves
Peter spent all his free time away from the palace - in the villages of Vorobyov and Preobrazhensky. Every year his interest in military affairs increased. Peter dressed and armed his "amusing" army, which consisted of peers in boyish games. In 1685, his "amusing", dressed in foreign caftans, marched in regimental formation through Moscow from Preobrazhensky 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. The gunsmith Fyodor Sommer showed the tsar grenade and firearms.
16 guns were delivered from the Pushkar Order. To control heavy guns, the tsar took adult servants eager for military affairs from the Stable Order, who were dressed in uniforms of foreign cut and identified as amusing gunners. Sergei Bukhvostov was the first to put on a foreign uniform. Subsequently, Peter ordered a bronze bust of this first Russian soldier, as he called Bukhvostov. The amusing regiment began to be called Preobrazhensky, in the place of its quartering - the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.
In Preobrazhensky, opposite the palace, on the banks of the Yauza, a "fun town" was built. During the construction of the fortress, Peter himself worked actively, helping to cut logs and install cannons. The “Most Joking, Most Drunk and Most Foolish Cathedral” created by Peter, a parody of the Orthodox Church, was also quartered here. The fortress itself was named Preshburg, probably after the then famous Austrian fortress Presburg (now Bratislava - the capital of Slovakia), which he heard about from Captain Sommer. Then, 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 associated with military affairs. Under the guidance of the Dutchman Timmerman, he studied arithmetic, geometry, and military sciences.
Walking one day with Timmerman in the village of Izmailovo, Peter went to the Linen Yard, in the barn of which he found an English boat. In 1688, he ordered the Dutchman Karsten Brandt to repair, arm and equip this boat, and then lower it to the Yauza. However, Yauza and Millet Pond turned out to be cramped for the ship, so Peter went to Pereslavl-Zalessky, to Lake Pleshcheyevo, where he laid the first shipyard for the construction of ships. There were already two "amusing" regiments: Semyonovsky, located in the village of Semyonovskoye, was added to Preobrazhensky. Preshburg already looked like a real fortress. Knowledgeable and experienced people were needed to command regiments and study military science. But among the Russian courtiers there were none. So Peter appeared in the German settlement.
Ilya Repin Arrival of Tsars John and Peter Alekseevich to the Semyonov amusing yard, accompanied by a retinue, 1900
German settlement and Peter's first marriage
The German settlement was the nearest "neighbor" of the village of Preobrazhenskoye, and Peter had long been eyeing her curious life. An increasing number of foreigners at the court of Tsar Peter, such as Franz Timmermann and Karsten Brandt, came from the German Quarter. 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 great admirer of the laid-back foreign life. Peter lit a German pipe, began to attend German parties with dancing and drinking, met Patrick Gordon, Franz Yakovlevich Lefort - Peter's future associates, started an affair with Anna Mons. Peter's mother strongly opposed this. In order to reason with her 17-year-old son, Natalya Kirillovna decided to marry him to Evdokia Lopukhina, the daughter of the okolnichi.
Peter did not contradict his mother, and on January 27, 1689, the wedding of the "younger" king was played. However, less than a month later, Peter left his wife and left for a few days at Lake Pleshcheyevo. From this marriage, Peter had two sons: the eldest, Alexei, was heir to the throne until 1718, the youngest, Alexander, died in infancy.
Preobrazhenskoe and amusing regiments (engraving)
Nikolai Nevrev Peter I in a foreign outfit in front of his mother Tsarina Natalya, Patriarch Andrian and teacher Zotov. 1903
Dmitry Kostylev Choosing the path. Peter the Great in the German Quarter, 2006
Accession of Peter I
Peter's activity greatly disturbed Princess Sophia, who understood that with the coming of age of her half-brother, she would have to give up power.
Campaigns against the Crimean Tatars, carried out in 1687 and 1689 by the favorite of the princess V. V. Golitsyn, were not very successful, but were presented as major and generously rewarded victories, which caused discontent among many.
On July 8, 1689, on the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the first public conflict took place between the matured Peter and the Ruler. On that day, according to custom, a religious procession was made from the Kremlin to the Kazan Cathedral. At the end of 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 for crosses and banners. Unprepared for such an outcome, Peter left the course.
On August 7, 1689, unexpectedly for everyone, a decisive event took place. On this day, Princess Sophia ordered the head of the archers, Fyodor Shaklovity, to equip more of his people to the Kremlin, as if to be escorted to the Donskoy Monastery on a pilgrimage. At the same time, a rumor spread about a letter with the news that Tsar Peter decided at night to occupy the Kremlin with his “amusing” ones, kill the princess, Tsar Ivan’s brother, and seize power. Shaklovity gathered archery regiments in order to march in a "great assembly" to Preobrazhenskoye and beat all the supporters of Peter for their intention to kill Princess Sophia. Then they sent three riders to observe what was happening in Preobrazhensky with the task to immediately inform if Tsar Peter went somewhere alone or with regiments.
Supporters of Peter 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 performances experienced was Peter's illness: with strong excitement, he began to have convulsive movements of his face. 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, so that from all the regiments commanders and 10 privates were sent to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Princess Sophia strictly forbade this command to be carried out on pain of death, and a letter was sent to Tsar Peter with a notice that it was impossible to fulfill his request.
On August 27, a new letter of tsar Peter came - to go to all the regiments to the 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 in the Assumption Cathedral and in fact 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 continued to be co-tsar. Little participated in the board at first, and Peter himself, giving authority to the Naryshkin family.
Azov campaigns. 1695-1696
The priority of Peter I in the first years of autocracy was the continuation of the war with the Crimea. 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 winter of 1695-96, preparations began for a new campaign. In Voronezh, the construction of a rowing Russian flotilla began. In a short time, a flotilla was built from different ships, led by the 36-gun ship "Apostle Peter". In May 1696, the 40,000-strong Russian army under the command of Generalissimo Shein again laid siege to 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 in a galley. Without waiting for the assault, July 19, 1696 the fortress surrendered. So the first exit of Russia to the southern seas was opened.
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 for training abroad, and soon he himself sets off on his first trip to Europe.
K. Porter Azov. Taking the fortress
Andrey Lysenko Peter I in the smithy
Yuri Kushevsky A new business in Russia! The descent of the Principium galley at the Voronezh shipyard on April 3, 1696, 2007
Great Embassy. 1697-1698 years
In March 1697, the Great Embassy was sent to Western Europe through Livonia, the main purpose of which was to find allies against the Ottoman Empire. General-Admiral F. Ya. Lefort, General F. A. Golovin, head of the Ambassadorial Order P. B. Voznitsyn were appointed Grand Plenipotentiary Ambassadors. In total, up to 250 people entered the embassy, among which Tsar Peter I himself was under the name of the constable of the Preobrazhensky Regiment Peter Mikhailov. Peter did not officially ride as a tsar. For the first time, the Russian tsar undertook a journey outside the borders of his state.
Peter visited Riga, Koenigsberg, Brandenburg, Holland, England, Austria, a visit to Venice and to 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 the study of shipbuilding, military affairs and other sciences. Peter worked as a carpenter at the shipyards of the East India Company, with the participation of the king, the ship "Peter and Paul" was built. In England, he visited a foundry, an arsenal, parliament, Oxford University, the Greenwich Observatory and the Mint, whose caretaker at that time was Isaac Newton.
The Great 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 (1701-14). However, thanks to this war, favorable conditions were created for Russia's struggle for the Baltic. Thus, there was a reorientation of Russia's foreign policy from the south to the north.
The great embassy of Peter I to Europe in 1697-98. On the right is a portrait of Peter in the clothes of a sailor during his stay in the Dutch Saardam. Marcus engravings. 1699
Daniel Maclise Mid 19th century Peter I in Deptford in 1698. From the collection of the London Gallery
Dobuzhinsky Mstislav Valerianovich. Peter the Great in Holland. Amsterdam, shipyards of the East India Company. (draft) 1910
Return. Critical years for Russia 1698-1700
In July 1698, the Great Embassy was interrupted by the news of a new streltsy rebellion in Moscow, which was suppressed even before the arrival of Peter. Upon the arrival of the tsar in Moscow (August 25), a search and inquiry began, which resulted in a one-time execution of about 800 archers (except for those executed during the suppression of the rebellion), and subsequently several thousand more until the spring of 1699.
Princess Sophia was tonsured 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 against the will of the clergy.
During the 15 months of his stay in Europe, Peter saw a lot and learned a lot. After the return of the tsar, his reforming activity began, initially aimed at changing the external signs that distinguish the Old Slavonic way of life from the Western European. Immediately, at the first meeting, the close boyars lost their beards. The following year, 1699, Peter cut off the traditional Russian long-brimmed clothes of dignitaries right at the feast with scissors. The new 7208th year 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 January 1 of the New Year.
Vasily Surikov Morning of the Streltsy Execution. 1881
TO BE CONTINUED...
The personality of Peter the Great stands apart in the history of Russia, since neither among his contemporaries, nor among his successors and descendants was there a person who could make such profound changes in the state, so infiltrate the historical memory of the Russian people, becoming at the same time semi-legendary, but the most striking her page. As a result of Peter's activities, Russia became an empire and took its place among the leading European powers.
Pyotr Alekseevich was born on June 9, 1672. His father was the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, and his mother, Natalia Naryshkina, was the second wife of the Tsar. At the age of 4, Peter lost his father, who died at 47. The upbringing of the prince was carried out by Nikita Zotov, who, by the standards of Russia at that time, was very educated. Peter was the youngest in a large family of Alexei Mikhailovich (13 children). In 1682, after the death of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, the struggle between two boyar clans escalated at the court - the Miloslavskys (relatives of the first wife of Alexei Mikhailovich) and the Naryshkins. The first believed that the sick Tsarevich Ivan should take the throne. The Naryshkins, like the patriarch, advocated the candidacy of a healthy and rather mobile 10-year-old Peter. As a result of the streltsy unrest, the zero option was chosen: both princes became kings, and their elder sister, Sophia, was appointed regent under them.
At first, Peter was little interested in state affairs: he often visited the German Sloboda, where he met his future associates Lefort and General Gordon. Peter spent most of his time in the villages of Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky near Moscow, where he created amusing regiments for entertainment, which later became the first guards regiments - Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky.
In 1689, a break occurs between Peter and Sophia. Peter demands that his sister be removed to the Novodevichy Convent, because by this time Peter and Ivan had already reached the age of majority and had to rule on their own. From 1689 to 1696 Peter I and Ivan V were co-rulers until the latter died.
Peter understood that the position of Russia did not allow her to fully implement her foreign policy plans, as well as to develop steadily internally. It was necessary to get access to the ice-free Black Sea in order to give an additional impetus to domestic trade and industry. That is why Peter continues the work begun by Sophia and intensifies the fight against Turkey within the framework of the Holy League, but instead of the traditional campaign to the Crimea, the young king throws all his energy to the south, under Azov, which he failed to take in 1695, but after construction in the winter of 1695 -1696 flotilla in Voronezh Azov was taken. The further participation of Russia in the Holy League, however, began to lose its meaning - Europe was preparing for the war for the Spanish Succession, so the fight against Turkey ceased to be a priority for the Austrian Habsburgs, and without the support of the allies, Russia could not resist the Ottomans.
In 1697-1698, Peter traveled incognito around Europe as part of the Great Embassy under the name of bombardier Peter Mikhailov. Then he makes personal acquaintances with the monarchs of the leading European countries. Abroad, Peter received extensive knowledge in navigation, artillery, and shipbuilding. After meeting with Augustus II, the Elector of Saxony and the Polish king, Peter decides to move the center of foreign policy activity from south to north and go to the shores of the Baltic Sea, which were to be recaptured from Sweden, the most powerful state in the then Baltic.
In an effort to make the state more efficient, Peter I carried out public administration reforms (the Senate, boards, bodies of higher state control and political investigation were created, the church was subordinate to the state, the Spiritual Regulations were introduced, the country was divided into provinces, a new capital, St. Petersburg, was built).
Understanding the backwardness of Russia in industrial development from the leading European powers, Peter used their experience in various fields - in manufacturing, trade, and culture. The sovereign paid great attention and even forcibly forced the nobles and merchants to develop the knowledge and enterprises necessary for the country. This includes: the creation of manufactories, metallurgical, mining and other plants, shipyards, marinas, canals. Peter perfectly understood how important the military successes of the country were, therefore he personally led the army in the Azov campaigns of 1695-1696, took part in the development of strategic and tactical operations during the Northern War of 1700-1721, the Prut campaign of 1711, the Persian campaign of 1722-23.
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Valuev Anton Vadimovich
February 8 is the Day of Russian Science, founded by Peter I the Great, an outstanding statesman and public figure, the Tsar - a reformer, the founder of the Russian Empire. It was through his work that the Academy of Sciences was established in St. Petersburg, in which outstanding representatives of domestic and foreign science worked from generation to generation for the benefit of Russia. Let me congratulate my colleagues on their professional holiday and wish them interesting work, constantly improving their knowledge and experience, while always remaining true to their convictions, striving to multiply the centuries-old traditions of Russian science.
Valuev Anton Vadimovich/ Candidate of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences
By decree of Peter the Great, the Senate, the highest body of state executive power, was established in St. Petersburg. The Senate lasted from 1711 to 1917. One of the most important and influential institutions in the system of secular government of the Russian Empire.
Valuev Anton Vadimovich/ Candidate of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences
The Great Embassy of the young sovereign Peter Alekseevich is considered a turning point in the history of the European modernization of the socio-political system of Russia. During the Embassy, the future emperor saw Western Europe with his own eyes and appreciated its great potential. After returning to their homeland, the renewal processes accelerated many times over. Diplomatic and trade-economic relations, industrial production, science, culture and military affairs developed rapidly. In a sense, this was the real "window to Europe" that Tsar Peter opened for Russia.
Valuev Anton Vadimovich/ Candidate of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences
The talent of a statesman is visible in his attitude to the development of the human factor, personality, social potential of the country. And here Peter I did a lot to strengthen both public ties and internal stability, and, as a result, the positions of the Russian Empire on the world stage. The personnel policy of the Petrine era was based on two foundations: the talent of each person - regardless of his social origin - and his desire to be useful to the Fatherland. In 1714, by the Decree of Peter, the production of nobles to the rank of officer was prohibited, if before that they had not served as ordinary soldiers. Six years later, in a new decree, Peter secured the right of every senior officer to receive a patent of nobility and transfer the title of nobility by inheritance. In practice, this meant that thanks to his talents and the courage and heroism shown in real conditions, a person honestly earned the right to move to another, higher class. This was an important step in updating the class hierarchy of the Russian Empire.
Valuev Anton Vadimovich/ Candidate of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences
May 18 is a doubly important date in the military history of our Fatherland. In 1703, at the mouth of the Neva, thirty Russian boats under the command of Peter I, during a daring raid, captured two Swedish military frigates, Astrild and Gedan. This event is considered the beginning of the heroic history of the Baltic Fleet. A year later, in order to strengthen military positions in the Baltic, by decree of Peter I, Kronshlot, the fort of Kronstadt, was founded. Three centuries have passed since then, and the Baltic Fleet and Kronstadt have always defended and defend the interests of Russia. Solemn events on this day are held in St. Petersburg and Kronstadt, cities of Russian naval glory. The founder of the Russian Empire, the Baltic Fleet, Kronstadt - vivat !!!
Smart Ivan Mikhailovich
Nice, informative article. Although it is worth noting that in the course of pro-Western official history, "improved" in the matter of distorting the Truth since the time of the first Romanov-Westerners, Peter Romanov looks like a benefactor of the Fatherland, the "father of the peoples" of Russia-Eurasia.
But the Russian people still retained information that "the Germans replaced the tsar" - either in infancy, or already in his youth (A.A. Gordeev). And most likely, the truth is that Peter the 1st was recruited by Catholic Jesuits, who tirelessly carry out their work on the implementation of "Drang nah Osten" - "Onslaught on the East" (B.P. Kutuzov).
For "... it must be said that under Peter I, the colonialists were no longer embarrassed to "spend the human resources" of the country they captured -" in the era of Peter the Great "population decline
Muscovite Rus was, according to various historians and researchers, about 20 to 40% of the total population.
However, the population of Muscovite Rus' was also declining as a result of the flight of the people from the despotism of the colonialists. And the people fled from them mainly to Tataria (see below).
Actually, I must say, Peter Romanov began the “Europeanization” of Rus'-Muscovy with his family. First of all, he imprisoned his wife from a native Russian family, Evdokia Lopukhina, in a monastery - in prison, that is. She dared to object to the bullying of her husband and his Western European entourage over the Fatherland - in that, apparently, she seriously interfered with the "implementation of Western culture and progress.")
But the girl Mons from the German settlement helped Peter in every possible way in that introduction. Peter changed his Russian wife for her - a beauty and a clever girl. And the son of Alexei, since he, too, stubbornly did not want to “Europeanize” with age, was put to death. But before that, Peter, using all the skills he had learned from the Jesuit teachers, long and stubbornly "led the search" for Alexei. That is, under torture he interrogated his son - why is he opposed to this "Europeanization", and who are his accomplices in this "dark" and villainous, according to the "tsar-enlightener" case (7)...."
(From the book "HERITAGE OF THE TATARS" (Moscow, Algorithm, 2012). Author G.R. Enikeev).
Also, about all this and much more hidden from us from the true history of the Fatherland, read in the book “The Great Horde: Friends, Enemies and Heirs. (Moscow-Tatar coalition: XIV–XVII centuries)”– (Moscow, Algorithm, 2011). The author is the same.
Valuev Anton Vadimovich/ Candidate of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences
Russia owes many transformations to Peter the Great. So, it was precisely according to his decree of December 15, 1699 that the Julian chronology and the Julian calendar were approved in Russia. Since then, the New Year in our country began to be celebrated not from September 1, but from January 1. Under Peter the Great, many of the most important cultural attributes of this folk celebration were laid - decorated fir trees, fireworks, New Year's carnivals and many other winter entertainments. On the eve of the New Year holidays, according to tradition, it is customary to sum up the results of the past year and hopefully make plans for the future. I would like to wish all colleagues and project participants pleasant New Year's Eve troubles, more joy, family warmth, comfort, happiness. May new creative plans, successful and interesting ideas await us in the New Year 2016, may they come true!
The history of Russia is diverse and interesting. Peter 1 was able to have a huge impact on her. In his reform activities, he relied on the experience of Western countries, but acted on the basis of the needs of Russia, while not having a definite system and program for transformations at all. The first Russian emperor was able to lead the country out of the "troubled" time into the progressive European world, forced to respect the power and reckon with it. Of course, he was a key figure in the formation of the state.
Politics and government
Consider the policy and reign of Peter 1 briefly. He was able to create all the necessary conditions for a wide acquaintance with Western civilization, and the process of abandoning the old foundations was rather painful for Rus'. An important feature of the reforms was that they affected all social strata, in this the history of the reign of Peter 1 was very different from the activities of his predecessors.
But in general, Peter's policy was aimed at strengthening the country, introducing it to culture. True, he often acted from a position of strength, however, he was able to create a powerful country, with an emperor at the head, who has absolute unlimited power.
Before Peter 1, Russia lagged far behind economically and technically from other countries, but conquests and transformations in all areas of life led to the strengthening, expansion of the empire's borders and its development.
The policy of Peter 1 was to overcome the crisis of traditionalism through many reforms, as a result of which the modernized Russia became one of the main participants in international political games. She actively lobbied for her interests. Its authority grew significantly, and Peter himself began to be considered a model of a great reformer.
He laid the foundations of Russian culture and created an effective management system that was preserved for many years.
Many experts, studying Russian history, believe that the implementation of reforms by force was unacceptable, although the opinion is not denied that otherwise the country simply could not be raised, and the emperor should be tough. Despite the reconstruction, the country did not get rid of the system of serfdom. On the contrary, the economy rested on it, a stable army consisted of peasants. This was the main contradiction in the ongoing reforms of Peter the Great, so the prerequisites for a crisis in the future appeared.
Biography
Peter 1 (1672-1725) was the youngest son in the marriage of A. M. Romanov and N. K. Naryshkina. Learning the alphabet began on 03/12/1677, when he was not yet five years old. Peter 1, whose biography was full of bright events from childhood, later became a great emperor.
The prince studied very willingly, loved different stories and reading books. When the queen found out about this, she ordered to give him books on history from the library of the palace.
In 1676, Peter 1, whose biography at that time was marked by the death of his father, remained in the upbringing of his older brother. He was appointed heir, but because of poor health, ten-year-old Peter was proclaimed sovereign. The Miloslavskys did not want to come to terms with this, and therefore the Streltsy rebellion was provoked, after which both Peter and Ivan were on the throne.
Peter and his mother lived in Izmailovo, the ancestral home of the Romanovs, or in the village of Preobrazhensky. The tsarevich never received a church and secular education, he existed on his own. Energetic, very mobile, he often played battles with his peers.
In the German Quarter, he met his first love and made many friends. The beginning of the reign of Peter 1 was marked by a riot organized by Sophia, who was trying to get rid of her brother. She did not want to give power into his hands. In 1689, the prince had to take refuge in. The regiments and most of the court joined him, and sister Sophia was removed from the government and imprisoned by force in a monastery.
Peter 1 was established on the throne. From that moment on, his biography becomes even more eventful both in his personal life and in state activity. He participated in campaigns against Turkey, went as a volunteer to Europe, where he took a course in artillery sciences, studied shipbuilding in England, and made many reforms in Russia. He was married twice and had 14 officially recognized children.
Personal life of Peter I
She became the first wife of the king, whom they married in 1689. The mother chose the bride for the great sovereign, and he did not feel tenderness for her, but only hostility. In 1698, she was forcibly tonsured a nun. Personal life is a separate page of the book, in which the story of Peter 1 could be described. On his way he met Martha, a Livonian beauty who was captured by the Russians, and the sovereign, seeing her in the Menshikov house, no longer wanted to part with her. After their wedding, she became Empress Catherine I.
Peter loved her very much, she bore him many children, but after learning about her betrayal, he decided not to bequeath the throne to his wife. The king had a difficult relationship with his son from his first marriage. The emperor died without having time to leave a will.
Hobbies of Peter I
Even as a child, the future great Tsar Peter 1 gathered "amusing" regiments from his peers and launched battles. In later life, it was these well-trained regiments that became the main guard. Peter was very inquisitive by nature, and therefore he was interested in many crafts and sciences. The fleet is another passion of his, he was seriously engaged in shipbuilding. He mastered fencing, horseback riding, pyrotechnics, and many other sciences.
Beginning of the reign
The beginning of the reign of Peter 1 was a dual kingdom, as he shared power with his brother Ivan. After the deposition of his sister Sophia, Peter did not rule the state for the first time. Already at the age of 22, the young king turned his eyes to the throne, and all his hobbies began to take on real shapes for the country. His first Azov campaign was undertaken in 1695, in the spring of 1696 - the second. Then the sovereign begins to build a fleet.
Appearance of Peter I
From infancy, Peter was a rather large baby. Even as a child, he was handsome both in face and figure, and among his peers he was above all. In moments of excitement and anger, the king's face twitched nervously, and this frightened those around him. Duke Saint-Simon gave his exact description: “Tsar Peter 1 is tall, well-built, a little thin. Round face and beautifully shaped eyebrows. The nose is a little short, but not striking, large lips, dark skin. The king has black eyes of beautiful shape, lively and very penetrating. The look is very welcoming and majestic.
Epoch
Of great interest is the era of Peter 1, as this is the beginning of the growth and comprehensive development of Russia, turning it into a great power. Thanks to the transformations of the monarch and his activities, a system of administration and education was built over several decades, a regular army and a navy were formed. Industrial enterprises grew, handicrafts and crafts developed, and domestic and foreign trade improved. There was a constant provision of jobs for the population of the country.
Culture in Russia under Peter I
Russia changed a lot when Peter ascended the throne. The reforms he carried out were of great importance for the country. Russia has become stronger, constantly expanding its borders. It has become a European state with which other countries had to reckon. Not only military affairs and trade were developed, but there were also cultural achievements. The New Year began to be calculated from January 1, a ban on beards appeared, the first Russian newspaper and foreign books in translation were published. Career growth without education has become impossible.
Having ascended the throne, the great emperor made many changes, and the history of the reign of Peter 1 is diverse and majestic. One of the most important decrees stated that the custom of passing the throne to descendants only through the male line was abolished, and anyone could be appointed an heir at the will of the king. The decree was very unusual, and it had to be substantiated and the consent of the subjects forced to be given under oath. But death did not give him the opportunity to put it into practice.
Etiquette in the time of Peter
Significant changes took place during the time of Peter 1 and in etiquette. The courtiers wore European clothes, a beard could be kept only by paying a large fine. It became fashionable to wear Western-style wigs. Women who were not previously present at palace receptions have now become obligatory guests, their education has improved, since it was believed that a girl should be able to dance, know foreign languages and play musical instruments.
The character of Peter I
The character of the monarch was controversial. Peter is quick-tempered and at the same time cold-blooded, wasteful and stingy, tough and merciful, very demanding and often condescending, rude and gentle at the same time. This is how those who knew him describe him. But at the same time, the great emperor was an integral nature, his life was completely devoted to serving the state, it was to him that he dedicated his life.
Peter 1 was very thrifty when he spent money on personal needs, but he did not skimp on the construction of his palaces and his beloved wife. The emperor believed that the easiest way to reduce vices was to reduce his needs, and he should set an example for his subjects. Two of his hypostases are clearly visible here: one is the great and powerful emperor, whose palace in Peterhof is not inferior to Versailles, the other is a thrifty owner, setting an example of an economical life for his subjects. Avarice and prudence were also evident to European residents.
reforms
The beginning of the reign of Peter 1 was marked by many reforms, mainly related to military affairs, which were often carried out by force, and did not always lead to the desired result. But after 1715 they became more systematic. We touched upon the reform from the first years, which turned out to be ineffective in governing the country. If we consider the reign of Peter 1 briefly, we can highlight several important points. He organized the Near Office. Many boards were introduced, each responsible for its own direction (taxes, foreign policy, trade, courts, etc.). underwent radical changes. The post of fiscal was introduced to control employees. The reforms affected all aspects of life: military, church, financial, commercial, autocratic. Thanks to the radical restructuring of all spheres of life, Russia began to be considered a great power, which was what Peter 1 wanted.
Peter I: important years
If we consider important dates in the life and work of the monarch, then Peter 1, whose years were marked by various events, was most active at some time intervals:
The beginning of the reign of Peter 1 was built from the very beginning on the struggle for the state. They didn't call him the Great for nothing. Dates of the reign of Peter 1: 1682-1725. Being strong-willed, resolute, talented, sparing no effort or time to achieve the goal, the king was strict with everyone, but first of all with himself. Often ruthless, but it was thanks to his vigor, determination, assertiveness and some cruelty that Russia changed dramatically, becoming a Great Power. The era of Peter 1 changed the face of the state for many centuries. And the city he founded became the capital of the empire for 300 years. And now St. Petersburg is one of the most beautiful cities in Russia and proudly bears its name in honor of the great founder.
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Biography, life story of Peter I
Peter I the Great (Peter Alekseevich) is the last Tsar of All Rus' from the Romanov dynasty (since 1682) and the first All-Russian Emperor (since 1721).The Early Years of Peter. 1672-1689 years
Peter was born on the night of May 30 (June 9), 1672 (in 7180 according to the then accepted chronology "from the creation of the world"). The exact place of Peter's birth is unknown; some historians indicated the birthplace of the Terem Palace of the Kremlin, and according to folk tales, Peter was born in the village of Kolomenskoye, and Izmailovo was also indicated.
Father - Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich - had numerous offspring: Peter I was the 14th child, but the first from his second wife, Tsarina Natalya Naryshkina. June 29 on the day of St. Apostles Peter and 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.
Education
After spending a year with the queen, he was given to the education of nannies. In the 4th year of Peter's life, in 1676, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich died. The guardian of the prince 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 worse educated clerks be engaged in Peter’s education. N. M. Zotov and A. Nesterov. In addition, Peter did not have the opportunity to get an education from a university graduate or from a secondary school teacher, since neither universities nor secondary schools existed in the Muscovite state during Peter's childhood, and among the estates of Russian society, only clerks, clerks and higher clergy were trained literacy. The clerks taught Peter to read and write from 1676 to 1680. Peter was able to subsequently compensate for the shortcomings of basic education with rich practical exercises.
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Streltsy rebellion of 1682 and the coming to power of Sofia Alekseevna
On April 27 (May 7), 1682, after 6 years of reign, the sickly Tsar Fedor Alekseevich died. The question arose of who should inherit the throne: the older, sickly Ivan, according to custom, or the young Peter. Enlisting the support of Patriarch Joachim, the Naryshkins and their supporters on April 27 (May 7), 1682, elevated Peter to the throne. In fact, the Naryshkin clan came to power and Artamon Matveev, summoned from exile, declared the “great guardian”.
This gave impetus to the start of the Streltsy rebellion. Natalya Kirillovna, hoping to calm the rebels, together with the patriarch and the boyars, led Peter and his brother to the Red Porch. The consequence of the horrors of the streltsy performances experienced was Peter's illness: with strong excitement, he began to have convulsive movements of his face. However, the uprising was not over. On May 26, elected representatives from the archery 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 to the kingdom.
On May 29, the archers insisted that Princess Sofya Alekseevna take over the government due to the infancy of her brothers.
In the Armory of the Kremlin, a double throne for young tsars with a small window in the back was preserved, through which Princess Sophia and those close to her told them how to behave and what to say during palace ceremonies.
Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, together with her son Peter, the second tsar, had to retire from the court to a palace near Moscow in the village of Preobrazhensky. At this time, in the biography of Peter 1, an interest in military activities arose, he created "amusing" regiments. He is fond of firearms, shipbuilding, spends a lot of time in the German settlement.
The first marriage of Peter I
The German settlement was the nearest "neighbor" of the village of Preobrazhenskoye, and Peter had long been eyeing her curious life. An increasing number of foreigners at the court of Tsar Peter, such as Franz Timmermann and Karsten Brandt, came from the German Quarter. All this imperceptibly led to the fact that the king became a frequent guest in the settlement, where he soon turned out to be a great admirer of the laid-back foreign life. Peter lit a German pipe, began to attend German parties with dancing and drinking, met Patrick Gordon, Franz Lefort - Peter's future associates, started an affair with Anna Mons. Peter's mother strongly opposed this. In order to reason with her 17-year-old son, Natalya Kirillovna decided to marry him to Evdokia Lopukhina, the daughter of the okolnichi.
Peter did not argue with his mother, and on January 27, 1689, the wedding of the “younger” tsar was played. However, less than a month later, Peter left his wife and left for a few days at Lake Pleshcheyevo. 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 disturbed Princess Sophia, who understood that with the coming of age of her half-brother, she would have to give up power.
On July 8, 1689, on the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the first public conflict took place between the matured Peter and the Ruler. On that day, according to custom, a religious procession was made from the Kremlin to the Kazan Cathedral. At the end of 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 for crosses and banners. Unprepared for such an outcome, Peter left the course.
In August 1689, Princess Sophia tried to turn the archers against Peter, but 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.
The elder brother, Tsar Ivan (or John), met Peter in the Assumption Cathedral and in fact 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 continued to be co-tsar. Little participated in the board at first, and Peter himself, giving authority to the Naryshkin family.
Azov campaigns. 1695-1696
The priority of Peter I in the first years of autocracy was the continuation of the war with the Ottoman Empire and the Crimea. Instead of campaigns against the Crimea, undertaken during the reign of Princess Sophia, Peter I decided to strike at the Turkish fortress 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 autumn of 1695, preparations began for a new campaign. Peter I took part in the siege with the rank of captain in a galley. Without waiting for the assault, on July 19, 1696, the fortress surrendered. So the first exit of Russia to the southern seas was opened.
However, Peter failed to get access to the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait: he remained under the control of the Ottoman Empire. To finance the construction of the fleet, new types of taxes are introduced. At this time, the first signs of dissatisfaction with the activities of Peter appear. 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 fortress of Azov 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 for training abroad, and soon he himself sets off on his first trip to Europe.
Great Embassy. 1697-1698
In March 1697, the Great Embassy was sent to Western Europe through Livonia, the main purpose of which was to find allies against the Ottoman Empire. In total, up to 250 people entered the embassy, among which, under the name of the constable of the Preobrazhensky regiment Peter Mikhailov, was Tsar Peter I himself. For the first time, the Russian Tsar undertook a trip outside his state.
Peter visited Riga, Koenigsberg, Brandenburg, Holland, England, Austria, a visit to Venice and to 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 the study of shipbuilding, military affairs and other sciences. Peter worked as a carpenter at the shipyards of the East India Company, with the participation of the king, the ship "Peter and Paul" was built. In England, he visited a foundry, an arsenal, parliament, Oxford University, the Greenwich Observatory and the Mint, whose caretaker at that time was Isaac Newton. He was primarily interested in the technical achievements of Western countries, and not in the legal system. It is said that when Peter visited Westminster Hall, he saw there "lawyers", 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 lawmen, Your Majesty." "Legalists! Peter was surprised. - Why are they? In all my kingdom there are only two lawyers, and then I suppose one of them will be hanged when I return home.. True, having visited the English parliament incognito, where the speeches of the deputies before King William III were translated to him, the king said: “It’s fun to hear when the sons of the patronymic tell the king clearly the truth, this should be learned from the British”.
Return. Critical years for Russia 1698-1700
In July 1698, the Great Embassy was interrupted by the news of a new streltsy rebellion in Moscow, which was suppressed even before the arrival of Peter. Upon the arrival of the tsar in Moscow (August 25), a search and inquiry began, which resulted in a one-time execution of about 800 archers (except those executed during the suppression of the rebellion), and subsequently several hundred more until the spring of 1699. Princess Sophia and Peter's unloved wife, Evdokia Lopukhina, were tonsured as nuns and sent to a monastery.
During the 15 months of his stay abroad, Peter saw a lot and learned a lot. After the return of the tsar on August 25, 1698, his reforming activity began, initially aimed at changing the external signs that distinguish the Old Slavonic way of life from the Western European. In the Transfiguration Palace, Peter suddenly began to cut the beards of the nobles, and already on August 29, 1698, the famous decree was issued "About wearing a German dress, about shaving beards and mustaches, about going to schismatics in the attire indicated for them", which banned the wearing of beards from September 1.
The new 7208th year 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 January 1 of the New Year, and not on the day of the autumn equinox, as was celebrated earlier. In his special decree it was written:
“Because in Russia they consider the New Year in different ways, from now on stop fooling people's heads and count the New Year everywhere from the first of January. And as a sign of a good undertaking and fun, congratulate each other on the New Year, wishing well-being in business and prosperity in the family. In honor of the New Year, make decorations from fir trees, amuse children, ride sleds from the mountains. And for adults, drunkenness and massacre should not be committed - there are enough other days for that.
Creation of the Russian Empire. 1700-1724 years
For the development of trade, access to the Baltic Sea was required. So the next stage in the reign of Peter 1 was the war with Sweden. Having made peace with Turkey, he captured the fortress of Noteburg, Nienschanz. In May 1703, the construction of St. Petersburg began. In the next - taken Narva, Dorpat. In June 1709, Sweden was defeated in the Battle of Poltava. Shortly after the death of Charles XII, peace was concluded between Russia and Sweden. New lands joined Russia, access to the Baltic Sea was obtained.
After the victory in the Northern War and the conclusion of the Peace of Nystadt in September 1721, the Senate and the Synod decided to present Peter with the title of emperor of all Russia. The population of the Russian Empire was up to 15 million subjects and was inferior in Europe in terms of numbers only to France (about 20 million).
Also during his reign, Kamchatka was annexed, the coast of the Caspian Sea was conquered. Peter 1 carried out military reform several times. Basically, it concerned the collection of money for the maintenance of the army, navy, it was carried out by force.
Transformations of Peter I
All internal state activity of Peter can be conditionally divided into two periods: 1695-1715 and 1715-1725.
The peculiarity of the first stage was the haste and not always thoughtful nature, which was explained by the conduct of the Northern War. In the second period, the reforms were more systematic.
Peter carried out a reform of state administration, transformations in the army, a navy was created, a reform of church administration was carried out, aimed at eliminating church jurisdiction autonomous from the state and subordinating the Russian church hierarchy to the Emperor. Financial reform was also carried out, measures were taken to develop industry and trade.
After returning from the Great Embassy, Peter I led the fight against the external manifestations of the "outdated" way of life (the most famous ban on beards), but no less paid attention to the introduction of the nobility to education and secular Europeanized culture. Secular educational institutions began to appear, the first Russian newspaper was founded, translations of many books into Russian appeared. Success in the service of Peter made the nobles dependent on education.
Peter was clearly aware of the need for enlightenment, and took a number of drastic measures to this end. The goals of mass education were to be served by the digital schools created by decree of 1714 in provincial cities, designed to “to teach children of all ranks to read and write, numbers and geometry”. It was supposed to create two such schools in each province, where education was supposed to be free. Garrison schools were opened for soldiers' children, and a network of theological schools was created for the training of priests in 1721. Peter's decrees introduced compulsory education for nobles and clergy, but a similar measure for the urban population met with fierce resistance and was canceled. Peter's attempt to create an all-estate elementary school failed (the creation of a network of schools ceased after his death, most of the digital schools under his successors were redesigned into class schools for the training of 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 1312 titles of books were printed in 1700-1725 (twice as many as in the entire previous history of Russian book printing).
There have been changes in the Russian language, which included 4.5 thousand new words borrowed from European languages.
In 1724, Peter approved the charter of the Academy of Sciences being organized (opened in 1725 after his death).
Of particular importance was the construction of stone 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 (theatre, masquerades). The interior decoration of houses, the way of life, the composition of food, etc. have changed.
By a special decree of the tsar in 1718, assemblies were introduced, representing a new form of communication between people in Russia.
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 "arts" abroad. In the second quarter of the XVIII 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 ordering to write full names in petitions and other documents instead of pejorative half-names (Ivashka, Senka, etc.), not to fall on your knees before the king, to wear a hat in the cold in winter in front of the house where the king is, do not shoot. He explained the need for these innovations as follows: “Less meanness, more zeal for service and loyalty to me and the state - this honor is characteristic of the king ...”
Peter tried to change the position of women in Russian society. He by special decrees (1700, 1702 and 1724) forbade forced marriage and marriage. It was prescribed that there should be at least six weeks between the betrothal and the wedding, "so that the bride and groom may recognize each other". If during this time, it was said in the decree, “the bridegroom will not want to take the bride, or the bride will not want to marry the groom,” no matter how the parents insist, “there is to be freedom”. Since 1702, the bride herself (and not just her relatives) was given the formal right to terminate the betrothal and upset the arranged marriage, and neither side had the right to “beat with a forehead for a penalty”. Legislative prescriptions 1696-1704 about public festivities introduced the obligation to participate in the celebrations and festivities of all Russians, including "female".
In general, Peter's reforms were aimed at strengthening the state and familiarizing the elite with European culture while strengthening absolutism. In the course of the reforms, the technical and economic backwardness of Russia from a number of other European states was overcome, access to the Baltic Sea was won, and transformations were carried out in many areas of the life of Russian society. Gradually, among the nobility, a different system of values, worldview, aesthetic ideas took shape, which was fundamentally different from the values and worldview of most representatives of other estates. At the same time, the people's forces were extremely depleted, the prerequisites (Decree of Succession) were created for the crisis of the supreme power, which led to the "epoch of palace coups".
Orders
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 (Polish Commonwealth) - in response to the awarding of the King of the Commonwealth Augustus II with the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.
1713 - Order of the Elephant (Denmark) - for success in the Northern War.
Character
In Peter I, practical sharpness and dexterity, gaiety, apparent frankness were combined with spontaneous impulses in expressing both affection and anger, and sometimes with unbridled cruelty.
In his youth, Peter indulged in insane drunken orgies with his comrades. In anger, he could beat those close to him. He chose "noble people" 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 were stripped of their dresses and left naked ...”. The All-Joking, All-Drunken, and Most Extravagant Cathedral, created by him, was engaged in mockery of everything that was valued and revered in society as primordial household or moral-religious foundations. He personally acted as an executioner during the execution of participants in the Streltsy uprising.
During the fighting on the territory of the Commonwealth on July 11, 1705, Peter was present at Vespers in the Basilian Monastery in Polotsk. After one of the Basilians called Josaphat Kuntsevich, who oppressed the Orthodox population, a holy martyr, the tsar 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 distinguished by 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 brought up with his mother in terms that were alien to Peter's reformist activities. The rest of the children of Peter and Evdokia died shortly after birth. In 1698, Evdokia Lopukhina was involved in the Streltsy revolt, and was exiled to a monastery.
Alexei Petrovich, the official heir to the Russian throne, condemned the transformation of his father, and eventually fled to Vienna under the patronage of a relative of his wife (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, which consisted of 127 people, sentenced Alexei to death, finding him guilty of high treason. On June 26 (July 7), 1718, the prince, without waiting for the execution of the sentence, died in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
From his marriage with Princess Charlotte of Brunswick, Tsarevich Alexei left his son Peter Alekseevich (1715-1730), who became Emperor Peter II in 1727, and his daughter Natalia Alekseevna (1714-1728).
In 1703, Peter I met 19-year-old Katerina, nee Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya, who was captured by Russian troops as spoils of war during the capture of the Swedish fortress of Marienburg. Peter took the former maid from the Baltic peasants from Alexander Menshikov and made her his mistress. In 1704, Katerina gave birth to their first child, named Peter, the next year, Pavel (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 (ruled 1741-1761).
Katerina alone could cope with the tsar in his fits of anger, knew how to calm Peter's attacks of convulsive headache with kindness and patient attention. The sound of Katerina's voice calmed Peter; then she:
“I sat him down and took him, caressing him by the head, which I scratched slightly. This had a magical effect on him, he fell asleep in a few minutes. In order not to disturb his sleep, she held his head on her breast, sitting motionless for two or three hours. After that, he woke up completely fresh and alert.
The official wedding of Peter I with Ekaterina Alekseevna took place on February 19, 1712, shortly after returning from the Prut campaign. In 1724, Peter crowned Catherine as empress and co-ruler. Ekaterina Alekseevna gave birth to her husband 11 children, but most of them died in childhood, except for Anna and Elizabeth.
Death of Peter
In the last years of his reign, Peter was very ill (presumably, kidney stone disease, 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 life physician Blumentrost. From Olonets, Peter traveled to Staraya Russa and in November went to St. Petersburg by water. At Lakhta, he had to, standing waist-deep in water, rescue a boat with soldiers that had run aground. The attacks of the disease intensified, but Peter, not paying attention to them, continued to deal with state affairs. On January 17, 1725, he had such a bad time that he ordered a camp church to be built in the room next to his bedroom, and on January 22 he confessed. The strength began to leave the patient, 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 were amnestied (excluding murderers and those convicted of repeated robbery). On the same day, at the end of the second hour, Peter demanded paper, began to write, but the pen fell out of his hands, only two words could be made out of what was written: "Give it all...". The tsar then ordered his daughter Anna Petrovna to be called so that she would write under his dictation, but when she arrived, Peter had already fallen into oblivion ..
When it became obvious that the emperor was dying, the question arose of who would take the place of Peter. 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 Peter's death, gathered on the night of January 27-28, 1725 to decide on the successor of Peter the Great. Guards officers entered the meeting room, two guards regiments entered the square, and under the drumbeat of the troops withdrawn by the party of Ekaterina Alekseevna and Menshikov, the Senate adopted a unanimous decision by 4 o'clock in the morning on January 28. 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 the sixth hour in the morning on January 28 (February 8), 1725, Peter the Great died 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.
Peter I Alekseevich the Great. Born May 30 (June 9), 1672 - died January 28 (February 8), 1725. The last tsar of all Rus' (since 1682) and the first All-Russian Emperor (since 1721).
As a representative of the Romanov dynasty, Peter was proclaimed king at the age of 10, began to rule independently from 1689. The formal co-ruler of Peter was his brother Ivan (until his death in 1696).
From a young age, showing interest in the sciences and a foreign way of life, Peter was the first of the Russian tsars to make a long journey to the countries of Western Europe. Upon returning from it, in 1698, Peter launched large-scale reforms of the Russian state and social order.
One of the main achievements of Peter was the solution of the task set 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 take the title of Russian emperor in 1721.
In historical science and in public opinion from the end of the 18th century to the present, there are diametrically opposed assessments of both the personality of Peter I and his role in the history of Russia.
In the official Russian historiography, Peter was considered to be one of the most prominent statesmen who determined the direction of Russia's development in the 18th century. However, many historians, including N. M. Karamzin, V. O. Klyuchevsky, P. N. Milyukov and others, expressed sharply critical assessments.
Peter the Great (documentary)
Peter was born on the night of May 30 (June 9), 1672 (in 7180, according to the then accepted chronology “from the creation of the world”): “In the current year of May 180, on the 30th day, for the prayers of the holy Father, God forgave Our Queen and the Great Princess Natalia Kirillovna, and gave birth to Us a son, the Blessed Tsarevich and Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich of All Great and Small and White Russia, and his name day is June 29th.
The exact place of Peter's birth is unknown. Some historians indicated the birthplace of the Terem Palace of the Kremlin, and according to folk tales, Peter was born in the village of Kolomenskoye, and Izmailovo was also indicated.
The father - the tsar - had numerous offspring: Peter I was the 14th child, but the first from his second wife, Tsaritsa Natalya Naryshkina.
June 29 on the day of St. Apostles Peter and 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 older brother's name, as he was born on the same day as Fedor. It was not found either among 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 the education of nannies. In the 4th year of Peter's life, in 1676, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich died. The guardian of the tsarevich 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 worse educated clerks be engaged in Peter’s education. N. M. Zotov and A. Nesterov.
In addition, Peter did not have the opportunity to get an education from a university graduate or from a secondary school teacher, since neither universities nor secondary schools existed in the Russian kingdom during Peter's childhood, and among the estates of Russian society, only clerks, clerks and higher clergy were taught to read.
The clerks taught Peter to read and write from 1676 to 1680. Peter was able to subsequently compensate for the shortcomings of basic education with rich practical exercises.
The death of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the accession of his eldest son Fyodor (from Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna, nee Miloslavskaya) pushed Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna and her relatives, the Naryshkins, into the background. Tsarina Natalya was forced to go to the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.
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. Enlisting the support of Patriarch Joachim, the Naryshkins and their supporters on April 27 (May 7), 1682, elevated Peter to the throne.
In fact, the Naryshkin clan came to power and Artamon Matveev, summoned from exile, declared the “great guardian”. Supporters of Ivan Alekseevich found it difficult to support their pretender, who could not reign due to extremely poor health. The organizers of the actual palace coup announced a version of the hand-written transfer of the “scepter” by the dying Fyodor Alekseevich to his younger brother Peter, but there was no reliable evidence of this.
Streltsy revolt of 1682. Princess 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.
Enlisting the support of Patriarch Joachim, the Naryshkins and their supporters on April 27 (May 7), 1682, elevated Peter to the throne. In fact, the Naryshkin clan came to power and Artamon Matveev, summoned from exile, declared the “great guardian”.
Supporters of Ivan Alekseevich found it difficult to support their pretender, who could not reign due to extremely poor health. The organizers of the actual palace coup announced a version of the hand-written transfer of the “scepter” by the dying Fyodor Alekseevich to his younger brother Peter, but there was no reliable evidence of this.
The Miloslavskys, relatives of Tsarevich Ivan and Princess Sophia by their mother, saw in the proclamation of Peter the Tsar an infringement of their interests. Streltsy, of which there were more than 20 thousand in Moscow, have long shown discontent and willfulness. Apparently, instigated by the Miloslavskys, on May 15 (May 25), 1682, they spoke openly: shouting that the Naryshkins had strangled Tsarevich Ivan, they moved to the Kremlin.
Natalya Kirillovna, hoping to calm the rebels, together with the patriarch and the 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 Naryshkins.
On May 26, elected representatives from the archery 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. On June 25, he crowned them to the kingdom.
On May 29, the archers insisted that Princess Sofya Alekseevna take over the government due to the infancy of her brothers. Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, together with her son Peter, the second tsar, had to retire from the court to a palace near Moscow in the village of Preobrazhensky. In the Armory of the Kremlin, a double throne for young tsars with a small window in the back was preserved, through which Princess Sophia and those close to her told them how to behave and what to say during palace ceremonies.
funny shelves
Peter spent all his free time away from the palace - in the villages of Vorobyov and Preobrazhensky. Every year his interest in military affairs increased. Peter dressed and armed his "amusing" army, which consisted of peers in boyish games.
In 1685, his "amusing", dressed in foreign caftans, marched in regimental formation through Moscow from Preobrazhensky 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. The gunsmith Fyodor Sommer showed the tsar grenade and firearms. 16 guns were delivered from the Pushkar Order. To control heavy guns, the tsar took adult servants eager for military affairs from the Stable Order, who were dressed in uniforms of foreign cut and identified as amusing gunners. Sergei Bukhvostov was the first to put on a foreign uniform. Subsequently, Peter ordered a bronze bust of this first Russian soldier, as he called Bukhvostov. The amusing regiment began to be called Preobrazhensky, in the place of its quartering - the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.
In Preobrazhensky, opposite the palace, on the banks of the Yauza, a "fun town" was built. During the construction of the fortress, Peter himself worked actively, helping to cut logs and install cannons.
Here was quartered created by Peter "The Most Joking, The Most Drunk and the Most Maddened Cathedral"- a parody of the Orthodox Church. The fortress itself was named Preshburg, probably after the then famous Austrian fortress Presburg (now Bratislava - the capital of Slovakia), which he heard about from Captain Sommer.
Then, 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 associated with military affairs. Under the guidance of the Dutchman Timmerman, he studied arithmetic, geometry, and military sciences.
Walking one day with Timmerman in the village of Izmailovo, Peter went to the Linen Yard, in the barn of which he found an English boat.
In 1688, he instructed the Dutchman Karshten Brandt to repair, arm and equip this boat, and then lower it onto the Yauza River. However, Yauza and Millet Pond turned out to be cramped for the ship, so Peter went to Pereslavl-Zalessky, to Lake Pleshcheyevo, where he laid the first shipyard for the construction of ships.
There were already two "amusing" regiments: Semyonovsky, located in the village of Semyonovskoye, was added to Preobrazhensky. Preshburg already looked like a real fortress. Knowledgeable and experienced people were needed to command regiments and study military science. But among the Russian courtiers there were none. So Peter appeared in the German settlement.
The first marriage of Peter I
The German settlement was the closest "neighbor" of the village of Preobrazhenskoye, and Peter had been looking at her life with curiosity for a long time. An increasing number of foreigners at the court of Tsar Peter, such as Franz Timmermann and Karsten Brandt, came from the German Quarter. All this imperceptibly led to the fact that the king became a frequent guest in the settlement, where he soon turned out to be a great admirer of the laid-back foreign life.
Peter lit a German pipe, began to attend German parties with dancing and drinking, met Patrick Gordon, Franz Lefort- future associates of Peter, started an affair with Anna Mons. Peter's mother strongly opposed this.
To reason with her 17-year-old son, Natalya Kirillovna decided to marry him to Evdokia Lopukhina, the daughter of a roundabout.
Peter did not argue with his mother, and on January 27, 1689, the wedding of the “younger” tsar was played. However, less than a month later, Peter left his wife and left for a few days at Lake Pleshcheyevo.
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 disturbed Princess Sophia, who understood that with the coming of age of her half-brother, she would have to give up power. At one time, the supporters of the princess hatched a plan for the coronation, but Patriarch Joachim was categorically against it.
Campaigns against the Crimean Tatars, carried out in 1687 and 1689 by the favorite of the princess, Prince Vasily Golitsyn, were not very successful, but were presented as major and generously rewarded victories, which caused discontent among many.
On July 8, 1689, on the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the first public conflict took place between the matured Peter and the Ruler.
On that day, according to custom, a religious procession was made from the Kremlin to the Kazan Cathedral. At the end of 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 for crosses and banners. Unprepared for such an outcome, Peter left the course.
On August 7, 1689, unexpectedly for everyone, a decisive event took place. On this day, Princess Sophia ordered the head of the archers, Fyodor Shaklovity, to equip more of his people to the Kremlin, as if to be escorted to the Donskoy Monastery on a pilgrimage. At the same time, a rumor spread about a letter with the news that Tsar Peter decided at night to occupy the Kremlin with his “amusing” regiments, kill the princess, Tsar Ivan’s brother, and seize power.
Shaklovity gathered archery regiments in order to march in a "great assembly" to Preobrazhenskoye and beat all the supporters of Peter for their intention to kill Princess Sophia. Then they sent three riders to observe what was happening in Preobrazhensky with the task to immediately inform if Tsar Peter went somewhere alone or with regiments.
Supporters of Peter 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 performances experienced was Peter's illness: with strong excitement, he began to have convulsive movements of his face.
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, so that from all the regiments commanders and 10 privates were sent to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Princess Sophia strictly forbade this command to be carried out on pain of death, and a letter was sent to Tsar Peter with a notice that it was impossible to fulfill his request.
On August 27, a new letter of tsar Peter came - to go to all the regiments to the 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 in the Assumption Cathedral and in fact 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 co-tsar.
After the overthrow of Princess Sophia, power passed into the hands of people who rallied around Tsarina 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 tsar. 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 first persons of the government of Natalya Kirillovna (L.K. Naryshkin with B. A. Golitsyn) were forced to personally follow him.
On January 1, 1692, at the behest of Peter I, in Preobrazhenskoye, the “appointment” of N. M. Zotov to “all Yauza and all Kokuy patriarchs” was the tsar’s response to the appointment of Patriarch Adrian, committed against his will. After the death of Natalya Kirillovna, the tsar did not begin to remove the government of L.K. Naryshkin - B.A. Golitsyn, formed by his mother, but he ensured that it strictly carried out his will.
Azov campaigns of 1695 and 1696
The priority of Peter I in the first years of autocracy was the continuation of the war with the Ottoman Empire and the Crimea. Instead of campaigns against the Crimea, undertaken during the reign of Princess Sophia, Peter I decided to strike at the Turkish fortress of Azov, located at the confluence of the Don River into the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov.
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 autumn of 1695, preparations began for a new campaign. In Voronezh, the construction of a rowing Russian flotilla began.
In a short time, a flotilla was built from different ships, led by the 36-gun ship "Apostle Peter".
In May 1696, the 40,000-strong Russian army under the command of Generalissimo Shein again laid siege to 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 in a galley. Without waiting for the assault, on July 19, 1696, the fortress surrendered. So the first exit of Russia to the southern seas was opened.
The result of the Azov campaigns was the capture of the fortress of Azov, the beginning of the 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 get access to the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait: he remained under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Forces for the war with Turkey, as well as a full-fledged navy, Russia has not yet had.
To finance the construction of the fleet, new types of taxes were introduced: landowners were united in the so-called kumpanships 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 the activities of Peter appear. The conspiracy of Zikler, 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 fortress of Azov 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 for training abroad, and soon he himself sets off on his first trip to Europe.
Grand Embassy 1697-1698
In March 1697, the Great Embassy was sent to Western Europe through Livonia, the main purpose of which was to find allies against the Ottoman Empire. General-Admiral F. Ya. Lefort, General F. A. Golovin, head of the Ambassadorial Order P. B. Voznitsyn were appointed Grand Plenipotentiary Ambassadors.
In total, up to 250 people entered the embassy, among which, under the name of the constable of the Preobrazhensky regiment Peter Mikhailov, was Tsar Peter I himself. For the first time, the Russian Tsar undertook a trip outside his state.
Peter visited Riga, Koenigsberg, Brandenburg, Holland, England, Austria, a visit to Venice and to 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 the study of shipbuilding, military affairs and other sciences. Peter worked as a carpenter at the shipyards of the East India Company, with the participation of the king, the ship "Peter and Paul" was built.
In England, he visited a foundry, an arsenal, parliament, Oxford University, the Greenwich Observatory and the Mint, whose caretaker at that time was Isaac Newton. He was primarily interested in the technical achievements of Western countries, and not in the legal system.
It is said that when Peter visited the Palace of Westminster, he saw there "lawyers", 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. - Why are they? There are only two lawyers in my whole kingdom, and I propose 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 to him, the tsar said: “It’s fun to hear when the sons of the patronymic tell the king clearly the truth, this should be learned from the British.”
The Great 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 were created for Russia's struggle for the Baltic. Thus, there was a reorientation of Russia's foreign policy from the south to the north.
Peter in Russia
In July 1698, the Great Embassy was interrupted by the news of a new streltsy rebellion in Moscow, which was suppressed even before the arrival of Peter. Upon the arrival of the tsar in Moscow (August 25), a search and inquiry began, the result of which was a one-time execution of about 800 archers(except for those executed during the suppression of the rebellion), and subsequently several hundred more until the spring of 1699.
Princess Sophia was tonsured 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 against the will of the clergy.
During the 15 months of his stay abroad, Peter saw a lot and learned a lot. After the return of the tsar on August 25, 1698, his reforming activity began, initially aimed at changing the external signs that distinguish the Old Slavonic way of life from the Western European.
In the Transfiguration Palace, Peter suddenly began to cut the beards of the nobles, and already on August 29, 1698, the famous decree was issued "On wearing a German dress, on shaving beards and mustaches, on walking schismatics in the attire indicated for them" , which banned the wearing of beards from September 1.
“I want to transform secular goats, that is, citizens, and the clergy, that is, monks and priests. First, that without beards they should look good like Europeans, and others, so that, although with beards, they would teach parishioners in churches Christian virtues in the same way that I saw and heard pastors teaching in Germany..
The new 7208th year 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 autumnal equinox, as was celebrated earlier.
In his special decree it was written: “Because in Russia they consider the New Year in different ways, from now on stop fooling people's heads and count the New Year everywhere from the first of January. And as a sign of a good undertaking and fun, congratulate each other on the New Year, wishing well-being in business and prosperity in the family. In honor of the New Year, make decorations from fir trees, amuse children, ride sleds from the mountains. And for adults, drunkenness and massacre should not be committed - there are enough other days for that ”.
Northern War 1700-1721
Kozhukhovsky 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, Semyonovsky, Lefortovsky 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.
Preparing for the war with Sweden, Peter ordered in 1699 to make a general recruitment and begin training recruits according to the model established by the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovites. At the same time, a large number of foreign officers were recruited.
The war was supposed to start with the siege of Narva, so the main focus was on the organization of the infantry. There was simply not enough time to create all the necessary military structure. There were legends about the impatience of the king, he was eager to enter the war and test his army in action. Management, a combat support service, a strong equipped rear still had to be created.
After returning from the Grand 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 Commonwealth, led by the Saxon elector and the Polish king August II. The driving force behind the union was the desire of Augustus II to take away Livonia from Sweden. For help, he promised Russia the return of lands that previously belonged to the Russians (Ingermanland and Karelia).
For Russia to enter the war, it was necessary to make peace with the Ottoman Empire. After reaching a truce with the Turkish Sultan for a period of 30 years On August 19, 1700, Russia declared war on Sweden. under the pretext of revenge for the insult shown to Tsar Peter in Riga.
In turn, the plan of Charles XII was to defeat the opponents one by one. Shortly after the bombing of Copenhagen, Denmark on August 8, 1700 withdrew from the war, even before Russia entered it. The attempts of August II to capture Riga ended unsuccessfully. After that, 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 Croa, was defeated near Narva on November 19 (30), 1700. This defeat showed that everything had to start virtually all over again.
Considering that Russia was sufficiently weakened, Charles XII went to Livonia in order to direct all his forces against Augustus II.
However, Peter, continuing the reforms of the army according to the European model, resumed hostilities. Already in the autumn of 1702, the Russian army, in the presence of the tsar, captured the Noteburg fortress (renamed Shlisselburg), in the spring of 1703, the Nienschanz 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 Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment) received a certificate approved by him Order of Saint Andrew the First-Called.
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 fortress of Kronshlot (later Kronstadt). The exit to the Baltic Sea was broken.
In 1704, after the capture of Derpt and Narva, Russia gained a foothold in the Eastern Baltic. On the offer to make peace, Peter I was refused. After the deposition of Augustus II in 1706 and his replacement by the Polish king Stanisław Leszczynski, Charles XII began his fatal campaign against Russia.
Having passed the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the king did not dare to continue the attack on Smolensk. Enlisting the support of the Little Russian Hetman Ivan Mazepa, Karl moved 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 the corvolant and defeated the Swedish corps of Lewenhaupt, which was going to join the army of Charles XII from Livonia. The Swedish army lost reinforcements and convoys with military supplies. Later, Peter 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 utterly defeated, Peter again commanded on the battlefield. Peter's hat was shot through. After the victory, he accepted the rank of first lieutenant general and schautbenacht from the blue flag.
Turkey intervened in 1710. After the defeat in the Prut campaign in 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 possessions in continental Europe. However, thanks to the dominance of Sweden at sea, the Northern War dragged on. The Baltic Fleet was just being created by Russia, but managed to win the first victory in the Gangut battle in the summer of 1714.
In 1716, Peter led the combined fleet from Russia, England, Denmark and Holland, but due to disagreements in the camp of the allies, 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 landings of the Russians in 1720 on the Swedish coast prompted Sweden to resume negotiations. August 30 (September 10), 1721 between Russia and Sweden was concluded Peace of Nystadt, which ended the 21-year war.
Russia received 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 the senators, took the title of Father of the Fatherland, Emperor of All Russia, Peter the Great: "... we thought, with the butt of the ancients, especially the Roman and Greek peoples, the boldness to perceive, on the day of the celebration and the announcement of the only glorious and prosperous world concluded by these century labors throughout Russia, after reading the treatise thereof in the church, according to our most humble gratitude for the intercession of this world, to bring his petition to you publicly, so that he deigns to accept from us, as from his faithful subjects, in gratitude the title of the Father of the Fatherland, the Emperor of All Russia, Peter the Great, as usual from the Roman Senate for the noble deeds of emperors, their such titles publicly presented to them as a gift and signed on statutes for memory in eternal childbirth"(Senators' petition to Tsar Peter I. October 22, 1721).
Russian-Turkish war 1710-1713. Prut campaign
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 threaten 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 Turkey with war, but in response, on November 20, 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 Turkish war was limited to a winter raid of the Crimean Tatars, vassals of the Ottoman Empire, into Ukraine. Russia waged war on 3 fronts: the troops made campaigns against the Tatars in the Crimea and the 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 Christian vassals of the Ottoman Empire to fight the Turks.
On March 6 (17), 1711, Peter I went to the troops from Moscow with his faithful girlfriend 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, 1711, 190 thousand Turks and Crimean Tatars pressed the 38 thousandth 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.
From August 1711, there was no fighting, although in the process of negotiating the final treaty, Turkey threatened several times to resume the war. Only in June 1713 was the Adrianople peace treaty concluded, which generally confirmed the terms of the Prut agreement. Russia got the opportunity to continue the Northern War without a 2nd front, although it lost the gains of the Azov campaigns.
The expansion of Russia to the east under Peter I did not stop. In 1716, the Buchholz expedition founded Omsk at the confluence of the Irtysh and Om., upstream of the Irtysh: Ust-Kamenogorsk, Semipalatinsk and other fortresses.
In 1716-1717, a detachment of Bekovich-Cherkassky was sent to Central Asia with the aim of persuading the Khiva khan to citizenship and reconnoitering the way to India. However, the Russian detachment was destroyed by the khan. During the reign of Peter I, Kamchatka was annexed to Russia. Peter planned an expedition across the Pacific Ocean to America (intentioning to establish Russian colonies there), but did not manage to carry out his plan.
Caspian campaign 1722-1723
The largest foreign policy event of Peter 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, 1722, after the son of the Persian Shah Tokhmas Mirza applied for help, a 22,000-strong Russian detachment sailed from Astrakhan across the Caspian Sea. In August, Derbent surrendered, after which the Russians returned to Astrakhan due to problems with provisions.
In the next 1723, the western coast of the Caspian Sea with the fortresses of Baku, Resht, and Astrabad was conquered. Further progress was stopped by the threat of the Ottoman Empire entering the war, which seized the western and central Transcaucasus.
On September 12, 1723, the Petersburg Treaty 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 entered into a defensive alliance against Turkey, which, however, turned out to be inoperative.
Under the Treaty of Constantinople of June 12, 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. In Persia, the turmoil continued, and Turkey challenged the provisions of the Treaty of Constantinople before the border was clearly established. It should be noted that soon after Peter's death, these possessions were lost due to the high losses of garrisons from diseases, and, in the opinion of Queen Anna Ioannovna, the hopelessness of the region.
Russian Empire under Peter I
After the victory in the Northern War and the conclusion of the Treaty of Nystadt in September 1721, the Senate and the 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 in eternal birth”.
October 22 (November 2), 1721, Peter I took the title, not just honorary, but testifying to the new role of Russia in international affairs. Prussia and Holland immediately recognized the new title of 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 who was working on the history of the reign of Peter, 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 taxpayers was 5 million 198 thousand people, from which the number of peasants and townspeople, including females, was estimated at about 10 million.
Many souls were concealed by the landlords, the second revision increased the number of taxable souls to almost 6 million people.
There were up to 500 thousand Russian nobles with families, up to 200 thousand officials, and clergymen with families up to 300 thousand souls.
The inhabitants of the conquered regions, who were not under the total tax, were estimated to be from 500 to 600 thousand souls. Cossacks with families in the Ukraine, on the Don and Yaik, and in the border towns were considered to be from 700 to 800 thousand souls. The number of Siberian peoples was unknown, but Fokkerodt put it up to a million people.
In this way, the population of the Russian Empire under Peter the Great was up to 15 million subjects and was inferior in Europe in number only to France (about 20 million).
According to the calculations of the Soviet historian Yaroslav Vodarsky, the number of males and children increased from 5.6 million to 7.8 million from 1678 to 1719. Thus, assuming the number of women is approximately equal to the number of men, the total population of Russia during this period grew from 11.2 to 15.6 million
Reforms of Peter I
All internal state activity of Peter can be conditionally divided into two periods: 1695-1715 and 1715-1725.
The peculiarity of the first stage was the haste and not always thoughtful nature, 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 state reforms, extensive reforms were carried out at the first stage in order to modernize the way of life. In the second period, the reforms were more systematic.
A number of historians, such as 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, a reform of church administration was carried out in the spirit of Caesaropapism, aimed at eliminating church jurisdiction autonomous from the state and subordinating the Russian church hierarchy to the emperor.
Financial reform was also carried out, measures were taken to develop industry and trade.
After returning from the Great Embassy, Peter I led the fight against the external manifestations of the "outdated" way of life (the most famous ban on beards), but no less paid attention to the introduction of the nobility to education and secular Europeanized culture. Secular educational institutions began to appear, the first Russian newspaper was founded, translations of many books into Russian appeared. Success in the service of Peter made the nobles dependent on education.
Peter was clearly aware of the need for enlightenment, and took a number of drastic 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, 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 the digital schools created by decree of 1714 in provincial cities, called upon "to teach children of all ranks to read and write, numbers and geometry."
It was supposed to create two such schools in each province, where education was supposed to be free. For soldiers' children, garrison schools were opened, for the training of priests, starting from 1721, a network of theological schools was created.
Peter's decrees introduced compulsory education for nobles and clergy, but a similar measure for the urban population met with fierce resistance and was canceled.
Peter's attempt to create an all-estate elementary school failed (the creation of a network of schools ceased after his death, most of the digital schools under his successors were redesigned into class schools for the training of 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 1312 titles of books were printed in 1700-1725 (twice as many as in the entire previous history of Russian book printing). Thanks to the rise of printing, paper consumption increased from 4,000 to 8,000 sheets at the end of the 17th century to 50,000 sheets in 1719.
There have been changes in the Russian language, which included 4.5 thousand new words borrowed from European languages.
In 1724, Peter approved the charter of the Academy of Sciences being organized (it 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 (theatre, 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 in Russia. At the assemblies, the nobles danced and mingled freely, unlike earlier 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 "arts" abroad. In the second quarter of the XVIII 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 ordering to write full names in petitions and other documents instead of pejorative half-names (Ivashka, Senka, etc.), not to fall on your knees before the king, to wear a hat in the cold in winter in front of the house where the king is, do not shoot. He explained the need for these innovations as follows: “Less meanness, more zeal for service and loyalty to me and the state - this honor is characteristic of the king ...”.
Peter tried to change the position of women in Russian society. He by special decrees (1700, 1702 and 1724) forbade forced marriage and marriage.
It was prescribed that there should be at least six weeks between the betrothal and the wedding, "so that the bride and groom may recognize each other". If during this time, it was said in the decree, “the bridegroom will not want to take the bride, or the bride will not want to marry the groom” no matter how parents insist, "in being free".
Since 1702, the bride herself (and not just her relatives) was given the formal right to terminate the betrothal and upset the arranged marriage, and neither of the parties had the right to “strike with a forfeit”.
Legislative prescriptions 1696-1704 about public festivities introduced the obligation to participate in the celebrations and festivities of all Russians, including "female".
From the “old” in the structure of the nobility under Peter, the former serfdom of the service class remained unchanged through the personal service of each service person to the state. But in this enslavement, its form has changed somewhat. Now they were 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 anew.
The decree of uniform 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, the peasants began to be divided into serfs (landlords), monastic and state peasants. All three categories were recorded in the revision tales and subjected to a poll tax.
Since 1724, the owner's peasants could leave their villages to work and for other needs only with the written permission of the master, witnessed 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 increase, taking both the personality and property of the privately owned peasant into their unaccountable disposal. From that time on, this new state of the rural worker received the name of the "serf" or "revisionist" soul.
In general, Peter's reforms were aimed at strengthening the state and familiarizing the elite with European culture while strengthening absolutism. In the course of the reforms, the technical and economic backwardness of Russia from a number of other European states was overcome, access to the Baltic Sea was won, and transformations were carried out in many areas of the life of Russian society.
Gradually, among the nobility, a different system of values, worldview, aesthetic ideas took shape, which was fundamentally different from the values and worldview of most representatives of other estates. At the same time, the people's forces were extremely depleted, the prerequisites (Decree of Succession) were created for the crisis of the supreme power, which led to the "epoch of palace coups".
Having set himself the goal of arming 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 technical ones. He learned the basics of the then dominant economic theory - mercantilism.
The mercantilists based their economic doctrine on two propositions: first, each nation, in order not to become impoverished, must produce everything it needs, without turning to the help of other people's labor, the labor of other peoples; second, every nation, in order to grow rich, must export as much as possible the manufactured products from its country and import foreign products as little as possible.
Under Peter, the development of geological exploration begins, thanks to which deposits of metal ore are found in the Urals. Only in the Urals, at least 27 metallurgical plants were built under Peter. Gunpowder factories, sawmills, glass manufactories were founded in Moscow, Tula, St. Petersburg. In Astrakhan, Samara, Krasnoyarsk, the production of potash, sulfur, saltpeter was established, sailing, linen and cloth manufactories were created. This made it possible to start phasing out 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 (3.5 thousand people worked at the St. Petersburg shipyard alone), sailing manufactories and mining and metallurgical plants (25 thousand workers worked at 9 Ural factories), there were a number of other enterprises with a number of employees from 500 to 1000 people.
To supply the new capital the first canals in Russia were dug.
Peter's transformations were achieved through violence against the population, its complete subordination to the will of the monarch, and the eradication of any 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 "broke out of an impatient autocratic landowner."
Klyuchevsky points out that the triumph of the absolute monarchy, which sought to drag its subjects from the Middle Ages into the present by force, contained a fundamental contradiction: "Peter's reform was a struggle of despotism with the people, with their inertia. He hoped, by a storm of power, to provoke self-activity in an enslaved society and through the slave-owning nobility to establish European science in Russia... wanted the slave, remaining a slave, to act consciously and freely.
The construction of St. Petersburg from 1704 to 1717 was mainly carried out by the forces of "working people" mobilized as part of natural labor service. They felled the forest, filled up the swamps, built embankments, etc.
In 1704, up to 40,000 working people were summoned to St. Petersburg from various provinces, mostly serfs, landlords and state peasants. In 1707, many workers fled, sent to St. Petersburg from the Belozersky region. Peter I ordered to take the family members of the fugitives - their fathers, mothers, wives, children "or who live in their houses" and keep them in prisons until the fugitives are found.
The factory workers of the time of Peter the Great came from a wide variety of strata of the population: runaway serfs, vagabonds, beggars, even criminals - all of them, according to strict orders, were taken and sent to “work” in factories.
Peter could not stand "walking" people who were not attached to any business, it was ordered to seize them, not sparing even the monastic rank, and send them to factories. There were frequent cases when, in order to supply factories, and especially factories, with working hands, villages and villages of peasants were attributed to factories and factories, as was still practiced in the 17th century. Such assigned to the factory worked for it and in it by order of the owner.
In November 1702, a decree was issued stating: “From now on, in Moscow and in the Moscow Judgment Order, no matter what ranks, people or from cities governors and clerks, and from monasteries to send authorities, and landowners and estates will bring their people and peasants, and those people and peasants will learn to say behind themselves“ the sovereign’s word and deed,” and without asking those people in the Moscow Court Order, send them to the Preobrazhensky Order to the steward to Prince Fedor Yuryevich Romodanovsky. Yes, and in the cities, governors and clerks of such people who will teach themselves to say “the sovereign’s word and deed”, send them to Moscow without asking”.
In 1718, the Secret Chancellery was created to investigate the case of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich., then other political cases of extreme importance were transferred to her.
On August 18, 1718, a decree was issued, which, under the threat of the death penalty, was forbidden to "write locked up." The non-informer about this was also supposed to be the death penalty. This decree was aimed at combating anti-government "anonymous letters".
The decree of Peter I, issued in 1702, proclaimed religious tolerance as one of the main state principles.
“One must deal with the opponents of the church with meekness and understanding,” said Peter. “The Lord gave kings power over the nations, but Christ alone has power over the conscience of the people.” But this decree did not apply to the Old Believers.
In 1716, to facilitate their accounting, they were given the opportunity of a semi-legal existence, on the condition that they pay "for this split all payments doubled." At the same time, control and punishment of those who evaded registration and payment of double tax was strengthened.
Those who did not confess and did not pay double tax were ordered to be fined, each time increasing the rate of the fine, and even sent to hard labor. For seduction into schism (seduction was considered any Old Believer worship or the performance of trebs), as before Peter I, the death penalty was due, 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 used to be priests, and they were punished for both. Schismatic sketes and chapels were ruined. Through torture, punishment with a whip, tearing out of the nostrils, threats of executions and exile, Bishop Pitirim of Nizhny Novgorod managed to return a considerable number of Old Believers to the bosom of the official church, but most of them soon "fallen into schism" again. Deacon Alexander Pitirim, who headed the Kerzhensky 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 nostrils of tearing, as if it had been done to 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, 1720 was executed.
The adoption of the imperial title by Peter I, as the Old Believers believed, testified that he was the Antichrist, as this emphasized the continuity of state power from Catholic Rome. The antichrist nature of Peter was also, according to the Old Believers, evidenced by the calendar changes made during his reign and the census he introduced for the head salary.
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 brought up with his mother in terms that were alien to Peter's reformist activities. The rest of the children of Peter and Evdokia died shortly after birth. In 1698, Evdokia Lopukhina was involved in the Streltsy rebellion, the purpose of which was to raise her son to the kingdom, and was exiled to a monastery.
Alexei Petrovich, the official heir to the Russian throne, condemned the transformation of his father, and eventually fled to Vienna under the patronage of a relative of his wife (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, which consisted of 127 people, sentenced Alexei to death, finding him guilty of high treason. On June 26 (July 7), 1718, the prince, without waiting for the execution of the sentence, died in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
The true cause of the death of Tsarevich Alexei has not yet been reliably established. From his marriage with Princess Charlotte of Brunswick, Tsarevich Alexei left his son Peter Alekseevich (1715-1730), who became Emperor Peter II in 1727, and his daughter Natalia Alekseevna (1714-1728).
In 1703, Peter I met 19-year-old Katerina, nee Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya(the widow of the dragoon Johann Kruse), captured by Russian troops as war booty during the capture of the Swedish fortress of Marienburg.
Peter took the former maid from the Baltic peasants from Alexander Menshikov and made her his mistress. In 1704, Katerina gave birth to their first child, named Peter, the next year, Pavel (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 (ruled 1741-1761).
Katerina alone could cope with the tsar in his fits of anger, knew how to calm Peter's attacks of convulsive headache with kindness and patient attention. The sound of Katerina's voice calmed Peter. Then she “sitting him down and taking it, caressing it, by the head, which she scratched lightly. This had a magical effect on him, he fell asleep in a few minutes. In order not to disturb his sleep, she held his head on her breast, sitting motionless for two or three hours. After that, he woke up completely fresh and vigorous.
The official wedding of Peter I with Ekaterina Alekseevna took place on February 19, 1712, shortly after returning from the Prut campaign.
In 1724, Peter crowned Catherine as empress and co-ruler.
Ekaterina Alekseevna gave birth to her husband 11 children, but most of them died in childhood, except for Anna and Elizabeth.
After the death of Peter in January 1725, Ekaterina Alekseevna, with the support of the serving nobility and guards regiments, became the first ruling Russian empress, but she did not reign for long and died in 1727, vacating the throne for Tsarevich Peter Alekseevich. The first wife of Peter the Great, Evdokia Lopukhina, outlived her happy rival and died in 1731, having managed to see the reign of her grandson Peter Alekseevich.
Children of Peter I:
With Evdokia Lopukhina:
Alexey Petrovich 02/18/1690 - 06/26/1718. He was considered the official heir to the throne until his arrest. He was married in 1711 to Princess Sophia-Charlotte of Braunschweig-Wolfenbittel, sister of Elizabeth, wife of Emperor Charles VI. Children: Natalya (1714-28) and Peter (1715-30), later Emperor Peter II.
Alexander 10/03/1691 05/14/1692
Alexander Petrovich died in 1692.
Paul 1693 - 1693
He was born and died in 1693, which is why sometimes the existence of a third son from Evdokia Lopukhina is questioned.
With Catherine:
Catherine 1707-1708.
Illegitimate, died in infancy.
Anna Petrovna 02/07/1708 - 05/15/1728. In 1725 she married the German Duke Karl-Friedrich. She left for Kiel, where she gave birth to a son, Karl Peter Ulrich (later Russian Emperor Peter III).
Elizaveta Petrovna 12/29/1709 - 01/05/1762. Empress since 1741. In 1744 she entered into a secret marriage with A. G. Razumovsky, from whom, according to contemporaries, she gave birth to several children.
Natalia 03/03/1713 - 05/27/1715
Margarita 09/03/1714 - 07/27/1715
Peter 10/29/1715 - 04/25/1719 Was considered the official heir to the crown from 06/26/1718 until his death.
Pavel 01/02/1717 - 01/03/1717
Natalya 08/31/1718 - 03/15/1725.
Decree of Peter I on the 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), announced at the abdication of Alexei Petrovich as heir to the throne, died in childhood.
The son of Tsarevich Alexei and Princess Charlotte, Peter Alekseevich, became the direct heir. However, if you follow the custom and declare the son of the disgraced Alexei the heir, then the hopes of the opponents of the reforms to return the old order were aroused, and on the other hand, fears arose among Peter's associates, who voted for the execution of Alexei.
On February 5 (16), 1722, Peter issued a Decree on the succession to the throne (cancelled by Paul I 75 years later), in which he abolished the ancient custom of transferring the throne to direct male descendants, but allowed the appointment of any worthy person as heir at the will of the monarch. The text of this most important decree justified the need for this measure: "what for it was prudent to do this charter, so that it was always in the will of the ruling sovereign, to whom he wants, to determine the inheritance, and to the determined one, seeing what obscenity, he will cancel, so that children and descendants do not fall into such anger, as it is written above, having this bridle on you".
The decree was so unusual for Russian society that it was necessary to explain it and require the consent of 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 issued a decree to kiss the cross for the future sovereign, and kiss the cross for the Swede. Of course, the Swede will reign.”
Peter Alekseevich was removed from the throne, but the question of succession to the throne remained open. Many believed that either Anna or Elizabeth, Peter's daughter from his marriage to Ekaterina Alekseevna, would take the throne.
But in 1724, Anna renounced any claims to the Russian throne after she became engaged to the Duke of Holstein, Karl-Friedrich. If the throne was taken by the youngest daughter Elizabeth, who was 15 years old (in 1724), then the Duke of Holstein would rule instead of her, who dreamed of returning the lands conquered by the Danes with the help of Russia.
Peter and his nieces, the daughters of Ivan's older brother, were not satisfied: Anna Kurlyandskaya, Ekaterina Mecklenburgskaya and Praskovya Ioannovna. Only one candidate remained - Peter's wife, Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna. Peter needed a person who would continue the work he started, his transformation.
On May 7, 1724, Peter crowned Catherine empress and co-ruler, but after a short time he was suspected of adultery (the case of Mons). The decree of 1722 violated the usual way of succession to the throne, but Peter did not have time to appoint an heir before his death.
Death of Peter I
In the last years of his reign, Peter was very ill (presumably, kidney stone disease, 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 life physician Blumentrost. From Olonets, Peter traveled to Staraya Russa and in November went by boat to St. Petersburg.
At Lakhta, he had to, standing waist-deep in water, rescue a boat with soldiers that had run aground. The attacks of the disease intensified, but Peter, not paying attention to them, continued to deal with state affairs. On January 17 (28), 1725, he had such a bad time that he ordered to put a camp church in the room next to his bedroom, and on January 22 (February 2) he confessed. The strength began to leave the patient, 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 were amnestied (excluding murderers and those convicted of repeated robbery). On the same day, at the end of the second hour, Peter demanded paper, began to write, but the pen fell out of his hands, only two words could be made out of what was written: “Give everything back ...”.
The tsar then ordered his daughter Anna Petrovna to be called so that she would write under his dictation, but when she arrived, Peter had already fallen into oblivion. The story about the words of Peter "Give 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 with the aim of 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 of who would take the place of Peter. 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 Peter's death, gathered on the night of January 27 (February 7) to January 28 (February 8) to decide on the successor of Peter the Great.
Guards officers entered the meeting room, two guards regiments entered the square, and under the drumbeat of the troops withdrawn by the party of Ekaterina Alekseevna and Menshikov, the Senate adopted a unanimous decision by 4 o'clock in the morning 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 the sixth hour 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. An autopsy showed the following: "a sharp narrowing in the region of the back of the urethra, hardening of the neck of the bladder and Antonov fire." Death followed from inflammation of the bladder, which turned into gangrene due to urinary retention caused by a narrowing of the urethra.
The famous court icon painter Simon Ushakov painted on a cypress board the image of the Life-Giving Trinity and the Apostle Peter. After the death of Peter I, this icon was installed over the imperial tombstone.
