Officially, the beginning of the reign of Peter I is usually counted from May 7, 1682, when, after the death of his brother Fyodor Alekseevich, he, at the age of ten, was crowned Tsar of All Rus' along with his fifteen-year-old brother Ivan V. In fact, the independent reign of Peter I began not even after the overthrow of Princess Regent Sophia in 1689, who had ruled during the dual reign since 1682, but only since the death of his mother, Natalya Naryshkina, in 1694.
Beginning of the reign of Peter I and Ivan V - coronation, 1682
After the death of Tsar Fedor, the Miloslavskys, with the help of I.A. Khovansky, directed the wrath of the archers against the Naryshkin clan, resulting in the throne along with Peter I was crowned by his brother Ivan V, A Princess Regent Sophia became the de facto ruler(daughter of the first wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich - Maria Miloslavskaya).
Sophia ruled based on her favorite - Vasily Golitsin. After concluding a fairly profitable “Eternal Peace” with Poland in 1686, it was Golitsin who launched two unsuccessful campaigns against the Crimean Khanate in 1687 and 1689. After the Albazin War with China for the Amur territories, the unfavorable Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689 was concluded.
On May 30, 1689, Peter I turned 17 years old, he was married and, according to custom, no longer needed the regent princess Sophia. The princess did not want to give up power, and, according to rumors, was preparing an assassination attempt on the king. Together with his closest associates, and the amusing army representing at that time already combat-ready units, Peter I took refuge in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Gradually, Sophia lost power - most of her subjects and troops swore allegiance to Peter I, and the princess was exiled to a monastery.
Tsarevna Sofya Alekseevna Romanova
After the overthrow of Princess Sophia in 1689, Ivan V actually ceased to participate in the reign - power passed into the hands of people who rallied around the mother of Peter I, 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 king. This led to conflicts. After the death of Natalya Kirillovna, the tsar did not displace the government of L.K. Naryshkin - B.A. Golitsyn, formed by his mother, but ensured that it strictly carried out his will.
Natalia Naryshkina
The death of the Tsar's mother, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina in 1694, marked the beginning of the independent reign of Peter I. His brother Ivan V, who lived until 1696, did not take part in the administration. Peter I wanted to test his new military formations in action - the Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments; in addition, the Azov fortress was a key point for consolidation on the coast of the Azov Sea.
The first Azov campaign of 1695 ended in failure due to the poor organization of the Russian troops and lack of naval support, and Peter I learned his lesson - he went to build new shipyards and ships.
Having gathered more troops, with the support of artillery and the navy, which cut off the Turkish fortress from supplies by sea, Peter I took Azov during the second Azov campaign in 1696. Taganrog was founded as a base for the Russian fleet in 1698.
In an effort to prevent the election of a pro-French prince to the Polish throne, Peter I sent streltsy units under the command of G. Romodanovsky to the Lithuanian border to support the party of the Elector of Saxony, Friedrich Augustus, who was also fighting for the Polish crown. As a result, the plan was a success - the Elector ascended the Polish throne under the name of Augustus II and gave his word to act jointly against the Turks.
The Azov campaigns clearly proved the importance of the fleet and artillery for warfare. Peter I understood that in technological terms the Russian kingdom was significantly behind the advanced Western states - he wanted to personally see the advanced technologies for the production of weapons and ships, and get acquainted with the traditions of Europe. In addition, it was necessary to find allies to wage wars against Turkey and Sweden for the right to gain access to the seas. This trip, undertaken by Peter I at the beginning of his reign, had a significant impact on the future fate of the tsar and radically changed cultural life in Russia.
The uprising of the Moscow archers during the stay of Peter I in the Great Embassy, with a total number of more than 2 thousand people, is justified by historians by the hardships of military campaigns, insufficient salaries and the appointment of foreign officers to senior military positions. Princess Sophia planned to take advantage of events and regain her lost power.
Peter I - the youngest son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from his second marriage to Natalya Naryshkina - was born on May 30, 1672. As a child, Peter was educated at home, from a young age he knew German, then studied Dutch, English and French. With the help of palace craftsmen (carpentry, turning, weapons, blacksmithing, etc.). The future emperor was physically strong, agile, inquisitive and capable, and had a good memory.
In April 1682, Peter was elevated to the throne after the death of a childless man, bypassing his elder half-brother Ivan. However, the sister of Peter and Ivan - and the relatives of Alexei Mikhailovich's first wife - the Miloslavskys used the Streltsy uprising in Moscow for a palace coup. In May 1682, adherents and relatives of the Naryshkins were killed or exiled, Ivan was declared the “senior” tsar, and Peter was declared the “junior” tsar under the ruler Sophia.
Under Sophia, Peter lived in the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow. Here, from his peers, Peter formed “amusing regiments” - the future imperial guard. In those same years, the prince met the son of the court groom, Alexander Menshikov, who later became the “right hand” of the emperor.
In the 2nd half of the 1680s, clashes began between Peter and Sofia Alekseevna, who strived for autocracy. In August 1689, having received news of Sophia’s preparation for a palace coup, Peter hastily left Preobrazhensky for the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, where troops loyal to him and his supporters arrived. Armed detachments of nobles, assembled by the messengers of Peter I, surrounded Moscow, Sophia was removed from power and imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent, her associates were exiled or executed.
After the death of Ivan Alekseevich (1696), Peter I became the sole tsar.
Possessing a strong will, determination and great capacity for work, Peter I expanded his knowledge and skills in various fields throughout his life, paying special attention to military and naval affairs. In 1689-1693, under the guidance of the Dutch master Timmerman and the Russian master Kartsev, Peter I learned to build ships on Lake Pereslavl. In 1697-1698, during his first trip abroad, he took a full course in artillery sciences in Konigsberg, worked as a carpenter for six months in the shipyards of Amsterdam (Holland), studying naval architecture and drawing plans, and completed a theoretical course in shipbuilding in England.
By order of Peter I, books, instruments, and weapons were purchased abroad, and foreign craftsmen and scientists were invited. Peter I met with Leibniz, Newton and other scientists, and in 1717 he was elected an honorary member of the Paris Academy of Sciences.
During his reign, Peter I carried out major reforms aimed at overcoming Russia's backwardness from the advanced countries of the West. The transformations affected all spheres of public life. Peter I expanded the ownership rights of landowners over the property and personality of serfs, replaced the household taxation of peasants with a capitation tax, issued a decree on possession peasants who were allowed to be acquired by the owners of manufactories, practiced the mass registration of state and tribute peasants to state-owned and private factories, the mobilization of peasants and townspeople into the army and for the construction of cities, fortresses, canals, etc. The Decree on Single Inheritance (1714) equalized estates and fiefdoms, giving their owners the right to transfer real estate to one of their sons, and thereby secured noble ownership of the land. The Table of Ranks (1722) established the order of rank in the military and civil service not according to nobility, but according to personal abilities and merits.
Peter I contributed to the rise of the country's productive forces, encouraged the development of domestic manufactories, communications, domestic and foreign trade.
The reforms of the state apparatus under Peter I were an important step towards the transformation of the Russian autocracy of the 17th century into the bureaucratic-noble monarchy of the 18th century with its bureaucracy and service classes. The place of the Boyar Duma was taken by the Senate (1711), instead of orders, collegiums were established (1718), the control apparatus was first represented by “fiscals” (1711), and then by prosecutors headed by the Prosecutor General. In place of the patriarchate, a Spiritual College, or Synod, was established, which was under the control of the government. Administrative reform was of great importance. In 1708-1709, instead of counties, voivodeships and governorships, 8 (then 10) provinces headed by governors were established. In 1719, the provinces were divided into 47 provinces.
As a military leader, Peter I stands among the most educated and talented builders of the armed forces, generals and naval commanders in Russian and world history of the 18th century. His whole life's work was to strengthen Russia's military power and increase its role in the international arena. He had to continue the war with Turkey, which began in 1686, and wage a long-term struggle for Russia's access to the sea in the North and South. As a result of the Azov campaigns (1695-1696), Azov was occupied by Russian troops, and Russia fortified itself on the shores of the Sea of Azov. In the long Northern War (1700-1721), Russia, under the leadership of Peter I, achieved complete victory and gained access to the Baltic Sea, which gave it the opportunity to establish direct ties with Western countries. After the Persian campaign (1722-1723), the western coast of the Caspian Sea with the cities of Derbent and Baku went to Russia.
Under Peter I, for the first time in the history of Russia, permanent diplomatic missions and consulates were established abroad, and outdated forms of diplomatic relations and etiquette were abolished.
Peter I also carried out major reforms in the field of culture and education. A secular school appeared, and the clergy's monopoly on education was eliminated. Peter I founded the Pushkar School (1699), the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences (1701), and the Medical and Surgical School; The first Russian public theater was opened. In St. Petersburg, the Naval Academy (1715), engineering and artillery schools (1719), schools of translators at collegiums were established, the first Russian museum was opened - the Kunstkamera (1719) with a public library. In 1700, a new calendar was introduced with the beginning of the year on January 1 (instead of September 1) and chronology from the “Nativity of Christ”, and not from the “Creation of the World”.
By order of Peter I, various expeditions were carried out, including to Central Asia, the Far East, and Siberia, and a systematic study of the country's geography and cartography began.
Peter I was married twice: to Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina and Marta Skavronskaya (later Empress Catherine I); had a son, Alexei, from his first marriage and daughters Anna and Elizabeth from his second (besides them, 8 children of Peter I died in early childhood).
Peter I died in 1725 and was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
How is the rating calculated?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
Peter was born on the night of May 30 (June 9), 1672 (in 7180 according to the then-accepted calendar “from the creation of the world”). The exact place of Peter's birth is unknown; Some historians indicated the Kremlin's Terem Palace as his birthplace, and according to folk tales, Peter was born in the village of Kolomenskoye, and Izmailovo was also indicated.
The father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, had numerous offspring: Peter I was the 14th child, but the first from his second wife, Tsarina Natalya Naryshkina. June 29, St. Day 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 nannies to raise. In the 4th year of Peter’s life, in 1676, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich died. The Tsarevich's guardian was his half-brother, godfather and new Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich. Peter received a poor education, and until the end of his life he wrote with errors, using a poor vocabulary. This was due to the fact that the then Patriarch of Moscow, Joachim, as part of the fight against “Latinization” and “foreign influence”, removed from the royal court the students of Simeon of Polotsk, who taught Peter’s older brothers, and insisted that less educated clerks would teach Peter. N. M. Zotov and A. Nesterov. In addition, Peter did not have the opportunity to receive an education from a university graduate or from a high school teacher, since neither universities nor secondary schools existed in the Moscow state during Peter’s childhood, and among the classes 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 later able to compensate for the shortcomings of his basic education with rich practical training.
CONTINUED BELOW
On April 27 (May 7), 1682, after 6 years of reign, the sickly Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich died. The question arose of who should inherit the throne: the older, sickly Ivan, according to custom, or the young Peter. Having secured the support of Patriarch Joachim, the Naryshkins and their supporters enthroned Peter on April 27 (May 7), 1682. In fact, the Naryshkin clan came to power and Artamon Matveev, summoned from exile, was declared the “great guardian.”
This gave impetus to the start of the Streletsky revolt. Natalya Kirillovna, hoping to calm the rioters, together with the patriarch and boyars, led Peter and his brother to the Red Porch. The consequence of the horrors of the Streltsy demonstrations was Peter's illness: with strong excitement, he began to have convulsive facial movements. However, the uprising did not end. On May 26, elected officials from the Streltsy regiments came to the palace and demanded that the elder Ivan be recognized as the first tsar, and the younger Peter as the second. Fearing a repetition of the pogrom, the boyars agreed, and Patriarch Joachim immediately performed a solemn prayer service in the Assumption Cathedral for the health of the two named kings; and on June 25 he crowned them kings.
On May 29, the archers insisted that Princess Sofya Alekseevna take over control of the state due to the minor age of her brothers.
In the Kremlin Armory, a two-seat throne for young kings with a small window in the back was preserved, through which Princess Sophia and her entourage told them how to behave and what to say during palace ceremonies.
Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna was supposed to, together with her son Peter - the second Tsar - retire from the court to a palace near Moscow in the village of Preobrazhenskoye. At this time, in the biography of Peter 1, interest in military activities arose; he created “amusing” regiments. He is interested in firearms, shipbuilding, and spends a lot of time in the German suburbs.
First marriage of Peter I
The German settlement was the closest “neighbor” of the village of Preobrazhenskoye, and Peter had been keeping an eye on its curious life for a long time. More and more foreigners at the court of Tsar Peter, such as Franz Timmermann and Karsten Brandt, came from the German Settlement. All this imperceptibly led to the fact that the tsar became a frequent visitor to the settlement, where he soon turned out to be a big fan of relaxed foreign life. Peter lit a German pipe, began attending German parties with dancing and drinking, met Patrick Gordon, Franz Lefort - Peter's future associates, and started an affair with Anna Mons. Peter's mother strictly opposed this. In order to bring her 17-year-old son to reason, Natalya Kirillovna decided to marry him to Evdokia Lopukhina, the daughter of a okolnichy.
Peter did not contradict his mother, and on January 27, 1689, the wedding of the “junior” tsar took place. However, less than a month later, Peter left his wife and went to Lake Pleshcheyevo for several days. From this marriage, Peter had two sons: the eldest, Alexei, was heir to the throne until 1718, the youngest, Alexander, died in infancy.
Accession of Peter I
Peter's activity greatly worried Princess Sophia, who understood that with the coming of age of her half-brother, she would have to give up power.
On July 8, 1689, on the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the first public conflict occurred between the matured Peter and the Ruler. On that day, according to custom, a religious procession was held from the Kremlin to the Kazan Cathedral. At the end of the mass, Peter approached his sister and announced that she should not dare to go along with the men in the procession. Sophia accepted the challenge: she took the image of the Most Holy Theotokos in her hands and went to get the crosses and banners. Unprepared for such an outcome, Peter left the move.
In August 1689, Princess Sophia tried to turn the archers against Peter, but most of the troops obeyed the rightful 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 at the Assumption Cathedral and actually gave him all power. Since 1689, he did not take part in the reign, although until his death on January 29 (February 8), 1696, he continued to be a co-tsar. At first, Peter himself took little part in the board, giving powers to the Naryshkin family.
Azov campaigns. 1695-1696
The priority of Peter I's activities in the first years of autocracy was the continuation of the war with the Ottoman Empire and Crimea. Peter I decided, instead of campaigning against the Crimea, undertaken during the reign of Princess Sophia, to strike at the Turkish fortress of Azov.
The first Azov campaign, which began in the spring of 1695, ended unsuccessfully in September of the same year due to the lack of a fleet and the unwillingness of the Russian army to operate far from supply bases. However, already in the fall of 1695, preparations for a new campaign began. Peter I took part in the siege with the rank of captain on a galley. Without waiting for the assault, on July 19, 1696, the fortress surrendered. Thus, Russia's first access to the southern seas was opened.
However, Peter failed to gain 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 Peter's activities 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 Azov fortress behind Russia.
During the construction of the fleet and the reorganization of the army, Peter was forced to rely on foreign specialists. Having completed the Azov campaigns, he decides to send young nobles to study abroad, and soon he himself sets off on his first trip to Europe.
Grand Embassy. 1697-1698
In March 1697, the Grand Embassy was sent to Western Europe through Livonia, the main purpose of which was to find allies against the Ottoman Empire. In total, up to 250 people entered the embassy, among whom, under the name of the sergeant of the Preobrazhensky Regiment Peter Mikhailov, was Tsar Peter I himself. For the first time, a Russian Tsar undertook a trip outside his state.
Peter visited Riga, Koenigsberg, Brandenburg, Holland, England, Austria, and a visit to Venice and the Pope was planned.
The embassy recruited several hundred shipbuilding specialists to Russia and purchased military and other equipment.
In addition to negotiations, Peter devoted a lot of time to studying shipbuilding, military affairs and other sciences. Peter worked as a carpenter at the shipyards of the East India Company, and with the participation of the Tsar, the ship “Peter and Paul” was built. In England, he visited a foundry, an arsenal, parliament, Oxford University, the Greenwich Observatory and the Mint, of which Isaac Newton was the caretaker at that time. He was primarily interested in the technical achievements of Western countries, and not in the legal system. They say that having visited Westminster Hall, Peter 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. - What are they for? In my entire kingdom there are only two lawyers, and I plan to hang one of them when I return home.”. True, having visited the English Parliament incognito, where the speeches of the deputies before King William III were translated for him, the Tsar said: “It’s fun to hear when the sons of the patronymic tell the king the obvious truth; this is something we should learn from the English.”.
Return. Crucial years for Russia 1698-1700
In July 1698, the Grand Embassy was interrupted by news of a new Streltsy rebellion in Moscow, which was suppressed even before Peter’s arrival. Upon the tsar’s arrival in Moscow (August 25), a search and inquiry began, the result of which was the one-time execution of about 800 archers (except for those executed during the suppression of the riot), and subsequently several hundred more until the spring of 1699. Princess Sophia and Peter's unloved wife, Evdokia Lopukhina, were tonsured as nuns and sent to a monastery.
During his 15 months abroad, Peter saw a lot and learned a lot. After the return of the tsar on August 25, 1698, his transformative activities began, aimed first at changing the external signs that distinguished the Old Slavic way of life from the Western European one. In the Preobrazhensky Palace, Peter suddenly began cutting off the beards of nobles, and already on August 29, 1698, the famous decree was issued “On wearing German dress, on shaving beards and mustaches, on schismatics walking around in the attire specified for them”, who banned the wearing of beards from September 1.
The new year 7208 according to the Russian-Byzantine calendar (“from the creation of the world”) became the 1700th year according to the Julian calendar. Peter also introduced the celebration on January 1 of the New Year, and not on the day of the autumn equinox, as was previously celebrated. His special decree stated:
“Since people in Russia count the New Year differently, from now on, stop fooling people and count the New Year everywhere from the first of January. And as a sign of good beginnings and fun, congratulate each other on the New Year, wishing prosperity in business and in the family. In honor of the New Year, make decorations from fir trees, amuse children, and ride down the mountains on sleds. But adults shouldn’t commit drunkenness and massacres - there are enough other days for that.”
Creation of the Russian Empire. 1700-1724
To develop trade, access to the Baltic Sea was required. So the next stage of the reign of Peter 1 was the war with Sweden. Having made peace with Turkey, he captured the fortress of Noteburg and Nyenschanz. In May 1703, construction of St. Petersburg began. In the next one, Narva and Dorpat were taken. In June 1709, Sweden was defeated in the Battle of Poltava. Soon after the death of Charles XII, peace was concluded between Russia and Sweden. New lands were annexed to Russia, and access to the Baltic Sea was gained.
After the victory in the Northern War and the conclusion of the Peace of Nystadt in September 1721, the Senate and Synod decided to present Peter with the title of Emperor of All Russia. The population of the Russian Empire amounted to up to 15 million subjects and was second in Europe only to France (about 20 million).
Also during his reign, Kamchatka was annexed and the shores of the Caspian Sea were conquered. Peter 1 carried out military reform several times. It mainly concerned the collection of money for the maintenance of the army and navy, and was carried out by force.
Transformations of Peter I
All of Peter’s internal state activities can be divided into two periods: 1695-1715 and 1715-1725.
The peculiarity of the first stage was haste and not always thought out, which was explained by the conduct of the Northern War. In the second period, reforms were more systematic.
Peter carried out a reform of public administration, transformations in the army, a navy was created, and a reform of church government was carried out, aimed at eliminating the church jurisdiction autonomous from the state and subordinating the Russian church hierarchy to the Emperor. Financial reform was also carried out, and measures were taken to develop industry and trade.
After returning from the Great Embassy, Peter I waged a struggle against the external manifestations of an “outdated” way of life (the ban on beards is most famous), but no less paid attention to introducing the nobility to education and secular Europeanized culture. Secular educational institutions began to appear, the first Russian newspaper was founded, and translations of many books into Russian appeared. Peter made success in service for the nobles dependent on education.
Peter was clearly aware of the need for enlightenment, and took a number of decisive measures to this end. The goals of mass education were to be served by digital schools created by decree of 1714 in provincial cities, designed to “teach children of all ranks to read and write, numbers and geometry”. It was planned to create two such schools in each province, where education was to be free. Garrison schools were opened for soldiers' children, and a network of theological schools was created 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 fierce resistance and was cancelled. Peter's attempt to create an all-estate primary school failed (the creation of a network of schools ceased after his death; most of the digital schools under his successors were repurposed as estate schools for training the clergy), but nevertheless, during his reign the foundations were laid for the spread of education in Russia.
Peter created new printing houses, in which 1,312 book titles were printed between 1700 and 1725 (twice as many as in the entire previous history of Russian printing).
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 organized Academy of Sciences (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 (theater, masquerades). The interior decoration of houses, lifestyle, food composition, 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 “art” abroad. In the second quarter of the 18th century. “Peter’s pensioners” began to return to Russia, bringing with them new artistic experience and acquired skills.
On December 30, 1701 (January 10, 1702) Peter issued a decree, which ordered that full names should be written in petitions and other documents instead of derogatory half-names (Ivashka, Senka, etc.), not to fall on your knees before the Tsar, and a hat in winter in the cold Do not take pictures in front of the house where the king is. He explained the need for these innovations as follows: “Less baseness, more zeal for service and loyalty to me and the state - this honor is characteristic of a king...”
Peter tried to change the position of women in Russian society. By special decrees (1700, 1702 and 1724) he prohibited forced marriage. It was prescribed that there should be a period of at least six weeks between betrothal and wedding, “so that the bride and groom can recognize each other”. If during this time, the decree said, “The groom doesn’t want to take the bride, or the bride doesn’t want to marry the groom,” no matter how the parents insist on it, “there will be freedom in that”. Since 1702, the bride herself (and not just her relatives) was given the formal right to dissolve the betrothal and upset the arranged marriage, and neither party had the right to “beat the forfeit.” Legislative regulations 1696-1704. on public celebrations, mandatory participation in celebrations and festivities was introduced for all Russians, including the “female sex.”
In general, Peter's reforms were aimed at strengthening the state and introducing the elite to European culture while simultaneously strengthening absolutism. During the reforms, the technical and economic lag of Russia from a number of other European countries was overcome, access to the Baltic Sea was won, and transformations were carried out in many spheres of life of Russian society. Gradually, a different system of values, worldview, and aesthetic ideas took shape among the nobility, which was radically different from the values and worldview of the majority of representatives of other classes. At the same time, the popular forces were extremely exhausted, the preconditions were created (Decree on Succession to the Throne) for a crisis of supreme power, which led to the “era of palace coups.”
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 (Rzeczpospolita) - in response to the awarding of the King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Augustus II with the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.
1713 - Order of the Elephant (Denmark) - for success in the Northern War.
Character
Peter I combined practical ingenuity and dexterity, gaiety, and apparent straightforwardness with spontaneous impulses in the expression of both affection and anger, and sometimes with unbridled cruelty.
In his youth, Peter indulged in crazy drunken orgies with his comrades. In anger, he could beat those close to him. He chose “notable persons” and “old boyars” as victims of his evil jokes - as Prince Kurakin reports, “fat people were dragged through chairs where it was impossible to stand, many had their dresses torn off and left naked...”. The All-Joking, All-Drunken and Extraordinary Council that he created was engaged in mockery of everything that was valued and revered in society as primordial everyday or moral-religious foundations. He personally acted as executioner during the execution of participants in the Streltsy uprising.
During the fighting on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on July 11, 1705, Peter attended vespers in the Basilian monastery in Polotsk. After one of the Basilians called Josaphat Kuntsevich, who was oppressing the Orthodox population, a holy martyr, the king ordered the monks to be seized. The Basilians tried to resist and four of them were hacked to death. The next day, Peter ordered the hanging of a monk who was distinguished by his sermons directed against the Russians.
Family of Peter I
For the first time, Peter married at the age of 17, at the insistence of his mother, to Evdokia Lopukhina in 1689. A year later, Tsarevich Alexei was born to them, who was raised by his mother in concepts alien to Peter’s reform activities. The remaining children of Peter and Evdokia died soon after birth. In 1698, Evdokia Lopukhina became involved in the Streltsy revolt and was exiled to a monastery.
Alexei Petrovich, the official heir to the Russian throne, condemned his father's reforms, and eventually fled to Vienna under the patronage of his wife's relative (Charlotte of Brunswick), Emperor Charles VI, where he sought support in the overthrow of Peter I. In 1717, the prince was persuaded to return home, where he was taken into custody. On June 24 (July 5), 1718, the Supreme Court, consisting of 127 people, sentenced Alexei to death, finding him guilty of treason. On June 26 (July 7), 1718, the prince, without waiting for the sentence to be carried out, died in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
From his marriage to Princess Charlotte of Brunswick, Tsarevich Alexei left a son, Peter Alekseevich (1715-1730), who became Emperor Peter II in 1727, and a daughter, Natalya Alekseevna (1714-1728).
In 1703, Peter I met 19-year-old Katerina, whose maiden name was Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya, captured by Russian troops as booty during the capture of the Swedish fortress of Marienburg. Peter took a former maid from the Baltic peasants from Alexander Menshikov and made her his mistress. In 1704, Katerina gave birth to her first child, named Peter, and the following year, Paul (both died soon after). Even before her legal marriage to Peter, Katerina gave birth to daughters Anna (1708) and Elizabeth (1709). Elizabeth later became empress (reigned 1741-1761).
Katerina alone could cope with the king in his fits of anger; she knew how to calm Peter’s attacks of convulsive headaches with affection and patient attention. The sound of Katerina's voice calmed Peter; then she:
“she sat him down and took him, caressing him, by the head, which she lightly scratched. This had a magical effect on him; he fell asleep within a few minutes. So as not to disturb his sleep, she held his head on her chest, sitting motionless for two or three hours. After that, he woke up completely fresh and cheerful.”
The official wedding of Peter I and Ekaterina Alekseevna took place on February 19, 1712, shortly after returning from the Prut campaign. In 1724 Peter crowned Catherine as empress and co-regent. Ekaterina Alekseevna bore her husband 11 children, but most of them died in childhood, except for Anna and Elizaveta.
Death of Peter
In the last years of his reign, Peter was very ill (presumably from kidney stones complicated by uremia). In the summer of 1724, his illness intensified; in September he felt better, but after a while the attacks intensified. In October, Peter went to inspect the Ladoga Canal, contrary to the advice of his physician Blumentrost. From Olonets, Peter traveled to Staraya Russa and in November traveled by water to St. Petersburg. Near Lakhta, he had to stand waist-deep in water to save a boat with soldiers that had run aground. The attacks of the disease intensified, but Peter, not paying attention to them, continued to engage in government affairs. On January 17, 1725, he had such a bad time that he ordered a camp church to be erected in the room next to his bedroom, and on January 22 he confessed. The patient’s strength began to leave him; he no longer screamed, as before, from severe pain, but only moaned.
On January 27 (February 7), all those sentenced to death or hard labor (excluding murderers and those convicted of repeated robbery) were amnestied. That same day, at the end of the second hour, Peter demanded paper and began to write, but the pen fell out of his hands, and only two words could be made out from what was written: "Give it all...". The Tsar then ordered his daughter Anna Petrovna to be called so that she could write under his dictation, but when she arrived, Peter had already fallen into oblivion.
When it became obvious that the emperor was dying, the question arose as to who would take Peter's place. The Senate, the Synod and the generals - all institutions that did not have the formal right to control the fate of the throne, even before Peter's death, gathered on the night of January 27-28, 1725 to resolve the issue of Peter the Great's successor. Guards officers entered the meeting room, two guards regiments entered the square, and to the drumbeat of troops withdrawn by the party of Ekaterina Alekseevna and Menshikov, the Senate made a unanimous decision by 4 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 six o'clock 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.
Birth of the first Russian Emperor Peter I the Great
By autocratic hand
He boldly sowed enlightenment,
He did not despise his native country:
He knew its purpose.
Now an academician, now a hero,
Either a sailor or a carpenter,
He is an all-encompassing soul
The eternal worker was on the throne.
Pushkin A. S. “Stanzas”, 1826
May 30 (June 9), 1672 in Moscow in the family Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and his second wife Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina was born first Russian emperor (1721) Peter I Alekseevich the Great.
Being the youngest of the heirs, Pyotr Alekseevich received the Moscow throne in April 1682, immediately after the death of his childless half-brother, Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, bypassing the second Tsarevich, Ivan. This caused discontent among the relatives of Alexei Mikhailovich’s first wife, the Miloslavskys, who used Streltsy Moscow uprising 1682 for a palace coup. The adherents and relatives of the Naryshkins were subjected to repression, Peter I was crowned king together with his half-brother, Ivan V, as a junior co-ruler, and the elder tsar’s sister, Princess Sofya Alekseevna, became their regent. During her reign, Peter and his mother were away from the Court in the village of Preobrazhenskoye. Only in 1689 did he manage to remove Princess Sophia from power, and in 1696, after the death of Ivan V, became the sole tsar.
Like all the children of Alexei Mikhailovich, Peter I received a good education at home, and then throughout his life he expanded his knowledge and skills in various fields, paying special attention to military and naval affairs. In 1687, he created the amusing Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, which later became the basis of the Russian regular army. In 1688-1693. An amusing flotilla operated on Lake Pleshcheyevo, the experience of which was then used in the construction of a fleet in the Black Sea region and the Baltic. And in 1697-1698. the young tsar made a trip abroad, during which he not only became acquainted with the peculiarities of the government of other countries, but also took a full course in artillery sciences in Koenigsberg, a theoretical course in shipbuilding in England and six months of practical work as a carpenter in the shipyards of Amsterdam.
While maintaining and strengthening the feudal-serf system during his reign, Peter I carried out a series of reforms aimed at overcoming Russia’s separation from the Western European path of development and strengthening the country’s influence on international economics and politics.
This was greatly facilitated by the energetic foreign policy of the tsar. So, as a result of the Azov campaigns of 1695-1696. Russia captured the Turkish fortress of Azov and gained access to the Azov and Black Seas. During Northern War (1700-1721) Lands along the banks of the Neva, in Karelia and the Baltic states, previously conquered by Sweden, were returned, the country gained access to the Baltic Sea, which greatly influenced its economic, political and cultural development. During the Persian campaign (1722–1723), the western coast of the Caspian Sea with the cities of Derbent and Baku went to Russia.
Important changes were carried out within the country in all spheres of life. Thus, the capital was moved to the city created in 1703. city of St. Petersburg , division of the country into provinces in 1708–1715., formation of the highest body of government - the Senate, creation of boards and so on. Changes in the social sphere, reflected in the decree on single inheritance of 1714, affected the merger of two forms of land ownership (patrimony and estates) and the transformation of noble service into lifelong service. In 1722, a document was approved regulating the procedure for moving in the service - "Table of Ranks". In 1721, Peter I introduced "Spiritual Regulations" officially abolished the Patriarchate in the Russian Church and created a Spiritual College for its governance, soon renamed the Holy Governing Synod. BThanks to military reform, a regular Russian army and navy emerged, the organizational basis of which was the “Military Charter” and the “Naval Charter.”It was created under Peter the Russian Academy of Sciences, a number of higher educational institutions were opened, a secular secondary school was formed, the first museum and public library in Russia were opened, and began to publish the first Russian newspaper "Vedomosti", a number of expeditions were organized to Central Asia and the Far East, etc. In 1721 Russia became an empire, and a year later succession decree, which secured the autocratic rights of the monarch to appoint his successor.
The activities of the king were assessed ambiguously by society. The promotion of the serving nobility and official bureaucracy to the fore, the elimination of the patriarchate, and the loss of political independence by the church caused discontent among the boyars and the church hierarchy. The response to many violent innovations and increased tax burdens was the uprising of citizens and soldiers.
On January 28 (February 10), 1725, the first Russian emperor died and was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. He was succeeded by his wife, Catherine I.
Lit.: Bazilevich K.V. Peter I - statesman, reformer, commander. M, 1946; Brickner A. G. History of Peter the Great. M., 2004; Valishevsky K. F. Peter the Great. M., 2003; The Great Reformer of Russia: To the 300th Anniversary of the Birth of Peter I. Voronezh, 2002; Memorable tales about the life and deeds of Peter the Great. St. Petersburg, 1872; Legislation of Peter I. M., 1997; Zolotov V. A. History of Peter the Great. St. Petersburg, 1872; Kara-Murza A. A. Reformer: Russians about Peter I. Ivanovo, 1994; Massey R.K. Peter the Great: Personality and Epoch. St. Petersburg, 2003; Pavlenko N. I. Peter I. M., 2003; Peter the Great in traditions, legends, anecdotes, fairy tales, songs. St. Petersburg, 2000; Letters and papers of Peter the Great. St. Petersburg; M.T.1-13. 1887-1992; Pogosyan E. A. Peter I is the architect of Russian history. St. Petersburg, 2001; Reforms of Peter I and the fate of Russia. M., 1994; Senigov I.P. Tsar-worker and teacher. Pg., 1915; Tarle E.V. Russian fleet and foreign policy of Peter I. St. Petersburg, 1994; Shchebalsky P.K. Sovereign Tsar Peter the Great, the first Russian emperor. Warsaw, 1873.
See also in the Presidential Library:
Battle of Lesnaya // Day in history. 9 October 1708 G.;
The first civil calendar was published in Moscow // On this day. 8 January 1709 G.;
The Alexander Nevsky Lavra was founded in St. Petersburg // Day in history. April 5, 1713 G.;
Peter I issued a decree “On wearing a dress in the Hungarian manner” // On this day. January 14, 1700 ;
The Treaty of Constantinople was concluded between Russia and Turkey // Day in history. July 14, 1700 ;
The Preobrazhensky Union Treaty was concluded between Peter I and Augustus II // On this day. November 21, 1699 ;
